Hope Blanchard's Nashville Story Will Inspire You! Ep122

This week on Happy Hour with Deb, we're joined by rising country artist Hope Blanchard, alongside co-host Adysen Malek, for a heartfelt conversation about chasing dreams, finding love, and staying true to yourself in Nashville.

Hope shares her incredible journey of spending six years living out of a van while pursuing a career in music, proving that passion and perseverance can take you farther than comfort ever could. We also talk about her life in Nashville, meeting the love of her life, Mitch, and the inspiration behind her powerful new single. From songwriting and sacrifice to love, resilience, and embracing every chapter of the journey, this episode is full of honest conversations and unforgettable moments.

If you love hearing the real stories behind the artists and the music, this is an episode you won't want to miss.

Be sure to like, subscribe, and let us know your favorite moment from the conversation in the comments below!

#countrymusic #countrymusicartist #nashville #podcast #happyhourwithdeb 

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Yeah, I did watch that episode and he was like, Hope's gonna kill me if she sees this. I can't believe it.

SPEAKER_00 0:19

Hey, it's Deb. It's Happy Hour with Deb, and I am sitting next to these two smoking hot chicks. Addison, welcome back to Happy Hour Mike over here. I don't even know what to say. They're gorgeous. My favorite Nashville human. I love Hope Blanchard is here with me today. I'm so happy to see you.

SPEAKER_01 0:40

I'm so happy to see you.

SPEAKER_00 0:41

This entire trip, I was literally telling, you remember Aaliyah, my niece, when she came with us, and I all I kept saying is I can't wait to see Hope. I can't wait to see Hope. I can't wait to see Hope. I can't wait to see Hope. Hi, Aaliyah. I know. I'm so proud of you. The song is badass. Thank you so much for video, the footage, everything. The billboard. I still can't believe it. I can't even. I awesome. How you look so great. You look so happy. How are things going, girl? Things are going really well. I know this happens with you, this happens with Remy, and this happens with American Blonde, where we all start crying.

SPEAKER_01 1:16

It's a family reunion.

SPEAKER_00 1:17

It's not even.

SPEAKER_01 1:18

This is my favorite chair. Not this chair. Any chair across from Deb is my favorite chair. Oh girl.

SPEAKER_00 1:23

Thank you so much. That means the world to me. But I think it's this. We all I was I cry with American Blonde. I cry with I cry with Remy. Like they're the ones I always cry. I think I might. Isn't it weird not having Timmy with us?

SPEAKER_01 1:35

It is weird, but he's out being a rock star.

SPEAKER_00 1:37

He is out being a rock star, but it feels really weird coming to Nashville without Timmy.

SPEAKER_01 1:42

I know.

SPEAKER_00 1:42

I heard from Jason, he said he misses us all. Oh I know we miss him too. He is.

SPEAKER_01 1:48

He posted a video not too long ago where he uh climbed off the tour bus and girls were looking for Maddox and they're like, well. Oh, I saw it. You know where Timmy is? And he's like, he essentially was like, I'm him. And I just thought that was so cool.

SPEAKER_00 2:00

He's the biggest cute patoot in the world.

SPEAKER_01 2:02

He's adorable.

SPEAKER_00 2:03

I I know. We love him. I I felt like we were part of his upbringing here, so he is. He actually was the co-host when we were first on the show.

SPEAKER_01 2:11

He was, he was. We love him.

SPEAKER_00 2:13

So tell me what's going on. Tell me like the inspiration for the song. Like, I know how hard you work. Thank you. I don't know two harder working people than you and Mitch in the world. It's the truth. It's like I literally, like, yeah, they work hard. Like beasts, they do.

SPEAKER_01 2:30

Yeah, things are good. We're releasing singles every six weeks. So I have one coming out, you know, by the time this is out, it'll already be out, probably. We'll drop the same week. I'm releasing it literally next week. But then I have another one coming out May 8th. So we're cranking them. And I've never, my whole career, I've never been able to do that. It's always been kind of like scrambling and releasing songs whenever we can. So people don't understand that this costs a shit ton of money. It's hard. And it's hard. It costs so much money. So much money. And on streams, you make a fraction of a penny. So there are so many. Yeah, everyone watching, make sure that you support your indie artists by going to shows and buying merch because it is rough out here. I will tell you that. It is. Yeah, but I saved up all my pennies. Good for you. And I spent the last year writing with my producer and best friend, Ray Ailey. And um, yeah, we finally released the first single off of the EP in January. I love it. It's gonna go um single, single, single EP.

SPEAKER_00 3:33

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 3:34

I love that. So you're writing a ton. I'm writing a ton. I've actually already started on my next project. Like we've started recording the next EP. Wow, which is really exciting too.

SPEAKER_00 3:45

Well, are you sleeping?

SPEAKER_01 3:46

No. Like I'm gonna do it. I I like I said before we started, I'm on my second bloom.

SPEAKER_00 3:52

Oh my gosh, I know. Well, you know me. I run on Diet Coke, like a lab rat. I'm waiting I'm gonna grow a tail.

SPEAKER_01 3:57

I can't wait to have Diet Coke. I gave up soda for Lent. And I'm like awesome. All like soda. All soda. Really? See, I mean if I could do that. Will tried to get me on a technicality the other day. He's like, isn't that bloom soda? And I'm like, no, it's an energy drink. This does not count. I can't cut all happiness from my face.

SPEAKER_00 4:17

We were just praising on Will. Will we no, no? Will gives Will gives little brother energy. He's doing it. Does he? I love that. Well, he might be our new Timmy then.

SPEAKER_01 4:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 4:28

Because Timmy gives us little brother energy too. We miss him. Timmy, we love you. We hope you're out there kicking ass, sir. So you released it, and then tell me how like the video was amazing.

SPEAKER_01 4:39

Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 4:40

You looked so who did your makeup?

SPEAKER_01 4:42

Um, this girl named Liv. She's amazing. She did my makeup um for that first shoot. That was the single artwork shoot.

SPEAKER_00 4:49

Yeah, that was great.

SPEAKER_01 4:50

She is killer.

SPEAKER_00 4:51

I thought you were gonna tell me Chrissy next did it.

