From Kentucky To Nashville

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Cold Open And Welcome

SPEAKER_00 0:01

You didn't have a lot to chat about. Just have a little chat or something. Yeah, I just came by to chat. What did you want to chat about? It's like going on a date with a teddy cathy doll.

SPEAKER_01 0:10

It was the teddy cathy. You need to stop talking. You know, I think I'm getting off topic. Now, where were we? Oh, yeah. Ladies and gents, it's please welcome. Here we go, everybody. Welcome to another edition of the Skip Happens podcast. Skip Clark, your host, sitting down each and every week, sometimes more than once in a week, with some of the new independent artists and the artists that, of course, are kicking some ass out there and uh showing what they've got. And tonight I've got another one with me. His name is Trey Bryant. He's a singer and songwriter. His music combines powerful vocals, authentic storytelling, and a kind of imagery that lets you steal. Or seal. I don't even know where that word came from. See and feel every word. And Trey Bryant, how are you? It's good to see you, dude. Good to see you, Skip. Thank you for having me. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 1:02

Wow. So wait a minute, we're in upstate New York. Where are you? I am in southeastern Kentucky, a little town called Williamsburg. And you say a little town, Trey, how little is little? Well, if it weren't for I-75 and uh a small, well, not not a small college, but a private institution here in Williamsburg, we probably wouldn't even be on the map.

SPEAKER_01 1:25

Really? That's basically all there is, right?

SPEAKER_00 1:27

Basically, yeah, we have a Walmart.

SPEAKER_01 1:30

That's good. Maybe you got a Chick-fil-A.

SPEAKER_00 1:32

I don't know. There is one on the campus, actually.

SPEAKER_01 1:35

Okay. Well, there you go. There you go. And 75, that goes north and south, right? Correct. I think I think odd numbers go north and south and even go east and west. Yes, sir. So, anyways, yeah, it's a pleasure to meet you. It's good to see you. Uh I've heard a lot about you, uh,

From Kentucky To The Grand Ole Opry

SPEAKER_01 1:50

a Josie Award winner. We'll talk about that here in a little bit. That's kind of cool. That uh the Josie Awards, that's for like independent, independent artists, correct? Absolutely. Yeah tell us a little bit about that. And you the song that you you went, uh it was called Make It to Nashville.

SPEAKER_00 2:06

Yeah, yeah. Um, I it was my first year submitting to be uh nominated for a Josie Music Award, which uh, like you said, um celebrates and empowers independent artists who are out grinding every day. And uh I went in with a few nominations, uh vocalist of the year and artist of the year and things like that. Um ended up bringing home some hardware for my song Make It to Nashville, which uh coincidentally is uh the Josies are held at the Grand Ole Opry. So we made it to Nashville and uh accepted an award for that song. And um I mean, just a crazy, yeah, crazy night.

SPEAKER_01 2:47

In in the grand old opery, no less. So where they have the awards. I mean, how cool is that? How it's a feeling, it's gotta be a feeling like none other.

SPEAKER_00 2:55

Oh, I mean, I think it's it's gotta be second only to holding a guitar and going to stand in that circle to sing is being able to stand in the circle at all. Um, but I mean, my my thought process was there were a lot of cables on stage. I said, don't trip.

SPEAKER_01 3:12

That's that's all I can say. Yeah, I I'd be flat on my face because I'd be so nervous. And just just knowing that you're in the Grand Olay. I mean, just that whole feeling for somebody like yourself being an artist, and I'm sure it's your passion and it's your dream to end up on that stage someday. So that's kind of cool. It's cool. You've been on um you've uh shared the stages talking about that with uh Corey Kent, Dylan Carmichael, Walker Montgomery, uh Phil Vassar, and how about Mark Miller and Sawyer Brown? Oh, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 3:45

Uh we, you know, the all the opportunities we've had to open for for National Touring X have been awesome. Um, it's I think it's such a good way for venues and national touring acts to be able to support local or regional artists. Um because I live in Kentucky. A lot of the opening that I've done has been in Indiana and Ohio. Um, so I kind of consider myself a regional artist. Uh, but being able to, you know, these these tours that aren't quite big enough to have their own opener touring with them, um, and they just bring in regional acts to open every show, I think it's such such a good way for local and regional talent to get showcased in front of a huge crowd.

SPEAKER_01 4:30

And I and I think more and more um artists are doing that when they when they're they put a tour together, then they they try to reach out for somebody that has talent like yourself to open for them to give you that opportunity. Uh correct me if I'm wrong, to give you that opportunity to be on stage to make yourself known in front of all their fans, which absolutely do nothing but help you.

SPEAKER_00 4:54

Oh, absolutely. I mean, we we went from playing, you know, for 10 people in a local bar here in Williamsburg. We only have maybe one or two local bars. Um uh but then you know, within just a couple of years to be opening for uh, you know, Walker and Sawyer Brown and Phil Vasser, um, and and those crowds were you know sold out 2,000, 2,500 seat venues.

SPEAKER_01 5:20

Wow, and you know that's almost the perfect size. Let's oh yeah, let's let's be serious because we talk about some of these big arena shows and we talk about the amphitheaters. I know we have one here in upstate New York that holds 17.5. You know, to me that it's crazy, it's crazy. It's not as intimate as a venue, obviously, of 22,500. And it's it feels like you can reach out and touch your fans in a good way. Yes, you know what I mean with the music.

SPEAKER_00 5:47

So yeah, and being able to just connect with more people, like a bigger percentage of the crowd after the show, because like for for a regional artist opening for you know, these people have maybe heard of you because of the flyer that the venue posts that says featuring or direct support, Trey Bryant. Um, but with a 2500 cap venue, you can go out and meet, you know, 20-30 percent of the people, and that's what people remember, and they go tell your friends about, and then the next time you come play that venue and headline, um they come out and they it's like word of mouth. Yeah, and you start building a fan base that way.

SPEAKER_01 6:27

It's the best advertising, dude. It's the best somebody's talks about you, bam. It's priceless.

Small-Town Life And New Fatherhood

SPEAKER_01 6:34

What's it what it what's it like growing up in Williamsburg, Kentucky? What was it like?

