SPEAKER_12 0:00

It's Sunday night and Froggy Valley 100.1 is spotlighting the best local, regional, and national up-and-coming recording artists. This is Soundcheck with Chase and Minnie Hopper on WFBY 11 in Hershey, Harrisburg. Froggy Valley 100.1.

SPEAKER_09 0:19

Another Sunday night about to take the main stage here on Soundcheck with Chase and Minnie. I am Chase. Thanks for being here.

SPEAKER_01 0:25

Hey y'all, I'm Minnie. Always a perfect evening delivering our rising country musicians right to your living room.

SPEAKER_09 0:33

Tonight is gonna be so much fun. We have a Nashville-based musician that grew up in Camp Hill here to spot on Taste of Country's 20 best guitars in country music. He is fresh off his national TV debut on the Kelly Clarkson show, and he is on the verge of country music stardom. Ben Gallagher is joining us tonight. We will talk with him about his journey and everything in between. Coming up, but first, we are kicking off Soundcheck with still a few cowboys left from Ben Gallagher here on Soundcheck with Chase and Minnie on Froggy Valley 100.1 and the My Froggy Valley app.

SPEAKER_03 1:04

Every day it's sundown, he rides fences.

SPEAKER_09 1:20

And after all the holes are man dead He lays his head back on a saddle by fire Sounds like 1889 Listening to the candle Don't worry under that moon Still a few candles left On the street ain't been a rope All the broader road All the West Then they've been able Still a few cannabis left There's still a few girls out there that won't be profitable with the free broke Cold Fro to Airbroke Cold Froze Road Yeah There's still a few cowboys left Frank God there's still a few cowboys What a way to kick off soundcheck with Chase and Minnie tonight with Ben Gallagher and still a few cowboys left right here on Froggy Valley 100.1 and that my Froggy Valley app, all powered by Radio Novo. So excited to have this man on the show tonight. Let's get him up for Ben Gallagher. What is this is so awesome, man. I mean, through the power of radio, Minnie and I are here at home. I'm sure you're probably down in Nashville, assuming at home as well. Uh I gotta say, before we get any phone calls to the higher ups, that I'm drinking on the job here, which I guess technically I might be drinking on the job. It's a relaxing Sunday night here, Ben. What's the drink of choice for you tonight, man? Man, I guess I'll have to settle with a little bit of whiskey on the rocks, brother. Uh tonight, man, I gotta say, I reached in the back of my fridge, pulled out a Trogue's Mad Elf, which is usually reserved for the most wonderful time of the year, the holidays. Absolutely. But this is worth celebrating, man, a little early, and it ages so, so well. So I think we're we're good to go to start this show, I think. Hey, man, it ain't ever too early. That's right, that's right. Uh, we got to catch up with you, man, last Saturday night in Newcumberland at the Iron Bridge Festival. Such an amazing performance by you. It's so awesome to have you on the show, be part of the Soundcheck fam. Speaking of that family, my man, happy Father's Day to you. Hopefully, an awesome day. How is dad life right now?

SPEAKER_14 5:06

Man, thank you so much. Uh wow, dude. It is just it's unbelievable. Uh, two kids under two. Uh River's our oldest. Jagger is our youngest, and uh he is seven weeks now. Uh so yeah, man, it's just the most amazing thing, dude. It's been my wife, she's the she's the real rock star here, I'm telling you.

SPEAKER_09 5:30

Hold down the Ford, I'm sure. I mean, Jagger born back in April, River born back in uh 2024 here. Uh two under the age of two at the home front. How's the sleep going, too?

SPEAKER_14 5:40

Oh man, see our oldest. He he sleeps great. Um, but we're still uh Jagger's still working on it, man. He's up all night and sleeps all day.

SPEAKER_09 5:49

Say, take advantage of that. When Minnie was uh little at that age, man, all she did was sleep, eat, and and poop. That's all she did. So uh take advantage of it now, man.

SPEAKER_14 5:57

I'm telling you, with a name like that, too. It's like if he sleeps all day and he's up all night, then he's kind of starting to get that musician schedule in him from the beginning, I guess.

