#83 - Devin Dawson

the flight on your own because you were well. I was with my band and uh well my three piece you know we have sometimes we do full band, sometimes we do just acoustic three piece. And we were coming from Fort Wayne and the flight literally like we landed five minutes after our connecting flight. Wasn't to know. It was not my fault. So they got me a hotel and then you had to stay the night that it was you know what, it could be worse, man, but I'm here and I made it, so no complaints. Man.

I got my coffee too, so it's all good. What do you drink? Just black iced cough even if it's like negative a million degrees in the winter. Always always iced coffee, but black, always black. Yeah, where'd you grow up? California. Grew up in a town called Orangeville, which is kind of outside of thirty minutes outside of Sacramento. Yeah, so northern California, Northern California. Northern cal always say this about Northern California. People always feel like they're more human than

the Southern California people. I know, I don't know if I've ever used the word human more, but like that's a good way to put it. It's it's definitely two different states, you know what I mean. Like I feel like it's just a completely like once you cross over the grape Vine and you get down into the southern California, it's just a whole different energy, a whole different ball game. People like look in the eyeballs. In Northern California, it's nice.

Southern California people like trying to hand you stuff and trying to always find the angle, which but I get I get it because you kind of have to, you know, you kind of have to play that like puff your chest a little bit and turn your chin music up or whatever. Nick Jonas says, you know, like he kind of got to like the Nashville is the same way, Like I feel like Nashville and l A are the same, just a little smaller and you dress a little different.

I think Nashville is more familiar. It's got more of a camaraderie thing, like we want to we all want to get to the top, right, but we want to do it together, Whereas I feel like sometimes in l A, the stigma is more like I want to get to the top by standing on your shoulders somebody else, you know what I mean. Like I feel like Nashville fakes like they want to do it together. Man, I have

more I have more faith, I have more positivity. And maybe it's just because I'm green and wide eyed and um, you know, doing my thing and I haven't experienced any of that. There are great people. And when I moved town, I thought, I'm not gonna be friends with nobody, like that was gonna be my thing. I'm gonna move to town. I'm gonna be friends with nobody, and I'm gonna be completely objective about everything. And so if something sucks, I get on the ear and say it sucks. And if

it's awesome, I say it's awesome. Which you should, which I should, and I still really try to do. But there there are such good people here though, that it's been hard for me to keep from having friendships. It's hard for me to not right because I didn't want to have friends in the business at all, because I wanted to be a voice of the people, not a

voice that is it. Because of the things that you had heard from maybe l A or New York are other places that you had been, and so you'd kind of maybe gotten used to that stigma and that coming here, you know, like it was gonna be the same. No, not at all. I was just like, I'm going to not be the voice of the industry, and then I would.

Then I became friends with Dirks Past, Eric Passley. Then it's just like you meet good humans, you know, Like, how as much as I don't want to be friends with Philip from a little big town, you just kind of are. So I'm glad, I'm big fan of yours. Where do we meet? I can tell you this. I was sitting at dinner with Dan, Dan and Shay and you obviously you're very close to great, great friends, And it was probably like January of this year, and I

was like, Hey, what's up with this devon dude? Like, because I was listening to music and I even, uh, it's way before stuff I come out. And I had even called you head of your record label, and I was like, hey, let me hear some of this devon. Yeah, I think told me that he did. You were barking up the stree a little bit, and I don't bark up anybody's tree. And it wasn't even yet a project

coming out. I just wanted to because I was curious because I had seen you play a couple of things, and that I didn't even know about the YouTube thing. And I'll get to that in a second. I had no idea that that you did it, which is kind of cool that you didn't no idea. So I'll come back to that because I have questions because I know. And so I was like, let me hear about this guy, because I heard your sound and I would see you

and I was like, Okay, that doesn't fit. And I like that things that don't fit always make everything else fit, Like things that don't fit bust in and everything else fits around them if it's if it's really good. And so I've heard you play it and obviously here's a song, remember months ago just being like, this song is so freaking good. Count on me. You gotta tell me that you make this record, and I bet you get the normal that's not country. I bet you got that well,

of course. I mean I feel like I feel like a lot of people get that right now. And everyone has their own version of what country is or what how it's influenced them, you know, and like we're all products of how we've grown up or what we've grown up listening to. And I grew up listening to a lot of country, a lot of soul, a lot of rock, and each one of them has its own kind of

influence on what I do. Like the country shines in my lyrics and in my honesty and my storytelling per se, or just the way that I set up a song, like the kind of culture of songwriting in country music and in Nashville. And I think sonically the rock comes through in the grittiness of the sounds, and and the soul kind of comes through with the groove and then hopefully the emotion behind my voice, and so it all

kind of works together. Um, But you know, being in Nashville, in this community, like we were talking about in the songwriting that is just like so inherent and important. That's what drew me to this town in this genre, and it just was the only place that I knew I could really do what I wanted to do wholeheartedly. You know. Obviously the same thing because again, you grew up in a place that when people a California, but northern California's

pretty country, it is. It's crazy. People don't realize how rural not only Northern California, but most of California is. I mean, you have San Francisco and you have l A and everything else is pretty much just farms in in little towns. And I grew up in Orangeville, is thirty minutes outside of Sacramento, and it's just like a

little kind of horse country pocket. Like I literally grew up in a converted barn, Like my dad has a converted barn and that was the house, you know, and built a house from my grandparents up on the hill. And my my aunt lives behind us and her her you know, daughter and cousin lives right. It's this whole part of town that's just like kind of horses and turkeys and all that and so it's like it's just a it's just a it's a pace, right, It's a

pace of life, it's a way of life. It's just this thing that you know, it's a culture of what how you grew up? I guess right. And you know when you say you talk about your music, I get the same thing that people look at me or they hear the other kind of music that I'll play on the show because I play hip hop on the show. I love, of course, I'll play the rocks. I love rock like I love. But I grew up in a small town in Arkansas and I was raised on country.

