Robert Bacon on Building a Career in Country Music & Having the Right Team Ep109

This week on Happy Hour with Deb, we welcome back Robert Bacon for a powerful follow-up conversation since his last appearance at Country Radio Seminar. 

In this episode, Robert shares what’s changed over the past year and dives into the realities of building a career in Nashville. We talk about treating country music like a business, why having the right team around you is everything, and what it really takes to grow in such a competitive industry.

This conversation is packed with insight, honesty, and real advice for anyone chasing a career in music — or any dream that requires strategy, discipline, and the right people in your corner.

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:00

It's there's no I and team.

SPEAKER_00 0:01

No. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 0:02

And that that'd be what I'd tell these young kids coming here too. You gotta have the right team.

SPEAKER_00 0:07

Yes. Yes, right.

SPEAKER_02 0:08

Yes, do writers rounds. Yes, do all of that. But also you gotta have the right team of people.

unknown 0:25

Hey, this is Deb.

SPEAKER_01 0:27

It's Happy Hour with Deb, and today I've got my old dear friend Robert Beacons with me today. It's good to see you. You too. It's good. Of course, always. We're just talking. It's been a little minute. I don't think I've seen you since September.

SPEAKER_02 0:39

September, yeah, or October. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 0:42

Uh on a panel speaking, and thank you so much for coming.

SPEAKER_02 0:45

Oh, it was CRS.

SPEAKER_01 0:47

CRS is the last time I shot you. Didn't you come? Wasn't I speaking at something? Yes, yes. Yeah. Yeah. Thanks for coming. Just support me. I really I have so much appreciated.

SPEAKER_02 0:55

It was a fun event.

SPEAKER_01 0:56

It was a really fun event.

SPEAKER_02 0:57

That's a good that's a good venue.

SPEAKER_01 0:59

That is an incredible venue. It really is. And um it felt really good. I've got some more stuff coming up for speaking and stuff. So, how's life? What's been going on since our last like official interview at the CRS?

SPEAKER_02 1:12

Just busy. Uh uh my last single just released um in November is Crazy Over You. Yes. No, actually, it released in this no, excuse me. The Christmas Record released middle of December.

SPEAKER_01 1:23

Do you always release a Christmas album?

SPEAKER_02 1:25

I try to.

SPEAKER_01 1:26

Okay, because that's I mean, that's a whole year worth of writing right there.

SPEAKER_02 1:30

Yeah, yeah. So the Christmas record came out um first week of December, and then Crazy Over You, which is out now at radio, it came out uh first week of January, and then my next single comes out in a week, and it's Walker Chevrolet.

SPEAKER_01 1:44

Well, you have another one coming out in a week.

SPEAKER_02 1:46

In a week, yeah. And then the full record, uh Drink and Thinkin', the full album comes out. I love that Drink and Thinkin' is such a great full album comes out, I think, the first week of March.

SPEAKER_01 1:56

Holy smokes.

SPEAKER_02 1:58

And then we've got we're on the books for three or four more this year.

SPEAKER_01 2:02

Holy smokes.

SPEAKER_02 2:03

Four more records this year, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 2:04

So you've just been writing, recording, writing, recording, traveling.

SPEAKER_02 2:08

That's been my focus.

SPEAKER_01 2:09

Holy smokes, that's so impressive.

SPEAKER_02 2:11

Getting as much material out there as I can on Spotify, on YouTube, and you know, getting ready to, you know, for my set. Play. Right. You know, just doing that.

SPEAKER_01 2:21

Are you scheduled to play?

SPEAKER_02 2:23

Uh, not CRS. I'm playing at CRS.

SPEAKER_01 2:25

Oh, that's so I'm so happy. What day are you playing?

SPEAKER_02 2:28

So I'm not sure the date yet. Trevor Perkins, my publicist, is actually he rented a room which is right next to um Big Loud's room.

SPEAKER_01 2:36

Okay, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 2:36

And I they're doing uh a featured artist all three days, and I'm doing one of those days.

SPEAKER_01 2:43

That is incredible. Congratulations.

SPEAKER_02 2:46

So, first time I've ever played CRS, it's gonna be fun.

SPEAKER_01 2:49

You know, it's really funny for the viewers who don't know what the CRS, it's the country radio seminar. So they essentially get these incredible artists and press and lock us in the Omni. Yeah, and it's interviews and great music and great fun. And I love it. I had so ridiculous much fun last year. Like almost like, how could this be a job fun?

SPEAKER_02 3:07

Yeah. And then a week ago, I just played the Daryl Singletary uh Benefit concert. Yep, I saw out at the palace. That was fun. We sold out. Oh, yeah. It was a sold-out event. I'm so I opened up for that, and it was just it was just incredibly great. I think this is my fourth year, third or fourth year doing that.

SPEAKER_01 3:24

That is amazing. But you're really you're hustling out there.

SPEAKER_02 3:28

I mean, there I could be doing a lot more, but I've kind of been taking it a little slower lately. The December break and the snow and ice that we got was nice because you can't do anything.

SPEAKER_01 3:38

How long were you out of power for?

SPEAKER_02 3:40

We didn't, we weren't out of power, but we it was just it was fun because you can't get out, you can't do anything.

SPEAKER_01 3:45

Can't do anything. Right.

SPEAKER_02 3:46

I love it. Did you? Yeah, I love it. We need that little break, that reset. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 3:52

Yeah, I know a lot of people. Mitch lost power for like I don't know, 13 days or something.