SPEAKER_09 6:06

Yeah, absolutely. Hey, congratulations, man, on having two adorable boys at home. Love the videos you're posting over on Facebook, getting them both connected to your music, of course, at an early age. Uh, let's dive into your career here, Ben. You've basically come full circle, man, from the time that you've been uh up in Camp Hill, now down in Nashville.

SPEAKER_14 6:23

Oh man, well, I grew up on 90s country. Because that's that's all that was playing in the house. Um, I'm the youngest of three. Um, and I would drum on soup cans with pencils to the radio. And so my folks saw at a very young age, and this was that was probably like between three and four, and they saw at a young age that, you know, there was some type of musical thing going on, although nobody in my family was musical at all. My folks got me a drum set, and I didn't realize until a little later in life why they ended up getting me a guitar not long after. Right. Right. No, but man, in all seriousness, I just took to the guitar after that. They they got me a guitar and I tried that and it just felt like it fit me, man. It was a total God thing. I mean, from then on, it felt like this was what I was supposed to do is sing country music and play guitar. I had a couple lessons early on, um, a handful, and then I kind of wanted to do my own thing. And it's been a lifelong journey, man. Fast forward, um I moved to Nashville uh when I was nineteen and I didn't know anybody, but I I I knew that that was the place for country, you know. And uh I've been on the road ever since, man. I make it back to PA um a couple times a year because my family and my wife's family is still in the area. Um so always rooted in PA, man, and it was. It was it was so good to get back there last weekend. Those hometown shows, man, there's always there's a special energy about them because there's so many people in the crowd that have been there to support me from the very beginning. Um and that's there's something special about that, man.

SPEAKER_01 8:04

If you ever need a babysitter, just throwing this out there. I make a pretty good one.

SPEAKER_14 8:09

Hey, I'm gonna keep that in mind.

SPEAKER_01 8:12

How has growing up here in Central PA shaped your career and now being on the cusp of being a mainstream country musician?

SPEAKER_14 8:20

That's a great question, many. Um, I mean, I think you you can never forget where you come from. Um and up there it's like uh me still being rooted in Pennsylvania, family and its values and its friends, and it's the people up there, and I carry all that with me, even you know, all the through everywhere I go and and play across the country.

SPEAKER_09 8:39

And not only, man, too, did you make the Taste of Countries list for one of the top guitarists in the country music world? You also made their list for a 2026 riser. I mean, you are one to watch for here in 2026 also an old red rising act. How awesome is that to finally be recognized for all of your talents and your music.

SPEAKER_14 8:56

Man, it's just such an honor to be on those lists. And I mean, that first one being named top twenty top guitar players in country music of all time. I'm like, holy cow, dude, that's that's crazy. Cause I'm I mean, they they put me on that list with, you know, a lot of my heroes that I grew up, you know, studying their music and and learning how to play, and uh just getting the bug for country music, and those guys are on that list, so it was nothing nothing short of a massive honor to be included in that.

SPEAKER_12 9:26

Take back and relax. This is Soundcheck with Chase and Vinnie Hopper on Froggy Valley 100.1 Probably oughta tell you what I really think.

SPEAKER_03 9:48

Probably oughta just disappear. Tear out of this parking lot and I look back what's going on right here Kinda thinking it's a bad idea. Kinda thinking damn you look good. Kinda thinking maybe we will know we should leave it alone. Kinda thinking last time was a mess. Kinda thinking I love that dress. Kinda wanna let you go, and I kinda can't say I know it'll have on if I leave. I just wind up turning around. I know it'll have on if I stay. That kind of trouble sounds pretty good right now. Kinda thinking it's a bad idea. Kinda thinking damn you look good. Kinda thinking maybe we will know we should leave it alone. Kinda thinking last time was a mess. Kinda thinking I love that dress. Kinda wanna let you go. And I kinda can't stay low Kinda thinking it's a bad idea. Kinda thinking damn you look good. Kinda thinking maybe we wanna know it should live. Kinda thinking last time put the lift. Kinda thinking I love that drift. Kinda wanna hit the road, and I kinda can't say no.

