Episode three seventy two with Madeline Edwards. Loved it. What a what a fun time. Uh. This is Madeline Edward's song called Mama Dolly Jesus you ain't may she is and she was described to me as someone who will come in and challenge you in the best way, meaning I would really like her and she would go just whatever I had to say. If she had something to say back, she would for sure say it. And that was the case. Her new album is out right now.
It's called Crash Landed. I think we recorded this is the day before it came out, and so we kept going it's it's out now, even though it wasn't something like that. You can follow her at making Madalene. She grew up in a large musical family that moved from California to Houston when she was in high school. You know, her mom was a big influence on her music taste.
Her mom wanted to listen to jazz and classical, and you know she ever made her listen to old country western music and Madeline even sings for us a little bit when talking about jazz, which I thought was crazy. When she was doing the did I can't I can't do it because I never want to make anybody sing, and I said that I don't want make anybody sing here because you didn't. But she did. And it wasn't that she was showing off how good she can sing.
She was showing a jazz style. I like, wow, that's crazy. So check it out. I really enjoyed it. Support her, go follow her. This is Madeleine Edwards. The new album is called crash Landed. The new song is called Mama Dolly Jesus. And here she is on the Bobbycast. First of all, thank you for the coffee, of course. So this is is this a special brand or special flavor? It's both. So this is a Houston specific company. It's called Cats Coffee, and they bring a lot of different
elements of Texas into the coffee. So it has these very very slight notes of like sugar, cinnamon, chocolate, all that kind of stuff. But I don't know. It's my favorite coffee, and I'm not a massive coffee drinker. So anyone that likes coffee, I think is actually going to really like it. We had a coffee machine, I guess I was an espresso machine, and I had forgotten to clean it for I've forgotten, don't know, like eater, and
so it was so gross. It's almost like when you look in your dryer and you forget you haven't been cleaning out the lent for a long time. You're like, oh wow, this it was so disgusting. Wait, do you have like a normal coffee machine? Yeah? I would have figured in a house like this, you have like a robotic coffee maker where it like cleans itself and then it says, hey, good morning, how are you? Yeah? Yeah, yeah, whatever,
you know. I was gonna say that, Well, we had an espresso machine that basically did that too, but it was so I just had left it so disgusting that we had to throw it out because oh no, it was like a virus inside of thing. I'm yeah. My wife was like, this has never been cleaned. I was like, I've really let you down. So but we have a new one now and it does it just hello, good morning. It rubs my feet. It's amazing. It's the greatest coffee
coffee machine ever. That's amazing. Have you done the Today Show yet? Did you just do it? Did yesterday? You did? Who were you with? I was with Hooda and Jenna love them? Yeah, they're pretty amazing. They kind of freaked out after I played, and I had no idea we were still filming, and I almost cussed on air, and because i was just so excited from their reaction, and I'm like, oh, ship, Like, I'm glad I'm not saying this in front of everyone on national television. Luckily there's
a bit of a delay. I hosted The Today's Show a few weeks ago with Hoda and she's I mean, she's the loveliest and she's as if not more lovely off camera. It's one of those rare people where you go, there's no way they can be this awesome all the time. But I spent four days with her just the best. She's pretty amazing, pretty amazing, And so I'm glad I'd heard either you were doing it or you had done it, and I was hoping that was the hour you did,
because they're they're amazing. How that experience is weird though, because you have to get up so early to to like go through sound check. Yeah, that's why my voice is like an octave deeper today and my eyes are bloodshot. I'm not stoned. I promise you that's okay too. But it's like that. You know, you go on it like maybe ten that's the hour you're actually on up there, but you have to what time do they tell you
to get there? We had to get there at about four thirty, and so obviously I have to get all my makeup done. I have to put hair into my already here hair, and put makeup on, lashes, the whole ordeal, which I I don't usually do, but for national television, I thought it was probably appropriate to look decent. And so I'm getting up at like three am, if not earlier than that, to start getting ready to go. It's brutal. It's brutal for me and my normal job. I wake
up really early. Obviously we go on the air at five. But I imagine for you someone who doesn't your your job doesn't require you most of the time to wake up that early. That's gonna be. That's awful. Not usually are you doing the thing where you're going around radio stations? Have you done that yet? Radio tour? Yeah, gets the worst. You never have to do it. Everyone's warning me about I never wish that up on anyone. It's it's literally the worst. Maybe you don't have to do it. Hopefully
I can just bypass that. Not that I don't love radio and not radio personalities, but I don't want to wake up early. I'm not a fan of either myself. Here's the point that now you can connect with everybody in every way that you don't have to be in touch them. Yeah. You literally can get on a zoom and meet somebody. Do you have any meetings? I have now because I don't have to fly to Los Angeles.
I don't have to fly across town and they're like, hey, we want you to meet with some executive of a TV show that I'm talking like, okay, I have to fly No, no, no no, just yeah, wow, I don't have to fly. No. So the radio tour thing I hope goes away. I think post COVID, that's kind of become more of a reality, not just a regional thing. Even if you want to and I have a lot of friends in radio, kid, but even if you they wanted to send you to Atlanta, right and you do that
southeast part, they wanted to send you to Pittsburgh. Okay, but for new artists, I feel bad because they run you guys ragged. So I hope that doesn't happen to you. Well, let's keep on dreaming. What are you doing this week? So you said you're about to go back to New York. You just came from New York. No, I just came from New York yesterday. We landed yesterday afternoon. But this week is a big week because I'm debuting my first record, my first full length record, tomorrow. The viewing, what do
you mean this? Just this being my first full length record. I've put out you know, EPs and singles before, but this is my first full length and it consists of twelve songs, and it's been in the works for the last two years. But I really feel like it's been in the works for my whole life. It's just a huge accumulation of influences and styles and sonics that I'm really inspired by and I wanted to put onto this record. Um, so yeah, that's coming out tomorrow with a music video.
