Metal Riffs & Country Roots with Jared Graham

A metal kid grows up on thrash and stadium riffs, then finds himself writing country songs on a beat-up acoustic. That’s where our conversation with Jared Graham begins—somewhere between distortion and dust, showmanship and bare-boned truth—and it doesn’t let up until the last chord rings.

We trade stories about the albums that rewired our ears—early Metallica, the maligned but meaningful Saint Anger, and the Red Dirt records that sneak up on you with brutal honesty. Jared opens up about bombing out of a formal music track, switching majors, and refusing to quit the guitar. The pandemic pause gave him space to write; the return to stages—from winery barns to Montana saloons—taught him how to read a room, shift gears mid-set, and end with a song that matters to his family. If you’ve ever fought for a booking by sheer persistence, or felt that jolt when a crowd locks in and the set starts feeding on itself, you’ll recognize his path.

We tour the Northwest circuit—Long Branch’s songwriter rounds, Ellensburg’s WinterHop, Tri-Cities breweries that turn taps into stages—and swap notes on live presence from Slayer’s velocity to Demon Hunter’s surprise catharsis to Sturgill Simpson’s relentless focus. Along the way, we dig into why rock-to-country isn’t a sellout move but a search for a fuller language: metal names the rage, country names the ache, and together they feel like real life.

If you love genre-bending artists, gritty lyrics, and the DIY hustle behind every “yes,” this one’s for you. Hit play, then tell us the show that changed you—and where Jared should play next. Subscribe, share with a friend who lives for live music, and leave a review so more listeners can find the pod.

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Shoutout to :

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The Graham Family 

Music that shaped us. 

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Raising Awareness:

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Mental Health 

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome To T Cup Studio
• 3:10 Parenting, Work, And Reschedules
• 6:39 First-Time Guest, Raw Podcast Style
• 9:45 Winery Gig Recap And Live Setup
• 13:20 Mapping The Gig Circuit
• 16:44 Metal Roots, Country Respect
• 20:15 Central Washington Music Program Reality Check
• 24:44 From Music Major To Engineering
• 27:30 First Guitars And Metallica’s Impact
• 31:20 Load, Reload, And Saint Anger Revisited
• 35:04 Family Record Collections And Influence
• 38:05 Thrash Gateway And Live Slayer
• 41:10 AFI, Side Projects, And Evolving Taste
• 45:36 Rock To Country: Bridges And Bias
• 49:20 Why Country Lands When Life Hits
• 53:28 Red Dirt Discoveries And Songwriting
• 56:50 Pandemic Pause To Stage Return
• 1:00:10 Reading The Room And Set Lists
• 1:04:00 Travel, Booking, And Mental Grind
• 1:08:40 Winter Slowdowns And Venues That Matter
• 1:13:36 Tri-Cities Spots And Scene Builders

Transcript

SPEAKER_01: 0:28

Marge Graham, how are you?

SPEAKER_00: 0:30

Doing good, man. How about yourself?

SPEAKER_01: 0:31

I'm doing all right, doing all right. A little hot up here, but I just got done, you know, outside work and everything else. I was just like, can't have a guy who's coming in the teacup studio, right? This is what it is. Welcome to the teacup studio. But can't have a guy come in and have my yard looking like S. I mean, didn't look bad, but you know, the leaves, tis the season, you know.

SPEAKER_00: 0:52

And uh you're doing a damn good job out there, man. It looks good. I know, but yeah, it's that time of year again.

SPEAKER_01: 0:56

So I had to bust my butt to get everything going before you got here. And so thank you for the compliment. But teacup studio, man, right? When it started, it was all girls, everything. Girl, girl, because I got three girls. I'm gonna go. Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's the youngest one. The other one, 18, she thinks she knows it all, you know, and just does everything she wants to do. Yeah, yeah. And she, you know, still in high school, but she's she thinks she has figured everything out, but not really. And so it's trials and tribulations with parenting and uh spin, you know. And then the middle one, you know, she she's she qualified for districts and swim, and she has uh, I guess a boyfriend from Sila. So I mean, I don't know how she manages that, but she has her boyfriend's mom drive him back and forth. And I guess mom, as I'm working to death, like you know, we have to reschedule, I'm working my butt to death, you know, and everything else. And I guess mom drove the my daughter to Sila the other day and back. I'm like, Are you kidding me? Uh don't ask.

SPEAKER_00: 2:05

I mean, not ask. Whatever for the relationship, man. And uh do we approve the guy at least? Do we I mean man?

SPEAKER_01: 2:11

I I I said probably one thing to him, man. And he's probably said one thing to me. I I've just been working, you know.

SPEAKER_00: 2:17

Oh man, yeah. I mean, from what I've seen, what I've seen for what you do with this, and then yeah, but what yeah, you're definitely on the go, man. So I mean, even when we talked last week about rescheduling, I I I knew when you were just like, hey, I I'm not trying to bail on you. But I could I was like, I mean, I I'm with you when we've been through those times and you're just on that roll, you're like, I just need to just break, like just kind of just disconnect for a little bit.

SPEAKER_01: 2:39

Yeah, and then there was one one episode that uh it took six months to get going, man. There's so much reschedules. This this person's schedule, the my schedule, it was just bad. That was the worst uh reschedule conflict ever. Yeah, for six months.

SPEAKER_00: 2:55

That's that's insane.

SPEAKER_01: 2:56

Six months, but at least it came around because that has yeah, yeah, and it and it kicked butt, but yeah, yeah. So I I try not to do that that much anymore. Normally it's like, okay, I'll I'll bite the bullet and and you know get something going. But yeah, six months, man. And so when it's uh out a week, I'm okay with that. And hopefully you are too.

SPEAKER_00: 3:16

Oh, yeah, no, not so not a big deal for me.

SPEAKER_01: 3:18

So welcome to the T Cup Studio, man.

SPEAKER_00: 3:20

It's glad to be here.

SPEAKER_01: 3:21

Yeah, a lot of people like, so this is what it is. A lot of the rodeo guys, you know, because the rodeo guys listen, you know, yeah, religiously, and and they're like, T cup studio, gotta go to the teacup studio studio, even though they don't know what it is, they just heard about it. And so when they're in here, they're like, This is what it is all about, you know. So slowly but surely it's becoming a man cave, but still teacup studio stuff.

SPEAKER_00: 3:44

Hey, no, this but this this is very comfortable. I've never I've never done anything like a podcast interview or anything like that. So this is new for me. So I'm I have no frame or reference of anything.

SPEAKER_01: 3:55

So well, welcome to the dark side, man. Yeah, the the one reference that you gotta keep in mind is uh everything people love raw, just not cut, just go with the flow. I mean, I don't know if you listen to podcasts like Joe Rogan, all of his. I don't think he even edits his. I try not to edit mine. The only time I edit is like I said before, if something happens or if I say something, or you say something, and we both agree, okay, we'll take that out. So yeah, outside of that, man, all goes. Yeah, all goes.

SPEAKER_00: 4:31

I've heard some of your episodes. Yeah, okay. And with some of the guys that I I've known or heard of. So it was I I like the conversations you guys have that I know that's real and raw. So that's that's what I feel feel comfortable coming into this, going like I could I could tell I'd totally be myself, you know. I don't feel like I have to hold back. I can just be open with you.

SPEAKER_01: 4:49

Well, you got the rock star status look, man. You got the the bandana, you got the rock and roll shirt, you know, and everything else. You played, you were in Milton Freewater?

SPEAKER_00: 4:58

Yeah, uh yesterday. Last night. Yeah, yeah, yeah. From one to three, I was in Milton Freewater at Mongata Winery. Yeah. Uh fall release weekend for that entire area. So it was a big weekend for all the wineries. So the I played for Mongata back in June. Oh, yeah. And they asked me to come back for this this time of year. You know, three. Yeah. So it but it actually it's kind of funny, it actually felt longer because obviously with the time change, yeah, and the the winery is several miles east outside of town, so it's in this crevice of the mountains. Okay, yeah. So you're literally when the sun goes down, like at like two o'clock, the sun's down over that ridge, and so you're and it just seems like it's evening. Uh the trend. So, but it's a really cool, it's a converted old barn that they turn into a winery taste room. Yeah, it was just nice, you know, it was laid back, you know, and people were warm. They had fire pits going on inside, so I felt I got the warmth from the in from the inside. It definitely got cold, but when you're performing, you know, you're just you're just doing your thing, you're sweating. I think my hands got cold, but when I stopped, that's when I'm like, oh wow, okay. Get get get get a jacket and everything. I'm like, I'm I'm freezing now. Okay, I got you.

SPEAKER_01: 6:02

So when you when when I asked you if it's too hot in here, you're like, it's fine.

SPEAKER_00: 6:06

No, yeah. No, this is perfect.

SPEAKER_01: 6:07

All right, all right. So yeah, you you you come here sometimes. I see that you played in Idaho, but you don't play in the valley that much. It's mostly tree-lined wests, and then you play in Idaho and Milton Freewater. So that's Oregon.

SPEAKER_00: 6:23

Yeah. I I don't, it's not like I have like a frame of reference of where I play. It's just it's just whatever, just what's available. And trust me, I would love to venture out and do more stuff in the valley and all that, but nothing's come about yet. And hopefully one day we get to do that a little bit more. But yeah, I know it's yeah, definitely. Um yeah, if you put up a map of where I've been, it's just yeah, sporadic as hell.

SPEAKER_01: 6:45

Because I try to look at your guys' schedules, you know, especially the ones that do travel, and you know, I I I find not on Instagram, but the local brewery or wineries and stuff like that. You know, I try to see the local talent and everything else, and you popped up. And I was trying to figure out how did we start following? Because I always try to figure out when uh you know, I start following somebody or they start following me. And I I was trying to think like, when did you follow me and when did I follow you? I don't know, but we we we crossed paths and was trying to figure out your schedule here and there, yeah, and and and it's it was tough. So I'm like, all right, well, you know what? Let's just go, let's just go with it. Gotcha on. All right, musician, you're solo, and you have a band, you're lead singer and lead guitarist of Steel and Saddle.

