#149 - Tenille Townes (Bobby Bones Class of 2019)

did he write? What else did he write? It had a really good story about was when Lady and Bell and come to his house. Yeah, and they sat around the piano and yeah, and how they all just kind of It's good. I was thinking about because I know you're coming over and I'm a big fan. That's one of your favorite songs on the House to Build Me. Yes,

it really is. I every time I hear it, whether it's like the intro coming on the radio or I've heard her do it in her show night after night, and it's like, every time it takes me back to my childhood house and makes me weepy. Isn't it crazy? Has some songs you hear and they actually like either speak to you or for you yes. And that didn't happen to me until probably, you know, my mid twenties, where I started to go, oh, these songs are actually saying how I feel. It was the first time I've

ever heard a song. The one for me was John Mayer, Stop this Train. I would do that song. I would go, oh, he sings for what I'm thinking, And it was the first time a songwriter had ever actually said words that I felt. And that's when it all started the shifts for me going oh, there are not people that kind of understand how I feel singing, And for me it

was it was John Mayer. It's funny that you say that you hear that song and you think about, you know, going back home, who are the other songwriters that you you hear and go oh, man, like, that's that's some real stuff. Laura McKenna. I got to see her play around at the Bluebird when I first pulled into town to move here. Flucally got a seat and I'll never

forget sitting there watching her. And I had known her name and known her songs because I'm kind of like a lyric book freak and I had obsessed over all my favorites were always hers on these records, and I really this that. It really hit me and I went home and like completely went through her whole catalog and collection and I have still like three of her CDs in my six CD truck. So I'm I'm a big fan. Patty Griffin is the one that I just absolutely love.

There's something so raw about her delivery too. It's it just feels like she's kind of walking up to the mic and saying something. I think there's a lot of truth that fits out from there. Loria was going to come to a show here. I know Laurie relatively well, and I got sick because Laura doesn't live here, she lives in Boston, and she was coming down and we've tried like three times, and I talked to Loria tell we text back and forth a little bit, and I

got really sick. And I feel I let a lot of people down because they were still excited about her coming. I was excited, were you, Yeah, we've been trying so long, it'll happen. Yeah, it'll happen to you know. Have you been to write with Lorie? So I wrote with Lauria here on one of her trips, and I was just like shaking, Oh yeah, it's like I think we were

actually talking a little bit about this um before. But it's one thing to meet someone you look up to a lot, and then it's a whole other thing when they completely exceed all the expectations that you have. And she sat down and she was just so cool and kind and just like such a sweet mom. She's like talking to her son on the phone right before we were writing and asking me about my story, and we

just sat there and got to know one another. I love that when a writer really it's like I know we're here to like write a song, but like tell me about your heart. I love that so much. And she was just everything and more I dreamed of that session would be. That song is very special to me.

I like got my vehicle after drove phone parked in front of my little place, like called my dad was like crying, and we have this thing that we say, it's it's a good day to go for ice cream, and so he'll go for like ice cream back at home. And I definitely had ice cream in the day that I wrote with Laurie. My kind of was pretty cool. And Laurie. If you're not familiar with Laurie, she um

is one of the love junkies. First of all that um she wrote girl Crush and that those three it's Laurie, Hilary, Lindsay and Liz Rose. Liz also did one of these was fantastic too, so cool. Um they write together. Lorie also went humbling kind Laurie's written a bunch of songs, um, and she's an artist herself, like it sings. But yeah, we'll get that one soon hopefully so. And you mentioned Patty grib I wondered at a Patty and Austin sometimes that's so cool. Yeah, you you bet remind me of Patty.

Like your style. That means a lot. Um, Larry, Let's play something here. This is let us do where you are. It's quite a litle bit of that outstanding. It's a line any MoU just find my way away are. This might have been the first song from ever. It's the one last thing back to you the most. Yes, I love that you do. It's and Neil opened up for me uh in my comedy show this past weekend, and she was like any request from the crowd, and I was just sitting in the crowd, and I was like,

where you are hard? So she played it? She played it? Yeah, so what tell me about that song? How long agould you write that? Let's see, just over a year ago,

also still relatively newish, Yeah, I think so. My My friends Dan, Daniel Tashan and Keylan Donovan and I were sitting at Big Yellow Dog we all right for that publishing company, and and Daniel had this really cool little kind of electric mandolin and he was playing this beautiful little melody and Keelan was saying how true love is really represented by how long you'll stand in line for someone for anything. Like That's such a good point. We just kind of went from there. But I love this song.

Yeah I did too. It's a good one. It's right now you have um, you have that what the living rooms? That sessions? Living room work types don't even work types, right, and it's all very acoustic stuff. Yes, So how many of those songs are on that? I'm okay? So it's like where you are, Jersey on the Wall, White Horse, Somebody's daughter obviously, um, but somebody's daughter you have up twice. It's do you have to you have the acoustic version

and then the full version. Right, so you have those four. But what I was telling you it was like I'm so ready for like a bunch of music, like and I'm a big fan. I tell you that all the time. And I'm not even embarrassed to tell you because I think if you enjoy what people do and they create, you should tell them. Um. And I remember the first time we met. We were in Las Vegas, not together. I don't even know if you knew who I was. Oh, definitely knew who you were. This is probably eight six

seven months ago. Yeah, man, it's only that. So there was a party and I was after an award show. Is that what we were there for? Yes? I think so. And I walked up to this party because it was are you see okay? So am we have so we have the same representation? Yeah? Um, and so I go to this party where like my agents are TV agents or c A, my music agents or CIA, and so I, um go up to this party where they were and

they're like, yeah, there's some artists over here. You just say how to some people and they were like Danil Towns over there. I was like, oh, I'm the biggest Danil Towns fan and I walk out and I'm like, hey, Danil, and she was like, you don't know who I am? And I was like, yeah, you are from Calgary, Like every thinking about like how do you know that? Like hello? It was so cool. Thank you for that. It's cool.

