Matt Farris ~ RIO ROUNDUP Headliner

During the Rio Roundup, part of the National Finals Rodeo experience held each December in Las Vegas, we caught up with headliner Matt Farris, an Arizona native whose musical journey has come full circle. Matt shared how winning a singing contest in college unexpectedly launched his career and led him to Nashville, where he spent nearly a decade honing his craft where he was signed with a Nashville label. Now back in the state he loves, Matt talked with us about returning to his Arizona roots, the lessons he learned in Music City, and how those experiences continue to shape the music he’s creating today as an independent artist.

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We travel coast to coast, chasing the heartbeat of live music - from dusty dive bars and historic honkytonks to major music festivals and intimate songwriter circles. Along the way we sit down with the artist, songwriters and storytellers who bring music to life, capturing their voices, journeys and behind-the-scenes truths in unscripted, real-deal conversations on the Musical Miles Podcast.

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Musical Miles Podcast welcomes all interested in being a guest on our show. Artists, Songwriters, Festivals, Concerts, Venues, Fans - Contact us to request an interview to promote your Band, new single, album, song, historical or new venue or to share your story with us and our fans. We only conduct in person interviews, so check with us to see where we are headed to next.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hey music lovers, welcome to Musical Miles Podcast. I'm your host, Byron Duffin, and I'm here with Mr. Matt Ferris. Hey buddy. How are you? Pretty good. Last night was wild. Wow. Well, we're at the Rio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada for the Rio Roundup. Matt is the MC for the watch party. Just last night. Oh, just last night? Yeah, I was performer at MC'd last night. Oh, you were performed and MC'd last night. Okay, so let's let's talk a little bit about uh about your so are you MC'ing anymore the rest of the week?

SPEAKER_02 0:33

No, this week I got a bunch of shows elsewhere. But you got other shows. It's been an incredible NFR already. So it's well.

SPEAKER_00 0:40

I apologize I didn't get to see it last night. We we got all these people coming in and everybody coming at me that's wanting interviews, and then all of a sudden I had last minute, I had um uh yesterday I got a message from Marla Cannon Goodman in in uh Nashville, and she's got me an interview with uh Sammy Kershaw tonight. So we're we're trying to work out all the details. So I was out of here on emails and texts and working grinding. So but uh anyway, we got we got some cool stuff going on, but uh well let's talk about Matt Ferris. Where do you you're from Arizona, right?

SPEAKER_02 1:16

No, I grew up in Lake Havasoo City, Arizona. Oh born, Oregon. Born in Oregon. Grants Pass, Oregon. Moved to Arizona, spent most of my life in Lake Havasoo City, Arizona, moved up to Flagstaff to go to college at Northern Arizona University, and then decided to enter a show called the Colgate Country Showdown. Yeah. In October of 2010. And then the judge said, Have you ever thought about moving to Nashville? I said, I didn't really think about that. And three days later I was living in Nashville.

SPEAKER_00 1:46

Three days? Yeah. Packed up and did you win the Colgate Night? I did win that.

SPEAKER_02 1:51

I won the Arizona and I went on to lose the next one. But so made that move to Nashville.

SPEAKER_00 1:58

There was a there was a precursor to that. Uh I'm trying to remember what they called it, but they did shows all over, right? Yeah. They did one in Vernal, Utah. My mother-in-law, my wife's from Arizona. Oh, awesome. She's she grew up in Sholo. Oh, Sholo's amazing. Her mother was a songwriter. She was a member of Arizona Songwriters Association. That's awesome. But she's been gone for 25 years, so long before you, you know, got involved, and probably you were just a I don't know how old you were. I'm 38. So, yeah, so you were pretty young when she was a young gun. But uh, but she loved uh music. She was a hell of a piano player. She had a uh standard grand piano in her house, and and uh anyway, so um uh my wife and I had, and we've been lovers of live music since we got married, since we got together. We actually had a live band at our wedding reception in Sholo, Arizona. Oh man, Sholo is a beautiful area. And so do you know Heath Clark? I know that name, yeah. He's from Sholo. We moved to Idaho a few years ago, but he was my very first interview on this podcast when I started. That is so cool. Because his dad and his grandpa played at our wedding reception.

SPEAKER_02 3:07

That's wild. My dad and grandpa still play in my band every once in a while. Do they really? My first band was my dad on bass and my grandpa on drums. That is awesome. Yeah. And now my kids jump on stage with my dad and my grandpa. So we have four generations on stage. That's cool. That doesn't get any better now. It's pretty wild. Yeah, yeah. And then moved out, I made that move to Nashville in 2010, and I was very determined to break my way into country music. And actually, it's because of that guy over there.