SPEAKER_00 6:39

Yeah, um, I actually I grew up in a town a couple towns north of here, which is a very Kentucky thing to say. Uh, you know, just just up right up the road. Yeah, up 75 a couple towns. Um I moved to Williamsburg to go to college here at the at the private university that's here. Um, and then never went back. It was, you know, I've lived here for gosh, 13 years now. Um, it is a very small community. I think because of the college, we've got about 10,000 people that live in our in our county. Um, and it's it's a very small community and not a lot of resources. Like I said, we've got a Walmart. Um, and we've got to have one of those. Oh, you gotta pilot truck stop. Yeah, because we're on 75. So oh, dude, you gotta have a Buckies. Oh man, if we had a Buckies, I would move. You gotta love Buckies. I mean I love I love Buckies. I would not want to live on a on an exit where there's a Buckies. No, but that would be crazy.

SPEAKER_01 7:50

Oh, because everybody wants to go to Buckys, it becomes a tourist stop.

SPEAKER_00 7:53

Yes, absolutely. Yeah, um, but yeah, it's uh other than having to drive an hour to go to a chain restaurant or go shop at all, um, either to Lexington or Knoxville. It's you know, we live on a small family farm, me and my wife, and uh actually we just welcomed our uh our first son. Oh wow, dude, congrats! Thank you so much. He's a month old today. Oh, God bless you. Yeah, thank you. Um, so I'm keeping you up. Oh. Yes.

SPEAKER_01 8:23

Keeping me a little bit on my toes. Is he gonna be like mom or is he gonna take after dad?

SPEAKER_00 8:29

That's yet to be seen. He's he's a physically, he's a pretty good uh pretty good combination of the two of us. So we'll see how he turns out personality-wise.

SPEAKER_01 8:37

Was he born with cowboy boots, uh?

SPEAKER_00 8:40

Oh, he's he's got his first pair of Tacovas. I bought them when Cameron was about three months pregnant. Oh, as soon as we found out it was a boy, I bought his first pair of Tacovas. Dude, that is so awesome.

SPEAKER_01 8:52

Yeah, that is so cool. And he'll you know leave them right in his room, and they're gonna be right there. That is so cool. There we go. Already taken after dad. You gotta love him. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Congrats to you both. I think that's so awesome. Awesome. Everybody's good, everybody's healthy, and everybody's good and healthy.

SPEAKER_00 9:07

Uh good. Dad went back to work finally, and and so it's a little bit more strain on my wife, but yeah, but she's holding her own and doing a great job.

SPEAKER_01 9:16

There's nothing like it. Nothing like it.

SPEAKER_00 9:18

Oh, it's it's been very rewarding, and um, he gets to come to his first shows in a couple of weeks, so I'm very excited about that.

SPEAKER_01 9:26

Wow, it's very cool. It's

The Day Job That Funds The Dream

SPEAKER_01 9:28

very cool. How does um how does all this work? You say you went back to work. No, you you've got another gig. You got you've got your music that you love, and you do what else do you do? What what do you have the fallback on?

SPEAKER_00 9:40

I am an accountant actually for a small yeah, it's not the bad type of accounting, it's not the tax law. No, I just can't deal with numbers, dude. I still deal with numbers. I've always told everybody I love accounting because two plus two always equals four, and nobody can argue that with me.

SPEAKER_01 9:58

Well, I hope it does.

SPEAKER_00 10:00

Um but yeah, you hope it does. There's you gotta you gotta make a way for it to equal four, but um so yeah, I I went to school for uh for an accounting degree and then got my MBA and uh started working. I've been at this company for about three years. We're a federal government contractor that we supply uh camouflage systems for the army, so we have a government contract with the with excellent.

SPEAKER_01 10:25

You get the insurance, you can take care of the family, you've got it all. You've got it all. My wife um worked for the state of New York, so it's like okay, I'm on her insurance. Yeah, and you know what I mean? So yeah, good for you, dude. Good for you. So so you got music to fall back on. How long have you been playing?

SPEAKER_00 10:45

Uh, been playing for as long as I can remember, probably the last 20 years. I picked up a guitar and and started taking lessons. Um, I played in church for a long time. Okay. Leading worship. That's how I met my wife. Uh, we were the worship leaders for the campus ministries at the college we went to. Um, and then I drums was my first instrument, so I started playing drums for an artist out of Nashville um for one of his summer tours, uh named Zach Hart. Okay. And so uh I decided, you know, this was a lot of fun playing for somebody else. I think it'd be more fun to be in his shoes and and do do it for myself. So put together a band. Um that was in 2030, 2023. I'd been playing acoustic shows in bars since about 2020, like which is a weird time. Yeah, right around COVID. To start playing shows. Yeah. Um, so like October of 2020, started playing some acoustic shows, really cut my teeth playing like three and four hour acoustic gigs, and then uh put together my band in 23. We started we played our first show April 21st of 2023.

SPEAKER_01 11:58

Wow. And here you are. Like when you say going at it, and you're busy like almost every weekend, or almost every weekend we're playing 30, 40, 50 shows a year. So wow, good for you. And and um, you've made yourself known because that's how we got connected. Um, working with grassroots, who's a a company that helps independent artists like yourself uh to get out there, to get on radio. Uh you must be making some pretty good waves because they are the best of the best. Excuse me.

SPEAKER_00 12:30

Yeah, yeah, definitely. Um we've especially with this new single, we've been uh you know blown away in the last you know couple weeks since all the all the promotional campaigns started for the song and um just the love it's gotten. Even I look at my Spotify for artists every day to see how it did the day before, and I just am shocked every time I open it and see um not just in the US but around the world of this song and adding it to playlists, and that's amazing. Loving this song, so it's yeah, the grassroots has been awesome to awesome to work with, very easy to work with, and they uh know what they're doing.

SPEAKER_01 13:10

Yep, they've got the knowledge to point you in the right direction. Have you um have you been on a radio tour yet? Have they said, all right, here's what we gotta do.

SPEAKER_00 13:20

Yeah, we've we've talked about radio tour. This is actually my first technically radio tour appearance. So congratulations to you, sir.

SPEAKER_01 13:28

Thank you. Thank you. You know what? You get it, you get a uh you get a prize for that. Oh, I love it. So uh we have Skip Happens mugs, which we will talk about afterwards. Beautiful. That's awesome, dude. I love a good coffee mug. Yeah, no, I don't know if you drink coffee or not, but uh you definitely you'll get a couple of good mugs. Oh, every day. Every day. And I wish I had a little one for the baby. I'll see you.

SPEAKER_00 13:50

Put a little formula in there and yeah, exactly.

Musical Roots And How Songs Start

SPEAKER_01 13:55

Exactly. Uh, what did you growing up there uh and around the house, uh, what kind of music did you did you hear when you were growing up? What was playing in your house?

