And now here they are, Nick and Sue on Chatterbox. When the stars talk, they talk to Nick and Sue. And welcome back to the Chatterbox Redux podcast. And in this edition, our special guest is Joe Hermes. This is Nick and Sue with Chatterbox giving you all you need to know about music. now on Chatterbox. We're just lucky enough to welcome back Joe Hermes. Joe, welcome back to Chatterbox. How are you, sir? Great, Nick. Great. Glad to be here. And yeah, I'm doing well. Thank
you. It's great to have you back. I mean, you're getting a real regular, but that's a sign of how busy you are because we've chatted autumn full last year for the first time. We've had you back since and again now. And well, just busy. It's not just releasing singles. It's all these tours as well. And massive tour, of course, supporting and opening for Boys Life. Yeah, we had the Boys Life tour. We just got done with that. And then we're getting ready to head out
on a rock tour with Lansdowne. I saw that. And there's a lot of dates there in Europe. I see you going to Germany and various places. I'll get you to take up on that one. So what countries are you visiting in Europe? There's a few, isn't it? Yeah, we've got quite a few dates in Germany. Then I think we hit Austria, Czech Republic, France. We have a date in each one of those countries and we come back to the UK and then we finish in the Netherlands. Cool. And in the UK, I see
you've got Wolverhampton, we've got London. Manchester and then we got Glasgow I think up in Scotland. Sure so almost during the whole country again because well have you now had a chance to see much of the UK or you're just too busy traveling to really take note of where you are and what you're doing you just know you're there but have you had a chance to see any of it? I have witnessed a lot of hedgerows Uh, it's been plenty of Pedro watching in my, uh, recent, uh, months here.
Uh, you know, we, we were over in November for about two and a half, three weeks. Um, got my first dose of the UK in November. And then we went out with boys live for a good, a good long bit, um, six weeks. And then we did 24 shows there and that was all over the place. Uh, And I will say during that trip, I probably settled in to, you know, finding areas that, or not just areas, but like, you know, food and things that I started to really enjoy. That's getting me
excited to go back again. I still couldn't always tell you where I was at within the country because,
you know, every day it was a new location. But I know we've been coast to coast from east to west and north to south so yeah of course you've been over you've done ireland as well haven't you i think you've done north and republic i think you've done that over the period i think i think you've been to both now i think you've done dublin yeah we we actually did not no that's one of my regrets is we didn't get to do the uh the ireland show they there was a big gap
uh they did they finished with two shows in ireland um And I had to miss those because we had to come back here to the states and get ready for this next tour. Maybe you say now. Yeah. Yeah. Had I stayed on, I would have had all of about two to three days to get my rock band together to get out on the road. And that would have probably been a little bit much to tackle. So I had to regret regrettably skip Ireland. But I yeah, I got that in my sights and I can't wait to go.
get it on you know hopefully this year at some point yeah i had no doubt it would be on your bucket list so yeah good let's let's say you do both you can do the north you can do uh you know i mean dublin is an amazing city anyway you just love it it's just but but belfast yeah quite lively it's that and of course then you've been to the capital of the north as well so both is important at least at least do them too you know So yeah, I've got the actual dates here
as far as the UK is concerned So we got you the underworld in London on the 27th of April got you in Wolverhampton on the 28th of April Glasgow 29th of April Manchester on the 1st of May that's your dates over here But we're not just talking about you opening up a game for someone. We also got New music to talk about a single In actual fact, we're going to talk the same single, but two different versions today. So we've got Boots on Broadway. Both versions sound absolutely amazing.
I'm not sure what version to put into our hit and miss show because they both sound really good. So, I've got to ask the question really. Does he know you are basically rock country. So let's let's ask you which version came first Country version the country version came first. Okay, and you know, I we sat down and we're writing this song and it actually It actually stemmed from my one of my Finnish buddies That was in Nashville with me that actually toured with me
back in November. Uh, he had a, he had a start on a, on this song and we sat down and wrote it. And of course he's a, he's a rock guy converted to country as well. Um, and then our producer is also a big Southern rock artist and a player
and producer. So It started down the country route because it was about downtown Nashville on Broadway But then you know the realization came that there's a whole lot of rock music getting played on Broadway if you've been there in Nashville and I just felt like I needed to step up and and Knowing that I was going out on this rock
tour. It just made sense like hey Let's take another stab at this thing and see what happens when we beef up the guitars a little bit and add a little more you know of the drums and And it just, you know, it really, I think it worked well in both settings. Of course, I think I'm partial to the rock version myself, but I'll let you all decide which one you like more. Well, they're going to hear both versions, so there you go. On this show, that was the idea. So,
yeah. But of course, the country version sounds good, but the rock version does rock. There's going to be no dust on those smart speakers by the time we finish with that version, I'll tell you. No. If there is, you're doing it wrong, right? Yeah, absolutely. Good way of looking at it. How have the audiences been taking to you? I think you initially had a pleasant surprise because obviously the boy's life audience is the boy's life audience, of course, you know.
