We Knew Taylor Swift Before She Was Taylor Swift | Missi Gallimore #15

On this episode of Earth to Aimee, I sit down with legendary Nashville A&R executive Missi Gallimore, who has helped discover, champion, and place more hit songs and Grammy-winning songs than almost anyone in Nashville history.

We talk about meeting Taylor Swift before she became Taylor Swift, finding songs like "Live Like You Were Dying" and "Blue Ain't Your Color," the art of spotting a hit, and why great songs still matter more than anything else.

Plus stories about Tim McGraw, Keith Urban, Lori McKenna, Chris Tompkins, the famous Aimeeland bathroom wall, and what really happens behind the scenes on Music Row.

You can hear the split second before a song becomes a hit, but only if you know what to listen for. I’m sitting down with Nashville powerhouse Missy Gallimore, an A&R original with stories that stretch from legendary demo days to the social media driven music business we’re all trying to understand now. We start with a surprisingly emotional tour through the little moments artists leave behind, then jump straight into what it felt like meeting Taylor Swift early, watching her professionalism up close, and recognizing that rare “walks in the room and owns it” charisma. 

From there, we get honest about how Nashville changed. We talk about the rise of artist written albums, why outside songs got tougher to place, and why Missy still believes the longest careers are built on cutting the best song, period. She breaks down what makes a hit before the charts ever say so: a title that makes you click, a lyric that lands fast, and that gut level replay factor. Missy also tells the real A&R hustle behind songs like Blue Ain’t Your Color and the frantic, competitive moment Live Like You Were Dying got put on hold before it even left the studio. 

We also dig into modern artist development and why consistency, frequent releases, and social traction now carry massive weight. Missy shares her “superstar pie” of confidence and presence, plus a simple life lesson that applies way beyond music: fear is your enemy, and you’ve got to push through those first seconds of doubt. If you like music industry stories, songwriting craft, and practical career advice, hit subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave a review. What’s the last song that made you pull the car over?

Transcript

Welcome And Missy’s Nashville Legacy

SPEAKER_01 0:10

It's Earth to Amy with Amy Mayo, and my guest today is Missy Gallimore, the original G. She's been in Nashville how long? How long, a long time? Let's just say a long time. A long time. She like has done it all. All of it. A Renaissance woman. A publisher, a record label, AR. Like, probably I would call you the biggest, most famous, notorious, awesome AR person of any of who else would we? I mean, who else? There's nobody else. You know, there there isn't. There really I mean there's not anymore. Lasting power is a big, big, big thing. You know, a lot of people might do AR for 10 or 15 years, but to stay in AR and to do it that long, it's a big thing.

The Bathroom Wall Of Future Stars

SPEAKER_00 1:05

Can I just first say something when I first came in here? I I went straight to your bathroom. Oh. Because I remember, I remember coming and I remember that bathroom with all the quotes and all the quotes from the artists that have been here and have written things on the bathroom wall. And I don't know, maybe one day she'll do a podcast on the show. I need all the quotes. You need to show pictures because that I get emotional. And I got when I went in that bathroom, I got emotional. And seeing some of the quotes from, you know, I get it. And it's really something to see.

SPEAKER_01 1:40

So yeah, I had that was that was like Taylor Swift before she was Taylor Swift. Like she's writing stuff on the wall. And one my favorite story about that wall is um Keith Urban, like he would actually love this story, but he recorded out here for like six to eight weeks. I don't know, a long time. It was out here every day.

SPEAKER_03 2:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 2:03

And he liked because it was private. Yeah. And so he he kept asking me, Do you care if I write a quote in the bathroom? I'm like, uh-uh, write whatever you want to. Yeah. And then he wrote something at the end of it. I was just like, I was so shocked because he wrote something as our it was on the top of the toilet, not on the wall. And it was orange, and it said, our aim is a clean toilet. You know, your aim counts, or something about that. Okay, that's but it was on the toilet on the top.

SPEAKER_00 2:35

Yeah. And I think I actually have I think I actually wrote something on that wall. I'm sure. I think I did, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 2:43

Like the stuff Taylor wrote so good. Kelly Pickler wrote good. Everybody is.

SPEAKER_00 2:53

She's such an anomaly. She really is. She likes it. Yeah, we both have experiences with her back. I want to know your experience. Okay, so my experience How old was she? Oh gosh, 20. She was the Abercombi and Aber Abercombi and Finch model. Are you serious? No, I'm not never. Yes, yeah. Yes, yes. Yes. Yes. And so this is back when Byron was like, you know, producing everybody, and he was, you know, probably one of the top producers in town. Oh, for sure. Not probably. We got a call from Scott Bruschetta, and he's like, Hey, I got this young girl. I want you to think about producing her. So she came out to the house. Um, she actually came out a couple of times, and then she and Byron decided to work together and cut a few things together. And she um, I just remember there's so many little things that I remember now uh uh looking back and going, uh, this girl, and you have the same story. Oh yeah. But so she would I want to know your story. So she would come to the studio and she was 16 and she was driving, she'd she pulled up in this cute little Lexus, and what I remember most is when she would come, she would remember everybody's names. She would remember the girls' names, she would bring cookies, she would bring uh I don't I don't know, like gifts and things, and I remember her jumping on the trampoline with the girls and just so innocent, just very innocent, but knew exactly, knew exactly what she wanted, kind of predestined, predestined, that's it. So then maybe six months later, our girls went to BGA. I was in charge of a uh fundraiser called Denim and Diamonds.

SPEAKER_01 4:43

Um I remember this night. You do?

SPEAKER_00 4:46

You remember her being there? Yes, okay. So I was pregnant with I was pregnant with Evangeline, and I asked her to come see. That's where I met her. At Denim and Diamonds? Yes, she performed. Yes, okay. First goal, first school event. Yes, yes. I remember her walking in with her mom and dad, and this is when I really knew that this girl is a star. And she walked in and she had this um beautiful dress on. She had a pair of Manalo Blonic shoe. Is that how you say it? I'm awful at all. I don't know. I never okay, all right. But her shoes were just beautiful, and she was so on point, and she was so gracious, and she just looked like the star, and she knew exactly what she was doing.

SPEAKER_01 5:31

The first time that's where we talked about writing together. That's the first time we I ever saw her. Yeah, and she still had that little blonde, frizzy hair, curly, tight, curly hair, blonde, yes.

SPEAKER_00 5:44

And um yeah, and her mom and dad were so sweet and so believed in her.

