Tayla Lynn

have Taylor and Finger joining me on this episode. She is my former trio mate from Stealing Angels. We travel the country here together. We opened for Timer Girl, Lady A, went on a USO tour. We lived together in a house for like three years together. On top of touring together. I mean that's a lot of time together. I know this girl so much. She's also in recovery. She shares that story. She's the mother of two beautiful boys. She's Lauretta Lynn's granddaughter. She has a tribute to her that

she travels all around the country doing. She is so hilarious. We laugh so hard, we cry, and so in the beginning of this episode. I promise it's just a little bit of laughing, but we cannot stop laughing. It is so good to talk to her. I know you're gonna love this interview. So here she is Taylor len Finger and we're laughing our butts off. Okay, I'm here with Taylor Lynn Finger. No, I don't want to Taylor Lynn. I'm here with Taylor Linn Finger. Taylor Lens your stage name? No? Right? Well,

can we start over? No? So Taylor Lynn. Oh guys, this is gonna be This is gonna be an interview because Taylor. Oh gosh, Sayla. The problem is Taylor and I used to be in a trio. Now, why are you making me laying stop? We did this for a year and we laughed so hard we cry. What is it happening here? Okay, Taylor, Taylor pulled together? Start the interview. I'm sweating. Okay, we have to start the interview. Okay, I'm gonna ask you a question and tell me the

first thing that comes to mind. Okay, happiness? Oh what this? You know what? Honestly? Good friendships where you can guttural laugh and I think that's the word. I'm streaming tears because we really did this for so long, And is there any better happiness than innocent laughter that you just can't even stop? Do you know that I laugh harder with you than I think anyone. Oh my gosh, listen when we used to do that on state I want to say to anyone that's listening, we would do this

in radio station. We'd start laughing and we couldn't stop on air, on air, crying laughing. We've done this at the c M A fast. I mean, like we literally would have to just walk away and just not look at each other. Why do you make me laugh so hard? I have no idea what it is? I think I have no idea. I think we used to do it to escape a little bit, you know, like escape our reality for a minute, But now I have no idea. Okay, we got it. I think we got through it. Okay,

So happiness is this? Okay? What's your vision? What's my vision for your life? And here? Oh okay, um, just the word vision okay, Oh okay. Sharon. Caroline's Mom's name is Sharon and she is a philosopher, So okay, vision, don't think about this is rapid fire, rapid fire vision. You didn't say this is rapid fire, Okay vision? Yeah, I think my vision is right now, honestly, I mean, I know you're in the moment. I am in the moment. Is that something you've come to because you did not

used to live in the moment? And I know this because we were in a band stealing angels together, which we'll get into. Your also the granddaughter of Lauretta Lyn, which we're gonna get into, and your own person and badass just period, and we'll just get into all that. Um. Yeah, I think I've had to work really hard to be in the moment. Somebody just said to me yesterday and it could have actually been you that said you always want what you don't have. It was it was it

was you. Yeah, Because like I live on a farm right now, and I'm like, well, maybe I need a little bit more town. And when I have somebody that I trust and love, like you, that will say that knows me and will say you know you always want just a little bit different, and then I'll go, oh, you're right. So I'm a hundred percent happy where I'm at right now, and my vision is right now. I have a career that I love. I have a family that I love, I have good friends, I don't have

any enemies I have. Isn't that a great place like to get through that dramatic twenty like twenties thirties because you're you're reaching the big four? Oh oh, we used to lie about your age where I remember that one time that we did. I'll never forget it. We did that interview and it says what each would take interviews on in Caroline did a printed interview that said Taylor

is thirty four. Taylor is divorced. And we had been saying I was twenty nine and certainly not divorced, but yes, I am divorced, married again, and I'm gonna be forty. So how did that feel what I and that part of your life when we were doing selling Angels and we were like trying to make it on the radio, How did that make you feel when that was printed thirty four divorce because that was chafter you know what, I was ashamed of that at the time. I was

ashamed of that. I was trying to be somebody that I was myself in so many ways. But you know, you're seven years younger than me. Jen was five years younger. Y'all were in your twenties. I was in my thirties, so I was trying to be twenty. Jan Layne was the other member of Sailing Angels. She's not a great man called Runaway June. They're doing amazing. Um and their lead singer now is like twenty five. I think so when Jen's older and so, I don't know. I'm sure she kind of gets it. But um A D H D.

Just so, how did you feel? I was just ashamed, you know. I mean, I wanted to be twenty five. I wanted to weigh ninety five pounds, and I had to pretend that that's what was up. Now I'm embracing full lou Hey, I might have two kids, I have a wonderful husband, I'm gonna be forty next month, and I'm finally embracing that part of myself because I love myself enough. Isn't it really great to get to the place where you love yourself. I feel like I finally

got there. Like I always liked myself and I love myself, but like I didn't fully love all of myself, and I feel like maybe we had a little bit of that in common. Yeah, I mean I think when you're in your twenties, you don't know anything. Are just a crapshoot, They just really are. I mean, you're just kind of just swimming through it, you know. And then you start getting in your thirties and you really turn into a woman and you know kind of who you are, what

