Try That in a Small Town Podcast
In 2023, Jason Aldean's groundbreaking song and video "Try That In A Small Town" resonated with a resurgence of conservative values in America. The writers of the song, Kurt, Neil, Tully, and Kelley, took the opportunity to launch the Try That In A Small Town Podcast. This platform allows them to reveal the true inspiration behind the song and discuss the importance of common-sense values. With a lineup of influential guests, the hosts will entertain you with the stories behind their music, while also addressing challenging topics affecting our communities and country.
Try That in a Small Town Podcast
Jeremy Popoff on Lit Rock Stardom, Musical Resilience, and Holiday Favorites :: Ep 34 Try That in a Small Town Podcast
Join us for an unforgettable chat with Jeremy Popoff, the legendary guitarist from the band Lit, as he shares the highs and lows of a rock musician's life. Discover how Lit has managed to keep their music timeless and vibrant, treating every performance like it's their last. Jeremy takes us on a nostalgic journey through their breakout hit "My Own Worst Enemy" and how video games like Guitar Hero have introduced the magic of rock to new generations. From exploring musical collaborations to the deep bonds within the band, you'll get a front-row seat to the dynamics that keep Lit rocking decades later.
We unpack the rollercoaster ride of the music industry, diving into the band's humble beginnings and the grit it took to sign their first record deal. Jeremy shares candid stories about the impact of losing a band member and the resilience needed to carry on. Get a taste of life on the Sunset Strip, hear about iconic MTV memories, and laugh along as we recount the band's unexpected HGTV appearance. Plus, find out how Lit managed to stay connected with fans during the pandemic through virtual performances and creative songwriting sessions.
In a heartwarming twist, Jeremy reflects on the band's moving experiences performing for military personnel overseas. He shares stories of camaraderie and gratitude, illustrating how music becomes a unifying force in times of adversity. As a bonus, we wrap up with a festive discussion about our favorite Christmas movies, adding a touch of holiday cheer to your day. So tune in, subscribe, and celebrate the power of music and connection with us!
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Every show we almost kind of treat like it's our most important show ever and maybe it's our last show ever. And so we just go out for blood and we leave it all out there. You know, we've never phoned it in. We've never treated something like let's just get paid and get out of here. We've always just thought like this is it boys, we better get out there and do it.
Speaker 3:We listen to this stuff. When I tell dude, like before the show, we're listening to lit, you know.
Speaker 1:And that's funny. Before the show in our dressing room we're listening to country. Just because you're in a band and just because you're on MTV or whatever doesn't mean that you don't go through the same life stuff that everybody else is going through. It's just that you're doing it kind of in a spot under a spotless. You know you kind of under his polish. You're going through, you're losing somebody or you're going through a divorce. You're not going to walk into Carson Daly on TRL and he's like so what are you guys up to?
Speaker 2:we're like well if you really want to know. I mean s***'s really hitting the fan you asked. The Try that in a Small Town podcast begins now.
Speaker 5:Try that in a Small Town, We've got the usual suspects K-Lo right next to me. Who's next to you? I'm right, really close Really close. We've got Trash, We've got TK and tonight this is awesome.
Speaker 2:I can't wait, I know.
Speaker 5:It's especially cool for Tully and I. He's become a friend, but we were fans originally from the band and guitarist of Lit, it is Jeremy Popoff. Yo, let's go, come on Look at him.
Speaker 1:Good to see y'all Fantastic.
Speaker 5:Looking good, my man. Thank you, brother, likewise.
Speaker 3:You don't change, you don't change, thank you brother.
Speaker 1:Likewise, you don't change. You don't change Change on the inside. Wow, we're going to go deep right now. Yeah, no, it's good to see you guys. You too Sitting here with some legends.
Speaker 3:I love it. I love it. We were just talking about this Me and Kurt were talking about this. The first time we ever we were a huge fan Place in the Sun came out in 99, right, yeah, okay, so I think in 2000, I think it's 2000,. But you guys came to town, probably for some sort of show for the radio station 1029 maybe, but it was around this time of year and we'd been listening to that album on repeat. Oh, we were on the road.
Speaker 5:Oh yeah, we were fans. We were cranking this stuff up before we played any.
Speaker 3:I mean, it was just great melodic rock and roll, thank you. And we went down and saw you guys at a place. It's gone now, but it was called the 328 Performance Hall. Where was that?
Speaker 5:It was right there, on 4, fourth avenue, I think on the north, or is that north? Side going towards uh, back to the interstate. Um, but it was cool. So that was like a 2000 that came out in 99 and of course everybody knows the hit my own worst enemy, which is actually weird to say. It's probably a multi-generational hit. Do you find that? More people, not more people, but there's a new generation of people that have come to know the song We've been noticing in the last couple of years.
Speaker 1:I've really noticed there's kids in the front row and it's flashback because it's like 15, 16-year-old girls singing all the words to the songs and I'm like whoa, this is 25 years ago, so I guess their parents must have turned them on to some rock and roll along the way and it's like and we're seeing a lot of that You're welcome.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's your daughter I got two daughters, man, but it's for a lot of reasons. I mean, one of the first things was like Guitar Hero and Rock Band, you know, getting in on that in that sort of early 2000s, when rock started to kind of get away from rock, and I was worried. I was like man, no, kids are going to be asking for a Les Paul for Christmas, you know, because there was no guitar in rock for a while. And here comes this video game and it was just like swept everybody. We were lucky enough to get on that. So, um, that turned on another generation of uh, of fans and then now it's just it's kids and it's, yeah, it is multi-generational.
Speaker 5:It's crazy, dude it's like it's one of those things like I kind of feel this way in a very separate way. But you know, you go down to lower broadway and you're gonna hear hicktown or something. Right, you're gonna. You're just gonna hear that. Another one of the songs you're gonna hear is my own worst enemy and I. There was a viral thing. When was that? A couple years ago, you and aj got up and somebody was playing. At what club was that at? That was at 12, 30, okay, at 12 30.
Speaker 1:I don't miss that you got.
Speaker 5:Oh, it's fantastic. But is that crazy to you like? Do you ever? You probably don't go down there much, but if you do, you hear that song all the time it is crazy, um, and that happens a lot, not if one of us.
Speaker 1:I mean, I've been brought up to do it a few times, and so has my brother, but when we're together it's like it's for sure going to happen.
Speaker 3:It's true, though. You see, when you um, I remember a couple of years ago, I came home, you know, my son plays guitar and I walk into the house randomly and I walk in and I hear I'm like. And I walk in and I hear I'm like, this is wild.
Speaker 5:And you're right, they're rediscovering all the music and I think you're about to touch on this, and Jeremy did too. Maybe we'll just go there like rock music has pretty much gone away, which I think is why I still listen to classic rock and then, of course, rock from the 90s and 2000s. It's like besides I don't know Foo Fighters, like who are the rock bands that are carrying on the legacy.
Speaker 6:They're coming back though I've got, I mean on satellite radio. I mean I listen to Octane on satellite radio. I mean there's a lot of young bands that are trying to revive it and there's a lot of kids loving it. I think it's going to. I really do. I think it's, I think and it might be, but, like I was thinking, Guitar wise.
Speaker 5:I mean, it's coming back. I was thinking of this when Jeremy was talking. Like I was thinking who are the kids? Like I grew up and I heard Van Halen or you know anybody like that, and it's like you had so many guitar heroes. First of all, I want to ask who your guitar heroes were. But who are the kids listening to today? Who do they go? Oh my God, I want to be that.
Speaker 3:It's probably why they rediscovered the older stuff I know.
Speaker 6:That's right. My daughters did, they went back.
Speaker 3:There's a couple bands that I like from the last five or six years highly suspect. I think they're kind of cool. They've been around what? Six years or a little longer. I don't know somewhere in there and my son turned me on to them a couple bands, one from California called the Bad Sons, they were kind of cool, but you guys kind of set the bar for like writing really melodic rock songs. Yes, you did, we listened to this stuff. When I tell you, dude, before the show, we're listening to Lit, isn't?
Speaker 1:that funny. Before the show in our dressing room we're listening to Country.
Speaker 6:It's cool how that happens, though. You know we come here and we start writing country stuff, but I'm listening to you and your brother and I'm going. I'm going, I'm getting inspired by you guys y'all may be getting.
Speaker 3:Inspired.
Speaker 5:It was a well-written song, but I'm getting inspired.
Speaker 6:By you guys, because your brother's hell of a singer and I'm, I'm just listening and there's so many hooks, I'm just going.