People like, hey, so what is country to you? And to me, it's about the authenticity of the lyric more than it is a steel guitar, right, And steel guitars are great and that's traditional, that's very traditional. But I think today's country is more of let's have honest lyric. Yeah. Well, I'm I love a steel I'm such a sucker for a steel, but I want it when it's supposed to be there, not because it has to be, you know. And I think you're totally right. And that's what I say,

is that it's all about the lyric. It's all about the song. It's the way that you set up a hook. It's the way that you peel back the layers and you don't give him everything until the very last line and you tie that little bow on because country listeners are gonna wait for that story, you know, like that's what they expect, that's what they've been bred to do in a way of listened to a song in a certain way and appreciate a song in a certain way. And that's why I'm here because I love it too.

So your brother is in music, he is. Yeah, So I have a twin brother. First of all, I'm the old Yeah, I'm the older one. Thirteen minutes and up until yesterday, i mean, met these two uh little girls at a meet and greet yesterday in Fort Wayne, and they were thirty three minutes apart, and I'm we're thirteen minutes apart, which I would up until yesterday was the longest I'd ever heard of, like thirty three minutes. After

two minutes, it's usually like two minutes. It's usually like all right, I'm ready, let's go, you know, and uh so, yeah, And the cool thing is that we both grew up playing music. Together started a band when we were twelve, like rock band with our friends, garage band after school every day. I played bass, he played drums. And we've kind of worked our way through the industry and figured out where we landed and what was our calling and

why we're here. And he's more on the production kind of writing side, and obviously I'm more on the kind of writing artist singing side. And we're rather than being opposites, were more compliments. We compliment each other. Um because identical, we're fraternal, so fraternal technically means separate eggs, which I want to get him a shirt for a birthday that says separate eggs minels say egg one on the back as we'll say too. I don't want to like you

guys look alike. We look like brothers that just happened to be born at the same time. He's a little bit more he's got a little bit more fair complexion

than I do. Um, and he wears glasses. UM. I don't know, he's it's just it's a really cool time, and it's it's a cool opportunity to to be able to both do music and oh well, we each have our own foundation to stand down we each have our own circles that obviously intersect in some way, but there's no weird comparison, Like he's doing cool things in his own right and I'm doing cool things in my own right, and we come together to help each other out, but

there's never any weird like, man, I wish I was doing that or whatever. Like it's just I feel like that's so lucky that I that we get to be able to just interact normally like that and there's no weird anything in between. I don't know, I just feel like that could be rare, you know, just to see how rare it is to be doing this for a living in the first place, and then have your twin brother be doing it too. I just I don't know, it just blows my mind. Let me talk about Sleep

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fifty stores nationwide. Sleep number dot com to find the store nearest you go in. Say you heard it here and you got it right there on the Bobby Cast. All right, so how about this? Let's they want to play? Because again I didn't know. I knew nothing about the YouTube thing, and I was like, oh is the guy? I gotta find it because I don't even know about it? Okay, So it's a Taylor Swift mash up correct blank space. Okay, Honest to god, I knew nothing of it. I love that.

It seriously makes me so happy. Okay, and this may be the first time I've ever heard again in my life. I don't know if I've ever even heard this. I got you change Dame day dream in my eye? You got that clastic. Who's the girl? Her name is Luisa Wendorff. And we met at Belmont, like literally, my whole circle is Belmont people like most people that I met the

first day, which is even crazier to say. But she we were just in the same dorm together and just kind of wrote and she would sing harmonies on my songs and I'd play guitar for her, and it just one day kind of just happened, like crashing down. We come back every time, out of sight, out of style, say, Okay, so I don't have a visual because I don't know that I've seen it. So what are you two just sitting in a room playing this for the video? So

literally we we That's how we did it. Like it was Thanksgiving one day and we just kind of came together and she's like, let's do it. Let's do a mash up because that was kind of her brand on YouTube, you know. And I had just been writing songs because I don't really I don't really do covers like I I don't do them in my set, like I just I love. If I'm going to do something, I want to make it my own. But I write too many

songs to do covers. It's I'm not against it. I just love sharing my words, right, and so you know, it was weird to have that be one of the

first breakout things was a cover. But we're just sitting around one day and she's like, let's do a mash up, and we kind of chose these two Taylor Swift songs because it had just come out and I hadn't even heard the record yet, and it kind of just fell together in a couple of minutes and we listened back to the little iPhone recording, we were like, there's something there.

Literally like did the recording with my brother the next day, and then my really good friend life Thomas, who does a lot of my videos and pictures still um went out to some random road in Leaper's Fork that I literally couldn't even get back to if I tried, and just did this kind of like back to act on a road. I had a guitar, She's singing this kind

of duet back to that we are lips sinking. So we recorded it and then did a video to it and blth this kind of like spinning around us with her camera, and it just was this really quick thing

that we didn't even think about. Nobody did it for any other reason than we thought it was good and it was fun and we wanted to share it and put it out December, I think of fourteen, and literally the next day Taylor Swift saw it and tweeted it and facebooked it and Google Plus did or whatever all those you know, and it's ever since then, it's just been a whirlwind. So so is that a thing to where it does feel like your life changes when you go viral? Aside from this, a lot of people go

viral like you went viral? Yeah, I mean, okay, So what I usually say is, you know, you always want to know what what's it like to go viral, how does that happen? What does it feel like? And then being on the other side of that, it's literally the same thing. I have no idea how it happened. Like it's just this crazy kind of it's its own people calling you. Do you haven't heard from the unreal dude?