SPEAKER_00: 7:38

We're the we're the guitarist of Steel and Saddle, yeah. Yeah, Braden uh Benkovich uh is the lead guitarist for us. And shout out to Brayden. Yeah, that those that's what I've been doing, yeah, for the last several years.

SPEAKER_01: 7:49

And then like as I've been following you, man, I noticed, dude, like you are quite the metal head. Yeah, dude. I'm like, bro, do we just become best friends? Because you know, you know, I I love the some of the country scene, you know, and but I also love the metal. But man, you really you you put more emphasis on the metal on your social media than you do, you know, the country jams and stuff like that, the country rock jams.

SPEAKER_00: 8:15

Oh, I I do that honestly, that's how I really branched off as a musician, like way when I because I haven't played guitar when I was in my you know early teens. So metal, you know, was the the thing I love. I still love to this day. So that that's still like my you know still my baby, you know. I I still love it, you know. It's just been it's been there for me for as long as I can remember.

SPEAKER_02: 8:38

Right.

SPEAKER_00: 8:38

And I mean I I listened to country when I was younger, but it didn't I think when I got to my later teens, that's when I appreciated, especially the older country. The appreciate the poetry, the rawness, and the the it's genuine like the emotion that they convey. It was like it was like it's like, oh my gosh, that's what I'm exactly feeling. That that's so I a lot of those guys that I kind of realized, like Wayland and all those guys, like they're they're rockers too. Yeah, in their own sense. So they're it's so it kind of helped it, it felt like there was a bridge between, but I yeah, metal for me has always still been been there for me.

unknown: 9:18

Okay.

SPEAKER_01: 9:18

So you're from Ellensburg. Well, and you know, I know Central Washington has one heck of a uh football team, but they also a lot of kids out of this area go to central Washington because they have a great uh band program, marching band program.

SPEAKER_00: 9:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 9:34

Now, were you part of that or no?

SPEAKER_00: 9:37

So this is actually kind of funny. So when I went to Central, because I I'm I'm originally from the west part of Washington. So I grew up around Bellevue Isaquois area on the west side of the mountains. And when I went to Central out of high school, I went for the music major degree. Okay, so I I I I okay, so I was going for that. I I I just love music so much that I was like, oh, whatever this is, and yeah. So the so they put you right in. Like, oh, you're going for music, here's your introduction classes, you gotta do this, and it was it was so intimidating. I was scared to death.

SPEAKER_01: 10:14

Yeah, you wouldn't think it's that big of a program because it's not big of a school, kinda. If you if you don't know anything about it, it's like all right, central washing, all right. Well, but then when you hear these kids auditioning and not making it or making it barely, you're like, wow, it's that big, and yeah, it's crazy huge there, man.

SPEAKER_00: 10:34

Yeah, I mean, just and the the amount of the kids I was around at the time in that program, yeah. I mean, smart. They just knew their instruments in and out, they knew exactly all the compositions and everything, and it was a really cool experience. But for me, it was, you know, I can't read music. Uh sheet music, I can't. So I'm in these, I'm in these like classrooms in front of these professors trying to like break down works of Beethoven and all this other stuff, and you're going like, I can't I can't read where we're at, I don't know what's going on. And so they so I think after that end of that quarter, I had to sit down with the advisors and a few other people, and they're just like, Okay, what's your background music? I'm like, I'm a guitar player, you know, dah dah dah. And they're going, uh-huh, okay. So, like, can you like what's your background? And they asked me the same thing, have you done choir marching band in high school or anything previously? And I was like, No. And they just kind of like looked over my profile and they're going, like, you're not gonna make it in this program. This is not for you. Okay. And it which is fine. Honestly, I was like, I was like, cool, thank you so much. And I moved on to another degree, but I it didn't stop me from still playing music on my own. Like it was still something I wanted to do.

SPEAKER_01: 11:45

But so Central Washington. Did you what did you end up uh graduating with?

SPEAKER_00: 11:49

Industrial engineering and technology. Oh, okay. Yeah. So like luckily at the same time when when they told me that I'm not gonna make in that degree, yeah, I was doing like a engineering one-on-one class. Okay, and it was a lot of fun, so I immediately just shifted gear, like right after they're like quarter. I'm like, oh, I'm gonna go do this. Yeah. So that's immediately so I didn't I wasn't like in like a quarter or two of going, like, what am I what am I gonna graduate with? What's my major gonna be? I just immediately just shifted gear and just that was just a little speed bump. Yeah, just a speed bump, and and like I uh so it didn't stop me because like I was still doing some other music classes that were still interesting, like introduction to jazz and blues, which what was one of my favorite classes. Oh, okay. And I had acoustic guitar in my in my dorm, so I still like would always on my off time just be dinking around as much as possible.

SPEAKER_01: 12:34

Okay. You you know what else that school is good for too? Big besides uh music is uh zoology, man. They have quite the uh the zoology program there.

SPEAKER_00: 12:44

Yeah, no, they they do. They like there's some like aviation, yeah. That too for wine studies, and what's what's the other one? They they also got big with their law and justice too. So then engineering was another big one. Construction management was another big one that uh that that was a higher level than where I was at, but who would have thought, man? Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 13:07

We are right in the middle of you know, the coux and the dogs, you know, you got the the wildcats, correct? That's yeah, wildcats, yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 13:13

Wildcats, baby. See what, see woo.

SPEAKER_01: 13:16

I've had a couple of uh alumni guys from central runners, a few runners here.

SPEAKER_00: 13:22

Oh, that's cool.

SPEAKER_01: 13:23

Yeah, yeah. So all right, you talked about it. You picked up a guitar when teenage years, yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 13:28

So I got my first guitar, uh god, it's maybe like 13. It was just it was a very it was a cheap acoustic one. Yeah. And and I was kind of that crappy kid where I was just like, oh, I was hoping for an electric. Uh but but no, but it was just one of those things where it was I was told that like if you learn good on acoustic, you're gonna learn well on electric. So, and it was cheap that like the the gauge on the strings to the fretboard was so okay, so big, and so you're trying to really push down. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So it was a very interesting experience uh to learn that, and I was a little off and on, but then eventually kept going with uh I think I got my electric electric guitar, I think like a few years later. It was a PRS antenna SE, and that's when I really got I was like my first band that was my gateway to metal was Metallica. So I was playing okay.

SPEAKER_01: 14:20

I was gonna ask you, yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 14:21

Yeah, so when Metallica I was playing Metallica, all the early records, all that stuff. I was I was playing a lot of that stuff and then just kept going from there.

SPEAKER_01: 14:27

Okay, what what album though turned you on? What album got you?

SPEAKER_00: 14:32

So when I was getting Metallica, my mom got me the black album. Okay. So she she started me, she gave me this. She's like, Oh, if you like Metallica, you're gonna like this. Oh, yeah. And I've heard enter Sandman, but then you listen to Sad But True, yeah, The Unforgiven, wherever I may. You're going like, oh my gosh, this album's incredible. Yeah. But for me, then I started to go backwards. I went right to Kill Em All and then went that way. So I I I my first their first five records to me were just masterpieces. Right. So that's what stemmed me to like become a guitar player.

SPEAKER_01: 15:06

So when when they changed, I don't know how old you are, but like, you know, when they changed or sold out and everything else, so to say, right?

SPEAKER_00: 15:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 15:15

Did you did you feel that way that people, you know, did they sell out?

SPEAKER_00: 15:21

Well, it so I'm I'm 35 and I I to me so you're you're around, but you're young. I was young, but like I was so to me, yeah, you can hear the drastic change from like once they went from black album to load, reload.

SPEAKER_01: 15:35

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 15:36

To me, that I wasn't around. I know a lot of people said flack. Yeah, but I always I do have a love for those albums, but especially load. I do like load. Yeah, I I consider them good rock albums by Metallica. That's why that's how I see it.

SPEAKER_01: 15:51

Rocky Yeah, they're yeah, I gotcha. The the lyrics though, lyrically, man, man, James Hetfield, you know, even hits on the the snare drum. What the the snare drum that gets a lot of flaked early 2000s, St. Anger's. Oh, St. Ang. Oh yeah, St. Angers. The older I've gotten, man, I've listened to the load and reload and St. Ager more than anything, you know, because lyrically and musically, I I mean it it's untouchable, man. They had so many bangers on that, uh, those two albums. And then Saint St. Ager, did you know, you know, he was in rehab. And yeah, those are the lyrics that he wrote while he was in rehab trying to get his life together and everything.

SPEAKER_00: 16:34

Yeah, no, that yeah, there's there's a lot of depth, and like I know because what that's where I was getting into it was when when I was getting Metallica, that's when there that album was just coming out was was Saint Anger. And I do, I actually do have a soft spot for Saint Anger. I know I I there's some there's something about some of those songs I can and I I'll agree with anybody. Um and I'm not not arguing that saying it's the best album or anything, but I can in their catalog, it's definitely the outlier for sure. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. It's one of the few outliers they have, but like there's there's something about it where it's just like it, especially going through my teen years, there's the crap I was going through. Yeah, yeah. Some of those songs spoke to me about like, you know, frantic and just be angry. I was like that, like there was something that was true. It was like I'm feeling exactly how he's sounding, especially to have how they had their production of all their instruments. It was just a just raw, aggressive. It just sounded raw. That's all it sounded to me was how they did that record. It was just raw.

SPEAKER_01: 17:25

Well, the snare, man.

SPEAKER_00: 17:26

Yeah, that snare, yeah. But bang up banging on trash can or whatever you want to call it.

SPEAKER_01: 17:30

Yeah, the it's almost like uh needing more cowbell, you know. But you know, Lars is there just like snare. I got a fever, come on, get me. Yeah, yeah, give me some more snare, you know. But so Metallica, Metallica. All right, so parents, what did they listen to when you grew up?