SPEAKER_04 11:46

I can't say no.

SPEAKER_12 11:57

You're the best up-and-coming artist every Sunday night with Soundcheck with Chase and Minnie Hopper on Froggy Valley 100.1 We still today watching the clock.

SPEAKER_03 12:19

That's again never stops Leaving the minutes and hours behind. I wish I could move on like time and it wrote a river in it, bro. I wish I could move on like Hold on, but not too tight And let it go when it's right Live Cause you can't turn it back anyway, I'm gonna go to the Bible.

SPEAKER_01 14:58

Talk about your influences when you were growing up.

SPEAKER_14 15:01

So musically, 90s country, everything from Brooks and Dunn to Early McGraw to Blackhawk to Tracy Lawrence to Alan Jackson, I mean, all that I couldn't name just one. Um and then later on, probably when I was in high school, I got into Leonard Skinner and Z Z Top, and then Three Doors Down and some of that um Switchfoot and that and then that sound, and that was so inspiring for me. And at the same time, the Eagles. I just saw the Eagles live in Nashville and they blew me away, man. It was amazing.

SPEAKER_09 15:37

Classic Eagles, man. There's nothing better.

SPEAKER_14 15:39

Telling you, dude, Vince Gill was playing with them, and uh Glenn Fry's son, Deacon, um, he was playing with them as well, and they had been doing a couple shows. Um, I know they were out at the sphere in the sphere in Vegas, um, and we uh I couldn't make it out there, but they came to Nashville. This was just a couple weeks ago. And man, I'm telling you, um, if anybody has not seen them, go when you can, but um my ears were musically pleased for two hours. I mean, it sounded like they were playing the record out of the speakers, but it was them live.

SPEAKER_09 16:12

Now I read an article, Ben, on you, where I think they hit it right on the head. You're a triple threat, a singer, songwriter, guitarist. Perfect way to describe you. You got the sound, you got the vibe, certainly on stage, man. How would you describe your transformation from when you first started out your career all the way up to now?

SPEAKER_14 16:26

Man, I feel like you're it's always I'm always trying to push the bar, raise the bar, um, and evolve, but not evolve so much that it takes it out of what I do, you know? Um so uh playing guitar, man, um the guitar is an extension of what I do. Most of the songs, which we can talk about in a bit, but most of the songs on the Time album that we released not long ago were born from that intro guitar riff. And that goes back to me being uh, you know, influenced by that classic rock and southern rock. If you think about all those, all those old songs, man, Sharp Dressed Man's Easy Top, Sweet Dome Alabama, I mean all those, and I'm not comparing my my stuff to that, but the point is those songs were driven and uh built on that intro guitar riff, and that riff was a hook long before you ever got to the lyrical hook, right? Before you ever got to the chorus, you were hooked by the by the music, by the guitar riff. Um and that's always stuck with me. And you don't I mean it's you you hear it sometimes in country now, but it's definitely not as much as you did back in the day. Um and that was I had that in my mind going in to make this record. It's like, man, I wanna I wanna start these songs off with, you know, an infectious guitar part, um, and and build it around that.

SPEAKER_09 17:45

Uh if you're just checking us out, we have Nashville recording artist and Camp Hill native Ben Gallagher on Soundcheck with Chase Semini here on Froggy Valley 100.1. Of course, you can stream us anywhere in the world here on the My Froggy Valley app, all powered by Radio Novo. He is certainly one to watch here in the year of 2026. He is really on the cusp of greatness here. When you think back to all the songs that you have written, Ben, recorded, which one so far has the most meaning to you and when you play it back at a show?

SPEAKER_14 18:11

Oh man, that's a great question. Um, I mean, d different songs in different ways. Um, so right now, I'll take you. That's our single. Um, that's a special song to me. Um, but I mean, there's a song that I put on the first album called Roots Grow Down. Um, I actually played it on Saturday last Saturday. Um, I wrote that song for my wife. It would have been our wedding song had I written it prior to us getting married. We're going on nine years. Um, and uh I'd wrote it a couple years ago. But that's that's one of my favorites for sure, that has the most meaning.