Right. to you but but then they go you come on and do your stuff and uh well they just party didn't they initially when we first talked so i assume that carried on and they love you i guess it it did i i know we caught a lot of people off guard you know because we we let off the show we were the early opener and uh i just came right out from the start and said look i know you're all here to see boys live but we're gonna get the party started with some country rock
and uh And you hear a couple jeers and a couple woo -hoo's out there. But then as the songs went on, yeah, it was like we were just converting them song by song. And yeah, by the end of that 20, 25 minute set, we usually had a pretty good group of fans coming out of each one of those shows. And you know what's funny, Nick, is... A lot of these folks would come up to me and some of the ladies would come up after the shows,
grabbing photos and autographs and whatnot. And they would whisper, I really like country music. And I would just kind of smile and I'd say. Why are we whispering? You know, it's taboo. And I'm like, it's okay. Like, you can like Boys Life and country music. It's okay. Well, of course, there's people that would go to a rock concert and they'd whisper that they like Boys Life. Yeah. I mean, well, so we've had some fans that
we've met over the Boys Life tour. And they're like, we're going to come see you in London or Manchester or wherever. And I was like, well, I hope you're coming ready to rock and roll because it's going to be quite different than what we just did with Boys Life. Because I mean, at one, it's their smaller, their smaller rock clubs, you know, or smaller clubs that, you know. And then, of course, the bands that we're playing with, like. Whereas Boys Life, we were, you know,
we were the. probably the heaviest, if you will. Now we're going to be like the most laid back and docile because, you know, the opening, we're actually direct support. So the opener, you know, Prospect Hill, they, you know, they're significantly heavier than I am in the hard rock, you know, borderline metal, whatever you want to call it.
And then then we're going to come out and do my rock rockified Country rock or rock country And then of course lands down is a pretty solid right down the lane hard rock type group So, you know, I was just warning I was warning people that they would be messaging me like oh we're gonna come see at this date or that date and I'm like just Just beware what you're getting into I'd love to see you and I want you to come out and have a Have a good time and we need to
tow the line for all the Joe Hermas fans that are you know coming out in the UK now and I just fair warning though. You better get ready to rock it out with us It takes two to tangle and two to present a radio show So here's Nick and Sue, your musical duo. This is Nick and Sue with Chatterbox, giving you all you need to know about musical entertainment. Chatterbox, Chatterbox, Chatterbox, Chatterbox, Chatterbox. Brilliant.
I mean, what do you say? I mean, you spent a lot of time over here in the UK in recent times. I mean... Is it fair to say you spent more time here in the last sort of six, seven, eight months than you have back in the USA or was it? Oh, by far. Well, since. Yeah, I haven't even really thought of that. I think I've spent a total of of. Yeah, I have. Yep. You're right. As I'm adding it up in my head, I had spent more time in the UK in the last six months than I had in the US
by probably almost two to one. Sure. And would you say, because it's been sort of that comprehensive, we'll say, as to how, you know, how many concerts you've played here now, I mean, would you say, is it fair to say now that maybe the British audience is perhaps bigger than the American one? Because you've been there, you know, done a lot in a short period of time here. Yeah, I would say that I'm seeing a lot more activity. I kind of had a weird journey here in the US.