And now I'm gonna play a little bit of somebody's daughter here because this is your song right now, this is what they call your single. It's this correct? Yeah, boy, it was How did they go along with you and pick a song and it's gonna be your first song? And what's that process? Like are you involved in that? Are you sitting in a room thinking about, well, what's gonna be the first single? Definitely for me, I'm such I love believing in the process of like envisioning what

you want to happen and focusing on that. And for me, looking at the collection of songs, the sage of what this stands for and what I kind of wanted to walk out with an introduction to people for was represented in this song to me, and I'm really grateful to the people that I work with really listened to that and respected that, and we all bounced around everybody's ideas and and I'm grateful. This one kind of stuck out

for everybody. Is this the one that you wanted? Yes, well, rare than a new artist has an idea and everyone agrees with it. I really do consider that a really cool thing. So you grew up in Canada, I did, so, are you from Calgary or from outside Calgary, like where I'm from Grand Prairie. Actually, so it's like eight hours north of Calgary. You're not even from Calgary. No, that's like a whole different state in the in America from Calgary.

Alberta's close anything in Olvera. I'm like, yeah, that's where I'm from, but it's Grand Fairies. So it's you know, a fairly small community and the wide open spaces, lots of sky, lots of fields for most of the year, lots of snow. Yeah. We were in Michigan and there was like a little bit of know, it mostly melted. I was like, oh, look at this, not just a little nothing. I mean, that's so cold and snowy it is. It's like, I mean, I it's a winter wonderland. I

was just up there for Christmas and it's beautiful. It builds a lot of character for people up there because It's not always the most glamorous of circumstances, shoveling and working outside in the cold, and I think it brings people closer together a lot, because you're stuck in the house all the time. Yeah, you gotta, you gotta make your own sunshine up there. So why I moved to Nashville. Did you think about staying in Canada and doing country music in Canada? Like, what was the deal? I did?

And I definitely got my feet wet putting things out in Canada and touring and exploring that there's a really awesome community of Canadian country music family up there that I love. But for me, it was always sort of this crazy dream. I did this song or his workshop when I was fourteen, and one of the mentors was

from Nashville, and I had obviously heard of Nashville. I listened to the Grand Operations my grandparents and knew from all the liner notes, so this is where all the recording happened and the writing, and just dreamed about it.

And this mentor was like, we should come to Nashville and right sometime, and I was like, you can do that, Like we could just go there and write, and so shortly after that, my mom took me and made my first trip, and she rented the car and drove me around to these writing sessions, and I fell in love four your fourteen and you you came to Nashville and drove around with people. Yes, how did you get rights of fourteen? From that mentor that you know? Wrote with me?

He was mostly who I was writing with on that trip. But then he set up other sessions for us to go go to, So I'll be forever grateful for that. And and I went. We went and saw everything. We drove. I would make my mom drive up and down, music grow and I would just be like reading all the signs of these buildings. And we went to the opera and walked around the Hall of Fame, and it just lit this fire in me. I was like, I can

all wait to come back years someday. And I kept making trips back and forth from that point as much as my parents would let me skip school and and come and take the time to take me in. And I made probably seven or eight trips until I graduated. And then before graduation, I sat my parents down. I was like, so my dad's a big outliers guy and believes in the ten thousand hours thing, and that was my pitch. I was like, I can't get my ten thousand hours, you know, working at this music thing if

I'm going to go to university somewhere. So I didn't apply, and I came up with this plan where we visited junior high in high schools and spent thirty two weeks in a motor home driving across Canada and playing for kids. And it was like the most awesome experience and made me fall in love with the roads so much. I was like, Okay, I'm in. And then when that too a wrapped, I decided that Nashville was where I wanted to land and go, and so my dad and helped

me drive. We loaded up my Tacoma and it's forty five hour trip from her. I'm fraide to Nashville. What's the when you cross Canada into the States that border tricky or no? Tricky? Yeah, I mean the press because I've done in the Mexico when yes, So I don't know what the candidate American border is. You gotta have your pay work for sure, but you can also just come visit for six months. So initially I wasn't sure what it was like to be here and stay so that my plan was just to come for six months

and see And so we crossed the border. That was funny that the guard at the border looked at my dad and was like, so, let me get this straight. You're driving her all the way to Nashville and you're dropping her off and you're flying home and you're leaving her there. And my Dad's like, yeah, that sounds kind of crazy, doesn't it. But that's exactly what happened. So I stayed here and just I mean, I loved it

so much. I learned so much. I would go out to writers around every night and just obsess over all my heroes and go sitting Guitar Center forever and being completely intimidated and overwhelmed by the massive amount of talent in this town. And it just made me so hungry to go home and write a million more songs. I want to talk about that going to writer's rounds. Just one second. Warry Parker all right, So let me talk about Warby Parker for a second. I do have many

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You can be the bluebird. It's just songwriters playing the songs they wrote. Most of the times, it's not the artists. When you would go to the writer's rounds, who did you see And you'd go like, it's so freaking cool that I can see this person play like in your early days of just going in like watching Kalen Smith. Caitlin's one of the first ones things we ever did. Yeah,

Caitlin's a friend, She's so cool. And I would hear people like Caitlin South, Laura Canada, Tom Douglas, I mean, Josh Kere, Gordy Sampson, all these guys like talk about what it was like when they first got to town and talk about showing up in this town with stars in their eyes and just this creative spirit and just keep plugging away at it and hear the story of how long it takes and you know their process, And that was always the most encouraging thing because I was like,

if they can sit there and play that song. It's like a number one on radio that they poured their whole heart into and tell me that you stick with it and it works. And I was like, I'm gonna do that. You know. It was really cool to hear them tell those stories and so you did that a lot. Huh. Who What's funny is people come to town and other people come to town around the same time. Because this town, there's always a new crew people coming in. It's like classes.