SPEAKER_00 14:04

Man, there was such a cross section of music that played in my house. And and people always ask me if I, you know, did I grow up on Merle Haggard or Wayland Jennings or uh, you know, all the country Hank Jr. or Hank Sr., you know, all the country greats. And I always tell them I didn't grow up on country music, it wasn't really a big thing in my house. We grew up listening to a lot of Journey, a lot of the Eagles, a lot of Foreigner, um, a lot of crap, a lot of Elvis Presley. Um, that was my dad actually was an Elvis impersonator when I was a kid. Oh wow! So we were we were walking around going to shows and kind of kind of like my son will do with me playing country music. Um's gonna be carrying your cables and bringing the guitar case up to you. Oh dad, what do you need? You need a pick. Here you go. I'm gonna train him. It's my it's my guitar tech moving forward. Oh my god, that's so awesome, dude. Um, so yeah, a lot a big cross section. And then obviously I grew up in the church, so we listen to a lot of church music. Um, but I think that that colored my live show a lot more than it seems like it colors my live show. Um, just because I my you know, in church music or worship music, it's all about flow and set list and and things like that. And so I brought a lot of that into the country space.

SPEAKER_01 15:28

Yeah, so in a sense, I mean, you're being brought up in a family that has a lot to do with music. I mean, if your dad was an Elvis impersonator, you know what I mean? I mean, yes, you know, that's kind of cool. Did you go to shows with him?

SPEAKER_00 15:40

Oh, yeah, yeah. We went, I listen, we're running. I felt like I owned every venue that we were at because I was backstage, baby. I was in the green room eating those subway sandwich trays, and I was I was running the fried peanut butter sandwiches or whatever you had actually allergic to peanut butter, but oh, okay, all right.

SPEAKER_01 15:59

I get that. That's not unusual. What um was there one uh particular artist song or performance that made you first think, you know, this is what I want to do with my life?

SPEAKER_00 16:08

Oh man. That's a great question. Um since since what I'm doing is country music, the first country song that I ever played anywhere was at a singing competition in uh at our at our college called Spotlight. Um, and it was a judge's pick round. They kind of set it up like American Idol. And uh the the song that they picked for me was Traveler by Chris Stapleton. Oh wow, and so I listened to that song over and over and over because I had not heard it, and I fell in love with Chris Stapleton. He was like my foray or my like gateway drug into country music, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 16:53

For everybody, even on the radio side. Oh, yeah. It's like when you when Stapleton comes on, it's just like this is so good, so good. Yep, turn it up. Exactly. And he had been writing for so long before he even made the airwaves, so to speak, as Chris Stapleton. So that that that's pretty cool. Uh, and talking about songwriting, that's something you do a little bit, and uh or maybe a whole lot, but do the lyrics, melodies, or song titles um which one usually comes to you first?

SPEAKER_00 17:20

Usually it's a title. Um I'll I'll hear somebody say something that's interesting, like a little saying. That's how middle of nowhere came to be. I heard somebody say that they were halfway to the middle of nowhere, and I was like, Oh, there's a song in that, you know. So um a lot of the time it's the it's the title that comes first. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 17:40

So you're like halfway in the middle of nowhere. Yeah, I mean Williams, Williamsburg Kentucky. Yeah, literally. So, yeah, and what we'll while we're talking about that, tell us about the song a little bit. So you wrote that or you based it around the title, you built around that.

SPEAKER_00 17:57

Yeah, um, I wrote it with a buddy of mine uh named Jordan Allen, who I grew up actually playing uh little league basketball with, and then we both became artists. And um Jordan is a phenomenal artist and and songwriter and musician. Um, so we sat down one day to to write a couple songs, and I had had this idea for a song called Middle of Nowhere, and I knew I wanted it to be like a rockin' outlaw country rock um type of track. And we sat down and I had a few things written out like uh the line lighting these cigarettes by the dashboard light. I knew I wanted that to be in there. I knew if it was about halfway to the middle of the nowhere, you had to be traveling. Um, but I also we when we sat down to write it, I was like, what are we traveling from? Because we know where we're going to is the middle of nowhere. Um so there is no real destination. We just need to we need to establish what we're running from.

SPEAKER_01 19:00

There's a lot of imagery. Yes, yes, there's a lot of that because if you're thinking about you're trying to picture that and then write. Yeah. Wow.

unknown 19:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:08

And how how often do you sit down and write?

SPEAKER_00 19:12

You know, most of the writing that I do, especially the ideas that come to me, happen as I'm trying to fall asleep, which is very uh annoying. And I wish that my songwriting brain would turn off while I'm trying to fall asleep. But I'll sit, you know, I'll I put the phone on do not disturb and I lay it down.

SPEAKER_01 19:29

No, no, it's not gonna happen, dude.

SPEAKER_00 19:31

It's not, no.

SPEAKER_01 19:32

Every I talk to so many songwriters and they say the same thing. It's never gonna leave your mind, it's never gonna leave you alone, it's not gonna let you sleep. You'll you'll move at three in the morning and you'll have something on your mind, and you got your phone right there, and you tell your phone you record it, and uh so you don't forget it. It doesn't, it doesn't happen.

SPEAKER_00 19:49

So no, no, it's uh so yeah, like I'll I'll you know, I always I'll pull the phone out and and type out whatever is you know hitting me. Um and then I try to, you know, I don't write process-wise, and maybe a lot of people write like this, but I don't write with a guitar or a piano or anything in front of me most of the time. Okay. Um I just kind of you know, kind of know what the rhythm is gonna be, and I start looking at how can I come up with some cool imagery that will convey the you know the theme, and then I start just writing out most of the time it starts with just the title and then just random lines, and I have to figure out how to piece all of those together, and then I'll sit down with a guitar because I also think about the melody as I'm writing those and trying to put those lines together.

SPEAKER_01 20:46

Wow, it's a lot going on. It's a lot, there's a lot going on.

SPEAKER_00 20:51

Yeah, you can't do it on an Excel spreadsheet.

SPEAKER_01 20:55

No, no, yeah, there you go, and it has nothing to do with numbers, right? Right, right. Yeah, exactly. Wow.

What Makes A Great Live Show

SPEAKER_01 21:02

Um, you know, I've been reading a little bit more about you, and uh, you know, when I heard I was gonna do this interview with you and all that, and uh your live show, I guess, is one that everybody talks about. You've earned a reputation for delivering what they say an energetic live performance. Uh, what do you want an audience to experience during a Trey uh Bryan show?