SPEAKER_09 18:41

If you had to pick a top five of the all-time great guitarist band that are out there, what would that look like in in in the top five order?

SPEAKER_14 18:48

Oh man, I can't do them in order, but um I uh let's see, from the I mean, there's so many. Let's see, from the top of my mind right now, let's say um Mark Doffler, Dire Straits, uh John Mayer, uh Vince Gill, Tom Bukovac, who is a session musician and here in Nashville that's played over uh you know hundreds and thousands of uh records, but he's a session musician. Um I'm gonna put him in there and let's see, number five.

SPEAKER_09 19:16

It's like picking your favorite kid, isn't it?

SPEAKER_14 19:19

I know, man. Now I'm like, holy cow. I'm gonna go past five because you know, you could go, you could go Stevie Ray Vaughn, you could go um Joe Bottomasso, you could go Billy Gibbons, you could go. I mean, it just like keeps going on, man.

SPEAKER_09 19:36

Endless, yeah, endless, yeah.

SPEAKER_13 19:39

Delivering your rising country musicians right to your living room.

SPEAKER_06 19:44

It's sound check with Chase and Minnie on Froggy Valley 100.1 Sound check with Chase and Minnie on Froggy Valley 100.1 There's only one place where you can hear this.

SPEAKER_12 20:11

That's the trouble with the heartbreak and this drinking Jack all by myself.

SPEAKER_05 20:18

He's choosing Texas, I can tell.

SPEAKER_12 20:21

And this I am as good as I once was, I'm as good once as I ever was. One radio state did Froggy Valley 100.1 and the brand new My Froggy Valley app powered by Radio Novo.

SPEAKER_00 20:36

Be a part of history. This July 4th, Lebanon County celebrates our nation's semi-quin centennial. Join us from 1 to 9 p.m. at the Lebanon Valley Expo Center for a full day of family fun, community pride, and unforgettable moments. We'll end the night with fireworks at 9.15 p.m. Celebrate our past, present, and future together. Save the date. July 4th, starting at 1. Learn more and plan your day at LebanonPA250.com.

SPEAKER_12 21:09

Come on. Never pay a cover to hear the best up and comers. It's Froggy Valley 100.1 Soundcheck with Chase and Minnie Hopper. Let's go on Froggy Valley 100.1 vision through the windshield.

SPEAKER_03 21:39

No chance in hell, I'd slow it down. Wheel spinning like a windmill. Taking act of God to turn me around. You had to see me come out. Correctless as a cans, this summer storm. When you should have been around out. For the reason I was born Baby, you know the best thing about me Been alive since the day that you found me I'm gonna love you, gonna love you till the roots grow down around me till the roots grow down around me Don't know what you say in me Cause heaven knows I don't make loving me easy Between the whiskey and a ribble soon You won't say it but you saved me Without tryna make me someone else No you never try to change me You always let me try to change myself Baby you know the best thing about me Been alive since the day that you found me And I'm gonna love you Gonna love you till the roots grow down around me Till the roots grow down I'm yours till my highway disappears Yours for a hundred thousand years Baby you know the best thing about me Been alive since the day that you found me And I'm gonna love you gonna love you gonna love you Baby you know the best thing about me Been alive since the day that you found me And I'm gonna love you gonna love you till the roots go down around me So the roots go down around me till the roots go down around me till the roots go down We're back with Nashville recording artist and Camp Hillborn Ben Gallagher on Soundcheck here on Froggy Valley 121 and the My Froggy Valley app here with Rising Country musician Ben Gallagher.

SPEAKER_01 24:43

You did an amazing rendition of Ryan Adams song like a knife without wanting to do that cover of the song.