And I've often talked to artists and songwriters about who came in their class, because like in my class around the same time was Dan and Shay. They got together, I got on the radio. We kind of started at the same time. We kind of have that we're going through this together. Um, you know, we've even a bit, Darius, because we were both doing pop and rocks and we both crossed, so we've done a bunch of stuff together.

That So who moved to town around the time you did that you kind of would see and you were starting out around the same point. That's a good question. There's definitely a crew of Canadians that I would like new from back home, but anybody, but I'm like you come to town and you saw them starting out around the same time. Kaylee hammock Um, Cassie Ashton and let's see who else, my friend Madison kozak Um And when

was that one? Did you come to town? Let's see five years ago now, okay, I mean a little after when I got here. We're almost in the same were also almost almost not fully. So you come to town and you start just kind of grabbing friends, right, anybody that that will be friends with you. You're just searching for people to write with, to hang out with. And that's a weird thing. It's almost like going to a new school. It is kind of like going to a

new school. And I think what's interesting about Nashville. A lot of people are very out much outside of their comfort zones, away from their homes, away from their families, and they're like the friends that they grew up with, the life they know, and it's like they're coming to pour everything they have into this craft. And I think that's like such a common ground to really connect with people. And it's like you're not alone in that. You told a story on my show once about Shania Twain pulling

you on stage the right. Yes, you're a kid, right, So you go to a show? Are you sitting up front? So a whole bunch of my family went, but my mom and I ended up in the second row. And I had made a costume, while my mom actually had made a costume right before we drove. It's a five hour drive Demonton to go see all these concerts. And she like glue gunns this the yellow and red and orange stripes, like the Miami Concert DVD that I had

obsessed a million times over. And I had the little yellow ponytail on top of my head and I made a sign with glitter on it that said, Shana, I can I please sing with you? And so I mean I was singing at the top of my lungs to the whole show. I knew every word, and she eventually, you like came around the security guard let me stand right up by the stage. I was like, this is

the best day of my life. And she like passed the mic to this girl few seats down and let her sing some lines and then kept walking towards me. And I thought, maybe she's going to do the same thing, but instead of like reaching out the microphone, she stuck her hand out and so I like threw the sign behind me and grabbed her hand and we ran around

her stage. We had like three tiers to it, and I remember the floor was like the checker plate pattern, and I remember running kind of beside her, holding her hand and seeing her feet and I was like, this is real, Like this is real. And so we end up on this third tier and I'm looking out to this like black curtain because the lights are this crazy haze in there, and I can't see anybody, but I can hear the sound of what eighteen tho people screaming

feels like. And I was like, this is it. This is everything I want to do, and I'm standing here next to my hero. And she asked me to sing a piece of a song by myself. So I sang the chorus upon me, I'm home and really yeah, and then luckily it h yeah. And you, just nine years old, were so confident that you just do you think you were a bit naive at nine. I wasn't thinking about any kind of fear at all. It was just straight

love for it and it. I'm so grateful that happened at that point in my life, because that anchor always stuck with me, and it's like, no matter what kind of insecurities are things that happened as you keep growing up and start noticing what other people think or whatever happens, is like I had this fire in me and it was like no, no, no, I know what that feels like, and that's what matters to me. So you sing this song, do you remember the crowd cheering? You do you can

still picture? Oh, yeah, very clearly, because that's a lot of people. It is a lot of people. And what happens when you're done? So I finished, and she kind of smiles at me and shakes her head and uh, she said something, and I told her she was beautiful and thanked her, and then I think she said something like I should probably take you back to your mom or dad or something. It doesn't seem like you really

need one, though, like locked me back to down. And every time I'm out a show and I see someone like pulls a kid out of the crowd, it like brings me right back. It's like that is powerful. You know, you just never forget something like that. Have you seen

her since? Yes? I just got to run into her at a billboard event less than a year ago, and I walked in the room and she was presenting this award and it was like kind of like a small It was at a hotel and she got up there and I was presenting this award and I was standing there and I'm going, I'm in the same room as Shania Twin at an industry event in Nashville, Like I was there, yes, and she was. She was talking now

Downtown was that downtown hotel? And it just hit me those like, I mean I didn't even sneak in, like I was like invited to go. And she finished her you know, giving out her award, and everybody was kind of mingling, and someone kind of grabbed my arm and introduced me, and I mean I could barely speak. Thank goodness. The other person was like telling part of the story for me because I was yeah, and I was just like thank you. And I actually have a picture of ends.

I showed her. She's like, is that you. It's like yeah, so we got a new picture. And it was just the craziest full circle moments. Pretty cool. That is pretty cool. It's also too, you know, we mentioned at the first of the show or or whatever this is the podcast that it's always weird to meet people that you really look up to or admire their work or you think are cool, because they almost can't get cooler. Yes, it's

so hard for someone. And I've had the struggle with wanting to meet my heroes, like David Letterman's been my hero forever, like Howard Stern, like these guys. It's like, if I meet them, there's almost no way they're gonna be cooler than I already feel they are. So I've always been like, I probably won't want to meet them because if she and I have been terrible, that's very true, that were just an off day, or it would probably you know, tainted at least your thoughts of her now.