SPEAKER_02 3:56

I know a lot of my friends had power, they were like two, three weeks without power.

SPEAKER_01 4:00

Yeah, that is crazy. But I'm so happy that you have that mindset that you're gonna switch it into like let me take a break.

SPEAKER_02 4:06

I love it. Yeah, good for you. Because you know, we're heading marching. And you know, everybody here was going nuts, but my wife's from Michigan, and they get 20 inches of snow all the time. Right.

SPEAKER_01 4:17

Right they totally do, they can't even get out there back. We got a ton in Philadelphia and then uh we got like two feet of snow, and then it iced over and it hasn't gotten any warmer, so it's still there.

SPEAKER_02 4:28

Still there.

SPEAKER_01 4:29

I'm like, please we need a slow rain, like 50 degree day just to melt everything because it was crazy. I'm happy you got to just chill though.

SPEAKER_02 4:38

Yeah, it's fun. I I like it. I I would I mean, those days are just fun because there's just nothing, nobody can get out.

SPEAKER_01 4:44

Right. You know, did you do the old food shopping $400 worth of grocery store?

SPEAKER_02 4:48

Everybody did, right? Everybody did, everybody went nuts.

SPEAKER_01 4:51

My Uber driver yesterday told me she stayed in one of the hotels for almost two weeks.

SPEAKER_02 4:54

Yeah, I had several friends that did that. But luckily, we have a grocery store in our neighborhood, so it's like two blocks to walk through the store. You can kind of walk to it. So it's just easy to walk to the store, you know. Yeah, nice.

SPEAKER_01 5:06

How's it working with the other artists that you help out?

SPEAKER_02 5:08

We are uh we're we're I mean, we're doing a lot. We're doing a lot. We're going to a show tomorrow night out at the palace because Jordan Moore, who is on our label, he's performing out there a battle of the bands. So we're going out to uh uh support him.

SPEAKER_01 5:24

Yeah, that's great. I love that. So, what's the inspiration behind the music that's that's being written now?

SPEAKER_02 5:31

All my stuff. So we are so this this country records coming out. Then behind that, I've got um another Christmas record. I've got another country.

SPEAKER_01 5:40

How long does it take to get a Christmas album together?

SPEAKER_02 5:43

Man, it took it probably took I mean, we started in March of last year writing it, and we released it in December. But that's every day. That's sometimes that's sometimes that's three co-writes a day, sometimes that's and then you gotta funnel through what you're gonna release. Um, we've got a lot of good people coming out, and then I'm also so I'm doing the country record this year, another country record this year, a Christmas record this year, and then we're doing Robert Bacon and Friends Christmas, which is gonna have about 35, 40 artists on there.

SPEAKER_00 6:14

That is the book.

SPEAKER_02 6:16

Right, think about that because if each artist is putting that out on their social media, holy smoke. You can do you can do writers rounds with that, you can rent the Franklin Theater with that, you can do tour with that. There's so many things. So many things. So it's just it's it's it's so amazing.

SPEAKER_01 6:31

Is this a collaboration of your favorites or just people that you know or no?

SPEAKER_02 6:34

It's we're writing our own, it's all original material being written, and it's people that like Becca Bowen, Kirsty Krauss, I mean Justin Love, big people that we work with all the time.

SPEAKER_01 6:45

That's amazing. So the snow gave you a break. Do you ever just take like a week off? What do you do for you? Like, how do you like I just I need a day?

SPEAKER_02 6:53

We we used to go out of town a lot, we go to Florida a lot, but we haven't traveled lately a lot lately, but we're going too soon.

SPEAKER_01 7:00

Good. I think you need you definitely need a break so you can sure.

SPEAKER_02 7:04

Everybody does.

SPEAKER_01 7:05

Oh, amen. I mean, I kind of was like that when we got the snow too, because then I knew like Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, like there was nothing anybody could do. Right. So I'm like, this is kind of nice just to be at home. We didn't lose any power, thank God. I don't know if anybody left on the East Coast, but it was really just a really nice break.

SPEAKER_02 7:21

Yeah. Well, you'll have to be sure and come by um uh Perkins Publicities booth at the when you you know when you at the Omni when you go to the book. Absolutely, I totally will. You know, you know, Big Loud's always got that first room. We're in the second room.

SPEAKER_01 7:32

Yep, yeah, Big Loud does have. We actually have an artist that's touring right now that is on the show a bunch of times.

SPEAKER_02 7:38

Our label is actually um gonna have, you know, we're gonna have stuff in there too.

SPEAKER_01 7:42

So that's awesome. It's such an exciting week, though, isn't it?

SPEAKER_02 7:44

Yeah, okay. I love the CRs. Yeah, I think everybody needs to go to that. I do too. I people tell me all the time it's not for artists. Well, it it kind of is. I'm not sure. Doing interviews, you're doing you're you're meeting label heads, you're meeting radio people. You know, there's always artists downstairs.

SPEAKER_01 8:01

There's a crazy party every night.

SPEAKER_02 8:02

There is every night. It's amazing.

SPEAKER_01 8:04

I'm like, it's it's worth the the we shot a lot of interviews last year.

SPEAKER_02 8:08

Oh, you did? We did. We shot a lot of interviews. I interviewed with you. Yes, yep.

SPEAKER_01 8:12

Yeah, yep. So what do you tell to the like 17-year-old that wants to grab a guitar and come to Nashville?

