#67 Drew Nix - From End Zones to Encores: Drew Nix's Evolution from Athlete to Artist

Join us as we navigate the fascinating life journey of Drew Nix, a former football athlete who took a detour into the world of music. With his roots in Hoover, Alabama, and a football coach for a father, Drew's adolescence revolved around the gridiron. This episode provides an intimate look into Drew's transition from high school football to the struggles he faced in college when his football scholarship fell through. Drew candidly shares his experience navigating through academic life, partying mishaps, a DUI incident, and his eventual reckoning and shift toward his passion for music.

The story doesn't stop at the football field; we journey with Drew into the thrilling world of music. We explore the formation of his band, the dynamics within, and the difficult decision to part ways with two of its members. Drew shares the exhilarating and often challenging process of finding a unique sound that ultimately becomes The Red Clay Strays!! He also sheds light on the difficulties of securing a record deal, the unexpected strings that come attached, and his wife, Laurie Anne Armour-Nix's  journey in the music industry. 

Drew not only shares the highs and lows of his life but also his aspirations and dreams for the future. He hopes to continue making music until his last breath. This revealing conversation offers a peek into the world of a former athlete turned musician and the challenges and triumphs that come with such a transition. Get ready for an episode that promises a thrilling narrative, insightful revelations, and much more. This is not just a tale of sports and music. It's a story of resilience, passion, and the pursuit of dreams, told by the very person who lived it - Drew Nix.

Below are links to Drew's socials, The Red Clay Strays website, his wife Laurie Ann's socials, and her website as well!



https://www.facebook.com/RCSDN?mibextid=ZbWKwL


https://www.facebook.com/RedClayStrays?mibextid=ZbWKwL

https://instagram.com/redclaystrays?igshid=NjIwNzIyMDk2Mg==


https://www.redclaystrays.com/


https://laurieannemusic.com/


https://instagram.com/l.a.armour?igshid=NjIwNzIyMDk2Mg==


https://www.facebook.com/laurie.a.armour?mibextid=ZbWKwL

Transcript

Speaker 1: 1:13

Alright, everybody, we are back for another episode. It is not your typical episode, but I've explained to people that not just everyone in sports or just stays in sports as a vision quest we are joined today. I was intrigued by you guys, number one just because of the style of music you play and it draws me in further to that type of music. But I don't want to typecast you guys because, honestly, I hear like four different bands that I listen to in what you guys play. I am joined by Drew Nix, who is the guitarist and vocalist for a band called well, I don't even know what you call backup vocalist or anything but a band called Reg Clay Strays. Man, I am super happy that you joined me because, again, as I was explaining you and I kind of jumped we ended with was that everything ties.

Speaker 1: 2:03

Everyone has a vision quest, everyone does it all. It all pertains to what you're trying to put into something that you have a vision you know, and what you want to accomplish or what you want to complete. So I thought it would be kind of cool just to random reach out, just so you know these guys seem like they're. You know they still seem like they're accessible, you can still still reach out to them. You know, yeah, but you guys are doing really good. So, drew, when I messaged, you kind of told me that you were in sports, so that's even more convenient for the show that you were. You started out in sports, so I mean, we were, like I said, we start from way back to when you can remember stuff. So where, where let's start off of? Where you come from, what town you from, in what state.

Speaker 2: 2:49

I'm from Hoover, alabama, okay, so where's that at?

Speaker 1: 2:54

it's in Birmingham, probably 15 minutes south okay, all right, I lived in Cairo, georgia, for a year or two. I was training dogs down there, so I'm not from. I went through Alabama but I'm not completely familiar with Alabama. So what was that like what you can remember as is kind of starting off playing around as a kid, like what was that like in the summer? Was that super hot down there?

Speaker 2: 3:15

yeah, it's. It's pretty sweltering in Alabama at all times. Yeah, I mean, I started out in sports when I was a kid, yeah, but I've been around it since I was a twinkle in my dad's eye, okay, he was just a, he was a football coach. So he was a. He coached high school football from you 88, 80, something, that like 2000, 2003, I can't remember all right. He was in it.

Speaker 2: 3:49

He was he's in it for almost 20 years or at 20 years yeah so he was gone a lot, but he always just he traveled to different schools and coached at different schools.

Speaker 2: 4:03

He was an offense coordinator okay, okay always was intrigued with football, but I didn't really start football until I was a little bit older, like middle school baseball first as a kid and I don't know if I liked it or not, I don't feel like I really started paying attention anything until like I was nine or ten, yeah, and I started watching like sports center a lot and my dad when he started taking notice of that he was like you want to play football? That was like sure all right? I guess yeah, and then I was a bigger kid, so they put me in the 125 pound weight class or something yes in sixth grade yep.

Speaker 2: 4:47

Everybody else was in. I was in fifth grade and everybody else was in sixth grade yep on my team and I didn't play at all, but I think I was starting to kind of figure it out, yeah, yeah, and I don't even know what position I played then, but I played. I really didn't play that whole year, but the next year I played with my month, with my, with my actual age and man, I just absolutely dominated everybody. I played nose guard and I played a little bit of tight end and I was just bigger than everybody, stronger than everybody, faster than everybody, yeah, and was your dad, your coach no, I didn't mention that.

Speaker 2: 5:31

So this was, it was like a, it was like a travel club okay, yeah we, we had multiple teams in the league yeah, the Hoover Youth Football Organization, and when there was like a Hoover Orange and a Hoover Black and a Hoover Blue and Hoover Blue was our rival schools playing part. Yeah, but man, I played with James Winston. You ever heard of him?

Speaker 1: 5:57

I'm familiar with that name.

Speaker 2: 5:59

Yeah, let us know where that's from, though so James won the Heisman trophy in yeah 2013. He was the quarterback for the state yeah, me and him and this dude named Daniel Austin were like the hardest hitting dudes on the team. I think that's in that point and I'm not. I'm not trying to be cocky, you know, not at all. Everybody was like we enjoy that big dude.