SPEAKER_14 24:54

Ryan Adams is one of the best singers. I mean it's like also just probably four months ago and sounded amazing. It was actually my producer, Neil Trasher, who you guys has written a mountain of songs that everybody has uh sang along to on the radio. Um a couple of them were covers of freedom, they're gonna go to my life as well. I mean the list goes on and on. But um him and his cousin Patrick Trasher are my producers, and Neil calls me um and he says, Hey, I got a crazy idea. Um he said, I thought Brian I was live, and he said, I think we should do a cover of Cut Like a Knife. And I was like, really? He said, I think your voice would be perfect for it, and it would be an awesome tribute to rock and roll. So I would just trust me, man, your voice would be perfect for it. And I was like, alright, well let's you know, let's get already good and see how this thing's gonna go. So we we ended up recording it and we decided we didn't want to take it to like a completely different place musically. Um we we wanted to keep it pretty pretty true to the original on purpose because it is a nod and a tribute to the timeless era of music, and then my vocal kind of puts it in my own justified itself. Um for example, like a guitar solo, the key that's gonna play. It's like, man, as a player like her, like any guitar player, you can play any you can play any solo in that and then that key, and it would be you know, it'd be fine or whatever, but it's like dude, you can't take an iconic thing like that and take it into that field. So we can't, you know, we can't hit it like that for a reason, and it's awesome playing it live because you know, it's such a familiar song to people, and it takes them back, and then people that maybe haven't heard that song before, and they go in and dig and dig, you know, through some Brian Adams and get into some of that, which is pretty cool.

SPEAKER_09 26:54

I gotta tell you, it's an awesome rendition of Cuts Like a Knife. I actually have my side job. I gotta tell you a quick story. My side job last week, I actually played that song, your version of it, uh, for some of my co-workers. And I said, uh, who do you think's singing this? Seven out of ten of them said Brian Adams, so I'm pretty sure you hit it right on the head, man, with that song Cuts Like a Knife.

SPEAKER_14 27:14

Oh man, thanks. It was a fun one to record. I mean, I was my producers made me do it in the original key, and man, Brian gets up there pretty hot. Now, now did you ever hear from Brian Adams at all on that rendition? His team, yeah, not him personally, but his team and Keith Scott, the guitar player, had reached out and they said, wow, we love this version, great job. Um, so that that was cool to get that feedback.

SPEAKER_03 27:41

Driving all this evening, could've sworn we had it all worked out Your hand is full of believing way beyond a shadow of a doubt Well, I heard it on the street I heard you might have found somebody new Yeah Well who is he, baby Who is he? And tell me what he means to you Oh yeah I'm still regretted But how was I donna know you really letting go Now I dress like a night But I feel so right I dress like a night Oh I feel so right There's times I've been mistaken The times I thought I'd been misunderstood Ooh yeah So wait a minute darling Can't you see we did the best we could Oh we could When we the first time the things you've gone astray Like a food hero Now we just like a night Yeah but I feel so right a night so I think so for bread But how is I gotta know that you really know it just like a knife Yeah what I feel so right now just like a night Yeah but I feel so right This is Soundcheck with Chase and Minnie Hopper on Froggy Valley 100.1 and on the My Froggy Valley app, powered by Radio Novo Do you turn left, do you turn right? Do you sit right there, stare at the light? Do you head back home or straight to the bar? Drive around looking for a car, let go of the wheel, see where it takes me. If I don't work, there's always crazy. Where do you go when you go to school? That five foot four you used to lean on The only thing I won't ever figure out your own Where do you go when you go to school? Do you hide your heart in a corner booze? Do your blush-dried eyes turning on blue? When you're out of smoke, and a whiskey don't burn Do you find a beautiful in a small town church? If there's a better way, I ain't found it A better road and I'll go down it. Where do you go when you go to lose gold? You used to lean on The only thing on I'm thinking right or wrong. Where do you go when you go to lose gold Yeah, she's on every corner at the bottom of every glass? Bartender, he's got nothing when I look it in the ass. Where do you go when you're going to gone? The five foot four you used to lean on Where do you go?

SPEAKER_04 34:23

Where do you go? Where do you go?

SPEAKER_05 35:00

Get ready for it! Sound check with Chase and Minnie. It's Minnie's Hopping Good Time.

SPEAKER_13 35:09

We're asking your favorite stars three questions totally random every time.

SPEAKER_06 35:13

So get ready to jump on in for Minnie's Hopping Good Time on Froggy Valley 100.1.