SPEAKER_01 5:50

They believed in her so much. Yeah like the first time she came out here to write, telling about how she was with the kids, like she had almost a magical power with kids. Chris and me used to joke around that she had fairy blood. Like she just was like a little bit like a little fairy. Yeah, and the first time we ever wrote with her, we were out here in the studio getting prepared and everything, but she didn't know, like it nobody ever knows. They go to the house, you know what I mean? And so she's up at the house, and the kids were in the pool, and Oscar is out there talking to her, and so I love this memory so much. And so Taylor, like somebody the nanny moves, like shows her where to go. She comes to the studio, and this is the day we met, and so then Oscar like he marches in there, he's like five, and he marches in there, and I still remember it so plain as day because his little nose was cold and there was still water dripping off him, and he had on his little shorts, and he couldn't whisper because he was too little, and he's like, When me grow up, me wanna work with that girl, and so that's how we met, and her and me both lost it laughing because of all things, me wanna work with that girl. It was crazy. And then that first song we wrote might be the craziest song, and I say it a lot in in our whole catalog. It

Early Taylor Swift Studio Moments

SPEAKER_01 7:25

was nuts, yeah, because she's talking about this guy she was dating and the truck ran over his foot, and he rem he said she reminded him of that movie Carrie and uh paying a homeless guy to sing. I mean, it was nuts. I I remember for some reason, you know how it's weird because it's backwards, but sometimes a traumatic event, you'll remember all the details. This was the opposite of that. This was like uh just a moment that I remembered because so Chris don't remember anybody we ever wrote with. I mean, I just thought we wrote with them, Chris. You know what I mean? But I remembered her, he remembered her too, and but I just remembered that whole day so good because I remember because I had never written with a teenager before. It was weird to start with, and so I had a title. I'd been trying to come up with titles that would work for a teenager because there's some things they can't talk about, you know. And so my title was Cloud 999. And so I told her that title, and she's like, No, I don't like that. And she got her little good tour out, she had a Taylor good tour, yeah, and she's like, I got an idea, and she starts playing. And her first song was called like till Brad Pitt comes along. Oh my god. And it's a good song, it's hooky as shit, just like all her songs are hooky, yeah. And so what's weird is we had a work tape of that song. Somehow that song ended up on YouTube. Oh yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:02

Isn't that nuts? Is that well, I uh I remember driving down the road listening on a little on a CD of Teardrops on My Guitar. I remember listening to the Tim McGraw song, and I remember calling Tim and going, Tim, you gotta meet this girl because she is she is something else. I remember, I remember right where I was when I was listening to the demos. And that's a big thing. It's a big thing. And about, I don't know, five years ago, I found a CD of like four songs of hers that I guess never been released. I didn't, I obviously didn't. Were they great? I don't even remember. I don't know. I'm sure they were hooked at least. No, I didn't I don't even remember. I just found the CD and it had Taylor Swift and it had three or four songs on it, and I'm just like, oh my goodness. But like we never wrote hits together, but we just hit it off as friends.

SPEAKER_01 9:56

And it's weird that somebody because because I had written a song called 1989, and she wrote a song called 1999. And the weird thing is I graduated in 1999, and she was born in 1989. Yeah, but I knew from the time we met her, something is up with her. She's different. Remember we got our picture with her at BMI. Oh, I got that. I got that picture too. Yeah, yeah. I got so many pictures from BMI, and I feel like people are so mean to her. Yeah, they were. Do you think they were? I think they were. Yeah. I think they were jealous because that's usually why.

SPEAKER_02 10:34

Yeah. But what's crazy is all the big stars, their kids were like, I love Taylor Swift. Yeah. Like Faith Fortina all the time. I just still love Taylor.

SPEAKER_00 10:45

I mean, I still love her now. I feel like I'm gosh, I'm older and I'm I still drive down the road and I still listen to Taylor Swift Essentials on Apple Music.

SPEAKER_01 10:53

I always tell Chris, like, if if we're writing with something, which I hadn't been writing lately, but if you're back to writing. I might, but I gotta, I just want a Morgan Wallen cut. Yeah. But like with Taylor, the thing with her, I think she kind of fucked Nashville up from the floor up, to be honest with you. Yeah, I think she's because like every girl that comes to Nashville thinks they're gonna write all your songs. They still do. You can't get an outside cut on a girl. I've written songs that are killers. You can't get an outside cut, you just can't. I looked up Lainey, Megan, Ella, Ellie. I looked them all up. Yeah, yeah. Don't cut outside songs. There was one song by Luke Combs that somebody cut. I can't remember which one, but that's different. Yeah, that's different.

SPEAKER_00 11:44

I just wish, I don't know. I really like from an AR perspective. I just feel like if there was some, you know, guy or girl, and I know Cody Johnson's that way. He cuts all outside songs. That's why he has freaking great songs because he knows same thing with Tim, same thing with Kenny. It's so true. And they they they just keep evolving because they keep cutting great songs and great songs, and you know, they don't try to write.

SPEAKER_01 12:09

If you look at the long careers in country music, yes, yes, Tim McGraw, Kenny Chesney, Blake Shelton, George Strait, the long careers, outside songs. They cut outside songs. Yeah, but here's the sad thing songwriters quit writing girl songs. They didn't give I didn't give a fuck about a girl song. I don't want to do it. I just died. Well, I never wrote a lot of girl songs to start with. I feel like I have a more guy mentality, probably because my dad, I was trying to impress my dad.

SPEAKER_00 12:41

Yeah, you know, like but I just I feel like if a girl would come along and just say, I'm gonna, I'm gonna cut all outside songs. I want to cut all outside songs. They would go to their AR person at the label and then I want to do 12 songs, an album of all outside songs. I think that would be the smartest thing that they could do.

SPEAKER_01 13:02

Because they're they know they won't get cut, but they could cut guy songs. Yes, yeah, I mean, like we went to a Miranda concert. She's still the best. She's still freaking best. She's such a great singer. She's I want to have her on here. She's such a great singer, she's such a great communicator.

SPEAKER_00 13:21

She's a great songwriter, and what she's doing with Ella. But she's smart now. She's very smart, and what she's doing now, she's venturing off into the production world because. Yeah, she's producing Ella Lely. I didn't know that. She's producing like choosing Texas. She was a producer. So she is Yeah, so she's kind of like she's kind of like doing it all right now. And she is thriving. She's always been smart.

SPEAKER_01 13:48

Like the thing with her is we went to a concert, like, she'll cut a killer song. She ain't scared to cut a killer song. Like The House That Built Me. Biggest song. That's the biggest song of her career. So I think it's a good thing. It's the biggest song of anybody's career. Everybody wanted that. That's your dream. I talk about that song with every songwriter that comes here. Like I asked Shane McEl and Allen, what's the biggest song you know you wish you wrote? It's everybody's. That song is a masterpiece. Oh, 100%. Yes. It's because everybody grew up somewhere. Yeah. It's like whenever you can hit that nerve, that everybody grew up somewhere.

SPEAKER_02 14:31

Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_01 14:32

I got stories. I've got a fucking book.