Speaker 1: 6:29

Yeah, when you say dominate and stuff in the field, like we enjoy that portion of sports, like just pure domination. I mean, that's what you're out there to do, right, that's what your coach is telling you to do. And then when you do it and it's pretty easily like, yeah, get the fuck out of here dude, I had like maybe 20 stacks that year or it was.

Speaker 2: 6:48

It might have been 16, but it was. I was averaging like two or three stacks a game. Nobody, nobody, could block me. I remember one dude I ran a ran after my kickoff in the championship game and I hit him so hard he cried the next time. That's awesome. I was supposed to go against him like he was. It was man, so much fun. I miss it. I miss that. But as I started growing up, people started, the players started kind of catching up to me. I think I just had a really great spurt.

Speaker 2: 7:20

Yeah, whatever it happens man seventh and eighth grade, like I was. I was still pretty, pretty dominant and 160s 170s. Yeah, yeah, I started getting. I started getting caught up with the ninth grade. Yeah, I was just, I was still a starter in ninth grade, but I didn't quite. I wouldn't quite making this the same, I wasn't producing the same. Sure, yeah, yeah, I was still playing baseball. I'd ran track at one point yeah.

Speaker 2: 7:53

I guess I was just trying to find my foot in in life and because I mean, you're in ninth grade, you don't know what you're gonna do the rest of your life.

Speaker 1: 8:01

No not at all got.

Speaker 2: 8:03

We got a kid upstairs trying to figure it out right now yeah yeah, home journey, kid right, but man ninth grade, like I said, they started catching up to me. And then 10th grade. Everybody's just pretty much like pass me up well, you're, but you're from Alabama, though.

Speaker 1: 8:24

To like that's like a like football is what you guys have for lunch, right, like that's kind of in dinner and they would.

Speaker 2: 8:32

Yeah, and that's the time. So I don't know if you've ever heard of Hoover High School, but they were. They had their own TV show in like 2006 and 7 on MTV. It was called two days, oh really they're on that yeah they were like one of the most dominant high school football programs in the country like a couple decades, and I didn't play, but like I wouldn't, I wouldn't on two days or anything like that, because that was before my time yeah but it was a really big deal to play there and that coach that was there before ended up leaving because he, like he had like a second family, like a secret second family or something that's cool.

Speaker 1: 9:16

You know it's fun yeah, he was like dream life grades and stuff like that.

Speaker 2: 9:21

So by the time I get to ninth grade we have a new coach and for varsity and same you could swear it's alright, same shit. No, it's. I thought it was Chad. Never, it's not chatting, but it's a dang it. His name's coach nibblet, yeah, either way. Yeah, his brother.

Speaker 2: 9:44

His brother was office coordinator, okay, and he came in, and I guess this is where the success parts comes in yeah, because, even though I really wasn't getting playing time, everything he preached was just about doing the right thing at all times and being the best Christian guy that you can be. And everybody within the collective team has a role and everybody yeah if everybody does their job, no matter what, you're going to be successful.

Speaker 1: 10:18

Yep.

Speaker 2: 10:18

And I guess that's just kind of stuck with me all this time. And then dude we, my three years on varsity, we, we went to state all three years. Nice, we lost. We lost twice but we won my sophomore year, which I, I think I got, like it was either my sophomore junior year I got one play, um, I was on like kickoff return team or something like that, but I player.

Speaker 2: 10:46

So, but all three years, man, I just grinded until um. I was just really trying to get a starting spot by my senior year and it never really happened. But yeah uh, I really went for it, you know so it's.

Speaker 1: 10:59

It's interesting, you know how. So I was good in soccer, where we were like around here like it was football, basketball, soccer, and then there, you know I think other people were like no, it's track or tennis, but that's kind of what it was in my area. But I played soccer, my brother played soccer and I was better at that where we both wrestled, he was better at wrestling, so it was kind of like you're talking about these paths Like I kind of found a way to allow wrestling to help my soccer, because I was no good, I mean, I was. I was in a position where I was weighing more than I can handle as far as the muscle, and just like football, I mean you, you grow at a certain spurt and whether you had the mentality or strength to do it, you start to kind of, am I going to do this? This kind of sucks? I don't know how long I'm going to be able to do this. You know my grades weren't good either, so I definitely wasn't striving for any scholarships coming up, that's for sure, cause I liked hanging out at pallet parties and, and you know, doing the fun stuff where I wasn't, I was dedicated to fun stuff, not dedicated to sports.

Speaker 1: 11:59

But, man, I'll tell you what some of these kids, knowing the state that you come from in football and just competition like that, to like those kids, have to eat and breathe and sleep that stuff in order to be successful. I mean your coach, that coach that you were talking about that hit the nail on the head that you, you everyone, has a job and it's just anywhere else. Everyone has a job. You perform that job. It makes your day go that much easier because things flow easier, right?

Speaker 1: 12:26

So it's it's interesting that it took that long to run into that type of coach. I mean, I'm sure every coach has that like meaning behind what they're doing, but for someone to be able to finally put it out there it's almost like an aha moment just in life in general, like, oh, all you got to do is just my part.

Speaker 2: 12:40

Okay, all right, this makes sense and do it to the best of your ability. Yeah, that's, that was the thing that you know. You, if you, if you were fighting every day and doing your job to the best of your ability, you're giving yourself a chance to be successful, and it's not going to happen every time.

Speaker 1: 12:56

Were you getting and I talked about my grades, I don't know what yours were like, but were you getting like offers from schools saying, hey, we want you to come, but you got to bring your GPA up, or anything like that, or no, no?

Speaker 2: 13:08

I had a pretty decent You'd be, I mean I'd like. I think I had like a three. I think I had like a three, four or five.

Speaker 1: 13:13

We were.

Speaker 2: 13:16

Not necessarily, dude. I got to college and I don't even I don't know if I broke a 2.0 in college, but man, no, I got. I got a. Um, I had one football scholarship that was like an athletic scholarship.