you want. And then I think after you're about thirty five years old, that's when you start going, Okay, this is really who I am and I'm okay with that. So who are you? Oh? What is your soul? Like? What is your Who is the core of Taylor Lynn Finger? The word that keeps throwing in my mind is joyful? How wonderful? Yeah? I mean I feel like I have a lot of joy. I think I exude joy. I try to bring joy to my children, to my husband. We laugh. I'm a laugher. I mean, I just love

to laugh. I'd love to have a good time. I'm a nurturer today, you know. I love to cook and clean and take care of my family. But I'm still that performer that's, you know, balls to the wall a hundred and ten. I love to perform um and don't feel like you found a good balance. I think that's gonna be a forever thing. Trying to find balance. You know, I'm either too busy or bored. I mean, I don't know when that's gonna happen. Yeah, there's really know in

between for you. Huh, Well, there's really not because when I go most of my shows are in the Pacific Northwest, out in Seattle, where we lived in a while for a while. And I'll go out there and I'll take both kids and we'll go for a month and I'll have fifteen shows and then I'll just be insane. And then I'll come home to our farm and I'm sitting there for three weeks and i Am like, oh my god, I'm gonna call my own skin off. So being in the moment, yeah, so that's when you bring your mom

over Cindy Plymouth, who's hilarious. You make exercise of videos on the front porch with a million dogs running through and your mom doing like legged well, and my husband will go please. So in those moments, that's when I'll bring mama over with Mason, who is my four year old nephew who is crazy, and he and my four

year old son together just hear the house up. I joined you know, beach biding advocate, and I start selling things and then I start a mom's group in town, and my husband is like, babe, please don't take anything else on. I promise you're gonna wig out. And so then I just, you know, yeah, get in the Bible and hitting my knees and pray to God that I'll find balanced. Okay, so let's get into like your life. I have a few well, actually I want to see a few more. Okay, these rapid fire or these you

kind of answered all these questions? Yeah, the rapid fire? What does faith mean to you? Do you edit these? No? Oh? Oh good? What does faith mean to Jesus Christ? Um? But it's not that, you know, I think there's a lot of hateful religion talk. I think I'm from the South and from the Bible Belt. I mean it's like, if you didn't love Jesus, then you were awful. And I moved to Seattle and I saw so much hatred

come from religious groups. And I'm not that. I mean, I love my homosexuals and I love you know, I mean I do, and um, you know, pro choice, and I believe that Jesus is the way to get to heaven. But I think that it's everyone's personal journey. Um, you're not taking it on to be the judge of when I love Jesus and I love my religion. I love God and he has saved me, and I think he can save you two. But I want that to be between you and God. And if I can help you,

let me help you. But my very best friend and my husband they're both atheist, you know, and that is cool. What do your thing, man be? You? I agree with you on that one has their own journey. And by the way, we have background music. If y'all can hear it, Taylor's hosting. Tell me what you're hosting right now? Well, first of all, let me tell you how O c D that Caroline is that this is really bothering. I

don't even think y'all can hear it. I'm hosting. It's called Nashville Bike Week and we are having the pre party tonight next September two thousand seventeen. Is a huge bash and O p s. You're co hosting one night with me and just got your job. Oh thank yeah, you're welcome. I said, we have a great time. We would be. We're gonna do the hard rock night because we're not gonna do country great because I thought we would be good at doing an alternative this, So we're

gonna do that. So it's next. Let me tell you about the next. There's gonna be like a hundred thousand motorcycle riders out to the Ranch. Nashville Dude Ranch, Laretto, Leans, Lorette, Leans, Dude Ranch. It's sixty miles west of Nashville. There are gonna be bands every night. Our headliners right now are Shooter Jennings, Jamie Johnson, Coltford. Yeah, I'm doubt it's gonna be great, babe. I mean they're gonna have honkytonk up and down out in the Cornfield. Campaign ranch is fun though.

It's a place to go. It's like a destination and there's tons of fun concerts that happened like that. Me are we talking about this now? Sure? So Memal's Ranch, you know, we moved out there and meals Loretta. Memal is Loretta, and we moved out there. There is camping and cabins and you can tour her home that's on Coalmaner's daughter Jim, who was her bus driver for thirty years, is the one that gives you the tours of the home. There's a western town. You might see her outside planting

flowers or feeding a skunk because everybody lives there. She has a pet skunk, baby, you would love it. Did she get a d sacked or does she have the sack and tap baby? I bet she has a second there so that skunk can spray. Yeah, Loreta lens getting sprayed by a scunk, questions planning, Well, it has squirted before whatever whatever it's called. Are you serious? Your grandmother the living legend? Loretta Lynn has a pet. When we were little, she took a ferret out. I mean she's

at Ferrett squirrels. Yeah, she does. Well, she loves squirrel meat. So she has the pet squirrel and then she'll eat it. I don't know if it was a pet and then she ate it. But what does she does? She bring them on the bus? She did? I mean, did she bring the skunk on the bus? No, Carol, where does the skunk live under the house? Oh so it's like living in the house. She just feeds it. She didn't go buy it at the store and like raise it. Why do they sell skunks, Caroline? You can buy pet