SPEAKER_00 3:39

We gotta tell who's that guy over there.

SPEAKER_02 3:41

Big Vinny. Big Vinny from the band Trailer Choir. There you go. And it really started, he was opening up for Toby Keith in 2008 in Phoenix, Arizona. I'm standing in literally two feet of water because monsoon came in at Cricket Pavilion, it was called, so all the water rushes down, and it was all sitting at the bottom of this thing. I'm standing there. And this band jumps on stage, and they only did two songs, two or three. But I was I told the girl I was with, I'm like, I'm gonna be with those guys on stage one day, and she said that I need to get a real job.

unknown 4:14

Oh no.

SPEAKER_02 4:15

So I was very determined when I got the Nashville.

SPEAKER_00 4:18

No.

SPEAKER_02 4:19

But I I made that move to Nashville. I was like, I'm bound and determined. And I ended up running into Vinny at um country radio seminar, and I told him that story. And now we've been playing shows together now for the past 13 years. That's awesome. And literally every time I make sure she sees that post. There you go. Perfect, perfect. And I and I think of that Tony Keith. How do you like me now?

SPEAKER_00 4:42

Yeah, there you go. I have an old girlfriend that I noticed she's she sees my posts pretty regularly. She you see the especially the story, right? You looked at your story, yeah. She looks at them pretty regularly. Yep. We make I make sure of that. Yes. Well, that's cool. So, so uh when you got to Nashville, uh and are you still are you an independent artist or do you have a record? I'm fully independent now.

SPEAKER_02 5:04

Okay. I've I've had a couple deals here and there, and I I decided to go independent because it's to me, I feel like it's it gives me more of me being me. Right. Because when I had labels and stuff, I mean labels are great. It just depends on who you're working with. They want to tell you. They're like, hey, I think you need to do this. I'm like, I don't feel comfortable doing that. That's not me. Right. So I'm able to do what I want to do and my sound and working with songwriters that I want to work with, like Vinny and Butter from Trailer Choir and other songwriters and songwriter friends of mine that are like, hey, I really like this song. Well, you've got it. I couldn't do that on a label. They'd be like, no, we're gonna use this guy. Like, I want to use my friends.

SPEAKER_00 5:46

Right, right. Well, even even well, and it depends on who's producing your records. I've I've had some conversations with with uh some artists that went into a recording studio under a a pretty big-name producer, and they said, Well, I'd like my band to play, and they went, No, we have we have a band that will play. Oh, yeah. All the session players that, and they're those guys are phenomenal, and that's why they use them, right? They don't have to do retakes and you know, it's short and sweet. They get in, get out, and get it done.

SPEAKER_02 6:13

Yeah, I I I was blown away when I I signed that first deal in 2012. When it went into the studio for the first time, into a major studio. I've done some independent stuff just at home in Arizona. Sure. By going to this Nashville studio, and it was Hilltop Recording Studios, and I'm looking around, I'm like, these are the guys I'm working with, and like my I didn't know any idea who they were. Sure. End up being Mike Chapman, who played bass for Garth Brooks. It was Lonnie Wilson, who's Riva's drummer, and Adam Schoenfeld, who's guitar player for Temugral Kenny Chestane. Like, oh. So I had like this all-star band. Yeah. I'm like, uh, my my band couldn't recreate that. Yeah. Now they can. But at the time I was like, there's no way to do that.

SPEAKER_00 6:58

They're just amazing, you know, and and and I've only been since I started the podcast, been uh out to Nashville one time, but got to go into uh some writing rooms, and we've interviewed a ton of songwriters, probably 40 plus that have number one, multiple number ones. So that's a whole other world than songwriting world. Oh, it is. It's it's very, very different and unique, and and it's uh um it's it's just crazy, but it really intrigues me. And I I we love the songwriter festivals. Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 7:30

That's some of my favorite things is going to or being a part of songwriter rounds. Yes. Because I mean they have that here in Vegas, they do these Nashville songwriter rounds, and these people come out like Matt Warren and these giant songwriters. I I've interviewed Matt. So incredible. And and Rob Hatch. Yeah, he's singing these songs, and people are like, Oh, why is he singing a Gary Allen song? Like he wrote that. He wrote it. They're like, Oh, I'm like, I'm I hear and I know the backstory, right?