Speaker 1: 13:31

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 13:32

To like a in a in a I a school Yup, Yup, Uh. In Montgomery, and I didn't like the vibe at all they told me I was going to get a certain amount of money and then they changed the last minute because I waited till Signing day.

Speaker 1: 13:47

Payton switch.

Speaker 2: 13:49

Yeah, I wasn't. But there's this place called Mississippi college that I sent them to and it was all practice films, so I'm sure they were really laughing at it when when they got it, yeah, but, um, whatever, I had a buddy when I, when I was a sophomore, we had a senior linebacker named Landon Moore who really had a big influence on me just as a as a dude and as a good person, and I used to I would just hit him up like hey man, do you like going to this place, you like playing ball here? And it's like dude, yeah, I love it, I'm having a great time, yeah, and uh, I just eventually kind of followed him and went and played football there and they didn't, so that it it was division three.

Speaker 2: 14:32

So they didn't give out, uh, athletic scholarships, sure, so they were giving out what you call a leadership scholarship, which is an academic scholarship for athletes.

Speaker 1: 14:42

So it matters. It matters man, it's money. Yeah, that's whatever loopholes work.

Speaker 2: 14:48

I guess that's right, that's right.

Speaker 1: 14:50

What school is that at again?

Speaker 2: 14:53

It's called Mississippi college. Okay, it's in, uh, clinton, clinton, mississippi. Um, it's a very, very strict Christian school. Okay, I feel like as a Christian as a more of a Christian now than I was I would enjoy it now, but I don't think I was ready for it at the time. Yeah, so I did some really dumb stuff, man. You know you're growing up.

Speaker 1: 15:22

You're growing up, dude.

Speaker 2: 15:23

I party like four or five days a week, dude, just hey, where are we drinking tonight? Yeah, cool, all right, not proud of it, hey, whatever.

Speaker 1: 15:31

And we talk about it all the time on here. I mean you guys are 17, 18, you know maybe a couple or 19 here and there, but like you're expected to make a four or five year decision that lines up the rest of your life Like what. I don't even know that my kid would take out the trash at the time if I tell them to right now.

Speaker 1: 15:47

Yeah, and so it's a lot, it's a there's a lot of weight on that. So when you got there, how I mean, obviously you said you were kind of drinking and stuff like that. But I mean, were you able to maintain like it, like it just kind of like, nope, not to, it's not a test today. I'm not going, man, I'm not going to lecture, I'm not doing that.

Speaker 2: 16:05

No, Dude, I didn't show up. I didn't show up to class, bro, like I took a guitar class and I failed because I didn't show up and look what you're doing now. Yeah, I know that irony, right, right.

Speaker 1: 16:16

You're nailing it. You're nailing it. Well, okay. So you, when you got into college, then like, obviously it's a struggle. We see guys that are, that are high level NCAA. You know wrestlers that struggled, almost didn't finish your college careers, you know. So I mean, it doesn't matter which direction or which place you go to, it's still it doesn't matter, it's still a struggle in life. So how did you find your way back and kind of slowly got back into things, or how did you? Did you end up dropping out of college? What happened?

Speaker 2: 16:44

Um, um, let's see my path was I? I was a freshman in sophomore playing football, and that is, that is a full time job. Yeah, and I don't care what anybody says, Like this whole pay your athletes thing in college, I'm okay with it because they were giving their entire life to it. Yeah, correct, um, but man, my first year I didn't get. I got I actually made the like travel squad and I went and uh, I might have been at worst third string, maybe at best second string, Got some special teams play time and uh, got our butts whooped just about every Saturday, like I'm talking, maybe there was like three games where we got to be like 74 to like 13. Man, and they're just. I'm just like can I get in now? You have nothing else to lose, right?

Speaker 1: 17:48

Right Nothing at all Nothing.

Speaker 2: 17:51

No, there's. I mean what it? I'm sorry You're going to go up to 80 points now. Yeah, like just because you put me in Right.

Speaker 1: 17:59

So, now now I'll play time, but you still put the work in right. I mean because he kind of had new. You had a, you had a role to play, you know.

Speaker 2: 18:06

Yeah, for sure.

Speaker 2: 18:08

And uh, just coming from a successful program like Hoover and and going into that was kind of like a and it wasn't like I don't think it was a coach's fault, because he was a great man, yeah, and he expected standards from us that I just think the culture wasn't ready to try to meet there. You know, yeah, our coaches were all cool. One of them even used to work for saving and he's probably doing things now. But, yeah, I learned a lot about like the schematics of football there and I really tried my best, because what I love about football is that it's like a it is a full-on chess match but flying bodies everywhere. You know, like that's what I love it, you know.

Speaker 1: 18:52

Right, yeah, for sure.

Speaker 2: 18:55

But I guess, getting back to what got me out of that was, uh, I guess after my sophomore year I'd worked so hard that I'd gotten up to like second string and all these new recruits came in and they were good and uh, I'd worked up and all of a sudden it just, uh, I think I ended up on third string before we started the season and I lost like a starting spot on special teams.

Speaker 1: 19:22

Really, it was like I don't care anymore.

Speaker 2: 19:25

So I started partying even more than I was before and I never got anything hard or nothing. It was just drinking way too much. And one night, me and my buddy I won't name them, but uh, we were coming back from a partying and he was throwing up. Uh he had, uh, he had tried the devil's lettuce and he was drinking that night too, so he was throwing up and I felt, fine, I shouldn't have been driving. But uh, we stopped at a waffle house one mile away from campus.

Speaker 1: 20:06

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 20:08

And, uh, I was like, hey, let's swap. Um, so I took the wheel and I don't, I don't know, I just didn't have my lights on. It was well lit street.

Speaker 1: 20:20

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 20:21

I got pulled over and my heart just like sank and I Was in jail for like 14 hours for DUI and Lucky.