Like the day I woke up um to that happening, my phone was kept going off in the morning, and I had gone out a couple of nights before the night before, getting sushi and drinking saki with hometown friends because we're all home for Christmas, you know, we've all kind of gone our separate, separate ways. And I woke up, I was kind of hungover, you know, and my phone's buzzing in the corner. I'm like, God, who is calling

me right now? You know? And I went over there and I had like so many emails and messages and and notifications that I tried to like unlock my phone and it just froze. Like I had to like go in and like delete emails like on my computer for it to even open up. It was just ridiculous and kind of just watching it happen and writing that wave again is like, you don't even know. It's got a mind of its own, It's got a life of its own. Did you make money off of that? Because you had

so many views? Yeah? On YouTube? You know, there's a certain thing, like you going into it, you should. And I learned this after the fact. You it's easier to monetize beforehand, or choose that you want to monetize, like right. Um. And so we made a certain amount of money off of that YouTube video, but the most you know, most of the profits in the finance came from selling it

on iTunes. Um. And we ended up going to We ended up playing the Red Carpet on the Grammys that year, which was the first time anybody has ever sag live on the Red Carpet, which was unreal from from a viral video, from a viral video wow. Yeah, from just sitting there with her going hey, let's do the song and you shot it, just doing something that we thought felt right and that was fun. Nobody did it for

any financial purpose. Nobody did it for anything other and like, honestly, like I appreciate the financial aspect because it allowed me to free up other parts of my life and then

so solely focused on music. But it was more about like the the affirmation and the confidence of like, Okay, I'm doing something right as an artist, you know, because I had I had a couple of songs on hold and cut, and I was kind of working on publishing deals and stuff, so I had a little bit of a snowball going, but it like turned it into like a snowman. You know, did you worry you were going to get painted into that the YouTube because there are

YouTube artists and they're just gonna be YouTube artists. For the most part, I don't think I was worried. I definitely think that's part of the conversation, and that's why I was saying, like when you didn't know anything about it, like I was like totally okay with that. I think I wanted to. I know, I wanted to embrace it and like be grateful for everything that it brought me. But I also didn't want it to define me because, like I said, I'm not I'm not a cover guy,

Like I just love writing songs. I do it every day, not a cover guy. And that went viral. I know, That's what I'm saying. The fresh thing that ever, which maybe tells me that I'm an idiot and I should probably do more, but I just right way too much, like I do it every day, and I you know, I could probably make two or three other records right now other than the one that I have, you know,

that's coming out next year. But it's just like, I don't know, It's just was a crazy moment that literally was just for nothing else than just friends having fun and doing what we do together. And and then Taylor Swift, you know, appreciating the art of it, I guess, and and and giving us a shout out, which is not the first time she's done that. She's known for that

and I still do this day. I haven't met her. Um, we obviously have some sort of like mutual friends in the industry, so I got a chance to write her an email and stuff and say thanks, but I'd like to give her a hug in person and say thanks for everything one day. You know. So, did that open doors for you in town as far as hey, We'd like to sign you absolutely. Yeah. Um, was there a bidding war on you because of that? I mean, I

don't know if I would. I mean, yeah, Like, there was a lot of there was a lot of interest from every side of of every fact all of a sudden and everybody unreal, unreal, And I think I think part of the battle of getting to that place is just being what I call kicked into the eye like how many people are like like working at dominoes and write and ashes every day. But it's it's it's just and and how many people at a record label would die to find that guy, you know? And it's like

we need to help each other. And it's just awareness a lot of the times. And so that was, like I said, the financial thing was amazing and it allowed me to free up other parts of my life, but it was more about the being kicked into the eye and the awareness of, oh, this guy's is doing something whatever he's doing like and it sounds cool, So let's go hang and meet with him. And you know, it takes a lot of you've gotta come with the songs.

You gotta come with the hard work. You gotta come with and with everything and and and being you gotta be grateful and humble for everything along the way. And I am you know, how does you know who to surround yourself with? Though? Because here you go. Now it's big boy time. And for me, I've learned it's all about the people you put around. Like I can be as good as I am, but if I don't have

the right people, I'm not going to succeed. Your team is an extension of you, and you should be able to even though you know you want to make every decision, if you can't one day, you should be completely confident that somebody else would know what to do in your shoes be like grabbing on you right there, and it's like, what, how do you, at your tender age decide what who's really is? As cheesy as it is, dude, just the gut. The gut is the most powerful thing in the universe.

Whether you're writing songs, whether you're trying to build a team, whether you're thinking about whether you should go home or you should go do this or whatever, just go with your gut, man. And it's the cheesiest thing in the world. And that's the one thing that helped me along the way, was when I had a lot of decisions and like, going back to what we said earlier, there's so many good people in Nashville, Like, how are you supposed to choose between the best person in the world and the

other best person in the world. You know, I write a book and I was talking about the gut and what the gut really is, and we go we say gut because it's like, regardless of our brain having eleven ideas. It's what we really feel is the right thing, even though there are other options in way things that weigh. And so I read that read this book. It's about why the gut is actually the brain, and it's actually the part of the brain that you should follow because

is your instinct. Your gut is actually your brain's instinct, and your instinct is right. And and they talked to all of I give you an example from one of the stories they told. They took a piece of art and I'm total nerds, so allowing me the nerd for something. They took a piece of art and it had been in through like twenty conservatories through and they couldn't determine if it was real or not, if it was this artist had really made it, or if it was a fake.