But I don't think it could ever touch what what happened. I agree, I agree with that. I think I would just be like, no, that that just stays in this special, special glass box or something. You have a picture of you on stage with her at all and nine years old. You have that picture. Yeah, that's pretty cool. It's cool

that you can still remember it. You know why we have the picture because these ladies who we didn't even know that we're sitting beside a snug a disposable camera into the concert because you weren't allowed to bring cameras, and so they like passed the camera to my mom and the fiddle player took it up on stage and they were like, we're her aunties and we had like just met them an hour ago. And then we got their address and they sent us the film role from

this disposable to the show. Isn't that cool? That's really cool that they went through all of that to get somebody they didn't know totally. Yeah, that's pretty cool. Let's see what else. I'm just trying to think through all my fan club stuff I have of you, because i'm your basically the president of your fan club. I appreciate

that so much. Whenever you played the Opery, and it was your first time to play the Opery, you basically brought your whole town right right like you went to because I remember seeing on on maybe the paper did something like that, what's it called the National the Tennessee And yeah, I remember like ten thousand people all dressed exactly the same coming off an escalator and then you go into the right So how many people did you

bring from your hometown to watch you play? There were a hundred and forty seats on a seven thirty seven airplane. So that's how many people came. Crazy, It's insane, Bobby, how many people came? A hundred and forty people. I don't know, a hundred and so they all from your hometown bought a ticket and came to support you and watch you at the opery. Yeah, it's insane. It's so incredible. And like they always used to joke, I play songs around the campfire. I mean, these people show up to

all kinds of different local events. These were like people I call auntie who are not my auntie. Like these are like family friends, super close, just people that have been a part of this adventure. From the beginning. I used to sing the anthem at our local hockey games as this little kid, and these people would be like they just started to get to know me from there.

And then all of a sudden, we do a big event in my hometown called Big Hearts for Big Kids, and six hundred people show up every year for our youth shelter, and it's one of the most incredible things I've ever been a part of. And those people are all family to me, and that those are the ones who came and they just it's who they are. They show up, they show up every time, and they have

my whole life. And seeing them come off that escalator was like the most I can't even put it into words, but it's like the biggest hometown hug I could have ever dreamed of. And standing up there on the Opery stage was, I mean, such a legendary moment for me that I'll never forget. But sharing that with them and being like, hey, we did this together, you know, because their belief is a big part of the reason that I'm here, and yeah, it means the world to me.

What are you thinking when you're standing in the circle on the Opery and you're about to play and you know, they say, because you know I've done it. It's it's really great because they go that you walk at there's no it's not like a cool intro where they open the carpet. It's it's so old school, which was cool about it, Like while they're doing a commercial for Cracker Borol.

You just walk out there. You know, it's not like flames and is that like towns And all of a sudden you come up from a you know something under the stage. He's you know, he's going and don't forget four ninety nine cracker Boro get a mean three, and you're just walking out while that's happening. And for me, I'm not I'm not talented in the way that you are. I'm just I'm going, well, I gotta go out and you know, do some jokes, play some songs. But for you,

you're going out there. You're such an emotional performance, such an emotional person. I just wonder what's going through your head when not only are you playing the opera for the first time, my first time, I don't even be there. I wonder they don't come. It was like I told everybody on the show. You told them not to come. Some people still came, but I made everybody not come. I'm the opposite of you, and almost every way I

forgot about. Yeah, I seen the email that I said, don't come to my first opera show because I'm scared of what's gonna happen. So it was the opposite of you. So you get out there and all your people are there. I'm assuming there was like this big pop roar, right, what are you thinking before it starts? So someone told me right before I walked on Sally with the opera.

She's like, make sure you take one big breath. She's like, because you'll remember everything better if you like actually physically breathe it in, because you'll never get the first time again. And I was like, okay, got it. So right as the band started and I was walking on and I stopped before I entered the circle, took a deep breath and like saw my hometown. I knew what section they were in it. I was like, there they are, and

I just like walked in that circle. And I actually got to walk in the circle before the show, which I'm really grateful for because I bawled my face off, so if I hadn't have done that, it would have

been really hard to sing, I think. So I got to sort of walk in the circle have my emotional moment, and for me, that moment was like spiritual, like there's it just feels like there's an angels in that place, Like this is the this is the place, the birthplace of so much history of country music and so much of the foundations that I get to walk on as a new artist are because of you know, the hard work and the persistence and the creativity and the being

different that so many people before me have come and paved and standing there for me was like just evidence of that, did you do good? I was a little shaky on the first one, I will admit, but I played jersey on the wall second and I feel like I got it together at that point. That one felt felt stronger, did you Because I didn't see anyone's faces. It was blurry to me, yes, And I looked in the crowd and I just was like, oh my goodness, and so I just went, yeah, I didn't really what

did you see out there? Just silhouettes of where people were sitting. I couldn't see faces either, and that's probably a good thing too, But it's it's big people few tho it's tall now, Like I mean, I probably played it ten times or so now so cool, But like the second time through the tenth time, I can see people spaces now, which is yes, because you one, you've done the first one, and it's always a building, You're like,

oh my goodness. It then starts to be a you just owe it to that institution to do a good job. It's it's more about that place than it is you. Now, Yes, the first switch has happened. Absolutely the first time it was just about me. I was like, oh my god, I'm doing this. And for me it was the Ray Stevens Is, the Jerry Clower's comedy country guys who had done that, you know. And even because I like, you listen to that with my grandmother. That's that's how I

was exposed to it. It It wasn't that I was like looking for the opera as a eleven year old, but she would listen to it. And my grandmother adopted me and raised me for a long time, and it was cool to me because of her. And then it became cool to me because of me. That's so cool. But for forever it was just cool to me because of her only, and so you know, we would listen to and that's why it was cool to me to do it.