SPEAKER_00: 17:46

Well, my mom listened to everything. Okay. My mom, she was a music lover through and through. So so she had like RB soul, you know, Motown. She had rock albums. I mean, she had some ACDC uh records, and then she had Van Halen, Rolling Stones, Beatles, and she had some opera too in the mix, and she had some country, she had some 90s country. I that's how I, you know, got to know Garth Brooks and stuff like that, and Travis Trich and I had twin. Yeah, somehow all that stuff. And so yeah, then my dad was more he was more classical, clapped in. He's definitely a big Motown guy. So that's interesting, yeah. So I I grew up with a lot. I I I don't know why. It just like when metal just kind of came in for me, it was something primal that just felt like you know, I was I was that kid just grabbing a broom and acting like it was a guitar and just running around the house. I was like, something about it. I'm like, I'm like, this is just uh I love it.

SPEAKER_01: 18:43

Yeah, okay, and you stuck with it ever since.

SPEAKER_00: 18:46

Yeah, I mean, like it I it just kept growing from there. I mean, like, I mean, I I was getting into a lot more of like, you know, you listen to Judas Priest and like Iron Maiden, Motorhead, you know, all that stuff. Oh, yeah, and then it stemmed from there, going from then from Megadeth, Anthrax, and then when I was introduced to Slayer, that was a game changer. That was that was something so scary. Not not just thematically in tone, it was just like I never thought a band could be this fast. Oh, yeah, and that aggressive. And so that's where it then took off.

SPEAKER_01: 19:19

And that card falling, man.

SPEAKER_00: 19:21

Yeah. I mean, like, I was I saw I saw them live back in 06. This is when they were doing the Unholy Lions tour with Lamb of God, Children of Botum, Mastodon, and Thine Eyes Bleed. Yeah, and that was an incredible show. I definitely was just like, that's I I was not the same kid after I left that show.

SPEAKER_01: 19:42

Well, Slayer, man, they they always you know people were going to a Slayer concert because everybody's like, Slayer! In the in the streets and in the bathroom, in the restroom. In the restroom, yeah. No matter what. Slayer, the horns and everything, man. So yeah, yeah. I went Slayer right, I think right before they, you know, just went on their hiatus or whatever. They their last showing in Seattle, and I was watching AFI at the time. And total AFI fan. You know, I love AFI. Oh, yeah, AFI is good. They got some good songs. Oh, yeah. Have you heard their new stuff?

SPEAKER_00: 20:14

No, I have not actually different, man. I'm sure, I'm sure it is. I'm sure it's like I mean, uh what would do you feel it's in a in a good way it's different? Or it's great. It's great, okay.

SPEAKER_01: 20:23

Yeah, I yeah, it's more more like a new wave dark sound. Okay. Oh god, I was trying to put put my finger on it. I've listened to it like a couple of times, and man, you know, Davy Havoc, dude. Yeah, he's one of the best vocals out there, and the way to change it with the you know, his EDM stuff, and you know, well, the EDM sound, uh black cells, or what is it? Yeah, it's black cells, right? Or audio. Yeah, so I'm like his first album was Black Cells, just with the guitarist of AFI.

SPEAKER_00: 20:55

I was like, um, Black Audio, isn't it?

SPEAKER_01: 20:58

Is it black audio? Is it black audio? Yeah, I think it is.

SPEAKER_00: 21:01

Because like it was like AFI, that was like I didn't re I didn't give him enough credit to like later in life.

SPEAKER_01: 21:07

There was like uh growing up, like, but like he he's definitely he's one of the best and he he's so good lyrically, and you know, I've seen him live a few times. And I mean, if you want to listen to an album, listen to their very first uh three albums, Black Cells in the Sunset. I remember a lot of people Jesus uh called in sick or yeah, God called in sick that song. Yeah, yeah. God called in sick, it that man, that's a phenomenal song, too.

SPEAKER_00: 21:35

But yeah, I remember a lot of people were into that. I remember a lot AFI was kind of when they were coming around, and I think it was just a little different because it was like the the difference of kids in school, you know, like there's the the emo kids and the hardcore kids, you know. There was like, you know, uh being the metal head, you know, you're just like like that's not hard enough, you know. So there was a lot of stuff where I kind of was just like, that's not what I like, it doesn't fit. I was I was a little picky back then.

SPEAKER_01: 22:00

But no, it's almost like a Morrissey kind of a dark new wave sound to it. It yeah, it's totally different from their their you know, their their punk, the pop punk, the rock punk, yeah, you know, that they've they've got that they got yeah, the alternative that they were going through. He's in so many side projects. I I I mean I I've continued to follow him. It's just dude, that's who he is. He's so eclectic and you know, straight edged and everything else, doing his own thing. He can he can do no harm, man.

SPEAKER_00: 22:27

I need I need to give that lesson then, yeah. Because I I remember it was a big deal when this was uh coming about recently, and I was just like, it's like, oh man, okay, I'll I'll have to check it out, but I just haven't got around to it. So I need to.

SPEAKER_01: 22:37

Yeah, dude, but the old stuff, just like the old Advenge Sevenfold.

SPEAKER_00: 22:40

I mean, yeah, like and again, another band I didn't get I didn't give respect to till later. Like it was, yeah. It was just I thought they I thought they were a little back then I thought they were a little poser-ish. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 22:51

So I was I didn't backcountry.

SPEAKER_00: 22:54

Yeah, backcountry. That was everyone was making even my sister was listening to that stuff, and I was just kind of like, eh, I don't know. But it's when I saw them live, and that's when I was like, Right? I was like, okay, never mind. I'm gonna stick my foot in my mouth on that one. Sorry, I didn't I didn't mean to say what I said. I should have said what I said, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 23:10

So you know, it was pretty interesting, man. Going from AFI and then, you know, Slayer and uh Megadeth, and it was just a different feat, man. But you know, it's it's kind of interesting that some people put them put themselves here and then they put them there, and then you there's no in between. But I and I I'm gonna put you in this category because I want to talk a lot about this, you know, about how some rock guys like yourself go country, you know. For instance, a lot of people don't give that guy enough credit. Aaron Lewis, what I've heard, that guy from Stain, because you know, a lot of people the the guy from Stain, you know, because they don't want to say his name because of what he's become or what he believes in and whatnot, you know. Yeah, yeah, exactly. But you know, people they they put him in that. But man, the way he went from stain to to now owning the country but doing his own thing, he gets a lot of flack.

SPEAKER_00: 24:09

Uh yeah, but I respect I respect him for it too. Yeah, um you know it's yeah, yeah, it's like it's it's funny to see that becoming more, it's not a trend, it's just more rock guys are coming out really saying that like, yeah, country's awesome. I love doing it, and that's kind of a a cool thing to know that that music is not is not so segregated as you think. Like guys can they don't want to pigeonhole themselves, which I think is great.

SPEAKER_01: 24:34

Mostly the guys that I've had on musically too, you know, like Justin Wells, he was established rock rock guy, you know, now he's you know making country, but I I still feel like he's in that that rock country, but a darker side, a slower side. And then you know, Sterling Drake, you know, he was a drummer of a rock band when he started out. Now he's a picker, you know in Montana, you know, traveling here.

SPEAKER_00: 25:01

Which was a great episode. That I do like that. Yeah, you like that. Yeah, man.

SPEAKER_01: 25:03

I when I when I got him on, man, I thought I hit it big time, dude. You know, I mean, I I still, dude, I I love love the game, love um, you know, chasing the you know, the the game. And when I put him on, I was just like, wow, all right, sweet. I can, you know, if I can put him on, I can get anybody else, you know. And so, you know, I had Cody Bartellas on and yeah, and Cody's a great kid. I had him, but you know, he rock band, you know, kind of thing, and then you know, coming down to his Bakersfield sound, but yeah, but yeah, the the more the more I get into not not so much the country, because dude, I'm a hit or miss when it comes to country, man. If it's like bro country, if it if if it's yeah, if it's the I'm not a big co-hetle fan, you know, that kind of stuff, even though I love the Texas red dirt sound, yeah, just not that.

SPEAKER_00: 25:56

Right, yeah, no, and it I'm the same way as you. It's like I'm very particular about my country too, even though even though people who do all that stuff, bro, country, what I mean, like yeah, they obviously are good at what they do. I can't I can't give them flat clips.

SPEAKER_01: 26:08

I I just can't.

SPEAKER_00: 26:09

It's not for me.

SPEAKER_01: 26:10

I can't drink a beer or you know, uh tailgate with a girl and I'm by my side.

SPEAKER_00: 26:15

It's like it's not true, it's not real to me. I need something that really pierces the heart. Yeah, that's that's that's true country in my opinion. So I'm with you on, I'm with you on that.

SPEAKER_01: 26:25

Yeah, yeah. So what makes someone since you're in the game, right? What makes someone go from you know, loving rock and roll, like, you know, hitting the the pipes like you know, Aaron Lewis and Stain to now he's dude, there's no voice like it. He's made his own, you know, oh yeah, little niche in the game into his voice, but then he brings in that when he's doing country live. So what what makes a guy go from hard rock metal to just downright country?

SPEAKER_00: 26:59

You know, I can't speak for everybody on this, but I think for me it was what really changed that transition a little bit was I think what I was the the human experience. What what maybe I what I was going through that maybe country finally uh connected connected me with and was just like I was like, oh my god, I'd I've been through that. I've I've experienced this emotion. Because when I was like I was just telling you, when I had my acoustic guitar in my dorm in college.

SPEAKER_01: 27:30

Is that messing up?

SPEAKER_00: 27:31

No, I was just trying to make sure, make sure I thought it was there. We go. Okay, trying to make sure the mic was not dropping. It like one of the first songs I played on acoustic guitar that I started singing to just out of just kicks and giggles was Hank Three's song Cecil Cecil Brown, and then off his Love Sick Broken Drifting Record.

SPEAKER_01: 27:52

And not not Hank Two, but Hank Three. Let's go.

SPEAKER_00: 27:55

Hank three Hank III was that that really talk about rock, metal, and country. That bridged me, that that really solidified me to be like, like, hey, it's okay, you can do both, yeah. Like kind of thing. So I remember when I first started picking that song and I started singing it. I w I mean wasn't really a big singer. I never tried singing really seriously. When I did that, I was like, oh my gosh, this is fun.