SPEAKER_00 7:58

Have you heard him tell the story about the rock hitting him while he's weed whacking? Yeah, and and you know, and he had been a successful songwriter prior to that and snorted it up and partied it up, right? Spent all his money. But but you know, that's that's what we like to get on this podcast, is we want to hear the backstories, yeah, right? So we want to we want to know where you came from, what motivated you, that girl who said you need to get a real job. Oh, you know, that motivated me real quick. And and and uh yeah, you know, I mean, I I uh I'm an old calf roper and I went to a calf roping school one time. My brother and I, after the school, my dad was settling up, and and uh Bob Johnson, he's D. Pickett's ex-father-in-law, and Bob says, Johnny, that that Eric's got a lot of natural talent. I said, What about me, Bob? He said, You ain't got a chance. Well, he he I he said that Eric will go to the high school national finals. And I said, What about me, Bob? He said, You ain't got a chance. I'm the only one that went, of my three brothers. So anyway, but I had to work twice as hard because you know, somebody told me I couldn't do it. Oh, yeah. And and and like this podcast, you know, people are going, You're gonna do what? What do you know about music? Well, I know I like music, and I know the the industry intrigues me, and we kind of have and every every episode's been in person, every one of them. I love that. And and so, because it and we don't do a split screen because we're in the same room, Matt. We're we're talking, we're actually having a conversation. And it's a cool view down here. It is a beautiful view. So this venue originally, they tell me, was built for prince.

SPEAKER_02 9:29

Yes, this was all like his hangout, yeah, which I think is incredible. But yeah, so um I don't know if they can see this track up here, but if they can. So several years ago, right, this was a giant Mardi Gras parade. They had these giant floats that flew around, and people would dangle off these floats, and it was like a big Mardi Gras party all the time. They're still up here if you go.

SPEAKER_00 9:54

I've seen them, they're in the back room. It is that Bill Bill Blanchard set this all up and brought me up here and was showing me around. He was and they were gonna use this as part of their storage for their equipment in and out, which I'm glad they didn't. They ended up putting it downstairs, which is great because we've had free reign of this room. But yesterday I interviewed um Justin Andrews. Do you know Justin? Uh but he's with uh his managers, and and uh he said, I need to know who to talk to about this room because they've got somebody that wants to come out here and set this up from Nashville. It's an amazing room. It's going to waste. Yeah, it's an incredible room. Going to waste. But that now that that's cool to know that story because I didn't realize that's where the floats went. He was telling me that.

SPEAKER_02 10:40

You have to get your fans here to go maybe get some sneak peeks of those floats back there. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then maybe play some clips of that. Because you can find them still. Oh, yeah. These Mardi Gras parades. So these things came out and just flew around this whole track, and people would dangle off of it, and all these crazy actors, and it was just an incredible thing, but it's been closed now for years. But yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:03

Well, I've been I've been coming to Vegas for 50 plus years. I've been to the NFR 25 years in a row. That's incredible. And my wife has actually worked for Stets and Clothing here at the NFR for 18 years. That's awesome. And so we we've we've got some real ties here, but when you get to town and you think, oh yeah, I'll get to see all the stuff in town. There's so much going on that it's hard to get around to everything. Now I've been here to the Rio uh a a few times uh over the years. A lot to this place, but it's pretty amazing.

SPEAKER_02 11:32

They're bringing it back, I think. Yeah, I think so. I think the artists have put some serious work in it. The rooms are incredible, the people are incredible, the staff's incredible, and this Rio Roundup is just next level. There was it's oh yeah. We did it, and there was a lot of people here.

SPEAKER_00 11:47

Yeah, there were a lot of people, but now and and man, I've been pushing it every day. Hey, if you want a place to go, because see, last year I did this at another hotel that has a watch party, and for some reason they didn't invite me back. They invited me back, and then all of a sudden I wasn't invited, so I don't know what happened. But Billy didn't come back here. And and we have a mutual friend in a in a in a gal named Amy Keene. Do you know Amy? Have you ever met Amy? I think I met Amy. Uh sweet, sweet lady. She is just she worked, used to work for a Stetson and Roper, and that's how I got to know her. But she lives in Nashville, but she's moving back to Texas. But anyway, let's talk some more about Matt and your your music. What uh what what's so you got to Nashville in 2010, signed a record deal on 12?

SPEAKER_02 12:34

Yeah, I had my first song on radio, 2013. It ended up being my first top 40 right out of the gate. Oh, that's awesome! It's called Redneck Radio, and it it it still plays on radio stations today because I made several edits of it because it was rocking to that redneck radio, so then it was rocking to that camel country radio, rocking to that real country radio, okay, rocking to that froggy country radio. Okay, so I made all these special versions of all these stations. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:00

Well, that's what a what a great idea.

SPEAKER_02 13:02

Today is all these radio stations playing that song. Yeah. Like, hey, I got new songs out if you want to play some new ones. That one's 13 years old now.