Speaker 3:There's so many hooks in your guys' music Guitar hooks, vocal hooks, just the whole thing. A ton of them. And if, for those of you out there listening who have never seen these guys play live, go see them play live. That was the thing that always got us. We've seen you guys a few times and you guys, man, I think that's why you're still doing it at such a high level. You we talked about a little bit ago. You're playing show. You're playing a lot of shows a year for a reason because you've always brought quality to the stage, a great show. I don't think you can have a career this long without doing that. You know I think people fall off. You know what I mean and I'm sure that the fans you still feel that out there, oh yeah, music. You know I. I think people fall off. You know what I mean and I'm sure that the fans you still feel that out there, oh yeah, in music, you know.
Speaker 1:I think we, we've always kind of gone out every show. We almost kind of treat like it's our most important show ever and maybe it's our last show ever, and so we just go out for blood and we we leave it all out there. You know, leave it all out there. You know, we don't. We've never phoned it in, we've never treated something like let's just get paid and get out of here. We've always just thought like this is it boys, we better get out there and do it, you know, and and we're just so like grateful and humbled the fact that we're still doing it not that we had anything else planned to do, you, you know at this point. But it is crazy that I look around and I just see all my guys and we're all, you know, I just turned 53. My bass player's 52. My brother's 51 and we're jumping off shit. I'm like, oh shit, careful dude, that's to be commended dude.
Speaker 2:Thanks, man.
Speaker 6:Y'all have been hanging that long that your ligaments are still intact. I know.
Speaker 1:For the most part, whether we know it.
Speaker 6:It's to be commended. That y'all hung in there and you haven't hung it up yet.
Speaker 3:I tell you that's something to be said for that. I'm looking at the drum riser these days, thinking twice about jumping off that thing.
Speaker 5:Step off it. Step off it Like a gentleman.
Speaker 3:You know what was really cool, though Great memory for us, I know. So we met you so long ago, but then you called up and you had us go in and we cut some of your country songs together at big studios with TW Engineering, jeez, and you guys wrote and I think we're, you know, like country-esque type songs and they were. It was fantastic. What a great time so what? Year. Was that? Because I don't.
Speaker 5:This had to be, oh oh five or six, I think it was oh six, oh seven, maybe, yeah, right around there, I think I think it was is that when you first started kind of coming to nashville a little bit in that era I started?
Speaker 1:I think my first riding trip to Nashville was 05, early 05 and I was kind of going through my first midlife crisis, your first, yeah, yeah, nice, I think I went through two.
Speaker 1:That was the first one, but I I was sort of you know, we're talking earlier about guitar and rock and all this stuff and I was becoming disenchanted with rock that was coming out and I was feeling a little bit like there was like a vacancy that wasn't doing for me what it was doing before and I was feeling creatively like a little bit stifled and I kind of came out here not really knowing what to expect but I was like I need to do something else, I need to, you know. So I really I started diving into country music and which sort of came natural Cause when my brother and I our dad was a radio DJ when we were kids and for our whole lives and he was the top 40 radio DJ, but his first couple gigs were country radio. We didn't know the difference. We were just little kids and you know, I didn't know Waylon Jennings and Kenny Rogers was country and I didn't know that you know, I just like songs, you know.
Speaker 1:And so I kind of came full circle when I started coming out here and I realized like oh wait, I have some of this in my blood. You know. But the very first trip I took out here, my very first writing session, was with Jeffrey Steele, Jeez, and, and we wrote this great song and. And then I remember a couple of weeks later, like Faith Hill put it on hold and I was like this is easy, let's move to Nashville.
Speaker 3:It's funny, though, about you though. I remember we wrote. You haven't written in a long time, but years ago we wrote and you're a great writer, like the thing you know, we've written with some guys in the rock world many times and it's not always that way. You know, it's different writing for country, it just is it's different writing for rock.
Speaker 6:Yeah, I wrote with Edwin mccain one time and it was, it was.
Speaker 3:it was completely different you know I wrote with rich robertson one time for the black crows and he laid there and fell asleep on the couch so was it just you and him, or was there somebody else there?
Speaker 3:no, uh, david fanning was there, yeah, so we're just sitting there, I mean, you know, not bashing on rich, a great guitar player, but it's like man, we got to write some words to. These words have to have to make a sense too, which is the thing. But you've, you've got that like I remember writing, thinking this guy can write rock songs and country songs. You know it's, it's a, it's a great thanks, great weapon to have.
Speaker 6:You know, I was also very and, by the way, you don't dive into country music. You kind of belly flop in the country it's more.
Speaker 1:Like. You know, I did some homework and research, though, too. The last thing I wanted to do was be this knucklehead from LA, you know, rock guy coming into Nashville acting like he knew what was what was up. You know I I was very respectful, I think, to the culture and to the. You know, I knew that everybody was busting their ass too, you know, so I didn't want to come in. My my success with lit allowed me to get into some rooms with some great people. At first, you know Jamie Johnson, and and and and and steel, and and a bunch of others, but I never got a phone call.
Speaker 6:By the way, you know, you, you were, you were untouchable.
Speaker 1:But yeah, dude, I think I think it just I, I, I didn't, I, I didn't. I took it seriously. You know, I think that was and I fell in love with it. I mean, honestly, I really fell in love with Nashville. I fell in love with the process, I fell in love with the writers and the musicians and all that.
Speaker 6:How was the business different from LA and Nashville? Was the business like different as far as the way they? They didn't pitch songs in LA. I know there wasn't a bunch of songwriting communities out there.
Speaker 1:No, there wasn't really a bunch of any communities out there. I mean, we're from Orange County, but we were from like North Orange County, and then there were South Orange County and then there was LA. And you know, was it shocking when you got here, as far as the way the business was run county, and then there were south orange county and then there was la, and you know was it.
Speaker 6:Was it shocking when you got here, as far as the way the business was run?
Speaker 1:well, the business of songwriting. What tripped me out at first was, you know, my first trip out here. Luckily, my first one was with steel, and he doesn't like to start until about two or three, that's right. But like the 11 am rights, I was like what are you guys talking about? You can't drink at 11 am. But you, I was like what are you guys talking about? You can't drink at 11 am. But you know, I came from a sweaty warehouse in Anaheim where we used to.
Speaker 1:You know, we would go in at 6 or 7 pm and we'd be there till 1, 2 in the morning drinking, you know natural lights, and just jamming and writing and or coming up with an idea and then bringing it into that environment. So the idea of getting together at noon, that was a new discipline for me, but then that's how we do it now. You know my rock band, you know Lit. When we get together and now to write it's scheduled and it I mean it's usually one or two, but I mean the idea of getting together in the daytime at someone's house and like sitting around and doing it. That was something we learned here which changed, it, matured you. Well, you know, at some point, you know, it is like you kind of have to plan it and get your head in that space and go to work and go to do it and show up. Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 7:Yeah, and get started at the crack of noon. Crack of noon Get going and I was going to ask you with how many songs you've written and recorded. Have you guys ever had a lawsuit on any of your songs that you've been a part of or a? Writer of Wow.
Speaker 6:That's a good one here. I've got a specific reason Not yet.
Speaker 7:Because I was wondering if you, because you've got that song yeah, yeah, right. I was curious if, if you guys ever came after joe nichols for recording a song, he just a third of it just called yeah in 2013 and I was wondering if it crossed your minds. It's like that bastard stole our title.
Speaker 5:No, no is there any specific writer on that song that you're actually gordy's one of?
Speaker 7:them. I'm trying to get him to listen to podcast.
Speaker 1:Yeah, he'll listen now I mean, is he not on every song?
Speaker 3:yeah, yeah, he's on most everything, yeah he is actually so one thing I want to touch on and I hope it's okay is, um, we talk about similarities, that our two bands, we always felt that kind of kinship with you guys. Different genres, but same mentality. I think, um, you lost your original drummer not long out I think if I'm not mistaken, it was 09, somewhere around there when he'd pass I could be mistaken, I feel like it was somewhere in there and so we met you and probably they started hanging out with you in 06 or something. And so you know, you guys, moving on from that past, that point had to be challenging Because I think about, you know our band, and if Rich wasn't here, I don't know how I would do that, you know I mean. So just I wanted to ask you if it's okay, yeah, how I can't. I can barely talk about it because I can't imagine it yeah, rich actually did a show with us.
Speaker 1:Remember when you filled in for us? Yeah, I came down to that, that's cool down there across from the stadium.
