In Case You Missed It: #16 - Brandon Ray

and in the past, that's what's cool about this. I can do whatever I want. In the past, I've had people who have made it as great songwriters, people who have made it as artists, like you're just pretty mediocre right now. Let's me to be honest. That's that's my middle name. So listen, Brandon is one I've played him on the show before, like he's that good. So um, we'll talk to Brandon right after this message from Blue Apron. By the way, you ever had Blue Apron? Blue Apron,

that's great of it. Listen, Blue Apron is awesome. Without them, we would not be able to do this, Bobby Cast. And so let me tell you what Blue Apron. Does they send food you ever have Blue Apron? You can say no, it's it's okay. Do you have it into your house with someone cook for okay? So what happened to this? They send you the food and it comes in a box and it's not made already, so you're

not ordering cook you're ordering ingredients. And they send you all the ingredients and already prepackaged and they're pre like measured, so you don't have to go buy a whole jar of something for a pinch. Uh. So you take that and you have to give you listen to some reason that I can even get away with it is that they give you the car and it tells you exactly how to make this stuff. And so it's all fresh ingredients. And so that's what blue Apron is all about. Variety,

and it's flexible, it's easy. You can check out this week's menu and get your first three meals for free with free shipping blue apron dot com slash Bobby Meals. Do you cook for your wife ever, so you're you're gonna cook, you can totally full her and have this sent to you know, your side chick's house. Take that and then not at least she doesn't know. Blue Apron dot Com slash Bobby Meals you love how good at tastes and feels you like you'll create incredible home cook

meals with Blue Apron again to get the deal. Blue Apron dot Com slash Bobby meals. That's one word I say, meals like. I'm from Arkansas, so it's Bobby m e A L s Bobby meals meal whatever, Blue Apron a better way to cook. Thank you for sponsoring this. Now. Brandon Ray is here at Brandon Ray Music on Twitter and Instagram. That sah all right, So let me tell you. I want to start with today and kind of work all the way back around because Brandon's an interesting story.

Brandon is so good. I said, hey, will you come out and play a few shows with us with the raging idiots? And he has And I really don't know how good he was until we got on the road, like our news good, and then he's like mind blowingly good. Actually stand beside and playing. I don't just say that about anybody, um, because I get to see everybody, so bebian said Brandon. I'll play a song right now that

that Brandon has out. This is called American way. Here we go, us down to freaking weekend him him a sea baby. Brandon's also a fantastic guitar player. So I play this this is that could be us from rand A right good long, could be all right, welcome back to the music now. Would like to be as honest as possible as of right now. You do not have a record deal. Not okay. So here you are, You're in talent, you're grinding, you're playing, You're like of the

rest of Nashville. You're really good, and you don't have a record deal right now. So what has that process been like? Like, have you played for people? Like hey, like I'm gonna talking about every time she played Kaylin Smith. She played for some people and they all say no, no, no, no, no no no, no, no no no, like whatever it is right now? No, have you been through that where you've played? They go, no, not right now. We We've taken we've taken a little swing a couple of times.

But what do that mean? Like just you know people like I have a publishing deal with Sony a TV, which means you write, I write songs for a living for you know, artists, for TV, film, sinks for you know myself that Sony then takes those songs pitches them. Uh. And what they have is an artist development branch inside the publishing company that kind of does like a They help you with recording, they help you with touring, Like I've just booked a show with Jake Owen in Vegas.

You know it's gonna cost us much. I might lose this much and they make up the difference like that. Okay, so you have a publishing deal and that's how you eat plus touring. Yes, so that's your job. But you're you want to be an artist. I do. I you know, right now for me is is building. It's it's the the building phase of of touring my my butt off, like every single weekend. I think I've been gone Thursday

through Sunday every weekend since February. And uh, it's so important right now to to build that fan base, whether it's it's being out with you guys, which I can't thank you enough for inviting me out with the raging idiots because it's been such a blast, Like the fans

show up. I mean every single show is sold out, Like I don't think people will realize how how big it is and how fun it is, and just those chances and believers like you that that just say hey, man, come hang and and then we get to know each other and and you you you know, promote things for me or you know, share a post of mine or

share a song on your show. It is it means everything to someone like me because I don't have a label, I don't have the radio supply work right now and uh, right now you know in this for this for the past six to eight months has been just grind and just going town to town to town building, uh and making believers out of everybody I play for, all of the headliners I opened for, and even the club and

theater owners that I play talk about the headliners. The eve before that, I said, hey, come out on the road because I think it pretty good. Who have you played for that You're like, dang this it was really cool. Recently, man, there's there's been uh, just a lot of really cool people. John Party has just kind of overwhelmed me with just he's just such a nice guy and uh, his fan base is just is growing rapidly. Definitely haven't get the

number one song and another great song. Yeah man, And even before uh, I was playing with him even before Boots went number one. I think it was in the top twenty, and his fans knew every single word to every song, even even like the B sides of his album. You know, he'd be like, I want to take it back to you know, one of my first releases and No. Nine and he plays it and the crowd just takes over, and Uh, so that just taught me. He's taught me so much about just kindness and how to treat people.

And uh, guys like John Party, guys like keep More. Martin McBride has had me out on a few runs, which that was so cool, you know, getting to just kind of be a part of a show that that she's doing. And um, guys like David Neil. I'm going, uh this weekend out in the Midwest doing some shows and then next weekend with Frankie Ballard and uh, it's just it's all about to hang, you know. I used to play uh guitar for different artists in town, one

in particular being Brett Eldred. I think that's where we met the first time. I think I was shooting a TV thing with Brett where we lay in the bunk together and you were playing guitar for Brett Elders. That's right. Yeah. The thing about Brandon is I didn't like Brandon the first time. I really hung out with it, like I thought, what a douche bag for about two hours because what happened was, now, this is the first story I didn't I judged him simply on his hair, like because no, no,

it's actually I like it now. But it was spiked, you know, and almost like Okay, dude, spiked there. Come on. So he gets on with someone that I just think is phenomenal, like Lucy Sylvia's went out with us on the road and is quite possibly one of my favorite people and artists in Nashville. Bobby, Bobby, thank you so much for having me on the road, and thank you so much for just being a great friend. So Lucy sila and Brandon plays guitar for her, and I was like, hey,

just take the bus with us. I don't don't don't drive, don't pay for expensive just get on the bus and you can sleep on the box. And so that man, it was a total douche and so and then of the night it was just Brandon night, and we talked about four hours. It was like a brand new couple, you know, how you meet somebody and you're like, we just talked all night long. I think I'm in love.