Speaker 2: 20:31

I had to wait for that guy to come down me out, which was awesome, and I he's still one of my best friends today. Yeah, it was just a bad night and he came and got me and I tried to keep it quiet for like a week, yeah, and Nobody. I guess some of my teammates might have heard and stuff like that. Maybe a couple days later, but like three or four guys from the team went and stole some bicycles from Walmart or something.

Speaker 1: 21:03

Oh.

Speaker 2: 21:04

I remember going in and into our team meeting man, and everybody's just like looking at me, like Looking at me with eyebrows up, just like they know. How do you all know this? They were like you know, the police department came to coach Jones and said man, you know we had a problem, this is the fourth player We've arrested this week. And they were like you arrested the three guys, who's the fourth one?

Speaker 1: 21:38

Oh, that sucks. Yeah that's so.

Speaker 2: 21:43

Hey, called me into that that my head coach called Because Joseph was his name. He called me into his office. It was like Son, you're really not getting a whole lot of playing time as it is right now. Nothing's really gonna change, man, you're just definitely not gonna play now. So If you wouldn't have kept it from me and maybe worked it all out, and been fine. But so then I started taking it a little bit further and still drank more and more and more.

Speaker 2: 22:14

Yeah and there was a point where I just was like, man, I Don't want to do, I don't want to go back, yeah, this isn't fun anymore, right, and I Think I finished. I finished out the season, mm-hmm, and I've worked. I've worked out a lot and I was trying to get in good shape and I just didn't. But it wasn't to be in football. This is just trying to lose weight and date girls and yeah, look good.

Speaker 2: 22:44

Yeah, look good. Yeah, and I Just didn't show up for spring training. I just didn't even tell them anything, I didn't say I wasn't coming back, I just didn't show up and yeah. I knew by the next semester I wanted to leave and I thought about wanting to coach. Okay, cuz my career wasn't going anywhere. I wasn't At this point. I was just playing football for fun, yeah, yeah, at a private Christian college, and it was costing me a lot of money.

Speaker 2: 23:14

I decided I wanted to. I wanted to apply to Auburn and I didn't get in. Yeah, and I was like man, what do I do now, cuz my GPA is so bad that I can't even get into Auburn? And I Think about South Alabama and one of their, one of their defense the defense coordinator on the football team at South Alabama the previous year was one of my coaches at Hoover. Okay, so I was like maybe I have a chance in coaching.

Speaker 2: 23:48

Yeah so I show up or I call South and I'm like, hey, what do I need to do to be a like a graduate assistant or something, or like a coaches assistant or something, so that I can Work my way in? Yeah, for sure, like you should. Uh, well, we don't have any of the spots available right now, but if you join the equipment staff, I Can work you up. Maybe you can work your way up, dude.

Speaker 1: 24:18

I Don't want to check in. Shoulder pads man, that's stuff.

Speaker 2: 24:24

No, it's so much worse than that dude, so much worse and I'll get to that. But, like after oh Three, I did a whole semester of getting up it for am Driving over to mobile because I live in the Biloxi with my dad, so it's like an hour drive every day and that so I wanted it. I was like I don't see any avenue in football anymore, so I need to.

Speaker 1: 24:53

I.

Speaker 2: 24:54

Really want to be a great coach. I don't know how far I want to take it, but I really feel like I could be good at it.

Speaker 1: 24:59

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 25:00

I've always felt like I wanted to be great at something and I've granted my butt off and I went there every day, showed up on time and my job was to like wash stock straps, set up drills, put all the clothes back, take a bunch of crap from coaches from not setting drills upright. Damn, drew a day. Yeah, yeah, I have one that I still hate now and I won't say his name. Yeah, just not a good dude At all. Um, but I did a year of that and they were like, oh, let me give you a scholarship. And I kept I Would try to have meetings with their head coach and you'd be like, yeah, you know, we'll consider you for for Student assistant work or whatever.

Speaker 1: 25:51

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 25:51

Yeah, never happens. But by the end of the first year I met these dudes and I'm a student named Turner who I was working with at the football team. Yeah, and he introduced me to this guy named Brandon who is star league singer Yep, he and. And then he and then Turner need a guy that played bass and love playing bass, and his names Andy. And that's how I met Andy. Okay, yeah, so started this first band and we got so busy with that first band. I think maybe a Year and a half later is when we had broken up that first band, but we started the second band. We got so busy where I just Just quick go into school.

Speaker 1: 26:41

Well, what was that first band's name?

Speaker 2: 26:44

It was called the Coleman Mason band.

Speaker 1: 26:46

Nice, that's actually not a bad name. That's pretty cool.

Speaker 2: 26:49

Yeah, so it was Brandon Coleman and Turner Mason.

Speaker 1: 26:52

Yeah, that's pretty cool. Yeah, I can handle that that's I can. It's marketable, it's marketable, yeah. So so you start, you start your transition into what we'll call music land for now. But what, when you're kind of you're going through that grind of you know, getting kicked around and told to go wash jocks and stuff like that, which I think is just absolutely horrible, horrible. But yeah, when you're going through that process?

Speaker 2: 27:17

that's not real bad.

Speaker 1: 27:20

Were you playing music in the interim here, where I mean, when did this? When did playing a guitar start?

Speaker 2: 27:30

I would say, when Turner was like hey, I got this dude that I Think he has a really great voice. Yeah, then we're gonna start a band. Do you want to book and manage us? Oh, and I was just. I was kind of hesitant, but I was just like sure.

Speaker 2: 27:48

Yeah but then, like I Went over, they had like a little jam session at Turner's house, okay, and I heard Brandon sing for the first time. Yep, I was like good God, almighty, okay, I'm gonna do everything I can for this guy. Yeah, I would sit in the equipment office and I would put post-it notes just Maybe 30 or 40 post-it notes up in the section where there's like just already notes and stuff. I could just numbers emails of every venue that was around mobile.