Speaker 5:What, what was that club? Limelight, or?
Speaker 1:something I think it was called. It was a. It was a crazy time, cause there were. The first thing that happened was shortly after, well, I was building my bar in oh five. We started building it and then I started coming here and then my parents were in an accident where they got hit by a drunk driver on a motorcycle, oh my god. And we had to press pause on our careers and take care of our mom.
Speaker 1:Um, for several months and I, my first trip to nashville was during that chaos, and then fast forward a couple years. Then our drummer gets sick and we were just kind of like, wow, what we're just getting thrown all these, you know curveballs and, um, our drum tech at the time, this kid, nathan, he was uh, him and Al were real close, you know, and he was the tech and he just, uh, he was there ready to just hop in the seat and and and take over when once we gave him the green light to do that. But at first we were kind of just like you know we were. We were supposed to go on tour with kiss in Europe when all that went down, and then, you know, that didn't happen. And how do you? You know he was, he'd still for sure 100% be in our band if he was still here.
Speaker 1:But you know how do you build something for that many years with this gang of kids that didn't know shit and then one's gone. But we were like at some point. Obviously we had to take a couple months to just digest, but we were like man and it sounds cheesy Everyone says this, but it's sort of like no, he would really be pissed if we sure, if we didn't carry on, he built it with you guys so he built it.
Speaker 3:He wouldn't want that to not exist, but it's still. You know, for for me, I I can just imagine what that's like if, if I looked around and didn't see any of my brothers next to me, what that, how that, how long it would take me to just be able to just perform like I always did. You know what I mean, and so I commend you guys, for you know it's not easy to do, because people don't understand. You know you spend more time with your band than anybody else.
Speaker 5:Oh, we talk about about all the time I see totally way more than I see my wife still to this day, even though our schedule is way less. Uh, and maybe that's a good way to get back to the beginning too, because people think it's an overnight success, because my own worst enemy blows up and all of a sudden you're gone and you're world famous. But there's that, what? Maybe 10 years of grinding and you guys formed what in high school is that right?
Speaker 1:the whole band high school, late 80s um started out on the sunset strip, you know, and so you're doing the whiskey and roxy, all those yeah of stuff.
Speaker 6:Yeah, and y'all had to go through, was it Derek Thomas? And like his, his passing, and I mean y'all, y'all, you, I mean you have, you've had to endure a lot of tragic stuff, people you've known.
Speaker 1:I mean, you know, looking back on it now it's sort of, I guess, just because you're in a band and just because you're on MTV or whatever doesn't mean that you don't go through the same life stuff that everybody else is going through.
Speaker 1:It's just that you're doing it kind of I don't want to say like under a spotlight, but kind of under a spotlight. You know you're going through, you're losing somebody or you're going through a divorce or you're you know you're having a kid or all these things where, and then you have to go, like I got to go to work and I got to go play or I got to go do this thing and and and you know you're not going to walk into Carson Daly on TRL and he's like so what are you guys up?
Speaker 1:to.
Speaker 5:We're like well if you really want to know. I mean, shit's really hitting the face.
Speaker 4:You asked, but you know that you know the mtv thing and I see your sport in the mtv shirt.
Speaker 5:You guys were a part of the mtv hey day, when it was at its biggest point. Trl uh, spring break, right, do you guys do that? And then what I didn't know, which I saw today, is he did the MTV Cribs which is like a total legit movie.
Speaker 6:I remember when you did that.
Speaker 5:So talk a little bit about the MTV days.
Speaker 1:You know, now that I'm in my fifties. We just did a HGTV.
Speaker 2:What Did you really? So my house was just on.
Speaker 1:HGTV a couple of weeks ago.
Speaker 2:I'm surprised I haven't seen it.
Speaker 1:Christina. In the country it's called oh my gosh, and it's essentially Cribs for old people, so like me Dude, full circle or half circle, maybe I don't know.
Speaker 7:Wow, yeah, did you like filming that, like doing that, the TV stuff, all the things you like filming that, like doing that.
Speaker 1:The TV stuff, all the things you like doing that. We loved it because we grew up on it. You know, and we went from in 98, you know, watching TRL to 99, we were on it, you know, same thing with like late night TV and all that stuff. It's like that was our stuff. You know we were products of that, so to be on it. I remember the first time we went to MTV and you know we're with Matt Penfield on 120 minutes and he's asking us questions but we're like wait, hold on dude.
Speaker 1:We need to ask you some questions Like this is crazy that we're sitting here and he, like he knew more about our band than we did, you know, and it was, it was. It was, it was bananas, I mean, in the spring break thing, I mean crazy.
Speaker 5:I heard you talking a little bit about that, Because who else was on that show? It was like Jay-Z right and Beyonce Dude, we were there because they weren't dating. Yet you didn't go to a ditty party, oh stop.
Speaker 1:Never went to one of those Okay.
Speaker 1:I'm just getting out of the way right now. We were there when Jay-Z and Beyonce first started hanging out and we were all on a plane together flying back out of there and we were all sitting in first class. I remember we were walking and Jay-Z was right in front of me and it was one of the older planes where you actually walk on and make a left to go to first class, oh right. And I just remember I was the guy right behind Jay-Z and he walked up and the flight attendant was kind of pointing to the right and he goes if I ain't making a left, I ain't getting on this thing and, uh, power, move. And he was sitting. I think he was sitting one seat behind me and my guitar tech was sitting directly next to him. At one point he fell asleep and his head was leaning on jay-z's shoulder. That that's amazing.
Speaker 7:But Beyonce was sitting like.
Speaker 1:so we were in like row two and he was in like row three and Beyonce was in like row seven and they were just flirting and talking back and forth the whole flight back. They weren't together yet, so you were there at the beginning. Yeah, I like to kind of think we had a small part in that. Yeah, of course, for sure, the whole dynasty for sure, the whole dynasty for sure.
Speaker 3:So you know, so you guys, you know success comes. You know, first album place in the sun. So now, after that, I was gonna, I wanted to ask you because we never talked about this and I always wanted to ask you. You know, because as a band, this is a big moment. Like you're, all of a sudden you're going to start opening up for some people that you used to like. Who did you open up for after you guys, you know, started touring and having success. That that you're like, because I know we had those moments. We were like, wow, we're out doing it. Now, all of a sudden, you're in arenas and you're opening up and it feels amazing. So do you have any great memories about who who like sticks in your mind back in those days that you guys kind of went on tour with, or the first band that took us on tour, uh, doing arenas and sheds, was offspring.
Speaker 1:Oh, that's awesome, yeah, and we were. You know, they were from orange county as well and so were we, but we, the first time we met him was at the first amphitheater show that we were scheduled to play on the tour. You know, same thing, with no doubt we actually from the same town and I actually went to the same high school as the drummer, adrian, yeah, oh really, and um, that's cool, we weren't, we didn't really hang in high. He was a couple years older than me and, um, you know, I was a long hair rock guy and he was kind of, you know, a preppy, you know whatever, but but no doubt was big in anaheim and we were just kind of coming up and we met them for the first time on the first show of that tour and, um, it's kind of wild, but um, probably some of the radio festivals right where we got to really like when we got to play a radio festival with stone temple pilots- yeah I just remember going.
Speaker 1:Wow, yeah, like we played our set ran backstage, took showers changed, ran out into the crowd to watch so you could watch. Yeah, we were like we played our set ran backstage, took showers changed, ran out into the crowd to watch so you could watch.
Speaker 5:Yeah, we were like we got these passes it's the best tickets we're ever gonna have for stp. I remember we did that with kid rock. Uh, we did some festival and we hadn't seen him yet and we did the exact same thing, it was a festival yeah, and we were all like little kids side. So he's going.
Speaker 3:Oh my god, this is amazing it's like, yeah, and those and those guys like, like stp or like kid, I love I remember I don't know this is stp, I, they're so good, it is so good musically. Wyland was a complete badass, just, and when we saw the kid I remember we over for kid rock it like we loved, knowing that, okay, he's gonna kick our ass tonight. He's kicking our ass right now. Yeah, dude, you know what I mean. He's kicking our ass right now and that's as big as anything for us. Like, I love that feeling of like, okay, we got some work to do and I just love that. I remember that watching him, though thinking oh, yeah, okay, well, we're, we're kind of, we're kind of making it. I think if they were opening for kid rock, we're watching them, we're, we have passes, we have these cool I mean, they can but,
Speaker 5:yeah, they will eventually. Yeah, you know, they have stp. That's another band of brothers, right? Yeah, and, and you know, for people that might not know, lit obviously the lead singer is your brother. Talk a little bit about that dynamic and how you didn't go the way of Oasis or maybe the black crows, where the tension is high and you, you know it seems like you guys get along, I'm sure you you but we definitely have our oasis moments.