SPEAKER_00 21:24

I just want them to have fun, you know. That's uh the the they call it entertainment for a reason. And and I I want people to come out and leave going, man, that was just fun from the second they stepped on yeah, from the second he stepped on stage until the last song. It was e even if it's a four hour show, I want them to go. I wish we could have gone another two hours and just kept having fun. Um I also, you know, I I want them to think as everybody would, I want them to think, man, that guy can sing. And I want them to think, oh, he's actually a pretty decent guitar player too. Um But his band really kicks ass.

SPEAKER_01 22:02

How many uh when you're on stage like that, do you stick with the guitar or do you jump on uh jump on the drums once in a while because you've got that background, or do you pick up another instrument at all, or is it just the guitar?

SPEAKER_00 22:12

Usually just guitar. Uh gotcha. My my band is I'm playing electric guitar for like 90% of our set. Um, I'll switch to acoustic sometimes, uh, but it's just me, a lead guitarist, a bassist, and a drummer. So just a just a four-piece. And I I will put the guitar down sometimes, but it's never like uh okay, on this song, I always put the guitar down. It's kind of just if I want to go out and interact with the crowd a little bit more, I'll put the guitar down. And I know my guys are talented enough to handle covering everything.

SPEAKER_01 22:44

Now, what does your wife think about all this? Has she obviously got the baby now and she can't get out, but before I I would assume she's she was at the shows and oh yeah, I could count on before before we found out that we were we were gonna have a baby.

SPEAKER_00 22:58

We I mean I could count on one hand the amount of shows that she had missed in five years at that point. Um, she has always, always, always been my biggest, biggest supporter and champion in this.

SPEAKER_01 23:11

Yeah, absolutely. You gotta have that. Gotta have that. Oh, yeah. 100%. So that's kind of cool. As I mentioned before, though, you opened for like Corey Kent, Dylan Carmichael, uh, Walker Montgomery, Philip Asters, Sonya Brown. What have you learned by watching those artists work?

SPEAKER_00 23:27

That's a great question. Um I've learned uh first and foremost, it's a hell of a lot easier to set up when you got other people doing it for you. And uh I I think just watching their stage presence and how they turn it on, and then it's it's such a funny thing, and this is a little inside baseball, but being able to introduce yourself to those artists and see who they are off stage compared to the personality that they bring on stage. Um, because it's almost and a lot, I'm sure a lot of people feel this way, it's almost like a character on stage because they're they're entertaining, so they have to be big. It's like being on a Broadway musical. You have to you have to be bigger than you would expect to be in like a normal conversation with somebody like we're having now. You you have to have more personality, you have to because I think they understand that the crowd will never be more energetic than the person on stage, right?

SPEAKER_01 24:28

And and uh maybe did seeing their professionalism change anything about the way you prepare for a show?

SPEAKER_00 24:36

Man, I would say definitely. Um, I would say that they you know, they come in, get right to it, they have done this for so long and on such big stages. I mean, Corey Kent just opened for Eric Church at Red Rock, sold out. So like um, you know, going into these shows and going, I want to be respectful of everybody's time. Um, I don't want to be the guy that every that the sound guy's like, oh my god, get him off stage. This isn't a rehearsal, you know. Um and so I think just watching those guys and how they how they process the pre-show and like honestly, excuse me, it's okay. A lot a lot of them, a lot of those guys like kind of shut themselves off prior to the show because they're getting in that headspace and they're they're just getting ready, right? And I think that that's something that I will work on moving forward because I've seen those guys because I love to have a good time in the green room and cut up and and you know be fun, but but yeah, you got to get in that headspace to be able to to really give a good show, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 25:48

And you want to win over that audience. I mean half of these or most of these people have never heard of you, so you know you gotta go out there and you gotta kick ass and you gotta show them, you know, hey, this is me. I'm Trey. Get to know him. Yeah, because we're not done. Yep. Yeah, I love that. What is the uh best compliment anybody ever gave you?

SPEAKER_00 26:06

Oh, I won't mention who it was that we were opening for, but I there was a show that we played where we were opening for a national touring act, and um several people came up after the show and said, Honestly, we bought tickets to see this person. We would rather have had you play for another two hours.

SPEAKER_01 26:26

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 26:27

Yeah, that was a huge compliment because they didn't know who I was before I came on stage, and they bought tickets to see that person.

SPEAKER_01 26:33

And that's gonna stick with you.

SPEAKER_00 26:35

Oh, that'll stick with you to the day that you're not doing this anymore.

SPEAKER_01 26:38

And do you re do you remember the very first song you ever wrote?

SPEAKER_00 26:42

The first song I ever wrote, I wrote with my brother. Um was it good? It's it's all right, it's out there if anybody wants to listen to it.

SPEAKER_01 26:51

It's you know, I'm the reason I asked that because usually the artists go, it sucked, it was terrible. You don't even want to know about it, but the first you know, but yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 26:58

I mean, it definitely is not uh winning any awards. Um, but but we uh my brother and I wrote a song called I'll Sure As Heaven try. Um, and it's about how you just are screwing up in your life, and but you know instead of I'll sure as hell try, it's I'll sure as heaven try. I'm just gonna lean into it and and get after it.

SPEAKER_01 27:18

You know, let me ask you, Trey, in this day and age with everything going on in the world, um, do you ever think about recutting that or giving it in a little different? You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_00 27:27

Yeah, yeah. I have thought about it. The the version that's out there, and uh, you know, I I'm not one to like go and be like, Oh, I've got these new better songs, I'm gonna go take the journey off of Spotify or whatever. Um, but every every instrument on that song on my first three singles that I put out, I played every instrument on them because it was cheaper in the studio. Yeah, yeah. So I just played everything lead guitar rhythm, acoustic bass, keys, drums, the whole deal. And so I would love to recut those songs with uh with studio musicians like we have with these last uh few that we've done.

SPEAKER_01 28:01

Yeah, I think you might be onto something there. Yeah, seriously, because like I said, you know, I mean, the world is not a very nice place right now, and I think we all need to look to God, we all need to think about those things and having a song like that. Yeah, man, definitely, definitely do that. Wow.

The Hardest Part Of Being Indie

SPEAKER_01 28:17

So um your independent artist journey, it's not easy. No, it's not easy, and it especially for somebody like you, you're counting all day, you're you're playing with numbers all day, and you're going out all night and playing with a guitar in a good way, yeah and uh putting it all together because you know that's what you want to do, but at least you've got a way of supporting your beautiful family and taking care of things. Um, what is the most difficult part of being an independent artist?