SPEAKER_02: 28:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 28:18

And you know, and then I was like getting to all the other slower stuff, and I don't know, it was just a lot of that stuff was just it it was so real to me. It was I don't know why. It just it it it was just as real as metal was. Metal really spoke about your the stuff you were going through, the hardships, you know, the anger you were feeling, and you know, and the country was the other side of the coin.

SPEAKER_01: 28:42

You're not actually living it.

SPEAKER_00: 28:42

You're living it.

SPEAKER_01: 28:43

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 28:44

Country was the other side of the coin. The sadness, the sorrow, the the the other hardships where you feel like your your life's just a part and you you know, like the ones where you feel like you know you're losing your woman and stuff like that, you know. Like the the times when you feel like you've just been drinking alone and all that. I mean, you're only like I was like, God damn, I'm right there with you, man. I'm like, God, I've been there. Yeah. So there's some something about that. It just felt real, and I think that's what gravitated to me, just to know that those two genres were like, that's that's the most realist music out there.

SPEAKER_01: 29:14

What what country bands or singer got you into country, man? Since Metallica got you into metal.

SPEAKER_00: 29:24

Well, definitely I would say Hank 3 was he was he was my bridge. Then I got get more into the older stuff, uh, Merle Haggard, Wayland Jennings. Okay. And then and then more so becoming a singer myself more seriously and a songwriter, I really got into uh Texas Red Dirt and because I I remember what exposed me to that. I used to I did a a season up in Alaska during college. I worked up at a as an at a charter fishing company up there at Sica. And they had a Concert series that they do every year up there at the time called Red Dirt on the Last Frontier.

SPEAKER_01: 30:04

Okay.

SPEAKER_00: 30:05

And this is where they had Brand Jenkins, Jason Boland, uh Stony LaRue, and the Braum brothers from Mickey and the Motor Cars and Reckless Kelly, and they would just come up and just have acoustic guitars and just be in these little bars and restaurants. And I was just like, I'm like, this is incredible. Like the songwriting, and so that really showed me this other branch of country. And then after that was Cody Jinx, who was another guy. Because he's a rocker too. People don't know that. He's he was a big metal head and even did a not many people know this that he did a a rock album like several years ago, Cane by Nod, which was I was great.

SPEAKER_01: 30:41

So it is, it is, yes, yes.

SPEAKER_00: 30:43

So that's and that again, that just shows more sides of the of those musicians, I think, which I think is so cool.

SPEAKER_01: 30:49

Okay. What what made you you know decide to go live? What made you decide to go for get a band and then do live?

SPEAKER_00: 30:59

Well, it was like one of those things we're in my twenties where I did I started to do music in college once I what felt comfortable too. I played with a buddy of mine, Zeke Fife. He was a C Wu alum. He was met him through a bunch of friends and we got close and we we did some duo shows in college, which was great. College, now it's switched to career mode and all that stuff. So after four years of that, juggling a bunch of stuff, it was just like about 28, I was just like, what makes me happy? Yeah. I want to do yeah, music. Music makes me happy. So try doing some band projects to see if it would work, and try to work on acoustic singing on my off time. And then COVID hit, and that's where kind of that took a weird turn where no one was performing anymore, every everyone wasn't sure what was gonna happen. So that gave me the time to really sit and write and work on my craft. And it was just scary because I really wanted to play live one day again. Yeah, and I I didn't know if it was ever gonna happen. So once about October of 2021, I finally had an opportunity to perform. It was it was in Ellensburg at that time. It was a place called the Back 40, which is this back part of the hotel window there. It's now it's now where Fit Alinas is now, but it was called the Back 40 then, a little turf little spa with benches and all stuff, and finally had a chance to perform. And I was nervous, but I was excited, and it was great. And then after I got done with that, I'm like, I want to keep this going. So that's where just kept going. I just tried to fight just to perform anywhere I could after that.

SPEAKER_01: 32:40

The the more I watch live music, uh, you know, I I'm I'm a regular when certain people come in and everything else, and I watch them, and sometimes they they change the set list. Do you change your set list or do you keep the same?

SPEAKER_00: 32:52

I I keep the same, but I I I I started off kind of the same. I definitely ended the I ended the same way, always. One of my favorite songs I love to end with is Can't You See? 'Cause I I dedicate that to my grandmother. That was the last song she ever heard me do. So that I like to end it with that one. But I usually I I always mix it up. I try to be on the fly with that because you don't know what kind of crowd you're gonna get or anything like that. So I'm always on the fly.

SPEAKER_01: 33:17

So when do you know you have that crowd? Like what do you do? When you know you have that crowd and you got them, you know, locked in. Well, what what do you do mentally, you know, physically, musically? What what do you do? How do you know?

SPEAKER_00: 33:32

It's like it's like a it's like a drug you're feeding off. It's like adrenaline rush. Like when you feel the crowd when vibing well of what you're doing, and they're giving that back to you, you're feeding off. It's almost like you're doing this like back and forth feeding to each other. So when you're doing stuff that's just getting them all riled up and they're in their cheering, you're feeding that, and you're just feeding off it. And so, yeah, there's been times where it's just like, yeah, you just keep going and going, and you're bringing you're just bringing the energy, even if it's band or solo acoustic, you're you're just you just feel this, it just comes alive out of you. It's like a natural feeling.

SPEAKER_01: 34:07

Do you know in different towns, different regions, the feel? You know, what maybe you know, last night they were into the whole you know, country, you know, Ellensburg's probably the country rock and the rock more, you know, Yakima and probably all the above. But do you do you do you know when you go in there, you're like, okay, this is gonna be more of a country?

SPEAKER_00: 34:31

I mean, like initially, I mean, like you sometimes you kind of get the feel in the in the room, maybe like you can go like like, oh yeah, this might be a country crowd, but sometimes you you'd be surprised. Sometimes I'll just I'll I'll throw something in there. Just I'll maybe I'll throw a grunge song in there. Oh you know, throw some stone tail pilots or some pearl jam in there or something like that. And just to see how people react because you don't know, and you'd be surprised. Some people are just like, Oh yeah, oh, there's something. I'm going like, okay, we got we got some range in here. So I'll throw I'll throw once in Blue Moon, but which is fun for me because sometimes I don't want to always just play country. Sometimes I want to just change it up, but you know, sometimes you just you don't want to you don't want some guy going like change the song thing.

SPEAKER_01: 35:11

I know you guys are on the road and everything else. Is life on the road and traveling just to you know get your name out there? Is it tough? Or is it do?

SPEAKER_00: 35:21

It can't I mean it can be. Honestly, it's like it depends on how bad you want it. For me, it was just a natural growth. I didn't I wasn't really trying to I was just trying to just playing and just go from there, but there was one point where trying to branch out and go to different places, there were a lot of people just like, Who are you? Yeah, we're like like what kind of music do you do? You know, it's like that was that that was really tough, but you really then you had to fight for yourself, which you're not trying to be cocky, but you're trying to like you're on the phone with these people when you're like like like please book me. I will not disappoint you, please. Like, so you definitely had to stand your ground a lot of times, and it can get mentally exhausting because sometimes you do feel like you know you just keep trying, you feel like you're just trying to climb out of a pit sometimes because you're just trying to feel you're trying to feel like you're getting somewhere and sometimes you feel like you just keep dropping back down, but it can't it can be it can be hard at times and can get in your head. But honestly, I feel like if you just keep just keep going. Yeah, just if don't think about it too much, it things things will happen.

SPEAKER_01: 36:26

Do you have a booking agency or do you all I do it all on my own?

SPEAKER_00: 36:31

Wow. And it's a lot of work, man. It's a lot of work, but luck, but luckily since I've been doing this for a while, luckily created relationships. So then other venues have reached out to me and been like, hey, we like to we like to book you, it's like awesome. And and then this la this year I have actually had some great opportunities that were introduced to me. I met uh Aaron Harris, who's also known as Dogbite Harris. No, yeah, yeah, Dogbite, yeah. I met him at the last year's uh Northwest Country Music Awards, and me and him just hit it off. He was a great guy, and he runs Two Wolves Media Group, and he uh asked me if uh to join him for the Rux and the Boonies this year and do a singer songwriter's I was promoted by Two Wolves. So that was really cool opportunity for another group to give me that that those uh opportunities. So it that was a really cool thing, yeah. But overall, I yeah, I I don't have any other managers or anything, it's just pretty much just me just figuring out my own time.

SPEAKER_01: 37:33

How's the winter look?

SPEAKER_00: 37:35

Uh because travel is horrible. Yeah, travel is horrible. So as of right now, my show at my gala last night was the last one I have scheduled right now. If I happen to get some other ones last second in, it's but it it every year. This is about this time of year, things just kind of just slow down. So things will pick up back in January. But as of right now, the holiday season's just holiday.

SPEAKER_01: 37:56

Yeah, I'm pretty sure you don't have you know Mariah Carey in your uh set list. I'd rather suck on a 12 gauge. I gotcha, I gotcha. But no, I yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 38:09

But yeah, no, it's it it's it's been it's been good, even with the band thing, too. That you know, for us trying to book as well, it's just just as much as a fight too to try and get us get our names out.

SPEAKER_01: 38:21

Okay. What are what what does it look like if you know somewhere in Tri-Cities they listen to this and they book you, you you you'll come around.

SPEAKER_00: 38:30

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 38:31

No, yeah, no, I I don't ever I saw I saw dog bite long branch. Have you hit them up yet?

SPEAKER_00: 38:37

Oh yeah, no, but that's where Kentucky. Yeah, no, I actually that's where I had after when I did the ruckus back in June. I was part of that singer-songwriters round that they had that Sunday at at Long Branch. Okay. So that was my first experience for live music there. So that was really cool. It was outside? It was outside. I was I was with Ty Lane, who runs the singers round, and I was with Scottie Wilson, Yates, and a young gal, singer-songwriter named Aslan. She's out of Portland, Oregon, who's a phenomenal songwriter, and me. And that was my first uh I think I got spoiled a little bit because you know you're in this on the outside stage, and you're people are there just to hear original music. Oh, yeah. So that was kind of like, oh, this is oh, they're here to listen to like real stuff. Like they don't care about the covers. Like, this is show of who you are, and you're just down the row and you're listening to these guys, and y'all just listen hearing their songs they wrote, you're like, like, oh my god, yeah, where what were you thinking when you wrote that song? My god, that god, you must have gone through some stuff, you know.