SPEAKER_00 14:34

Can I tell you about Lori? Yes.

SPEAKER_02 14:37

You kind of disguered Lori, didn't you?

SPEAKER_00 14:40

I did. Yes. So this was, let's see, Melanie Howard gave me just a little CD of her songs, something she'd just put out. And it had fireflies on it. It had oh gosh, I can't even remember now. Faith cut so many of them. She was unknown too. She was unknown. And I remember here's another thing. I I remember like pivotal moments. I remember like right where I was. Like when I and I've got stories for you.

SPEAKER_02 15:05

I remember where you were when you heard Live Like You're Dying at Waffle House Parking Lot.

SPEAKER_00 15:10

No, no.

SPEAKER_02 15:11

Oh baby.

SPEAKER_00 15:11

No, I was at the Waffle House. I don't know. I've got stories about you and I and me playing you songs. But anyway, I remember driving around town and I just kept listening to her songs. And then I called Faith and Tim. And I'm like, Y'all gotta hear this girl. Y'all gotta hear her. She is phenomenal. She's ahead of her time. She's ahead of Nashville a little bit, you know. So I came up, I went over to their house. I sat down, I played Faith Fireflies. I played, I don't know what else I played, a rec you probably, a couple of others, and they were just they they immediately got it. Faith immediately got it. And oh, Stealing Kisses is the other one. Oh, I know that was Stealing Kisses. And it was like she immediately, Faith immediately got it, and immediately went in and cut the songs. But yeah, I did. I kind of was I was discovered her. I did. I was the one that just kind of Nobody knew who it was a full circle moment for me when I found Emblem Khan. They put her in the Nashville scene. Completely. They they're the ones that they changed her lives. It is so good. And I don't understand how songs like that can still just be.

SPEAKER_01 16:17

Maybe they're not getting pitched, number one. Yeah. Nobody's hearing them. And number two, like they just well, nobody's hearing them. That's the main point. And number two, like, they just hadn't found their little spot, you know, with the right person. Like, there's a song that never got cut by Leslie Satcher. I used to go and just beg her publisher, please just can you make me a CD? The one that, oh my God, there's so many. But the one that really, it's similar title. That's probably what made me think of it. But the one that just tore me apart was this song called He Didn't Know. Her Ankle. She's talking about this girl leaving church and he didn't know she never missed Wednesday night church. This guy killed her. And he didn't know all these things about her. He didn't know like how her family would feel.

SPEAKER_00 17:16

I mean, where is Leslie Satcher now?

SPEAKER_01 17:19

Where are these right?

SPEAKER_00 17:20

Loving her husband.

SPEAKER_02 17:21

She is a husband that looks just like Dean Dillon.

SPEAKER_00 17:25

Oh my God.

SPEAKER_02 17:26

And they're like off loving to die in Texas. Yeah, Texas.

SPEAKER_01 17:30

Like, we played a show a while back with she's a damn trip, Leslie said. I should interview her sometimes. You should. She like, I was obsessed with her. And it's so funny because I finally got a day in the book with her. And I lived in that basement apartment with no windows. And I woke up and sat up in bed. I find, I mean, it took me, it was so hard because she wrote by herself. She wasn't outside co-right. And I woke up and looked at my watch and it was 1210. And I'm just like, I just run my life. It's just so sad. And then it's like God, seriously,

How Taylor Changed Nashville Writing

SPEAKER_01 18:10

it's like God put us together because I went to church a few months later at Christchurch. The preacher wanted everybody to move eyes into the middle and hold hands to pray. She was my person. And I told her that is like the saddest day I've had in so long. Because I was looking so forward to writing you and I love you so much, you know. And then she ended up writing with me. And we we wrote this song. And and I've I just it's embarrassing. I've went into the publisher to Karen and them. And I was like, if this song doesn't get cut, I'm leaving town.

SPEAKER_02 18:54

That's what I said, because it was so good. Yeah. And it was called Say Your Name. And then beyond saying that whole say your name, say your name came out like two weeks later, so it never got cut.

SPEAKER_01 19:09

That's the shitty thing. I'm curious though, you found so many hit songs. This is a good question. What makes a hit song? What do you think when you hear a song? What makes a hit song before it's been a hit? Before.

SPEAKER_00 19:25

Okay, so I'll try to answer this. I don't know. It's just a okay, so one thing for me, I'm a titles girl. I love titles. I do too. And I love titles that haven't been written before. And I'll give you an example. There was a song that Tim cut that I found for him called 75 OBO. I know that song. Yep. And so when that Robin, I think was it Robin Palmer? Probably. The publ the publisher, Robin. Robin Palmer. Robin. So she pushed it to me through email. I got it on email, and I saw the title, and I thought, wow. What's this? What is this? This is an interesting title. So I clicked on it. It made me click on it. Because a lot of times these titles, I'm just like, how many times can I? How many times can I hear a song with heart in it? Yeah. Or beer or whatever. So I'm a big titles girl. Okay. But what makes a hit song, oh man. I'm a lyric girl. Okay. Byron is um a melody guy. Yeah, that's what I think of.

SPEAKER_01 20:27

I think faith is melody.

SPEAKER_00 20:29

She is. She's melody. Yeah. But I'm a big lyric person. But I what makes a hit song is just it's gotta pull me in. It's gotta pull me in really now, too. When I'm listening, that song better pull me in really quick, or I am going to pass because people's attention spans are like a P. Yeah. And if it does not grab you, they are they're moving on. But I think it's just something I don't know what makes a hit song. I can't answer that. I just know that it's intuition.

SPEAKER_01 20:58

I don't know how you feel when you hear anything. We're talking about a song nobody's ever.

SPEAKER_00 21:04

Okay, so take for example the Keith Urban song Blue Ain't Your Color. Yes. Okay. How I found that was, and this is kind of what I do too, especially with Keith, because Keith is finicky. Oh my God. And you will get emails from him that are this long explaining to you why he's passing on the song. And I will be thinking to myself, Did I I just want to crawl under the table? Did I really just pitch this song?

SPEAKER_02 21:29

Crazy it is.

SPEAKER_00 21:30

I love him. Blue Aunt Your Coat. I was at home. It was a snow day. And I was I I will sit on the computer and I would used to listen to like 50 to 100 songs a day. Yeah. Yeah. A lot of songs. And I found this song. I was just like, I don't know. There's just something, there's just something, something about it. And I when I know there's something there, I will listen to a song. That song, I think I listened to it 10 times before I pitched it to Keith. Okay. That's one of the things. If I go back and I keep listening to it and I keep I want to hear it again and again and again. But now, like with Live Like You Were Dying, I immediately so I was getting on Interstate, I was leaving work.

SPEAKER_02 22:15

I know where I was, but I thought I was where you were, but I know where I was.