SPEAKER_00 28:47

Honestly, and this is it's the hardest part, and it's my least favorite part about being an independent artist is in today's day and age, you also have to be an influencer to be a really noticeable artist. Um and that's that's just such a tough thing because like you just uh the last thing you want is to be like okay, and now I gotta go sell this like passionate this thing that I poured myself into this song. I poured my money into getting it recorded. I you know, poured my soul into writing it, and then if you don't blow up on TikTok, it you know, it's yeah, the percentage of people that are that are doing well that are not blowing up on TikTok are is pretty small. Um, I will say, you know, I've busted my ass the last three years playing shows, and I think if I think that that is m such a grind that if I were to have a song blow up on TikTok, I wouldn't have a situation in which I couldn't provide a good live show for people because I think that that's a really bad syndrome right now. That you know, you have somebody that blows up on TikTok and they don't have any experience on stage.

SPEAKER_01 30:09

There's a lot of that, yeah. There's a lot of that, and there's a few that yeah, there's some people that are uh independent, not independent, but artists that have made it bigger, they they finally got signed to a major label and they had no idea what it was like to perform on stage. Yeah, and it was like starting all over again.

SPEAKER_00 30:27

Yeah, I heard you know I heard an interview with Jason Aldean recently where he says what are you gonna do for that other 80 minutes if somebody buys the tickets to hear two songs that they've heard on TikTok? Right. What are how are you gonna fill 80 minutes that's memorable if they only want to hear those two songs?

SPEAKER_01 30:45

Well, they're gonna have to wait 75 minutes for the last five minutes to hear those two songs. Yeah, absolutely. You better damn well hope it's good. Yeah. You're gonna lose fans rather than make fans. So absolutely. Yeah. Have there been uh moments where you seriously question whether you should continue pursuing music?

SPEAKER_00 31:04

Man, right at the beginning, I mean, there have been moments through the through through this where it's been like, I'm just so tired. Like I've I've you know played until 2 a.m. in a sh in a town that's an hour and a half away and full band, so then you're packing up and you're not getting home until 5 30 in the morning on a Saturday, and then you know, Monday morning I gotta get back up and go to work. Um, so there have been moments like that at the very beginning, man. We were we were like I said, we were playing venues. There was one show that we played where we literally played for my wife, my drummer's wife, and the bartender. And they've seen that show. So I I really there are times like that where I really struggled through that.

SPEAKER_01 31:49

Yeah, and I would it'd be like, what am I doing? Yeah, why am I doing this? Yeah, well, yeah, that's that's gotta be tough. Uh but what keeps you moving when that progress feels so slow?

SPEAKER_00 32:01

Man, just the the potential and the passion. Um, the potential that this could be something that provides, you know, I provide a a decent life for my family through my my nine to five, yeah. But the potential that it could provide so much more, um, and just that I'm passionate about it. I've I wanted to start playing guitar when I was 10. And so for 21 years I've been playing guitar and loving every second of it. And I think when you're passionate about something, even when you hear no or when you play for three people that have already heard your show, you just keep going, you go to the next show, and the next show may have, you know, you may be playing for 2,000 people opening for somebody else, and it's you know, those are the real mountaintop moments that you just keep chasing.

SPEAKER_01 32:53

You know, I want to ask you this. Um, what would the Trey Bryant of today say to the younger version of himself who was just beginning to dream about country music?

SPEAKER_00 33:05

Uh, it's so funny that you asked that because the last single I put out was called Dear Younger Self. And uh and it's about like writing a letter to your younger self and saying, look, there's gonna be some stuff that happens that's not gonna be great. Um you're gonna you're gonna have to work, and there are gonna be times where it's all it's gonna kick your ass, but you're gonna you're gonna make it. Um the chorus of that song says we got a job that pays our bills, a wife that makes life a thrill, saving for a brand new pickup truck, um, playing hockey tonks and bars, chasing towards this dream of ours. They say it's not got nothing to do with luck. And so, you know, it I that was a song that I just sat down and wrote one day, and it was a true pouring myself into what would I tell 17-year-old Trey who was just playing at the you know, playing in his church worship band and wanted to be a rock star and couldn't would not be able to believe the amount of opportunities that I've had in the last three years.

SPEAKER_01 34:11

I just listening to what you have done in in the last three years, the titles of those songs and what they're about. I'm just like, why haven't I opened my eyes to this? Why haven't I heard a lot of this? And you know, now I'm just hearing it because of our friends at grassroots, and thank you, thank you to Nancy and the gang because this is the music we need to hear, dude. This is um pretty heavy stuff and good stuff, really good stuff. Thank you. Yeah, and that dear younger self, I was as you mentioned it, I was kind of looking at it here on my notes and the the message behind that song, which you just talked about, but uh yeah. So uh, you know what? Uh you drive a pickup? I do, yeah. Yeah. All right, let me guess. Let me guess. Chevy Silverado. You got it.

SPEAKER_00 34:56

Oh all right. You know, which is a recent it's a recent switch. I was driving a real big lifted F-150, and then I decided I've got to get a family truck. So I I got rid of it. I've got a Chevy Silverado 1500 sitting in the in the driveway.

SPEAKER_01 35:10

Yeah, yeah, they're nice. I just actually just downsized to a canyon GMC. Okay, yeah. But I but I have the AT4. So if I want to go off-road or do whatever I want, it's nice. But yeah, no, I've always been a truck person, and uh, you look like a truck person, but then again, I could be entirely wrong. You could tell me you're driving a key driving a Kia Sorrento. I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 35:28

Well, until until a couple years ago, it was a Hyundai Santa Fe. So okay. And I got the Ford and now now we've upgraded, we're in the 1500 high country, so we're a beautiful truck, by the way.

SPEAKER_01 35:40

Yeah, really nice, a good product. I've I've had the Ford F 150, I've had the Dodge uh the Ram 1500. Uh, you know, I had I've had a Silverado, so yeah, been been through them all. Yep, same beer. Love them all, love them all.

What’s Next And Where He Wants To Play

SPEAKER_01 35:56

And uh so are you I know you got middle of nowhere out, but uh are you working towards additional singles, maybe an EP or a full-length album?

SPEAKER_00 36:05

I would love to do an album uh one of these days. Um right now, just kind of putting my head to the my nose to the grindstone and and writing. And um one of the things about writing that I've had to learn is like not everything that you write is gonna hit the hit the airwaves. So it's you know, you there's a lot of trial and error with songwriting. Um luck, I've been I've been very blessed to be able to work with some great songwriters on on my tracks. And um, I started out just writing by myself, and then um for Make It to Nashville and another single called Yellow Pages, and um One of You, which is a song I wrote about my wife, and middle of nowhere, I got to do some co-writing. Beautiful, yeah, which was which was really awesome. Um, and you know, living in Kentucky, it's a little bit harder to find people to write with. Um, I think there are a lot of super talented artists from Kentucky, um, but we're spread all over the state, and it's a big state.

