Ep. 18 - New Frontman, Same Trouble | Grady Spencer

Josh: All right, and gentlemen, we got Grady Spencer on here. Grady, how are you buddy? ⁓ Looking, ⁓ good that mustache brother. ⁓ Thank you much. I, I, dude, I introduced you as one of my best friends now. I think we've become best friends that would. Yeah. So that was Grady Spencer. Thanks for coming on. ⁓ These men come down here from New York and from Florida to find out my reasons on rock and roll music and why I preach against it and I believe with all of my heart that it is a contributing factor to our juvenile delinquency of today. I 100 % believe it. Why I believe that is because I know how it feels when you sing it. I know what it does to you. And I know the evil feeling that you feel when you sing it.
Grady: Howdy boys, thank you for having me. Thank you. Thank you. That means a lot from you. So thank you for that. I think it's natural. Yes. Yup.
Josh: So where are you at right now? You're back home in Fort Worth, right?
Grady: I'm here in Fort Worth, Texas. Yep. ⁓ I'm here for a couple days and then ⁓ me and the Fort Worth fellows are headed out to do a wedding ⁓ out in Virginia on Friday and then yeah, back home. So.
Josh: and all the lost position that you get into in the beat. Well, if you talk to the average teenager of today and you ask them what it is about rock and roll music that they like, the first thing they'll say is the beat, the beat, the beat. Damn, driving or flying?
Grady: Driving, yeah, so it's gonna be one heck of a long ways to go for one show, but it's been on the books for a really long time and I tried to book some routing stuff around it, but I waited too long and it was just like, I'll just go do it and then come home. But we're excited to do it, it's an honor and yeah, we're pumped to do it, so.
Josh: What's up everybody? Hey, welcome to after loadout here in the Brookstone studios brought to you by the Georgia fire hot sauce, the wallet drum keys, signal fire agency and drum pickers and go check them out. Drum pickers.com nailed that one today. Josh, what up? What's going on? That was, that was quick. I was like, I always want to do that. I'm like, man, don't mess this up. I'm like, what is everything called again? But we got it baby. And also we're back. Yeah. You're out of practice. Dude. I know like Yeah Awesome. Well, man, did Brian was telling us about it? I'm just curious. How'd the show go for show number one with the Vegabonds? It's like when you play drums and you take like a couple days off, you know, and you're trying to learn something. That's also, that's a good, I'll give this advice to anybody that plays music. If you are trying to do something, you get frustrated, take a day off. Just quit. Just quit. You're not going to make it. You think Prince ever got frustrated? The symbol Prince. Man, how was your weekend, dude? What's going on? I missed you. I'm dude. Yeah, man. I haven't seen you since WrestleMania and
Grady: Dude is fantastic. mean, I think it was kind of the perfect, yeah, I think it was the perfect first show. There wasn't a lot of pressure. There was a lot of fun, a lot of crazy, you know, UGA kids. yeah, I had a blast. I was pretty nervous, but yeah, it ended up being great. And yeah, I loved it. It was a lot of fun.
Josh: the dogs. That's awesome. There's probably no bigger Bulldog fan than Brian. So I'm sure he was super, super excited to debut that in. Yeah, you got it right. I was going to drink them dry. No, Grady. So yeah, I want to get because I know I've kind of talked about it. Just kind of how we. Yeah, this is we've been on for three weeks. Well, I mean, in our defense, everything got a little bit busy. The first week was on me. Well, I got in a fight with my own. I'm like, I'm bring it up. But, dude, when you text me, you're like, I messed up my face. I was like, what do you mean? You sent me that picture. I was like, oh, my gosh. I was like, it's not that bad. Yeah.
Grady: You know, he he minded his manders pretty good. I mean he was he was drinking all their Bud Light, I think. I think that was the only thing he like made sure.