Speaker 2: 28:22

Yeah like Florida, where we're at in Mississippi Gulf Coast, just like right there, and I would call and call, and call and call, until just somebody said yes.

Speaker 1: 28:34

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 28:36

I Guess, maybe six months into that I figured Somehow I Got my heart broke or something. Yeah, yeah, so my girlfriend broke up with me and I just started writing songs. Yeah, I don't know why, it was just like a blue song. That was really bad.

Speaker 1: 28:55

But I'd say it's 2020 they were like.

Speaker 2: 28:59

They were like yeah, that's good man. It was like maybe maybe this is, maybe this is it for me. You know, maybe I've got something.

Speaker 1: 29:06

Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2: 29:09

Yeah, no, I just started picking up the guitar then, which I guess makes it about seven years ago. Yeah, and I've been just learning ever since. But so that was why? Because I wanted the right song.

Speaker 1: 29:22

Well, you got you. So you started kind of hanging out with these guys that are part of the band as far in the sports Is where it all came together, because you guys are in an equipment room kind of hanging out right. So, as you guys started to develop as because you said, you started the one band and went into another band what was the reason for transitioning to that other band? Was it just because one guy didn't have the time to do something, so it was just two of you left, or three you left, and it didn't feel right, not with that one guy. So we're gonna start something different. How did that all transition?

Speaker 2: 29:52

Oh, oh, start with this. We had to start that first band. We had a 64 year old drummer, nice, and we and him ended up not getting along at all. Okay, I hate that because it might have been my fault, might have not been sure. Ray, if you hear this, I do apologize. Yeah, maybe he won't, I don't know.

Speaker 1: 30:18

Yeah, but we'll see if I get a phone call it you know.

Speaker 2: 30:23

Yeah, great shoulders man. So me and him just got into it. At the end he was like Don't worry about me, I'm done. And so we needed a drummer and Gosh, we were maybe six months away from breaking up, but we, because things were just not going well. There was one dude in there, and I won't say who it was. It was just consistently talking crap about everybody else. Wow, and yeah, man, just like talking crap about other people to the other, like just like hey, this, hey, this dude, I don't like his tone, I don't like his tone at all, I don't like it. Wow. And then he would talk to somebody else like hey, this dude's an idiot. And then like wow, just didn't stop, just not, not cool, that's cancer.

Speaker 2: 31:17

Liar lies Cancer.

Speaker 1: 31:19

Yes, yes.

Speaker 2: 31:21

So, anyway, going back to, we were putting feelers out for a term and we had tried a couple of people out and they were okay. But John walks in and he's him and Andy hit the first note together and I swear to God, I was just like, all right, this is our guy, it has to be our guy, dude. Like it was just like boom together. It was like, and ever since then it's just like they are locked man. That's one of my favorite things about our band. Is that how they can? John can hit like a random drum kit or something, yeah, and they have this. Andy should like boom, you can't fool me, or John will go pop off and he'll be right there with me. It's the most weird synchronicity I've ever seen.

Speaker 1: 32:12

So you guys, you guys gel. Well, man, I mean, like listening to you guys play, it sounds like you guys have been playing for like years Like I'm talking decades, you know, because, like I said, I like that. There's a sound that I like when it comes to the older style of country that you guys have kept up with. So listening to these stories about how these guys are just clicking, I mean you can tell when you guys are playing all the time you can always tell oh, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2: 32:35

Yeah, we're definitely rusty when we haven't been playing for a while. Um, not lately, it's been nice. But I guess that that change, that transition, started happening when. So John's been playing a band since he was 10 years old, like M bars, his dad, his dad's, like a mobile legend he played guitar for. Oh wow, when a man loves a woman.

Speaker 1: 33:03

Yeah, that, yep, yep.

Speaker 2: 33:05

That guy I feel like an idiot. I'm not saying.

Speaker 1: 33:08

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 33:08

I won't get it either. Oh, no, okay, anyway, yeah, but he would play guitar for him and said John's just growing up in bands and John had all these ideas of things that we should change. And we had two guitar players in our band, yeah, and they were like he can shove, he can shove his experience of his ass, yeah, yeah. And me being like I want to be better, like I always want to be better, I want to be the best that I can be, yeah, and Brandon's same way and Andy was the same way.

Speaker 2: 33:43

And we are already. The three of us were already kind of not getting along With the other two and John was like man, let's just give it like one more year. Sure, sure. We were like dude, we don't have one more year left to give them. We have to, we have to cut it now.

Speaker 1: 33:58

Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2: 34:00

And I felt bad too, because Turner was like my first best friend at South Alabama. Okay, yeah, that's right, um it just, uh, he, uh just people change man.

Speaker 1: 34:13

You know what I'm saying.

Speaker 2: 34:14

Like you change.

Speaker 1: 34:15

You, when you go through and just listen to, like, talking to high school kids, to college kids, to you know, coaches, I mean we all, you all, like, even now I'm 45, like I'm, I'll be different in five years, I'll have a different opinion of something, but that's that's us as human beings. You know, like, whether it's good or bad to us, people are going to change in a direction you just aren't aware of. You know, until now, you know sitting back and talking about it, like you know I was, I was like this, but he was like this. So we got along. We all change and evolved in a different way. And it hurts when you're doing business or like they're trying to do something. That's like a business because a band I mean, that's you're having fun, but you still got to be able to be successful enough to want to keep going.

Speaker 2: 34:55

Yeah.

Speaker 1: 34:56

You know, and if you guys aren't enjoying it together, it's hard to enjoy it. You know it's it's that separation part so but yeah, man it's that direction seems like it wasn't necessarily a like cause. I, you know. You can hear you saying you know, sorry if this happened. It didn't seem like it was meant to be, but the way that it happened wasn't the way it was supposed to happen. You know, it just kind of went just a weird way which should happen.