Why I'm confused is Okay, today's Thursday, but this will be your record will already be out by the time this airrors. So in my head, I was already there, and You're like, it's come out tomorrow, I'm like, we have another one, So this is it? So as of now it's out. Oh, yes, it's out. Now, it's out right now it's out. So with with that, you say you've been I forget the terminology. You said you've been working on your whole lives said, what do you mean by that? It's been a long process for me to
get here. And what I mean by that is I am very sure and confident of what my sound is, what I want to say, what I'm trying to present in my songs lyrically, how I'm trying to produce it sonically, what kind of creatives I want to be working with in order to get that product um And I feel like this has been so I started off in jazz, you know, moved my way into soul, experimented in pop for a little bit, went into Western and now here I am in country music. But it's a huge accumulation
of all of those styles. And so when I started in jazz when I was like ten years old, to where I am now, it's just building, building, building off of what I've already learned in my past with music and basically trying to put it in a way that is easily digestible for the consumer, but is still really broad and deep and introspective. So with all that, I'm gonna ask a couple dumb guy questions in a second. But, um my journey here. I worked in pop, worked in alternative,
worked in hip hop, I worked in setted sports. You know, I'm here in country. I grew up in Arkansas country to start with. But I've balanced all around. And when I first got here, it was, oh, you're not one of us, I was told all the time. So you're not one of us, You're not one of us. You came from this or that. You've done multiple things, and here we don't do multiple things. We do one thing. And I'm like, no, no, no, no, That's that's how it used to be. But that's not how people are today.
So I don't think that's how anyone that works in Nashville in this format are. How has that been? Because again, you have so many different I don't even want to say influences. I want to say almost fundamental parts of your musical journey and career. Has anyone been like what you're saying jazz and how you're doing country? How does that work? Yeah? I not to get too deep into it, but I come from a really interesting household and come from a mixed race household. My mom's white, my dad's black,
um my sisters adopted. I spent half of my life in Santa Barbara, California, and half of my life in Houston, Texas, very different geograph fix, very different political climates, and so I feel like I was really um privileged in a sense to be able to kind of have this really empathetic, unbiased view towards people. And I've always kind of felt like I was in the middle anywhere, I always felt like I didn't fit, and so entering into this space
wasn't any different for me. It's something that I've always kind of dealt with my whole life. And I find a way to kind of carry that confidence of even though I look different, I still belong here, and the empathy in it helps people to really connect with me and connect with my music, And so I don't ever feel like I don't belong even though I know for a fact that I don't fit in. That's good. I
don't belong. I belong, but I don't fit in. Yeah, I think I feel I understand that because I do belong and people love you here, and I think people and it's very a very revisionous history too. But I
think people same can be said for you. People respect how many the word voice, not as my literal physical voice, but people respect your voice, not singing voice, but who you are and what you have to say the same way that I think even people don't like me or how I do things, I think they still respect my voice as well because I've really been unapologetic about it and I've always known who I am and what i want to say and who I want to represent, and
so same can be said about you. When I was asking people about you, they were like, oh, you'll love her. She's strong and she'll be strong with you. And I'm like, she should be scared or they're like, no, you'll you'll respect you. Feel like people said the same thing about you. That's what it was because I I was like, hey, what's madete. They're like, oh, yeah, you'll like her. She's strong, And I'm like, what are you am I intimidate? Am I scared? They're like, no, no, no, you'll you'll kind
of meet your match in the best way. And so that's that's like the that's that's the best compliment that someone could Yeah, I'm not that intimidating. I'm actually pretty nicey. No, it's not that you're not not to be kind of mean, but I'm I've I've found Jesus since, so I'm kind of nice now. I think your confidence can be intimidating to some people. Yeah, I mean, but but that's not something that you have to worry about. That's a them thing. Yeah, and and I'm the same for me. I think sometimes
my confidence can be misconstrued at times. I think my confidence and also my crazy insecurity because I have both, It's it's okay to have both, because I'm a creative. I think that sometimes can look like with me arrogance. No one said that about you, but I can. I hear that about me. It's like, oh, he's kind of arrogant, and they're probably right. And how it's presented because sometimes
I'm really confident. Sometimes I'm so insecure that I have to like, oh no, no, no, I'm really good, I promise, And so it's a weird, weird mix to deal with. But well, you've had longer in this industry too, so you're gonna have more critics coming against you, and I might sometime in the future too, and also I'm more of a jackass. Let's be honest, I think that's what it is. Were you always that confident? But I'm not.