Was because because of my grandmother and so. But then I'm gonna tell you it starts to be cool because then it's not about you. It's only about it. And I see people's faces and you know, for me, as a comedian, and I'm a sort of a comedian, Um, yes, your comedian, what are you talking about? It's not okay for me, as someone who does comedy, will say that, okay,

the audience of the opera is so diverse. There there are some young people, there are also some really old people, and it's so hard to play a crowd that you really can't pinpoint exactly what they're wanting, right, because it's hard to tell jokes to someone who's over eighty because a lot of the stuff that you would talking about like in tech, like Instagram or pop culture, and it's hard to tell jokes to twelve year olds. And so you have this because he operates all ages. Yes, that's

a good point. It's it's a very diverse audience that I've ever had to do with the operation. I like doing it the most. Last time I went, I bombed out, A bombed hard. It was the worst. It was. It was my worst because I go up and have my guitar and I was gonna do I think I had twelve minutes and I was going to do um like two partial songs and then we're gonna kind of blend in. You've seen my show, so I was kind of blending

and out of it. My guitar falls a part of them walking out there, and I don't know it, but my like my nut falls out where you if I heard something to go clink clink clink, and I was like, I don't even know what it was. I'll walk out there and my guitar is broken and I go to like plug it and nothing, and it throws me off completely. I'm the only instrument to play is because I'm only playing my guitar. My whole set is weaving in and out of these songs and I'm like, oh, and I

was just like, what am I going to do? And I look over in Sally's over at the side and I'm like, I'm I kind of bombed it pretty hard. It was my sounds like a circumstance more than it does for sure. But still we have to control our circumstances in our life and our careers. Bad will always come, it's not if it's wind and how you adjust to it. And I think I did okay, but I left going, oh man. You ever have a performance where you go

out and you off and you're like that was not good? Definitely? Yeah, There's lots of those moments, and I think we're harder on ourselves than anybody. You know. It's like, but I definitely magnify certain things in fact um. At our last show, I was like, he introduced me the radio person there, and he was like and Saniel Towns. I was like, walk out and I'm away. Then I dropped my guitar pick like right there, and I was like, well, I'm gonna bend over and pick. I'm not a guitar figure

right now. It's not the most graceful entrance, but it's all part of it, you know. I guess we just learned more. Oh, there's plenty, plenty of other things. There's been lots of lyric things, lots of you know what I've noticed about messing up, and not just in music or radio, but just in life. If you don't acknowledge the fact that you're messing up, most people don't know. Yeah,

well people don't care there. And also it's you know, I wrote about this in my last book where I would and I kind of made the analogy to hot Yogat you ever to yogat all ever a little bit, not a lot, where I would go to these classes and I would be so worried because I was doing everything wrong. Because I was doing everything wrong and I didn't know how to do it. I was so new to all these moves. They would be like okay, now for the blossom, and I'd be like, what is that blossom?

And posa, and they'd be saying all these things and I was doing them wrong, and I was struggling, and everybody was staring at me, and I was like, I don't know if I'm gonna go back a second time. But I went back a second time, and I got a little better, and then I realized that I got to be okay at it. I wasn't looking anybody else. No one was ever looking at me. We're not looking at people really near as much as we think people

are looking at us. Such a good point. I mean, I think, like, when's the last time I saw somebody bought a speech or something at work? And I've seen it, but I don't remember it, and it's like, I don't even care. You move on. So I try to give myself that grace when I screw up that people are sticking with it. I think it's the grace that you give to other people. Sent those opera goers gave me grace at night. Oh, I'm quite certainly love that one. Let me talk about Dollar Shape Club for a second.

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read the book? Fantastic? Right? It's very very cool. The ten thou Hours is one of the think a lot of people talk about where it's a Malcolm Gladwell book and a lot of my friends have read at this point. But if you have to do something for ten thousand hours to be proficient at that. There were parts of that book though. Two that stuck with me was remember the airline part, the pilot part where they talked about

why airplanes crashed in other countries more than America. Yes, so what happens is and you mentioned that in That's what happened? And I would recommend that book. Where other cultures don't speak to their uh supervisors, they're they're the people above them in a disrespectful way, and they talk about these pilots and other cultures and uh. In like um,

like Japan, well you do. For example, if the guy in the tower goes, hey, you need to go, you know, up ten thousand feet right now, they would just do it instead of going no, I don't think that's right. And then in America they're like, you're wrong. I don't need to do that because I'm in the middle of the storm right now. And yeah, okay, this is coming

back to me that might remember that. I probably Butcher because it's been so long since I read it didn't have something to do like the tone of voice too, or something all of it. And some unchers they were you know, if it's a respective position, you respect it no matter what, regardless of your second. But in like Western culture, if you respect your person unless they're an idiot or they don't know and you yeah, then you

go no, that's not so. Yeah, I should read. You ever read a book again and then again all the time. What's the book you've read the most over and over? Probably Burn Brown Daring greatly. Yeah, yeah, I'm reading a book from her right now. It is I think her work is fascinating, right, and she talks about vulnerability. I mean, that's that's really her thing. Study of vulnerability and that's that's shame. That's right now. Yes, I love it, yeah, yeah, And it's the speech about the man in the arena

and it's not the critic that counts. I love that. It's yeah, the man in the arena is there are a lot of people that will say things to you about what you're doing until you're doing good or bad. But it's not what they're saying that matters. It's people that have also been in the arena and understand it. Because I think we're in the business of we have a lot of critics telling us a lot of cheap seats. Yeah,