Speaker 2: 35:20

Yeah, you know yeah, dude, yeah, and what I, what I, you know, and I still wasn't even a part of the band yet. I was just still mad, as you can book. And so, yeah, I guess we're sitting in Brandon's living room and and his and his house on Coleman Hill and he's like, well, what do we do now? And we were like I don't know, we got to come up with a new name or something and start this new band. And we were like, okay, well, like we need a guitar player. And I was like, yeah, I wonder who we could get. So John, john's brother. He passed away a few years ago. His name is Jacob. He recommended Zach and we had tried a couple of guitar players out and they were okay, and the exact thing, man, and it was that same synchronicity. He was just hitting it with Andy and John together just grooving, and it was like yeah, this is the guy man, we were all just in there.

Speaker 2: 36:21

You know it was that Andy's parents house where he tried out at, and that was the first iteration of the strays and I got us booking shows and moving as hard as we could, because the goal is to try to get in front of as many people as you can. You know you got something like that and I mean we were playing for gosh 400 bucks for four hours, which is not even. That's a little different now.

Speaker 1: 36:54

Yeah right.

Speaker 2: 36:54

I hope so.

Speaker 1: 36:56

We did it for a while.

Speaker 2: 36:58

Oh yeah, we did it for a while.

Speaker 1: 37:00

That's the grind we always hear about. Uses. Regular Joe blows that don't know about that. That's the grind we hear about. You guys you pay your dues, you go out and play dirty bar halls and stuff, but a lot of times you hear that those are some of the most memorable. You know the most fun nights that you guys try to lay down. You know any type of good music, or when you're guys are out just trying to do your best. Those are usually the nights that you guys are the most.

Speaker 1: 37:26

It's just that gritty, weird kind of environment, but that's what I will be like. So my grandpa ran a bar and he had little bands come out and stuff like that too, and I love listening to bands live, yeah.

Speaker 2: 37:38

I can't, obviously I can't.

Speaker 1: 37:39

Yeah, exactly. I mean, I can't have you guys play in my backyard every day and I can't invite Leonard Scannard and all those guys come over and play in my backyard. So I still have to listen to, you know, spotify or whatever I have. But if I can catch people live, especially bands that I like, hands down I'm going to go see a live every time. But I haven't been opening my mind to new music as far as you know, like I would say, from my twenties on, I kind of stayed pretty close minded. I didn't listen to stuff.

Speaker 1: 38:05

How does that work with, like you guys, when you guys are sitting around jamming and trying to write music Because again, we talked about how everybody's different. Well, how do you guys put music together when you guys are, you know, your first meet and you're sitting down you finally got this guitar guy. How do you guys gel together and try to like either write a song together Do you guys keep that? No, he's good at it, we'll let him do that part and then I'll do this part. You know this portion of it or do you guys kind of band together with with songs, I guess?

Speaker 2: 38:34

Um man, how it really started was that I've gotten a lot better as a writer by then.

Speaker 1: 38:40

Okay.

Speaker 2: 38:42

So I was trying to write all the time, uh, trying to get better at it and read more, which I didn't read that much anyway. But just learn up on literature. You know what certain things work. And like, um, I don't know, I would just come up with a chord structure so that would you know, like a CD or something.

Speaker 1: 39:05

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 39:06

I would play it and I would do it and I would present it and play it for the band. Now, I couldn't play and sing at the same time, so I would have to like get somebody else to play. I would show the chords to somebody else and play, yeah yeah, dude's coordination. Man, it's not easy, I couldn't, I didn't do it and I would. I showed it. I would show it to like Brandon and have him play it or sing it, yeah.

Speaker 2: 39:31

Just how the words work. And that was just me chipping my songs off to the band, Cause that's that was what I could contribute at the time.

Speaker 1: 39:40

Right, right.

Speaker 2: 39:43

And we, how? Coming together and making a song. Where is you hear the groove? You hear the? Okay? Well, I have space right here I can make like a counter melodic thing. That would be tasteful. Yeah, it's just like adding an extra voice in there, but it's your instrument, you know this right on. So like this beat would work on this song, because you have this meter.

Speaker 1: 40:10

Yeah, yep, yep, exactly.

Speaker 2: 40:12

I got you, so it's like yeah, yup.

Speaker 1: 40:18

All the way through Yup.

Speaker 2: 40:21

Yeah. Or you hear like a part that breaks up Hit, like a hit, a symbol there, yup, you know it just. Uh, I don't know, we just hear it on our heads. We're like music, schizophrenics, it just it just comes to us and it's a. It's really. It is one of the blessings I thank God for the most every day, for real.

Speaker 1: 40:46

So it's a unique sound, like I told you that I could hear like four different, like so, in in his voice alone I can hear um, uh, god, of course Now I'm thinking again the whole thinking of names thing Um, what, uh, oh shit, no, no, no, no, no, it's not even country, it's not even country.

Speaker 2: 41:10

Uh, all right.

Speaker 1: 41:12

Now I'm going to have to, I'm going to have to pause on that, because that's a you said Pearl Jam, so I'm thinking better. Yeah, no, because better is not that not better, is not that high pitched? Yeah, it's uh no, he's not.

Speaker 1: 41:23

Oh, I feel like such a moron because I had this for so long in my head. Um, I told my wife about it, mm-mm. Now I get an album texted to you, but there's then, but then, like listening to a portion like of your guitar, I hear a whale and Jennings song, you know, so I can. I hear all these different pieces within your band. So that's kind of what's weird about me. When I listen to music, I can divide out, I can pull the drums out and kind of listen to just the drums, and then I can also listen to the bass. And you guys probably get used to that, you know, when you're listening to music, because you're trying to piece things together Sometimes if new song you guys are trying out or something that someone you know?

Speaker 1: 42:02

do you guys play cover songs? You gotta write. Have some fun with it, right?

Speaker 2: 42:07

Uh, dude, we used to do four to five hours worth of coverage.

Speaker 1: 42:11

Nice, we can.

Speaker 2: 42:13

We're not. We don't do them true at all too. We have made our own versions of those songs.