SPEAKER_01 35:30

It is that time of the show where we break it up a little bit and ask our musicians three totally random questions and we get to know them outside of their music career. Then are you ready? I'm ready. Question number one. I know you have to be a little boys at home, and I'm sure that we need to know it's on 24-7.

SPEAKER_14 36:02

Right now, it's all control. I'm gonna have to go with that right now. I would collect these rocks that look like they were crystal and all kinds of stuff in them, but they weren't worth any money at all.

SPEAKER_09 37:00

Sort of sort of like baseball cards these days that I collected back in the day.

SPEAKER_14 37:06

They're coming. Baseball cards have come around, man. I started to look for my old ones, but they weren't worth anything.

SPEAKER_12 37:12

Yeah, right, right. You'll be both. Before they were superstars, they were hometown stars. It's sound check with Chase and Minnie on Froggy Valley 100.1 I can take your fore-eye Back up down by the riverside.

SPEAKER_03 37:45

Slip a little something, get your legs swingin'. Do whoever will swing that sunset, turn your pretty neck red. Girl, you feel it? Yeah, I bet you're on it. Like these dogs. Yeah, I want you to get a little taste, get a little loaded. You want to hold up. See the rest of our wood. Bitch your money like a turn, you girl come free. Start to feel around it all. More notes like a big old fish. Perfect must take it. You can't shake it off, it won't be long. It's all you gonna want. I think you're both beast. Yeah, once you get a little taste, get a little loaded. You go over Drake of the Bowl, see the rest of power. Bit your money like a dirty girl.

SPEAKER_02 39:05

Don't forget to get a little day for both the rest of our We will be back with Sound Check with Chase and Minnie On Froggy Valley 100.1 And the My Froggy Valley.

SPEAKER_11 40:41

Start your day, the Nancy and Newman way. Well, that sounds very good to me. On Froggy Valley 100.1.

SPEAKER_06 40:48

I feel like summer officially gets underway this weekend and it's only downhill for the rest of the summer.

SPEAKER_10 40:53

Well, I mean, things are looking up. Somebody's gonna get a gift card just in time for Independence Day, part of the hall a days. And where are you storing your snacks? I'm not telling. I've got the number one spot, and it may surprise you. Okay. See you Monday on Froggy Valley 100.1. Hey, good morning. You're heading the airport, right?

SPEAKER_07 41:10

Yep, thanks for checking. I like the car. How long have you been a rideshare driver?

SPEAKER_13 41:14

About three years now.

SPEAKER_07 41:15

I really enjoy it. Isn't it hard to make money these days with the price of gas being so high?

SPEAKER_13 41:19

Not for me. I use Upside, the free app that gives you cash back for every gallon of gas you buy. Wait a minute.

SPEAKER_07 41:25

Are you saying you actually get money back when you get gas with the Upside app?

SPEAKER_13 41:29

Yes, I get cash back every time I get gas.

SPEAKER_07 41:32

Does that actually add up to anything?

SPEAKER_13 41:34

I'll make around $200 to $300.

SPEAKER_07 41:37

Wow, that's serious extra cash. I'm downloading the Upside app now.

SPEAKER_13 41:41

Download the free upside app now to earn cash back every time you buy gas. Use promo code STRONG for an extra 25 cents a gallon bonus on your first tank. You can cash out anytime. Write to your bank account or a gift card for Amazon and other brands. Just download the free upside app and use promo code STRONG for a 25 cents a gallon bonus on your first tank. That's code STRONG. Offers vary by user and location. Go to upside.com for terms and details.

SPEAKER_12 42:09

Country music from local, regional, and national up and covers. If it's Sunday night, it's Soundcheck with Chase and Minnie on Froggy's Alley 100.1.