skunks Okay, let me tell you something about Caroline. I'm sure she told you when we all met her, she would carry around a sugar gladder in her bra okay, and it would fly everywhere. I never saw it personally fly, but I'm sure it did. I love Rodents. Me and Loretta have that in common. Okay, so great. She has a pet skun does she name it? No? Okay, let's

move on. Okay, So all the Lynn clan lives at Loretta lens Zu Land, from Loretta to the twins, Patsy and Peggy to your dad, Ernie, to you, that's Ryan and your husband. Who else lives there? That is it? The the twins don't live there anymore either. That's where they grew up, and Patsy lived down the street forever. But now Peggy has an amazing farting called Madison Creek Farms. She does c s A. I mean, she just's. You should go see her at the farmer's market. You would

love it. And Patsy is managing me mall and producing her records, and just so she's moved into producing it. Isn't she producing your record? She is? So you have a new EP and I have a new ep out right now called The Ranch. Oh what was it inspired? But it was inspired by living on the ranch because I recorded it um with London Tone Records out in Seattle. But since then we've moved back to the Ranch and we're gonna get into all of that too, I can't. So it's called the Ranch. It has a due out

with me mall the Redman on there. It's Honky Tonk Girl, the first song she ever recorded. And actually James House who wrote Martina McBride's Beautiful Wing and a few other songs I can't think of the top of my hand, broken Broken Wing. Did I just call it beautiful Wing, Broken Wing because they just check it just yeah, you know Beau the Beautiful Broken Wing, so broken Wing, Yeah, he did that. He produced that song and um the song called us Love called Us Oh thank you? So okay.

And also you're in a duo now with a Grammy winning a guitar player. Yes, he um won a Grammy for it's acoustic style picking. Yeah, I mean he's just great. Eric team Stead and he'll play on the record. We'll make it out here in Nashville, but um, yeah, we tour all over the West Coast and people just love Eric. I mean, he is a star out there. It is a whole different type of music that I'm used to what he does with. He has a Now that music is starting to it's just ramping up, you know, to

the good part. Yeah. Tink Stead and Rumble is is who he's with, and they do this kind of I don't know what kind of music it is. It's very confusing to me, but with me, he just says country. We do a laurettoln tribute and just play around, yeah a little. Do do you have a name? No, it's just Taylor Lynn, No Caroline. I mean Taylor Lenn and Eric Tingstead. I love this. Yeah, it's they say Taylor Lynn, granddaughter of Loretta Lynn with Grammy Award winning artists Eric Tingsten.

Know that's a good It's all about how you present things. Hey, it's branded people like and his wives are booking agents. She's been a bookie. They got it all on the family man. Yeah, might as well. So that's sweating an there's well and we have the door closed because it's

so loud, but I mean it's really not healthy. Fine, we're on the back of this, so I think there's six of them and three of them are out in l A all the time, and the other three are here in Nashville and they just take them around to big events and hosts the artist. It's really awesome. That's super cool. So you grew up really country, you grew let's start the beginning. You grew up in Nashville. I grew up in a small town called Franklin, which is

about twenty miles south of Nashville. And you are Loretta's granddaughter. When did you realize that you have a living legend for a grandmother? You know, I actually get that question asked so lute lately for some reason. I don't know why it's coming around now, but maybe because I'm doing the Laurentlan tribute. Um. Not until I was about nineteen.

My grandfather passed away and I moved in with Mima into her house in Nashville, and so I started going on the road with her professionally, and I had when I was younger. I went on the road with her all the time, but I never watched her. I always went on the fair rods and we had these bands so we could get first in line. When I started watching the audience watch her for the first time in my life. I thought, oh my god, they love her

like they love her. You could see it. I mean, it was like people watching Elvis or something, you know, people crying and singing and moving. And it wasn't like these big concerts that you see today where people are jumping up and down and they're just so fired up to beat a concert. It's about her and they love her music and what she has to say. Yeah, I mean, and she'll talk throughout her whole show and just people just hanging on every word. It's unlike anything you've ever seen.

And you know, back then, I didn't really know a difference. I just knew that she was special. I knew she was special as my grandmother anyway, and I knew she was famous, but I didn't understand what she was until that moment. Is that when you started singing. I started singing when I was very small, so you've always I've singing since i'l of the womb. Mama says, Okay, did you just sing because you're sang it's in your it's in your blood, yes, Or is it because your dad singing? Well,

I mean dad's a singer. My aunts are singers. My cousins are singers singing. It was everywhere, It was everywhere, and who technique just went off, y'all and it's a party. Um and Mama loved to sing too, and so we would just sing all the time and dance around the abba and you know, we just we're singing. That's just what we did. When did you realize you wanted to

do it professionally and for your life? Always? Always, even when even I think my mom has to put it in my head, even before you knew Loretta was Loretta, and this was in your always knew Loretta was Loretta. You asked, when I knew she was a living legend. So I always knew that she was famous and that she was a big singer and she's saying and she had fans. I just didn't know the extent to how

she moved people until I was older. But I always wanted to be her, Okay, I mean always, But my mom would always say, oh, you know, it's okay that you've got evs and all that, because you're gonna be a singer, And like, exactly, mom, I mean, my mom was so crazy. Tell me about your childhood. What was it like? Tell you about my childhood when it was like, what do you I mean, what does that really mean? Tell me what it was like growing up in a

very famous family. Well, mom and dad got divorced before I was born, so I was born Julie ray Lynn. Oh yeah, you have changed your name. I was born Julie ray Lynn and then about two years later they changed it to Taylor Vanette Greer. How on earth did that happen? So Granddaddy said, we can't keep changing her name, so we're gonna call her poo Willie. Why did they change your name to begin with? My mom was so in love with my dad. She'd love to hear this interview.