SPEAKER_02 8:19

Man, you know, they uh the biggest thing is just finding the right crowd of people that that are going to support your music and and you as an individual artist, because there's so many people out there that will just they'll just take you for everything you got. They'll tell you where there's fish, there's sharks. They'll tell you, you know, you're the greatest, and you may not be, or you may be, you know. Right. You know, they'll tell you things and it's just not true. They'll I mean you just gotta find the right people.

SPEAKER_01 8:48

How do you go about doing that? If you're an artist and you're coming here, is it a gut feeling? Is it do a lot of research?

SPEAKER_02 8:54

I've been blessed because my producer is also our worship leader at church. Oh no, yeah, and he's big musician, big producer, and and that's what really was the key to my success.

SPEAKER_00 9:07

Right.

SPEAKER_02 9:08

Because I, you know, I would do projects, I would, you know, they would never get finished, or you know, because you're trying the producers are always looking for the next big thing. And you may not be that next big thing, right? Right. So they may never finish your project, they may never it's just yeah, I've heard some some pretty awful stories.

SPEAKER_01 9:27

Yeah, yeah. And I think when you're young, um, you know, I coach a lot of artists. Um and it's very difficult for them to recover.

SPEAKER_02 9:36

One, financially, yeah, right?

SPEAKER_01 9:37

It's a huge financial.

SPEAKER_02 9:39

That's why I moved back. I thought this is my third time living here.

SPEAKER_01 9:41

Right.

SPEAKER_02 9:42

Because, you know, you give up, you you know, nothing's happening, why am I here? Right, you know, kind of thing. Uh many people have done that, many artists have done that. Many people have done that.

SPEAKER_01 9:51

What brought you back?

SPEAKER_02 9:52

My wife, actually, because I had a lot of friends here, and you know, we luckily she found a very, very nice place for us to live. And it keeps your mind off of when you have a nice place to live, we live in a a really nice community, and when there's always events going on, we sponsor some of the events there and some of the music events, and uh when you have things to keep your mind off of, uh those challenging moments, it makes it easier to get through it. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_01 10:20

Yeah, totally. I mean, I hear the younger artists talk about this all the time.

SPEAKER_02 10:24

That it's really you just I mean, they need to just but here's another thing you you you gotta be present to win.

SPEAKER_01 10:32

Amen. You can't be in the gotta be in it to win it.

SPEAKER_02 10:34

You you can't be in another state and think it's gonna work for you because it's not. Right.

SPEAKER_01 10:39

I've heard that so many times that if you want to make it here you can't.

SPEAKER_02 10:42

Because you gotta get out and you gotta like mingle and talk to people and go to all these events. Yeah, but to meet the right people. Right. And then when you when you meet good people that can get you where you want to go, that's where you need to stay. A lot of people will find certain things and they'll find somebody that'll like Michael Seth, that'll work with them, but then when they don't you when they when somebody promises them something better, uh they don't stay with where they should have stayed, and then it takes them years to get back to that point.

SPEAKER_01 11:13

Yeah, Michael has great artists, yeah. They really incredible but you guys have some incredible talent. Yeah, and that's amazing, but I think it's so you know, we were talking about the power of one person changing, you know, and and how to get into that room because where there's an opportunity, there's an opportunity to be taken advantage of.

SPEAKER_02 11:32

Correct.

SPEAKER_01 11:32

And I think that's so.

SPEAKER_02 11:33

But just because somebody else offers you something bigger, like Sony or whatever, doesn't mean that's the next that's the next best thing. Because it's a it's really about the people in your group. Yeah, we've talked about this before, you and I have on different podcasts that you've had me on, you know. It's getting in the right. It's getting in the right and then you gotta stay there no matter how hard it gets.

SPEAKER_01 11:54

Right, exactly. Because I think that's the you know, the lightning in a bottle moments if you come here in June and then you sign a record, you know, deal in December, and like that's few and far between.

SPEAKER_02 12:05

Right.

SPEAKER_01 12:06

Do you tell them? Do you would you tell your artists like play as much as you can, get anywhere you can get something?

SPEAKER_02 12:11

Absolutely, writers rounds. I I I was doing those, you know, four or five times a month. Yeah, you know, but I haven't done any this year yet.

SPEAKER_01 12:19

I was one, I was at one of Michael's went, yeah, and it was great.

SPEAKER_02 12:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 12:23

And they had been on the show that day, so it was a really powerful kind of thing, you know. Yeah. How do they start out? Like, what do you tell your artists that are you know working with you guys? Like play everywhere, do every like do writers' rounds as much as you can.

SPEAKER_02 12:37

Even if you're not out touring, you still should get out as much as you can to keep your chops up, right? Absolutely. Do writers' rounds because people notice you doing that.

SPEAKER_01 12:46

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 12:47

Even if it's at Live Oak or if it's at distillery, wherever it's at, do it.

SPEAKER_01 12:51

Do you still do it?

SPEAKER_02 12:53

I haven't done any this year yet. A lot of writers, but at last year I did a lot. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 12:56

I think people love writers' rounds. Yes. Like I think you're listening to incredible talent up there.

SPEAKER_02 13:01

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 13:02

Without having to buy a ticket.

SPEAKER_02 13:03

Yeah, and you might hear a song that a year later is a number one.

SPEAKER_01 13:07

Isn't a number one in the case?

SPEAKER_02 13:08

You just never know, right?

SPEAKER_01 13:09

Yeah, I think it's amazing. I love the concept of that. That you know, you get, and it's pure music. You don't have to buy a ticket, you're not forced to buy swag, you don't, you know, you go and you have a good drink and you get to see this incredible talent. Right.