SPEAKER_00 13:10

Well, you know what, it's still very cool, it's still played. The music industry's tough. And if we've learned if we've learned anything, the common denominator is it's tough. And and you know, even the songwriters, Matt and Rob and those guys, uh uh uh Bryce Long, do you know Bryce? So Bryce, Bryce, what a what a has had some huge hits, you know, with Randy Hauser and Gary Allen and you know, nothing on but the radio. And I mean, he's just a talented, talented guy. Those guys are touring because they need to. Yep. Because they're not getting the the well, they're not they're not making that that income stream from Spotify.

SPEAKER_02 13:50

Yes, it used to be Spotify and iTunes and streaming has really hurt artists for sure.

SPEAKER_00 13:59

Well, they've hurt artists and the songwriters.

SPEAKER_02 14:01

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 14:02

They've done some great things.

SPEAKER_02 14:05

Yeah, if you want to get exposure, because now you have a whole album of people that like your entire album. Yeah. Back then you had a song on radio and they only knew that one song, and then you get the album, you're like, oh, what are these other 15 songs?

SPEAKER_00 14:20

But now artists are releasing 36 song albums, and I've got kids older than you, but growing up in the 70s, you know, if I heard a song on the radio that I loved, I had to buy the whole album. Oh yeah. There you you didn't uh you can still buy a 45 every once in a while. You depend on the song and how how big it was, you can buy a 45. But for the most part, you know, if if uh if I heard a song by the Eagles, of course, their albums were all great. Oh yeah. But but but you know, you hear a new song, you're like, okay, I I gotta have this song, you had to buy the album. Well then you fell in love with the whole album. But nowadays, everybody for the most part releases new music a single at a time. Yep. Not very many, even not very many people release full EPs anymore.

SPEAKER_02 15:03

No, it's it's a different world now. I mean, right now I'm doing singles at a time, and then I'm gonna release a full album at the end with a couple of special songs that you can only get with the album. Okay, and I've I've found that's that works really well because you have all these singles, and then you release an album that still has those singles, but you have two bonus tracks that you haven't heard unless you get the album. Right. Someone's like, oh, I I like all these songs you released, now I get two more. Right. So it's it's it's really a good thing.

SPEAKER_00 15:30

Yeah, that's a that's a great tool. That that's the first I've heard of that. Um, but there's there's some artists out there that are so frustrated with Spotify that they're they're talking about pulling their music off and doing their own thing, right?

SPEAKER_02 15:41

Yeah, a lot of them have done that. I mean, I mean Garth isn't on Spotify.

SPEAKER_00 15:45

Yeah, Garth's never been on Spotify or Apple, has he?

SPEAKER_02 15:48

I don't think he's on Apple yet. I think he's on Amazon now. Is he on Amazon? I think he made a deal with them, but it's streaming has changed the world for sure. Oh, no question about it. Well, even CDs, like it shows now. I still sell CDs because some people want that physical thing. Right. But they're like, I don't even have a CD player in my car now. Yeah, no, I I use them for coasters. My most people now, it's records are coming back. Right. If you got a vinyl, I'm like, I'm gonna make vinyls. So vinyl again.

SPEAKER_00 16:20

Yeah, vinyl's getting bigger again. Uh I love that. I was at Saturday. I was at a songwriter festival in Livingston last year, and uh uh Stephanie Quayle's her name. I don't know if she's a Stephanie, she she she goes, Byron, did you get it did you get a CD? And I said, Stephanie, I don't have a CD player. Yeah, not even in the house, I don't think. I said, she goes, well, here take two anyway. So she gives me, and I got home and and Shanda goes, Yeah, we have your mom and dad's old CD player that that had actually has a cassette player in it, too. So wow. So anyway, but yeah, I mean I grew up in the eight-track dates. That's awesome though. I love eight-tracks. That's that's really old school. You couldn't you couldn't own an eight-track uh unless you had a book of matches to go with it because you had to wedge that book of matches underneath the tape to get it to play and to keep it to stick going down the road.

SPEAKER_03 17:10

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 17:11

Yeah, they were I'm I think I'm that 38. I'm 38, so I'm I was there for most of those eight tracks when I was super young.

SPEAKER_00 17:20

Then like sixth grade, we were doing the tapes where we had like 15 different songs on our you'd make a mixtape pre-mix for my girlfriend. Then all of a sudden you need to get a real job.

SPEAKER_02 17:34

8th, 9th grade, I'm burning CDs. Yes. And now it's like, hey, I got 40,000 songs on my phone. They're like, what? Right.

SPEAKER_00 17:43

Well, we don't even, I mean, I I well, I used to announce a lot of rodeos, so I had a laptop that had I don't know how many thousands of songs that I had taken, pulled them off the CDs and put them into files, and and and just sorting that out, just tracking the music, keeping tracking the music for a high school rodeo was a nightmare. Or a roping, because people kids, kids want to request songs, and I'm like, okay, you gotta remember and gotta go find the file. And anyway, it's a pain in the ass. Now it's like, yeah, no problem. Just yeah, push play. Hey, play this song, and it plays.