And that's how it was Brandon. And so you know, with us, we either had Nat with the raging idiots we think Natalie Stowball or Lindsay l Um and then for some reason not for some reason, they're both phenomenal. They were doing their own tours and I was like, we need another player. Let's get Brandon because he was And so now we'll just have Brandy come out with them and listen, I don't have lead singer disease, which means I don't have to sing all the time or

half the time. When you have somebody like Brandon, it's like, all right, you're take it away. Here's Brandon. Everyone uh and and Brandon like blows you away when he sings. Now, let's go back for a second because I have some stuff here. Um, this is a jingle called Let's Go Cubs. So this is you and how and how long ago was? This was? Oh seven, so almost ten years ago. Okay, here we go. Yeah, okay, did you write did you write that? That's terrible songs? But you're saying it well

and listen for me. I'm a diehard Cubs fan. And it's weird too because I also liked Cardinals a lot, and as you get older, you realize that I like as a kid, I was not a Cardinal fan because I was a Cubs fan. But then I had friends that played for the Cardinals, and then I got to know the organization, and so you know, I'm a diehard Cubs fan. And I were talking about this minute ago, like right now, you may hear this in a month in the World Series. Maybe over maybe the Cups got swept,

maybe they wanted At this point, we don't know. It's one zero. I'm a diehard Cups fan. And people are like, oh, bandwagon ers, we hate him. I don't care if they're bandwagoners. I don't care if you call me a bandwagoner because I only care about my heart and right now, I just want my heart to be full with the Cubs victory. Like I haven't head this on this show, and I don't know if I will or not, but I'm going to Game four of the World Series because my whole

life I've been waiting for this. That's such a dream. They haven't won in a hundred and eight years, and this, this song probably kept them from winning other games, because that's terrible. If they heard this, they were like, we should suck like the song does, like the singer is pretty good, but how much they pay to do this? All right? I'm gonna be completely honest right now. Um, I sang jingles for I was in a rock band

through high school and college. And I was trying to go to college and touring with this rock band, and I worked for this company called T M Century that did jingles. They did everything from like radio tags like any five five you know, all that kind of stuff and stuff like this. You know where you submit, you know, there's like hey, um, like they just said, Chicago Cubs, they're looking for a cool new theme song to play on their w J. We're gonna have you sing this anyway.

So this guy, this is the one of the riders. I say that with quotes um the writer producers like, Hey, I had just got done singing like Dave and Sandy in the Morning, you know, some some awful song like that, because hey, man, uh I got this Chicago Cubs pitch thing. You know, they're looking for something. I was like, dude, I love. I'm such a huge baseball fan. I was telling you earlier, huge Texas Rangers fan. You know, watch Nolan Ryan as a kid and all that, and I

was like, dude, let's do it. And so we recorded this awful excuse for a song and it got picked up. It was these picked up. I was so surprised and kind of um, kind of sick about it because they paid me forty dollars and that's it. So okay, So you got paid a salary though to sing, no, you're a contract and I got paid. They should have like I should have paid them. I mean that. Listen listen.

I don't take any away from the vocal of that, but listen when I go, Cubs Go, Go, Cubs go, like, that's the one that I That's what when they win, that's what they play. I was just doing my job. Man. You talk about singing jingles, I think that's a fun thing to talk about, because did you sing like a

frisky is the cat jingle? I did? Yeah, I sing, I sing It's awful, you know, just this happy like you know, little toy piano thing that and I have I have a buddy in New York who runs a music house that he does like Toyota Nissan for He's done a ton of commercials and sometimes when they need non union singers, he'll give me a call, and still to this day, like he'll be like, hey man, you know this company, they just want to do a one time fee because you sing this thing and you know

it might get picked up, it might not. So I've sing so many jingles that haven't gotten picked up, but I've sing about you know, six or seven that that got picked up. What has it got picked up? Like I'm curious enough I would recognize any of them? Uh so Miller Lite. There was a commercial back in I think the twelve World Series where this guy was putting a quarter in a jukebox and every time he would hit a song he wanted to play, like Rocky, like

a Hurricane by the Scorpions. It would come up as is it Eric Carmen who saying, oh, by myself, that song will play, and I all I had to do was just sing it, you know. And I'm sitting at a bar in Cool Springs watching the World Series and the guy was like, hey man, it's down to you and another another guy. I don't know if you'll get it, but check it out. And so I watch it exactly Eric Carmen. He was up against Yeah, Eric Carmen himself.

He needs the money. No. Uh. And it played and I was like, that's not me, Like that does not sound like me. And and then he calls me, he's like, did you hear it? I was like, yeah, it wasn't me. He's like, no, it was you, dude. He's like, I had to put this crazy compression thing on it, but that's you. I was like, oh my god, So did you get paid for that? But since you're not in union, you get paid one time, one time? And that's what what was that one? Do you remember it was? It

was a good amount. Over thousand dollars? Oh yeah, over five thousand dollars? Wow? Really? Did? I have a buddy who did a commercial for like four or something and he made I did three commercials and made three hundred and eighty thousand dollars. It's incredible. Yeah, And so he made it and he invested in a band and lost all and blew it all. I was like, you know, I could have given you about a hundred investment idea

maybe Apple, I don't know, Walmart dunkin Donuts. Maybe you pick Yahoo who just on a bankrupt that's your first instinct. Maybe you had to look at your money? Should you should? I need? I was thinking of Atlantis more set who like invested early made like three fifty million dollars. At a point in our life. Yah, who was the search engine? It was like it wasn't Yahoo it but it was like go to Yahoo, you know, so we would go to Yahoo dot com. It was before Google, and you