SPEAKER_01: 39:36

Yeah, don't don't shy away from Tagueris or Book Walter, too. But no, long branch, long branch, they they bring in those guys and they they the outside uh venue is is pretty it's it's intimate, but man, it it's rock star status in this area.

SPEAKER_00: 39:52

I mean, I mean for a lot of people who talk about it. I mean, yeah, it's like you come out here, people the people always say like gotta go you gotta get booked here, you gotta get booked here. And yeah, that was one of the top ones that everyone's always talked about. And I try I tried years ago too, and then I think it was just kind of a weird time, but they were already booked out for a while, so it's like, okay, I'll try I'll try later.

SPEAKER_01: 40:09

So you wouldn't catch me dead in that like five, six, well, five, ten years ago. But Lori, the the owner, oh yeah, man, she's drastically changed that for the better. She's awesome. Yeah, yeah. She's she's yeah, she's cool. I every every concert I go to, I see her, man.

SPEAKER_00: 40:25

Oh, really? Yeah, every concern. She's a music lover, too.

SPEAKER_01: 40:28

Every concert, every concert, man, like Aaron Lewis, you know, Chris Stapleton, uh Sturgel Sims. I see her all the time and always, you know, tell her thank you, and you know, she buys around. I'm like, Oh, that's okay. Yeah, yeah. No, she's she's a good lady, man. But no, she she's actually made that to like um a high-end bar, you know. Oh no, yeah, it's like it's it's something there was a hole in the wall with a dive bar, bro. It was it was it didn't even have none of that out out there. It was just a sh was a shithole, dude. Now it's like wow, you you know, you can bring kids in there at certain times. Oh, really? Okay, that's awesome. Yeah, yeah. Now, yeah, it's it's it's nice, it's nice, it's out there.

SPEAKER_00: 41:08

Yeah, it's out there. It's definitely yeah, but I think it I think it's cool. So I think if anybody you ever asked me again, like uh like where should I go? I'm like long break. Definitely.

SPEAKER_01: 41:18

And then she has a sister, sister bar too. Jackalope? I believe it's the Jackalope. Jackalope? Yeah, Jackalope. I haven't heard that one. It's off of Kenwick Avenue. Oh, is it really? Yeah, yeah. It's just more in in town.

SPEAKER_00: 41:31

Okay.

SPEAKER_01: 41:32

But yeah, they have a sister bar as Jackalope. I know for a fact, yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 41:36

So okay. I have to just have to check that out. I don't, you know, I try to come down here and try to visit. I have I have I have a few friends that live out here too and try to also stop in and visit around and kind of see what's going on around here too. But I don't know if I will have to.

SPEAKER_01: 41:49

There's also a lot of breweries, man, trying to make it and yeah, i you know, and the the these times, there's a lot of them going under, but a lot of the breweries uh I know varietals bringing the music. You might want to check them out.

SPEAKER_02: 42:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 42:02

He's uh he's a rock star guy too. Is he really? Yeah, yeah. Oh, okay. The the brewer, the head owner, brewer guy. Yeah, yeah. He he's been on the podcast as well. Oh, geez. Yeah, he I saw a band, a death metal bluegrass band, dude. Yeah, death blue, yeah, with him, and he was just rocking out, and man, there was only like five people there. What? Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 42:24

Oh you're just like you're like, come on, people, you're missing out. Yeah, yeah, man.

SPEAKER_01: 42:27

But I enjoyed it, dude. It was death metal bluegrass.

SPEAKER_00: 42:30

Oh, yeah. Oh, I would have yeah, I would I would have had a good time with that one.

SPEAKER_01: 42:33

Yeah, man. Two pines. I think it was two pines something, two pines, something, but yeah, man. That that was that was bad. That was badass just because you know, the the uh the banjo and the bass. Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 42:46

I got a little heavy too with that song. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. I'd have to definitely check it out because yeah, because my first exposure out here to perform was last year. I played for Wheathead. And yeah, that was that was my first time I was able to kind of play out close to close to here, which which is good, but I don't know right down the road. Oh yeah, yeah, for where you're at. But yeah, but I don't know if they're doing music anymore.

SPEAKER_01: 43:10

Some I yeah, I don't know. Something something's going down.

SPEAKER_00: 43:12

I I I think they just uh maybe just it was just too much with with their well, because I know they do a lot of other stuff too, but I but it well they used to have food trucks and then you know somebody gripes about that because they didn't have you know maybe the the the credentials, so yeah, yeah, and then the music's probably a nuisance, who knows?

SPEAKER_01: 43:34

But they're they're moving closer to Cedars.

SPEAKER_00: 43:37

Oh, yeah, they got yeah on the water, yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 43:40

I've heard about that they're gonna do that. Was it Tina?

SPEAKER_00: 43:42

Tina's her name, Tina?

SPEAKER_01: 43:43

Yeah, yeah, she's great in social media, man.

SPEAKER_00: 43:45

Yeah, she's really good. Yeah, I just saw something about that. They're changing something up.

SPEAKER_01: 43:48

But then, but then you got somebody you got a place that I love to go to and listen to music there. Uh outskirts. Oh, outskirts.

SPEAKER_00: 43:56

You play there yet? Uh I've several times. It's been a while, but I I it's so funny. I have not had the chance to actually perform on their outside stage at yet. So that is something I would love to do one of these days. But I that that's a great little spot too. And I heard their way out Wednesdays that they have where they have during the summer for big bands that play on a Wednesday night and stuff like that.

SPEAKER_01: 44:18

It's their first their first year was man, I was there every Wednesday.

SPEAKER_00: 44:23

Oh, really?

SPEAKER_01: 44:23

Yeah, last year didn't show up because it just wasn't the same feel, man. But yeah, I saw big names and hardly anybody showed up. Like, what?

SPEAKER_00: 44:33

Yeah, I mean, like Cody busted his butt to get that place. Yeah, he he bust his butt to get that, and he's a he's a good dude.

SPEAKER_01: 44:39

Yeah, I've been I've been trying to get him on, and he's like, Man, we can do it in my my studio, we can do it, whatever. But yeah, he he's just so busy on his you know his farm or ranch, and then you know, traveling here and there. But yeah, man, outskirts, that I definitely will travel to listen to music and drink some beers and some good food, man.

SPEAKER_00: 44:59

Yeah, no, they got they got a good crew there. The uh so I every time I've gone there, like really ever every time the the crew's just like Jerry, welcome back, you know. And they they they just really I just feel welcomed there every time, and so even on even on the inside, it's just nice and cozy. It's just nice.

SPEAKER_01: 45:15

It's it's beautiful, it's like one of the best looking breweries I've walked into.

SPEAKER_00: 45:19

Yeah, right? It's like what I'm saying. It's just like really all the emphasis that they put on for the aesthetic in in that place, and like, yeah, it's just great. Yeah, so yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 45:28

What uh what venue is your one of your top? One of your top. You just you know, I'm just gonna say top. I'm not gonna say top three. I just want to what your favorite venue. Sorry to put you on the spot, but I you know, you always have that one place that you like to go, play, listen to music, you know. Man, do things yourself.

SPEAKER_00: 45:48

Jeez, I you know that's I I do get asked this question at times, and I it's so hard to come up with an answer because there's sometimes I'll I'll come across another venue, and I'm just like, I'm like, oh wait, that was awesome. Oh, that was cool. Yeah, that was even better. I think the one venue I think I just had a just a very uh incredible experience with was actually this summer in Montana. Uh me and my buddy Aaron Saliba, we did a stint, and he's and he's a solo musician in his own right. And we did this duo thing for four days in a row in western Montana, and we did a gig out in Derby, Montana, which is southwestern part, you know, that's where they have the the Yellowstone ranch there and everything. Uh is this place called the 406 saloon. Okay. And it's the same thing, like this outdoor stage that they have, kind of like what Long Branch has. And then like literally the stage is facing toward the Bitteroot mountain range, you know, and so like the the weather was a little off there because there was a dry lightning storm that was going on at the time, wind was picking up, so a lot a lot of people kind of like tucked near the underside, they weren't out in the open, so they kind of hugged it. But when the storm passed, there was something about it where like the sun came through. It was like this kind of like just amazing experience of being like, Wow, this is just beautiful. And the and the crew there were just amazing, the bartenders. It was it was that was a I would it was one of those things where you go, like, I will come back again and do it.

SPEAKER_01: 47:12

I've been wanting to go out there, I wanted to see uh the the what is it, the great divide, right? Yeah, the old saloon.

SPEAKER_00: 47:19

Yeah, the old saloon, yeah. Like that's yeah, no, there's a there's been a lot of cool, like little experience, even with the even with band Steel and Saddle, like we definitely have right now we have our few, like Yellow Beak Saloon in Eamclaw or the log cabin pub in Sumner. Okay, yeah, yeah. Yeah, those for us as a band, like those people again talking about that energy about what you what when do you know when you when you feel like you got in it in your hands, those venues you just feel it with the people, and those are I would say for us as a band too, though those are the venues where it's like, oh, we will keep coming back because you just know you're gonna get those rowdy people and have a good time.

SPEAKER_01: 48:00

I always stop in Sumner for top-down brewery.

SPEAKER_00: 48:03

Oh, top down, yeah, yeah. Yeah, I've I haven't been to that one, but I've I tried some of their stuff too, but I know where it's at.

SPEAKER_01: 48:11

Have you had their mix? They mix their beers. Oh that perfection. Really? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Go check it out. Yeah, it's good to have just you know their pills or you know, their IPA. Yeah, that's it. They'll put a stout and IPA together and they'll they'll put uh pills in their IPA, a stout and uh pills, dude. They per perfection. Oh, geez, okay.

SPEAKER_00: 48:30

I did I need to get out more. Yeah, because I because I used to live over live music on too. Yeah, they do. That's what I when I was kind of starting off because I was living in the west side at the time. I was I was living near Imclaw in Black Diamond, and the top top now was one of those places like people started going and you know, too.