SPEAKER_02 18:16

Yeah, and then you can set your playlist 40 songs deep and it just goes.

SPEAKER_00 18:21

Exactly.

SPEAKER_02 18:21

You don't have to get a pencil to rewind a tape anymore.

unknown 18:24

Right, right.

SPEAKER_02 18:25

I stayed at a hotel in Flagstaff, and it it had an old tape player, and it had a bunch of cassettes. I'm like, this is really kind of nostalgic, it's cool. And my son was with me, who's nine now. I'm like, hey, I'll give you a hundred dollars if you can tell me how to rewind this. He's like, oh not a clue. Stuck that pencil in there. Started winding it up. He's like, You really had to do that? I'm like, yeah, and I just start going like this. Yeah, yeah. I'm like, yeah, I had to actually do that. Same thing with phones, as rotary phones.

SPEAKER_00 18:58

Oh yeah. Oh, they oh, they don't even know what that is. You well, you know, May asked us. May's gonna be playing here on Monday. So she's got a new song that she wrote with Bryce Long, and it's in it, and I don't remember, I can't tell you the title of it. I apologize, May, but she's sitting on a bed in a hotel room or something, and she's got a phone with the cable, with the cord, you know, and and the rotary phone. It's a rotary phone, and you're like, I'm sure people are looking at that going, what is that?

SPEAKER_02 19:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 19:23

So it's it's like finding a dinosaur bone.

SPEAKER_02 19:26

Yeah, it's the same with payphones. You find those nowadays, you're like, what is that? Like, that's how I used to call home when I was on the road.

SPEAKER_00 19:32

Well, and and interestingly enough, who was it? I interviewed somebody. No, no, no. I didn't interview him, I saw an interview with uh Ray Wiley Hubbard, and he said, We'd get to town, he says, how we toured was with a with an atlas and a sack of quarters. And we'd get to town and go, okay, we got the atlas, go to the payphone, look up the venue. We don't know where it's at. Call them. Where how do we get there? You know, just crazy. And you know, people don't have any idea about that. My when my my wife was young, her and her sister, they're when they'd leave home, their mom would make them put a quarter in their shoe. So I always had a quarter to make a phone call, call home if they need to.

SPEAKER_02 20:10

What was it, 1010-220 or something? Yeah. Then you can make a call. 1010-220, then you have to dial.

SPEAKER_00 20:15

Yeah, yeah. Like, what? Yeah, crazy, crazy world. The world has changed a lot. The world is ever evolving, the music industry is ever evolving. You've seen a lot of changes. If you've been in Nashville almost 15 years, well, 15 years. Yeah, 15 years. You you've seen a lot of changes. You've seen a lot of artists come and go. You've seen a lot of artists come and go, but you've seen those that have stayed that were there before you got there. Oh, yeah. Some of them are still playing at those bars every single day.

SPEAKER_02 20:41

Yeah. Yeah. I'm like, oh, but they're if you go to Nashville, it it will ground you quickly. Like, I've I've taken some band members there in the past. My band members have always been really great. But you take them to Nashville and they're like, these guys are unbelievable. I'm like, yeah, and they're sitting here for 20 years playing the same bar, playing the same song. Songs over and over. They've played when I played Nashville. I was playing from 10 in the morning to 2 in the afternoon, and then 2 in the afternoon to 6 p.m.

SPEAKER_00 21:14

So you did the Lower Broadway deal?

SPEAKER_02 21:16

Oh yeah. 10 a.m. to 2 a.m. every day. Now are you still living in Nashville or are you back in Arizona? I bought a ranch, a little farm in Casa Grand, Arizona. Oh, you're in Cassagrand? Yeah. Yeah, cool. And bought a little farm out there and have some horses and donkeys and chickens and my kids running around and perfect. It's this morning I was on the phone with my wife, and she's like, I don't know where Asie is, our five-year-old. I'm like, she's probably in the shop because I built the little apartment back there and it has a TV, and uh now she thinks it's her bedroom. Oh, okay. So she's like, I don't know where she is, and she went out there and she was feeding the horses and watering the donkeys, and I was like, Huh, that's way better than sitting on a tablet all day. Yeah, good. All my kids love being outside. Outside. Yeah. And I I love that. Because right now, I mean, even last night I watching the show and I'm sitting on stage performing and jumping around doing all this stuff. And the parents are loving it. Yeah. But there was kids literally sitting on tablets, just staring at the tablet, and like, I know. How do I get to these kids right now? So there was I went up to one kid and literally with my microphone, jumped off stage, went up to him, and I'm singing right in front of him. And he didn't look up the entire two and a half minutes. I was standing right in front of him. He was playing a video game. And he finally looked up and he was like, Oh, I'm like, I don't know what it is.