SPEAKER_01 4:54

No, actually, Chrissy's never glammed me before. Chrissy is I love her so much.

SPEAKER_00 4:59

Chrissy is another happy hour favorite. We love our Chrissy. Shout out to you, sister. She is amazing.

SPEAKER_01 5:05

Yeah, I've never, Chrissy's never glammed me before. I'll have to like do a little sleepover. You'll have to.

SPEAKER_00 5:11

Oh, next time I come, we should all get a room and just do a big fun girl sleepover. A sleepover. I'll be glammed up. We'll all get glammed up. We can get these Mitch is like, oh, that would be so much fun. That would be ridiculous. We'll get no cameras, ladies and gentlemen, because for God's sakes, we want to be able to drink wine in peace. Um Mitch was telling me, do you guys go out for wine? Yes.

SPEAKER_01 5:31

I've started drinking.

SPEAKER_00 5:33

That sounds horrible. Yeah, I've started drinking. I've taken the drinking.

SPEAKER_01 5:37

No, I have um really, really liked wine lately.

SPEAKER_00 5:41

I'm happy for you.

unknown 5:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 5:43

He's like, Deb, we want to drink wine with you. I'm like, waiting for you to say that for two years.

SPEAKER_01 5:47

She's like, finally. Finally.

SPEAKER_00 5:49

They're always so busy, you know, that it's like, and my whole end of the day is like, let's go grab a drink. And their their day starts when my day's over. So yeah. So tell me about the feedback you've been getting from the song. It's been really, really good.

SPEAKER_01 6:01

That's incredible. I'm very excited. I before this single, I hadn't released since 2024. Wow. End of 2024. Um, and I've had this song, a couple of these songs done, and I've been sitting on them, but I really wanted to be intentional with release strategy this year. And they say, as an artist, you want to release every six weeks to kind of feed the Spotify algorithm.

SPEAKER_00 6:23

Right. So God, there's that word again.

SPEAKER_01 6:25

Algorithm. Love it.

SPEAKER_00 6:28

Every time I hear it, I'm like, You know how much I love shooting content. I'm like, Yeah. It's like my worst thing ever. My sister's like, Debbie, we need you to shoot reels. I'm like, God, just stop. Yeah, no, seriously. Yeah, it's crazy.

SPEAKER_01 6:42

Yeah, so I'm just, I'm just, um, I knew my first one back was gonna be, but I wanted to dude, you rolled in like a tidal wave. Holy shit. Thank you, thank you. I'm hoping that this is the year of building and then my next EP um that I'm working on that I'm even more excited about. I'm hoping that that will be like the that'll be the cherry on the top. Are you performing? Um, I had a like big show scheduled and then the snowstorm hit. Ugh. The snowstorm here? The apocalypse. Yeah, you were out of power in this whole 12 days.

SPEAKER_00 7:16

12 days.

SPEAKER_01 7:18

And I live in a van.

SPEAKER_00 7:20

She does. She does.

SPEAKER_01 7:22

So it was crazy.

SPEAKER_00 7:23

Tell that story to the I mean, I I think that a lot of young people get so much from this show because you're all so brave, right? You're I'm gonna take a guitar, I'm gonna follow my dream, and I'm just gonna hope it all works out. Tell them the story about living in a van.

SPEAKER_01 7:36

Yeah, so Mitch and I got married, and he lived in Iowa, and I moved out there with him to, you know, be married, be happy. To be a wife, to be a wifey for one year. And we always knew that we wanted to both move to Nashville. And so a year in we kind of looked at each other and we were like, well, there's an opportunity down there.

SPEAKER_00 7:56

Right.

SPEAKER_01 7:57

You know, we're young, you only live once. Like, let's go and do it. And so we moved here.

SPEAKER_00 8:02

All of those are so factual. You are young and you do only live once. Yeah, it is. When people don't chase their dreams, it makes me crazy. I'm like the chill, like just.

SPEAKER_01 8:10

I mean, you have to. I could just never deal with the what ifs. That's my big thing. Is like I don't, it's okay if I chase this dream and it doesn't work out as long as I can look back and go, I gave it everything. You gave it my own.

SPEAKER_02 8:24

For sure.

SPEAKER_01 8:24

You know? Yeah. Because I'm a pretty happy person. Like I should be the happy ever in my life. Like, I think I could be happy doing anything. Right. Um, but I don't know if I'd be happy if I couldn't look back and say I tried my hardest.

SPEAKER_00 8:37

Absolutely. And I think, you know, you you have this God-given talent.

SPEAKER_01 8:41

Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 8:41

You know, and you're right, and you only have one life. Like, get out there. You do. I hate when but say I'm too old, I'm too this, blah blah blah blah blah. I'm like, oh my god, that's what I call that to my clients, what if mountain? I'm like, you're climbing up. Well, what if there's nothing on the other side of the mountain? You know, like just live your life, it'll work out or it won't. Either way, you're gonna be okay. Yeah, exactly. Nothing, it's not gonna or it's not gonna end, it's gonna be fine. But chase your dreams.

unknown 9:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 9:05

So, what was it like to see yourself on a billboard? Oh my gosh, it was insane.

SPEAKER_00 9:10

Are your parents like freaking out?

SPEAKER_01 9:12

They are a little bit. It was really, really cool. I've I've been on a billboard once before when I was in Cosmopolitan magazine. Right. Um, but this was the first time on the Nashville sign, which was really, really cool. Because I drive by it all the time. Yeah, yeah, I drive by it all the time, and I always tell Mitch, I'm like, someday I'm gonna be up there. And he's like he's like, babe, respectfully, that costs a lot of money to be up there.

SPEAKER_00 9:33

You know what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_01 9:34

I don't doubt you, but pop in my balloon. Get your pin out of my balloon. No, seriously.

SPEAKER_00 9:39

Hello, Mitch.