I'm so not in parts of my life. The only thing that I know I'm good at is this and I'm the best at it. And then other than that, I am so insecure. Can I ask you a question whatever you want? Do you ever feel like you get that impostor syndrome? Because you feel like there's parts of your life where you don't feel like that, but here and when you're creative, that confidence comes through completely. I
live imposter of that. My career life was a pie and most of its imposter syndrome, just because I shouldn't. I don't feel like I'm that talented whereaf when I hear you and I know all that you've gone through to get to this point, and all the pivots that you've taken in different roads have gotten you here, and those roads have gotten you here, But I feel like you are talented and you've picked up a lot of things along the way, And I go, mam Adan's so good,
she's so talented, Like you have a literal talent. I get a find and people say I'm talented. I know it's a weird thing, therapy thing, but I'm like, I'm not talented. I've just worked hard, and you're telling me I don't work very hard because I'm not talented? Were you? I know you're super talented, but also know how hard you've worked, But you have a talent. If you were taken out of here and thrown into Albuquerque tomorrow, you could still work and sing and have a career in Albuquerque. Me,
I'm done, I've got nothing. I'm out of here. I wouldn't say that I've Built've climbed a ladder, and if I fall lader, there no more steps back up. They've cut all the steps out underneath me as I've climbed up. So when did you? But I mean, I sincerely mean it. Um How what? How do you sing jazz? What does that mean? It's different tones and tambers in your voice. So I mean, do you want me to give you an example? You don't have to ask you to sing
because I know you've traveled. I mean, I don't mind, it helps explain it better, I would If you don't mind, I would love it. So I grew up on Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, at A James Dave Rebecca, And there is a certain uh learning how to combine the improvisation of jazz with also structure, um, because you can sometimes do whatever the hell you want in jazz and everyone's like, yeah, babadaba, and that's jazz, but there is a structure to it.
I think that's what a lot of people don't see. Um. And so for instance, what I loved in Ella Fantzgerald's voice is that she had this tone was that was super rich, but also she has this timber that a lot of operatic people do with more space in between, but when you have jazz, it's closer in between. So how you would do it is um dree a little dre of me like that, So it's quicker where opera it's way more space in between. Pop you don't really
see it that much. Country you can see it sometimes you say space in between, space in between the verbrato going on in between your voice. And so you train to do that in jazz to have you can the way I trained myself as I just listened to it a lot, I taught myself. Can you listen to music and do you have a good ear Like with instruments. I know you play piano. Can you listen here? Can
you hear something and translate it almost immediately? Oh? Yeah, I mean I would definitely consider myself even a producer in that sense that I can pick up things pretty easily when I listened to them. When did you realize as a kid that you it came a little easier to you than it did other people that were trying to play piano or just do music randomly. I was probably like eight or nine, I started picking up piano quicker, and uh, just picking up jazz piano. It is specifically
quicker than than I probably should have. Um, I didn't know that I was good at music though. I It wasn't something that I thought to myself, like, wow, I sound good. I remember wanting to try out for Star Search when I was like five and trying to learn a Mariah Carey song and it was failing epically, And then I was like, no, I don't think I can try out for Star Search because I don't think I actually thought I was good. But I worked hard at it, and I think when there's a certain level of talent
and you work hard, it's just a good combination. So do you water? Oh? I have one? Oh? You do? Okay? Just making sure do I sound dry mouthy? You do not. But when you I'm grateful that you would show me that with your voice, because I never want to require that because obviously you're traveling and or just you're talking and I didn't tell you, And then I was like, I to make sure you have water if I'm you're singing here. Oh no, I just want to make sure
you're good. Yeah, no, no, no no, I'm fine. I love singing any I'll take any excuse to sing. I'm not snobby about it. Are you someone? Because as your star has risen at least here in this town in the past, I would say six months a year or so when people, you know, reals are popping people knowing about you. Are you doing different things to take care of your voice, You're learning things or are you still kind of the same You're just gonna do how you do it. No,
I've had to start taking care of it. So before I moved to Nashville, when I was living in Houston, I was singing as my job. This was my full time job. I sang four or five hours a night, almost four or five nights a week. Huh doing what what are you singing? Just singing anything pop, country, jazz, maroon five, Frank Sinatra, where just in jazz bars, steakhouses. I'm that was my bread and butter. That's how I
put myself to college. That's how I learned how to be a really good singer and support myself doing it. It wasn't the most glamorous thing in the world. But I think when I was doing that, your voice is a muscle. So Olympic runners, I mean they can run miles and miles and miles and they don't get tired. But it's because they've trained their body to do that. Um, same thing with a voice, Like, if you train yourself to sing and protect it the whole time, you can
sing four or five hours a night. And I honestly wasn't even getting tired. I was just stretching this muscle as far as it could go and learning how to protect it at the same time. So now what I do is cold water therapy. I love the whim Hoff method. Um. Actually, just try a sauna situation this morning where you go into a chamber. It's kind of a nightmare for anyone that's claustrophobic. But I tried it today and I loved it. So is a sauna situation a sauna? I don't understand it.
I mean, I think it's a sauna. You know what I'm talking about where you go into that chamber and then you're kind of like covered from the chest down and you can't is not that must be? Is it cold or hot? It's super hot? You eve heard because I listen. I know you made fun of me the coffee thing. We have a sona here too, do you really? Yeah? But it's not it's not your you must have gone to some specialized I think it's a specialized son it's new new technology. I don't know that. I wasn't well.
Apparently it's good for your voice. And then also I've been drinking and eating a lot of pasta as a celebration, and I'm gonna have to fit into this address for the CMAS next week, and I'm like, I'll sweat out all of this is as such as I can. Yeah, you talk about your record, which is out um and something that I constantly have to reevaluate is again I'll go back to the word voice, like what do I stand for? What do I want to say? Who do I want to say it to? How do I want
to say it? It's what is my perspective? Right? This is something I'm cont it mine changes too as I get older, as I meet new people, as my mind is open to, like what is your voice? Like? Who? What's what is it? What? What's your perspective? What? What? What is your deal? What do you want to do?