SPEAKER_00 23:02

Isn't that crazy? I I believe the world we're living in. I I raised four kids, I got nine grandkids and a great grandson. But it's it's scary to me how much time they spend on oh how much time I spend on the phone and you know, this episode is brought to you by Tin Hogs. Because I'm trying to promote a podcast and so it's to get those followers and to get this get the word out because I want to share Matt Harris's story and his music with my followers. So that you get new followers, right? That's the whole purpose of this.

SPEAKER_02 23:36

Sure. It's the and the world we're living in right now.

SPEAKER_00 23:38

Well, that's that's the only way we can help each other, honestly, is to and I and I and I have my little rants every once in a while. Uh you know, I'll get on social media and I'll do a video and go, hey, are we friends? Are we and I get right in the camera, are we really friends? You know, how do you know me? And you know, how are we really friends? Because you know, it's it's crazy. There's so much stuff that goes on. Do we really engage in the content that we're even the content we're looking at? We're looking at, I'm looking at my friends' stuff, and I go, oh, that's cool. And you just keep spinning by, right? And it's and and I and I look at all the analytics of my videos and what goes on, and I'm ever amazed at the people you're like, you do a video that gets a ton of watches, but they don't stick around. They're like seven, two or three seconds, two or three, ten, fifteen seconds, whatever it is, and you're like, what why do I waste my air? You know, you know, and and I guess, I guess, and sometimes I hate to I I don't want to have to resort to that, you know, foul language and go, hey, what's your F problem? Yeah. But sometimes don't you wonder if that's how you're gonna get their attention? And I'll I'll tell them in the deal, hey, stop. Stop what you're doing, listen to me. Yeah, and then that sometimes that gets them to engage. But anyway, it's it's frustrating, but that's what we do with this.

SPEAKER_02 24:52

Tablets are I mean, that's that's why artist Darth and some other artists, like when they do their things here in Vegas, yeah, they have a no-phone policy. Right.

SPEAKER_00 25:04

Yeah, in the in the in the in the venue.

SPEAKER_02 25:06

They lock those phones in the little lock cases.

SPEAKER_00 25:09

Yeah, they put them in the bags. Well, I went to Joe Rogan.

SPEAKER_02 25:11

And said, I just want you to enjoy the next hour and a half like you used to. Yeah. And most people leave going, that was incredible. Because you're not sitting there taking pictures and sitting on your phone, and then you're editing the picture and trying to post the picture. You already missed the picture.

SPEAKER_00 25:29

You want everybody to know you're at Garth Brooks's, right?

SPEAKER_02 25:31

Now you've missed five songs because you're trying to make a post.

SPEAKER_00 25:34

Yeah, yeah. I agree.

SPEAKER_02 25:36

That's that's one thing that gets to me on stage sometimes. I'm like, I don't mind you taking pictures. I'd love that you want to share my my shows. Sure. But um I'm friends with a couple comedians too, and that it they say the same thing. They're like, please stop filming my entire show. Well, Joe Rogan locks up your phones.

SPEAKER_00 25:58

He they literally put them in a what do they call that bag, but they put it in a lock. A magnet safe or whatever. Yeah, yeah. And it is absolutely locked up. I went to a show in uh in Austin in his theater, and he was like, and and he and then he showed up last minute and did a little set at the end. He wasn't on the schedule that night, but he goes, and then he said something kind of inappropriate, and he goes, That's why we lock up your phones. Because you don't need I don't need you posting what I said on the internet.

SPEAKER_02 26:23

Yeah, I mean these these guys like Matt Matthews is an incredible comedian, and he said something the other day, he's like, I go out and tour with this show. If you post my show, why do people want to buy tickets to come to my show? They can watch the whole thing for free on your Facebook page. Right, right. So he said, please, if you want to take pictures, take a couple pictures, put it away, enjoy the moment. Yeah. And I I like when I go to concerts, I I take a couple pictures, of course. Sure. Then I'm like, if I'm videoing and then I'm looking at my phone, I'm gonna miss something. Like I go into a kiss concert. Right. If I'm filming something and I put it down, I'm gonna miss something crazy.

SPEAKER_00 27:05

Yeah, yeah. Gene Simmons is gonna be sitting blessed. He's gonna be he's gonna be standing in front of your seat going, what are you doing, Jackass? You're uh you're here to watch my show. Well, that being said, Matt, would you take a minute? Would you play this uh song on this guitar? This is uh have you ever played a carbon fiber guitar?