And so they took it to all these people and these people have spent months with it months months, months, and like seventy people had said, no, this is not real. People that have spent all this time with it. Then they took it to these this other group of you, this is an experiment because they knew if it was real or not. Then they took it to these other people and they were also experts, and they went, just give it your gut, and their gut reaction was almost

that it's real. They just went with the gut. Their gut was right, and so they did want experiment and it was real. And eighty of the people that just want with instinct and gut were right. And the people that sit there and looked and thought and kind of wait, I don't they were wrong. Then you get in your head and then you said, then it was like, always go with your gut, because even if you're wrong, more time is than not. Your gut is your brain's first

instinct of what is right. And so when you say going anyway, trust your senses. Like sometimes you're you're looking at a picture in your eye knows what compositionally it should look like, or you know, you know what smell is right whatever. I mean, that's the weirdest example. But just trust your senses and go with your gut. It's the cheesiest thing in the world. And it's not the easiest thing to also follow because it's hard, Like what is my gut saying? You know, like your gut saying

the first thing that comes to you exactly. That's how that's how I now engage. My gut is what's my first instinct on this? Yeah, okay, that's my gut and that's what I should go in. And funny enough, when you when you when you try to deny that or you try to go around it, you end up coming

back to it. Always. It's always that first thought, best thought kind of thing where you're like, well, maybe it's this, maybe it's this, and then you go through all this and then you really zoom out again and you're like, nope, it's the first thing. Who's your person, Like who's your confident? Your manager? I know how it could be your manager, like who is it for you? Or it's like man, I need some help, let me lean? Is it another artist? Like who is it? Yeah? I mean there's it's hard

to choose just one person. Um. My manager just inherently is a huge confident obviously because he's in everything and every day and every hour. His name is Todd Ramy. He works with Jason Owen a sandbox and so but also I work. I'm really close with everyone on my team, like my label Chris Lacey is my A and R and S BO. I always call him my Nashville dad and I they talk about songs with me. They work

through lyrics, they work through album artwork. We just worried about sequencing and like the sequence that I chose for the record wasn't right it like I thought it was. And then I then I listened down to Chris Lacey's and hers was perfect. You know. It's like I trust everybody, like my business manager, if you know. I went to I went to Belmont and she said, you know, I know you just got signed, but we got to pay off these student loans, you know, And I'm like, all right,

I trust you. Let's do it. You know, like whatever it is, like it's in businessman. Is that a weird thing? Because listen, I come, all right, come for money. So I don't know money. I have no education. You have money. I don't know. And I had to get a business manager. Again.

It was a gut thing. And I think I think going through the motions of writing and meeting people and taking meetings and going to lunch, and then like I met a lot of these people while I was still at Belmont through like uh, you know, internships or or convocations where I would meet people and we already had a relationship, and then it came time for me to like, Okay, I need some help, and I already had people that I trusted, um just from a friendship relational side, regardless

of the business side of it. And I think the beauty of a business manager for me is the fact that I don't have to worry about any of that, and I trust you, and I can really just focus again on the art and on the music, and on the work, and on the travel and on the plane if you're listening to this. And again, until recently, I didn't know what a business manager was. I'll be honest with until I had, until I had to get one. But like for me, I have to pay percentages to

a lot of things. Like I have a manager, I have an agent. I have to So just to break it down, let's say I make ten dollars, Okay, I'll go do a stand up shore. I'll make ten dollars. Well, my manager is fifting for sent my agent gets ten percent, my busines manager gets five percent, and so before you know it, there there's thirty percent gone. But instead of me having to pay all this stuff, your business manager takes care of it. They do taxes, they do all

of this stuff. What percentages get involved, like I got I have no idea what's going on, Yeah, but you know what and and and a lot of people. You know, you obviously want to get the best deal. You want to feel like you're getting a good deal. You know, even if it's like an eighty thousand dollar car, if all of a sudden it's sixty thousand, you know, it's still expensive, but you're feeling like you're getting a good deal. So you're like, you know what, I'm into it, you know.

And I've never been one to be afraid of giving up equity for for talent and family and reason, like I don't somebody said to me, I don't want to be rich alone, you know what I mean, Like, it's not really Obviously, this is a music business, so it's obviously about financials at the end of the day. But it's more about being able to do this for a

living and be comfortable. And if I could have a team and a family around me and we can all be successful together, that would be so much more meaningful to me than you know, nickel and diming and trying to squeeze every little last thing out. You know, I just I don't have time to worry about it. Man. I just I'm just more worried about music, you know.

And it's funny you bring up business manager because I'm the same way with mine now, Like I'm very close to her because I don't know enough about it and I trust her and I trust that she's going to look out for me. Isn't that crazy? That? And I never thought even even existed. I didn't even know what it was a thing. So I come from you go to work, and you work at the mill or you do and you just pay your bills. But then I trust someone to have access to everything that i'd like,

and without it I would just be lost. Yeah, I just I don't know. I think when you go back to how do you choose these people? It's again obviously a gut thing, but it's like things sift out. The gold will find its way out, like the time will go by and the energy will happen, and you'll be connected to certain people that you should be with. What I did, I called so I didn't know anything about it, right, I just picked up like literally I just got on

my computer typed business manager. Yeah, that's literally what I did, because I knew nothing about it, and I was sitting at home on my on the calculator on my phone just figure out how to pay people and want to pay people and had to have to pay band members for the band, and so I'm doing all and I'm like, I'm getting lost. So I asked and say, hey, what I do this? He should get a business major. So I called and I won't say any name, but I called. I just look up. First one pops up called say hey,

I'm looking for a business manager. I talked on the radio for a living um, and they're like, oh, you know, we don't have any room for you, and right now we're full, our rosters full. And I was like, okay, great, I said. They're like, we'll take your name. Though, I was like great, sure um at this point, and listen, I wasn't going in screaming on Bobby Bones. I was like, okay, yeah, my name is Bobby Bones. So I should hang up boom. Five minutes, I get a call back, Oh, we we

love her. No. I was like, not gonna do it. So then I call another one kind of the same situation. You know what, our roster's full, we don't have time for Anna for DJ. I call mine now, and I said, hey, listen, I don't know anything about having a business manager. I've never had money. I've never had money. I talked on the radio um and they were like, well, what what kind of questions do you have? And I was like, okay, they're just asking, and so never from mentioned a people

about it. Then at the end I was like, hey, here's the real story, Like I'm a national syndicate radio host, I'm a good living I really need help. And so after I got a couple of those hey we're fools. Oh no, no, no, no, we're not. I want with the person who was like, it doesn't matter to me, like what do you what kind of questions do you have? Let us answer your questions to figure out And for me that was and it's not just that I had a friend wants This is one of my favorite stories.