How do you want to do? I've never really had anyone asked me that before, but I feel like people just get the gist, but there's actually an answer to this, which I'm glad you asked me this because I feel like I could go more in depth with my answer. But I think because of my background, I'm a true believer in inclusivity in in every aspect, whether that be belief, systems, genders, um,
no matter where you come from, no matter what your races. UM. I was very fortunate to grow up the way I did, but I know a lot of people weren't, and a lot of people see a lot of oppression and um just polarizing anything, especially in this society and especially with social media and technology right now. And so my message is to push loving everyone and just showing that inclusivity not only in my songwriting, but even in just like
I think this is a weird futuristic country record. I you see little bits of R and B in motown and songs like Forehead Kisses, but it still sounds like a Brooks and Done song because there's slide guitar on it and steal. You hear these elements of true, true country and too much of a good thing and why I'm calling, and you hear you know, different sounds across the board, And I think that's even showing some inclusivity too, because it's showing a broad spectrum of of genres and cultures.
And so I just want to show people, especially in this day and age, that you can become a stronger person by digging deep and going through the pain. I think there's a lot of things to distract us right now from doing that. I'm not even just talking like substances and alcohol. I'm literally talking about even our phones or shopping or just things that distract us from going
through hard things in our life. And the reason why I've gotten to this place that I've gone through or that I am right now, is because I've gone through this really really really hard ship in my life and a lot of abuse, and instead of running from it like I used to, now I'm doing the things that I need to do, the heart work. I'm going to therapy, I'm making sure i'm building my community around me, making sure I'm pouring into my family as much as I can.
And it's made me a stronger person, and I want people to see that. So that's kind of the message that I'm I don't know if that totally answered this question, but it doesn't in a way. And I've already say a few things that resonate with me where and you can tell me if it is somewhat similar for you. I used to be very resentful at how I grew up.
You know, my mom was an addict when she died in her forty as my dad left when I was young, I was welfare kids, food stamp, kid trail, the part kid whatever, all these things, and I used to hate it. I used to be so ashamed of it, and I used to be someone who resented it. And I never had a dad, and all these things happened to me,
and I was just angry and sad. However, I got to a point where I started to appreciate it because I'm glad all of that happened now because one talk about developing a muscle, and to the tool that I have that I use the most as empathy, and I'm so fortunate to have that, and I wouldn't have gotten in any other way, Like you can't. That doesn't happen unless you go through all of that. And so now
there's I do see that. I was fortunate to have that happen and get through it and be able to go, Okay, I see it, and I only trying to make sure that doesn't happen and with other people if I can end the next generation. I mean, like we carry the things that our parents do into our life, and you have a choice to break those generational curses and to break those barriers, you know, like my kids are not going to deal with my kids, whether I have them
biologically or adopt or whatever. That looks like it starts with me. It starts and it ends with me, and that's I'm not carrying that over. And it sounds like that's kind of the philosophy you have in your life too. Yeah, I think so, I mean, I know. So it's when it comes to my life. Obviously, I look at me different. I look at you know what, I'm like, Hey, that's awesome. Look at you should be so proud and you look at your stuff like you know, but I now am
proud of it. And as you talk about, did you have a stage where you're like, you know what sucks for me? It's difficult right now? And did you ever hit a point where you you're now you where you look back and go, oh, I've learned from all this. This is the greatest teaching set ever. Was it always as positive with you? Definitely? Not? Um, I mean this is kind of I would say, even a more recent uh attitude that I walk around with. I would say, over the last maybe three or four years, it's been
like this. It's when I really started digging into you know, therapy and and trying to figure out how I need to take my past traumas and learn how to live with them. Um. I'm trying to think of when I didn't think that way? Was there anything specific to happen that kind of flipped your mind? Therapy was a big part for me too. I I didn't know what therapy was growing up, and then I started to go only because they offered it as part of like insurance, and
I was like, what is therapy? We didn't we have therapy where I came from just worried about eating, you know, And so I was like, I got to therapy, what is this? And I went and it it comes plately, I would say, revolutionize my approach to perspective. And I understand it's a silly concept, Like if I try to explain it to people that also are not familiar with therapy,
you know it. It's it's not just going into a room and being like blah blah blah blah blah, here's my problems, and they're like, cool, here's the check, have a good day. I don't know. I feel like there was a time in my life, um probably leading up to when I started digging in that I was just noticing a lot of patterns of falling back into past demons. And I feel like I have a very addictive personality.