SPEAKER_01 37:05

Yeah, but that's known for music though, the appellations and all that. Oh, yeah. That's oh yeah, that's deep into music. Yeah, it's pretty cool. It's just a matter of finding the right people, it was right.

SPEAKER_00 37:16

Yeah, and you and I I'm very careful and very protective over my like heart and soul. And should be. And when I when I write, I feel like I'm pouring my heart and soul into things. And I don't I'm very protective about who I write with because I want to protect that and and make sure that it's still saying the things that I want it to say, and not just let's write this because it sounds fun and it'll be a it sounds top 40.

SPEAKER_01 37:45

Sounds like you want to have a message with everything. Yes, it's you're right. It's not just putting it out there because it sounds good, it's gotta have a message to it. I loved that. And I think that has a lot to do with your upbringing and being you know from the church and doing all that. It's all about the message. Absolutely. And and you and I both know with country music, there's a pretty heavy message in almost everything you hear. So yeah, oh yeah, just gotta listen to it. Yeah, exactly. I drive down the road and go, damn, that song's about me. Holy crap, you know? Absolutely. Or I'm like, I gotta get this guy on my skip happens podcast when I hear something.

SPEAKER_00 38:15

So it's funny. There's a comedian I heard that said country music's a thing that will make you reminisce about times you never had. I'll be listening to a song and uh we never went to the lake, but they'll be singing about the lake, and I'm going, Yeah, I remember that.

SPEAKER_01 38:28

Yeah, exactly. No, exactly right. Exactly. What about videos? You got videos out for some of this stuff or no?

SPEAKER_00 38:33

Yeah, make it to Nashville has a has a music video that's kind of a live performance that we did at a venue that we play a lot called Austin City Saloon. Okay. Um, and that that's really the only music video, quote unquote, that we have. We uh have some performance videos that we've had people come and take take more professional videos at larger shows um for promos and things like that. Um, but I would love to get into I think Middle of Nowhere would be an incredible music video.

SPEAKER_01 39:07

That's why I was asking. Yeah. Because I did listen to it. I'm going, yeah. I don't know if there's a video though. So but I didn't see it.

SPEAKER_00 39:13

So that's but I think I can I think I can I I can see it as I like think through the song and and how that would look. Um, I think I think it would be a dope music video.

SPEAKER_01 39:23

I I think it would be too. When you come up, uh uh Trey, when you come up with a a new song, do you call your wife over and go, honey, listen to this. I want to know what you think.

SPEAKER_00 39:32

Absolutely. Yeah, the and uh she she's you know, she's a big supporter, she's a big critic too. Um, but I know that her critiques come from a place of wanting it to be the best it can be. Um and so like uh the one the the day uh you know last year when I sat down with my buddy Jordan and we wrote middle of nowhere and one of you in the same writing session, I came up from the cabin that's next to our house where we wrote, and I said, Babe, you gotta listen to these songs, they're good.

SPEAKER_01 40:09

Good, good.

SPEAKER_00 40:10

And and she agreed. Oh, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 40:12

Yeah. Did she ever not agree?

SPEAKER_00 40:15

There have been a few times where I've come up with a concept, um, and she's been like, I don't know that that would necessarily be. I'd be like, fine, fine, forget it then. I'll go back. I don't know. She a lot of the time it's like, I don't know that that's necessarily like on brand for you, or like really has a message like you would want to have when you're uh releasing music. So it's she's never steered me wrong in in six years of of playing country music for sure, or writing country music.

SPEAKER_01 40:49

It's good to have her, man. Good to have her. Um list of artists that you would love to collaborate with. Uh, who's on that list?

SPEAKER_00 40:56

Oh my gosh. Well, Stapleton is I think on the top of a lot of people's lists. Um, and very very few people get to cross him off of that list. Um, dude, my favorite artist right now is Steven Wilson Jr.

SPEAKER_01 41:11

Gary, baby.

SPEAKER_00 41:13

Gary. He's Gary good.

SPEAKER_01 41:15

I've got a shirt from him that says Gary on it, although my name's not Gary, but I love it. I love it.

SPEAKER_00 41:21

Dude, he's I've been burning the deluxe version of Son of Dead up every time I get in the car. I listen to it front to back. Um I mean uh Luke Combs is another guy that I mean when you see I mean, I'm a big guy with a beard and uh he real between him and Stapleton, they made it happen for big guys with beards. There's no doubt.

SPEAKER_01 41:46

You could be like a cousin.

SPEAKER_00 41:48

I yeah, I've been told that.

SPEAKER_01 41:51

Have you checked your tree, family tree, the history, the what ancestry?

SPEAKER_00 41:57

You know, I need to ask my never thought about that. He's uh he's a big into ancestry.com, so I need to I need to ask him if we have that I know people that have done that and I've actually thought about it.

SPEAKER_01 42:08

It's actually pretty cool. Oh, yeah. It's pretty cool to see to see you know where your family where you came from and all that. It's crazy. I did um my 23. See, I told you I go off on tangents. Oh please. Uh I did that back back in the day, the my 23 and me or whatever that was, where you spit into the tube and send it off. And yeah, well, I came back and found out that I'm like 70% Irish, and I had no idea I was Irish. Oh wow. I'm going, holy crap. So it was just like, but it was interesting.

SPEAKER_00 42:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 42:37

You know, I mean, because it goes way back, and it's like, wow, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 42:41

Well, my uncle texts us sometimes and he'll be like, I just found this distant relative that was like a a lord in Scotland and you know, 1200. And I'm like, okay, well, that explains this.

SPEAKER_01 42:57

I love it. I love it. Um, you know, are there any um what's on your bucket? Let me put it this way. I think I know what you're gonna say. Bucket list, where to play? What's on your bucket list?

SPEAKER_00 43:10

Oh, god.

SPEAKER_01 43:10

You can play anywhere right now.

SPEAKER_00 43:12

I mean, like we talked about earlier, the Opry is every country. Yes, yeah, okay. Oh man. Um I think Red Rocks would be so that's it.

SPEAKER_01 43:28

Dude, that's what I was waiting for. Every single artist that I chat with, if they haven't played there, that's right on their bucket list. Yeah, that I want to play Red Rocks.

SPEAKER_00 43:40

I want to play Red Rocks. I think the sphere would be super fun. Oh my god.