My friend who I played Legion baseball with. So he went to different school, but his dad was a doctor and his dad wore a pair of old dirty jeans and a T shirt. And he would go look at schools and school sometimes when they yeah, they show them to learned a little bit. And he finally went to a school and they they took him around everywhere and they didn't care what he looked like. And that's a

school they moved to and went to. And I was like that, And I think that story has kind of shaped how I am with people, Like I want to give them the lowest possible they and see how they respect that. How do you eat your bartender or your waiter or when someone's not looked Dude, have you ever gone out to eat with somebody that maybe you hadn't and then one time like you loved him and they're great,

and then they treat they treat me like crap. Yeah, and you're like, oh, I don't know, right, It's still real. I bartended through college and you know, on one hand, I always expect good service because I come from good service. But that doesn't mean treat somebody like crap, you know what I mean. There's there's a there's a line between expecting to be you know, taken care of, and if you're not, like you know, it's there's other ways to

deal with it than being a butt head. And I waited tables and for me, I wish everybody would have to serve, because if everybody had to serve, people would treat people differently. But you know, I come from a place to where at times it was the kitchen's fault and I got in trouble for it. And that rolls over into life too. Sometimes if something is wrong here, I look at it and go, Okay, maybe it was

the kid. I'm not talking about what Maybe it was the kitchen's fault, right, even though I'm not even it's not even about waiting tables anymore. You know, maybe somebody rear ended me or maybe something maybe maybe it was a kitchen's fault. You know, I tried and to put that in them out like things I've learned from other jobs,

they're actually so much more meat. You can't. Like there's a lot of people that you know, and I am also guilty of this in my own right, but skipping steps, you know, or or getting certain like positive things that happened in their life. And I think these steps are so important. Like I was, I was in a band when I was twelve, all the way through the end

of high school. You know, garage bands started out playing like classic rock, and then through like middle school and high school, kept getting angstier and angstier and heavier and heavier. And heavier, and by the end of high school we were in this very heavy, technical death metal band and we've been playing. You know, we've been playing together for six years, touring up, calling you cool. It's calling me

like like seven times in a rows. We're doing it's a six one five number, which I always answered, but this time they can wait, A know, both of our pon like turning it over. You know, I didn't miss a beat though, you said, I see, I kept um. And so after we you know, we got signed after high school and instead of going to college, I toured in a metal band for four years after high school,

which was my dad's like worst nightmare. I mean he supported it, obviously, but I just don't think he understood it because he he comes from again, no money works for everything. You have rax to riches, and that's the way he raised my my brother, and I is like, no financial help really and you know incentives if you get straight a's, you like that kind of thing. And and so let me get the start. You went to high school, then you went and you toured for years,

and then you went back to college. Correct, Yeah, so I I I was in I think I had a week of I was in just community college after you know, local, and a week into that we got signed and I said, yeah. I was like, Dad, I'm gonna do this. You know, like, on one hand, you have college, which I think is very important, But on the other hand, I have this dream of mine that's just right here, you know, and you can always come back to college, and I did

and I graduated right. But again, going back to those four years of messing up, of doing it all wrong, of of learning and having those steps and kicking the little hitting my shins on the stairs on the way up, and all that stuff that has informed now again my gut in the way that I choose my team, in the way that I'm attracted to certain people and the people that I know are right for me. And so I always say I'm lucky to have messed up before.

I'm lucky to have had a second chance, because I feel like that's when you really get to dig in and be like, all right, I know what's up this time. I feel the same way about saying I got started really early in my career, like I got to started a teenager and right now, and which means I got to screw up earlier and screwing up earlier allowed me to be better later. And I think that was a big deal for me, is that since I started, I was able to do all my juice up, oh every

way possible. I mean, when you're sixteen, seventeen years old and I didn't know how to talk a little, it took me years to stop doing it. Took me years of sucking of not getting ratings, and I'm like, what what do I am? I getting ratting zero and kaolas boy, and I was like, welcome to the wacky morning shows, and I want even do it mornings. I was doing nights, and I was like, if I can't get ratings, doing is absolutely best I can, I might as well not

get ratings being me. And the once I started to kind of be me, they started to go rise up a little bit. One of my favorite quotes and it's a John Merrick quote, and I loved your interview with him, by the way, A huge fan of his, and he says something along the lines of my failure to sound like my heroes has allowed me to sound like myself. Like you trip along these things that you're imitating along the way, and then you finally realize, like Okay, I

gotta stop pushing so hard and just exist. And it's cheesy and it's hippie and all that, you know, but like it's so real. Man, I just love those words.

Steve Martin has kind of the same thing where he's like, you know, greatness comes from people trying to be like the people they admire and not being able to and in that process, since they can't, they form another way and so and and he's talking about comedy and music and play yeah anything, like he's really one of the great Blue Apron for one second, So let me talk about if you order Blue Apron at blue Apron dot

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Blue Apron. They send this to you and for less than ten dollars per person per mill, Blue Apron delivers these recipes with preportion ingredients and whenever you want to be like, you know what I feel like a Blue Apron tonight? What would I like? Maybe I'd like the garlic butter, shrimp and corn with green bean salad and roasted purple tomatoes. You can make that. You can also customize your recipes each week for a limit of time.