SPEAKER_01 9:40

Um, yeah, no, this awesome, awesome guy that rents from here. His name's Benny. Shout out, Benny. Shout out to you, Benny. He's an artist. Your generosity and your kindness. Yeah, he's he's an artist too. Um, he's releasing stuff under the name Broadway. It's really, really good. Um, but he didn't know for a while that I was an artist because when I'm in content creator mode, I know I am very much like, how can I be of service to you? You know. Um, so I'm not trying to shove it down anyone's throat, but he followed me on Instagram and like months later, I came up on his Explore page um for rose-colored glasses. Right. And he came in and he's like, What? Like, this is the best song I've ever heard. And I'm like, he he is my hype man for real. But yeah, so he when Death Wish came out, he was like, I really want to get you a billboard. And I was like, that is so incredibly generous. Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 10:31

Very generous, and that's like a standard here in Nashville. If you're up on that billboard, you've made it. Right. I mean, I think that's so amazing. I don't know. I think if somebody gave me a billboard, I'd probably pee my pants. I don't know what I'd say. I did. Did you alright? Exactly. All of a sudden this turns into a pens commercial. But yeah, like I think I would. I think I'd be just like so shocked and in awe that that is amazing.

SPEAKER_01 10:55

It was super cool.

SPEAKER_00 10:56

It is so incredible, and you're dropping every six weeks. Hope I'm so proud of you.

SPEAKER_01 11:01

That's awesome.

SPEAKER_00 11:02

I want you to go on tour, dude.

SPEAKER_01 11:04

Someday. Yeah, maybe, maybe me and Timmy one day. Maybe this will be a foreshadowing. We can clip it someday. Right. I love that.

SPEAKER_00 11:10

I would love Timmy's one of my other favorite people here in Nashville. I I call them my Nashville family because to me, they're not just my team and the artists that I've had the honor and the privilege of of being close with. They're my that's my Nashville family. Like everyone's like, Do you ever get burnt out from going? I'm like, my whole mother family down there. Got like a bunch of people down there. I can't wait to see. It's such a good feeling to fly in here and you like looking at today's schedule. And I was like, I'm seeing hope today. Aren't you glad we moved you out of the nine o'clock shot spot? Yes. Yeah. I was gonna have to get up so early. I know, I get it. The struggle's real.

SPEAKER_01 11:46

I'm grateful. Yeah, I know. Thanks.

SPEAKER_00 11:48

That was because of Gage. We love you, Gage. Thank you. That's amazing. So, what do your friends think of the song? What's the the team? What's Remy? And Remy is so cute.

SPEAKER_01 12:00

She was actually here a couple weeks ago filming content, and she was getting changed, and I just hear her in the dressing room singing it, and I'm like, that is so so sweet. She is genuinely like, I cannot say enough good things about Remy Garrison.

SPEAKER_00 12:14

Remy's she's amazing.

SPEAKER_01 12:16

Like, Christy Nick's amazing. I just have never met, and I know they're out there, but I have never met a another female artist yet, besides Remy, that is like genuinely such a girl's girl. And like when something good happens for you, they cheer on your jealousy. There's you don't feel like they're secretly sitting there being like, wish that were me. Right.

SPEAKER_00 12:41

You know, like or judging you or being like, she only did right.

SPEAKER_01 12:44

Like she will, she is everybody's gonna be a good one.

SPEAKER_00 12:46

She's a ride or die cheerleader. Like she is. It's mandatory. Yeah, everybody needs one. It makes me sad when like chicks are competitive like that. Like, what do you do? It gives me the ick. Their biggest enemy are other women. Yes, exactly. I know. And when you really should be lifting each other up, exactly. And we talked about this many times today on the show. There's enough room for everybody. Yeah, there's enough room. We're not gonna run out of spots at the top. There's plenty of room for every single person.

SPEAKER_01 13:13

Well, because when you behave like that, like standard over the past several years has been there's only so many slots for women in country music. It's like, well, when we act like the women this year are kicking eggs. They are they are the women, congratulations.

SPEAKER_02 13:28

Ella Laney to both of you. Ella Laney. All those people.

SPEAKER_00 13:32

Oh, that's so that choosing Texas song, it makes me cry because it makes me homesick. And I think it's just the most beautifully written song. She's a superstar. She's a superstar.

SPEAKER_01 13:43

It's taken over.

SPEAKER_00 13:44

It's taken over. The chicks in country music are running the show now.

SPEAKER_01 13:48

I know.

SPEAKER_00 13:49

Does that make you so happy?

SPEAKER_01 13:50

It does make me so happy because it has been, you know, for the past several years, there's only so many slots. And it's like when women are competing or tearing each other down, like it just feeds into that. But it seems like everyone right now is kind of, you know, really supportive of one another.

SPEAKER_00 14:08

Because I can't believe that there's humans that exist among us that want to tear other people down.

SPEAKER_01 14:13

It's disgusting. Like, how do you how do you sleep at night?

SPEAKER_00 14:17

You know, like if you're how do you how do you go through life like that where you're not also like how do you have the time? Right.

SPEAKER_01 14:25

Or the energy. Like, if you are truly like in this industry and you're trying to darn thing, you should.

SPEAKER_00 14:32

I am not an artist and I have no time. And I don't I can't sing a musical note and I have no time. Deb, I bet you can. I think it's my life mission to get you on a song. Right. At the slip watch tomorrow at the CRS, I'll be singing like a crazy woman. But um, yeah, I know. I just think it's so it's so important to have that core group of people that you know would move a mountain for you. You know, you're one of those people to me. You're one of those people. I'm like, Cope would move a mountain for me. I know she would.

SPEAKER_01 15:03

I would.

SPEAKER_00 15:04

I know she's the best. I would try. Real hard. Real mouth. Right. Not what if mountain. Screw that mountain. Um, Hope and Mitch became my team a year ago in December. I had another team um before. And we know, I think it's two years now, right? The the podcast, happy hour is two years old this month. Is it really? Happy birthday, happy hour. Yeah, happy birthday, happy hour, right? That's a big deal for a podcast because most don't make it to yeah. And and what an honor to be sitting amongst the greats, you know. Like, I think it's such an honor to have you guys here.

SPEAKER_02 15:38

I remember seeing your podcast on my feed for uh like about me last year at CRS, and I was like, I want to be on that.