Speaker 1: 42:17

Perfect, Then that's the best part. So, like you guys are listening to songs, you gotta be able to pull little things out. So, like that's I stood when I was started listening to you guys which was oh, I don't know, maybe a month ago, before I messaged you, was like a couple of weeks I was like man, these guys are like this is unique again where it's not the same pop country that's on the radio. So I just started listening over and over and I started pulling tunes out and listening to different, different portions that you play. Versus what Brandon singing, you know things like that. It just it's so different to me as far as what's out there right now and I I like that kind of stuff with.

Speaker 1: 42:54

When it's different, you know, like when you listen to Sturgill Simpson who out in country music singing about MDMA right, I mean nobody talking about trippy, trippy stuff, but either way he's, he's makes sense when he's singing and it's good music, it's fun, yeah. So when you guys are playing at a venue and you guys had gotten to like your first venue, like what, what were some of the? What were some of the things you guys went through as a young band? Like, were you guys setting your own stuff up. Did you say no, we got to have someone along to be able to set everything up. Like how, how did that go? Was just like let's go out. We got to do this. You don't have time for that stuff.

Speaker 2: 43:27

Oh, we're definitely setting our own stuff up still.

Speaker 1: 43:29

Okay.

Speaker 2: 43:32

I mean, if you want to be a local band, you have to have your own sound system. Okay, 50% of the time they might have their own sound system, which is dope, and some but some idiot like me running sound just to get everything right before the show so that I can go up on stage and yeah, now worry about it. Maybe it sounds good. You got to pray, it sounds good, but I already forgot the question.

Speaker 1: 44:07

How did you guys do you? Guys are obviously setting some stuff up. You know, as far as your your gear, yeah, but like how nuts was it when you were, when you guys really first started out at like your first venues, where you guys constantly like, oh crap, we don't have this, we forgot this to to plug in or whatever Cause there's. I'm doing a podcast, there's a lot of shit for this, like I'm telling you, yeah.

Speaker 1: 44:30

And then now to imagine all you guys hook at your stuff up like what were some of the headaches you went through, as like a young band, like what are some funny stories.

Speaker 2: 44:38

Oh man, oh, that's so long ago now. I can't really remember. I just know that dude every, every single load in and was a workout like okay, so like the speakers they're dead gum the size of a drawer or something, and like you got to pick those up and put them on big old stands and yeah.

Speaker 2: 45:07

Yeah, you got to watch for feedback issues and, man, if I had any good sound tech stories I'd I'll tell you, but I can't really think of any from back then. I just know that we just that that was the true grind, and we, I mean gosh, we play four or five days a week, so and we would just try to.

Speaker 1: 45:30

I mean, did you guys, did anybody ever forget an instrument you had to go without? Anything like that.

Speaker 2: 45:37

Uh, you can't go without an instrument.

Speaker 1: 45:39

No, no, you guys didn't improvise like that.

Speaker 2: 45:44

No no man. Oh, Andy has definitely forgotten his bass before Nice. That is the most forgetful son of a gun. I know. I don't know when and where, but he has forgotten his bass more than one occasion.

Speaker 1: 45:58

So I have a question about some of the different venues you guys have played, so like I've only seen. Well, I only watched like devils in my brain at the. I can't remember what county county fair it was. It wasn't even a county fair. I got to go back here in a couple of. It might even play if I go back to. Yeah, there it is. No, you guys are at Laurel Cove Music Festival.

Speaker 1: 46:18

Oh that's the only one, that's the only version I'll listen to. Like to me that one, like it sounds just like it's being played like right in a bar, like you guys are right in the corner of a bar but you're out in a big field, you know, and that's what I love about some of the music that comes out sometimes. So, some of these venues that you guys have played, what are some of the like what was your favorite so far that you guys have played since this all really started coming together?

Speaker 2: 46:45

Favorite venue.

Speaker 1: 46:46

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 46:49

Gosh, I'll give you a local favorite. Yeah, we have one called Cowhands and Mobile. That is like a staple, for I guess you would call us within the American of AIM. Okay, yeah, it's a staple for us people. The guy that runs it, his name is JT. It's one of the best people I know. Don't tell him. I said that. He's just a good, good human being. He takes care of his bands, he goes above and beyond, made my wife for hopefully playing there next week, so that's right.

Speaker 1: 47:27

Yeah, you guys play together as well, so you are not by any means like hanging out and just you know. Whatever you know, we're going to hang out for three weeks and do nothing. You do also perform with your wife as well.

Speaker 2: 47:41

I haven't had three weeks to hang out here in over a year. That's why I appreciate this time.

Speaker 1: 47:47

That's why I totally appreciate this time, because I know how crammed it gets for you guys, because it's not easy, you know I mean.

Speaker 2: 47:54

But no, you found a way. Yeah, we played.

Speaker 1: 47:57

Yeah, you found a way to be able to play with your wall. Has she always been doing music like all her life, or did she jump into it later, like you did?

Speaker 2: 48:06

Uh, I'd say she's been doing it for 10 or 11 years, nice, so she's been playing around. Um, she started. I think her first gig was at like Uh, on the causeway somewhere, I can't remember the name, but was that by yourself? But yeah, nice. So she's just. She's been doing her thing for a long time. She makes great music and it's beautiful. It has a beautiful voice. Yeah, very soothing, good, good tunes, great writing.

Speaker 1: 48:36

Nice, she writes her own songs Um yeah.

Speaker 2: 48:40

Awesome you should go listen to it, man.

Speaker 1: 48:41

Hell yeah.

Speaker 2: 48:41

It's good stuff. It's it's not. Every song on that record is almost a different genre, so it's, it's a pretty cool and it's again.

Speaker 1: 48:51

I listen. You've you're listened to the list of plays, things that are people that I listened to. I mean it goes from Tupac to to. I listened to some growth books, to the. There's a whole list of music that I listened to. It's uh, you'd be surprised at what's blaring out of my, my car, when I pull up. But so, as you guys now like where you're at, how long do you guys plan on going? You guys plan to do this forever, cause I mean I hope so.