SPEAKER_00 22:25

And he's like, hey, I just left County Q. And he's like, they are demoing a song that you probably need to get over there and listen to. And look, and then back in the day, I was so competitive. It was like, I had to be the first one to get the hold. You know, I had to, it was like, God, it was a fight, you know.

SPEAKER_01 22:44

You get a hit and it was worth it. Chris always said the difference between you and like, I won't say their names, but there was a few others that were, you know, trying to find songs. He's like, the difference between Missy and them is she'll come get a song out of your mailbox at midnight, you know? Like, exactly.

SPEAKER_00 23:05

And that's true. Exactly. Whitney from Universal used to say, I was like pregnant with one of my girls, and I was on the damn phone talking to, you know, yeah, you could be in labor. I would be in labor. It's like, pitch me that song. Yeah. Yes. But it was, I don't know. I just, I know that is one of the things. So anyway, I was getting so Chris was like, You gotta get over the studio now because this is a big one. He's like, You got you better get over there now because it's gonna get gone. Boy, I whipped that car out. I drove straight to County Q. I walked in there and I put that damn song on hold. So you got it before it ever left the studio. I got it before it ever left the studio, and I immediately pitched it to Tim and it was cut within two days.

SPEAKER_01 23:48

What did he say when you played it for him?

SPEAKER_00 23:50

I can't remember. I wish I wish I remembered. Oh, we're talking about Tim McGraw. Yes, yeah. But I do remember Brooks and Dunn. I do remember them saying to me at the time, the monster is in when they heard the song. I remember this, and they said the monster is in the runway. The monster is on talking about how big the song was gonna be, you know? Yeah, but yeah, that song never left the studio, and that's that's huge. Huge. And uh was just I went to see Tim at Nissan Stadium for CMA Fest on Saturday. That song still to this day, people that's a big song, big, big, big song.

SPEAKER_01 24:30

The thing about that song that I think is different than most songs is like my aunt, she's gone now, but my aunt was like that song made me go to Vegas. And I always dreamed of going to Vegas. Now she's gone. Yeah, but she went to Vegas because of that song.

SPEAKER_00 24:47

Isn't it amazing how songs can make you feel and make you feel it's it's and and I miss that so much. I miss that so much in the songs now, yeah. And it it's just not the same.

SPEAKER_01 25:00

That's why I want to write a song for Morgan Wallen that's like a song song because he sells that shit so good. He's great.

SPEAKER_00 25:08

You'll get that Morgan Wallen cut, girl.

SPEAKER_01 25:10

I'll get it. I just gotta figure out what I got a Chris Tompkins feeling. Chris is a I think he's one of the most talented people in Nashville.

SPEAKER_00 25:18

He is one of you a hundred percent. I love that guy is so under the radar, and he is so brilliant, and he's just a constant in the room. Yes.

SPEAKER_01 25:28

Um if somebody told me like you can pick your co-writers to get something, he would definitely be one of them. 100%. Yeah. He like, because he was talking about Lena Del Rey. Oh my god. I know, I know, but he was talking about Lena Del Ray, and he's like, she reminded me of you actually. He said somebody came in delivering food, and then she said, I don't ever want to be around them again. Yeah, whoever was delivering the food, she just felt the vibe from them and didn't want that vibe again. Yes, he wrote with her, didn't he? Yes, he did. That was when they were in there rotten when somebody delivered Uber. Yeah, yeah. And it's like, why would you ever be in the room with them again? Yeah, but I just think he's the most talented. I just love him so much. There's so many talented people that people never know about. You know what I mean? That they're unlike you said under the radar, but I love him. And he probably chooses to be that way too.

SPEAKER_00 26:30

I don't know. I don't know that way. I just love him so much. But he's just so he's just he's brilliant and I I do think we're related.

SPEAKER_01 26:38

I don't know if you know all that shit. I don't know all that shit. You don't? No. Well, I think he's my half-brother. Oh, wow. You didn't know that? Okay, he knows it and he thinks it too. Uh-huh. And the weird thing is the first time I ever met Chris Tompkins, Chris wrote with him. We'd never even heard of him. Chris wrote with him, and he came home and he's like, I wrote with your brother today. And I'm like, You wrote with Corey? And he's like, Nope. You got another

Discovering Songs Before Anyone Else

SPEAKER_01 27:05

brother. And I'm like, bullshit. And he's like, just go write with this guy. And so I went to write with him, and the first thing I noticed is it said Jackson Brown Boulevard above his door. Well, my dad had that same sign in his writing room. So I go in there and I'm writing with him and Josh. And oh, Josh Kier. Yeah. And then we stopped early because they were having the number one party for Before He Cheats. So we go to the number one party, and I'm not in there five minutes, and his mom comes over to me and she's like, I knew your daddy.

SPEAKER_02 27:43

I'm just like, oh fuck. Oh no. I knew your daddy.

SPEAKER_01 27:47

And I'm like, how? And she was like, from the flea market. We used to hang out. And I'm thinking, okay, first of all, my dad did not hang out with women or ride around or hang out with women. But Chris reminds me so much of my dad. I mean, he reminds me so much of my dad. And he looks so much like him. And my mom was even like, before she knew any of this, she was like, he looks like your daddy. And I'm like, oh shit. But so Chris knows it. His son goes to school with Lola, and his son is like, are you my aunt? We all joke about it. But he's from Alabama. Yeah. And so it's so crazy. But Chris is so precious because he's like, I was like, we should do a DNA test. We really should. Why didn't you do that? He's like, well, he said, I don't want to because I I I just don't want to know if you're not my sister, you know, like never had like a bloodline harmony with anybody but in your harmony with him. Yeah. And there's something there. I don't know what it is, but he'll tell you too. There's something there. And I just love him so much. I'm getting sidetracked because like we're friends. So I get sidetracked.

SPEAKER_00 29:01

You know, I always used to play you songs. I always would get so excited when I hear songs. I love it. Because you would run it by me. I did. I wanted to run it by you. I'd call her up. I'd call you up and I'd go, you gotta hear this song. We'd meet in the parking lot somewhere. We'd meet at the perch or somewhere in Brentwood, and I would play you these damn songs.

SPEAKER_01 29:18

That's where I heard Live Like You're Dying. I was in the car at Waffle House. Yeah. I was thinking you were in the car, but I was in the car at Waffle House. Yeah. The first time I heard it, I know exactly where I was parked. And I was just like, holy shit. Yeah. Because you want to get other people's reactions. You do, yeah. You have to. You can't trust just one.

SPEAKER_03 29:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 29:41

Like, what's the last song you heard that just way laid you? That just like, oh my God. Okay. Just well. In the last like five years. My God.

SPEAKER_00 29:52

I'd probably have to say House That Built Me. That's probably the and that was longer than five years ago.