Josh: know, connected and stuff like that. But yeah, I want to kind of hear your story, you know, like when me and Paul called, like, what'd you think, man? Were you like, this is the dumbest thing I've ever heard? Or were you like, let's do it. I've been telling people I thought this was less embarrassing. So I've been telling people I just tripped over my dog. Yeah. The reality was ⁓ I was asleep and I just rolled out of bed and just completely fucking ate shit on my nightstand. Yeah. My bedside table and it's like, it's solid wood. I woke up with like,
Grady: No, man, I think it was a super exciting idea. It was really funny. ⁓ I was out on the road doing an acoustic thing with Will Overman. And so I was in like prime road stress, lack of sleep, and talking with my family and everybody, everything's going wrong at home. And so it was like kind of a stressful time. So was like, can't do this. There's no way, there's no time. And the more I was driving and thinking about it, was like, no, this could be really cool.
Josh: I thought I'd chipped a tooth. I was just like my head's back and I was like, holy shit. You'll see like my nose. And then you called me. You're like, dude, I can't do it. I'm like, that was Monday morning. Like we were supposed to record. I was like, no, no. Yeah. I want to, you know, I guess give a shout out that Gavin had couldn't be on that night.
Grady: And I think it's a great fit. ⁓ yeah, it's an honor to be able to jump in with those dudes and continue the legacy that they have, you know, they've been putting on for the past 20 years. So, ⁓ yeah, dude, it's, it's, it was nerve wracking and like trying to figure out the logistics and the timing. But now that we're like on the road and doing things, ⁓ I think it's gonna be great. Yeah.
Josh: You know, yeah, yeah, sorry. got to bump. Sorry. We had to cancel you, dude. We had to cancel him like a stagecoach last night. Yeah. I mean, you hear about that? Yes. Saturday night. It was a Saturday night. Yeah. We are. Yeah. Monday. Because I got a bunch of friends out there and they evacuated and for wind advisory. Yeah. You've ever been to Palm Springs? No. It doesn't fucking rain. I don't. I don't think I've been. I mean, maybe passing through or something, but yeah, it's I mean, it's hot. Yeah, when Brian told me that they were gonna ask you, I thought it was the perfect idea. Cause one, two are together, your friends, you've recorded together. Like, you know, I've heard a couple of the songs that were released and just thought they were amazing songs. ⁓ So you clearly have chemistry with the guys. And then ⁓ I'd heard you might've been going through some lineup changes with your Texas band. I was like, dude, this could be. Yeah. Rich. Pretty awesome. I mean, if you play golf or, you know, are a billionaire. Yeah. No, wanted like the lineup seemed pretty good this year for stagecoach. Stacey V. Who's Golden Voice is the producer. She's the like VP or something of festivals. And but she booked stagecoach. That's her. That's her baby. perfect for y'all, like everybody. ⁓ you know, it just seemed to make a lot of sense to me. So I was glad to hear when you said, you know, when you agreed to do it and it was actually happening. I know Brian and the rest of the band were super stoked too. I think she crushes it every year. Yeah. She's really good at creating moments with like, you know, she did the first post show or headline slot there a couple of years ago, whenever he was making his, his foray into country. Yeah. Did like a cover set and it was, it was just this really cool. Yeah. And then I watched a lot of it this weekend. Yeah. The live stream. Yeah. It was, you know, there was a great.
Grady: Yeah, dude, I think it was a great fit. yeah, there's, ⁓ you know, the guys in my Texas band, Johnny, he's now a head worship pastor, so he can't really travel much anymore, especially on the weekends. And so, yeah, dude, it was just kind of perfect timing. ⁓ yeah, I'm looking forward to seeing what pops off down the road.
Josh: great sets in my opinion. Let's see, Laney crushed it. Laney always crushes it. She's good. Yeah. Shout out to her. Mandolin, Kara. There was one, one I watched last night because we were going to watch Wyatt for us, he, like, yeah, for some reason, like the stream wasn't really lining up. So it was like an hour behind. Ready to hit the road with them? Yeah.
Grady: Yeah, yeah, dude. As long as Brian minds manners and, you know, stays out of my way.