searched on Yahoo. That's where we found. For a minute, to ask Jeeves was the name you got to the butler and to be like, Jeeves, where can I find information on the scorpions or who things rock? You'd like her this week? Yes? And Jeeves the butler would tell you. But then Google took it up. Did you know Google was called BackRub before it was called Google. Yah? It the thing is and would it be okay, okay, we laugh,

but Google is a ridiculous word. And if you if if if I was backrubbing something right now online and I was like, hey, they almost called this thing Google, would be like why would they pick it? This stupid thing? When backrob is awesome? Hey, just BackRub it Yeah, that's what would be like, Hey, I'm gonna backroub blue Apron to see that. How you know how much it listen. I don't hate BackRub. I know it sounds like you hate it. I don't hate BackRub Randon. I think you're

being a little hater backgroub um. So you came you're from Texas. So being from Texas and I can tell. But I lived a long time in Texas and I loved like Austin to me as home to Austin is my favorite. It's so good and because the people are just chill. But when you're in Texas, you have a lot of influences. So there's a lot of country music around you. There's a lot of Southern rock around you. There's a lot of rock around you. So as you're growing up, you were deciding kind of where you wanted

to go musically. Was it because a lot of your friends were rock friends that you just said, I want to do music, So I guess I'm gonna go and try rock band. I didn't have any friends. No, I'm just kidding, um No. I I originally wanted to be a professional pitcher. I wanted to play baseball, professionally. I played football, baseball, basketball, track, all that kind of stuff. And um, I had to have two surgeries on my foot. I have like two screws this long in my foot.

And so basically they're like, hey man, when you go this long. People that are only listening to this, they having no idea how long that is? This long? Yes, okay, that long? Okay, now they see the second time you go this long, and yes, go ahead anyway, So it took me out of sports camp lately, and so naturally I was I had to lay up with my foot up in the air. You know. It was such a major surgery. I had two surgeries. For six months at

a time, I couldn't do anything. And so I was like, well, you know, my brother plays drums and and and for you now even in this day, he lives here in Nashville, and we we were about to meet up. And you can definitely tell to Brandon's brother when you see them together, like a yeah, that's right, he's he's like a foot

shorter though. Um but uh, I bought a guitar, a cheap guitar um with with a little amp and everything, and I would seriously watch Steve Ravan videos just on repeat, and I just watched his Native Texas Native He's He's the dude, and my dad loves Steve ra Van and um so I started learning that stuff. But I also started learning you know, a lot of my influences, like, uh, you know, John Mellencamp, Metallica, Pantera, Garth Brooks, George Straight, Joe Diffy, like my my house was a melting pot

of music. And I think our age, though, is that's like, if you're one, how old you Okay, if you're twenty seven or above, is when you started to have napster affect your life. And it's when that's the minds of everyone starting to change about music. We got lots of influences more so than anybody else because we started to be able to get it all the time, anywhere, fast as we want and for free. Yeah I mean illegally and and listen back in the day, not the interrupted story,

but I wanna go almost interrupted story. Back in the day, I was so mad at Metallica for like for going against there. I was like, Metallica sucks, they hate napster and I get all the music for free, and I deserve all the music for free. I was such an idiot. I was an idiot, and Metallica was absolutely right, and that's right. This is people creating music. You should have to pay for this. And I stole like crazy. I would just log on, hit the letter A, and then

download every song. I started with A all formats. I would go to sleep at night and wake up but started with the A and be like, let's see what I like today, Like, I don't like ABBA, but I'll listen. Yes, And I would yes. So you're listening to all these types of music and you have a guitar and a broken foot basically, so do you just start learning to play guitar? I just I don't know what it was. It was just almost like it was the only option.

You know. I didn't have sports anymore. I was horrible in school, and so I wanted to start a band with my brothers, and uh, there you go, come on your brothers at the time. So I have two older brothers, and I think I think that's why I had such a such a big influence of music. They were they were older than I was, and so you let's know

what they like, what they like. My my brother, oldest brother, Derek, would bring Home like Aerosmith and uh, you know, like the Eagles and Don Henley, who Don Henley is my favorite songwriter of all time? And uh, you know boys a summer, Heart of Matt, Heart of the Matter. That's what made me want to write songs. And so being here and out, just like you said, doing music for a living. I look back. I'm like, man, I had Bit Torrent, I had Morpheus, Napster, all that stuff. I

was stealing lots of virus. It was awful. Yeah. I got in trouble a lot. But you know, um, it's crazy, man. So you decide to being a rock band? Was a rock band? Was that a punk band? It was? It was kind of both. We started out as a rock band and it kind of turned into, you know, one of those pop punk bands. We uh, what was the name of the band it was? It was called Crimson Soul. Oh yeah, I have some of that here. Oh man, how did you find this is called the Fight from

Crimson Soul? My favorite favorite punk band. Yeah, you'll look at the school. I didn't look. I didn't see it. I didn't see it, right, So did you let you guys go on on the road? We did, man, So in high school. It was just three of us, and uh, you know, I would be in the marching band and you were in the march A guy that I thought was the douche bag for having and being so cool. I thought he looked way and saw me and my brother won the drum line. We played snare and all

that kind of stuff. So you were a drummer, I was. Yeah. My brother Ryan taught me how to play drums, and so did Derek. Derek was a drummer as well, and so we were all on the drum line for Sin High School. Go buffs Um and we would play, we would do the halftime show, we'd we'd play all the games and all that kind of stuff. And it's West Texas like Big Spring Pick Spring millin Odessa and there.