Speaker 1:But you know, we're the only two kids in the family, we're both we're exactly two years apart and we were latchkey kids. You know, our parents got divorced when we were really young and we we stayed with our dad for a few years and he was a radio DJ and so he, his shift was kind of like afternoons and so we we were latchkey kids. I mean, if you look it up in the dictionary, that was us. We, you know, we'd stay out riding our bikes until it got dark and then we'd go home and, you know, feed ourselves some top ramen or whatever. Our dad wouldn't get home from work till like nine or 10 o'clock at night and we were getting ready for bed and stuff, and so we just kind of raised by wolves, you know, we just raised each other and raised ourselves and we were just doing whatever and yeah. So I think we've just been close just by nature, cause we've just that's how we've been our whole life.
Speaker 3:So yeah, AJ is such a bad-ass too. What a great voice Like, like what you guys do, like you all that push and pull is why it's so great. We trust me and it's the same thing Like. It's like arguments. Me and Redmond used to have straight up fist fights, you know, and it's like, but I can't exist without them. You know what I mean.
Speaker 1:I love Rich. You know, I don't know if I told you guys this story the first time I ever saw him. I was dating a girl and she was doing a round at like 10 roof or something and he was playing a cajon. Give it a hell, oh, giving it hell. Afterwards I told her. Her, I was like that's one of the best drummers I've ever seen. And she goes who was that? The guy that was just up there playing with you? She goes, the guy was sitting on that box. I'm like, yeah, I could just tell. And I met him that night and I and then um, I think that's how we all got to work together was I called him up and said, dude, would you, yeah, play on some sessions, like if you're not doing it, you know, if you're available, whatever. And then he called you guys and we all just got together and rich is a straight bad-ass, but he's one of the best drummers on the planet.
Speaker 1:Hands down.
Speaker 3:You know I can't, I can't, absolutely play without him Like I'm. I can't even. I don't even know what I would do, and and I don't even know what I would do, and boy on the cajon, forget it.
Speaker 5:No, he's going to give it hell.
Speaker 3:Even now we'll do a lot of semi-acoustic type stuff, like if it's for a radio event or charity event. He's got this little kit back there and, man, I tell you what it's amazing what he does.
Speaker 6:I don't think I could ever play with him. I did Rich's podcast and he's playing. He told me why don't you do night train? So I'm doing it and he's over there keeping time and I'm like, oh my God, I don't keep time, I'm not good, pocket you know, because I'm going to do it my way and I'm going to rush, but Rich was so in the pocket I'm like it was a struggle, he's one of the most.
Speaker 5:I mean, it was so, it was so perfect that I couldn't.
Speaker 6:I couldn't do my thing because he was so good most drummers are.
Speaker 5:They do the beat. Rich is musical it's, there's a there's a distinction between that. He's like one of the most musical drummers that you will ever hear he plays it like an instrument.
Speaker 1:Yeah, he's not, he's not. He's not doing math, he's, he's literally just he's playing, he's living the song?
Speaker 3:yeah, I would not be. I tell him. I tell him this all the time. You know we hanging out in the bus and having a drink, or I'll be like man. I wouldn't be half the player I am if I didn't meet you when I was 22 years old. You know what I'm saying. Yeah.
Speaker 3:Like for me personally, like I'm, you know, street player, like self-taught, you know, Same Rich has all that sensibility but it also has all this schooling and it's just like it's amazing. I remember the first time, one of the first times I played with him, we were rehearsing at a rehearsal studio for something and he and I and I was playing a little, pushing him a little head, and he stops, he goes, he goes, do you want to go faster and I said, should we put this up a click or?
Speaker 3:two, yeah, I said, and then I realized shit. Okay again, though, playing rich needed to be that great to make me better, like, like, and even even now, like rich is, I'm still chasing his, you know. I'm still trying to get to where he is. You know what I mean, and that's why it's, it's a it's, but I can't imagine, you know, it comes back, comes back to that, the, the thing you with the original drummer, and how you guys moved on, how how you um, take up those pieces and it's and it's. I'm just really glad you did, you know, because you guys are out still kicking ass yeah, still kicking all kinds of ass.
Speaker 2:You know you guys are playing what we talked about.
Speaker 3:At what? 60 to 70 shows a year you?
Speaker 5:know, dang, you're grinding man still we're gone a lot.
Speaker 1:That's amazing. Hey, we've been very fortunate. Um, like we were talking about earlier, like somehow I don't know if it was the nashville influence, but we have managed. We're one of the few rock bands out there still doing it that managed to adopt the country music schedule right it's different, tell people we leave.
Speaker 1:We leave on a thursday or friday, you know we play on weekend. We're usually home by dinner on Sunday, and then Monday, tuesday, wednesday we're home with the family at the house, and either we can write, we can record, or we can do nothing.
Speaker 6:Isn't life easier out here.
Speaker 1:Life is, it can be and it is if you make it. It can also be crazy. There's something going on every single night, and when it really becomes evident is when people come to visit.
Speaker 3:Oh, I know what you're going to say.
Speaker 1:Man, if you would have got here last night, you could have went to this thing. And oh, you're leaving on this day. Well, the next day this is happening and everyone's like God. That's why you got to move here, dude.
Speaker 1:I don't have to tell you, take me to Broadway when we lived in East Nashville and it was during COVID when we relocated here full time. It was right at the beginning of COVID and we lived painfully close to downtown. You know, we were in East and we were like 15 blocks from the river and it was hard to say no to people. Well, first of all people just stopped by the house and then they'd be like hey, we're going to Losers tonight, meet us over there. Now I can go like well, we're out in Franklin, man, you know we're home for the night.
Speaker 3:When you're like 15 blocks away.
Speaker 6:They're like no dude yeah, you're coming out bro, you got a good excuse when you live down here yeah.
Speaker 5:Hey, we got to take a break, but I do want to talk about this because you brought up COVID Real quick. We had Tommy Lahren on just a couple weeks ago and she gave us the brief story. I don't think it's when she met you guys, but hanging out with you guys during COVID and your brother getting arrested.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, give everybody the quick story of what happened here. It was when they were closing the bars at 10 or 11 or something, because you know COVID would go to sleep at 10 or 11 so you can't pass the virus or it would wake up you had to hurry up and get out of losers before.
Speaker 6:COVID came it was like going to bed before Santa Claus got there that's so funny, dude, that's amazing.
Speaker 1:And so we were hanging out one night. We all went back for several times. Our house, my house, was like the after party house, okay, you know which, whatever it was during COVID we're having 30, 40 strangers at the house like multiple nights a week. But one night my brother my brother had just just moved in, just got his house styled in, whatever, and we were all at something and and he was like, well, let's do it at my house tonight, like all right. And that was when, uh, that little jackass mayor, the new mayor of nashville was, was around, um, and he was doing this thing where people were like narking on their neighbors yeah, dude, we were just talking about this a couple weeks ago.
Speaker 5:They were in a sentence to rat on your neighbor.
Speaker 1:Hey, oh is there more than four people hanging out? Well, call us and we'll come take care of it. And that's pretty much what happened. One of my brother's neighbors called and these cops showed up in the backyard and I think there was like 10 people out on the deck smoking cigars and cigarettes or whatever. And there was 10 people in the house and he's got a big house and they knocked on the door and, yeah, he got arrested that night, had to do like bail lawyer and do community service and the whole nine yeah For having too many people.
Speaker 1:For having more than six people or whatever.
Speaker 3:It was eight, six or eight. What a crazy time and you know, you guys, we should talk about at some point. Is you know, when you guys stopped touring and then started again and the weirdness around.
Speaker 5:Hey, let's do that. Let's take a quick break. First we get let's get to the word from the sponsor. We're here at Popoff from Lit. Hang with us, guys.
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Speaker 4:My name is Glenn Story. I'm the founder and CEO of Patriot Mobile. I'm the founder and CEO of Patriot Mobile and then we have four principles First Amendment, Second Amendment, Right to Life, Military and First Responders. If you have a place to go put your money, you always want to put it with somebody that's like mine, Of course. I think that's the beauty of Patriot Mobile we're a conservative alternative.