SPEAKER_00 15:45

Yeah, thank you. So it'd be great. I've never had anybody everybody. This is the thing I hear about the show, and this is not only credit to me, this is a credit to Hope and Mitch and their professionalism and and Will and Jared, and um everybody leaves here saying, That was so much fun. That was really fun. And you know, interviewing is part of your career, right? That's part of what you have to do. But when you can come on a show and feel instantly at home and you, you know, you build reputations. I think that's the uniqueness about happy hour. Yeah, you know, I mean, you know, we all we had a Sunday family dinner one night. Yeah, we're like, we gotta gather the family for Sunday family dinner. But it is true when you start to you start to meet all these people, and then we just had Austin and he ran to you, and you exchanged like you might be collabing with him someday. And when you have 11.5 million dollars and you're letting Hope and I on the on your bus. Yeah, for sure you are, definitely. Yeah, and I think that's so beautiful because I know how important your friends are to you. Oh my gosh, they're everything, it's everything, right?

SPEAKER_01 16:47

Yeah, I mean, I have like a I'd say that I'm friendly with a bunch of people, right? But I have just like a couple friends right now that are everything to me. Like my my producer's one of them, which is super special, and I think you can hear that in the music. Absolutely. Um, and then my other best friend, Kyle Jacob, and they're both friends with Mitch. And so we literally do have every like Sunday we have family dinner, and that's so beautiful.

SPEAKER_00 17:13

Right. Well, you have to maintain some normalcy, yes, right? Like definitely, you know, in it you really do, like, and you guys are married, right? And you have to be because you were celebrating your anniversary last time I saw you. Yeah, yeah. Remember, we all went out uh by the hotel, it was for for barbecue. Um, it is crazy, it is totally crazy. But I mean, I think it is totally a balance of trying to be normal too, you know. I mean it's whatever normal looks like to different people, but it is, and even for me, when you're on the road a lot and you meet a lot of people, like I could sit and tell strangers stories from this podcast all the time because I've had the privilege of hearing these incredible artists tell these stories. But I can tell you sometimes it's like okay, it's time to go home. Need some normalcy. For sure. Yeah, you know how's Ocean?

SPEAKER_01 17:58

She's so good.

SPEAKER_00 17:59

Ocean's their golden retriever.

SPEAKER_01 18:01

She's she is the sweetest thing. She is the sweetest little thing. I love dogs, I love them too. She loves them. She's the best. I'll have to introduce you guys. But yeah, we just got a uh boat membership this summer. Speaking of trying to be a little bit more. I heard you were out on the lake last week.

SPEAKER_00 18:15

We were in the water. And now it's snowing.

SPEAKER_01 18:17

What the hell is happening? I know. This weekend it's supposed to get up to 83, and it was literally snowing yesterday. I know. I heard Yeah, catch me at the lake. I will be on the boat this weekend. Oh God, I'm so happy for you. Yeah, so Ocean got to go out there and she loved it. Did she go in the water? She didn't yet. This was her first time on the boat. So you're like heading towards the water? Yeah, she was kind of thinking about it. We had her leash in there at first because I was like, I've seen videos of dogs just like jumping off the boat.

SPEAKER_00 18:43

If I would, I'd rather lose my arm than my dog. Yes, me too. Yeah, no, there's no. I love the dog symbols. Yes.

SPEAKER_01 18:49

And so um after a while, we're like, all right, this is a pontoon. It kind of has like the built-up sides. She's not gonna jump over that one.

SPEAKER_00 18:56

And a great song, it is. Yes, it's a great song. I mean, it's you guys little duet going on here. I love it. That's great. Um, I know, I think that that's so cool. And I really am happy to see that you're mixing play in with work. When I first met that, man, these are the hardest. I call Mitch first thing in the morning because I I know it's guaranteed to answer. I'm not a morning person. Mitch I'm getting better. Mitch isn't a morning person, and I know that's the best time to get them. You know what I've gotten so bad at? My phone.

SPEAKER_01 19:29

Like, I'm a no-time person. Like, yeah, me too.

SPEAKER_00 19:33

I run. I feel so bad. I think everybody runs on dev time too.

SPEAKER_01 19:37

No, like I the amount of text messages that I have sitting unread in my phone because I'm going from thing to thing to thing, and then I just forget to respond. It is horrible. I used to be so chronically like no, it's okay.

SPEAKER_00 19:49

It's okay. Not everybody needs access to you every single day.

SPEAKER_01 19:53

Oh, true.

SPEAKER_00 19:54

They don't.

SPEAKER_01 19:54

True. They really don't.

SPEAKER_00 19:56

I mean, and I found that because you know, booking this whole CRS thing, this is still these guys, it's a lot. I mean, the three weeks before CRS, you're like, I don't even want a podcast anymore. It really is. And then people are calling on a rescheduling, and then they don't like this person, and that person can't be in the same room. It's like it's not trying to work.

SPEAKER_01 20:14

It's so crazy.

SPEAKER_00 20:16

So, girl, I got some. This person or this person cannot be. Yeah, we'll talk about the tea often. I was like, okay, I'm an adult. We're gonna have to play nice.

SPEAKER_01 20:27

We'll have to have tea time. I'm sorry, we'll have to have tea time.

SPEAKER_00 20:30

We'll have some tea time. Maybe we can go to lunch and we'll go out to lunch Friday afternoon. You know, um, Emily Brooks is coming in. I think she's our last one on Friday. Love Emily.

SPEAKER_01 20:40

She was on CRS last year.

SPEAKER_00 20:42

She we met her at the CRS last year, and this is what I remember about Em. We love you, sister. So we had Surfside was our sponsor last year, and we're at the Amazon music party, and she opens her purse, and there's all these surfsides shoved in the purse. Like you could have just had them. That is we would have just given them to you. She's a sweetheart. She co-hosted. She's a sweetheart. She really is.

SPEAKER_02 21:05

She came after CRS. Um, she came and played at Chiefs. Right. Yeah. She's so cool.

SPEAKER_00 21:11

She's so cool. She's a total vibe. She is. And it really does. These people become a huge part of your life and a huge part of your family. And I'm so proud of you. You don't even know how proud. So when you get your bar in Broadway, what's it gonna be called?

SPEAKER_01 21:27

Oh man. I don't know. Right now, everything is so death wish themed.

SPEAKER_00 21:34

I know, it's great.

SPEAKER_01 21:35

So maybe I think a bar called actually maybe that's problematic. I was gonna say a bar called Death Wish might be kind of saying.