I've seen that kind of be a string in my life, and that's something that I've seen, you know, past generations in my family deal with. And I really feel like it must have been not even a crazy rock bottom. I think it's just when I started seeing it hurting the people around me, like my family and um, people that really cared about me and wanted to see me out of this. And don't get me wrong, I mean there's been a lot of things. I also come from
a fatherless home. He was pretty abusive in our life, and um, you know, it was tough to deal with. But and I'm the oldest of five, so I kind of took over as like this weird mom role to my siblings along with my mom, and me and my mom are survivors. You know, we've we've dealt with a
lot of ship. But I think it's kind of just an annoying pattern of me seeing that and using my trauma or my abuse as an excuse to be like, actually, I want to drop five thousand dollars even though I know I don't have the funds to do this, or I should be saving for something like a house or
college or whatever. Or seeing myself like going to weed, or seeing myself going to alcohol or whatever, and deciding I want to find a way to manipulate these patterns to where I don't have to fall back into this because I'm seeing myself in my father's shadow right now, I think that's probably more so what it was is seeing myself and my dad and not wanting to be him. Yeah, that's what scares me because I don't I got married a year and a half or so ago for the
first time and we don't have kids yet. But it scares me to death because I saw I didn't see my dad, but I saw what happened there, and I'm like, what if I'm not like and I go to I have a lot a lot of therapy, and it's like, I don't have to be that. I'm I've broken the cycle and every other way. Why do I Why do I just attach myself to that one? Like what if I have a kid? I'm like, hey, I'm out, and I don't think that, but he did that so well.
The funny thing is like, you know you're not going to be like that too, Like deep down, yes, my brain says, look at the data. For sure, you will not be like that because of every other way that you've changed your life. However, there's just something in trance, in my in my heart and my gun. That's all. This is just I'm just scared and it kind of overrides all the all the systems. Yeah, no, I feel that. Thank you for sharing that too. That's very vulnerable. You know,
I live a life of vulnerability. That is what I do. Uh, your family musical growing up? Yes, I um, all of my siblings are musical. So the brother right under me, his name is Mica Edwards and he's still based in Houston, and he has coined himself the title Mr. Texas Soul and so he'll go around. You know. He's very much like a cross between Leon Bridges and Charlie Crockett. Has an incredible band with steel guitar and a horn section.
He actually just opened for the War and Treaty last week in Houston, and um, he definitely follows in that lane of the Gary Clark Jr. Abraham Alexander world. And he's incredible. And um, my middle brother is out in l A pursuing acting in music as well, so creative like arts filled family. Yeah, I bet that's awesome sometimes and also yeah really ann yeah, yeah, I mean I can see where you can relate. But also it's kind of it's the double edged sword. So do you guys
ever just get together? Go? Nobody talks about music or art. No, we love it, We bond over it. It's something that when we're together, it's kind of like a language of ours, like did you hear this? Tim and Paula record No, let me okay, da da da da, and then we'll just put it on and we'll analyze the music together in the room. It's kind of weird actually, now that I'm saying that out loud, But so all you three are very musical. But your mom did she have music
in the house. Yes, we were exposed to classical music, early jazz, like the people I was saying before um seventies, music like the Beatles and Bread and the b Gs and not very modern stuff. My mom didn't really like modern music, and so I actually didn't even know about artists like Britney Spears or Christina Aguilar until I was in middle school, which is wild. I felt sheltered. Get to a radio yourself somehow, that's how Is that how
you found it? Like somebody else having a radio? Oh yeah, I think I like just rode with one of my friends in the car one day and I'm like, what is this and they're like, oh, this is Britney Spears, Like this doesn't sound very jazzy. What what's the difference now because I know or November now, last month you get signed at Warner was the last month, So what's the what what has happened since then? Because you obviously get signed, but then like what what happens every day?
That's different. I mean, this whole year has been moving fast, so it's it's just kind of a lot of the same stuff. However, it's really cool because this music video that we're putting out tomorrow, gosh, it's already out. You can find it right now. I need to keep saying that the music video that's out right now, Mama Dolly Jesus.
I mean, it looks expensive and it's incredible because I've I've never made work like this before, and it's kind of cool just having that associated with my music and my image now because that's always the level I've wanted to be at and that's something that I've been chasing my whole life, and to see it in this capacity now is a lot different. So life is kind of stayed the same in terms of dizziness, but everything is elevated. Yeah, now you have people with more influence working to hopefully
put you into place to succeed. Yeah, that's pretty cool. That means. You know why I mean and why it's cool is they only have so much time and so much money, and in the fact they're spending both on you means that there's a belief in you. I mean, that's what it is. I mean, they have limited time, limited money. They're gonna only pick the limited amount of people to spend both on, and they have not chosen
you to spend some time and money on. Yeah. Pressure, yeah right, but still you give me all the pressure because I've earned the pressure and I've been working hard to feel the pressure. And that's some pressure, then feel good. But I'd rather have pressure than no pressure, because no pressure means nobody, nobody cares. No, that's yeah, I mean that that's people. You know. Ask me about being nervous
a lot when I was working on American Idol. It was really one of the things I worked with the contestants on most or like how how do you not be nervous? And it's just been a common theme of man, you should be happy you're nervous. Imagine you're never nervous. That means not that matters. I mean, d you get a shot at anything? Like you you only have so many times in your life that you get to be
positively nervous, for sure, because most offs were nervous. It's like somebody's sick, somebody's But think about you get to go, you have a shot, you get to feel you get to feel nervous. Here's your gift with a bow on it. Nerves congratulations. Now here's what you do with it, Like it's one of the greatest gifts. Same thing as pressure. Yeah, it's one of the greatest gifts. It's a weird gift because then feel good. But I I appreciate you saying that.