what's good, what's not. But and it's funny because you and I had this talk as we're flying back from from Michigan and it was like, and you just keep your head down and keep doing what you do because what you do and why I like it so much, why I'm drawn to it is it's it's distinct. And to be distinct, you're different, and to be different, people are going to have different feelings about you, some good, some bad, because nothing that comes in it is different,

is universally loved. At first. People have to be taught to love something that's cool. Yeah, that's a good way to hit and so. And I think that's what I what I really enjoy about yours. It is different. It's very different. And I can see you how some people will be like, what what's happening here? But people have had to go, hey, what's happening here to everything that's ever been awesome? Like nothing awesome has ever coming. Everybody just goes, oh, this is new and way different. I'm

just gonna accept it and love it. And there are things that I have not been like I don't really understand that, and then I go, oh, wow, okay, it is kind of cool. But I like that about you know, about about what you do, even when you play live like there's a real you go, this is what happens when you play. Like first I'm like, what's she doing? She's a little different. It took me a second, but then I'm like, okay, I love it. Like let's play a little bit of white Horse while I'm talking about

take me Away on a sunset? Right? Does it ever get to you, like, does it everwhere on you that you're just a bit different? And sometimes it takes people a while to get it. I mean, yes, there are moments where get super like zoomed in on something. It's like in the leads about it, in my head, about thinking about it. But honestly, my love for it is outweighs the voices most of the time. And I'm grateful for good people around me that keep that perspective in check.

And I just want to do my thing. I love playing for people so much. It's my favorite thing to do in the world. And every time I get to do that, it's like, Okay, this is what this is for. And so no matter what people think or say or it doesn't matter. Because someone came up to me after the show and told me about a story in their life that connected to one of the songs, and that's it for me. If it's one person, one person, that's that's what matters. Mm hmm. I believe you is the thing.

I think you would be okay playing music and getting by because just getting by playing music is actually thriving. It is thriving to me. And don't get me wrong, I mean you'll be rich, id loved you, rich big, and I love to do all those things. But at the end of the day, that's it. That's that's the bottom line for me. I don't think I've heard you say a curse words because I don't curse. Do you curse? No, not very often? Though you don't say any carse words

your songs, do you? Is that a thing where you don't like purposefully if someone suggested, like, hey, let's let's put a M f R in here, I don't think anyone, But I feel like it's just not the I guess I just wade the way I talk, and that's not really things that I say very often. I had to change up the way I talked me. I did curse a lot, really, and I started to go, I'm creating in this years I haven't said a carse winner probably three years or so at all. Not now. It's just

a game, right, But I would just curse. But then I would go on the air and I would write books and in kids songs and songs, and I didn't curse any of that. And at times when i'd be creating, I'd all, you know, it fit really well here, uh, the word amazing. So I stopped. I just eliminated it from my creation. That's cool, because if you're not thinking of doing it doesn't even pop up any other part of it. So I felt like it was best for how I was writing and creating to just never curse ever.

And now when people now people are cursing around me, like oh, I'm sorry, Like I'm a big boy, I've heard them before. Yeah, I feel the same, like that's okay. People do that to me when they drin because I don't drink right, and people will H'm like, oh, I shouldn't drink around you. I'm like, no, no, please drink around me because you're not that fun unless you're drinking, you know. So do people know you don't curse? Do

they do the thing? We're like, oh, I'm sorry, Yeah, sometimes they do, and it's like it used to because I was maybe the youngster around and they're like they would be like, oh sorry, but I don't know. I haven't heard that in a while though. I just I guess it's like, I just want people to show up and be who they are, and if that's part of the language and who they are, then I love them for it. So there are some people I enjoyed their cursing.

I'm like, you're way funnier when you curse and drink, like please please. The only person drink. We were on the plane flying back and to know, out of nowhere pulled out this humongous bag of popcorn. It's like we she had one backpack and it was completely full, pretty much just popcorn. And still she found a big bag of popcorn. I guess it was only popcorn or backpack. And so yeah, that's what you said, you always have popcorn. I do I love white chatter popcorn. I just I

really like snacks. I like baking things and like bacon things are baking things baking? Yeah, like cookies. You're like a grandmother ind I actually am. I love cribbage. This is my favorite card game to play with my grandfather. It's very fun. What is that? It's like a counting math card game with a board where you move your little pegs all the way around. It's very much a grandma game. You're like an old soul. I ever heard that before? Yeah? Look at you? Um, when you moved

to town, whereuld you live? Like? What? Like not your address? But what kind of place did you live? In berry Hill? Like? Was that? Is that? It? Like a do you have

a house? Apartment? I was renting a little garage that was turned into a Loft of Sorts, and so I fell in love with sam Zoe's Coffee shop over there and Baja Burrito and and there's a bunch of music studios over there, and I got together and got to do some demos over there, but mostly about that spot, it was really cool to be by myself for the first time in my life. And I spent so many hours, like I go out to see a show and then

I come home and write. And I mean when I first got here, I wanted to write every single day with whoever and anyone that I could write with, but it kind of takes a while to build up people that you can fill your days with and go write songs with. And so a lot of that time I

was just writing songs by myself. And I feel like something happened in that very first place that I lived in here, and it was it just like my whole voice changed and shifted for the first time, and it was like I started to kind of get in step with who I was at a different level or something

and started really writing things. You know, I had been writing songs since I was fourteen, but I think at nineteen that was sort of like Okay, there was a switch that was happening, probably being influenced by this community and just learning so much from soaking it in, but mostly from just digging in myself. I think, I want to play some of Jersey on the wall. And you came on the show and you played this, and my

people were they loved it. I mean it was and this story is is like from something that happened and you went to the school afterward, right, So what happened? So I was touring a bunch of schools and I visited this little community was like on an island. We had to take a two and a half hour ferry to get there, like four thousand people, super small town.