SPEAKER_00 21:44

I know, I was gonna say, a little bit. Yeah. Like you're already, you're already doing it. You already have a little bit of a death wish.

SPEAKER_01 21:53

Yeah, see, that's why I think it could be on brand. So that's it. Yeah, totally.

SPEAKER_00 21:56

I think so too. And like that, those colors would be. Gorgeous. Ale's coming down for her 21st birthday. Yay! When is it? Uh, Memorial Day weekend. I'll have her reach out to you. Let's go. I know. I'm I'm this is my my very dear friend's daughter. She's not really my niece, but um, I brought her down one time to shoot and um to meet all these guys, and she had such a lovely time. So now she's coming back and they're staying in an airbaby. She's like, I'm like, no invite. She's like, if I invite you, I have to invite my mom. And then no. Oh, Leah. I know. Her mom totally. She brings the party. This is what my husband says. He goes, I'm Deb could be a party favor. You could rent her out. He's like, you should be rented out by the hour. He's like, you are like a party favor. She's like, see it. Yeah. Like, you're already the biggest cheerleader I've ever met in my life. He's like, people should pay for an hour to interview you. I'm like, exactly. That would be amazing. Seriously. Do you know? You know about Freedom Brew.

SPEAKER_01 22:56

Oh, tell me about Freedom Brew. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 22:58

So, Alan, who you get to meet, he'll come on the show one time. Um, had a corporate job. He had a regular job, he had a big boy job. That's what I call. That's why I see my husband. I go, dude, you get a big boy job. Like, this is not a big girl job. That's a big boy job. He left, he started bring his own beer. He's a veteran. He's given money back to veterans. Um, he's gonna be in some baseball stadiums. He's working with suicide prevention for vets, and you know everything that holds near and dear to my heart. So it was in such alignment for me to help. I mean, God bless our troops, every single one of them. Definitely. Keeping for for one, loving country music, and for two, keeping us safe so we can enjoy country music. So this is his product, and it is so delicious. I know your little wine girl now.

SPEAKER_01 23:41

Oh, I have to try it though.

SPEAKER_00 23:43

Yeah, I have to try it. Absolutely. I mean, you have to try it. It's so funny. I hope we have enough for tomorrow because I like hand it out like it's out like it's everyone's taken. I know. No, but I you know, you know, I never give out one of anything, do I? I'm like, here's to go take the car, just whatever you need to do. Whatever you need. Yeah, we're gonna so we're gonna run it through tomorrow and we'll see how long we get with it. We'll gotta keep it cold. And uh your boat thing now got me a cooler full of ice.

SPEAKER_01 24:07

Yes, I saw that.

SPEAKER_00 24:08

I was so excited.

SPEAKER_01 24:09

I was so happy to see it. I used that cooler for a music video prop.

SPEAKER_00 24:13

First of all, the cooler is cool. It reminds me of it. So retro? It's so retro. Um, do you guys don't know this because you're probably too young? There was a cartoon called The Banana Splits.

SPEAKER_01 24:22

Yeah, I'm gonna go. Google it's not familiar. Google it.

SPEAKER_00 24:24

That will remind you of the banana splits.

SPEAKER_01 24:26

You know what I am familiar with that I'm excited about is the 20th Hannah Montana reunion. Stop it.

SPEAKER_02 24:32

I've never seen Hannah Montana. What? Confession. I'm a country music singer and I've never watched Hannah Montana. What? My daughter grew up in the world. You get the best of both worlds? I know the songs. I know like who Hannah Montana is. I'm just You need to do your homework. Hannah Montana.

SPEAKER_00 24:47

You need to do your homework. It was my like favorite when I was like never seen it.

SPEAKER_01 24:52

My daughter loved her.

SPEAKER_00 24:53

How old are you? I am 26. Okay, she's 28. She loved Hannah Montana.

SPEAKER_01 24:59

I got a perm when I was like six or seven or eight. I looked like a poodle. First of all, I wanted to be Miley Cyrus. How about high school musical? That was another big one too. But what's funny about high school musical for me though is like I I had a lot of friends that like decided, you know, they wanted to do science or something like that because of Gabriella. And I watched it and I was like, I want to play basketball. So when I started playing. Really? It was Trey Bolton. Oh my God.

SPEAKER_00 25:30

That was so cool. I remember because she grew up with all those. And I did it not break out. I don't even know. Now that the show's come back aired, I'm like, and my assistants, like, you were sp singing SpongeBob SquarePants on that. Oh no, you know what I did. You know what I did? We when um Timmy and Holden were with us, we were talking about like fate your favorite like Christmas show, whatever they're like Christmas vacation. And mine is the South Park Christmas episode. Real. Where did you ever see it? I haven't seen it. I love it. Oh my god.

SPEAKER_01 26:00

Okay, you can bully me now because I've never watched South Park.

SPEAKER_00 26:02

So funny. Just watch the Christmas episode. I haven't seen the Christmas episode. Oh my god. The little Cartman, the little chubby one. He starts singing about this other. He starts singing about Kyle, his friend's mom. He's like, Kyle's one's a bitch, he's the biggest bitch, she's the biggest bitch in the whole wide world. She's the biggest bitch. If there's a bitch, you can bitch to. Well the boys and girls. It is every time I see it, I laugh out loud. It is so fun. And it was so funny because I'm sitting next to Holden Barter, who's from Philadelphia as well. And he's like, Only Deb would like break out in the sponge. The Garmin song in the middle of the thing. Yes. So much fun. So what else is going up? What else is coming up for this summer? You're gonna play. Where are you playing? When are we gonna see you play?

SPEAKER_01 26:43

Girl, you and me both are wondering. I have been so focused on like studio time and getting music out successfully in the content.

SPEAKER_00 26:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 26:53

Um, and so, and I think also once you get the content like it out, you'll be and I think I think uh releasing this EP and then the next one that I'm working on, which people don't even know about that yet. So this is how they're finding out. Hello. Um, I think that will really help me build my live show so that I can start playing, playing. Are you excited to get out on the road and play? I am, yeah. Why not? Listen, we've had the van for so long and I haven't yet. That was the whole purpose of moving into the van was to save money so that we could, you know, chase this dream and it's let us do so many cool things like this studio. We would not have been able to do this if we were paying Nashville rent.