SPEAKER_02 27:22

No, I I was looking at it.

SPEAKER_00 27:24

This is a close guitar, they're built in uh Provo, Utah. And that's got a great, great sound. There's a picture if you need one. Um you have to double check the tuning. Everybody tunes a little different, and sometimes these tuners will lie to you.

SPEAKER_02 27:41

I'm gonna listen to this tuner, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 27:43

Um but and I and I play it, but I had a little gal in here, Caroline uh Woodfield, this morning with an interview, and she that's the one I use. That's great. That's a great tuner. Guitar tuna. Tuna.

SPEAKER_02 27:58

Oh, that one's in. This is also incredible that you can tune your guitar on a cell phone.

SPEAKER_00 28:05

Well, this is why I quit. I started to play uh 50 years ago, but I started to play the guitar and rope at the same time, and I I put a rope down because I thought girls like cowboys more than they like guitar players. Little did I know I was wrong.

SPEAKER_02 28:19

So my my guitar player said, Do you think I play guitar because I like it? I said, No, I know why you play guitar.

SPEAKER_00 28:30

Yeah. But the cool thing is if you'll tip that forward, take a look at the back of that. No, the other side. Look at that. That neck unbolts. Oh wow. You and you leave it strong. You unbolt that and it goes into a sleeve, and it'll it'll pack down to a backpack size that fits an overhead of your airplane.

SPEAKER_02 28:48

And it's super light.

SPEAKER_00 28:49

That's really light. They're uh yeah, they're sending me, they're sending me one. I should have it uh on Monday, and that's when I want to have May close. Hopefully give May give it away. It's actually close, close, like close the door. It's got a great setup. It's nickel infused as well.

SPEAKER_01 29:22

Ain't it kind of crazy? Give me baby in the line Miguel's commentation, loving how you lift the taste, pressed up against mine, well I know it's getting late. It's to go in away. We can call it now, we can chill it down, I'm truly back down, be but stuff, at it, one thing from the chip, or if you're asking me what I wanna know. I just wanna stay right here with me. I just wanna stay right here with you. Got some take a fan of spot, baby, if you wanna see where the light goes. We do a lot of none, we turn the stance on. I just want you to know you're on down for it all. Say the word it's gonna come. We can call it now, we can tell it down, I truly back town, deep up and die. What deep run the night? Who would have you asking me what I wanna do? I just wanna stay right here. I just wanna stay right here. Ain't gotta crazy you and me, babe, in a period of night.

SPEAKER_00 31:15

Sounds really good. Thank you. Yeah, that's a great guitar. They've been really good. I used to have, so I had a deal with another guitar company, and they'd give me, you know, good guitars, and I'd have everybody play a song and then autograph them. And everybody loved them, but the problem was uh well wasn't a problem, they just they got stingy with me all of a sudden. I filled six of them full of of uh autographs and then gave two of them away, did some promotions, and uh I wanted guitars for to come down here, and then I wanted to give one away to a kid that his mom couldn't afford a guitar, and and they're like, Yeah, we can't, we just can't afford to give any guitars right now. And I'm like, You're kidding me. I mean, we'll have a million views on this podcast this year, and they're and they're of course they're forever on all the other episodes, right? But um these guys these guys reached out to me and they said, Hey, we love what you're doing. Would you be interested? And I said, Absolutely. And they and they're what have known about it, would have played that on stage last night. Well, and I yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I wish great. Yeah, anyway.

SPEAKER_02 32:15

I don't know what it sounds like plugged in.

SPEAKER_00 32:16

How uh yeah, yeah, it that's what I wondered. They sent me a special chord to go with it, too, uh, to plug it in. I don't have an amp, so at home, but anyway. Hey, where can they find your music?

SPEAKER_02 32:28

MattFerriscountry.com. Okay. It's F-A-R-R-I-S. And I have everything on there. You can literally find everything. I even have my own coffee brand, I have my own moonshine brand. That's awesome. So I how'd you get those deals?

SPEAKER_00 32:42

Because I'm looking for those deals.

SPEAKER_02 32:44

Yeah, so growing up in Lake Avaso, yeah, there, if you ever go to Lake Abbasoo, I've been, but there's actually a restaurant there that has a meal named after me. That's awesome. My first original guitar hanging up on a wall at their local country bar. That's cool. And this the distillery in Lake Avaso, they know I don't drink, I'm sober. But they were like, What did you like to drink? I said, I drink sweet tea, because that's that's that's what I like. Right. And they said, Well, we're gonna make you a moonshine so we can help promote you, you help promote us, and we cross promote. Right. So it's Matt Ferris Lemon Sweet Tea Moonshine.