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Speaker 5:Go to patriotmobilecom forward, slash smalltown to get a free month of service when you use the offer code smalltown or call 972-PATRIOT. All right, this is a Try that in a Small Town podcast. We're coming to you from the Patri mobile studios. We've got jeremy pop off from lit here. I know pretty amazing, tell you. We're just talking about how they dealt with some of the covid shows and how long did you guys take off for that? Did we take off for covid? Yeah, and did you do any shows?
Speaker 1:we sure did. Yeah, we, we put the word out, we're like, we're good, so but like you couldn't promote them, you couldn't advertise them or put them on socials like you were gonna go do something.
Speaker 5:But we, we did a few not enough, but we did it in california, or where were you um?
Speaker 1:I mean, like we did sturgis, oh, he did during covid, we did um, I think we maybe we did four or five, you know, when it was during that first year 2020 or whatever it was.
Speaker 5:Because we what if we took off the year? Right, because country music shut down? Well, especially for the way?
Speaker 1:well, at the level you guys are at, like we, we were able to slip in under the radar and go do a. You know, go do some random thing somewhere. Yeah, good for you?
Speaker 5:I mean it would, but do you remember the first show we did back at bonnaroo or not? Wasn't bonnaroo, but it was where they hold bonnaroo yeah, we did a.
Speaker 3:It was where they had bonnaroo, you know, at manchester, tennessee, and it was for a big streaming thing um this worldwide stream and x amount of people there, right, I can't remember, but they had them in little cages, yeah they had them in literal cages like, and it was so weird and only six people.
Speaker 5:Were you there, jim?
Speaker 3:you were there. So what are we doing? What the hell are we doing?
Speaker 5:it was so awkward, like there's only four people in a cage or something little animals in each cage? Yeah, because, again.
Speaker 2:You know, covid, it doesn't jump over the cage, over the cages, and as long as you only have four people in there you're good Looking back on it.
Speaker 3:What a, what a shit show I remember the, the one little show we did.
Speaker 5:It was some weird ass. Live stream, oh my God.
Speaker 3:We did it. We, yeah, we did a virtual show and it was us. And we're on stage staring at 80 or 100 little TVs, and each little TV had two or three people In their pajamas on their couch, literally yeah, exactly, holding up signs no that's exactly what. And we're sitting there playing. I'm like, okay, we're done here. We did one of those.
Speaker 1:I forgot about that we did one at Brooklyn Bowl here in Nashville, yeah, and it was the same thing and I just remember going. This is a cross between soundcheck and shooting a video and both of those suck.
Speaker 7:Oh yeah, we would do corporate shows just as a song right around, like a Bluebird thing. Except it's just online. You're just looking at a 15 inch screen in somebody's laptop and you're playing. You're taking turns playing your hits, telling the stories behind it, trying to be funny and stuff, but nobody's laughing.
Speaker 6:The money's the same, I'll do it. I'll do it in front of a.
Speaker 7:You're just assuming I don't know, but then I did learn and this is where you definitely are completely different than Neil because, even though we live nine minutes apart, he loves to write via Zoom. You, you do not.
Speaker 6:I hate it. I got to tell you I'm out on Zoom. The only good thing that came out of COVID for me was Zoom writing.
Speaker 7:I don't know man, I love coming up here.
Speaker 6:Y'all can say what you want. I love coming up here the worst In my golf clothes and clicking on my computer. That way if somebody's talking I can mute them and I can think. Y'all know how I am when. I write.
Speaker 5:I mean I'm like, oh yeah.
Speaker 6:I need, I got to. I'm good with that. I got to think a little bit. I'm kind of that way too.
Speaker 1:Zoom writing. I still do it today. My brother does this thing where when we're writing, he'll, when he's trying to think of something, he'll go oh, like dude, shut up.
Speaker 2:You know what Wait till you?
Speaker 1:have something and then say it but like, how am I supposed to think of something if you're over there humming some shit that doesn't exist.
Speaker 3:You know what's funny, though?
Speaker 6:He loves the fact that I love Zoom writing.
Speaker 3:I don't think you can write with people. You got to find those people to write with that you're comfortable in the silence. Some people get really awkward in that moment. Same as marriage.
Speaker 1:I was just going to say that.
Speaker 6:It's like five in the morning.
Speaker 5:It is Solid point If you can't be comfortable being quiet just sitting there, you got a problem.
Speaker 7:It's going to happen.
Speaker 3:It's going to happen.
Speaker 1:I was driving back from Gatlinburg a couple of days ago four hour drive and my me and my wife there's probably two hours went by where we didn't say shit. You got the right one. I was like God, I love you. Yeah, thank you, just for not.
Speaker 2:You can't.
Speaker 3:That's amazing. Yes, same same and go. I'm going to rewind because I we never talked about this either. Um, so you guys, you know, you, you get your deal right and you start. How many songs did you have like were you of the first album, like when you got signed, like were you had you already written? You know, like miserable and like yeah, and like some of that stuff that's's my favorite one.
Speaker 1:You know, I love miserable Me too, because the video it dude. You know, what's funny is that's a enemy's the biggest one, obviously, and that's the one people notice by, but I've found that songwriters gravitate towards miserable more.
Speaker 3:Um, we've we've referenced it a lot. I have, in numerous songs, used that thought process lyrically. What you guys did with that song, it's brilliant. It's so hooky and that's what I love about your music. It's just hook after hook, guitar or vocal, whatever it is. So you had a few little songs when you got your deal. Well, you know we had a record out.
Speaker 1:We signed an independent deal and we put a record out called Tripping the Life Fantastic. So you know, they say you have 10 years, write your first record. Well, we had already done that. So, place in the Sun, we wrote like in a year and they were songs that we were like writing on that we were just touring around playing in front of nobody in our warehouse in Anaheim just writing these songs getting turned down by every label a million times. We were getting bigger in Southern California selling out clubs and getting attention but still getting the word no every time. Every single label passed on. My Worst Enemy passed on Miserable. There was a demo that had four songs on it. Those are two of them. Even we eventually signed with RCA, but even Rca passed on us. Wow, samey and our guy that signed us. Well, two of them I don't hear they passed us, they passed on us.
Speaker 1:That's crazy, crazy you we did those showcase things you
Speaker 1:guys were talking about yeah, in la you know you do them like at the viper room at like four o'clock in the afternoon. Yeah, they'd parade out, you know, half a dozen of these suits you know, know, and we got to the point where we're finally like we got told no so many times we were like man, screw this. If they want to see us, they come out to Anaheim and come to our shitty warehouse crack open a natural light and and and and see what it's all about.
Speaker 1:But yeah, it's. We had I don't know know how many songs. We've never been a band that, like, went in and had 30 songs and narrowed it down to 12. We, we, we don't even finish writing a song if we're not stoked on it. And if we're stoked on it, I love that. Yeah, then we're gonna finish it and record it, you know so you go in.
Speaker 3:What was the process of making that first album? Like, um, you go, and how long? Like, cause it's good, cause it's so different. How, like our stories we were just talking about it before we started the podcast how parallel you know, we got passed on. I can't, I've lost count. You know, like you said, we're getting turned down and you're playing the songs that became hits and they're saying don't hear a hit. Yeah, you know, but the difference in how the albums are made is probably different. So you guys go in. How long did you take to record? Did you record it in in different sections? Did you record?
Speaker 1:it within. So that was our first time we learned during the process about budgets and things like that. We went to NRG studios, you know where everybody was making records in LA at the time, and we, you know, we were there for like two months or like I don't know, six, seven weeks, right and just you know, live down the street at the Oakwood apartments and we would just show up every day and, and you know about maybe four or five days in we realized we had a food budget and then we realized we had, then we learned we had runners.
Speaker 1:We were like, whoa, there's runners here, it's like dudes in the sprint position just ready to go get you. So by weekend, man, we were like vets. We were just like, hey, man, we're going to get some Chinese chicken salads today and we're going to need another handle of whatever, a couple more pieces of that beer and I mean handle of, uh, whatever.
Speaker 1:Then you learn a couple more pieces of that beer. And I mean we were playing. I mean we were so ready at that point we, you know 10 years and we were so like we, we rehearsed four or five nights a week and played shows on the weekends for so long that that we were just like dude, just cut us loose. Tell us where you are. I mean, where do you want us? I'm ready, my amps are right there, my guitar is right here. Like you, let me know when it's my turn.