SPEAKER_00 27:33

Absolutely, absolutely. This is a cool building, isn't it? It's awesome. I'm like, I want Happy Hour to do so well that they can have the money to bang, pay cash for this. Yeah, we really want to buy this building. I know. I really think you need to have this building.

SPEAKER_01 27:46

Yeah, it would be it would be really, really cool.

SPEAKER_00 27:48

I mean, you have sacrificed so much for your career, and it doesn't, it never goes unnoticed, but you seem unshakable with because your gratitude is so amazing.

SPEAKER_01 27:58

Thanks, Deb.

SPEAKER_00 27:59

Like you are so grateful for every single thing. I was like, I can't do a CRS. I'm not gonna cry. I really was like, I'm like, I can't do this to her espo. And I oh I said to Mitch, I'm like, well, hope there. It's like she's popping. I'm like, that's not the answer I was trying to get. The answer is, of course.

SPEAKER_01 28:15

The answer is if Deb wants me there, I will be.

SPEAKER_00 28:17

Here's the thing, because Hope knows me so well. She's like, get her a diet coke. Okay, switch her back to alcohol. No, she needs a latte.

SPEAKER_03 28:23

Like, she actually actually does.

SPEAKER_00 28:27

She's like, she knows she's she's going down deep. Somebody get her a diet coke. Like, it's cool to have somebody like that that's like, get her some candy. She needs candy right now. Stop letting her talk to that stranger. Yeah, and it was cool because she kind of protected me because I told you last time we were shooting, they were throwing like, you know, talking points underneath the bathroom stall. And she's like, You don't have any time, don't pay that any mind. Because people grab you. We're the only podcast that has audio and video this year. Are you serious? Yeah, too. That's incredible. That's incredible. Congrats. We had such a following. Was our booth rocking last year?

SPEAKER_01 29:00

Our booth was popping.

SPEAKER_00 29:01

Our booth was so pop. Everybody that walked by was like, I don't know. It was popping. And she was giving up free surfs. I was giving out free surfs odds.

SPEAKER_01 29:12

There were people walking by that were um, there was this one guy. I won't name drops because that's kind of mean. But there was this one guy who interviewed the day prior and he walked by and he was like, Let me grab a couple more surfs. Oh my god. But he was cool. So we like to do it. He was totally cool.

SPEAKER_00 29:29

Yeah, absolutely. We're like, you're not, you're not allowed to have to know what you photo games, everybody. And we had such a fun, like Friday was the wrap-up day. And like when I tell you, we were probably like dead, exhausted, tired. Tattoos, and then we got your tattoos. Oh, whatever the biggest.

SPEAKER_01 29:43

Yeah, Timmy got a his was a lightning tattoo.

SPEAKER_00 29:46

Timmy got a lightning ball.

SPEAKER_01 29:47

Because lightning speed had just lightning speed. Happy hour.

SPEAKER_00 29:51

Happy hour day. Only we were all sitting around in my room at the Omni. I know, I'm telling you, you're you're this is a dysfunctional family that you're now part of. I mean, part of it feels like I should warn your family. Like uh part of it is like I should probably go.

SPEAKER_01 30:04

Oh, they're they're dysfunctional too. Don't worry. I was gonna say my real family's dysfunctional. Totally, totally.

SPEAKER_00 30:10

I I thought let me tell you, my natural family is more functionable than like my regular family. But yeah, it was really funny. We're all sitting in my room. It was we went out to lunch because it was we worked, we worked our asses. Yeah, we really did. Um, excuse me, and we're all sitting up in my room, and Cameron goes, Who wants to get tatted?

SPEAKER_01 30:31

Like, I seriously listen, I've been considering it for the past couple weeks. Kyle wants to get a matching tattoo with me, and so does my big sister. And I was like, listen, this would be my first tattoo. I'm such I'm literally thinking about just getting a little freckle. Have you seen that trend? Yes. The little heart freckle. I'm thinking about doing that, which is gonna be hilarious. It's like, you know that TikTok sound that's like, oh, you don't like girls that are tatted? Take me off your roster. It's gonna be me. And nobody's gonna even know that I have to be a little bit more.

SPEAKER_00 30:59

First of all, who couldn't love you? I started with, well, you can't see. So this is under here. We're not even getting to my thumb. My old football injury. There's only one talk about my thumb. I know. This is my daughter who was born in 1998. So I had copyright 1998. And then little like Rusty's at home, like, just shut her up, don't give her any more beer. Um, when the Eagles went to the Super Bowl, not the the recent one, um, the old one. I have an old school Eagle here, and then I had this one done with with Timmy, which God, that was really fun. That was probably irresponsible. I called Jason, remember, and I'm like, do you mind if we he's like, as long as he's with you, I'm like, oh like what a cool dad. Oh, Jason. Jason just, sir. He is the cool dude. They're a cool family. They've got their golden retriever on tour with them.

SPEAKER_01 31:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 31:44

No, I know that'll be you.

SPEAKER_01 31:46

Hopefully, we'll be right back.

SPEAKER_00 31:47

That'll be you and Ocean.

SPEAKER_01 31:48

Hopefully.

SPEAKER_00 31:49

Can I be the podcast that follows your tour around? Absolutely. I would love that. Absolutely. We will have ridiculous fun.

SPEAKER_01 31:55

Yes, we could just have like a little, we could just have like a little um a recap set after every show.

SPEAKER_00 32:03

Well, I can't believe Timmy didn't believe me on his tour. What's what are you doing?

SPEAKER_01 32:07

We've got a bone to pick, Timmy.

SPEAKER_00 32:08

We got a bone to pick. We really do. That's when he that was when he admitted that he wasn't a Swifty.

SPEAKER_01 32:14

Yeah, I did watch that episode and he was like, Hopes is gonna kill me if she sees this. I can't believe it.

SPEAKER_00 32:20

But that's okay, we'll work on it. And then all this time later, the guest before you was on tour with Taylor Swift. Wait, who? Um Austin Mount. Oh, seriously? Yeah. He was on tour with him. I love it.

SPEAKER_01 32:35

We can't even start talking about Taylor Swift because I will not shut up.