I mean we were two a school, but we seriously had a college side stadium because football, man, it's everything. And so we would play that and then we would go play a show either in our town that night or sixty miles away like Midland. We play that, we play a show, and we do at least two or three shows a weekend. Like my parents, I don't know what they were thinking. They were just like Oh yeah, like go to school and you know, go play Friday, Saturday,

Sunday and come back you know. Um so that's kind of how I kind of cut my teeth in playing music in the grind of touring. And then we moved to Denton. Big city. Oh yeah, big city right now, the Dallas and my brother went to North Texas and I tried to go to some like little uh community college and tried to get an audio engineering degree. But we ended up leaving Dent and we did the whole Texas music scene, but we ended up going on the Warp Tour for two for three years. Wow, you warped

toward it for three years? Oh my god, man, it was. It was the coolest, most miserable time in my life. Where were you? I'm at the Warp Tour because again my background radio has been pop alternative, so I've been to a bunch of Warp Tour shows. And how I worked, I worked for everyone is like shall I started like eleven am and it alway until the end, and that's when like, you know, Blank wanted to play at the

very end. If they decide it's one of their shows, they fly in and yes, yeah, but but really it's a bunch of skateboarders and just bands all day long that you've never heard of. So if the chef started at eleven am and ended it midnight, what hour ship did you guys? The first the first year we did this, Uh, it's awful. We we seriously played like at at eleven am with for nobody, and so the idea of warped tour,

you know, Uh Haley Haley Williams from Paramore. I think she she had like a documentary and she she put it all out there. But it's so real. You pass out ten thousand flyers a day. You're just trying to get two people to come to your stage and watch you, like, just come, like, I know you want to go see a Fallout boy later, but you know we're playing right

before him. Uh you should just come, like we'll give you a T shirt like it was anything, you know, So that was like the end of true music promotion, like like giving a flyer to somebody and word of mouth and now it's it's awesome with social media, but that you know that time is no more. You don't hand out That sucks. No, it's so bad. I'm so sad we don't have to chart our own milk anymore

those days. Now we have grocery Manez Back when times we're simpler and much better, probably made keikos dollars like horrible, But it really taught me about promotion and and really making fans and really the face to face eye contact that you make, and and appreciating those people because they're the people who are getting you those better slots on that tour, or you know, when you come back into that town, they're gonna come see you at that crappy

club you're playing at. You know, so you do Warped Toy with your brothers or in this punk band, so you're like, all right, this is not for me. So basically we went out to l A. I lived out in l A for about six months, and we had a development deal with with Sony out over there, and they had other bands like I don't know if you remember a band called Forever the Sickest Kids, and it

was the whole MySpace age. He's a big Mike. Mike did a punk podcast for years called the Everyday Destruction Podcast that that's all they talked about was punk music. It was terrible musically, it was terrible, like I admired Mike for doing it, and I listened to it and I'd be like hey dude, and I went but it was like music, and I was like, this is awful. Like I'll get in Mike's car and it's just that mess of music like that you were playing right there,

like that that horrible, awful stuff. Yeah. Yes, so you go to l A. You're doing you have a development deal, so we're you know, with my Space. That was the whole thing. So any label that came to you, they were like, yeah. We were told we had to have at least thirty five thousand daily plays on our MySpace

and we're like done. So we were up to like forty tho spins every single day, you know, turning and grinding and getting people to just come on board and share our make it, make it your profile song or whatever. And you know, we would play at the Roxy, we play at at the Whiskey and all those places and other people's l A experiences are different, um, but mine was miserable and there was no community. There was no

support or encourage encouragement from anybody. So when we went out and and started doing opening shows for fall Out

Boy and Sugar Colt and people like that. Um, it was that same thing, you know, Oh you got to two with Fall Boys, Like yeah, we played at five thirty in the afternoon when the doors open for like a hundred people, passed out our flyers and played at the club next door for an after party, you know, just to try to just capitalize on the opportunity and man for us personally, the it was just dying and I knew where I wanted to be, and I kept

making trips to Nashville and writing, and you know, starting to get into the co writing thing. And you know, I love country music. I love I love writing it, I love singing it, and I love the fans because they're die hard fans. With rock music, it was like flavor of the week, you know. If you know, you'd make all these fans, say in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and you'd have a good turnout, and you come back two months later and nobody cares, you know. With country, and this

is what I see all the time. It's so much more artists driven. Pop is song driven. Rock is let's just see what happens this month, like and that's that's really the difference, Like like and pop it's like how good is your song? And country like if once you have fans that like that artist, there, the country music listener is a loyal person listener, Like if you're a Luke fan, and you've been a Luke fan, you will always be a Luke fan the rest of your life.

If he may go to a polk album, but dang it, you're gonna download that Luke record. It's gonna be the walmart In in all its fans. But yes, country music it is. It is about the artists. You need that first song. You have to get those songs and get you to get people noticed the artist. But once they're in on the artist, and I have that in the

radio world too. It's like I have the greatest listeners and I will do the worst segments, the worst, terrible segments, and they'll be right there and the radios come in and I'm like, I don't even know what people were listening. I have no idea, Like we had a I looked at last week show. They weren't that good. Can't believe the ratings that you know, it's it's just a culture of the town, the format, the music, and so you moved to town because you realize that's kind of the

the environment that you want to be in. I mean, is that the reason? Yeah? The community. I think it was the biggest thing you know in the rock world, uh in l A. And you know, just the the whole culture of it was so just dark and it was so lonely. You know, it was like every man for himself, so cut throat. And here, you know it is it is kind of competition, which listen, it's a

creative industry. There's always a ton of competition because there are two slots and there are seven thousand people, so it's always competitive. But it's not just music, any sort of creative acting, any creative field. It's seven thousand people going for two spots. But you're right, as competitive as it is, this town is very warm and working together,

that's it. It's very encouraging, supportive. And you know, I always say anytime I invite a friend of mine from Texas or somewhere to come visit, half the time they end up moving here because they feel the same way, even if it's not music related. They're like, I just I just love this town. I love the people, I love just you know everything about it. When did you

move to Nashville two thousand nine. Okay, and so you move here and you just started playing guitar for people, and so I would go to writers writers nights and writers rounds where, you know, if you don't know what that is, there's four people on stage playing songs they write one at a time and telling stories about them. And I would just go and and want to learn,

you know. And so I started making friends, started co writing with those friends and singing those demos, and so my friends with publishing deals would turn those songs into their publishers and they'd be like, Oh, who's the singing Who is this the guy you wrote it with? They're like yeah, And so that's how I kind of, you know, got into that um getting a publishing deal and also

playing guitar for for different people. I still felt like you're a better singer than you are anything else, which is crazy, thanks because you're an elite singer and I had no idea. I thought you were just a really good guitar player. And then he started singing, and you're like, oh, because all I'll do it raging age. I won't let him saying until like after the second half of the show, because then people will just be like, can he sing

some more? Like keep him? So he plays and he kills it, and then as we get to the second half, I'm like, all right, Brandon eurerope and then he just crushes it like he was. I was watching your YouTube channel, and again I don't both smoke, but I was watching YouTube channel and there's a song from Sean Mindeth called Mercy. I'm taking baby please Mercy seeing it ec on that and Brandon is doing a cover of it, and I'm like, god know he could sing, but it's so good. I'm safe.