SPEAKER_01 43:45

But that I mean, yeah, but yet yes, it would be it's not as iconic as Red Rock. Right, exactly. That's what I was trying to think of. Yeah, no, exactly right. To be a Red Rocks, I mean, I would love to um love to go there someday. I've already put the I put my feelers out there. Other artists that I know, and I said, dude, if you go to Red Rocks, you get a hold of me because I'm gonna be there to support you, you know. I mean, I just I want to do that someday. I definitely want to go. That is cool. Um I'm trying to think here. Um so when um I got a bunch of questions. I don't know. I just kind of ad lib here a lot too. Uh when people follow your career over the next few years, what do you uh you hope they will see unfolding? What's gonna happen, Trey?

SPEAKER_00 44:29

If I can make a prediction, I I think I kind of view country artists, especially big touring national acts, as these like classes of people. So like you have the class of like the Luke Combs, Laney Wilson, Morgan Wallen to an extent was in that class in my mind, like I kind of separated out like that. Okay, and now you have the class of like Megan Moroney, Ella Langley, Riley Green, Zach Topp, you know, these these like up-and-comers. And so I try to look forward and go, okay, who's gonna be in the next class? Because who's gonna be opening for the people who are opening for the current class of music? Yeah, and so I I always treat every show where I open for a national touring act like it's an audition to be on tour with them. And you know, I I think I would really like in the next two to three years to be uh picked up for a for a tour. Um and to just have these, you know, have have more streaming success, put out more records. I would love to put out an album, uh a full-length album in the next, you know, three years, once I really hone in on you know, ten or twelve songs that I think flow, because like I said, I came from the church, so I want it to flow. Um, and I that that say something both individually as songs and as a project as well. I think that's something that Stephen Wilson Jr. did really well with Son of Death. I think every song has something, but the message of the record as a whole, all of the songs serve that theme.

SPEAKER_01 46:15

Yep, put it all together. Yep. Absolutely, absolutely. You know, if I was hanging out with you at a party, having a good time, I hand you a guitar. I'm gonna say, here, Trey, here's a guitar. What are you gonna play? What are you gonna play? What comes to mind first?

SPEAKER_00 46:29

First song that comes to mind when it rains, it pours Luke Combs. I love it.

SPEAKER_01 46:33

I love it. Um is that one of the covers you would do in your in your set as well? Oh, yeah, with the band? Yeah, oh yeah.

SPEAKER_00 46:39

Yeah, it's it's been in the set since I was doing acoustic shows five years ago. And uh the reason that it hasn't moved because we rotate songs in and out all the time, is because it is an absolute banger and people love it every time you play it.

SPEAKER_01 46:54

Yeah. Plus, if the lights aren't on, they'd think you were Luke Combs. Absolutely. Not that you shouldn't be like them, if you know what I mean. But still, but still, yeah, you get it. Uh and uh what else is on that uh Trey Bryant tour playlist?

SPEAKER_00 47:10

Man, we we're more modern country. Like I said, I didn't grow up listening to like the classic stuff. Right. And we throw in some stuff that's you know 90s and and and things like that. Um lot of Stapleton. Uh one of my favorites of his that we do is Midnight Train to Memphis because it's just kick you in your teeth rock song. It is. Um I I'm a big Hardy fan. I love Hardy. Yep, yep, yep. And uh so Give Heaven Some Hell is in there. Um brand new man, Brooks and Dunn, uh Ain't No Love in Oklahoma, Luke Combs. Um and then we throw in some other stuff, some errors and ahs that you know we we do a really cool transition. We play White Horse by Stapleton, okay, and transition that into I Don't Wanna Be by Gavin de Gras. Wow. Um, right in the middle, we just cut to that like a real rockin' version of the intro to I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 48:08

I could see you, I could see that happening. Yeah, it's awesome.

SPEAKER_00 48:11

I love that. And I love it when artists do that.

SPEAKER_01 48:14

Yeah, I love it when an artist does that too. That that's cool. That's yeah.

SPEAKER_00 48:18

We transitioned once from Higher by Creed, which is yeah, uh, you know, it's in the set, um, into Sugar We're Going Down by uh Fallout Boy. And it was it was awesome. And I have been trying to get the guys to to go back into doing that again.

SPEAKER_01 48:38

And they won't do it. I mean, what's the deal? You say, guys, we gotta do this.

SPEAKER_00 48:41

This is guys, we gotta do it. There, you know, they uh it's just we we we we have a lot of fun and and we try to have a good cross-section of songs that people want to hear and they and they love and they can sing along to and then sprinkle in uh some originals. Uh Middle of Nowhere is our show opener. So the first song you're gonna hear is this song that we're that we're promoting right now.

SPEAKER_01 49:04

It's the single that you're promoting right now, absolutely, and rightfully so. That's uh definitely definitely good stuff.

Faith, Nashville Stops, And Winding Down

SPEAKER_01 49:10

Um you know, what is something about you that uh might surprise your fans? That you're an accountant?

SPEAKER_00 49:18

Maybe that I'm an accountant. Um I'm a huge Lord of the Rings nerd. Oh wow. Love it. I'm so excited for the new season of Rings of Power coming out in November. So excited. Um when I was in middle school, I learned how to solve a Rubik's Cube.

SPEAKER_01 49:35

Um, I still can't do that, dude. It's been a lot of years and I still can't do that.

SPEAKER_00 49:39

I got pretty into it. My fastest time solving it was 38 seconds. Huh? Yeah. And I don't I don't have one here I would tell you, but I don't I don't have one there at my desk in my office. My accounting.

SPEAKER_01 49:53

Next time you do something like this, Trey, you you have a Rubik's Rubik's cube there in front of you. Yep. Next time you do this, because whether it's me or anybody, we need to see that 30-some odd seconds of you solving that.

SPEAKER_00 50:07

Listen, it's it's always under a minute, no matter what. 38 seconds was my one outlier, but it's always under a minute. I can solve it.

SPEAKER_01 50:15

Well, that's crazy. That's crazy stuff. And uh if I was to ask you to finish this sentence, country music matters to me because of the storytelling and the relatability.

SPEAKER_00 50:30

Um I mean, it just makes you feel something, and not all music does that. Um and I think country music means something to me because of the marriage that it's had with faith for years. It's been, you know, there there have been a lot of country artists who have uh wrestled with their faith and country artists who have left it behind, but it always has shaped them and uh shaped their music and they talk about it, and I love that.