Starting seppern fourth, Blue Apron will be delivering recipes inspired by the winning dishes on Master Chef. So tune into Master Chef on Fox Wednesday eight seven Central and visit Blue Apron every Thursday starting August to see and select the winning recipes to cook in your own Blue Apron dot Com slash Bobby cast. The first three meals are free Blue Apron, a better way to cook. All right, So tell me about this band, this metal band you

were in. Yeah, so okay, So we had many names along the way, but which one got signed got a big deal. So we got signed. Well, we changed the name because it wasn't working, so we when we got signed, it was called Fate. Worst worst name ever. Still have the old merchant. Dude, it's the worst thing. I'll bring it in f a t E got it. I'll bring

you a shirt one day. It's just it's ridiculous um and then you know, copyright and like trademark issues because it was so like there's escaped to fate and then there's just a bunch of you know. And so we changed it to a band called Shadow of the Colossus, which was very that sounds like you're going to stabs epic, right, yeah. And I mean we played heavy technical like only beats per minute. Like I always say, we were at a hundred percent of our capacity a hundred percent of the time.

And that's what the joy was for us. That's what the lure was, is that we're always pushing our limits, you know, and and that's kind of this path that we were called on, and that was what we used to do. So we always kept pushing it, always kept pushing it. And we toured for four years. And it was one of those things if we started getting success and I was like, oh, you manage people, yeah, let's

do it. Oh you book people, yeah, oh you're a labeled let's do it, like no meetings, really know anything else, just like young and dumb and hungry, you know, and going for it. And we slummed it out, dude, slum to her. And that's what I call it, Like fifteen passion, fifteen passenger vans, sleeping in Walmart parking lots uh, eating mcdoubles once a day, you know, the whole, the whole thing. And I'm again so thankful for it. But in the moment, it's hard to see that that's a good thing for you.

Um But after four years of that, and like the whole time I brought an acoustic and I'm writing my own songs on the side, literally just for my own peace of mind. Was nineteen got my heartbroken for the first time needed I'm not a good like in relationships,

I suck at communication. I'm the worst. Like it's just this wall where I can't get it out, you know, And and and writing a song and like hiding behind a guitar, I can say whatever I want some for some reason, I can sing it to your face, like I don't know why, it's just it's that's the way that I can finally get find a way to get it out right. And so I just did that on the side the whole time in the band. And you know, realize,

I don't know. I grew, like I said, grew up listening to country music and kind of learned how to write songs by listening to the way that people set their songs up. And so when I started writing on my own, that's kind of where I went, just lyrically, I guess, maybe not sonically, but it just kind of took over more of my heart in a while, like the metal kind of started diminishing and it wasn't fulfilling, and then the song. Yeah, honestly, I did dude headbanging

every night, as dumb as it sounds. We used to get what I called bangovers, where the next day you can't move because your neck is so stiff. Yeah, we called him bangovers. It's pretty Did you come up with that? You know? We came up with that, dude? I liked it. Okay, I'm gonna play because I haven't heard this. Here's um what's in? Okay? This is a shadow of the coloss As a song called Insurgent. Oh my gosh, you have it. Wait, who's singing? Okay? So it is our buddy Drew from

my hometown. Okay, so you weren't even the lead singer. Nope, where were you playing? I played bass? So my I played bass, my brother played drums. Were the rhythm section twins. I can't believe you pulled that up. It's crazy, man. Yeah wow, well I bet the crowds were scary. That will come to those shows. Unreal, so fun, the funnest thing ever. And gosh, I'm probably going to regret this. I told I told Tom Pulman this once and he will not let it down. We used to like I

used to. I used to spit on people like they would love it, Like we'd be up there just like like you know what I mean. It was like what are we doing? I'm looking back, like like was all underground, Like we didn't release through iTunes, we did only did bands uh was it band camp or whatever? The reps like it was all underground all like d I y like for a reason, like we were we're just like against the man people time. Dude, it was so bad and like what a band like this get girls though

it sounds like a bunch of it's a lot of dudes. Yeah, I mean you'd be surprised, like there's it's a it's an age thing. It's a culture pop is what I like to call it. It's like, you know, like I said, you're going through high school. You're trying to make sense of all these kind of angsty kind of feelings and you're trying to figure out who you are, and there's like that. You would be surprised, Like there was a huge uh scene for it in my in my hometown,

and there's you know everything everybody in between. Man, you know, you'd be surprised. Um, and this comes out of you right here. You call made of the spectrum. But that's the thing, and that's really my heart, the biggest it's not even hurdle anymore. Can I just kick it down? When I moved here, it was you can't do this because you have too many other interests. But it's like, pick up anybody's freaking phone. Look at the music that people are streaming buying what nobody has one format of

music and it's not what people want. Even the artists, all the artists that come through here, there are influences. Aren't just all country music artists, And you know what, it's probably some most, but a lot of them. And it's the artist now who are who are getting a lot of pushback, but they're having a huge amount of success because that's what today's country is like. Look at

look at TRS Thomas Schrtz last record. If there's dance tracks on there, there's like do wop something, straight country songs, Mary that is just straight up country songs, the country songs. But it's not even the fact of each of those individually. It's the fact that he is a country music listener and artists. But even he's like, I have these other influence course, and this is what country music is to me.

And I appreciate that because people like him have a platform, they have a voice, they have power to influence and and kind of not make it easier but pave the way for the rest of us. And not like I'm doing anything that I'm not like, I'm I'm always going

to be unapologetically wholeheartedly me. Like there's songs on this record that tap into the heavier side of me, and it's like, this is this is just what I do, like just trying to, you know, fail being like my heroes and just figure out what my influences are and then just put every little piece of every little corner in my heart in my mind on this record, you know. And it's like that's just what you should do. That's what your job is as an artist, you know. Blind

Man Flower. This is the first song I ever released as a as a solo artist. Ye, what was my buddy Andy Albert? Was it? Since that was your first song insult? It was that weird. It was such sonically different. Well, that was maybe three three years into living in Nashville, so I had already are you in the culture then, right, you know? And I, you know, I'd put up like stuff on SoundCloud and like made videos and like people knew.