Baby please ever mercy on me, take it easy on my heart. Even though you don't mean hurt me, you keep telling me up, but would you please Percy Mercy? Oh my heart? Please Mercy Mercy? O my heart. That's that's weird because you're such a good guitar player and you're such a good singer to like, what do you want to be known as? Everybody pigeonholes? Everybody everybody does? Yeah? Right, And as you think about that, I'll give you an example.

I'm gonna go back to the Luke Bryant thing. Nobody knows how good of an art like actual musician Luke Brian is the general mass thinks he's a guy with some good songs and gets down on stage and he dances, but's on a good show. The guy will take a guitar or take a piano and just crush it and you're like, oh, I get it. Okay, this is why he's phenomenal. This is why he gets to do what else? This is why he gets to play mckamore in the middle of a step because he was so good at

doing everything at the beginning. So okay, I'm pigeonholing you into where where do you want a pigeon hole? Man? That's that's such a crazy question because with everybody, even you, there's so many layers to who you are. And the more you the more you experience that artist, the more you get to know those layers. Where you know seven layers and someone a first impression though they don't get don't you get layers? Throw seven at first? What's hilaryery?

You won't be able to get the first thing. Is it the guy that's the fantastic singer or is the guy who's the killer guitarist? I would say I would say singer man. I mean I was gonna make it be your answer. But yeah, like he's holding up a sign right now, I'm really not, but it's gotta be saying I gotta be. That's your first listening impression. Nobody. I'm sorry, No, nobody really knows Keith Urban plays all those solos, but he does about that. Nobody cares. Nobody

cares like it's amazing. Like me as a guitar player, I listened to you know, if if Brad Pays it comes on, or Keith Urban or you know, any of those people, when that solo comes, I'm like, oh my god, it's so good that the nerds like it, like it like guys. But most people, they just wanna hear a good song. They want to hear Keith Urban sing. You know what I'm saying. They want to hear that song. That's that's what they know, that's what they identify with.

And you know, if I'm up on stage playing and I go into a solo, it's cool. But even with guys like Keith Urban, when they go into a solo, the people start looking side to side or start looking at their phone because the singing aspect has to be there. That's the first thing that hits their ears and that's all they know. I listen. I'm not saying that I've watched Urban, but I watched everybody solos for four hours. It's amazing, Like that dude, he and I don't know.

You may hear this after the c m A is like he made one entertime. I don't know what he's gonna but that's one of the most that's it's such a fantastic live artist. But that's what you can do too, Like, once you get live, you can do all your stuff. But people don't. Most people don't get to see people live. Like percent people don't get to see Keith Urban live. They just hear what's on the radio and become a fan of I don't get to see a lot of people alive because of my job. I get to see

him in the studio, but I don't. I saw Keith Urban i Alreadio Music Festival for the first time play a full show. It's a year ago, blown away. It's crazy, and he'd played in my studio seven times. But also a lot of people don't get to experience that side of it too, So that's oh no, But you get to experience what the studio stuff isn't it's it's ridiculous.

Sometimes I have to thought myself right in the NATS because I'm like taking the moment, Like when Garth Brooks comes in and play songs it's ridiculous and I can touch him and he tells me to stop. Yah. Yeah yeah, He's like stop touch So okay, here's listen to this. Here's uh justin timber like cover of Drink You Away, change track, try to track all these keep saying all

of this. Tell me, baby, it doesn't make a better sim Now as you're hearing these covers, I'm gonna remind you that you can go and you can download, you can stream whatever. Brandon has two songs that are up now. I mean I can wait breach he smokes Dad Town to freaking American way that clap Baby come on, and that can be us. That could be said. I like to you do the covers, though, because you know what,

that's how you can attention. Some people are so against it, and I respect that because that's their thing, and everybody should have the right to what they want to be as an artist. And there are artists whore like you know what, The covers aren't for me. And I'm like, cool, it's it's gonna be a little harder road, and I'm

glad you have that. But what you do is people people google as a backroub, you know, the backup different artists, the bund the background like covers of songs, and then they may watch ten justin term like drink they're like, holy crap, who's Brandon Ray dude? Which leads to your music day, that's it man, And and during a live show the same thing. Some some artists are like, no, if I'm gonna open, I'm gonna do my songs, and

that's totally cool. But when you're the opening slot in front of whoever, in front of John Party, Get More Whoever, and those people have no idea who you are, you've got to find a way to identify with them to to to then introduce your own stuff that you're so right on. I tell people all the time, never be ashamed to cover because put your own spin on it.

People just want to hear stuff they know and like, and if you're playing neither, and most times they don't like new music right until it because that it needs to be something they know or just freaking phenomenal and it's hard for something to be phenomenal that you've never heard before. It takes a few times, and so you can nail them with a cover and you get a little bit of credit. So look at me. Here, are

you do something yourself on a couple of those? All right? Cool? Yeah, that's a bad cool not playing mombo number five, brand Um. One of my favorite things that Brandon does is is Donald Trump oppression is one of the best I've ever heard of. Like, am I live because he'll send me messages and wrong, I can't. I don't do it. But we were on the did you watch the last one? The sketch three where he's like, I talked to the Mexican president Mr guacam all day. I didn't even see that.