SPEAKER_00 33:23

Oh, that's great.

SPEAKER_02 33:24

At a copper steel distillery in Lake Abbasu, and you can get that shipped right to your house, which is incredible.

SPEAKER_00 33:29

Well, we can't do they can't legally they can't do that in Idaho. Not in Idaho because yeah, all liquor sells.

SPEAKER_02 33:36

There's several states, yeah, but not Idaho, I think. There's I think there's only 40.

SPEAKER_00 33:40

Yeah, 40 states. We but I've I we have some Idaho distilleries that I've tried to work out deals with to help sponsor the podcast, and I can't even have them when you turn their phone call.

SPEAKER_02 33:50

I can help you out with that, maybe.

SPEAKER_00 33:51

Well, I would I would love to have uh uh distillery you know to promote because uh, you know, I mean our our listeners and I've been known to imbibe a little bit, and then uh loaded gun coffee out of Lake Havasu. That's another one, black rifle. I've been a black rifle coffee guy for years.

SPEAKER_02 34:07

These guys said they wanted to figure out a a way to help promote me, and they're like, well, you can we'll make a Matt Ferris redneck roast, and it's different all the time. I mean, every month they have a different Matt Ferris redneck roast. Well, bourbon pecan coffee, oh wow, raspberry chocolate cream coffee, a white Russian coffee. Oh, wow. So all these different flavored coffee.

SPEAKER_00 34:29

Every month it changes, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 34:31

Or or you can still order the same one. Like if you like bourbon pecan, you can always order that one. Yeah. But we always have a one month as a special brand. Like they have pumpkin spice, Matt Ferris, redneck coast.

SPEAKER_00 34:42

Well, I love that because it goes together with the redneck. That's that's a very redneck thing, right? Well, every month we have a different coffee.

SPEAKER_02 34:48

It's different every month. But well, I like that. It's called Loaded Gun Coffee at Lake Havasu, and it's a local, but it's all online too. You can get that shipped to your house. You can shop that.

SPEAKER_00 34:58

Yeah, you can ship coffee anywhere. You can ship that anywhere.

SPEAKER_02 35:01

And people are loving that right now.

SPEAKER_00 35:03

Well, that's great. That's great. I love that. I and I love that they're willing to to help you.

SPEAKER_02 35:08

And it found a way to help me, and I helped them. So it's yeah, it works out just like this. I mean, you're gonna help promote me, I'm gonna help promote you. Absolutely, absolutely. Well, that's the way everyone grows nowadays. Without a doubt, without a doubt.

SPEAKER_00 35:20

Well, Matt, we appreciate you taking the time to join us. Yeah, it's incredible.

SPEAKER_02 35:24

And great room in here, too.

SPEAKER_00 35:26

It is a great room, it's a it's a cool view, and uh could talk. Oh, can you only imagine? You can only imagine. Well, listen, uh, good luck to you. And uh we'll uh hopefully we'll get to see you play somewhere, but we'll be in Arizona, I hope, off and on a little bit. I have a brother that lives in Whitman and a sister-in-law that lives in East Mesa.

SPEAKER_02 35:48

Whitman, I play around there, too.

SPEAKER_00 35:50

Do you? You play Wickenburg and nothing there.

SPEAKER_02 35:52

I play Wickenburg. I'm actually playing in Wickenburg in March. Oh yeah? With Shenandoah.

SPEAKER_00 35:57

I'm direct support for the is that the the party in the desert? Yes. Bill told me about it, and we're gonna try and come, and we may try and come and uh and uh do some interviews there. If if you want to do that, I will have my tour bus there.

SPEAKER_02 36:12

Perfect and you can have the back lounge and do it from the bus. That'd be awesome. That'd be awesome. Yeah, I'll just give you the back lounge.

SPEAKER_00 36:19

Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_02 36:21

I'm gonna hold you to that. I'll park it there all three days.

SPEAKER_00 36:24

That is that is gonna be great. Yeah, we we need to get back down there for that because Bill told me about it.

SPEAKER_02 36:29

And I'm direct support for Shenandoah that week, so it's it's gonna be that'd be great.

SPEAKER_00 36:33

We'd we'd love to sit down with those guys sometime, too.

SPEAKER_02 36:36

They are incredible people. Marty's incredible, so yeah, you'll be able to, they would probably love to do something like this. Matt, thank you so much.

SPEAKER_00 36:45

All right, hey, for Musical Miles Podcast, I'm your host, Byron Delphin. We're here at the Rio Hotel Casino at the Rio Roundup. Thank you, Bill Blanchard and the crew, Willis, all those guys that have just stepped up and helped us. Thanks for joining us, man. Thank you. Hey, we'll see you all some more than you.