SPEAKER_00 32:38

All right, here's the thing. Is she getting married or am I going through another freaking football season worried about Taylor Swift? She's supposed to be getting married. I haven't gotten an invite, but well, you know, the Kelsey brothers are from Philly. The Jason Kelsey's from Philadelphia. And they keep teasing that there's gonna be a wedding, but obviously they're not releasing like sometime this summer because I don't know if he'll go back to play football. I don't know. There was rumors he's gonna retire.

SPEAKER_01 33:02

I think he would just do an interview. I think he just did an interview saying he wants to do another season. Really?

SPEAKER_00 33:08

Because like why would you scramble your brains?

SPEAKER_01 33:10

Like it was super sweet. He was like watching Taylor, like continuously, after all these years, come up with new things to write about and how it like obsessed she is with her craft. He's like, it's super inspiring for me. So yeah, I'm gonna play for one more year. And I'm like, what a power couple.

SPEAKER_00 33:26

They need it, they need it standard, they tanked, they do, they need him to come back for sure.

SPEAKER_01 33:31

It was not a good year for that.

SPEAKER_00 33:32

It was not, it was not a good year for Philadelphia either, and I'm a hundred percent not over it. And then right after that happened, there is this fabulous steakhouse where we live. They make the best martini, and it's an old historic building. The inside rooms are painted black, it's badass. Loved it. Rocco's, please come back. They closed it.

SPEAKER_01 33:56

So you were heartbroken. You don't even know.

SPEAKER_00 33:58

I go to get my hair done, it's right next door, and I'm like, I'm not over Rocco's. My the girl does my hair cracks up. She's like, Deb's the only one who's gonna like, and it's just beautiful. I know I'm not over it. They had perfect martini. We go out to dinner on Saturday night, and I have a martini, and Russia's house. I'm like, it's not a Rocco's. Yeah, at the restaurant. I'm still am, I'm still. My girl. That was a Taylor Swift reference. Yeah, totally. I I just can't, I know it is, I don't listen to a lot of Taylor Swift.

SPEAKER_01 34:23

It's like I'm trying to.

SPEAKER_00 34:24

Help, I'm still at the restaurant. I saw her, though, when my daughter was younger. I I took her to the tour to see Taylor Swift because I took her, I also took her to the American Idol tours, and you know, so I did take her to all I know in American Idol. Now I watch it with such a different eye because I've had so many people come from American Idol that now I have to kind of watch, I feel like, poaching out my new poaching out my new voice and all that stuff. All right, where do you want to play? How do we make this? Yeah, where's the big like what's the dream?

SPEAKER_01 34:56

Um, obviously the Opry. Obviously, the Ori. Obviously, everybody says, First of all, they'd be lucky to have you. Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 35:04

They totally would be lucky to have you.

SPEAKER_01 35:05

It's so cool. I will, I will say, I don't know who my tour guide was when I was like 13 or 14. Um, we got to like go take pictures and stuff, and the tour guide was so sweet and let me sing in the circle. Stop it. So I was eat like even if I don't get to perform at the Grand Old Opera, which we're not gonna say that, we're gonna say when.

SPEAKER_00 35:25

Oh, it's not if it's when.

SPEAKER_01 35:27

When slash ish. Right. Yeah. A little bit of a little with.

SPEAKER_00 35:30

Yeah. Oh, it's totally performing, no, it'll happen. It's gonna be no doubt in my mind.

SPEAKER_01 35:36

I hope so. But um, I will I have been able to, you know, do that.

SPEAKER_00 35:41

That's awesome.

SPEAKER_01 35:42

So that's that was cool. Yeah, yeah. Also, Red Rocks would be so cool. Oh, I hear it's amazing.

SPEAKER_00 35:46

I've never been, but I hear it's incredible.

SPEAKER_01 35:48

I've never been either, but I've just been.

SPEAKER_00 35:50

If you would collab with somebody, who would it be?

SPEAKER_01 35:53

Hmm.

SPEAKER_00 35:54

I really cut you off. I just was like thinking, who could be?

SPEAKER_01 35:56

No, you're good. Um I really I have this duet that I wrote that needs to be with a male. Really? Like it needs to be with a male. So I don't know. I'm open to whoever's gonna be. I'm green, he's making the rounds. I know Riley's duetting with everybody. I know. Did you see that he got like a phone thrown at him? His ear?

SPEAKER_02 36:17

He had to get stitches in his ear because a fan threw through a phone and it like cut his ear and he had to get stitches.

SPEAKER_00 36:24

I kind of really wonder what is going on in people's brains and minds. Like, why are we throwing other articles? I don't understand. Like, why is it now that people pay a lot of money, you know, hard-earned money to go see a show and they have to put up with that nonsense? Yeah that's so wrong. Like, if you have anger issues, stay at home.

SPEAKER_01 36:44

Yeah, I don't even know if it's I don't even know if it's like an anger issue thing. Like some people with t-shirt throwing flowers or anything should not be throwing anything. I think that they think that it's like a funny, like that's not funny.

SPEAKER_00 36:57

Cause somebody stitches is not seriously. Plus, you know, you have to have respect for those people on stage. Like, there's a privacy thing. Like, you're not, don't be putting your hands or anything else on anybody unless you're parasocial relationships are kind of crazy. Yeah, yeah. Oh, girl. I know. I know. It's crazy. You have some crazy fans.

SPEAKER_01 37:19

We love them.

SPEAKER_00 37:21

We do love them. We totally do, but we do. I think that. Did I tell you somebody called me? I told you a Karen. Somebody called me a Karen online. What? I know. This is how long that we have. You are the furthest thing from a Karen. Jude, I am the anti-Karen, right? Like people want to live next to me. You know, my neighbor's like, please don't ever leave. We love you so much. Yeah, it is really um online. Somebody called me a Karen. So my response was, thanks for watching the show. Yeah, seriously. That's just why you have to. First, you called me a racist, which that hurts a little bit. Yeah, we're gonna be able to do that. And then said, call and then said that your racist ass something show will never end up on my algorithm. I'm like, well, how'd you find me? So with it.

SPEAKER_01 37:58

You're like, it is on it is on your algorithm, so that's funny. Right. But also, you're literally talking to people about is it because it's country music?