And I show up to play the school and it's like you can tell that the oldest kids are looking out for the youngest kids, that everybody's grown up together, you know, small group of kids, and there was something different about this school, and I had seen a lot of them up to this point, and I was like, Wow,

this is pretty amazing and it's stuck with me. And I played a community show that night and then the teacher brings me back to the little inn that I was staying at and sits me down and tells me that there had been a car accident a few months prior with five kids from the high school, four of which I had been hanging out with all day, had had no idea what they had just been through a few months before UM. And one of them, her name

was Danielle. She was the star basketball player, valedictorian, had just graduated with a full ride scholarship, and she was killed in this flute wreck. And so I sat there and like wept with this teacher even more so moved by this community and everything they've been through, and kept in touch really closely with them. And miss Ward was a teacher's name, and her and her and I worked it out that I got to go back to the

school for their graduation the following spring. And there's like twenty of them graduating, the whole town piled in the gym, and I'm sitting at the back and graduation ceremonies happening, and Danielle's parents get up there and they give their daughters honorarium scholarship to Zoe, who was also in the car, And so there's not a dry eye in the gym.

And I sat there as this kind of removed person from the situation looking around and on the wall was Danielle's jersey and I looked at the numbers and I was like, these are the things I have a lot of questions forgot about. And in that moment, it was kind of like, I think it's okay to have those questions, and I think there's healing in the conversation itself, whatever

that means. And that moment in that gym stuck with me, and I came back to Nashville, and shortly after that trip, one of my best friends from home lost her little brother and it put me back in that same place.

And so I showed up in this writing room with Gordy Sampson Tina Parole told them this whole story and like unloaded this concept and the song just kind of found its way to us in a really crazy way that day, and we looked at each other when it was finished, I was like, Okay, this is the song that was meant to be here today. So I'm very grateful for this song. Here's some of a jersey on the wall from two if five gets to Heaven. You know, I got along this questions I can't do you make

a snowflake? Are you angry when the earthquakes? How does the scout change in a minute? How do you keep this big rocks spending whack? Can't you stop car from question? Forgive me? I'm just as skin so good? Yeah? Thanks? Do you tell that story every time you play this like an acoustic show? Yeah? Sometimes there isn't time for it, or it's not the right atmosphere for it. But if there is, it's always an honor to get to tell you're going out with Dirks and you're gonna do a

full band. I haven't seen you play the full band played by yourself, and it's always awesome. Thank you? All right, So you're going out with Dirks. You're gonna open up that whole thing. Huh yeah, I'm freaking out. I'm so excited. How many songs do you play? You know? Six and so? Do you have it down? Because you haven't? You have minutes? Pretty good? Pretty good? Yeah, that's actually pretty good. No, I'm thinking the same thing. I was going twenty like maybe,

but not so have you timed it? I mean something was the last run through, so we gotta we're going to tighten it a little bit more so we got some freedom room. You can't go over. I can't go over like ten seconds. Don't go because it's bad form with Dirks brothers get mad at you. Probably not if you go over like a minute, but you don't like that. I do not want to go over room once. The guys from Rascal Flats, I think the last time they

came in the show. They came in and I asked him about the Eric Church urban legend that he would play over his shows and they end up kick him off tour, and it's true. Really, yeah, I didn't know that. So he would come and you take the whole stage even when they came, and as an opener, you only get part of the stage, and he would go over and he would go out, and yeah, so he ended up and then he they would go to cities on

that tour. I think maybe they ended up putting Taylor on there too afterwards, like some other artists came in after him. Maybe was it. And so um Flats would go in two cities on the tour and he would go to the same cities and play it at a bar beside them. That's so you know what he ended up. Okay, Yeah, he certainly did five minutes to go and play and the Darks the Dirks, not the crew. I mean, Dark is a friend of mine, but um like the people

that go to Dirk shows. That's a good it's a good crew of people because there it's a good fun crew. But it's not like I've been to some artist shows where they're just they go to get wasted and just white. I mean the Something shows you go to it like people just go to get hammered. But the Derks to get a good crowd of the Dirk show. I'm so happy for you. It means a lot. I'm so so excited to get out there and we get to start

back up in Canada. So that's going to be pretty cool playing these you know, Figure City arenas that I used to drive to as a kid and watch a bunch of shows. So I can't wait for that. And it's going to be a pretty awesome rest of the year. I'm excited to get to know those get to know Dirk's career. I've heard so much about them, Excited to learn from all of that. The you're gonna go play these shows. I was gonna get advice, but you know, what do you got? I don't. I was thinking about

something opening act device, I'll take it. No, I just don't go over you know, don't. How was opening for Miranda and a Little Big Town pretty cool? A dream? Yes? It was like, I mean, I love their music so much, and getting to know them as people and seeing how authentic that music is to them as people was like the coolest thing. And watching how people believe that, you know, like it, it's like powerful. I stood in different spots

and watched the show every single night. It's like if I had got to be it was like I was a little kid all summer long. Because as a kid, if you could have said you could pick your dream tour and go follow every single show and Paca Big, I would have just died. And so I had so much fun. I've loved it so much. They're just the sweetest people. I learned a lot. Yeah, there's a Kimberly Flatman one of these. I've listened to that, Karen Both. Yeah, I guess we don't care about the guys. You want