And it's like people will always ask, like, how do you go from such heavy metal to country or to writing these love songs? And it was really about just reverting back to what I started with, you know, and what felt right in my heart or just what was just like what came out naturally. Um. And so blind

Man was the first song. You know, as you're developing through writing and through writing for other people and you get a publishing deal and you're playing shows and you're figuring out who you are, there's certain songs that come along that define who you are and what you want to say. And that was one of the first ones that I was like, that is me. That's got a

rock solid lyric, it's got this really cool vibe. The melodies you can sing along too, and it means something like lyrically, I need to sing about something I can't. I just I need to chew on something like I am so guilty of not having like woe wos in my song, just because like if I have real estate, I need to say I have to say something, you know. And that was one of the first songs that came out where I was like, let's record it, let's put it out, like that's what I want people to That's

what I want people to hear. Are you stilding the all black and white stuff all time? Always? Yeah? Well you mean eventually you're gonna have to not do that? Well, I don't know, man, we'll see. We'll see what happens forever. Just go all black and white on Instagram. I bet you I can, but you eventually you're going to be like I've done one. So listen, I'm that's the that's the thing that I've talked about with a couple people. It won't happen forever, but when it doesn't, tell me

why you decided to go all black and white? Okay. So it wasn't like one day I woke up and I was like, you know, what I'm gonna do this, This is my brand, this is who I am. It really was like this, like somebody was tugging on my on my collar, like I would buy clothes like I wear black all black two and it's just like I would buy grays and greens in earth tones or what. I just would never wear them like I would put

it on. It's like it doesn't look right. And I kind of just gave into it one day over time. And I think a lot of influences from being in a metal band, because obviously we all really wear black, you know, and that's kind of the root of that kind of visual or that esthetic in a way, and so that's kind of part of that influence. But also, and this is something that I only stumbled on recently because you're so close to it when you grew up. And this might sound done, but I grew up three

minutes from fulsome prison. I love Johnny Cash and his artistry in the way that nobody sounded like him before him, and nobody will ever sound like him after him. But he just had a way of doing his thing. And I feel like that kind of literally right, three minutes from my three minutes from my house, and I feel like subconsciously that kind of seeped in to my influence, even though I didn't know really how cool that was until I flew until I moved away, and you kind

of finally get some perspective. Um, but something in between those and it just feels right, dude. I just like that kind of classic vibe that it, that it gives off. Like I could see a picture in color and then I'll put it in black and white when I'm editing or whatever, and I'm like, yeah, that looks right. Like I've tried, Like We've had stylists and photo shoots like

what about red? What about a white shirt? And I'm like I'll try it, you know, and like everyone goes, we get him back it's like it doesn't look right, you know. So I'm just kind of going with my gut. I don't know, but I do think one day I would like to do something different. But I would hope that because I've set such a deep root in my

love for that aesthetic, that it should mean something. It should be for a reason, um, not to like set it up or anything, but different record or different move or different story, whatever it is, you know, for do it for a reason, not just to not do it anymore. You know, you know, I phone black, I you're gonna get the new It depends. People listen these things two years after, But are you getting the eight or the tin? Honestly, waiting the ten scares me, dude, because you're the face.

I guess yeah, I just I don't know. Like, do you snapchat? I don't snapchat much. I'm mostly on Instagram. That's my That's my biggest thing. Do you ever use face filters on inst your story? Yeah? See, okay, so I do love the face filters. That is the same thing. If the government's stealing or using our partial recognition they already got. I was gonna say, we're already a foot in the door, like it's already now. It's like it's just hook line and sinker at this point. It's just

I'm sure I'll be fine with it. It's just the initial like feeling that I got when I saw the videos. I'm just like that makes me cringe. Man, Like I think about the thumb print whenever that first. The same thing. Yeah, if you don't do it, they don't care what you are you going to get it? Of course I'm going to get it. I'm probably gonna get it, of course, I'm gonna for different reasons. What do you have you updated dropping system? No, I haven't. I suck at it.

It's fantastically even the texting, Yeah, all the little options on the I'm like, you can send song. I mean, the updates really great. But you strike him as a real tech savvy guy. I'm decent um. I'm not like, I'm not like a dive in deep nerd tech savvy guy, but I can. I can get by man, but actually a big Lord of the Rings nerd. Though, yes, how did you know that? Are we talking about now? I

don't think so. Here's my story. I watched Lord of the Ring because I was like, Okay, there's gotta be something to this, because like reality, you mean, or like but I look at IMDb or like a run and I believe that if a lot of people say something's good, then it's probably pretty good. Like I believe that I've never seen episode of Sopranos, but I believe probably freaking really good show because not that many people will say

it's good, it's not. It sounds like I gotta watch The Lord of the Rings because there's something to it and I want one Christmas vacation. I watched all of them. It was okay, like what I know, and I'm not even to be a hater, but you know, it's okay, like you're either there's I'm just two tests with people, like I know. I did not like it. I did not like it at all. Yeah, I'm gonna do it. Pissed me off. Was at the end of the first one.

They're just they're just they're just beginning, and I was like, I just watched it for three and it ends up walking up a hill. But I watched them all and I'm not a hater of it at all because I love when people are passionate about something that's not hurting other people. Yeah, I don't care what you're passionate about, if you like love my Little Pony or fancy football or Lord of the Rings, if it's not hurting anybody.