SPEAKER_03 42:20

When a bar is all you got to lean on. And it's only there to closing time. Stare through a glass underneath neon That place where you finally see the light. Days are long, nights are longer. Heel is strong, whiskey stronger, and gold is gone and getting followed. Love is hard, lonely's harder. Maybe she's pulled off on the shoulder. Sitting there tryna think it through Maybe there's a shot that we ain't over Or maybe that's just wish we'll find After I feel after longer To kill a stroll Let's go is gone Think it's followed

SPEAKER_09 44:53

We are back here on Sound Check with Chase and Minnie right here on Froggy Valley 100.1 and that my Froggy Valley app. We, of course, tonight on this Father's Day evening are joined by, yeah, dad of two boys, Ben Gallagher, of course, from Camp Hill. He is a rising country musician.

SPEAKER_01 45:10

Your song Stomp really put your music out on the country music map. I think last time we checked it, it has received more than 60 million streams. Talk about the evolution of that song and how it introduces the country music world to you.

SPEAKER_14 45:26

That's a great question, Benny. Uh stomp that the guitar riff and that song did a lot of work for my career. It was a massive blessing. Um so I'll take you back to the beginning of that. Um I was going through my phone where I have a lot of ideas, um lyrical ideas, but also music ideas and guitar riffs, and I found this riff uh that that I had uh put down five years prior. Um, and I was like, wow, I forgot about this thing, and I relearned it. It's not super easy to play. Um and uh relearned it and I was like, oh, this thing sounds pretty cool. I'm just going to I'm gonna take a quick video and just throw it up on my Instagram and I did not think anything of it. Um it sounded pretty cool, but that was that. And a couple days go by and this thing, this riff starts hitting like major wings, and um I mean unbelievable. There was thousands of comments coming in that was they all said song title question mark. And there was no song at the time, like it was just this rip. So I called my producers and I'm like, hey, you guys you guys gotta look at this, this is insane. Um and it kept getting shared and shared, and um you know, we were actually forced then we were kind of forced to to write a song around it because everybody was asking for it. Um and that that first video went to I think almost seven million um views, and so we wrote the song Stomp because the caption on the Instagram post was boot stomping, and I because I was keeping time with my boot on uh on the ground. Right. So we wrote the song, we recorded it, had the whole plan of putting it out, and I was like, hey, you know what? Maybe we got lucky with the algorithm, which you can never predict on social media. So I was like, maybe we just got lucky, I'm gonna post it again, um, and and just see what happens. And that one went to six million, I believe.

SPEAKER_03 47:22

We were now and then around midnight. The moment we ever ask, get to feeling right. They pulled jug and a flap top out. Let the back push for the get aloud. Sound like it's what we get going on When they put a little thing out of it, stop it, stop the mom and all flip it, flippin' in the fake and back in the small kick and make you walk up for the break boots to the birthday on your boots, better killing your friends. Like a back road shirt, stop like a red on a mouth red on a little flap. Yeah, still make it full.

SPEAKER_12 49:58

Rocky Valley 100.1 is bringing you the best local, regional, and national up-and-comers right to your radio every week.

SPEAKER_03 50:07

This is Soundcheck with Chase and Minnie Hopper I'll take God over the devil and whiskey over mine Hotel california over the long run every time Yeah, I know what I want Girl, I've made up my mind out there anybody anything Shooter Show and my end for the broad mouth or anybody I'll take homegrown old store ball down home over downtown On an old fish It's on the easy other way around I'll stay in the mouth Girl you know me by now Shoot for anybody Shoot that all right from the body But show the bite Froats my body but for anybody That's the latest song from Camp Hill Musician, now based down in Nashville, Ben Gallagher.

SPEAKER_09 53:01

That one is a good one. I'll take you, of course, on his brand new album entitled Time on Soundcheck with Chase and Minnie here on Froggy Valley 100.1 and the My Froggy Valley app. Uh now let's get into your music there, Ben. You have a new album out. It's called Time. Really just a thing of beauty. Talk about the songs that you picked out for that album to put on there.