SPEAKER_02 13:24

You know, I love do you guys like advertise it out like advertises it all the time. So does Olam Wallace. I work with him, he does a round two at Live Oak, and I work with him too. We write with Live Oak is a great spot. It's a great spot. I played there when it was Doghouse.

SPEAKER_01 13:41

Yeah, yeah. I mean, it's only been revamped in the last two years, right?

SPEAKER_02 13:45

Two years, yeah, I think two years.

SPEAKER_01 13:46

Yeah, it's crazy. Yeah. So where's the where does the inspiration come for Christmas? I mean, if you're pumping out a Christmas album, like you know, it's so funny when you talk about Christmas.

SPEAKER_02 13:57

When I first started doing Christmas, a lot of my friends would say, You're stupid, you know, you're not. Oh, I think there's nothing better than Country Christmas. And then all of a sudden, I started getting all these songs and movies and winning, you know, the year at the Josie Awards, or winning Best Performance of the Year at the Holiday Film and Music Awards. That's so amazing. Now they all want to be a part of it because where it's at is film TV in sync.

SPEAKER_00 14:23

Right.

SPEAKER_02 14:24

That's where it's at.

SPEAKER_00 14:24

Right.

SPEAKER_02 14:25

Because that's a different license agreement for every song. Right. Every every master. I mean, so and you may not get a lot of money up front, but it's more about building your your your resume.

SPEAKER_00 14:37

Right.

SPEAKER_02 14:37

Right. And then people start knowing you and they want to write with you and and they want to be a part of what you're doing.

SPEAKER_01 14:43

Yeah, because that's a I mean, for a year-long project, that's hard. How many songs are on an album?

SPEAKER_02 14:49

So the Christmas record that came out in December is there's 15 on it. Wow. 15 on it, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 14:55

Wow, and you were still pumping out other music.

SPEAKER_02 14:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 14:58

Wow. That is that's that's you are work, sir.

SPEAKER_02 15:02

You know, I'm involved with with Jason Wyatt and Ben Calhoun and Corey Barker on that stuff. And Corey's amazing. He he is amazing. Everybody knows Corey.

SPEAKER_01 15:11

Yeah, I would love to meet him.

SPEAKER_02 15:12

He, I think he's got over 1,200, you know, cuts on Hallmark on different Hallmark, different, you know, areas of Christmas.

SPEAKER_01 15:20

Yeah, because that's really where you're gonna see the rewards, all the music in these shows. And it's funny because um even when you go into stores, you hear the music, you know, that was written in that.

SPEAKER_02 15:31

Well, and too, I don't re-release other Christmas stuff. I release my own.

SPEAKER_01 15:34

Right.

SPEAKER_02 15:35

Because, you know, that's there's and yours is amazing. There's so much potential with releasing your own, because then you can get it in a movie, you can get it on film, TV, and sync. I mean, right you can't do that if you're re-releasing somebody else's music.

SPEAKER_01 15:50

So do you once that's written and you wrap up in December is when you release it, how long do you have to promote? It's a short window to promote.

SPEAKER_02 15:58

I mean, you can promote. Here's the thing about Christmas it's so forgiving, and it's every year.

SPEAKER_01 16:05

Right. Every year you can count on it.

SPEAKER_02 16:07

Every year you can promote that. And you can put a different single out off that record every year.

SPEAKER_01 16:12

Yeah, that's amazing. Yeah, that's amazing.

SPEAKER_02 16:15

That that's why I told all my friends that were like kind of coming down on me for doing Christmas. I'm like, and then now they all want to be part of it. It's like, right, you know, why would I not do that?

SPEAKER_01 16:24

Right, because you can count it to come every year, it's not gonna stop. Yeah, that's amazing.

SPEAKER_02 16:28

People kind of look at me as the Christmas artist, and it's like you're not the Christmas song. I'm doing country too, but okay, that's fine.

SPEAKER_01 16:34

I feel like you're part mayor of Nashville here, too. Everybody knows you.

SPEAKER_02 16:37

Well, you can also do a Christmas tour as well.

SPEAKER_01 16:39

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 16:40

So so you can play all throughout the year, and then now you can because I'm busier in November, December, and November, December than any time of the year.

SPEAKER_00 16:48

Right.

SPEAKER_02 16:48

Because of, you know, different parades I sing in, different.

SPEAKER_01 16:51

Right, and promotion just to do the podcast and stuff to get it out there is a lot.

SPEAKER_02 16:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 16:56

I mean, that's incredible. What's the inspiration on the new music coming out?

SPEAKER_02 17:00

Man, just heartfelt, good, you know, storytelling, you know, country music. That's good.

SPEAKER_01 17:05

Are you did you write alone or did you No, I had I have co-writers on everything.

SPEAKER_02 17:09

That's crazy over you is like that too. Yes. Have you heard it?

SPEAKER_01 17:12

I have, yes. What'd you think of it? Yeah, I loved it. I thought it was great.

SPEAKER_02 17:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 17:16

I loved it. I think it's amazing.

SPEAKER_02 17:18

Yeah. That's at radio now too, and then Walker comes out in a week. Wow.

SPEAKER_01 17:22

And next, oh, next week. Next week. He smokes. I you're like a machine.

SPEAKER_02 17:27

I don't know about that. That's crazy. Just a lot of work.

SPEAKER_01 17:30

Are you excited for the CRS? Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 17:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 17:33

Are you interviewing or are you just going with your own label?