I had an interesting conversation with someone a couple of days ago that was very similar to that philosophy. Her name's Monica Earnshaw, and she was actually my boxing coach in Houston, and I saw her in Houston a few days ago and she told me, you know, what are you feeling with all this happening so quickly? And I told her, you know, some days it feels really amazing, and then some days it's happening so fast that I don't feel like I'm adjusting well. Like I feel like
a lot of things are falling through the cracks. I'm forgetting to respond to some people because there's just so many people to spawned too or whatever. I feel like I'm failing at it. And all she said to me was, you've been given a gift and your only job now is to just honor it, and that's it. And I it was the most simple advice. And now I feel like I'm just going to carry that and this into the rest of whatever happens from here on out, because
it's just that simple. You just honor the gift. I would get really tired and I would go and be flying all over and just shoot a show here we was shot a show in another country of doing the radio show every day, and I'll be so tired, and I would have to remind myself how lucky it might have be this exhausted doing what I want to do. Like my you know, my my mom got married again later in life, and she was married for a few years to my stepdad for a few years before she
passed away, and he worked at a sawmill. He was tired. But there's a difference. I'm tired, you're tired. We get to do we get we're tired at like going after the thing we've always wanted to go after, and that is, and after I have to remind myself that I'm not reminding you. Sometimes I'm talking myself into this and go, you're really freaking lucky to be tired, Like stop complaining. And then I'm like, why are you talking to yourself
in the mirror? You can just think these thoughts and it's a whole thing where then I make fun of myself out loud, and you know, we have yeah, and then we take a bath. It's all um, So I do want to play Mama Dolly Jesus. Now that being said, legally, if we play more than five seconds, we get sued, not by you really, Yeah, but they have all these rules now on podcasts and music. And we used to be considered an editorial podcast, but now any podcast you
play for five seconds, you go to jail apparently. So we're gonna we're gonna do two five second clips. We'll talk for a second and go back into it. Can we do that, Mike? Yeah? All right, Here is Mama Dolly Jesus. You ain't dollars Jesus. All right, So we'll talk for us just a second here and just talk about Look at that there's a tree outside the window, all right, Mike, give me a little bit more. Jesus,
what's the video? What is it? Yeah, like what you said it was that they spend a bunch of money on. It looks cool at your vision, Like, what is it? What's man? It's so cool. It's one I've never seen a video like this, especially in the country music space, and now that it's out, I can talk about it. But it's basically this concept that me and my girlfriends
we're super confident in who we are. We board this train with a bunch of tired, angry people that are that don't love themselves well, but they see us and they see us in all this confidence and it's infectious and it takes over the entire train. And at the end of the video, you know, we get this amazing surprise. We have a drag dolly in the in the video, and it's incredible because I'm talking about Jesus and also having a drag dolly in the video at the same time,
which I mean that could piss people off. I don't really care if it does, but honestly, it's just promoting more of the inclusivity. But also it's just this really it's this really fun video. I don't. I think it's totally positive and it's not meant to be divisive or controversial at all. I feel like it's really fun and positive and really trying to get people to feel confident and love themselves well and so then they'll be able to love other people well as as Wow, well as well.
How is the operation? When I saw, because I you know, I spent a lot of time at the opera your debut a couple of months ago. Yeah, I saw it pop up on the Instagram. I wasn't there that night, but it's pretty cool. Huh. Yeah. It was nerve wracking. There's cameras in your face all day, they're always you know. That makes makes me a little more nervous. But it
was really cool. My mom got to be there and I sang why I'm calling, which is about her, and she lives in California now doing she's actually a child psychologist as well. But um, I just missed her. I'm I'm doing a lot of big things in my career that honestly I wouldn't be able to do if she didn't raise me and protect me the way she did.
And so it's kind of sad her missing out on all these really big life events just because we're so far away, and you know, she's working in California right now, but um, she got to be there and that was really special for me. And I was probably crying from you know, the minute I woke up to the minute I want to sleep, just because I was so grateful. That's cool. Was she crying obviously? Yeah? Do you see you and her? I do. I see more of myself
and my mom than and my dad. For sure. She's a really giving, loving person, and I think she actually believes the best and a lot of people and builds them up well. And I've always wanted to be like that. I think I'm starting to see myself be like that more so. You are you feel like you're maturing? Do you feel like I mean, I'm old as crap. I better be maturing by now. Yeah, but there are plays I'm eight years old in some ways still. Yeah. You know,
I don't think age and maturation. I don't think they always go hand in hand. That's true. There are some parts of my life where again I'm nine, and my wife and in serious and joking, she's like, look, you've there are certain parts of your life where you froze certain parts of your um you know, psychological lives and parts of my emotional There's there are some trauma there that just said, all right, we're gonna put a stop sign here and we're just gonna stop into you have
to uncomfortably go through the top sign. Yeah, I get that, and I'm Peter Pan and Peter Pan in a lot of ways. I mean, I'm still a kid in some ways like that. That's why I'm in therapy. But yes, I feel like I'm a cheering a little bit. Did you always know what you wanted to do? Yes? Because I always knew, and it was it was weird to me the people didn't. And your let's say you're seven, what do you want to do when you were seven? Music? Did you want to do this when you were ever?