Mama was so in love with daddy that she wanted to get back at him. So she thought, I'll take his rights away, I'll get married again, and I'll let this guy adopted her. And John Greer was a great guy. So someone completely adopted you a from your dad. Did you get readopted by your dad? Yes? Well, I mean, as your life is crazy, Well, John was never I mean he was my dad for a while, but I mean mom got divorced John Gred. Then she got divorced and then got married again to Roger and did they

change her name when she married Roger. No, it remained Taylor of At Greer. And then when I was eighteen, I changed it to Taylor Vanette Lynn. Yeah how long did it? Say? Where did Venette come from? Okay, so get this, Paul Paul At his husband, my dad's dad. His middle name is Vanette. So she kept it, but without telling John Greer that I was still going to be you know. Yeah, she slid it in the slide in there. So your granddad, Papa said, we can't keep

changing her name. No, granddaddy, Granny's husband, Mama's daddy. So he's gonna call you Willy legally well, no, baby, not legally well. On his death bed, I mean I wrote him a song, poo Willie. Now I had been on the drugs at that time, So would you get into that phase of life? Can I just chellse them? So? Granddaddy's lying there, dying, right, I mean, God, love his heart, he's dying. I've relapsed. I am standing over his bed saying here comes pooh. At this point, yeah, it's not

right now, of course I'm sober. But yeah, and he said, I think you really need to find some faster, fast songs to start singing, So what faster songs to start saying? And I don't think he liked the song that was what was happening death bed? Yeah, I mean, you know, so okay, So you you leave, you get adopted by Greer, you change your name from Julie. Want to say that Julie Lind's a really pretty beautiful name. Let me say this in case my aunt is listening to this. When

my grandfather died, it was a very beautiful moment. I do want to say that he tried to save my husband on his deathbed, and I'll never forget that him talking about the love of Jesus Christ to my husband. And Van Westbrook's is his name, and he was a father figure to me for so many years, and he was a wonderful man. So I don't want to make light of his death. So I really do want to

say that, just in case we're laughing about it. But I do want to pay major respect to Vane Westbrook's and his daughter Angie, because they have helped raise me in our wonderful people and I would never want to disrespect them at all. So I just want to put that little disclaimer in there. There's a lot of people in your life. It's like following, it's like connecting the dots. It's there's all I've even I've known you for ten years and I'm trying to connect it on. I know,

it's what you know, and she though, I know. And okay, So for people listening, So you you you're born, your parents are divorced before you're born. Your dazz Lauretta's son. Your mom loves your dad so much. She says, I'm gonna take your name away from him to get him back with slides and vanettes. So that's where you change from Julie ray Green Julie ray Lynn to Taylor Vannette career. Okay. So then I lived the rest of my childhood in Franklin. Um.

You know, it's a tumultuous childhood. There was abused, there was abandonment there, but there was also laughter and fun and in music, music always saved us. Between Jesus and music, there was always a saving grace there. And so I mean, we had donkeys in the backyard, we lived in junkyards, we were poor, we were red neck rich, you know.

And then, um, which is hard to believe, people would never believe that because you come from a fame, people are always shocked, even people that knew me growing up, that we were ever poor or that there was ever any abuse that went on because people having image and mine exactly, people paying an image, and they think it's one way when really sometimes famous families are the most like yet tortured that there are. Yeah, so, how how did you get into drugs and alcohol in that season

of your life? Um? And how did you get out of it? Well? When I was thirteen or fourteen, I took my first drink. My step dad let me drink um, and I got drunk and blacked out, threw up everywhere, And the next day I thought, oh my gosh, I want to do it again. That was the most fun I've ever had, and I've got to do it again. And so I did it again and again and again.

And then I got on drugs, and you know, it was just that slippery slope, um, and you kind of had a little free rein like like well, yeah, I mean it went between my step dad was either really strict or buying me vodka. You know, like it was just this whole thing. And Mom was My mother is a beautiful lovely woman. But she just wasn't a strict mom, you know what I mean. Um, I love me some Cindy,