SPEAKER_02 17:35

All of it. Really? Well, the label will be there. The label will be present in that room as well. Then I think I'm doing interviews. Trevor has me doing interviews with people, and then I'm performing.

SPEAKER_01 17:46

I'm sure you're on our list for interviews. I hope so. Which makes my heart so happy.

SPEAKER_02 17:50

I hope so, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 17:50

Oh, totally. We'll get you in there, don't worry. Like we students.

SPEAKER_02 17:54

Tell Trevor and Carissa, they'll be I'm sure they'll want me in there.

SPEAKER_01 17:56

Yeah. Oh, yeah. And how's their baby doing?

SPEAKER_02 17:58

Chrissa's doing great. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 18:00

Oh, the baby is a George.

SPEAKER_02 18:01

She's got a great husband, too. Dylan's a great guy.

SPEAKER_01 18:03

She's a great guy.

SPEAKER_02 18:04

We're gonna write soon.

SPEAKER_01 18:06

Yeah. Oh, are they? Yeah, he's a great guy, too. And the baby must be getting because that baby was born almost a year ago, right?

SPEAKER_02 18:11

I think so. I think I'm not sure. I'm not sure how to do it.

SPEAKER_01 18:15

Clarissa is an amazing person to work with. Oh, she is. She's a good one. We love her. We love to work with her. She's amazing. So that's incredible. How's family life treating you?

SPEAKER_02 18:23

I mean, it's good. Good. It's always got challenges, but always every day.

SPEAKER_01 18:28

That's great. Every day. That's exactly right. That's why I love to come to Nashville and and talk to artists because God is always at the center.

SPEAKER_02 18:36

Well, that's what we're doing at our at our label in our our franchise group for Sonic. He's our CEO.

SPEAKER_01 18:42

Yeah. That's crazy.

SPEAKER_02 18:44

It's going to be good if he's our CEO and we're giving, you know, we're giving part of the money back to him or whatever our board, because we have a board, whatever they decide it needs to go to. Right.

SPEAKER_01 18:55

Yeah, because that's that's unbelievable.

SPEAKER_02 18:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 18:57

Where do you see yourself in five years from now? Man, I just Oh, I need to be able to sip of water for this one because it's gonna be a good idea.

SPEAKER_02 19:02

I just wanna, you know, I just want to keep getting I want the label to be successful. I want my family to be successful, be a better husband. And you know do you have children?

SPEAKER_01 19:12

You have stepchildren.

SPEAKER_02 19:13

We have a we have an 18-year-old, uh huh. We have an 18-year-old wants to be in the industry or no? She wants to be in the music, right? Yeah, right. She's very talented. I'm sure. Um, she plays all kinds of instruments. Um, but really what I want to see is that I just don't want to see anybody suffer. And so that's why we're we're we created a board for our sonic restaurants and for the music industry so that the board can make decisions, biblical decisions, based on helping people that need it. That's amazing, and making God our CEO and giving the money back to him however he sees fit. Right. Right, and and just doing the right thing.

SPEAKER_01 19:50

That's a really good recommendation for artists, too. You know, like he gave you this talent for a reason. Yeah, yeah, you know, it's your job to spread it. Yeah, and it but it's a business.

SPEAKER_02 20:00

Yeah, well, and Michael Seth's great for that because he knows how to he knows how to get the right people and and how to take care of it, and so he kind of runs that side, and then we have a board that runs the Sonic side. Yeah, that's but is also on the board for the label.

SPEAKER_01 20:14

That is cra I can't imagine how many hours a week you work.

SPEAKER_02 20:17

Well, but it didn't happen overnight. Oh, I know. We're still working through it.

SPEAKER_01 20:20

Yeah, no plan B is what the artists that come from like there you can't have a plan B because in life, in marriages, in music, in everything, you can't have one foot in and one foot out. You have to go all in. If if that's it, you need to go all in and make sure.

SPEAKER_02 20:35

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 20:36

It is the same way with marriages too. You need to be fully in it and fully present in it. And you know, raising kids and yeah, is your daughter a high school student?

SPEAKER_02 20:44

She's in college.

SPEAKER_01 20:45

Oh my goodness.

SPEAKER_02 20:46

She goes to Columbia State, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 20:48

Co congratulations. How'd that feel? Like drop off your baby.

SPEAKER_02 20:52

She's she's she's working through it, she's doing well.

SPEAKER_01 20:55

Good. I'm so glad to hear that.

SPEAKER_02 20:57

She plays the bass, she she's she's just very, very talented when it comes to music. So that's good. Really hoping that we can do something with her there too.

SPEAKER_01 21:05

Oh, absolutely. It's a family business. You got to keep it going for sure.

SPEAKER_02 21:08

Family business, for sure.

SPEAKER_01 21:09

It's a family business. And which, you know, I can tell you, I don't know a lot of artists that do what you do that run the business side of it too, with the label and and and still pump out incredible music.

SPEAKER_02 21:20

Yeah. Well, all the credit goes to God, all the credit goes to my wife for supporting me through the hard times, and most of the a lot of the credit too goes to my talented co-writers.

SPEAKER_01 21:31

Yes, that's it. I mean, people don't realize it takes a lot of people.

SPEAKER_02 21:35

It takes a whole team. It takes a whole team. There's no eye in team.

SPEAKER_01 21:38

No, and you know, it's really funny. I don't think people realize that even with the podcast, they're like, You have a media team? I'm like, well, how do you think it gets seen?