SPEAKER_00 38:06

Like, I'm dude, I the world hates everybody. So I literally and here's like, I'm like, I told my husband, I'm like, I need you to get two oven mitts and duct tape them like on my hands, so I can't text. So you can't go back and forth. Right, because you know, like I'm from Philly, that's what we do. We swing first and then we worry about what happens later. So I'm like, I'm sorry that you're a 48-year-old troll living in your parents' bases playing video games. By the way, run Mario, you little mushroom. Like, I like I went on for five paragraphs, and then he's like, You need to post it. I'm like, bam, send. That's so funny. I was like, how dare you?

SPEAKER_01 38:38

One thing about Dev is she will stick up for herself, and I love that. Dude, I will.

SPEAKER_00 38:42

And and here's another thing too. I when I my friends are I do not mess with my friends. Do not. Do not I turn into like a different animal.

SPEAKER_01 38:56

Like I try to be really nice and polite. You are nice and polite.

SPEAKER_00 39:00

Like, I feel like you ain't got no feeling.

SPEAKER_01 39:02

Naturally, naturally, I'm very everyone says my spirit animal is a golden retriever. But if you come at my friends, especially Mitch, oh my gosh, if you're mean to Mitch, I get nasty.

SPEAKER_00 39:13

Dude, who can be mean to Mitch? Mitch rocks.

SPEAKER_01 39:15

People are sometimes, and I have to put them in their place. Yeah, that's right. That's right. That's your job.

SPEAKER_00 39:20

If somebody did that to Rusty, too, I'd be the same way if anybody talked to him in disrespect. Defensive of the city. Good luck gluing your eyeballs back in your head. Good luck when I claw them out. It's gonna hurt. Get yourself some crazy grow. Texas and Philly. You don't combination. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Totally cooked. You're totally cooked. Like, don't ever disrespect him. Like, even the kids know they're like, dude, she will pop off. I'm like, no doubt. But that's love, right? Yeah, yeah. I feel that same way about my friends. I'm like, we don't mess with we don't mess with people. It's not okay. So you're gonna come back. You're gonna hang out with me. We're gonna spend three days together, girl. I'm so excited too. If you want to get dressed and stuff, I have a room at the OmniChead. Like, if you need a girl, you could come live with me. I love how much. I'll go home in your pocket. I know. I love you so much. I'm excited we're gonna be having meals together. I'm so grateful you're here today. Thank you for having me. Thank you. Don't be ridiculous. Thank you for sharing the story. And we, I'm of course, I can't even like adequately tell you how proud I am of you. Like when the song came out, I'm bawling crying. Rusty's like, because it's like a good cry. I'm like, oh and he's like, wow. So just know that we are cheering for you, and I'm so proud of you, and you're a huge success, and never, ever, ever lose that beautiful heart of yours.

SPEAKER_02 40:48

Thank you, Dad.

SPEAKER_00 40:49

She's the best, isn't she? Don't you love her?

SPEAKER_02 40:51

Yes. Oh, I love you already, too. I know, right? I know.

SPEAKER_00 40:54

Oh, you guys will be good friends. Yeah, right. Addison's a sweetheart, too. Yeah, she seems it.

SPEAKER_01 41:00

I was listening to her music when I went to go get McDonald's. You know what the funniest thing is also?

SPEAKER_00 41:04

She was just on the show and isn't the co-host here. Let's go. She killed it. Killed it. I have to watch that one. Yeah. It was it's a lot of fun, right? I gotta I need one corporate sponsor to let me have a reunion party. Like a hundred grand, one fifty. We want to have a ice luge to shoot oysters down.

SPEAKER_01 41:25

We need like a deb ice sculpture. We do.

SPEAKER_00 41:28

We need like we need that microphone.

SPEAKER_01 41:31

I was thinking like your face would be pretty cool. But that might be a good one.

SPEAKER_00 41:34

Let me get some Botox first. A little metal back on the Botox. And it's so freaking dreary in Philadelphia. I literally, I think so bad. So I was like getting dresser day. You know how you're so pale from the winter. First of all, I'll go to the sun anymore. I was just damn don't put your beautiful skin or your beautiful skin in the sun. Please tell me you're wearing sunscreen on the boat. I will. Okay. I will. I did it the other day because I was wearing sunscreen. I will.

SPEAKER_02 41:57

My mom is like the sunscreen queen. Yes, you know what?

SPEAKER_00 42:00

You guys are so beautiful. Don't screw it up by being in the sun. So I went out to the in the living room and rusting it some tobacco. I'm flat Stanley. Did you ever make the Flat Stanley when you guys were in school? The white.

SPEAKER_01 42:13

Yes, that's I I yeah, I got a Sun Tan City membership so I could go get gray tanned because I'm getting one soon.

SPEAKER_02 42:21

My first one. Your first gray tan? Girl, girl, I gotta go with you.

SPEAKER_00 42:26

Sure.

SPEAKER_02 42:28

Chug some beers will all be. I got you. I got you. I'll do one tattoo. We're kind of known for that. So I'm actually I decided one day when I get a number one, that's when I'll get a tattoo. One day.

SPEAKER_01 42:38

See, that's when Ray and I. Ray and I have that agreement too, which is why I didn't follow it. The little freaking tattoo.

SPEAKER_00 42:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 42:45

We're gonna get a little banjo.

SPEAKER_00 42:46

I don't have to remember this last year, but Taylor Holder, and I know you're watching the show because we love you, sir. You told me when you get a number one hit, he's like, he doesn't drink. And he said, Deb, you and I are getting sideways. We're still waiting for that. We're still waiting on that. There's gonna be a lot of a lot of breakthrough shit on this show. Yeah, please wear sunscreen, the both of you. They really make it. So I don't even want to address the flat stand like comment. He's like, I'm done. I am he's like dead, I'm done. All right, my friend, I love you. I'm proud of you. Go kill it. Follow. Where can everybody find you? I'm everywhere at Hope Blanchard Music. Hope Blanchard Music. And you, Matilda? Yeah, all the platforms under Addison Mollock Music. Something tells me these two are gonna be really good. A lot of magic happens on the show. A lot of good magic. Thanks, my sisters. It was awesome to have you. Thank you for having me. We love you to have. Oh, I love you guys too.