Cindy wonderful, she loves she doesn't care what I talked about. Um. So, then when I started going out on the road with me mall. One great thing that my mom did growing up is that she never let us talk about me mall. Like she never let us say, oh, my grandmother's Laurette len so let me do this or that. Like she was always so afraid that we were going to get act entitled that she never let us do that. So once I learned how to do that, when I was about twenty, I could get into bars, I could hang

out with cool people in Nashville. I could get drugs. I could do anything I wanted to do. I felt like I was the golden ticket, Oh my gosh, and I didn't know what a ticket I mean. I took it to the max and so very fast I was became addicted to cocaine and pill And you know, I remember the first time I took my first hydro code on Lord Tab. I took it and I thought, this is exactly the way I'm supposed to feel like there's been something missing and now it's not and this is

how I'm supposed to feel. And so I remained um addicted. I mean, I think you fight addiction forever, um for years. And then when I was about twenty seven, my stepdad died. That was my adopted dad, my stepdad's Roger. Roger and mom stayed married for almost twenty two years. So he was the longest man in my life. He was you know, he was my dad. Yeah, they were married a long time. I didn't actually realize this twenty two years. Well they

were together twenty two years. Yeah, they got married when I was sick, so U or something like them. So that's timetables off. But whatever, it doesn't matter a long time. He died and I was at rock bottom at that point. I was a crack and heroin addict and sometimes you know you were at but I'm like I thought, I could feel black images around me all the time, Like I was either hallucinating all the time or I could not. I wait, eighty five pounds, I could not. My boyfriend

was seventy years old. I mean, just you know, you're living hard. It was terrible. I mean, is that what happens. It's a slippery slope, like it just starts kind of fun. And I was a pill attict for so long, and those were so expensive, and the withdrawals from pain pills is so excruciating that when you run out, you don't know what you're going to do with yourself. I mean, it is horrifying. It's the worst feeling you've ever had. And I was hanging out with this guy. I thought,

I'm never ever going to smoke crack. How I can't believe I'm actually talking about this. First time I've ever talked about this. But I mean, like this, you know that, I mean, I got They kind of put a stop to it. Im media training. Remember you know we're all about authenticity and honesty. Now, that's right. I mean, I mean, I'm I'm glad that I can share these stories because I don't do that anymore. But anyway, I was in

such a bad place and in so much pain. I tried it and immediately it was like the doors opened and ecstasy I think would be the right word, and I was hooked. There was no way for almost a year, there was no way to get away from it. That drug, which one wasn't crack, and then to come down from crack you would smoke a heroine. And so it was terrible, Carol, and there was no way to get away from it.

It was my master. It was my master. And so when Roger died, I was able to somehow they hadn't seen me in months, nobody could find me, and somehow my brother found my phone number. I don't even know what I had a phone, honestly, and my little brother found my phone number and he said, hey, you know Rogers. Roger died in a car wreck. And Roger was using so he died drunk driving. And I said, I'll be right there. And I finally got home. After hours, I

couldn't figure out how to get home. I finally got home, and I got arrested the next day and went to jail, and in the back of the cop car, I remember thinking, oh my God, thank you Jesus. I'm done, like, thank you Jesus for thank you Jesus. I'm in the back of a cop car. I cannot get out of this by myself. No one's gonna get you out, nobody's gonna help me. No, but you were trapped, so you're gonna

have did you have two detox in jail. No, so my aunt Angie, who I talked about my savior, she um let me sit in jail throughout the funeral and everything, and let me sitting there. I had enough drugs in my system and I was okay for a few hours. Um Angie said, I will come get you out of jail, but you have to go to Cumberland Heights today. And I said, oh my god, that's all I want you. And you have to want to have to want it. You have to be so sick and tired of the

game that you got it. You're done. Did you think you were going to die? I did? Yeah, mean, and I didn't care, but I knew that there was a part of me that wanted to live. You know. Of course, there was that small part that said, if I can get sober, I know I'll be okay. And I had been to six treatment centers, so that was other people wanting you to go right, yeah, I mean, or me trying to get out of trouble or manipulate a guy

or you know, get somebody off my back. Really, this was the first time I said, please take me there. And I went into the chapel there at Cumberland Heights and I hit my knees and I can remember the lights swaying above me and me just saying God, please take it away. And he did right then and there he took it all away. It was done. Yeah, really, yes, I mean I have to work on it all the time. I work with other people, you know, trying to share

the message. And that's one thing about you is you have committed so intensely to your recovery and like making that a part of your life and like prioritizing it. And that's amazing. Like hearing the hearing this story from you makes me realize what you ever overcame because like we haven't really talked in debt. We talked about it, but like you almost made I almost maybe didn't get you, That's what I'm trying to say. Like when we met,

you had come through that dark valley. Well, but you know, if you think about it, I was sort of newly sober. I mean I think we met when I was at my five year mark or something like that, but I was still so sick in so many other ways. But I mean, all of a sudden get you, Like you could have not been here. Yeah. Sure, the fact that I'm sitting in the back of a bus with you

right now and I have two kids. Yeah, in a family is that is why when you say the word faith, thanks me to God and G I mean without without my faith, my faith in doing the footwork, there's no way I'd have peace today. So you got sober, and then that's when what happened when you got sober? What it's sobriety sober living look like for you? And what is your So I was in rehab for about a month and a half and I knew it wasn't enough, so I moved into a halfway house. Good for you.