You haven't seen that one? Okay, okay, we'll be talking wrong, give us give us all Donald Trump here, So at sound check at I believe the Arkansas Show. I don't know if you notice, but I was like, my microphone it's broken. Obama broke it, Hilary stole it. I win, so band, it's microphone is broken. Can we get him a new one? How does this work? Okay? Mr Trump? Test check? It's wrong? It's all I am the best singer on the planet Earth. What what would you say

to the people that don't agree with that? Mr? Trump? Listen, I respect microphones more than anyone anyone on the Earth. I'm bickly supportive of microphones. You're vaguely supportively, Okay. I mean we get on the bus and we laugh so much, like and I think a key and it's gonna sound stupid, but you said it earlier, and I tell I was

doing a show called American Supergroup. Okay. So it's a show where they're putting a band together and the hosts are Jennifer Nettles not hosted judge Jennifer Nettles, Alo Black Um who but who have become buds with. But he's the voice on Wake Me Up When Things, Dude, he's so good. It's allow Black, it's l king. Yeah. You know she has xs and os and she's not different for girls with dirks. And so they're the the judge.

I went into mentor the country band and they're like, hey, tell us, how to you know do um be a band? And and I'm listen, you're all good or you wouldn't be here. But let me give you a big tip, be a great hang. Those four letters are everything. If people want you around, they have you around more. And when you're around more, you get shots to do more things.

And Brandon's a great let hang. Sorry, And I think that's also the environment of you know what we try to do the raging its only bring people around them are great hangs from Nikita Natalie stove All. I mean I just today I got you know, Lindsay. L's now my girlfriend. You are You're now You're now into that special friends vib But I mean they're just such fun people that I was like, let's another show. I'll have a back again. There's some fun to hang around with.

Do congrats. By the way, I have a girlfriend, there's no congratulate. You know. It shows me how big of a loser I am. It's when I'm getting a thousand congrats for getting a girlfriend, something most people do all the time. Hey, dude, congrats congrats on driving to work today. Wait wait, most people drive to work every day. Why are you congratulating me on driving to work today? Like the accomplishment? Yeah, it was a sweet that was like,

you know what, Bobby. It showed me that even normal guys can get hot girls if normal guys have their on radio showed New York Times best seller and you know the band, and I was like, that's funny. That's pretty funny. That's funny. Great. So okay, So here you are now, like what's the goal as you sit right here beside me, like like short term and long term? Short term is uh? I just got married about a year ago. You just had anniversary a few weeks ago, and who knew me? And who? And I don't know

any dates and I don't care. I don't even care about my stuff. Dude, when you showed up to my house, it was so nice. Yeah, I was in a cupid outfit. It was it was he was wearing a toga nothing else. Year. Yeah, and it's it's just been it's been awesome, and you know, being gone, you know, sometimes she gets to go with me. She she sings backgrounds uh in the band and everything, and um, you know, sometimes people set goals like I want to buy, you know, the biggest house I could find.

I want to buy a car. I want to do all this stuff honestly, Like I want to be able to get to a point where my wife can quit her job. She she manages and bartens and works her butt off. Can I say something, oh, like a little bit. I wasn't expecting the answer. I was like, I'm let

a deal, Stadius. The fact that you said that and it came to you so instinction like that, your visceral reaction was I'd like to get my wife to a place where she can quit her job and just, dude, you are a good dude like I was on the I was the I was a douce this whole time. It's the hair I know. No, man, I whatever capacity uh that that my music can reach, I'll always be thankful for the fact that it's come this far. The fact that I'm sitting here with you is like, it's

amazing to cool. Yeah, I'm really cool with you. No, you're like and Mike D's over here looking all cool. You're you're right now. Remember this moment. I get to take a picture of this and turn the lights on, so he remembers this. This is probably the peak of his life being on that Bobby Cat actually doing it. Actually, we take a picture anyway and put put it online. Do we pose or what? No? No, no, we just continue doing this and it gets posted. So are you

sucking in? I have to suck in. I didn't you know, a little too many doughnuts this week? No, uh whatever, Like I said, whatever capacity the music goes to. I'm so thankful for um being out with you guys, you and Eddie. You and Eddie have taught me a lot about that. Don't be yes here being so sincere and I incorporate this into my live show now, Um that you know, my attitude and and the the music that I make, I really think caters to the to the

blue collar, the hard worker. You know, my dad was, uh he worked thirty or five years for the union Pacific Railroad, worked his butt off, putting food on the table. My mom worked and you know, just just him being gone all the all that time. And you know I saw that and we were dirt poor, like we we didn't have anything. And so having that example growing up, and you know, going and playing for those crowds, you know, I'm going to Iowa and Nebraska, Minnesota and all those

regions where people work sixty hours a week. They just want to get off work, go to go to a show, grab a beer or whatever with their with their friends or their why and just chill and listen to some music, and if we can be that escape for those people, that's incredible. And what I was saying about you guys is if at this, at this event that I'm playing, wherever it is, if one person leaves with a smile on their face, then I've done my job and I've done what I'm here to do. I just want to

make people happy. I want them to forget about their problems and their worries for forty five minutes. You know, whatever has been you know, getting them down during the week, whatever, you know, whatever problem they have, if they can just

escape that for forty five minutes, and that's that. That's what we're here for, is to give that entertainment, to give that that care and that just attention to those people to where they can just have a great time for a little bit and you know, they might have to go back and do what they do, but at least they had that. Do you still take shows and lose money? Definitely a lot of artists that you wouldn't think.

Here's the thing too about artists is that even the ones that because people hear a song and they're like, oh, for sure, millionaires like I have artists friends who have had one, two, three songs, and they're like, dude, I'm struggling. Just because you get a song on the radio doesn't mean you're rich. And then I have friends that they go in there like I need to play the show I needed, I needed to look its need to play well. So I got to hire a band and they're paying

a thousand bucks. But the band's gonna cost me eight hundred bucks and we have to drive. You have to fly, so you lose money on shows. But but it's an investment. It is it has to be. And if and if you're if you're worried about losing money, you shouldn't be doing this. If that's your only thing, if that's your only thing is financial gain, then you might want to stop. And that's let me tell you a funny story. And that's for any creative industry. Like if you're getting into

it for money, get out. I went to a college and spoke once and I went and I said, okay, I I just want to be honest. The only thing I have his mo authenticity. That's it. I'm not super talented in any other way. So I said, okay, I'm gonna just be honest with you guys, Like, if you're here now and you're studying radio in college, get out, like change your major. I want. I was at radio class I was speaking to so obviouly the college wasn't excited that I was telling all of their so they

banned me from speaking there. Yeah, remember that might ye and and so. But the thing I would tell them is, you know, listen, you don't you if you're gonna be a music engineer, you're learning that, but you don't go to college to be unless it's like Juilliard and you can get in. You know, you know, you don't go to you know, the University of North Texas to be a rock star. You just get out and start rock starring it. And so the same way with the radio

or acting or you know so. And also what I say is, if there's any money in your mind, don't you can't there's none in it. Even in this I've been lucky. Frankly speaking, I'm one of the one percent that I was just and a lot work, ethic, some luck, and having great people around me. That's that's the big