I started out in late 2019, and I kind of gained a bunch of fans right out of the gate. Then 2020 hit. I kind of downshifted into more the writing and producing work for a few years instead of trying to get right back out on the road. I hadn't even been out on the road. I just basically played around my hometown. So then we had a bunch of
fans come out right out. Right then and then it was kind of been Kind of a smolder since then until I got To the UK because I think I just think you had so many people in my area in my region trying to do the same thing and that the opportunity came to come over to the UK and it was just like a whole breath of fresh air and new fans and You know not that there's no competition because there's plenty of it but I feel like the boys life thing while I was nervous about
it was pretty nice because you could kind of stand on your own two feet, you know, and people could see you for what you were instead of like just sticking me on a country show and be like, Oh, well that guy's too rock. You know, he's not, he's not country Western and, or, uh, you know, we're being with other country rock guys. Cause there's a lot of these, a lot of these younger guys I'm seeing. I just played with,
um, Couple last week here in hometown. I mean, it's like I'm looking at a at a You know ten -year younger version of myself. I mean black hat black shirt, you know He's he's got song song names that are like very similar to mine and you know, it's just it's just funny that
I'm like, all right. Well at least you know, I know I'm doing Doing something right if I feel like guys are starting to you know, follow the the trend that i've been i've been doing but at the same time you know i hadn't made enough noise to really own the trend so i'm like well hopefully i'll be the first i'll be in early enough in the uk that there will be no mistake that uh joe hermit owns the rock country world sure sure and of course uh you're probably well
away you've probably done your homework but it's uh not rare for an american artist to be bigger in the uk than in the usa it's nothing new at all uh nothing new at all uh go to the scale of susie quattro is a regular on this show uh she landed in 1973 and never went back and she is such a superstar here still she's on par with what Cher is in america you know uh dean friedman big star here but a couple of minor hits over there in the 70s you know but that's just two
examples but we have it at all levels from those levels going right down and it's nothing new for a British audience to love an American artist more than the Americans do and you're bringing that that slightly different sound the Joe Hermes sound over which is of course Joe Hermes sound to us it's not anyone else's sound so as you say you got in early so that could only help it could only work so yeah Yeah, I'm excited. I mean, I don't know where it's going to go,
but I know the feedback's been great. And I mean, obviously, speaking with all the media that we've been speaking with, that I've been introduced to, yeah, I have no complaints. I see a bright future. Yeah. Well, no one says anymore, I'm not introducing Joe Hermes as a new artist to us anymore. Nobody says who's he anymore. In fact, the odd person even asks for Joe Hermes' record now. They all know who you are, so that's a good start, a very good start in just six months,
really. Yeah, and Nick, I'll be honest, it's such a weird mind flip when I know how long I've been grinding it out over here in the States, you know, five years of just what feels like you're just like Yeah, just fighting tooth and nail to get some air. And then, you know, but then you come to the UK and it's like you're brand new again. And, you know, it's it's it's nice. Makes you makes me feel like I'm just starting starting from square one again, even though I
know I'm not. But it's just interesting. I've
never experienced anything like it. And. but i'm not tired and i'm not looking to shut it down anytime soon absolutely not of course you make it here you have a few few hits over here then of course it will happen it's be so funny if you did all over america they start discovering you because you're big in the uk and they think it's something you you could just say to no i've been here all the time i start yeah Yeah, it took some more intelligent folks to find me,
right? Very good, I like that. That's kept the people listening to 230 radio stations very happy. Good work, very well done. Well, you know, there's always that quiet competition and it never hurts to, you know, feed the machine a little bit. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. Well, I have noted because you mentioned, you know, on your bucket list, you've got Ireland's hopefully, hopefully you can visit Dublin and the North and come back to see us again later this year.
Sounds like you're going to anyway. So that'd be our next. That'd be our next chat. So, yeah, we're not going to stop. I'm not going to stop, Nick, until I have every single one of those rock and country fans having me on their playlist. So. The sooner you guys do it, the sooner I'm going to get out of your hair. That's all I'm talking about. No, then you're going to have to come back and do the greatest hits album, then you're going to have to come back again
when you do the anthologies. There's no going nowhere, right? Well, I'll do the best I can. I promise you that. It's great to have a catch -up every few months. Yeah, great. Have a good chat. You've become a good music friend. Right, let's do your social media, shall we? So, look at where we are. I'll hand that over to you because I want to say JoeHermes .com but I'm probably going to be wrong. You're close. JoeHermesMusic
.com JoeHermesMusic .com and i was looking at it before at the beginning of our chat and i just lost it on my screen but i i do know you got some of the tour dates on there um that gives people the opportunity to listen to some more of your your stuff uh that we've not talked about today in addition to that right at the top there uh we got your links to your other social media and uh you know where they can find you and download stuff and everything else it's all on there so
safe it's all right there Joe, every success with this, especially in Europe, that's good, that's exciting. And we look forward to our next chat in a few months' time, no doubt, and every success with the single as well. All right? All right. Thank you, Nick. I appreciate it. And thank you to all your listeners. Yeah. And thank you for coming back on Chatterbox. Speak to you soon. See you. Cheers. Bye. Bye now. Bye. Bye.
You've been listening to the Chatterbox Redux podcast and in this edition our special guest was Joe Hermes If you're interested in becoming a future guest on the Chatterbox Redux podcast or the radio show Chatterbox UK, you're welcome to submit songs, books or whatever it is you do and send us a CV, synopsis or press release. However, we receive several thousand such press releases every week, and it's impossible to reply
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we catch them. Bye -bye. Nick and Sue with Chatterbox giving you all you need to know about musical entertainment Chatterbox the best interviews with Nick and Sue the best news ever