Speaker 1:And what's your favorite song from that first record from place in the sun? Yeah, man, I mean enemy is just still right. It's the one you know. It bought me a few houses and a couple of pools. There you go, you know. You know, whatever um best is yet to come. Undone is one that I always loved. Um there. There were some weird ones on there, like a like a bow, like perfect one. You know was one that, like you know, was a little weird for for what it was. You know, people know that album for like a handful of songs. There's some. There was some deep cuts on there that went into our roots, and who mixed that album?
Speaker 3:um it's, it's still a great sounding album.
Speaker 1:Brian maloof mixed it and really, and he actually, uh, we had him mix the re-records of it. So now, today, when you hear my own, send me probably for like the last 10 years, when you hear that song on tv or in a movie or a video game, it's our version oh, good move and you can't tell the difference because we we ab'd it and made sure it was like our producer jim no to it.
Speaker 5:Our producer, jim, just text and he said it's on a taco bell commercial right now.
Speaker 3:Oh, is that out I guess so you're making money right now. It's gonna be a good christmas, yeah, do you guys?
Speaker 5:own, your own publishing on it, and all of that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we've sold some pieces of it. Yeah, right, you know, but you did at the time Franklin ain't cheap dude yeah.
Speaker 6:The thing I loved about you guys the most is, through all the years, when y'all decided to go a semi-different direction musically. You nailed it every freaking time. Oh man, thank you. No, you really did, because I couldn't wait to hear. From this record to this record and I'm listening to that I'm going, oh my God.
Speaker 3:They figured these guys can do it all. They stayed on brand, though, too. That was the best thing.
Speaker 5:That's a great point.
Speaker 3:Like that's how you I wish young artists would key in on this more. It's like you're going to have peaks and valleys. You guys had a super high peak and you know how. That is right. Yeah, eventually you come down a little bit and you'll have other peaks.
Speaker 3:But what young artists do, or new artists and some artists that may have quick success, is when that valley comes, they chase what they think they need to be and just stay to your brand states what you're good at. And you guys have done that. And you, you hold on to your fans and you bring a few more in, maybe not at the pace you did sure, hey day but, you don't you know?
Speaker 1:we woke up one day and there was, you know, radio was pretty much gone. I mean, I say that my Own Rest in the Mid gets played on the radio more today than it did when it was a number one hit. Wow, because when it was a number one hit it was on modern rock and active rock. Now it's on those, but it's also on pop, it's also on classic rock, it's also on you know, that's a good point Adult contemporary.
Speaker 1:So it so you know, spins wise. It gets more spins per week today than it did 25 years ago, when it came out on and it's never it's always done this. So it's it's wild. It's it's wild wild, to you know, and we're very grateful again because we grew up in radio, yeah, and we all did yeah to still be on the radio is cool because there's a lot of you see, a lot of bands now.
Speaker 1:it's like it's all about tiktok, it's all about social media, it's all about and I see, you know, I mean god bless them, you know, but like a bands, you know, they get them them a few million streams on Spotify and they're making plaques. I'm like, bro, that plaque costs more than you made. I don't know what are you doing?
Speaker 3:Well, they do that and what I don't think people realize. So, yeah, I love that reference to new band, new artists, whatever they million streams millions games a week, holding their hands, reaching out.
Speaker 7:It's okay, we're having a moment over here.
Speaker 3:There's nothing wrong with that. It's the holidays. I still love radio and I know, especially in country, we still need radio is very vital Because an artist that they're streaming say 700,000 a week on a song. They go out and try to sell a hard ticket not so much.
Speaker 6:I remember getting a call from my publisher. I said man, your song streamed $100,000 this week and I'm going well. Thanks, man. I made $23 this week, thanks. That's where we're at as songwriters, without radio. Yeah, that's where we're at as far as making a living.
Speaker 3:But even as the artist, so that stream does not translate to a ticket. They don't even know what a stream still means, like business-wise, like it counts. But if you're an artist and you're streaming, say, in Chicago, you're streaming 200,000 a week in this market Doesn't mean you can go to Joe's Bar in Chicago and sell 600 tickets. You might sell 40. So what does that all mean? And that's for radio, for me still. It makes it concise. You can see difference. If you've got a top five at radio, you can see a difference in ticket sales. If you're playing a club or theater, you can still see it.
Speaker 1:It's still important, I think so too and I have this argument a lot with current industry folks when they tell you like well, it's all about TikTok, Well, it's all about this, Well, it's all about radio, won't touch you unless you're doing this much on streaming, and it's like. That's like telling me like well, you can't go buy a big screen at Best Buy until somebody steals the one out of your living room.
Speaker 1:It's like I don't understand that's great, like I don't understand it. But again, just, I'm grateful that we got to at least catch that wave.
Speaker 6:We are too bro yeah.
Speaker 1:We are too. We're so grateful that we were I mean who would have thought that you know 25 years ago, if you said recurrence, that was almost like you know leftovers, it was like leftovers in the fridge and now we live off recurrences. It's kind of like Jesus Christ, thank youesus.
Speaker 7:That's what I want to ask you about, because you're talking about you know, uh, some of your songs getting played more now and recurrence to you know the people listening. That's just older songs. They're still bringing money, because once you get something recorded out on the radio, it'll it's always going to bring you some sort of money. Some of it's really good and some of it's not so good. You might make eighty $80 a quarter, or $12,000 a quarter or $20,000 a quarter, whatever. And when you said you're making great recurrent income, that's what makes me envious as a writer, cause that's the stuff like I want to write, things that are that are timeless, that you continue to get paid on year after year and your family gets paid on year after year after you're gone and stuff. So it's really cool and encouraging you. So it's really cool and encouraging hearing some of those songs that are making bank now and have an impact now, which is really cool.
Speaker 1:It is super cool and I sound redundant, but we don't take it for granted and we have so many friends that have had hits that are still doing it. They don't have that sort of recurrent love.
Speaker 3:I think it was just timing, I mean, mean thank god we got in when we did.
Speaker 1:Well, that too, but it is. It is timing, but man. But I think what you said is important. I think it is important, I think radio, even though you know, I know that when, like when, enemy came out, there was like 75 alternative stations in the country. Now there's like 25. Wow, you know. So, having a number one at alternative radio, and it's hard too, even for us, because they're still playing us. It's like an end cap at a grocery store, like you know, if you're Charmin, just because you came out with some new toilet paper doesn't mean they're going to give you shelf space. We have a song that's taken up shelf space on the very station and format that we're trying to get new music played on, and they're like but we're already playing you guys as much as you're going to get, and we're like well, shit, but check this new song, wait you hear it man, yeah the reason enemy.
Speaker 3:but the timing is was great, but that song would be huge, no matter when it came out, I agree. I agree Because, as a band or artist or writers, you pray and hope that you could be part of one of those. Right, because you know how it is when you're in the middle of it, like when Enemy hit, young band dreams are coming true and you don't have time to take it in. No, because you're too busy enjoying what you're doing and you're too busy. We're the same way. At any moment we're waiting for the rug to be pulled out. That is our mentality, jason's the same way that you said it. Every show. As far as we're concerned, we say after every show that could have been it just waiting To be part of a song like that, though it's like that's what you hope to be able to do, and that song it's the song. It's like it could have came out five years earlier or later. It's still going to be what it is today.
Speaker 7:I'll tell you that right now and that's one of the songs. And I asked Curt curtain telly, that's one of her other episodes, because what y'all do is is really cool out with aldine you're playing, you're, you know, on the tour, on the buses and all the stuff. And I asked them one time. I said, I said, do your kids think you're cool? And you and I were talking about about your kid and I'd read a little bit. I went to a college in utah, right, and then, then they sent you some.
Speaker 7:Can you tell us about that? He'd send some video footage at parties like 300 kids. Tell us about that real quick.
Speaker 1:I remember when we first went to visit him it was Parents and Family Weekend and he took us to his frat house and we went in, we met everybody, whatever, and we're walking back out to the car and on the way out to the car one of the kids put like a big party speaker in the window, just cranked it up.
Speaker 2:And the guys were like ah.
Speaker 1:And then he would send me videos of them at parties and the DJs would put it on. And I don't know, you know I wasn't there, so I don't know if he was like that's my dad, you, but the word got out and they were like pop off that's. Is that really your dad? And um, he grew up like same as same as your kids. You know he grew up on a tour bus and he grew up in backstage at venues. You know his. You know he country stars and rock stars that he calls uncle. He doesn't know any different, you know I think about.
Speaker 3:Look at my kids and my son's, 17 now, and you know, 17 I was playing in bar bands. You know thinking can you imagine like being our kids and like growing up backstage and that's what they used to and it's amazing, what a gift to be able to do that. But can you imagine? I mean I'm thinking to myself like imagine being 13, 14, 15, 16, just hanging out backstage, you know?