SPEAKER_02 21:45

Right, right.

SPEAKER_01 21:46

It's the only way it gets seen. Right.

SPEAKER_02 21:47

You have to, it's there's no eye in team.

SPEAKER_01 21:49

No, absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 21:50

That that'd be what I'd tell these young kids coming here too. You gotta have the right team.

SPEAKER_00 21:55

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 21:56

Yes, right, yes, do writers rounds, yes, do all of that, but also. So you got to have the right team. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:02

I think that's the struggle. Like, how do they know which team is the right team?

SPEAKER_02 22:05

You know, like that's a struggle. It's a trial and error, right? It took me 15 years.

SPEAKER_01 22:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 22:10

And you know, they say this is a 10-year town. It wasn't a 10-year town for me. It took a lot longer.

SPEAKER_01 22:14

Yeah. I mean, I hear that all the time that it's a 10-year town. But you also never had a plan B. This was just what you were going to do. Right. And I think that's so beautiful because that's the thing. It gets I hear a lot of amazing stories, of course, but then I hear a lot of like putting your faith in somebody else's hands and and trusting it to be a process. And it's really that's it's hard. This is a rough thing. I don't think people realize for all of you that are watching, these people work from sunup to sundown. What did I say to you this morning? You're the only person I can text at 6 30 in the morning. Right? Like, yo, like that's it. You're you're awake all the time.

SPEAKER_02 22:51

Well, I'm a 5 a.m. guy, you know, and I try to go to bed early, but sometimes I don't. Right. You know, sometimes it's midnight.

SPEAKER_00 22:58

You gotta get you gotta.

SPEAKER_02 23:00

But I get that from the business world. And you know, a lot of problems that some of these artists have is they know how to be an artist, but they don't know how to they don't know how to run it as a business.

SPEAKER_01 23:11

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 23:11

They don't have people skills. That's a big deal.

SPEAKER_01 23:14

I work with a lot of artists on that.

SPEAKER_02 23:15

How to get into bigger rooms, yeah, how to know you gotta have people skills, you gotta know how to talk to people, and you gotta run it as a business, and you gotta have tenacity.

SPEAKER_01 23:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 23:24

You gotta have tenacity.

SPEAKER_01 23:25

Beautiful word, right? Yeah, and you have to stand up for yourself.

SPEAKER_02 23:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 23:29

Like if it doesn't feel right, it's not right.

SPEAKER_00 23:31

Right.

SPEAKER_01 23:31

That's exactly what it is. You know, if it's your gut is telling you it's wrong, it's totally wrong. But I think they they really struggle with that.

SPEAKER_00 23:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 23:38

And I can imagine, you know, because you everybody comes here with a dream.

SPEAKER_02 23:41

Yeah. And well, too, and you and what I've had to learn the hard way is not talking about what I'm doing, because people will steal that idea.

SPEAKER_01 23:50

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 23:50

And they'll take what you, you know. Everybody's always got a sales pitch and they always want something to do with it.

SPEAKER_01 23:55

Well, they say that about life.

SPEAKER_02 23:56

If it's something like that, you've got to be so careful with talking about what you do. And I've I've I've had to struggle and fight through that.

SPEAKER_01 24:02

Yeah, I'm sure.

SPEAKER_02 24:03

You get excited, you want everybody to know, but that's not always the best thing.

SPEAKER_01 24:06

Right.

SPEAKER_02 24:07

Because everybody here is here doing the same thing.

SPEAKER_01 24:10

Wow. That is really something. That's a powerful message to tell. Everybody's here. Right, and they're all trying to be the next.

SPEAKER_02 24:17

Right, right.

SPEAKER_01 24:18

What's your thought on young artists that come in as a and following trends and not really being their true authentic self?

SPEAKER_02 24:25

You know, I mean, it's that's a hard question because everybody does it different. Right. Everybody does it different. So I I don't really know how to answer that, honestly.

SPEAKER_01 24:35

Yeah, I mean, because I see, you know, I think you get to know when you s when you start to do what I do, and you get to know people on an outside level, besides a podcast, you really see the authenticity of people and how you as an artist not only want to grow yourself, you want to grow everybody.

SPEAKER_02 24:52

Right.

SPEAKER_01 24:53

Which is you know incredible.

SPEAKER_02 24:54

And that's what's so good about label heads because when you're like Addison Malik, you know, she's amazing. Addison's great. She's amazing. When you put her out there, people like her that are younger, it sets the stage for all the other artists on the label.

SPEAKER_01 25:09

Yeah. She's gonna do big things.

SPEAKER_02 25:12

She is.

SPEAKER_01 25:12

She's great. She is. Is she in Texas right now? Did I hear?

SPEAKER_02 25:15

I think they're on the road. I haven't talked to them. Yeah, I think Michael said that they texted me earlier this morning, but I haven't talked to him yet.

SPEAKER_01 25:22

Yeah, because that's just I don't think people realize that that you guys put on miles and miles and miles and miles and miles.

SPEAKER_02 25:28

A lot of work. Radio tours are tough.

SPEAKER_01 25:31

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 25:32

They're tough.

SPEAKER_01 25:32

They are, especially when they're not from where you're from. You know? Is she she's from Texas, isn't she?

SPEAKER_02 25:38

Yes, she is.

SPEAKER_01 25:39

Yes. We love our I'm from Texas. We love our Texas.

SPEAKER_02 25:42

Yeah, it's fun playing in Texas.