Those three things are the biggest things. Like you've got to show up, don't be a douche and surround yourself with god so key people with the same goals as you, and that that you work so well together with that that shows with you. I mean, you have the same team as you did in Austin. How many years ago was that? I mean, I've had Amy for eleven years, Lunchbox for twelve years, Eddie was my TV producer for ten. They joined the radio show. Mike d was an intern,

Ray was an intern, Morgan was an intern. Like I just do things with my people because I need good people around me. I need people I trust. I didn't do this. I worked. Let's see, I started about a seventeen so I worked eight years making minimum wage, eight years working minimum wage and loved it every freaking minute of it, and would do it again and would have kept doing it like I would have. I would have just done radio and survived or gotten a second job

because I loved it so much. And that to people like, Okay, I want to radio, I want to do music. The first thing I say is would you do it for free? Would you do it having to have another job? And if answers yes, freaking go for it. It's the answers no it's just not for you get out because not a watch time, You're alwaste time. We're always what you're gonna waste whatever you can do to get to this other place in another lane. That's it. So for me, man, Uh,

I was out playing for Brett Eldredge. It was incredible that guy. Yeah, that guy's are you playing lead? I was playing lead, switching off with Greg this guy. No, but you're seeing harmonies and stuff to do with Brett, which Brett is an incredible singer. I mean, spot on every single time. And uh, we got to do the Taylor Swift Tour, which was incredible, you know. And how was it dating Taylor? It was? It was weird, you know. When I got pregnant, it was crazy. Um didn't make

the news though, I don't know. Yeah, that's weird. But uh, in the middle of all that, you know, I was like inside, I was like, okay, Like this is great, this is really cool being able to be out here and play guitar. But this is not why I moved here. And a good friend of mine, Set England, who runs Big Loud Shirt Publishing. He's also Florida Georgia Lions manager. Um, I went and played some songs for him, you know, and I was, you know, I just wanted some advice.

And he's like, dude, what are you doing playing for other people? You need to quit today. I was like, well, dude, we're about to go on the Keith Urban Tour, like we were like opening, like it's it's big, you know. And so I made the decision to quit. And a couple of weeks later, I did a show like on a second not a couple of weeks later you make that decision to quit, do you have to go to Brett and say, hey, dude, And how does he react to it? Yeah, So I kind of came into the

whole thing. I let him know, you know, hey, I have a publishing deal. Um, I'm doing the artist thing. Uh, this is my ultimate goal. I can be here for however long you need me to. But I just want you to know that I have an exit plan. And he's like, of course, man, He's like, I just love having you around. You know, we we kill it together. So hang get hang hang um and so they knew and and it was it was such a great understanding,

you know. And then so I I did this show, my solo show, and Seth and and the f GL guys came out and um after the shows, like, hey man, let's let's talk real quick. I was like, oh, Seth, you know he's gonna tell me enjoyed it, you know. And he goes, hey, man, you wanta you wanna play guitar for f g L. I was like, you just told me to quit. I was like, I'm so confused right now, man, Like what is happening like? And he goes listen, like they saw your performance, they dug it,

and they're like they need a guitar player. So I'm just passing along the word. And so I was like, oh, man, that's amazing like that, that's such a great opportunity. Cruiz had went number one and all that stuff, and um, I really took a lot of time to think about it. That's not something you just take lightly. And I came back to Seth and I said, man, your original advice to me spoke to me so much that that's what

I'm gonna do. Like, I hope you guys find you guys are gonna be fine, You'll find a guitar player, but this is what I have to do. And um, that was a defining moment for me, and I still have that same drive times ten because it's not like I have to make this happen, I have to make the money and blah blah blah. No, it's because it's running through my veins. It's what I want to do. I'm about to get in a van and drive fourteen hours to Iowa and play a show tomorrow night, and

play four more shows this weekend. I will probably break even, maybe lose a little bit of money. Um, but the opportunity is a great opportunity. A lot of money talked to about. But I love it and I don't love it as a hobby. I love it because it's the only thing that I want to do and the only thing that I can do. So, okay, you're out playing, Like are you trying to make music? I like the process of making music so you can get a record deal? Like what what? What is that? Like? How do you

do it? What do you what do you do? What do you do? I don't know. Yeah, it's it's different for everybody. Everybody has a different path. Um. Some people it's who they know. Some people it's how they're already connected or whatever. And I think it is a big mixture of everything, but it's listening to those people that are closest to you and that are putting their lives out on the line for you and sticking their neck out for you. And that advice and that support and

encouragement is everything in the process. And so when you're in the riding room, you've got to think about You've got to always be yourself and you know you can't fake real. And so whenever I go into the riding room, whenever I get on stage, I'm gonna be me. I'll be goofy, I'll cry, I'll say some dumb stuff, but I'm always gonna be me and be authentic. Like you said, do you still put your penis out? Do what? Do? What?

Put your penis out on stage? I mean you have to do what you do, like not from Martinez shows, but for like hip shows. Yeah, I mean America. Would you write American Way with So this is the funny thing. I didn't write American Way? What Kip? More so you and yours. It's like so I never I write basically every day and I love it and it's and it's what I do. But Nick Brophy, who I started working

with production and all that kind of stuff. Nick also mixes and was his kid, and he's like, dude, you gotta check out this song, like Kip didn't put on his record. I wrote it with Kip and Brett James, who Brett James is a songwriting hero of mine. And I heard it. I was like, dude, that's a cool song man. And so when I left there, I was like whatever. For a week, I was like, no, no, nay, it was Lee Bow, just like you were doing were Leo Leo, we sleep some more. That's not how it goes.