SPEAKER_01 29:57

And you know what's weird? That's been way longer than we think it has.

SPEAKER_00 30:01

Yeah, I don't think there's been a song since then that's just been like holy shit. Oh my God. Choosing Texas, I love.

SPEAKER_01 30:11

I would say countrywise for sure. And then other kinds of music, it's weird. Like, I've got a song I'm obsessed with that I've been trying to write something like it, but it's not like that. It's not like a like a hit song people know. I just like the vibe. I'm always trying to get that vibe. You know what I mean? Like to me, like that's such a big part of a song. Somebody was talking about like, is it stealing as a songwriter to do that? I'm like, fuck no, it isn't stealing. Who said that? That's what songwriting is some new idiot that didn't know what they were doing. Um because that's what music is. That's what everybody does. That's what like Paul McCartney was trying to write something like Bridge Over Trouble Water. He was trying to do that when he wrote Let It Be. That's how we work. It's inspiration. You know what I mean? You're trying to capture that feeling. That's the whole point. Okay, what are you doing mostly now? Like, are you signing songwriters, artists?

SPEAKER_00 31:20

Well, this is so funny you asked me this because I got out of publishing. It's just publishing is so hard right now. I don't even understand publishing right now. I had four writers, and it was just a struggle. And the publishing business. How do you even make money? I don't even know how you make money in the business anymore. It's just so crazy. But I'm signing artist, and but what I'm doing now, and I only do this only because of I believe in this writer. I believe in him as a producer.

SPEAKER_01 31:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 31:51

So I'm managing him. And who is it? His name is Nathan Spicer.

SPEAKER_01 31:56

Oh, I know him. He did that 750, didn't he?

SPEAKER_00 31:59

Yes. Yes. Yes. But I've always believed in him as a producer. And so I have decided that I'm gonna I'm gonna work with him and I'm gonna manage him. Is he the only one? He's the only one. You've kind of done everything.

SPEAKER_01 32:14

Everything. Like, who are you the most proud of? What did you find that you're like, okay, I did this right?

SPEAKER_00 32:23

AR. AR. It still is AR. But I tell you what, I love is I don't love management. It's hard.

SPEAKER_01 32:31

Management seems like a nightmare.

SPEAKER_00 32:33

It's not, it's not, it's very hard. What I love is developing artists. I like taking an artist.

SPEAKER_01 32:40

You're perfect at that.

SPEAKER_00 32:41

I I love it. I know what the fuck I'm doing. I know how to do it. And you know what's gonna work. And I know what's gonna work. And I just I, you know, I'm just good at it. And so that's what I want to do. I want to find artists that I believe in, that I can take from baseline, from socials, and grow them on socials, put out music strategically. I'm a big believer in a young developing artist. You gotta put out a lot of music nowadays. You've got to go hard on music. Yeah. And you've got to be consistent, and you gotta go every four to five weeks and put out music to feature.

SPEAKER_01 33:16

Okay, so how much do you think social media these days has to do with it? A lot. How much? Percentage. Oh god, 100%. That is it. 100%.

SPEAKER_00 33:26

I love just watching this stuff. I have seen what social media does to these artists, and it is such a mental idea. You know what's weird?

SPEAKER_01 33:35

It's kind of like I remember writing with Morgan Stapleton before what I don't remember her name before Stapleton, but I remember writing with her so long ago, like before they were a couple, before she was with Chris Stapleton, and before anybody knew who he was. You know what I mean? Like, and she came out here and we're right. We've written with so many people at the beginning. Like we were the first people that ever wrote with Julianne Huff or Hu, however you say her name. Um, and I remember with her, like, because I'll just tell people what I think. I remember with her, I was just like, you're not gonna dance. Like, what the fuck? You're the best dancer on the planet. How could you be on the CMAs and not dance? Morgan Stapleton? No, that other girl, Julian. Oh, Julian Hop. Oh, yes. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. How can you not dance? Like, you can sing, you're a great singer, but how could you go on stage and not dance when you're the best at it? There is. She's great, yeah. Like, so but we were one of the first people that she wrote with, and she's telling us this, that, and the other. And I'm just thinking, you gotta go out there. I mean, that's a secret weapon that people don't have. Yeah, but she didn't do she didn't do that. Like, I don't even remember what she did do, but I really liked her, and she's so pretty, and I liked her.

SPEAKER_00 35:05

Yeah. I think artists, I think social media now. I mean, I think it's like the record labels are, you know, it's it's are there even labels anymore?

SPEAKER_01 35:16

That's what I wonder. There is. There is what are they doing? Just signing whoever's working. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 35:23

Pretty much. Yeah. Ever talk to Kenny?

SPEAKER_01 35:27

Sometimes.

SPEAKER_00 35:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 35:29

I don't know what Kenny started.

SPEAKER_00 35:30

You know, he started his own label. Yeah, I know that. I think it's Hayboy Records. Yep. And he signed a girl, right?

SPEAKER_01 35:40

Did he sign a girl? He might have. I think he did. Who? She sang at Brett James' funeral, but I can't remember who. I can't remember her name.

SPEAKER_00 35:49

Yeah. He released a song and he had his biggest ad week that he's ever had.

SPEAKER_01 35:53

What was the song?

What Makes A Hit Song

SPEAKER_00 35:55

Carry on. It's a song called Carry On. He just released it. I don't even know. It was on Hey Boy Records, and he had a huge week. Huge week. So I hope this He'll do good. I hope this does good.

SPEAKER_01 36:07

I mean, Kenny, like I was telling somebody the other day, like the thing with Kenny and Taylor, that's their life. Yeah. That's their life.

SPEAKER_00 36:16

I want to do I want to do AR for his label. I want to do AR for Hey Boy Records.

SPEAKER_01 36:20

We should tell him. I'll tell him I'll text him. Will you text him? I love Kenny and he loves me and we've known each other forever. Chris is like, how are you such good friends? It's like, we've known each other forever. Yeah. If he does something fucked up, I'll tell him that's fucked up. You know, nobody, but everybody that works for Kenny's known him forever. He knows bullshit when he hears it. Yeah. Yeah. That's the main thing. He he knows, like, yeah. He knows. Yeah. In a heartbeat. Yeah. I'm sure Tim does too. They just hear it all. Yeah. Like, and I can't even imagine. Taylor, I mean, can you even imagine? I do know she's getting inducted into the songwriter Hall of Fame. Which she should be. It's a joke that she's not. Wait, she's already been here in Nashville? Nope. Oh, okay. The big one, the real one. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 37:14

Okay. I thought the real one. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 37:16

She's getting inducted the same year as probably the artist that had the most influence on me of any female of all time. I haven't talked to me. Okay. I've only had a couple songs in my life make me pull the car over. Oh boy, those are the great ones.