Um my other sort of addiction what used to be it would be men. So I got married right out of rehab, of course, you know, and I will say, your first husband was a doll. What a nice man. It's such a nice man. Yes, you married a great person. I sure did. I mean we were great for each other. He was in sobriety too. I have got accountability partners. Yes, there's not. There's not one bad thing I can say about sweet Jim Hill. I mean not one. Yes. Family

was great. Uh, we just weren't in love period. But you guys were very necessary. We were We were great friends and we were able to get a divorce and say, you know what, we're just not in love. I love you and I wish the best for you. And that's sort of about the time that I met you. Guys. Um, it's a sobriety Yeah, that's when it was sober living. Was it hard to get used to? So we're leaving was not hard to get used to in the beginning because Jim and I both um, we did it together

our lives or friends. Everything was surrounded about other sober people. So I had that first two to three years all it was all sobriety all the time, and I was out. I went back out on the road with me mall and um, you know, Jim went to so we brought our sobriety with us and her band members were so great and my aunts were so great about supporting my sobriety and my recovery that I was very safe out there. Um.

So I can't remember. I can remember getting an an email from Anastasia Brown, and Anastasia I ignored it because I didn't really know who she was at the time. And Patsy emailed me and she said on a Stasia Brown was trying to get in touch with you, Tony Brown's wife. They are amazing people. You need to read

this email. I said, oh my god, I remember getting so anyway, So I read the email and it said, you know, I have a reality show that I want you to do with Jennifer Wayne John Wayne's granddaughter and the descendant of Daniel Boone, Caroline cut Berth. And I said, well, a reality show, sure, man, A man. So I came, I met you guys, fell in love with you. They wanted us to be mean on the reality show. I knew.

I remember. They wanted us to gossip and be the Laguna girls and all that, and we did not want to do that. So you and Gin called me one cold December one, and I remember I was at MEMA's office in Nashville, where I had lived previously Mills nineteen and we were about to go out on the road. And I will say this, I consider my music a little more left of center. Caroline is a happy, happy, happy, happy,

happy happy butterfly pop country singer. And Gin, you know, yeah, but a little a little still more mainstream than you, Yes, and I did not want to do music together. At that time, we're doing music together. We we're just gonna be on reality together. And so y'all call me and you say, look, you'll call me on two three way, and you said, look, we're going to be a duo if you don't want to be a trio, but we want to be a trio. And I was like, oh, hell no, You're only gonna be a trio without me.

So it was the fear of y'all getting famous and me not that said yes, And that's sort of the conflict that you lived with the whole time during Stealing Angels. Yes, but what a beautiful blessing Stealing Angels was. I could not agree with you more. Stealing Angels blessed my life more than I knew. I didn't know how much it blessed my life at the time, Yes, did you? I kind of did. But afterwards I can remember us sitting

on our bus. So we ended up getting a record deal and getting produced by Paul Worthley and Wally Wilson and Skyville Records, Um and Paul did Dixie Chicks and all that. We were saying, Lady Annabella and we were like, we're going to be the new Dixie. Oh Yeah, we really believe that, and I think we were very close. We were. I'm not comparing us to the Dixie Chicks. I think we quite had the music. We didn't have

the music because it just wasn't there. We weren't see we weren't all three of us were not quite on the same page. That's exactly right. And I think that came out in the music. It did, Yeah, and it wasn't in the cards. And you remember it was Pats He told me what is his name? Don Cook would say sometimes it's just not written in the stars. And he's a hit songwriter. So I can remember us sitting on the back of our bus because they gave us

a tour bus. They would fly us everywhere, you know where the country open for Faith Hill to mcgrawl, Oh my gosh, Maranda Lambert, Kid Rock. We went to I Rack for two weeks and we would say, we are so lucky right now. We will look back on this one day and we will say, oh my gosh, can you believe we got to do this every single day we would be home sometimes one day a month, maybe we got to see the whole country well, and it gave me the lesson of you know what, I don't

think I want to do radio. I don't think that it's in in my heart to do it like that. And so I think we learned so many lessons from it. And well, I mean, I was telling the guys up there. He said, well, obviously you guys are still great because she's come over to see you. And I said, you know, it's almost like, he goes, it's almost like your army brothers. You know, you live on the submarine like this bus

for so many years. You breathe the same air. We lived in the same house too, yes, and so you're just connected forever. You and I were like it was almost you. Me and Gin were so incestuous almost, and it was the only obsession in our life at that time. Yes, we couldn't have any even like our relationships that we were at that point. They had to be like a bird on the list. Oh yeah, I mean, and it had to be, and the people that were managing us. If it wasn't, then we were dirty dogs. I was

obsessive with the career. But you know what, I'm so grateful for that because we gave it our full heart, we gave it everything we had. And then it fell apart apart. Well, so we had been doing it for what three We were on the road hardcourt for a couple of years. I think we're together maybe like five six years of Cell Angels, like with the reality show and all that. So here we are. We're about to put out our third single. I'm at this point not

done with stealing Angels. But had two singles that were in the like one was in the forties, like two in the forties maybe, and we were putting on a third one. I hated the song. We hated our second single. Um, I think we should have put out letter, you know, I just had out you know, all these ideas. Okay, So I'm miserable. I think we're all miserable at this point. We're kind of underbreaking. We're over it a little bit. We're over our team and so we're all claimed my

part and we're frustrated. Yeah, so I'm tight because it's not working on radio. I wanted it to. I won't tell all of it because I don't want um because every every story has dirt, and there's always a million sides. Yeah, and we have so many parts in it, and they have so many parts, and that doesn't really matter. Who even knows what's real or right? I mean, who even who even knows? But my part in it, what I

did was that I met a man. At this point, I'm thirty five years old, and you're starting to freak out. I've been married and divorced. We didn't put that in there. I did get divorced. Oh yeah, I did say that. And you're starting to freak out because, well, my eggs are gonna drop up. So you said my eggs are going to dry up all the time. Oh my gosh. So I meet this guy and the minit he grabs my hand, I think, oh my gosh, that's it. That's there.