Speaker 2: 49:17

Yeah, I want to be like the rolling sides man. Okay, okay I want to go till I'm dead.

Speaker 1: 49:22

Till you're dead Okay.

Speaker 2: 49:24

I'm dead. What, what is that?

Speaker 1: 49:26

What, what is that? What does that path look like? Do you guys want to play? Are you looking to get big Cause? Now you listen to Oliver Anthony, right Like. Doesn't want the $8 million deal, doesn't want to deal with that garbage, wants to play music Cause. That kind of where you guys are at too.

Speaker 2: 49:42

I don't, yeah, I don't care about. I care about money, but I can come by money on my own If, if I'm successful in music.

Speaker 1: 49:50

Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2: 49:51

I don't. I don't want to deal like those dudes are just trying to pull your strings and tell you what to do. They're just waving all that money in your face just so that they can basically own you. Yeah, yeah, right, yeah, all it is, it's alone. And now they're. They're sweetening the deals when they're seeing artists like Oliver Anthony out there just absolutely crushing it. But they still own you. Yeah, and they own your, your music, they own your songs.

Speaker 1: 50:18

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 50:19

And I'm just not at a point like we've already had, we did a record deal.

Speaker 1: 50:23

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 50:23

Yeah, and it was a small label deal but it was a typical three, six, yeah, I don't know if it was in 360 deal, but they ended up owning our crap, move, and we knew what we were getting into. So like. But like you figure, if they're owning all your stuff, that they would want to push it harder and they would want you to go back into the studio.

Speaker 2: 50:41

Yeah, and make more care, yeah, uh, and granted, it was COVID, but we just, I don't know I they want you to make a record, but they, they, they, they're not going to put a record out, right? They they're very picky about the songs and we like what we make. So we got off that label and made our own.

Speaker 1: 51:03

So I don't care about money, I just want to make my art and reach people, as many people as I can Well and you guys had the advantage of the Spotify thing and the YouTube thing, where you guys can do I mean, obviously it doesn't, money doesn't start pouring in, you know what I'm saying, but you get the attention you're looking for as people who want to listen to your music. You know that's, that's really. I mean, obviously, like you said, you still money matters. You got to pay bills, right, I mean, you still got a, a home, you got to pay for family, got to support things like that. But at the same point though, too, like you said, these guys they take, they take your songs, they own them. Then you can. And then the ones that you want to put out they don't even want to put the ones you want to put out, because the doesn't sound good to them, you know cause they know the market so well, it's not a hit.

Speaker 1: 51:50

Yeah, you catch those guys. I'll you know and I'll be honest with you. I wish I could have produced some music, because I seem to pick when albums come out, and I'm not bragging, I'm not patting my back here, but I seem to be able to pick like that.

Speaker 1: 52:02

That one's going to be on the radio right there, that one's going to be on the radio, I bet, cause I'm listening. I'm like, oh man, this is this one hits, you know, but not every single time. And you're like, why isn't that one song out? Why aren't they putting that out? Then you don't get yes, exactly the money, money, you know. So it's just like, oh God, these guys act like they know what they're listening to, but they really don't, you know so.

Speaker 1: 52:23

I love it. I love what you guys are doing, man, and we've been going for almost an hour here. So, like I told you, it's usually by an hour, hour and a half, some guys three hours, and some of those guys, man, they have they have just talked and talking to storytellers, and that's why we're here. We're here to tell stories and kind of hang out and show the venture that you guys have in the vision that you guys have and what you want to do. So you guys love playing music and I that's the part that I love, because the moment I heard you guys kind of put out there the we're not going to release this, you guys come and watch it live I was like, yup, I like that, right there, that's, that's my kind of shit. So that kind of drew me in more and I started watching more of what you guys are doing and watching that live AF. I know what that is, but either way, that was some good shit. You know that was good stuff. Yeah, exactly, it's put see that.

Speaker 2: 53:14

That's the thing they do a fantastic job. Yeah, they're very good.

Speaker 1: 53:19

So I'd like to do a live AF in my backyard, which I think would be a really great idea, because I'm. I'm so we're. We got some things that we're going to be doing in the backyard. I'll tell you about that. Maybe you guys will hop on over and we can do a little jam together some sometime, because like I said.

Speaker 1: 53:35

I kind of got in music a little bit, but but when you guys aren't, so I'm going to cut this off a little bit here. Man, I'm going to start my my little music gig here so we can get you going, because you got to leave for a flight in the morning. Where are you headed to?

Speaker 2: 53:50

Uh, Maryland.

Speaker 1: 53:53

That's right. Yeah, maryland, where I don't know where, where in Maryland, you don't know where? Let me see, that's crazy. I don't know where I'm going.

Speaker 2: 54:01

We're flying. We're flying into, uh, flying into, baltimore. Okay, careful, we're playing at the Frederick the great Frederick fair in Maryland, nice, which is Frederick, frederick County, maryland, somewhere.

Speaker 1: 54:15

Well, I hope someone that's in charge of your Instagram or YouTube or whatever put something out, because I definitely want to see it. Um, can you tell me or do you guys? Here's an interesting question Do you guys have the same set list every night? Mm, hmm.

Speaker 2: 54:28

Um, if we're in like a string of shows and we're tired and just don't feel like messing with it because we think it's a good thing for them, uh, we'll keep one for like a string of shows, okay, and if we get tired of it, we'll. We'll swap some stuff around, okay.

Speaker 1: 54:50

So no, but kind of you know what I mean, and sometimes it with some bands and matters, but with you guys it seems like a one cause you guys throw so much different flavor into things whenever you play. It's just, it's always fun to watch every single time. So, with that being said, man Drew Nix of the red clay strays dude, I really appreciate you being on here with me. Man, yeah, it's been awesome. I'm going to talk to you for just a second, just like I do with everybody, but I'm going to let everybody else know we are out.