SPEAKER_00 37:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 37:36

Um, give me a hint. Fucking blew everybody's mind. Dark hair. When she came out, nobody could see her face because she kind of covered it on Rolling Stone, not country. Sia? Nope. Before Sia. Before Sia. And Alanis Morse. But I made this backstage pass. I've been looking for it. I made my own pass. She was sold out in Nashville. Yeah. And I wanted to go so bad. And so I made a pass. I took a picture of her. I put VIP on the back. This is back when you could do that shit. Oh my god. I took it in code's, laminated it, put a shoestring through the little hole, did the little clicker, put a shoestring through the hole, went to the front roll. People thought I was her sister. Oh my god. I'm a I was obsessed. I was obsessed with her. So, like, I didn't know this until I was doing some research. Okay, but this year, so we got Alanis Morsay and Taylor getting in the Hall of Fame. Okay, what advice would you give somebody new coming to Nashville all hungry and ready to just change the world?

SPEAKER_00 39:01

Cut outside songs. Go back and find old songs. There's gems in those old catalogs. Go to the publishing houses and sit down with these. I don't even call them pluggers anymore. They're AR people now. They're calendar pushers. All they do is keep calendars, but go and sit down in front of these people and make them play you songs and stay consistent, beat the door down, don't give up, and just truly be nice and work hard and stay consistent. Just stay in it, stay in the game, put blinders on and go.

SPEAKER_01 39:43

Okay, I got another question to that. Chris and me always talk about this and argue about this. If you were gonna make like imagine a pie with slices, so your pie, what's a superstar pie? What do you think?

SPEAKER_00 40:06

Whoa, what's a superstar pie? You can slice it any way you want. Like what makes a superstar? Let me make sure I understand the question. Like what to me, what okay, first. Okay, first of all, like what I said, it's charisma. That is the first. Either you have charisma. What makes that? I I can't answer that. They just have it. Yeah. They just have it when they walk in the room. Taylor Swift had it. Fuck. Taylor Swift had it. Lana has it. Tim has it. Tim has it. Tim has a whole deal, guys. The whole deal. It's just that star power. I can't explain it. It's just when they walk in the room, they command the room. Yeah. And they pay it. And they're not even and they're not even trying to command the room. So that is the one thing. It is like freaking charisma. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 40:57

How much per uh we're doing a pie. How much percent? Oh. Is that part?

SPEAKER_00 41:03

Okay. Um, charisma's one, and I'd say that's I don't know. How much percent? 20%, 30%. Yeah, good job. Confidence. That is the like that's what I try to teach my girls. Confidence will take you so far. Yeah. If you walk in a room and you are all meek and you just don't have the confidence, people pick up on that shit. Yeah. You gotta have confidence. You fake it, and that's a piece of the pie is probably 50% of the pie. You fucking fake it until you make it. Yes. Hands down, you fake it until you make it, and confidence falls underneath that. So it's 70%.

SPEAKER_01 41:42

Huh?

SPEAKER_00 41:42

It's kind of part of it just a little. Just a little. Yeah. And then I think the ability to cut his songs. You gotta have you gotta have an ear for it. You gotta have an ear. And don't be stupid by just wanting to cut your own songs all the time. Don't do it. Don't do it. It's so true. It don't do it. I mean, Tim has made a career. Tim can write songs all day long. With anybody. With anybody. But he doesn't put them on the album. If they're not good enough, they don't make it. Yeah, exactly. So skinny's the same way. Look at these artists. Look at these artists. And if you go to a Tim McGraw concert, and when I went to see him two years ago at Bridgestone, and I I was sitting there and I was listening to him sing hit after hit after hit. He can't even play all his hits. And I was thinking, if a new artist was sitting here, I would be so fucking intimidated by that shit. Yeah. This is what I gotta do. Yeah. This is what I gotta do. And that is what you have to do. It is a fucking great song. It is still a great song. It's still revolves around a great song.

SPEAKER_01 42:58

But like I wonder what Casey Musgrapes is doing. I know. She always did whatever she wants. She wants.

SPEAKER_00 43:05

She does whatever she wants. And she's got she's got a killer album right now. She's got the best style of all time. She does. But if you look at if you and I have a little chart, it's it's I save it on my phone, but if you look at some of the big artists like Sabrina Carpenter. I love her. Twelve years before she made it. And she cuts heads. Twelve years before she made it. Yeah. Uh and I can't there were several other artists. Chris Stapleton was one of them. Lana was one of them. I'll show you this, I'll send you this chart, but it was like years before they made it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 43:38

And you just it's always that Katy Perry. Yeah. She was forever before she had a head. Yeah. Yeah. Like Chris and me made a little superstar pie.

SPEAKER_00 43:48

Did I finish the pie? I don't think you finished the pie. Okay, I've got eighty seventy. I've got eight. Tell me your other pieces. I've got eighty. I got eighty percent of it. So I've got charisma. Charisma confidence. They'll build a lot of. To cut outside songs, be being able to know when to cut a great song, when to cut your song, you know, but when to realize you know that is so important. Being gracious and being humble and being I think this is very important. And Taylor, I learned this from Taylor a long time ago. To know everybody's name. Oh shit. To call, and I learned this from Byron too. Byron calls everybody, even at a restaurant or whatever. He will walk in and he will remember their name and he will say their name and they'll talk to him, but he will always remember their name. It matters. It matters. It it just matters.

SPEAKER_01 44:42

I heard a guy like it, RCA at the time, Sony now, whatever. I heard him say to Chris, he was like, um, so Taylor came in here the other day. And she remembered like my kids' names and asked about my kids' by name. And I've been looking for songs for this other girl for six months. She doesn't even know my name. Yeah. It means something. It really does. I mean, like, it guards that way. Photographic memory. He may be crazy. I don't even know him. Oh, I know what I said.

SPEAKER_00 45:21

Yes, I do remember the other part. Go pick up the phone, email, whatever. Not pick up people don't pick up the phone anymore. Go in and do you can you imagine? Can you imagine what these like pluggers at Universal and Warner's if an artist called? I want to come in and sit down and listen to songs. Do they even they don't even do that anymore? No, but what would they do? Like Garth Brooks, I remember being shocked. I remember when Garth Brooks first came to town, he came into Pride Music Group. I was just working there as a little assistant. He came in, walked right in there. I just I can see it, just walked right in with his little cowboy hat, went to the very back, sat down, listened to songs, and he cut a song on his first album called Wild Horses. Was it the name of the record? I don't know. But he he went around to all the publishers. I I wish people would get back to that. But it's just not a good idea. I wonder if they will. I don't know, but I how cool would it be to for an artist to do that?

SPEAKER_01 46:25

Well, so many songs nowadays are so like the you know, just like a whatever. No, when people don't remember them. And I've had songs that are that way. I've had songs that went number one people don't know if I tell them the title.