He is. I have found my husband. So he starts following us around the country, and after one week we say I love you. I don't know if I ever told you that, because you would have killed me. Engaged after like a month. Yeah, so we get engaged, and then I moved to Seattle. So Taylor literally, so this

is what's happening on Jannemize timeline. We're all it's all good because like Taylor always moves is very extreme, moves super fast, like everything you do is high intensity, and nobody shocked that I'm getting moving or yeah, it's a

new personality. And all of a sudden though, it's like Taylor's like, I'm moving to Seattle and we're like okay, and we'll be kind of think, okay, cool because Tristan our road manager at the time, it's like, you know, we flyaw Ryan being them out of what I'll call it, it's we can do it. We'll make it work. So Jenn and are like, okay, we'll make it work. And meanwhile, though our careers starting to suffer because we're not doing

well on radio, the labels getting frustrated. I moved across the country, moved across the country out it's expensive to keep this label going on independent label. We're partnered with Sony, but like it's independent funded and so so. But we're like, okay, we'll keep it working. Even though the momentum was starting to die. And then what happened? What did you announced to us? That? Really? Like, well, what did so? In November? I realize I'm pregnant. So you had met this guy?

How long? John? We worked together? Four months when you got pregnant, when we got pregnant, and I think, oh great, I'm pregnant. That's so exciting. But at the same time, oh s h T. Wally always said, don't break up and don't get pregnant it, don't break up and don't Then we're breaking up and we're well, all of a sudden, things are already bad, and now I'm going to have to say, well, guess what, I'm pregnant something that's so exciting in my life, but that I know it's going

to tear as support and it does. I say, I don't want to do the radio tour anymore. Can remember in Jason Dear's office saying, I don't want to do the radio anymore. I can't. If y'all want to be a duo, go ahead. You all decided to be a duo. And then I'm like, oh, wait a minute, wait a minute, waitute you know, and then it just we get another reality show. They film all that trying or trying. It's like the last attempt to say it was just terrible. It falls apart. We don't really talk for a while.

It was awful. Didn't talk for like two years. We would try, but it was still like there's a lot of wounds. They're still like we were still so sad about it ending, and we hadn't moved on. You know, there's a lot of like pain still, yes, and so we had to take time. So everything time does hill every thing. I ended up moving to Seattle with our little boy, our healthy little baby boy. And that's where you've really found your love, your music career that you

it is. I was able to do I do a lauretto In tribute out of there, but I was also able to do my other music and find a great recovery group. Um. You know, you guys got to do Amazing Race and then you kind of worked out perfectly at that time, like you start your life. And I think we were ready for a break. Jen and I get on Amazing Race that we do that, which was an awesome, awesome time in my life. I wouldn't trade

it for anything. And I think we realized that at that point we were it was better off this way, yes, And then after we were all able to have that break and you guys were able to experience a different life and me a different life. There was more than stealing angle, more than stealing angels, which was heartbreaking. It was almost like a divorce. So then we um we all come back together. I moved back to Nashville, have a second son. I've got music career. You get married

to sweet Mark's Jennifer's got Mars's Taylor's name for Michael. Yes, Um, Jennifer's got her new trio. You've got your amazing hosting gig that's going so well. And it's crazy how it works out, like you don't if you would do the next right thing, and if you have good intentions in a good heart and can say you're sorry, You're sorry, we're able to say we're sorry. We were both able

to stand up and say. You know, Caroline and I met, she flew out to Seattle, and I sat there and I let her tell me every pain that she had. I'm not tooting my own horn. No, you did. You let me say it, and you didn't try to say but you No, I just let you do it. You let me tell you my raw hurt. It was excruciating too, I mean it was I was really broken. Yeah, it was hours of you telling me how I hurt you.

But I was able to hold that and it started release for me well, and we started we were able to start building on that, and that's why we were able to sit here together as sisters again, as best friends, as family. Yes, and that's what it's about. You just keep walking, you know, and don't leave destruction, don't keep your own side of the street clean, and you're gonna be all right. You are, but you have to be big enough to say you're sorry to and don't point fingers. Yeah,

because at the end, who wants to be right? You know? What is that saying? You can be? You want to be right or happy? I always want to be happy, happy, happy happy. Yeah, And I feel like you're the happiest

you've ever been. Like you're flowing. You have a beautiful farm, you have beautiful family, beautiful husband, beautiful career, the career you always wanted, you always said when we were when when we were in the middle of doing Stealing Angels a huge radio all across the country, You're like, I just want to do this Americana indie thing and do Loretta music and do a tribute and be barefoot and like, do my thing. And now you're doing that. I know

it's insane. You were literally doing what you want, you know, you and not talk about you put the energy out in the world. You you know, you say to the world is going to happen. You proclaim it. Yeah, it's crazy, It's really, it's really quite unbelievable. I'm so happy for you. You tell me about what's going on now. So now we talked about your album. So you're doing this album. Were doing the album. I'm out at the Ranch. I'm doing events for the Ranch where like the c m