There are three things I wanted to do. I wanted to be on the radio, on TV, and be a stand up comedian, and I do all three. But I've always the create. I just would look at people be like, what do you mean you don't know what you want to do? I just didn't understand the concept of not
I knew immediately, but you too. Isn't it crazy that we actually get to do it, though, there's like maybe two percent of people that actually get to say that they and entertainment specifically, because your odds are even small. You think your odds are small in the real world, they're even smaller in the world of entertainment. So the
fact that we're getting to do this is wild. When you wanted to do music, let's say you're seventeen, different stage alive, you still want to do music, But what what did that mean to you as a teenager when you wanted to do music. I had to kind of buck up and and figure out how that was going to be a career transition or start a career with that, because obviously when I was seventeen, I was actually I
started playing in jazz bars when I was fourteen. So you when you say music, did you want to sing specifically, or was it I wanted to sing. I wanted to be a songwriter. I wanted to be a producer. So a fourteen you start going into jazz bars and singing. Well, you know, it's funny. I actually started singing in jazz bars because it was a way that I could help my family keep the lights on. But then I loved it. And I actually ended up making a lot of money
doing that. And I sang for this guy in Houston. His name's Tilman for Tita billion dollar buyer. He also owns the Houston Rockets and the U of H team, but he has a ton of restaurants and steakhouses and very high fine dining places in the entire Texas and South and on um. But I was like one of his main piano players and singers for all of his
establishments and all of his corporate events and everything. And so it was funny that it started off as this thing to really help my family along, and then it ended up being this amazing career by the time I left Houston and moved to Nashville. So, you know, the Beatles would talk about I don't know the Beatles. I just read book. I don't talk to you about it. But if you know the Beatles, I don't know the Beatles.
But they they would always an interviews and in books that would talk about going in They would be in Germany. They play the clubs in Hamburg for you know, eight nine hours at a time, and that's really where they got good at everything because they had to do eight or nine hours they had to play songs two or three times. They'd have to play all these covers, the occasional original. But that's where when you talk about singing three or four hours, and they were like, well, we
learned how not to be tired. For sure, you would sing for eight hours, you would, or you'd play for it. You just be tired. But we learned how not to be tired and perform at a high level because we had to do it so off. And so when you're telling that story about you having a sing for three or four hours a night and your voice wasn't even tired, we had to learn how to do that. It's probably easier to not go blow your voice while doing a show now because you've had all this training. Is a
good word for it, like it's literal, it's hard. It was paid practice time. That's what I thought of it as when I was seventeen, which I think is a really mature way to think of it as a teenager. Anytime I was like, man, I don't want to play for four hours. This is really tiring. Um My mom
told me. She was like, you're just getting paid to basically practice every song in every key, in every format, whether people are paying attention to you, or whether they're paying more attention to the football game behind you on the screen, Like it doesn't matter. You're getting paid to practice and you can mess up and no one cares. You did a show with Stapleton, actually did a whole
tour with Stapleton, which I have a funny story about. Okay, so you go, you have a story for me or Okay, So first, how did you and Chris even come together? What was that? I was kind of online friends with Morgan, his wife, and we just kind of followed each other for a little bit up until the c m As last year when I sang with Mickey and Brittany and I met them because their table was right in front of our table, and I had just come off the
stage from singing. My makeup is all sweating down my face because I'm crying and sobbing with the girls, and Morgan and I have already been basically Instagram friends for a couple of months, and she points at me and she blines it for me because she loved the performance, and she really really loved my music at the time, and she'd play it for her family, and we just made that connection there at the c m A S. And I was again sobbing more because these are my
two musical heroes and the fact that I was getting to meet them on this really historical night, not only in my career but just in country music, it was kind of unreal for me. So you meet then and then who does she go come come out with this or yeah, my my touring agent, Lenore. She was the one that reached out to them when they were looking for a new opener, and Yola had come off for a few events that she was already doing and they were looking for someone to fill yolas spot, which actually
this rolls perfectly into my story. So one of the spots that Yola was out for was Chris's massive Kentucky concert at a stadium and the lineup am I allowed to cuss on this? Okay? The lineup was Chris s Tableton, Willie Nelson, Ryl Crow and who the fuck is Madeleine Edwards? That was the lineup. And very shortly before this happened, you were opening I think for Brooks and done was it and you had a song come out called No
One Cares About the Opener Garth Brooks. I was the opener yeah, yeah, I've never felt more seen than when you released that song on Instagram and it was like literally right before I was about to open in this stadium for all of this massive star lineup, and then everyone's not only like that, Liver, It's okay, it's like legitimately, I've never heard of this girl and what is happening right now? So I felt very seen in that moment.