SPEAKER_00 46:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 46:43

Your song, My Best Friend, on Tim. That song people love. It's like engraves and shit.

SPEAKER_00 46:49

But you know what? You had I had to hear that song three times before it got to me. Yeah. I passed on it the first time, and I think you played it. Maybe it's two times. Two. I don't know. You came in and played it too. You came in and played it for me. Uh I was sitting on a blue couch just like this color. And you played it for me. And it it was like, okay, I get it now. But I didn't get it the first time.

SPEAKER_01 47:14

You know, I read something that Tim said in a magazine I never

The Chris Tompkins Family Mystery

SPEAKER_01 47:20

ever forgot about that song. He said something like, okay, first of all, before that, I made like the Bad Grammar Hall of Fame on that song. There's a thing called the Bad Grammar Hall of Fame with songs. Yeah. And that was on it. The very first line's bad grammar. Okay. But I didn't know it. It's like how we think and talk. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But I heard Tim say something in some not to me in some article. He's like, I heard those two lines and I knew I was cutting it. Yeah. It was the lines I never had no one. That's the bad grammar. I never had no one I could count on, been let down so many times. I was tired of hurting, so tired of searching. You came in my life. That he said he decided from that. Yeah. Yeah. And that's the thing. Like, I've been so surprised by song. Like my favorite song never been cut. I think I know why, but I'm not quite sure.

SPEAKER_00 48:27

What song is it?

SPEAKER_01 48:28

Well, I know one reason it didn't get cut because we wrote it. I was so excited about it. It's called Red, Red, Red. And right after we wrote it, I went to Walgreens and I saw in Walgreens, it was like red everywhere, Taylor Swift. Red. The name of the record, the name of the like tour, the name of the first single. Everything was red. And the song was red, red, red, so it never got cut. And it was also with Chris Tompkins, who's my very favorite person to write with. And I still love that song. I mean, I don't know anybody more talented than him. No.

SPEAKER_00 49:11

I seriously. I'll tell you another song that when I when I get a song and I get on a song, I really get on a song. I get I lock in. Me too. So there was a song called uh it was a Ryan Adams song, When the Stars Go Blue.

SPEAKER_01 49:26

I know that song.

SPEAKER_00 49:27

Tim Cut It. Yes, and I pitch it to Tim ten times before he cut the song. I would just I just I I would keep pitching it. Did he remember? No. That's the good thing. He didn't remember that I pitched to him that many times. But I pitched it to him about 10 times before he cut it. That's how much I believe in him.

SPEAKER_01 49:47

And then he finally liked it.

SPEAKER_00 49:49

Mm-hmm. Yeah.

unknown 49:50

Oh, I love it.

SPEAKER_00 49:51

I think it just came to the point, you know, just like me with like my best friend or whatever. It just hit him at the right moment. And that's when like my best friend, it just the first time I heard it, I might have been preoccupied. Or I might have been, you know. And then the second time it was blood sugar.

SPEAKER_01 50:06

Blood sugar. I remember thinking that's why they send candy bars and shit with stuff. Yes. Blood sugar. Yes. They did a study with like married couples and they asked them about their marriage before lunch and after lunch. Before lunch, they named all the problems. Yeah. After lunch, they were like, oh, she's the best. You know, like they were so different. Yes. I've always worried about blood sugar. I've always worried about with Kenny, especially. I'm like, where the fuck is he? If he's here, it's this time of day. Yeah. If he's here, we're good. You know, like, but I never know where he's at. Yeah. When I pitch a song, I never know. Is he in the islands? Is he in Nashville? Like, and that's a big thing. And like they don't remember.

SPEAKER_00 51:00

They don't remember. But I this is this is just when I'm passionate about something, I stay with it. And there's another, another one of my favorite songs that Tim has ever recorded is a Rodney Crow song, Please Remember Me. Oh, I love it. Oh, I love it. So I'm gonna tell you how I found that song. It was by the grace of the.

SPEAKER_01 51:21

And this was a long time ago.

SPEAKER_00 51:23

Oh, a long time ago.

SPEAKER_01 51:24

I mean, before Tim was big time. Uh, it was on his Thursday. Was it on Set This Circus Down album? Maybe. It was before he was well known by everybody.

SPEAKER_00 51:35

It wasn't on the everywhere album. I think it was on the album after that. But so I get pitched, I would I would get pitched so many songs, and I would just have piles of drop-offs in manila envelopes and whatever. And so I was just sitting at the office late one night and I would just go through. Oh, I always listen to everything. That's the thing.

SPEAKER_01 51:56

That's the thing.

SPEAKER_00 51:57

I listened to everything.

SPEAKER_01 51:59

That's what made you awesome at what you were. I just liked it. That's what made you find people nobody knew.

SPEAKER_00 52:05

Yeah. So I was listening through the pile, and it I came across this Manila envelope, and there was a CD in it. And it said from Rodney Crowell. He had walked in the office and just dropped it off and didn't I didn't even know who he was at the time. You know, he, you know, and I put it in and I about fell out when I heard the lyrics. Was he singing it? Yes. Oh my god, Amy, the lyrics on that song to this day. So Byron and Tim cut just and you know that's another thing is that you never know. I got so many stories. I just got so many stories. Like when you get in the studio, and Chris knows this too, as a producer, the fairy dust just drops in on a song. Yeah. And you can't, you just

Artist Advice And The Superstar Pie

SPEAKER_00 52:55

you can't have any control over it. It just happens. And that's what happened with Breathe on Faith.

SPEAKER_01 53:01

Yeah, that was crazy.

SPEAKER_00 53:03

So I pitched that song to Tim because I thought it was a Tim song. And I pitched it, and I remember right where I was. Stephanie Bentley singing it. Stephanie Bentley was singing it. Yeah. And Holly Lamar, those the two writers. And I played it for I was in our Brentwood house. I got Tim to come to the car. He was sitting in the car and I was playing in this song. He's like, you know, he's like, this song really isn't for me, but you you gotta play this for Faith. I think Faith is gonna love this. Played it and went in the studio, and that's what I mean.

SPEAKER_01 53:33

It's like that was her biggest song.

SPEAKER_00 53:36

It was her biggest song, and it was just the God, the fairy gods, whatever was in the studio that day, just came down and sprinkled that little fairy dust on that damn song. It's true. And Jim Ed Norman, God love him, because he was at Mourner's at the time. Uh I think it was supposed to be another song set for the first single off that album, and he heard this song and was like, This is it. This is it. And went with it.

SPEAKER_01 54:00

And willing to fight for it.