I love just passion. So it's in no way that But I was like, what am I missing because I

watched all of it? Due to me, it was it was the imagination of it, like he literally created his own language, like Jared Tolkien, like literally created his own language, like just stop there, like you're a beast already, like and then creating these stories and and and a world in a map, and like I'm getting really nerdy, but like it's just it's this kind of again, this kind of dark aesthetic that I just am always drawn to in the storyline and not not just giving it away,

Like you gotta spend three movies. You got to spend three hours just getting introd into the people, you know, three hours each time? Oh my god, I don't know. And I always always go back and forth on which one is my favorite, because they each have their own Like the second one, the Two Towers, is the darkest of them, like it's the most kind of sinister, but the third one is just so epic with the battle scenes. Like I'm I will go into deep into this if

you what about because I love Game of Thrones. I'm not against I'm not against fantasy in any way whatsoever. I watched that and thought it was fine. I was just like I was missing it felt like I was missing. The rings was a little it's a little slow. It's a little it's a little born. You gotta be kidding me, you're telling me, Laura, And I watched nine hours and they didn't walking at the end. I just like, I don't know, I just love it, man, I just like

sunk right into it. I think like Lord of the Rings that much of the game. Okay, so you're talking about like going on Rotten Tomatoes and seeing something that everyone's watching and like love Game of Throne. Honestly, I thought it was good. I just don't have I don't have time. And if you don't keep up, if you're not where ever went to. Yes, I just like I've seen like one of the first one of the like, and I just like, there's no way, there's absolutely no way.

That's such a daunting task for me to try to to like accomplished watching that whole thing, Like there's when when am I going to do that? There's no way how I do it. You don't even sleep, you down me either. But I'm on a bus or I'm on a freaking airplane all the time. And that's why I do.

I just download and watch if I can see. I have a rare gift of being able to sleep on airplanes, and so that's when I sleep, like I I will I'll sleep two hours a night or whatever and go out and make it sure I'm doing my thing and then I'll get on an airplane and pass out. So that's when I when I should be watching movies is

when I'm sleeping. So so what's your deal? And again, these things are not you know, podcasts are done and they're heard over months and months, so it's probably gonna be an old question by the time a lot of good hear this. So like, what's the deal with with music? And like, when are you gonna put out a whole bunch of it? Yeah, I mean, dude, I'm I'm chomping

at the bit, man, I'm so stoked. Um. So we have three songs out right now, UM, one single on the radio which is an insane sentence that will never get old. UM. And I think we planned to release three more before the record comes out. UM, can't give you the exact date yet, but it's going to be in January. So cool. So early next year, early next year, which is great because it's I always like starting off

a year like that. Just we all kind of go away for the Christmas and Hanuker or whatever you do and and Thanksgiving and you kind of come back and you're just ready for something, you know, and what's upbout the Z by the way, because I look at your name and it's always the Z Devin search for it. I can't. Why can I happen? So mckittye, like he always calls people by their like their handle, and he always calls me at Z Devon, so I always call him Ryan mcradio but um or Mr Bobby Bones, you know.

But okay, So I was in middle school and like back when you create, like your A O L, like bass player, A eight, like atl dot com or whatever, like all of those handles that you just regret. Ever making for some reason, convinced people that for a couple of weeks that my name started with the Z, that it was just silent, and so I had to I had to back it up with the with the handle, you know what I mean, And and it just stuck. And I've never It's just like a two week little thing,

and I've never changed it. In in the beginning of like getting signed and trying to like putting put my music out and my image and my name and all that stuff, they were like, we really, we really need to change it to Devin Dawson or Devin Dawson music. And I was like nope, keeping it Like there's there's I trust a lot of my team, like I said, but there's certain things where I'll be a difficult artist. I don't care, like if it feels right, and the thing you want to be difficult about is the z

it's it's it's petty. Sometimes there's guy for guys that's keeping yeah, and that's like I've had a couple of people be like what is that and I'm like, honestly, it's the dumbest thing, but like I just love it, man, and like you know, bad girl re re Like not everyone is Rihanna music or Bobby Bones radio whatever. Some guys squatted it and holds it. Yeah, that's that's rough. Man. Does anyone have just Devin Dawson? Yes, they do. And I remember I remember messaging him like dude, like send

you a twelve pack of beer or something. I didn't even offer money. I was like, dude, what's I tried to do the broer out, like what's up, dude? Like dig your name man, you know, like is it really someone named Devin Dawson or they it's it's it was

him before and he doesn't even like post. You know, it's one of those like hasn't gone on in two years, but like won't let it go, and so I it was another one of those like signs of like I'm keeping my thing, like I'm doing I'm staying true and it's you know, at the very least, it's it's kind of something funny to talk about and it makes me laugh. So dude, I PRETI you come and by feel like I feel like it's been an hour an hour into this, Dude, we could do this forever. You still get excited when

you hear it. Dude, it will never get older. And I feel like that's how you should choose songs where every single time you hear it for hopefully fifty years, it will never it will never deminish. That's what everybody

says until they get tired of playing it. Like I feel like Paul McCartney probably is good and playing help yeah, probably doesn't want to play Hey, Jude more, probably good, But dude, I don't know, like you can only do so much, you know what I mean, And you can only like you gotta choose based on what you think is going to last and hold up and if if that one finally after twenty years gets old to you, then the one that probably would have just lasted fifteen.

You know, you gotta you gotta put your best foot forward. And I think the hardest part as a songwriter is the fact that I write every day and that's probably a two year old, two and a half year old song at this point, and it still feels good, you know. But I'm just like stoked on just putting new music out man, So well, thanks stopping by dude, Devin Dawson, check out all on Me or maybe if you're hearing this epiod first of the year by the record. The

whole record is fantastic. I already downloaded it right right, yea, yeah, yeah, we'll play cool act. I believe it. Yeah yeah yeah yeah, all right, we'll see you, uh next time is alright,