to get the guys up here. Yeah, that's pretty cool. That's pretty cool. Okay, let's do around it this or that way. Stay with her before we before we jump out of here. Uh, this or that Tim Horton's or Starbucks sim horns. You know, it's very very Canadian. Thank you? What do you call? Because I have two options here, but I don't want to give them. But do you call the thing you put on your head that keeps you warm? To you? Called it too? Oh? Yeah, okay, I was gonna say bean ear too, but I call

it a toboggan? See that one? Strange to me? That's what you like? Roll down the hill on? Okay, but you don't have to only assign words to one thing. I guess that's true, but but yeah, to it? Really? In Arkansas? A toboggan? Huh? Hoodie? Or a bunny hug? A bunny hugs of thing? Yeah? I did, I've never heard about a bunny hug of definitely hoodie? What's a bunny hug? Really? How about in Canada? Was it your electric bill or your hydro bill? M electric bill US

or metric system metric? My GPS still speaks in kilometers here, I can't. You don't want to go to miles. Everything makes so much more sense. It's like the metric system is the real way to do it. But but now you you're in Rome went in Rome Switch. Now I know I'm stuck. I can't um. You say, what do you say for the carbonated beverage as a bunch of sugar in it? Pop? Okay, so soda popera coke? And you say pop hockey or football hockey? Yeah? Did you? I don't play no, but I say in the anthem,

so I always got to go to the games. What do you put on when you go to sleep? Like? What are the things called you put on when you go to sleep? Okay, that's not one of the options here, but pajamas or pajamas? Pajamas speak jamas? Pajamas? Yeah, do you say pajamas? What do you say? I don't know that I ever say that word unless I'm playing this game. I don't know that I ever just talked about when I was doing Dancing with the Stars, we that was a big hot topic. And everyone is from everywhere on

that show, right, and not just America. You know my partners from Australia. We have people from all of the continents that are dancing, and um, it was yeah, I mean you have a bunch of people. I think. One of the coolest things for me about doing stuff like that and a lot of the other stuff that I could do outside of country music is meeting all the people.

It's like touring. When you go on the road, you're not just in your little circle of like minded even like cultured people, and it really it really opens you up. It does. It's like there's just so much of the world out there, and so much that I didn't know about people that I didn't know, and you go, oh, I just wasn't right about a lot of things. Wow. I love hearing that. That's cool. That's what really opened

me up. Because you only know what you know, and you only know either what you have been taught or what you chase. And sometimes you don't even know what to chase because you haven't been taught to chase the right things. And so the exposure to things has been the greatest teacher for me, and the exposure makes me then chase things. And so, you know, as you talk about touring and being in front of people, I feel

that way too. And that's one of the reasons I like going on the road is because I go to Michigan. We went to Michigan together. I go to Michigan, and you know, it's I talk to people who they live in snow half the year and their accents are different, but yet what we have in common is still like this humanity and you go okay and admits you it's

not so different. There are times where I go two El Paso to Boston too, and everybody's a little bit different, but the thing in common, there's always this this humanity that everyone has in common. Yeah, it's so true, and we're more like than we think we are. And then when I go and I hang out with people from other countries again, and I wouldn't do that in the country music world. I only do that because I'm off doing these television shows and I'm like, oh, like, they

haveferent completely different belief systems. However, the humanity part of it's always the same thread, and you go, oh, we're so alike. Yeah, it's pretty cool. Yeah, And when you're talking about that kind of stuff and that, that's kind of what strikes me. So listen, I'm a huge fan. I'm glad you came up. Thank you. I'm such a big fan of yours and it really means a lot to have you. I mean that seriously, Bobby, thank you.

She'll be out with Dirks on the Burning Man tour starts January sevent When you hear this, it could be a year from now. I don't know, but she may be off the door, gonna be headlining your ONN arena by the time you do this. But you start in Ontario, which is like a state. It is, Ontario will be compared to like Texas. Correct. Yeah, I know that because I'm a day to Canadians. Um you are. I've been

put on the Opery next stage nineteen. I was having dinner with Sally from the Operty like six months ago. We were talking about you, yeah, and she was like, we're doing this thing. I think, did I ever tell you that we're IL was like, finally with announced, I'm so happy that you know, I didn't know you knew. That's really cool. Yeah, it's really cool. It's t Nil and Travis Danning, Riley Green and Tiguan Marie and so that's a cool thing where you're doing a bunch stuff

with the Opery and they're doing like a disposure program. Yeah. Yeah, it's like they're supporting a lot of the adventures of this year, and I think that means I get to play the opera bunch, So I'm really excited. Well, your your family all the hundred forty then me to come back every time, going to be the same if they're not here every time. Let me also say this that you can buy the when you're gonna put up music like a record, you know yet really soon hopefully nineteen

possibly possibly, I'm we're still out sure on that part. Soon, Okay, okay, I'm freaking out. I can't wait for you to hear more. I know, I know, and I don't take music ever that's not out, so I would never listen like, so I put it out so we can all have it together. Let me recommend the Velvet's Edge podcast with Kelly Henderson. She talks about style and fashion and a lot of

women things don't understand, right might yeah yeah. Also Amy Amy Brown has a podcast called four Things with Amy Brown where if you like Amy from the show, you'll love even more because of this podcast. So that's up to let me check that out. So there you go, and I think we're gonna wrap it up to Neil. Always great to see you, so good to see Bobby. Thank you for having me check her on social media at t nil Towns t E n i l l E t O w n e s T nil Towns.

Thanks for our sponsors, Warby Parker and Dollar Shave Club. And that would be a episode one forty nine of the Bobby Cast. Thank you, M nine