SPEAKER_01: 48:49

Yeah, he has a winery, the other owner has a winery, so just let you know.

SPEAKER_00: 48:53

Oh, okay. So a lot of connections. Yeah, that that whole area, there's that's a whole circuit. That's where like a lot of the big uh country people in this in the community in the scene, like that's where their kind of their hub is in that is in that South Peace town. It's yeah, it's huge.

SPEAKER_01: 49:06

And plus it's like central too. It's almost central when it comes to bringing the east to the west, yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 49:11

It is like yeah, Eam Claw for sure in that area. Like, yeah, that's that's why I felt pretty good being in that area at that time. And shut and then even the people there who support and love music and support a lot of the local, like I love every single one of them. I I don't I I would not be where I'm at uh as a musician without those people. Okay, yeah. So they were they were the foundation for me.

SPEAKER_01: 49:33

So music. What what was your last concert you attended? Oh god. And who?

SPEAKER_00: 49:42

I'm I'm I'm gonna get this confused. I did like two shows almost like back to back from month to month. I'm trying to remember which one it was. Uh it was uh I was with my buddy uh Grant Cisneros, and he uh he's a big tie metal head. I've known him since I was 19, and we went to go see him and his girlfriend. I think it was either Silosis, Fifer and Autopsy, or it was Throne, Varials, and No Cure. It was it was what it was there were two different shows, but I can't remember which one was the last one, but it but it was at El Corazone Seattle, you know, my old stomping grounds from my teen years. So that was the last one I could say was Okay, yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 50:23

Mine was close. I had I had I saw Picos on the rooftops the week uh week after I went to El Corazone to see Demon Hunter, War of Ages.

SPEAKER_00: 50:31

I was gonna say you're sure I was like, I saw your Demon Hunter shirt on. I was just like, there you go.

SPEAKER_01: 50:34

I'm a huge Demon Hunter fan, but like War of Ages killed it, confessions, dude. The the the Christian metal doesn't sound Christian metal, dude. When you at all. No. At all. And man, they bring it all, I think, almost harder than death metal, you know.

SPEAKER_00: 50:52

Yeah, the I it's surprising how people, when you say Christian metal, people immediately they turn off. They turn off, they're going they're going like they're like, That's that's not metal, going like, really? If I if I threw some bands and it did not give you that context, they would be like, This is awesome, this is so dark. You'd go like, yeah, Christian, yeah, you'd be surprised.

SPEAKER_01: 51:08

Yeah, man. Yeah, it is bad, it is badass. So finally got Demon Hunter off my my bucket list, and man, yeah. You listen to him? You listen to them?

SPEAKER_00: 51:18

Uh, I've listened to some of their stuff. I haven't got around to a lot of it, but I do like, I do like, I have no, I have nothing to get on.

SPEAKER_01: 51:25

Deep. There's some there's some deep stuff, man. And uh I'll tell you what, I I ended up crying, man. I ended up crying on some of the songs. Well, one in particular, but yeah, man. That that concert was good, but man, I was like, man, the venue sucks, but dude, that guy is quite the showman, dude. Oh, yeah. That's why I heard he has it, and you know, like just the his presence and everything else, very eclectic and everything else, and the I I notice, you know, I'm very observant, I watch a lot, you know. I go to the concerts and and I pick something out, you know. Yeah, and you know, I see I've seen Slaughter to Prevail. Oh, Rage Against the Machine. Those guys, they have that presence, but he has a different presence. And you know, like when when somebody's done the beat, they normally go by the snare or the bass.

SPEAKER_00: 52:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 52:17

He doesn't do that, he goes off by the symbol, dude. So he like for real high.

SPEAKER_00: 52:22

Kind of like kind of like my sugar thing or something like that.

SPEAKER_01: 52:24

Dude, it's weird, but he's you know, he's in his whole he's like he has like a wife beater kind of thing, right? And yeah, that trench coat that he wears, and that's right, his pants hiked up all the way to his chest, right? And suspenders. And the the way he moves, I'm like, you you could almost because I've I've seen Stone Toble pilots, Scott Scott Wyland, and he had his little movement, but I'm not saying I'm not saying that he had moves like Scott Wyland, but he was just like so clear, and then you see him symbol, you know, and it's yeah, it's like there's a showmanship to how he was doing it, yeah. And and it was just wild. So I picked up on that, and I was just like, huh, it's not the base, it's not just there. The symbol. He dude, he every time, yeah. Well, it's like he's on point. Oh, it's just just and you I've never seen that. And so I was just like, I was taken back and I'm just enjoying it. I'm like, I've never seen anybody do this before. And and he had it, it was in his own little world, but dude, he's been doing it since I mean first album, 2002.

SPEAKER_00: 53:23

Yeah, I was gonna say they've been around for a long time. Yeah, so yeah, the farm I remember coming into music, yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 53:28

Just just you know, just him just jamming out and then you in the movement on a symbol. It was just like, are you kidding?

SPEAKER_00: 53:37

Yeah, so that's totally different, yeah. And you're so that it gives you the best experience of going like, all right, something something that's different. I like that.

SPEAKER_01: 53:43

Yeah, man, it was it was good, and you know, and then you see some of the people that they you know, they're putting out horns, but then you you I mean you see people just filling up like it's you know gospel, yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 53:52

You know, and I'm just like I've never seen, I've never been to a concert that the people just raising their hand, and I'm like, all right, two sterile, but yeah, no, it's it kind of really does bring a lot of it brings a lot of people together and everything that with every concert. Oh, scratch that. Okay, back to what I was saying. I actually those shows I went to for my last one, and now I just it just clicked in my head just now. My last concert I went to was actually Labor Day weekend, it was actually Riley Green. Sorry. Oh it was Riley Green. Sorry, I'm I'm I gotta apologize to my my friend Steve Gale and Maddie Walker on that one. Uh they invited me to go to this that show. They were just like, you want to see Riley, Riley Green? They're huge fans. They're like, you gotta check this guy out. And and it was it was actually really it was really good because I I haven't been to a big country sh I can't remember the last one I went to, so that that was actually a cool experience. The guy who I don't know remember the guy who opened up for him, but it was bro country, you know.

SPEAKER_01: 54:44

But but probably Ian Moon's sake.

SPEAKER_00: 54:51

Yeah, I know it's like that was actually pretty that was a pretty good experience. But yeah, that was that I would say I got I definitely have gone to more rock shows in probably recent years than but yeah, that for a country one, that was that was a long time. So yeah, that was my last one. But yeah, not too often though, not too often. I wish I wish there, I wish that sometimes I there are times where I feel like I want to just enjoy music more often instead of performing too. That's where I love to go see friends perform.

SPEAKER_01: 55:14

I saw Riley Green at the Pendleton Whiskey Fest. My daughter made me go, and man, I tell you what, dude, I he's quite the looker, bro. He's D1 football player. You know that, right? Uh Riley Green?

SPEAKER_00: 55:26

Well, no, I did not know that. You didn't know that?

SPEAKER_01: 55:27

No, the the good looking country boy singer.

SPEAKER_00: 55:31

Yeah, I'd be like, yeah, yeah, he's yeah, he's he's not a bad looking dude, but like it was uh I'm not like that, but yeah, no, I know, I know, but no, you're like, hey, that's a handsome man.

SPEAKER_01: 55:38

When you see him, you're like, I get it. I see the why the girls are all. No, D1. D1 football player.

SPEAKER_00: 55:45

I was I literally did not know much about him until like my my my friend Maddie introduced me to him. She she she covers some of his songs, and that's was the first time I kind of was exposed to that. I was I was so unaware of it. So when I went to that concert, I didn't I didn't really know much about him. I'm just like, okay, yeah, let's see. Yeah, but yeah, no, he definitely has a stage presence, and yeah, I I think that crowd was all women. All women, all women.

SPEAKER_01: 56:11

I'm telling you, if if you good luck trying to get lucky when you're watching Riley, yeah. Hey, so I'm trying to talk to you. Why you're not looking at me? Exactly. Yeah, no, he was a D1 football player, man. And just oh, that's crazy, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 56:26

Yeah, I mean, like, man, I guess it makes sense.

SPEAKER_01: 56:28

Yeah, but no. When when's your next concert? Do you have one lined up?

SPEAKER_00: 56:32

Next show, as of right now. I think I'm getting the works with doing uh helping with the Ellensburg Winter Hop brew fest. Nice, yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 56:40

So we went there one time and froze our asses. Oh god, it's brutal.

SPEAKER_00: 56:44

Yeah, yeah, there's some years, and some years it's very it can be mediocre weather-wise, and you can just go around. And then I did I did it last year, and I remember it was it was cold in the morning, but then snow came in the last two hours of that brew fest, and it it was hard to drive or walk anywhere in town.

SPEAKER_01: 57:01

It was I like I like the setup though. I like when it goes from one place to all on the streets, yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 57:06

Like for for those that don't know, Noah, it's like yeah, it's like you have all these shops and everything along Pearl Street or wherever, and yeah, you just they each shop hosts a brewer or two, and you have one musician or band. And yeah, they they asked me a couple years ago about that, and yeah, good. I I we've been talking with them again. They they just came out with the information for it. So I think uh I think I'll be doing that, and that will be in January. So yeah, January 17th.

SPEAKER_01: 57:31

I we'll talk to the lady to let go again. We haven't gone in a couple years, but we'll we'll go. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 57:39

Oh, you should, man. That's oh, I I I waste about what's that? I was like, I used to I used to go to it a lot, so I I it's a good time.

SPEAKER_01: 57:45

Oh, yeah. Some of the beers there are wild though, man. I was just like, okay.

SPEAKER_00: 57:50

Those little tasting glasses they give you, man. After a while, when you're doing that for five hours, they feel like full beers. Yes. You're just like after you're just looking at it, going like, like, come on, finish this up. So gonna you're going, oh, okay. Like, yeah, I need I need a burger or something like that. I'm not gonna make it.

SPEAKER_01: 58:04

Yes, and then there's some that are uh quite courteous pores, too.