SPEAKER_00 54:02

Yes, yes, willing to fight for it. That's what's gone. And that's what's gone. And so I would say this kiss was really big for her, but I think Breathe was a very good thing. Breathe was her song. It broke her. Yeah. But my favorite, my favorite Tim song is not any of these songs. What is it? It's a song called Red Ragtops. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 54:24

That's your favorite? That's my favorite song. Oh, I would have to think for a little bit about. I feel like I wrote every song trying to get a Tim. I just I wanted to cut on Tim. The Dog Gone song is like one of my favorites. Dog Gone's so good. Everybody uses it in memorials to their dog.

SPEAKER_00 54:45

I know. It's a good idea. I see it all the time.

SPEAKER_01 54:47

I mean, everybody. And here's another one. I love Tim's voice. He's a story. He's to me, there's no better storyteller than Tim and Kenny Rogers. Yeah. I would put them next to that.

SPEAKER_00 55:01

And here's another thing I think an artist should do. And I'm going to find an artist and I'm going to have this artist do this. Um I swear. I think an artist should go in and I think they should cut these obscure, great songs that these artists like Tim and whoever, like wreck you. Go in and cut these like every all the time.

SPEAKER_01 55:24

You know the song I think that didn't get its day in the sun, that like it's not even Tim, it's Faith. See if you can guess. I it's a song you wrote. Nope. I didn't do it. Well, you wrote us one of my favorite brands. You're still here? Is that what you're talking about? Like with her. I don't know which one.

SPEAKER_00 55:43

You're still here will kill you. That one, but there's oh god, that one's but there was the other one too, where she put the choir on.

SPEAKER_01 55:49

In our dreams, was it that that never came out? Oh, there will come a day.

SPEAKER_00 55:53

Yes. That one, oh it the true writers like you that that that don't want to be an artist, they want to get in a room with an artist. That these two right two writers just getting in the room to write in hopes of it's gone. Getting a song cut. I think it's gone. It's gone. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 56:09

And it's sad, but it's gone. Yeah. I mean, if you look at the biggest writers that ever came to Nashville, they're not artists. They're Bombing Dill, Ashley Gorley, they're not singing their demos. I mean, they're the big ones. They're not doing that part. They're doing the other part. And the fact that somebody like girl or guy thinks they can come here and write a song in like, you know, a day. Like, we've written with so many people that have written less than 10 songs, and they just think they're awesome. Everybody around them thinks tells them that. That's my new thing. I told Chris the other day, I was like, because I hadn't been writing, you know. I'm like, well, let me hear their song. I don't give a shit what they sing like, but they play their song and then I'm like, I don't want to write. You know what I mean? Like, if their song isn't good, what's the point?

SPEAKER_00 57:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 57:20

If the song they come in here they're proud of and they want to play, it's like what would get you excited right now? What would get me excited? I'll tell you. I'll tell you what I would fucking love to find and get excited enough to quit doing other things to work with a female country rapper. Yeah. That's what I would love. Yeah. Like a little Alabama Nicki Minaj. That's what I would love. Yeah. I would be inspired. Yeah. I would be so inspired. Like, kind of like the girl that I really, really, really loved is the girl from Huntsville. What you do?

SPEAKER_00 58:02

Jesse Murph. That's her.

SPEAKER_01 58:04

Yes. That is that is that is Jesse Murph. I love her. She's the girl. She's she is. I I love Jesse. If I got Jesse Murph in here, I would be out here for a week straight, loving every minute of me. I love her. Yep. She's like a whole different animal. She's so like somebody like that, that would get me excited. As far as females go, as far as male go, like male artists go, Morgan Wallen. I just want a Morgan Wallen cut. Or a guy, Chris is sick of hearing about Morgan Wallen. Hey, I'll take a Morgan Wallen cut. I love Morgan Wallen. I won't he's great. He's the he's the dream. You cannot deny it. He's great. I don't care how many chairs he throws or how many pianas he turns over. Yeah, or his phone.

SPEAKER_02 58:56

He threw his phone and scary. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 58:58

That's what makes him great. He's passionate. He's great. And and the industry doesn't even give him the time of day. And it just getting the stadium.

SPEAKER_01 59:07

He's on number one on Spotify. He plays stadiums. Yeah, no. He doesn't care about the fucking ACMs. No, he's got like people knocking his door down. Yeah. He doesn't care.

SPEAKER_00 59:18

You're gonna get you that Morgan Wallen. I'll get it.

SPEAKER_01 59:21

I'll get it.

SPEAKER_00 59:22

I know I'll get it.

SPEAKER_01 59:23

I just want it to be the right song. Yeah. Yeah. I want to write him the house to build me. Yeah. Because he'll kill it. He'll kill it, Missy. Yeah. Yeah. He will. What would get you excited? A Jesse Murph.

SPEAKER_00 59:39

Somebody like that. Somebody love. I want a female. I want a female. I want a I want to work with a female so bad, and I just can't find anybody that if you find somebody, they're already working with somebody and they're so commercial. And they're so commercial, and they're just like, oh my God. But I would love to find a Jesse Murph. I mean, that would be like, oh my God.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:04

Something I heard like that made me feel better as a songwriter who's written a million songs. Is somebody said, I got a big toolbox and I know how to use it. And that's what I feel like. You do. I know if you're doing something that ain't ever gonna work, because there's some things that ain't gonna change. Yeah. If the singer looks like a dick, then that ain't gonna work. Yeah, you know what I mean? Make the other person look like a dick, and you tell the story. Yeah. Like just little things, little bitty things that that matter.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:42

So I think you're telling me, but what would it take to get Amy Mayo back in the writer's room?

SPEAKER_01 1:00:48

Somebody that got me excited. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:50

So you just told me that.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:52

But if like Chris played me a song and it was like, holy shit, I haven't heard this before. Um, but as far as female goes, like Jesse Murph excites me.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:04

Like if I could just find somebody that is like a Jesse Murph or Alana or like in a different league.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:13

Missy Gallimore, look in the camera and tell everybody what's your biggest lesson on life in general, not songwriting, but just life. What's your advice on life in general?

SPEAKER_00 1:01:26

Enjoy life. Enjoy life. You only live once. Go after it. Just go and go do it. And do not, this is my biggest thing. Fear. Fear is your enemy. It is your enemy, it is the devil. Fear will keep you from doing so many great things. So please do not have fear. If you can overcome that three seconds of fear, there's a saying, and I can't remember the saying, but somehow, like if you can just stand here before you go do something, if you can just count three seconds and overcome that fear and then

Life Lesson: Kill Fear Fast

SPEAKER_00 1:02:00

just do it. And you're on your way.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:02

That's one of my favorite quotes. I know what you're talking about, and you're done with it.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:07

And you're done with it, and you've you're you're on your but it's fear. Fear fear holds so many people back. And self doubt. And self doubt. And it just truly, it truly it truly is debilitating. And don't do it. Life is beautiful, and do not let fear do not let fear get in the way of what you do. And that's what I tell my girls.