SPEAKER_14 53:20

Man, thanks. We spent one year making that album. Um we went in to record the first note when River, our oldest son, was eight days old, and we finished it uh right when he turned one. Um and then it took some time, obviously, for the record label in between finishing the album and then it finally being released. Um but that's one of the hardest parts for me, man, is is narrowing down the songs on an album. Now there's 13 songs, and not all of them were brand new. Like we put Stomp on there, which had been previously released, but it had never lived on a project. Um so we wanted to include that as well as cuts like a knife. But the hardest part's narrowing down the songs. But I look at a r I look at a record as taking a listener through a musical journey and an emotional journey, right? Um, and it's this wave that's riding up and down, and um, it's built on the guitar, heart melody, and and a lyric, and the goal is to make the listener feel something. And that record's full of, you know, it's about life and love and loss and hope and struggle with the with the ultimate goal that somebody latches onto something and and feels it.

SPEAKER_01 54:29

Your latest single, I'll Take You, has been released to country music radio, receiving some serious airplay right now. What was the story behind that one?

SPEAKER_14 54:39

I'll Take You actually was originally written as a ballad. It was a slow, very slow song, very soft. And we're going in, this is a couple weeks before we decided that we were gonna go in and and record or put all these songs down. We started speeding it up just a little bit, and then we kind of kept speeding it up, and it was like totally in the moment where it was like, hey, could I could I'll take you be a t a rocker tempo? And we kept speeding it up until we felt like it lost some of that emotion. And as soon as it felt like it was too fast, then we would dial it back. And then at the same time, I started playing that intro guitar riff on electric, and it felt like I'll take you was supposed to be a tempo from the very beginning. But when I'm singing it live, you know, I'm thinking about my family, I'm thinking about my kids, with the hook being, you know, I'll take you over anybody any day.

SPEAKER_09 55:35

Yeah, and I think that song too, it's just got a different vibe. I mean, we're we're living in that pop country music world right now uh that is out there, but when you listen to that song, it's just got a completely different vibe, I think, when you when you put that in between, say, a Luke Holmes song, put it in between a Morgan Wallins song, it kind of does set it apart from what is out there on the radio right now.

SPEAKER_14 55:54

Man, I love that you said that, man. I appreciate it. That's been the whole thing is like I've never chased what like a sound that was, you know, happening right there. You know, the the industry evolves, the sound changes, you know, uh as time moves on, right? There's different um sonically, there's different things throughout time that are kind of like the thing. And and I've always stuck with what I do because I'm like, man, I don't want to chase what somebody else is doing. The only way to be like authentic and to be real, and the country fans know it, man, they can see right through it. And it's like the only way for me to be, you know, the most me and authentic is to to do what I do naturally, and and that's what that sounds like.

SPEAKER_01 56:38

This has been a blast hanging out with you, Ben. Best of luck from this point forward, and we cannot wait to see where this ends up for you. Thank you for joining us here on SoundChat.

SPEAKER_14 56:47

Randy Chase, thank you guys so much for having me. Always a pleasure talking to you guys and catching up and hanging and appreciate the support and what you guys are doing, helping me spread the word with this music.

SPEAKER_09 56:56

Absolutely, man, and happy Father's Day, man. Thank you, brother. You too. Next week we will have a brand new episode with another rising country musician from Central PA. She has shared the stage with the biggest pop artist in the world. Yeah, Taylor Swift, and she certainly has made a name for herself in the country music world. We will have Stephanie Grace in studio next Sunday night. Also, a thank you out to Jazzy and Words Candies in downtown Lebanon for the yummy goodness of that caramel corn. And we're gonna send on down to Ben down in Nashville. All right, Minnie, you're locking up and I will get the lights. But before we go, in country music.

SPEAKER_01 57:31

Unless it's home ground country music. Have a great week, y'all, and we will see you back here next week starting at 8 o'clock on Froggy Valley 100.1 and the My Froggy Valley app powered by Radio Novo.

SPEAKER_12 57:46

Are you an up-and-coming artist trying to make it big? If so, we want to hear from you. Submit your demo to Chase at sevenmountainsmedia.com. That's Chase, the number seven mountainsmedia.com. Thanks for spending your night with Froggy Valley 100.1 Soundcheck with Chase and Minnie Hopper.

SPEAKER_08 58:16

Everything's still pretty much the same round here. But I got better since you got home. I'm still feeling too many on a Friday night. Still try to step in when it ain't my fight.