SPEAKER_00: 58:08

Oh, yeah. Well, no, yeah, especially if you who you know and it was the it was the surveyor, they're they're going like, like, oh, do you have no drink ticket? Oh, and you get more like I was kidding, yeah, yeah, yeah.

unknown: 58:17

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 58:18

Keep your glasses, so just give it to me.

SPEAKER_01: 58:20

We won't tell secrets, but yeah, yeah, no. I'll go. I'll if you put it on your schedule, I'll tell the lady and we'll we'll make a trip out over there. Man, man, we can we can keep going, man. But uh so my my next concert, man, dude, I tell you what, man, I don't get enough of them, and my wife is like really trying to disown me when when going to these guys' concert, red clay strays, man.

SPEAKER_00: 58:46

Oh, love red clay, dude.

SPEAKER_01: 58:47

I travel, I travel to see them. A lot of people are big. Yeah, okay. Well because when when they first came out, they didn't come west coast at all. You know, they a lot of a lot of those guys, they're just they're gonna be able to do that. They keep with their region, yeah. Yeah, but you know, so it's like all right, I'll reach out, see them in Vegas. I've seen them in Vegas every time they show up, so I'll travel there. But yeah, man, to get the good feel music, dude. I'll go see them any day, anytime.

SPEAKER_00: 59:16

Yeah, they they surprised me when they came onto the scene.

SPEAKER_01: 59:20

Yeah, yeah, and I that they they even tell you if went live that you know they're they're said to be country, but they're not, man. They're like soul, RB, red, red country, red rock country.

SPEAKER_00: 59:35

Yeah, and he the guy has such a distinct voice, too. And he had he has that it's it's rockability sound a little bit too uh to it and all like yeah, yeah, that I what I mean when they came out, I remember uh there were some songs I like, like Wondering Why, and Ghosts and stuff like that. But when and then I heard their next record with Disaster, Devil in My Ear, and I'm like, Oh yeah, what is like that. It all of a sudden just clicked in me. I'm going like this is amazing. This is incredible. And then you then seeing their live hearing their live rhyming record and all that stuff. It's just like, wow, the musicianship that these guys have and the drummer and everything like that.

SPEAKER_01: 1:00:14

It's like it's a good time. It's a good time to be around, man. Uh music, you know. Because I'm going to Vegas, my wife was all like, Oh, well, you never take me to a concert. So guess where I guess the next day I have to go see. Yeah, just guess. I said I said her name earlier, and and you you made that comment. C Mariah Carey, Christmas in Vegas, man. Hey. Hey, I have to please the light, the lady, the wife.

SPEAKER_00: 1:00:38

I should, I should have said anything about the 12 gauge thing about that.

SPEAKER_01: 1:00:40

No, no, that's great, man. That's awesome. Right? But you know what? Um I'm trying to, it's during NFR. That's why I go down there as well. NFR, man, just you know, a bunch of like-minded people just having a good old time, drinking beer, and you know, some go and see the rodeo live, but a lot, like myself, go to the local bar and just get shit face hammered. Go to Cowboy Christmas, get shit face hammered at the bar and then you know, go to a concert, man. That's the best time to go to a concert. So she found out Mariah Carey's playing. She was like, uh, so I just gave her my card and it was like, just get it, we'll do that.

SPEAKER_00: 1:01:18

Yeah, that's uh it's probably gonna be a good time. Yeah, you maybe be surprised.

SPEAKER_01: 1:01:22

Yeah, yeah. And then you know, music, man. What what's your thoughts on Shane Smith and the Saints, man?

SPEAKER_00: 1:01:28

I do like Shane Smith. I've seen him live? I have not. Incredible, really, dude.

SPEAKER_01: 1:01:32

They got this presence up there, man. All of them, all of them, you know, even including the bassists. He's he's he's a big guy, bassist, but man, with the fiddle, you know, the violinists and him, and and and and the way they they they sing together, like during the choir themselves, man. It's just uh unbelievable. And and Shane Smith, man, the lyrics alone, yeah. And a lot of his in in a lot of his songs, dude, just get you in the fill. Sometimes seeing them when they come in, I think March. March? Where are they playing at? Oh, where's it? They're playing in the Spokane one uh either Northern Quest or the Tribal One.

SPEAKER_00: 1:02:10

Oh, Tribe Spokane Tribal Casino.

SPEAKER_01: 1:02:11

Uh that's where they're playing.

SPEAKER_00: 1:02:12

Okay, that's that's a cool venue.

SPEAKER_01: 1:02:14

That's yeah, it reminds me of uh the Brooklyn Bowl in uh Vegas. Oh, okay. It's like almost like knitting factory, but not quite. Like knitting factory had those layers.

SPEAKER_00: 1:02:25

Yeah, just straight all around. Okay. No, that's pretty cool though. No, that'll be an awesome show.

SPEAKER_01: 1:02:30

March, oh man, I might I might have to try to saw them in Wheatstock and there was a bad uh storm, so they cut short, but they ended up playing in just a wee wind dust storm, and they knocked it out of the park still with the 30 45 minute show that they put on. Oh man. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 1:02:46

So you d you got some awesome taste in the country music. Oh, yeah. That's some good stuff. Oh yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 1:02:52

Uh yeah, it just if if the lyrics are true and and connect, I'm I'm there. If it's like, you know, I'm a huge Toby Keith fan, but you know, the the whole beer stuff, yeah. It doesn't uh I like to drink beer, but I don't want to be singing or hearing music about beer, beer, beer, you know. And there's a lot of the country nowadays is like that, what they consider country. And I I'll tell you what, Americana country is what I stick to.

SPEAKER_00: 1:03:22

Yeah, because again, the it there's our they all were even when they having bands, they were all solo guys at one point, and they just they just wrote exactly, and again, that's that brings back to like what's saying about like with like Cody Jinx. I consider him Americana, even though he's he's under the now the country category. I even with all of his early stuff, because there's some songs he wrote that really kind of like with like first song I ever heard of him that he did was Cast No Stones, yep, and then going before that, like looking for a friend and all that like he definitely there's some songs that really put me like going like wow, like he understood where I was going through, or like how do you know I was going through this kind of thing? It's like it's that's some good stuff.

SPEAKER_01: 1:04:04

Yeah, what a favorite concert, man. Favorite concert, what what band like just gotcha?

SPEAKER_00: 1:04:11

My my honesty, my favorite show to this day, which obviously stems from me being young, was when I finally saw Metallica.

SPEAKER_01: 1:04:20

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_00: 1:04:21

When I finally saw Metallica back, this was 2017.

SPEAKER_01: 1:04:25

Okay.

SPEAKER_00: 1:04:27

They're playing at Century Link. And they were with uh Gojira and Avenged Sevenfold. Oh man, Gojira, dude. And I've seen Gojira, I've I've seen Gojira before, but oh man, they didn't they didn't do so well with their with their sound. It was too muddled, even though I could hear it, I could tell like I'm like, oh, it's that's this is the song, but everyone else is going, What? I can't even tell where where the song's at. And I was like, ah, and it's like that's a bummer. Even got better. Yeah, but then seeing Metallic, you know, being going like remembering me being 12 years old and now being like 26, 27, I'm going like, and they played every song that I wanted them to play. And yeah, they it was just great. That was that stuck in my memory of being like that. I'm like, I I could die a happy man kind of thing.

SPEAKER_01: 1:05:14

Alright, man. I'm gonna age myself my first con my first concert was uh use your illusion tour, dude. Whoa, yeah, with Faith No More opening it.

SPEAKER_00: 1:05:23

Oh, okay. Hey, Faith No More. I do love Faith No More, but that that goes but way back.

SPEAKER_01: 1:05:27

Yeah, that's uh I've seen Guns N' Roses three times, three different eras. Nothing is the first nothing's like the first, but the third, man, you know, any any bands that can play three and a half hours, it's solid in my book, man. But like Guns N' Roses, Slaughter Trip of Veil, dude, just his live, like how he does his thing. Yeah, you know, Alex the Terrible, but uh that that one Guns N' Roses, and dude, I'm gonna tell you if you haven't hands down seen him at all live. I mean Stapleton's out there, Chris, you know, just how he is, dude. Guitarist, you know, but Sturgle Simpson, man.

SPEAKER_00: 1:06:06

Oh, dude.

SPEAKER_01: 1:06:07

Have you seen him live?

SPEAKER_00: 1:06:08

No, he's he's on my bucket list.

SPEAKER_01: 1:06:10

He I saw him and I hands down the best uh show I've ever seen in my life.

SPEAKER_00: 1:06:16

I've heard he's just incredible live.

SPEAKER_01: 1:06:18

He doesn't talk much, which I love. That's the same thing as Caether. Caether doesn't talk much. Oh no, yeah, I see. They just they just play. And I love that, dude. You're like, dude, yeah, I'm here to music. Yeah, yeah, music aside, you just just rock out. Caether's one of them, but Sturgeville Simpson, man. Three and a half hours of just non-stop, just jamming out, dude. Like I I was at all. I was like, I need more. I just needed more, man. If you ever get a chance, see him. And then yeah, I that's when his he was on not this last tour, but the tour before his last he cut the Spokane show to go to Portland. Oh, yeah. I remember that. So I'm at the gorge. So I'm at the gorge, and man, three and a half hours, and I'm just like, all right. So the way his presence, but then I put something on social media, you know, social media sucks, dude. But, anyways, I'm like, man, he's probably the greatest showman I've ever seen. And then some guy was like, If well man, you if you you don't know Sturgil, then you know, he's he says hands down he's very insecure of his stage presence. I was like, bro, I didn't see it. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_00: 1:07:26

Who I was like, who's not insecure? I don't stage. I I I'm insecure all the freaking time.

SPEAKER_01: 1:07:30

He he would he would basically say that he's not the best showman. I'm like, to each our own, but like, you know, you know, it's just like dude, it was hands down the best show I've ever been in. I've seen a lot of concerts, I've seen a lot of comedians, you know, yeah, just do their thing, dude. He Sturgeil, there's something about him, man, just how he does it, how he performs, just jams out with his band and and just nonstop goes. That's so cool.

SPEAKER_00: 1:07:58

You got to see it. Dude, I'm jell, I'm jealous.