SPEAKER_01 25:44

Texas is a whole different, a whole different place.

SPEAKER_02 25:46

I mean, you can be a millionaire playing out there.

SPEAKER_01 25:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 25:48

And never have to touch Nashville. But the problem with that is, you know, Nashville's kind of against Texas, Texas kind of against Nashville, you know, because they like competing, you know.

SPEAKER_01 25:57

Right. You know, it's gonna be Nashville's gonna be the music mecca because people are pulling out of LA and excuse me, in Chicago. And yeah. And so, you know, within the next five years, every major thing will be done here in Nashville, which, you know, is is crazy. I love that that we're collabing country and hip hop.

SPEAKER_02 26:17

Like I think it's such a I mean music's music.

SPEAKER_01 26:20

Music's music, you're right. It's all good.

SPEAKER_02 26:23

It doesn't hurt to meet new new new people in different genres.

SPEAKER_01 26:27

Absolutely, I agree, and I think it's great. I do mean either. I think it's great. I think it brings in another form of audience. And it's such a cool town. You know, this is such a great and so different from the LA's and the New Yorks. I think I brought a fly with me from Philadelphia.

SPEAKER_00 26:42

Yeah, that's great.

SPEAKER_01 26:42

I think he was on the he was on the plane with me. So let me tell you about Freedom Brew. That's our new, I can send you home with some beer.

SPEAKER_02 26:48

Nice.

SPEAKER_01 26:48

So this is veteran-owned and operated. So really nice guy, Alan. He quit his day job and decided to go all in in this to help veterans and help with some suicide prevention.

SPEAKER_02 27:01

I don't think Clay Travis lives in our subdivision, and he actually did a beer or two like this, kind of like this. But yeah, he's brand new.

SPEAKER_01 27:09

Alan's kind of brand new in this market, so um, you know, I work with uh trauma and addiction. So I love it, yeah. Yeah, I do. Yeah, but a little therapy, and I've kind of gotten into some coaching um with some artists, and also I'm coming, I teamed up with a nonprofit down here to help give artists support. Um, you know, because they come and they where do you start? Where do you go? How do you think?

SPEAKER_02 27:33

I'm actually trying to launch a brand as well, as far as a beer and a like a like a like a whiskey package.

SPEAKER_01 27:41

Right. Yeah. Right.

SPEAKER_02 27:42

I would love to get involved in that.

SPEAKER_01 27:43

Yeah. Oh, well, let me hook you up with you.

SPEAKER_02 27:45

Yeah, please. That's good.

SPEAKER_01 27:46

Yeah, I'll hook you up with Alan. He's great, he's the nicest guy.

SPEAKER_02 27:49

That's good for your brand.

SPEAKER_01 27:50

It is so good for the brand. And it fits so well. The beer's good, I'll send you home with some beer. And and it's such a, you know, he's out there hustling, he's doing the grind, you know. It's almost like in every other thing you do. It's out there doing it.

SPEAKER_02 28:02

I'd love to get involved with him.

SPEAKER_01 28:03

I will absolutely connect you with him. You will love him. He's a great guy. He is a really good guy. So, what's coming up besides the two? You got two new singles coming out?

SPEAKER_02 28:13

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 28:13

And then the album is released.

SPEAKER_02 28:15

So Crazy Overuse at Radio Now, Walker Chevrolet comes out in two weeks.

SPEAKER_01 28:19

Um I can't wait to hear it.

SPEAKER_02 28:20

Yeah, and um, then um the the Drink and Thinking full record comes out in March, and then we've got four more on the plate for this show.

SPEAKER_01 28:28

Drink and Thinkin', where'd that name come from? I love it.

SPEAKER_02 28:31

You know, I didn't write that song, but I got lucky because some friends of mine got that to me back in 2000 and I released it the first time, didn't do so well, but then I re-released it like four years ago, and we did a video down at uh Redneck Riviera, yeah, which is on YouTube, and it did it's it's just blown up since.

SPEAKER_01 28:50

That is so great. Yeah, what a great feeling to re-release a song and it do so well. Is that what you're expecting for everything? Like, I know social media has a lot, a huge play in this industry.

SPEAKER_02 29:01

It does.

SPEAKER_01 29:02

Do you handle your own?

SPEAKER_02 29:03

I do my uh my wife does my Instagram, but uh CDX Nashville, who does my distribution stuff, they're gonna be doing my social media soon.

SPEAKER_01 29:13

Yeah, it's it's kind of good to take that off your I don't do mine, it's handled.

SPEAKER_02 29:17

I just haven't had time to to really focus on it's a full-time damn job. All that my Facebook is not in good shape because I haven't really done much with it, but my Instagram is top-notch where it used to be.

SPEAKER_01 29:28

Yeah, you guys are all over Instagram.

SPEAKER_02 29:30

But I gotta get, I gotta get um, you know, CDX who does my distribution, I gotta get them to do that soon.

SPEAKER_01 29:37

Yeah, I mean it's its own world. It's like yeah, it's like having a separate uh degree outside of what you really do.

SPEAKER_02 29:43

Oh yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 29:45

Ever get like what's the greatest compliment you've ever gotten on your music?

SPEAKER_02 29:49

Man, I've gotten a lot. Uh it's it's mainly been on drinking thinking and out of the blue and all the Christmas stuff. People just love the production, they love what my producer does, they love the writing. You know, I've got a lot of that.

SPEAKER_01 30:02

Yeah, I'm sure.