Thank you. That's funny. But the difference is you had talent. Again, we go back to that. Here we are playing in front of seventy people without talent and and whatever. Yeah you know, Okay, So look you got the new album that's out now, not tomorrow. I don't know, now what do you? Let's talk expectations of the record that aren't super personal, meaning find your stuff. I want people to laugh and feel. I don't want to feel. But it's like, also I wanted to be What do you want the
record to do? Are you true? Like, what's the what's the purpose of this record when it comes to you in Nashville? Is it setting something up? You wanted to talk to be a number one? But what is it? What's the deal? Is there a single that goes to Mama Dolly Jesus. Okay, because we've I've played a bunch of your songs on the National weekend show, you know, I know you have, and thank you for that because I've been a fan for a long time. Well, thank you. So it's like, I just need to know what the
song is, you know. So yeah, Well, and the single is definitely Mama Dolly Jesus. I think that we're going is that what they know and they're gonna work that? Yes, okay, yes, es, Yes, that's the one that we plan on working, whether it be to radio or whatever that means. That's the one, um, which is why we did a music video to it. But my hopes and anticipations for the record, and I'll I'll preface this was saying, even if this record is a total flop and it doesn't do anything, I'm really
proud of it. And this is exactly what I wanted to make and produce, and this is the message that I'm trying to give to the world. And so even if it does terribly, I'm still kind of like, this is my favorite record in my favorite piece of art I've ever put out. But what I would like for it to do, I want this to be a new
era for me. I want this to be an establishing of my self here in Nashville in the country music space, even in the contemporary music space, because I think mom A Dooli Jesus has the potential to cross over to pop. UM. And I really wanted to be kind of a statement of this is who I am. And it's not snarky or cheeky, because I'm I'm, you know, challenging the listener to do the same thing. I'm challenging the listener to
do the hard work and be confident in themselves. UM. There's really really sexy songs on here, like Forehead Kisses or Playground that are very much UM. I'm very you know, confident in my sexuality. I'm very confident in in who I am as a woman, which especially in the Christian music space, which I'm not in Christian music, but I am a Christian. UM is usually looked down upon, and
I don't think it has to be. I think that could be used in a really positive light, a woman being confident in her body and being confident in her sexuality and um. And then you have songs like how Strong I Am and and talking about digging into the pain and coming out a stronger person. So there's a lot of different themes on the record. They all are genuine to who I am, but it's all challenging the listener to be confident in who they are. And so
I think that's kind of my goal for it. I don't really know, like accolades wise, what I'm I mean, Obviously, I would love it to go as far as I as I think it could go, which is, you know, I think this album could be recognized at least by Grammys. There if you don't say it, how's it supposed to do? It? You let people know your goals so they can help you. I mean, I don't want to sound egotistical, that's not I asked you the question. I asked you the question, would you like to go? I love to one of
Grammy Boom? There we go. Yeah, I knew it was personally fulfilling, Like I I really because I know that's who you are, right, You're not gonna do something that isn't you, And I'm glad you said that. But let's let's go. Let's get some big goals. We're not scared of goals now, I'm not. I think. I always kind of struggle with like, I want to say what I want, but I don't want people to think that I'm egotistical
or narcissistic for thinking that. And there's a very fine line to what people think as I mean, you are, like I said about me and arrogance, I don't feel like American at all, but I definitely can see sometimes I cross the line to people where they do think that, and I'm like, oh, yeah, I gotta I got a good point of feeling that way, because it could have come off that way. But I don't care. I tried to.
I don't care as much about what people that people understand me anymore because if they don't, either they will eventually or I'll just die and just be under un understood, and you know, I'll be one of the great thinkers that nobody ever really die. Not the part at the point, Okay, look here we are. The album is out. I everybody, I'm telling you just go listen to it. Um. It has been out for a bunch of days now, I don't I don't know any days at this point, tons
of days, tons of so many days. I'm just about a big fan. I enjoyed you anyway without knowing you. But everything that people told me about you, not they weren't exactly true. It's true. We're meeting you than even they said, Like, I really enjoy just spend a time with you. Yeah, you're very You're you're very deliberate, and I appreciate thank you. I will say, I've been kind of waiting for this call because I feel like music
is not cool until Bobby Bones says it's cool. And I was like, I saw you interviewing a lot of my friends. I'm like, man, he doesn't think my ship is cool yet. I guess I just got to keep making. I kept like making cooler and cooler ship, and oh, Bobby Bones didn't call me. I guess it's not that cool. But then finally you have a new album coming out album. If we would have called you two months ago, I wouldn't have been the same, right, it would have us
got to know each other. But then you would have missed a prime opportunity, or I would have missed a prime opportunity to promote something new that you have just spent. Well, you know what this means now it meets I don't know what I mean. It means my ship is cool. It already was. No, No, it already was. I'm telling you, I've played uh too much of a good thing. Heart. You can't break hold my horses, sports City, thinking about you been all this stuff I played right, So I
already thought it was cool. That's alright. So it was never that. It was always timing on when can you come in and promote your newest thing? And it makes We have a million people who listen to this, so I wanted to make sure that when you came in, we took their gift and we said, this is the gift I'm presenting you. It's Madalin and she's presenting her new project, her new music. There we go where everybody wins.
That's why you've always been cool. Thanks. I on the other hand, I have not, and I am not secured in my body. And we'll just end it there at making Madalen. That's it. Go go follow. What are you doing the rest of the day. The rest of the day, Oh, my family's income. They're coming in town because I'm singing for the Opery again, So I'm gonna be cleaning my house for the rest of the day. When you form the oy tomorrow, Saturday today, tomorrow we'll talk in real
terms now. Were actual recording this on a Thursday, but so's Friday night the night? Yeah, Oh that's cool. Good for you. Big week. Yeah, it's a big week. Operates a cool spot to do on an album released, because one, it's the Opery Opera is always cool. Um too. The it's on satellite radio. It's on all these ws M, so there's actually a reach as well aside from it just being the Opery and then there's a lot of good social that comes out of it. That's that's a
good good spot. I love it. We're gonna also be doing Mama Dolly Jesus with their bands with the Opery Band, which I think is going to go so hard, and then we're gonna really strip it down and I'm going to be playing all by myself on their grand Too much of a good thing. I think that is a perfect little spot right there. I've never heard anyone so the Opery Band goes hard, but I like it. They will on this song. They you will make them, I will make no doubt about it. Made You've been It's
been awesome talking to you. Yeah, it's really been amazing. You guys follow at Making Magdalene and you, guys check out the album because it is out now. It is right, and it's been out there because I was already listening to it last week. It's so great already. That's speaking into existence, all right. There she is mat elan Etter