Josh: I'll my best. But no, was kind of telling him, man, like, you know, I think it was December when you played in, in eggs and in Nashville. And we kind of started talking about it. And I remember you were telling me kind of about the guys who were like, Hey, you know, this is kind of going on. And I remember it kind of clicked. I was like, well, you know, Danny, we're playing our last show coming up. And I think that's kind of where it all kind of the wheels started turning and So I ended up falling asleep. When I- That's called time change, buddy. There are two hours behind us. Yeah, yeah, no, I get that. But like it was supposed to be like stream at like nine. Did you put it on the right channel? Cause he was on channel two. Yeah, yeah. We switched back and forth. One that I like, I maybe need to dive into his music more. I don't really understand is Warren Zeidler. Zeidler? I remember talking to Paul and I was like, there's like, would like, you are the number one choice of if we were gonna continue to do this, like we would love to do it with you because like Josh says, we've recorded, we've, we're buddies. It was like when you would come in town or we would come to you, always, love to get together and stuff like that. And I just, I'm so thankful you're doing this with us. And I'm really excited because I tell everybody, I'm like, man, you're- Warren Zadar. Yeah, like at one point he was like y'all want me to take my shirt off. I was like, okay, dude I didn't watch his set. Yeah, we watched we watched a little bit of it but not I mean when he came out he was you know, tick-tock guy Instagram was him. Yeah. Yeah, and he's really good got a great voice Wyatt I watched him. He's good. Yeah, he was all right. Really? You didn't like it. I didn't dislike it. Yeah, I like him Not only a great guitar player, but you're a great singer songwriter. So I think it's just, it's a really good fit, man. I'm really, really thankful you're doing this with us,
Grady: Dude, don't make me cry on here dude, yeah I'm pumped. I'll cry at the drop of a hat. I might be the first crying guest y'all ever have and keep this up man. Calling me a good guitar player, I'm gonna start weeping.
Josh: I heard, uh, did the guy from the fray come out and sing with him? that what I heard? I don't know. I was kind of back and forth. Yeah. Yeah. I think the guy from the fray came out with him or something like that. Ella Ella Ella. I missed her set, but she brought Theo out. saw that. Yeah. I've seen, yeah, I've seen all the, um, clips and stuff. Dude, you want to know who I enjoyed the most? Who? That Chico Mr. Worldwide, baby. That's what I'm trying to do, man. Like, it's like a gun. But no, it's... You'd be surprised. Yeah. But no, Josh, I think he wanted to ask you about one of the, ⁓ Super Bowl. Yeah, man. How did, you know, a years ago, your song became like the, the Fort Worth, like official tour. I don't know what the title is, but like official song, ⁓ the, anthem. Pitbull? Oh my gosh dude. I didn't even go try to start a war with Pitbull, but man, he's just hide. I don't. I thoroughly enjoyed his set and it was a late night like after party set like Ludacris was last night. Yeah. I did want to see that. Did you watch that one? Yeah. was, I don't know if it was this short in person, but it was a really short telecast. Really? Yeah. And then they just killed it. Like I'm
Grady: Mm-mm.
Josh: The anthem for Fort Worth. Is it true that at the Rangers games they stand up and put their hand on the heart? Is that is that a thing now? Everybody rise for the new Anthony. How did that come about?
Grady: Yeah. I wish, I wish man, that'd Yeah. Dude, it really comes down to one guy. I'll try and keep it brief, but I recorded that song, you know, a long time ago. I think it was back 2013, 2014, maybe. I have to go back and look, maybe. No, I can't remember. A long time ago, over 10 years. Yeah. And when we recorded it, my wife and I were living in Fort Worth at the time and I had written that song a couple of years before and I never really thought that much of it. Like I thought, you know, this is okay song.
Josh: minutes like it was like, yeah, so I don't know what it what it was like there. I know that Coachella ⁓ got fined a lot because they went over, I think, every night the first weekend. Really? Whenever curfew. Yeah, I mean, shit happens. But that's crazy, though. Did you get fined for that? mean, you're in a municipal municipality. You're in a city. Yeah, true. But there's ordinances. ⁓ Sorry, 12, 13 years ago, yeah. I wish I could find my fucking neighbor that drives down the road at midnight. Thumping base. don't know what it was about last night either, dude. We were hanging out. We kind of cleaned the pool yesterday and just getting ready, you know, getting ready for the season. And I, you know, I think I ended up kind of laying down about nine 30 and dude, all I hear is like just this mute. I mean, I walk Penny and
Grady: We recorded down ⁓ at a buddy's place down in ⁓ Buda, I don't know how you say it, Buda. And we recorded it and I had a buddy feeling, I didn't have a regular bass player at the time and a buddy that I hadn't seen in years played bass and he was like, hey man, I think that's the one. And I was like, I don't think so. And so I ended up putting it on at like track eight or nine on that album, which is like, who cares, spot.