Speaker 6:It's amazing. I think his question was like do your kids think you're cool? I don't know if he does anymore.
Speaker 2:You don't know.
Speaker 1:Sometimes it's funny because he'll he makes fun of me like like. It's funny because he makes fun of me like you make fun of your dad. I remember one time we were sitting there doing something. I don't know if he was making fun of something I was wearing. You ever watch the Osbournes? Remember when that I cuss at my family like that? It's not for everybody. A lot of people. People follow me on Instagram and stuff. They mostly follow me to see the interactions with my wife and we cuss at each other and we call each other names and stuff and it's very loving, but it's just and but I remember my kid was making fun of me about something and I was just like, oh, the I'm like. Kids your age used to try to dress like me.
Speaker 6:They wore flames and shit, they did, that's true.
Speaker 1:They had fuzzy dice hanging in their bedroom.
Speaker 3:I tell you this my son it's so funny. Last night he made a crack like that. He said you know, we used to try to dress like you, not anymore. Ouch, I was like man, I wear black t-shirts and jeans. It's classic. It's classic. You know, but no one will make you feel more uncool than your children. Yeah, the only person I know that can even dent. My confidence is my, my kids.
Speaker 6:You know how to you know how to stop that right. You put them in a song. I put both my girls in songs.
Speaker 7:They were hits, so now I'm cool yeah yep, then later you got to play them at a wedding it backfires, that's right jeremy I gotta ask you this a little bit of a turn, but it's.
Speaker 5:It's really interesting and we've said this before like you're a friend of ours, but when you start doing a little research on your guest, you're like, oh shit, I didn't know that. So oh yeah.
Speaker 6:Right, no this is.
Speaker 5:I don't know how to label this, but so first thing you see is Jeremy Popoff, born September 11th. That is your birthday, yeah, but even more unique than that, you were actually in New York or across the river when this event happened. Yeah, can you tell people a little bit about that night or that day?
Speaker 1:Well, so it was my 30th birthday and also the first night of the Atomic Tour, and it was at Birch Hill in New Jersey. It was the show number one of the Atomic Tour.
Speaker 5:You're kidding, so I didn't know that part.
Speaker 1:And so the night before on the 10th, the label people and just the band, everybody went. We went out in the city and we partied till like three, four in the morning and went out to dinner and we just went to bars and we were, you know, tearing it up for my birthday. And then, probably about three o'clock in the morning I call our tour manager, cause they were over in Jersey, cause you know that's where the buses and trucks park and the hotels are cheaper, it's easier. Yeah of course.
Speaker 1:You easier. Yeah, of course you're staying in jersey. Yeah, and uh, I remember calling our tour manager going, hey, man, get us a room at the w, we're gonna stay in town tonight. And he's like no, dude. He's like no, come, you already got rooms over here, like you're coming back. And I was like man, that we're staying at the w. Well, anyway, we went back to jersey. Yeah, yeah, of course you did. And um, and I'll never forget, I was probably three hours into my sleep and my bass player before everyone had iPhones and stuff. He's ringing my room phone and I answer and he's like dude, turn on the TV. So the first plane had hit. I was like dude, that's right there. And I went open my curtains in the room and we had a view of the skyline and everything. And I just remember watching the second plane fly in Hold on. You actually saw that. I saw the second plane real time fly in.
Speaker 1:Oh my gosh, I can't imagine that, and then my wife at the time, my first wife was pregnant with my son and he was born in October. So she was real pregnant and at the point where she was going to the doctor like every week and I remember trying to call her because our baby doctor was in Long Beach and it's obviously that's a big port, you know, and I just remember going. We're under attack and they're going to hit Long Beach.
Speaker 1:You're going to hit they're going to hit all these spots and I and you couldn't dial out cause all the phones were jammed and it was gnarly. I mean it was, it was gnarly. I remember going down the lobby and we're at a Hilton or something and um, and I remember there was just like probably 200 people in the lobby and it was dead silent, like you could hear a pin drop, but 200 people staring at a TV like every, you know every second of what was unfolding. And then meanwhile outside it was just, I just remember, white car after white car after white car, just zoom, zoom, zoom, just all these like government vehicles just racing to the city, and it was, um, I'll tell you what. At the time I was really bummed about turning 30. And all of a sudden I was like who gives a shit? Yeah, like I was, just couldn't believe what was happening.
Speaker 5:Yeah, it's still hard to believe, and we've we've had this discussion before you know after that day what I wouldn't do to turn 30 right now.
Speaker 1:By the way, you know, after that day what I wouldn't do to turn 30 right now, by the way.
Speaker 5:But after that day and in the weeks following 9-11, we've never had a country more united than those weeks and the months following, and it's sad to see where we are now. But you know, at that time the country was united and we we had one.
Speaker 4:yeah I mean, it was 100, so did you guys did.
Speaker 5:You guys do shows after we stay on the road.
Speaker 1:I mean, dude, we were, it was one of our biggest tours. We were yeah, it was at the height. You know, we had production out and you know a truck and you know big crew and um, and we had six weeks of shows, you know, on the books, did you? Cancel any shows or did you just Just the first? Night in New York.
Speaker 5:Yeah.
Speaker 1:The second night was in DC, you know also, and I remember our bus driver at the time was like you know, we're not going, and I was. And I just remember we were like we're going, dude, you know, if you're not going, and I was, and I just remember we were like we're going, dude, you know, are you? If you're not driving, we're going to get somebody else to drive it, or one of us is going to drive it, but we're going. And we went to DC and I remember we went on the radio station and just said hey, you know, we're out here. You know we live on the other side of the country and we're going to. We've got nowhere to go. You can't fly anywhere, you can't like, you know. So we're going to come and play and we understand, if you can't make the show, we'll come back and make it up, but in the meantime, if you're, if you're cause at that point, you know, after about 12 hours of watching that on the news, everybody was ready for something else.
Speaker 1:I remember even me, it was my birthday and my band and crew guys finally said dude, it's your birthday, we got to go, can't stand here and watch the news all day. We're going to go to like TGI Fridays or whatever it was in the parking lot. And I remember we went in there and we're like, all right, let's just go think about something else. And then all the TVs were on it and we're like you can't escape it. But, um, but we went and played the show and at nine 30 club in DC and it was like it was probably ha, it was sold out, but it was probably half full. And then, um, and then we just continued on. We just we just stayed out cause we had nowhere else to go and like you said, people still need.
Speaker 5:they need that release. It's like you know, We've talked about this before and we were glued to the TV. We had a session that morning of 9-11, and, of course, halfway through it we're okay, session's over, we're just watching this.
Speaker 3:I can't remember who the writer was. We were on the session for, but the writer didn't want to stop and I was like what do we do? I think we're supposed to not do the session, but I don't want to get paid for this session.
Speaker 6:so what was amazing is how everybody, a day or two after that, everybody was like no, we have to continue, because that's exactly that's exactly. That's exactly what they want. They want us, they want us to shut down, they want us to quit everything we're doing, our way of life and everything. That was their whole intent.
Speaker 1:And everybody caught on to it pretty quickly and and said no, and everybody doubled down yeah, well, and also to your point earlier, I remember being out traveling all across america in the weeks to follow. I've never seen so many american flags and so many people just being good to each other and just united. And you know, after the shows, you know, during that tour we we didn't disappear to the dressing rooms after the show, like right after we got off stage. We would usually just go right down into the crowd and just start hanging and talking to people. And that's awesome it was. It was the most united I think I've ever seen amen the country wow, since I've been alive, we talk about.
Speaker 3:You know, this comes up a lot and how united we were and how not we are. Now you know, and it's it's crazy to to see how far that you know, because it was one country united, it was great, and now it's just like you know, it's different, it's different.
Speaker 5:Jeremy, we're like so over time, but I do want to ask you this, because we talked a little bit about it Are we over time?
Speaker 6:No, we don't have a time limit. That's quite quick.
Speaker 5:But we were talking about playing overseas and for some of the troops and stuff. And you know, I know we've been lucky enough to do that, tully and I, and you were saying you guys have been over and done some of that. Can you just talk a little bit about that and what that kind of meant to those guys and then what it meant to you as well?
Speaker 1:Yeah, the first time we went out was probably 04. And since then we've gone multiple times. We've been all over the world. Um, it's pretty bad-ass to think that we have dudes everywhere and and and, dudes and chicks. Um, but we've got the best military in the world and we are everywhere and we're in places that people don't even know we're at, because we've been there yeah exactly, and um, it's so humbling and um, you know, because we get paid to do it.