That's always seeing it, um. But I was just I just kept thinking about I was like, listen, you know that is this is That is the type of song that I that I want to write and I want to perform. So I probably tried to write that song five or six times and it didn't work. It was never the same as that, And so I asked Nick. I was like, hey, man, like, would it be cool if I just put my vocal on it and maybe just start playing it out just see how people react

to it? Was of course, and Kip was cool with it, and so I did that and the reaction was incredible, and so I kind of It kind of taught me to step away from myself for a second. Is that hard to take somebody's song? That song? And so you I thought you wrote it? Thanks, And I interview some people I'm careful about going, hey, I know you wrote this song. I'm always like, hey, this song that you sing and that song and so you I thought you

wrote I don't think twice about it. Well, thanks man, I mean, and that that was the goal because it became so undeniable to me that I was like, man, I I have to do something with this song, you know. And so I did, and here we are. So what about this other one here? That could be us? That could be us? Um? Right, this one? Thank you? I wrote it with a guy named Bobby's got a radio show. This song is really good. This is that this song

is good like thanks man. This is like it reminds me of like new age country Jack and Day and the first one, right, this is this is like a new age Jack and Diante. Man, this that could be us. This and like this the feels a little bit in the current situation now that I have a girlfriend, I'm like, it makes you want to go get some flowers, maybe watch a rom Com. It's great that we have like three microphones in here. Mr Trump, what kind of music do you listen to? You know, I try to listen

to what the world loves? Yeah, what what does the world love? Like? I mean that's a pretty vague statement, Mr Trump, Like you right for president? Like, I'm curious what kind of music in your iPhone? Mr? Trump? What do you listen to? A lot of spice girls? Yeah, and your favorite spice girl would be which one? Um, baby baby Brandon Ray has been here with us, do good luck. I think you're at that place where it's like you're finding yourself right now. You're grinding and you're

finding and I just see how good you are. And I'm anxious to kind see where you land because it's cool because you're really freaking good. You're really good. And if you ever come out, Brandon's playing with us. I'm trying to think. It's hard to get Brandon because he's all over the place. I know you're doing Albuquerquequerque, which sold down like three seconds. We're gonna like expand the theater. I mean, I'm telling you, Albuquerque's nuts. We're gonna have

to break down some walls or something. Um, you just kick up. Ode just turned out to the festival and then we're playing Vegas again. So if you're in either one of those places, or go to Brandon Ray that's Twitter at Brandon Ray Music and go watch them for yourself. But I'm just saying, like, dudes, for real, I mean, anybody does things this song. Let's go cubs like I'm a cut fan and I'm a little insult here. You should be how bad that is? I need it? Actually

did that bad at Brandon Ray Music. At Brandon Ray Music. Dude, good luck. I hope it goes great. You have a good trip, nice little road trip ahead of it. Thanks man. We're taking the bus van van. Did you see my text? I'm in the creepy van out hey got her? Ear Ladies like I'm so sorry to me Early, I'm like, you're here, Early, I have an erection. Early say, I don't even need a picture. That's um. Thank you and good luck, my friend, good luck, Thank you so much.

All right, Brandon Ray Music on Twitter and Instagram. Also thanks to Mr Trump for stopping by. I think you you know you've exceeded everyone's expectations. And when people hear this in a few weeks maybe your president. Oh no, I mean, I mean, okay, that's cool. Alright, we're gonna go. Um yeah, you know, speaking here just to say I'm not full of crap. I did um. First of all, I played Brandon stuff on the radio, so that just tells you already I think he's good. I don't just

bring people on here. I don't think it's good. I was driving down the I was heading to Georgia with my band and it was seven thirty eight in the morning. We had it up and we were just like flipping out because like the feeling of hearing your song on the radio for the first time or anytime is surreal. And the fact that you did that, I can't I can't thank you enough. Well, even like I've played covers

of Beers on the air, and then I did. I think, well, I'm like, hey, these are the five artists that you don't know yet but you need to know. And it was you and Ryan be for a Walker heyes, and Caitlin Smith and Cody Johnson, Oh yeah, Cody Johnson Eastern Texas. Ryan is to ryan'son a Deer for the monent about r Ryan Bieber, So where the gym working out right, Ryan and I both are, and so Ryan lived in

Austin when I did. We moved here at the same time, and so we're you know, whenever he goes hey, I'm like, yeah, what's up. He goes, are you doing? I'm like, good, how are you doing? There's good. I don't put it together yet that it's Ryan because he's gonna work out closed and I had it and it's like, hey, I want I really appreciate you. I still don't know who it is. I don't even know that it's an artist.

I'm like, I appreciate you too, man, you go, buddy, I appreciate your spirit of working out as well my workout friend Champ. And so his trainer was like this Ryan Biever. I was like, dude, I'm such a yours and like, we want to get Ryan up here too, and he's you know, and if you're listening, check out Ryan Biever that album that you're rated, Our Little Exit Prescription. Yeah, it's phenomenal. Every song I was I was signed with

Ryan at a small publishing company. He just left there, but we were on that uh in that company for two years and all of those songs he wrote, you know, to three years ago, and so I would hear the work tapes, you know, the song if I had a Horse and all these kind of I had. I have the acoustic work tapes and I play him all the time. And the fact that he came out with a record like that, that just is incredible. Um he's he's you gotta check him out, yea, check out Ryan, check out

Brandon Ray. Just to leave you on a little song called American Way. And we were all week in a slop stag town to freaking weekend. Come. I'm throwing all him to y'all that it was baday baby, Ain't that the American Way? I'm gonna make you please, I want to see you put your hands off. Just got a black guy from a scup of wind Hank. I'm gonna we're gonna go now because the cup started playing just now. We gotta go on. It's Game two. That's the theme song, man,

and that's the rap. Episode sixteen with Brandon Ray at Brandon Ray Music. Thank you ol see episode seven Team We'll thank you Bay