SPEAKER_01: 1:08:01

I I'll always see him like uh, you know, because they don't come out here much. No. I think it's because of the taxes. I think it's because, you know, a lot of people don't, you know.

SPEAKER_00: 1:08:12

Whoever you're following or whatever it is.

SPEAKER_01: 1:08:14

And I also feel like a lot of people uh that don't align politically don't come up here too.

SPEAKER_00: 1:08:19

That's true. I've I have noticed that in the last five or so years that that yeah, people they don't they don't come up here. It's a bummer too, because it's just like it's like don't don't put uh people under that kind of umbrella because you uh yeah, it's it's really stupid. Yeah, I think I think we'd put away the politics and that kind of crap.

SPEAKER_01: 1:08:36

I know man, so like politics aside, dude, best best concert I've ever been to is Sturgil.

SPEAKER_00: 1:08:41

Oh man, yeah, that's that I could I could see that three and a half hours of that. So I would I would be blown away, man. Yeah, that would be so cool. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 1:08:49

And then yeah, the crappiest one, I'm huge fans, seeing them multiple times when they but when they started getting sober, dude, it was just nothing like it. So Kings of Leon, man, I'm a huge fan. I've I've only been over when they got sober, it was just like, damn, man, but when they were fucked up, dude, two and a half, three hours just jamming out, just like Sturgeil, you know, Nashville sound, the Oklahoma, Tennessee sound that they have. Yeah, you ever gotten into Kings of Leon?

SPEAKER_00: 1:09:18

I know I know some of their heads. Sex on fire. Yeah, sex on fire. I know that's obviously, but I know I know people are like die hard.

SPEAKER_01: 1:09:24

Yeah, go to their old stuff.

SPEAKER_00: 1:09:26

Old stuff, yeah. Because I remember yeah, a lot of people have always like uh I know I know I have a few friends that are just love their stuff. And and again, I don't I I don't have opinion because I don't I haven't listened to them, so I can't really give you my full opinion.

SPEAKER_01: 1:09:37

Yeah, you see them live. I've seen them a lot of times, man. And yeah, that that transition when they uh cleaned their act, they took them a bit. I th I took them a bit to get the sober life. Yeah. And yeah, it's uh you can really tell, man, when people are struggling and struggling sober.

SPEAKER_00: 1:09:58

Yeah, yeah, it's that the and when it when you could see it just right there as plain as day. You're just kinda you're like, like, I'm not, I'm not, I can't enjoy this, man. It's just it's just hurting me, kind of thing. Yeah, I I yeah, I've seen a couple of those scenarios.

SPEAKER_01: 1:10:10

If if anything, man, it like seriously, we've been here on uh uh for an hour, you know that, right?

SPEAKER_00: 1:10:14

Have we?

SPEAKER_01: 1:10:15

Yeah, we've been here for an hour, man, talking. We could we can go another time, but like anytime you want to go to a concert or you know, if you're playing whatnot, give me a call, man.

SPEAKER_00: 1:10:26

Oh, dude, I would love to, man. That'd be awesome.

SPEAKER_01: 1:10:28

Yeah, I always you know, I go to concerts alone a lot, but man, I definitely would love to go to a concert with you. And yeah, man. Um you see you jam out eventually soon, multiple times. You know, I'm I'm not a not a roadie kind of guy, but you know, I'll go and uh support acts and then the local pub or wherever you're the venue. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 1:10:52

So no, and I again I do appreciate you reaching out, man, and for for getting this all set up, man. This has been this been awesome. Just this bit I can't believe an hour's gone by. Dude, it goes quick.

SPEAKER_01: 1:11:02

There's sometimes, you know, a lot of people are like, hey, I'm gonna go three hours. And when they when they try to say they go three hours, we it it does, but we do do that, but man, it takes a lot on out on you. It takes a lot and just mentally you start mumbling your words, you start thinking other things. You're like, okay, I need to go get something to eat.

SPEAKER_00: 1:11:23

I you know oh yeah, no, what I've done. I'm trying to look back and just think about like like did I did I say say everything I needed to say kind of thing, but no, it's like this is still like it's still fun, and like and I hope and I hope to because I know it's just like because I know haven't had the chance you haven't seen me perform or anything, and I hope hopefully it gets a chance chance to come out here in two to perform, man. I will because it is a great honestly, I do have to say this is a great community of musicians that I've I've had the pleasure of being around for the last four years. So yeah, it's a there's a lot of great music, and I'm glad that Tri Cities has become such a good hub too for that as well.

SPEAKER_01: 1:11:57

So yes, speaking of you know, Yotes, yeah. Oh yeah, that rockabilly, yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 1:12:02

Great dude.

SPEAKER_01: 1:12:03

There's there's nothing like asking him, hey man, can you play a little tiger army?

SPEAKER_00: 1:12:08

You know them? Uh he's talked to me about them, but yeah, no, I don't know.

SPEAKER_01: 1:12:12

Oh, dude, dude check them out. Check them out. They started they they started big soCal and he went okay, he went he went solo, so he's he's got that rockabilly 1950s country going on. Solo. Uh yeah, Nick 13 is what Nick 13 is his name, yeah, Tiger Army, but then also his solo stuff. But he came out with uh AFI, he did a few things with AF Right, and they yeah, they came up together and yeah, three-piece band, bass, and everything, rock, true rockability.

SPEAKER_00: 1:12:42

True rock ability.

SPEAKER_01: 1:12:43

So yeah, check it out, dude. You'll you'll like that sound. But uh yeah, when when I when I saw Yotes, I was like, dude, play some Tiger Army, and he did, bro. Oh my god, no one no one knew what he was playing. He but I'm all rocking out, yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 1:12:56

Yotes, like when I first it was so funny because like I I've seen him, one of those guys you just hear of, you you see his name, yeah. And I met him at Ruckus in the Boonies in Hepner, Oregon. And yeah, big hill like rockabilly guy, like, and he's a great guy, good dude. Oh, yeah. Uh yeah, he was he was talking to me all about all that stuff about like you know, all the stuff he listened to and all that stuff, and then the next day, because we partied all night in Heppner, and I was partying too much. I just went to go pass out my car in the parking lot, and then the next day we both had this singer-songwriter at Long Branch, and we just see each other. How are you doing? Uh it was a long night. So it was cool to actually get to hear him do a bunch of his law of his range of all the stuff he's written. It it's really cool stuff. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 1:13:43

So when when the festivals come back, you gonna plaster them on your social media?

SPEAKER_00: 1:13:48

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 1:13:49

Where where can people find you?

SPEAKER_00: 1:13:51

You can find me at Facebook, Jared Graham, and then on Instagram, Jared.q.gram. You could those those are my main two. I don't I don't have TikTok or anything.

SPEAKER_01: 1:14:01

I'll plaster them on the description.

SPEAKER_00: 1:14:03

Awesome.

SPEAKER_01: 1:14:04

Of this episode and everything else. And man, it's it's a pleasure. Hopefully, you know, we talked about everything. You know, you said to yourself, you don't know if you've said everything, but you could always come back, man.

SPEAKER_00: 1:14:16

Yeah, because it's like and it's just been it's it's it was really cool to kind of talk about all this stuff. You know, I don't really talk about with a lot of people about all my my background and everything.

SPEAKER_02: 1:14:24

Tell me about it.

SPEAKER_00: 1:14:25

Yeah, yeah. So it's it's really cool to have this of like an open conversation and talk about everything about everything music. So that's that's just fun.

SPEAKER_01: 1:14:34

That's what I wanted to do, man. And I and you you fell for it, and I I think uh everybody's gonna be happy, you know. A lot of people try to pinpoint this podcast. It started out just having conversations during uh COVID years and me traveling here, there, everywhere in between to tackle mountains and miles and stuff like that. That's how it started. But then I started putting all the the music, I started putting all the stuff that I enjoy. And you know, top three percent in the world and podcasts. I'm not broguing money, you know, but I do my thing, and people I've I've lost a lot of people, I've gained a lot of people, and it just comes with the territory. But people have started to notice, the regular listeners started to notice like who I am. I've never put out who I was or who I what I've why I do what I do. Yeah, I've thought about it, but I I I don't think I'm gonna do it. It's just too much. Too much. I I I let my guests give a little tidbits on who I am as a person. And so with you being on, it it should say a lot. It means a lot for me to have you on. Love music. Music's a huge part of my life, you know. Oh yeah. And I appreciate you letting me share that and you share your story and what you why you do what you do.

SPEAKER_00: 1:15:52

So yeah. Thanks, man. Oh, thank you, man. No, and I have to say, honestly, before we end this, like, man, it's like like when you asked me to come on this, like I don't know, like it goes right back to how we were saying, like, I don't know if if you followed me or I followed you, how how this all started. Like either way, the fact that when you reached out, I would I I felt honored that you even because I I could seeing your catalog of of who you've interviewed on this, I I I think is a pretty big deal.

SPEAKER_01: 1:16:18

Oh, thanks.

SPEAKER_00: 1:16:19

So I I felt really honored that you would even ask me because like I it was just like like me? Like, are you sure you want this guy? Like I was like, I was a little like, oh my gosh. So thank you for again for everything. Yeah, it's been awesome.

SPEAKER_01: 1:16:31

Yeah, thank you. And yeah, I'm always man, I I love the music, and I know I can't go to every concert, but I I take these little, you know, the gigs and the pubs and and wineries and everything else as a live concert myself, and then I do do my best to treat you guys like you're treating me because I love you know the different renditions of songs, yeah. And so no, dude, I'm gonna support you guys, and this is my way of supporting you and putting you into light. So hopefully you come a little more often on this side, and uh people can uh hear your sound and start getting to know more people.

SPEAKER_00: 1:17:10

Yeah, no, I know again, I appreciate it, man. This this is this is really cool to give me this opportunity, and yeah, just for you to uh help help me along this. Again, this has just been a journey for me and just kind of just like I said, it's just going with the flow. So thank you for that.

SPEAKER_01: 1:17:24

Anytime, Jared, and uh until next time.

SPEAKER_00: 1:17:25

Until next time. All right, buddy.