SPEAKER_02 30:04

You know, and the other thing too was when I went in, you know, Home Ark and a lot of these Christmas networks, they're they're not looking for country, they're looking for pop kind of thing. So I had to literally sing different than I normally do. Right. So I had people tell me, Oh, that don't sound like you. I'm like, Yeah, I know, because I had to learn how to sing differently because the music is so different. Right. It's not country.

SPEAKER_01 30:26

Do you think countries come a little more back into the Christmas thing? Like I've noticed that. I think so, yes. I mean, even Targets, you know, all over the country have released, you know, country attire for I guess right headed into tour season. So I feel like everybody's a little country right now.

SPEAKER_02 30:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 30:44

Which is so great. It makes my heart so happy because I don't think there's anything like country music and the artists behind it.

SPEAKER_02 30:50

Right.

SPEAKER_01 30:51

I think people Well, you're definitely telling a story.

SPEAKER_02 30:53

Crazy over you is like that. Right. You know?

SPEAKER_01 30:55

Yeah, and I think it's just such a co it's such an amazing shift, you know, to see now that everything, even it like in Philadelphia, there's not a lot of country, but it's but they're selling country stuff and the music is being played on radios, which is amazing.

SPEAKER_02 31:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 31:11

I think because it's the it's the most feel-good music in the entire world. Sure, absolutely, yes. It really is. Yeah. All right, I'm gonna have to ask you this, but I know you're gonna say yes. You'll come back. Absolutely. And you'll hang out with me.

SPEAKER_02 31:22

Yeah, every time you want me to.

SPEAKER_01 31:23

I love that. You've become such a good friend. I appreciate you so much. I'm so happy for you.

SPEAKER_02 31:29

Thank you.

SPEAKER_01 31:29

I know that everything you touch is going to turn to gold.

SPEAKER_02 31:32

I hope so.

SPEAKER_01 31:32

It totally will. God willing. God willing. It will. And I thank you for your expertise in knowing this because so many people don't realize that this is business.

SPEAKER_02 31:42

Well, we got to get the word out too to these younger acts, you know. I mean, there's so many snakes out there.

SPEAKER_01 31:48

Uh, I'm so sorry to hear that.

SPEAKER_02 31:50

We gotta get the word out to these guys, you know.

SPEAKER_01 31:52

You know, I was talking to Mitch earlier that, you know, like I get reached out to by like a doorman who's representing uh like, and I'm like, only in Nashville. It's like the craziest town, you know?

SPEAKER_00 32:04

Right.

SPEAKER_01 32:05

And it's just it's so funny. None of them, the ones who are truly in just the craft are the ones that are successful.

SPEAKER_02 32:11

Right.

SPEAKER_01 32:12

You know, it's hard, but I think they're so young and they're so hungry that they'll just, you know.

SPEAKER_02 32:17

I was that way. Been there, been there.

SPEAKER_01 32:19

Well, if it sounds too good to be true, yeah, it's huge. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 32:22

But you gotta be here to do it.

SPEAKER_01 32:24

You have to be here to do it.

SPEAKER_02 32:25

You can't come, go home, you know, come for the weekend, go home because there's so many things that are just sporadic that come up. Oh, can you come to this? Oh, can you be at this? Oh, you should be here because certain people are gonna be here, you know?

SPEAKER_01 32:36

Right. I can tell you, Michael's the master of that.

SPEAKER_02 32:38

Oh, I know.

SPEAKER_01 32:39

I mean, he works at like nobody. We were honored to go. We felt honored. We're like, we will definitely go. We felt honored to go, but I think you're right, you need to be here to be a hundred percent in it. You know, as hard as that is, you still have to be here.

SPEAKER_02 32:52

It's hard, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 32:53

I know. Well, my friend, it was wonderful.

SPEAKER_02 32:55

Well, thanks for having me on. Always serve.

SPEAKER_01 32:57

You can co-host with me one day and hang out with me. I would love to have you. Yeah, and I'll see you at the CRS for sure. I'm excited.

SPEAKER_02 33:05

It's gonna be fun this year.

SPEAKER_01 33:06

We'll go have a drink together. It will be really fun. I'm so excited you're gonna be there.

SPEAKER_02 33:10

My wife will be there, she's helping out.

SPEAKER_01 33:12

So great. She's welcome to come on the show when you come.

SPEAKER_02 33:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 33:15

Have you heard from my assistant yet? We'll get into you because I know he's we're booking right now. Have you like reached out there? It's crazy. Oh, we woke up one day to like 40 emails of like schedule, schedule, schedule, schedule. And I'm last year was my first year there. And I'm like, get my my solid, like my love people in there first, you know, because it's it's so wonderful to have people like you on the show who are so into this and so we just gotta educate people.

SPEAKER_02 33:43

Totally, we just gotta educate them. Totally.

SPEAKER_01 33:46

That's why I started. I'm like, let me teach you how to get into a bigger room, let me show you what you need to do to network.

SPEAKER_02 33:51

And it is a big part, but they also shouldn't be scared of the smaller rooms, too, because that's where it starts.

SPEAKER_01 33:56

Absolutely. Yeah, so you know, a lot of them don't even know you could be in line at Starbucks. Make sure you're acting professionally, right? You know, you have no idea. Well, it's your brand. It's your brand. It's your brand. It's totally your brand. I so get it. Yeah. Well, thank you, my friend. I was it was an honor to see you.

SPEAKER_02 34:12

Thank you so much, you too.

SPEAKER_01 34:13

All right, thanks.