SPEAKER_01 51:02

Yeah, you said um, I don't believe it was with the uh maybe it was when we were on, but um you said you get to Nashville what 10 or 12 times a year. Yeah, 10 or 12 times a year. Do you get to play there at all? Do you there's so many different places now? I mean, Broadway is just a zoo, but uh do you get to uh play at any of those venues?

SPEAKER_00 51:21

Yeah, we've played uh there's there's a little bar kind of more out in the Donaldson area called uh Why Not Saloon? We played there a few times. Um there's a there's a bar down on Broadway. I guess it's technically not right on Broadway, but it's right across the street from Bridgestone. It's called Teddy's Tavern. Oh, yeah, no, I've seen that. Okay. We've played there a few times. Um I just played a Riders Round. Gosh, when was that? Two, three weeks ago. No, no, no, it was longer than that. It was before the baby was born. Back in back in June. Um played a Riders Round at Live Oak. Oh yeah, cool. Down uh on Demumbrian. And um, so yeah, we're we're down there playing occasionally. We're not really cut out to be the Broadway scene. Um, and like I've said a couple times, I am so so particular about our set list that I'm just I've I'm I've never dealt well with being a human jukebox. I hear you. I get it. That's what you are down there.

SPEAKER_01 52:21

Yeah, no, and I totally get what you're saying.

SPEAKER_00 52:24

And total props to all the people that do that for you know they're trying to eight eight, twelve hours a day, man. Yeah, I mean, those people are grinding, and they I have friends who play on Broadway constantly, and it's what their full-time gig is, and they're doing great. And I am so happy for them. It's just not for me, right?

SPEAKER_01 52:42

Exactly. Have you been to the um is it this this not the stage? Um the station, the station in, which is on the outskirts.

SPEAKER_00 52:51

It's yeah, I've heard of it. I haven't been there.

SPEAKER_01 52:54

Yeah, yeah. It's uh I used to go and hang out there once in a while. I I saw Dirks out there once.

SPEAKER_00 52:58

Okay, it was pretty cool.

SPEAKER_01 53:00

Just you know, he was with the bluegrass band doing his thing, and it was at the station, and it's a lot of years ago, but uh yeah, you know, but I had a friend, I had a friend that played there from Williamsburg, actually.

SPEAKER_00 53:10

Uh there's a bluegrass band from here called Tidal Wade Tidal Wave Road. Okay. Um, and their their banjo player used to be my barber. Um, and then he uh started playing bluegrass. He was playing bluegrass music through all of that too. But he uh his name's Ben. Um, I think his last name's Parker. Uh, but he uh they've played out there. He's invited me out to a couple of shows there, and I just haven't been in town when they've been in town.

SPEAKER_01 53:39

Exactly. So, you know, um, this has been pretty cool. What do you do for like when you want to like break away for the day? Do you? I mean, do you go for a walk? What do you if you just let's say you get a day off, you're not counting, doing numbers, playing with numbers, and you say, you know what, I got no gigs tonight, too. What what do you do? What do you do to chill?

SPEAKER_00 54:00

Man, I love to go out into the woods and hunt. Uh deer, deer, deer hunting, turkey hunting. Um, sometimes we'll get out and do a little squirrel or rabbit hunt, just walk around, which is mostly just walking around. Um, but I do that with my dad and brother a lot. Very nice. Um, and then my wife and I love a good like binge watch a Netflix trashy reality show. Like we are fiends for like Love is Blind or the Like we just talk.

SPEAKER_01 54:31

My wife does that. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 54:32

Listen, we will we will sit and watch a whole season in a day. Just veg out on the couch.

SPEAKER_01 54:37

Yeah, yep, yep. Been there, done that. It's like, wow, we've been sitting here all day. It's like episode after episode after episode. We haven't gotten up except to use the bathroom.

SPEAKER_00 54:46

You know, it's like it's absolutely it's crazy stuff. And the DoorDash guy's gonna be here in about 10 minutes. So it's you know, because I'm not going out to get food, I'm gonna keep watching the show.

SPEAKER_01 54:56

There you go. Exactly. You gotta order and make sure he comes to the right house. That's all. Yeah, you know, uh, Trey Bryant, uh, it's been great chatting with you, man. To get to know you a little bit, uh, I'm gonna make sure I attach uh middle of nowhere to this video afterwards. But uh this has been live on YouTube and uh Facebook, and uh I'll make sure you get a copy of the link as well. And if you want to share it with your fans, you know, I appreciate it. And uh you know, and uh of course anybody watching this, uh, if you want to subscribe to Skip Happens, because this is what I do. And I firmly believe in the independent artist, you need to be seen, you need to be heard, you need to be out there because I, you know, working, doing what I do working in radio, sometimes I kind of scratch my head and go, why is this song on the radio? And this one it's not. You know what I mean? Yeah, that's it, makes me wonder sometimes. But then again, I yeah, I hate to say it. Sometimes it's who you know. Um, and maybe a little bit more than that, but uh, but still, it happens. You just keep doing what you're doing. You've you've already made yourself known, and you're with with grassroots, so that's that's pretty cool. And God bless you and your wife and the baby.

SPEAKER_00 56:02

What is the baby's name? Uh, you're gonna love it. His name is Stetson Michael, dude. Goes Stetson. Now you gotta get him a hat. Don't they? I've got I've got a couple of hats. Uh, he doesn't have a Stetson cowboy hat yet. He's got a couple of little cowboy hats. Okay, but we'll wait until he can actually fit into one to invest in one for him. I love it. Um, but I've got a few Stetsons, and now that's what I what I wear a lot of because of him.

SPEAKER_01 56:28

Oh, God bless you, man. That's awesome. I want to say thank you for taking the time out of your evening to join us. I know a little bit of a time difference, but it's not that bad. I think it's only like an hour.

SPEAKER_00 56:37

But no, I'm actually the same amount of time. I think I'm on the same I'm Eastern. So oh, okay.

SPEAKER_01 56:42

No, yeah, I don't know what I was thinking. See, that's why I'm not an accountant. Skip, thank you so much for having me. I really think. My pleasure. Exactly. My my pleasure too. Uh, I want you to stay there. I just want to say thank you, everybody, for watching. Uh, of course, Trey Bryant. Thank you for spending some time with us on the Skip Happens podcast. You know, we wish you continued success and hope you'll come back as the next chapter unfolds. Maybe next time. I'll see Stetson. Hi, come on and go, Hey, you're the old man my girl was talking to. I love it. Dude, you're the best. Uh, God bless my friend. Stay right there. Don't go anywhere. All right, thank you.