Speaker 1:You know that I mean, the government has a budget for entertainment for the military and we pay into that, so it's not like crazy, but, um, but when you actually get for the military and we pay into that, so it's not like crazy, but but when you actually get on the ground and you're actually face-to-face, pressing, pressing the flesh with our troops, it's, it's unbelievable and and it's it's such a blessing to be able to do that, and the gratitude that they show us for being there is almost uncomfortable. That's a great word for it, because we're like, dude, we're here because we're grateful for what you're doing, yes, and for you to say thank you for us to be here, like we would be doing this tonight anyway, somewhere. We're thrilled to be here with y'all, and you guys are the real rock stars. Yeah, that's right, we're just.
Speaker 3:We're just holding guitars and playing right, music like what you guys do every day is is insane I'm not I'm not sure exactly what shows you did, but some of the ones we've done, you know you you're in places where they're pretty remote. They can be remote and you're always not playing for a ton of people. Like you know, generally in some of those places it's a smaller compared to what we're used to. Yeah, oh yeah, but the energy you get off of that crowd a smaller.
Speaker 5:I know it's actually life changing. It really is, because the perspective you gain is overwhelming. And, like you said, tony, I think we were over there once and it was either Christmas Eve or the 23rd. Yeah, we were over there before Christmas and the gratitude that these guys showed us was and I'm glad you said that word it was almost uncomfortable because it's like, bro, you're the hero here.
Speaker 3:We're doing this for you, playing the bass. Nothing compared to what.
Speaker 6:We got to give it up to Mike Sadler. Tonight he's here, he's in the room. Fighter jet pilot.
Speaker 7:I'm going to call him Blaze.
Speaker 5:by the way, his new name is Blaze.
Speaker 7:Former Air Force pilot. Thanks for your service.
Speaker 6:No, he's Navy Navy.
Speaker 2:Why would?
Speaker 7:you get that wrong.
Speaker 5:That's Wade's fault, that's Wade's text. Anyway, blaze, god bless you.
Speaker 6:Yeah, thank you sir. He owns Original Glory. Started it the Berry Company, one of our sponsors.
Speaker 1:We got a toast for him. You know, to what you were saying were saying too about the size of the crowds. I remember one time we were, they put you up in these base hotels and they're not. You know, it might have used to be a mental hospital, but now it's where they put their guests.
Speaker 1:That's really funny and I remember we were playing this huge bass. It was a huge, you know. It was the service members and their families and their kids and everyone. It was a big, you know firework show and all this stuff that was going to happen. They were saying it was going to be like 3,000 people. So we all were out the night before we're hanging out in the you know, the bar on the base with the you know. We woke up in the morning and the ships were gone and they were literally like, okay, now you're going to be playing in front of 300 wives at the whatever small little gathering club. Wasn't because they all got called out somewhere. It happened while we were asleep.
Speaker 5:While you were sleeping.
Speaker 1:They got a call, they hopped on the ships and they went somewhere, wow. And. And it was times like that where you realize like, dude, this is crazy, yeah, like and you're not allowed to.
Speaker 2:You know, you can't like post something on your Instagram Like well, we were going to play in front of three, but the boats are going somewhere.
Speaker 1:I don't know it's cool that you would take off
Speaker 5:to the east?
Speaker 6:Yeah it was so cool that you got to witness that.
Speaker 1:You were there when it happened. It's unbelievable. On a dime, everything can change.
Speaker 3:That's why people that don't respect the military and what they're doing, it's unacceptable to us and to me. Oh, it's like, yeah, you know, to get over there. I mean, we're very blessed, you know, and the play they're so appreciative of what you're doing. Yeah, it's, thank you guys for doing that. I think too.
Speaker 1:They, you know, they just a taste of home. Yeah, you know something that a taste of normalcy, a taste of home. You know something that a taste of normalcy, a taste of home. You know, when I owned my bar in Orange County, we were maybe an hour and a half North of Camp Pendleton. You know, down in San Diego, oh yeah, we did.
Speaker 1:And I put the word out to kind of, and word got out eventually. But my whole thing was, if you come to my bar and you're military, first round is always on the house. But if I'm there, your whole damn check's on the house. And so word got out. So I'd get a lot of these kids and I say kids because they're kids and they would come up, you know, and they would come up to hang out on the weekends and hang out at my bar and I got to be friends with a lot of them.
Speaker 1:And I remember, and I remember one night they were all getting ready to ship off to Afghanistan and these were kids I got to become close with, you know, and I just remember telling them like, hey, when you get somewhere where you're going, when you're safe, and you can send me the quadrants, let me know, I want to send you all something. And I remember taking my kid and they sent me the stuff. We went and we bought, like you know, cartons of cigarettes and and beef jerky and and nuts and and candy, and chewing gum and and and you know, and and dip and just like whatever. And I'm thinking, oh, you know LA Times, and like People Magazine, just anything from like home, and we put together this big giant box and it cost more to ship it than it did, you know, buy the stuff in it. But I remember we we drop shipped it and my kid threw a um, he hand, wrote a letter I mean, he's five or something, five or six and he just wrote, you know, put their names on it and wrote, you know, thank you guys for what you're doing and blah, blah, blah and put that in there and I still keep in touch with those guys still to this day.
Speaker 1:And I remember one of the guys lived in Alabama and his house caught on fire. This is probably, maybe 10 years ago and he had a house fire and it burned probably three quarter of his house down when he went back and he got to go back the next day and one of the things he found that didn't burn was that letter from my kid and um and he took a picture of it and he sent it to me and he was just like dude, you don't know how much this means to me.
Speaker 4:I'm like dude. You don't know how much that means to me that's insane.
Speaker 1:More than you kept that letter, but like holy shit wow what a story that's unbelievable.
Speaker 5:Hey, let's talk about real quick lit. Uh, what's going on right now? Uh, you got some new songs. Sick of me, too, is one of the new ones that's out. You guys have new songs.
Speaker 1:Uh, tell people what's happening yeah, so we got a ton of stuff coming up in 25, new new bunch of new songs, ton of shows and yeah, man, we're just going to keep doing what we're doing. You know we're we're very hyped about the new tunes.
Speaker 3:And go hear these guys live. Like, look at the tour schedule, I'm not kidding you, it's, it's one of the best live bands you're going to hear it. They kill it. You need high energy, high energy and it's. You know we're. I mean, we're huge fans. I'm going, we're not, we're not fans of anybody.
Speaker 3:That's a great point yeah, they hate, it no no, and we no, seriously we are, we are. Uh, these guys are the real deal. We've looked up these guys and modeled our show after watching these guys play like it's, it's, uh. Wow, thanks, man, it is, it is high energy, like high energy, but also great band like kevin bass player, like he's badass, like he's great, like aj and jeremy and the whole thing. It's not that hard dude.
Speaker 1:It's four strings, See Kevin.
Speaker 7:Thank you, Jeremy. That really cut to the core.
Speaker 3:Kevin. I'm sorry Kevin's out there. That really hurt.
Speaker 7:On that note, everybody, we're going to sign off. How about some turkey and humble pie? This is Jeremy everybody.
Speaker 1:Honestly, I'm big fans of everybody here at this table and, man, it's an honor to be hanging with y'all. Thank you very much. We're so thankful for you.
Speaker 5:You're a good friend, you're a good human being. You and your brother are great artists. We're thankful that you're here. Seriously, hey, before we leave, give us a Christmas movie. What do you watch? Give us one Christmas movie that you and your wife have to watch Every Christmas day.
Speaker 1:we watch Four Christmases. That's probably my favorite. We start with Christmas Vacation.
Speaker 7:That's why we're still kind of doing stuff.
Speaker 1:Four Christmases you got to shut up and watch it. And then we watch Bad Santa, Bad Santa.
Speaker 7:You've got to do it Alright.
Speaker 5:Happy holidays, Neil.
Speaker 2:Merry, christmas Merry.
Speaker 5:Christmas you got something.
Speaker 7:Absolutely.
Speaker 5:Hey, this is Try that in a Small Town Podcast. We're thankful for Jeremy Popoff being here from the Patriot Mobile Studios. Happy holidays, merry Christmas.
Speaker 6:Merry Christmas everybody.
Speaker 2:Make sure to follow along, subscribe, share rate the show and check out our merch at trythatinasmalltowncom.