A Fest in this Nashville Bike Week. You know, I'm just really trying to represent the pr for the Ranch. Yeah, I'm doing that. I'm doing these Lauretto in tributes all over the country. I mean, that's going so well. I do because I love me most music, and I love that she lets me attach her name to me. Um. And I've got my two boys, Scout and True. And then my husband who I just kiss every day, John Cody. He's beautiful and he has changed me how because he's

the first man that you've respected. But you know what, Jim, because you did. But he's something with John. No, I didn't respect Jim. I thought he was a nice guy, but I didn't respect him. John. He keeps you in line. He does. You know. When I moved Seattle, and I'll just quickly go through this when I had my first son. I have never talked about this, UM, and I feel like it's a safe place with you. I had postparton and I relapsed after eight years of sobriety, and I

know you know that. UM. It was a terrible I couldn't even believe it. John marrying a sober woman, could not believe that could happen. But I stopped doing the things that kept me sober. I stopped getting on my knees and praying. I stopped talking to other alcoholics. I stopped doing service work. And I had postpart them and in the C section they gave me viking in and it just turned back on the attict again. So I relapse and he says, he takes the baby. They leave.

Nobody knows this what they do now, but he he leaves because at one point I said, if I ever relapse, take our children and go. And so he said, you told me to do that, and we're out. He said, you can either go back to rehab or we're gone. So when I went back to rehab, I learned there were so many things wrong with me that I had

no idea about. You know, like when you get sober from cracking here when you're just getting sober from cracking, when you get sober from I had relapsed on a d h D medications and compared to but it was so huge in a life, the life that I destroyed my children, you know, like these are huge things. Before it was just me and these nasty drugs. Yeah. And he keeps his thumb on me when I get out because I'm the mother of his children. Now you know this isn't just some girl he's with. I'm not just

his wife either. I'm the mother of his son. So he keeps that thumb on me. For a good year. I mean, I gotta check in. I am. And you know that's my worst nightmare because it changed everything, Caroline. It my emails, my Facebook, my journals, everything is open now. My texting, well, I did all kinds of stuff, so I had to hide it all. I had to hide the money, aspent, I had to hide my text I had to the gossip, my trails. You couldn't really be a part of my life because I had so many secrets,

and secrets keep you sick. They keep you sick. And so all of a sudden, here is this man that cares enough about his son and his wife and his loyalty to us, that he's gonna get in every nook and cranny and he's gonna pin me down. And I can either live that way or I can go. I choose to stay. I choose to hold on. I choose

to be in this marriage. And because of that, because of those choices, because of John's loyalty, because John showed up as the man I've never a man I've never known to do in my life because he was that man. I know, because he was that man, I changed. There's not one secret I have. There's not one text he can't read. There's he knows that I leave my receipts laying around my but we have one debit card. He can see everything I do. Do you feel so free? I think that's why when you say who are you?

And joy is my core word, it's because John Cody Finger made me be the best self he knew I could be. And that is a marriage. That that's marriage, it's marriage. He made you rise up and I was there to meet him. You know I did it. Oh that's awesome. It is, Yeah, what an amazing thing, you know? I mean, that is like his marriage isn't always beautiful. But marriage is about making you be your best self.

Are you willing to do it? Because it's it's gonna be uneven sometimes sometimes he's not gonna want to rise up. Sometimes I'm not going to that. She says, it's never fair. At the same time, that's so great because somebody's gonna be somebody's got to do the hard time, right, somebody's gonna have to do the heavy lifting. Carol, I'm gonna have to get back to work out. Hey, that's it. But here's the last thing. Leave your light. I like

to wrap up with. Leave your light, leave inspiration. You know, I think we just did it. I mean I think if there's anything I can say is just rise up, don't point your finger at other people, say you're sorry, keep your side of the street clean, be honest, love your man with your whole heart, you know, just and be you. Everyone else is taken as sharing cut. Berths would say, all right, I love you, bab, this is awesome. You're the best care She's a queen. I hope you

love hearing from Taylor one finger. She is full of so much heart and soul. That girl has more passion, more drive, more. Just just soul is the word I have to say for Taylor. I'm so grateful to know her. I'm so grateful for the life we've lived together, and she inspires me be on no end. So I hope you love that. Interview. Next week is so fun because I have the gorgeous Kelly Pickler joining me again. And

this is so cool because I'm on her show. I love Kelly Pickler and I interviewed her for her show. I love Kelly Pickler. So this podcast past interview, we'll be airing on Thursday, the day after I air this podcast on Wednesday, so make sure to tune into SAMT and watch it on Thursday, but then listen to it the day before with me and you can see what's happening. It's so fun. An I have a surprise. There's a competition going on called Nash Next, and I am going

to be interviewing the top five finalists. It's sponsored by Country and in Sweets, and so I'm gonna get all of the dirt for the Nash Next Stars starting next week. So you guys, get excited. It's gonna be so fun. I can't wait for you to join me. See you next week by