Josh: Dude, this music was so loud. was like, somebody's partying on a Sunday. Yeah. I mean, I don't know who live in a pretty nice neighborhood. I mean, it's not like gated or anything, but, ⁓ somebody I'm sure it's probably a teenager or somebody that just got there, you know, lives at home, but yeah. And they're back in the back of the neighborhood because they drive by the house and I never hear like their truck or car start up, but man.
Grady: You know, like I didn't really, it's just a time filler. Well, fast forward like two years later, and there's a guy by the name of Tom Martens. And at the time, I don't remember what his title was, but he's now the creative director for Visit Fort Worth. which is kind of like at the time it was called Fort Worth Tourism Board. And so it's like, anything that has to do with tourism or like people coming to Fort Worth. And I don't know.
Josh: They do not turn down that base no matter what time it is. They're like, I want people to hear this. Yeah. I'm just, you know, get off my lawn. Dude, I'm the same way. Like, dude, I'm the dude. I'm the same way. The older I get, like, I hate crowds. Now I hate loud. Like, when it's like loud, I'm like, dude, I picked the wrong industry. But no, we, you know, we had, it's been a good three weeks. had WrestleMania.
Grady: how he heard the song or when he heard the song for the first time, but he just reached out and I think it was DM, maybe even email, but I was still working, I was doing construction and so I didn't have a ton of like, contact me here type things. So I can't even remember how he got a hold of me, but they wanted to use that song for like kind of the year in review ⁓ for the Visit Fort Worth ⁓ kind of master video, I don't remember what they called it.
Josh: Yeah. Which was fun. I appreciate you hosting that. was really, dude, that was so much fun. got some live crawfish, those up and made some gumbo the night before. Summer made, did the boil and did a pasta salad. So good. Yeah. I was so full by the time I left. Dude, we had so much leftover.
Grady: And you know, that was probably around 2016, 2017. And they used it. Fast forward the next year, they wanted to use it again. And they asked me to rerecord it in like a faster kind of more upbeat version because they wanted to use it again. And then they just kept using it, which was an honor. And and then yeah, like three, four years after that, they're like, hey, we're gonna we're going to
Josh: Yeah, I know that I we put a dent in it. No, dude She hands me as I'm walking out. She hands me like this like tray and it's like he goes like oh my gosh So yeah, I just I ended up day and I gave Paul and them they ate some and it was great Yeah, I think I think I'll do something similar for summer slam and When is summer slam? Before fall. Yeah
Grady: put this budget down for the Super Bowl and we want to use it. You know, are you cool with that? I was like, of course. so, yeah, exactly. Yeah, let me check my bets. But no, I wasn't betting. By the way, my wife, she's like, no sports betting over here. Not allowed.
Josh: Let me see what teams are in. Sometimes the summer. I thought the mat. It was I think it's an August. I don't know, really. ⁓ But yeah, I think I'll do something similar. I'll probably just like smoke a butt or something. Yes. Yeah, be good. Yeah. Crawfish was a little expensive, a little pricey. And it's also though, man. And I love it. Like I just love a boil. Just digging in there. Yeah. Yeah. No, it's great, man. That was a fun time. Yeah. But yeah, I mean, I'm glad we're back. We are back.
Grady: Yeah, it's mainly that one guy Tom Martins. I mean, he's been a huge advocate and he's just continued to be ⁓ just a really, you know, proponent for Fort Worth music. And it didn't help that I mentioned Fort Worth in the song. And so that was kind of the one that like helped launch my career and ⁓ just continues to, yeah, continues to give back. ⁓
Josh: Sorry, we took a little time off, but yeah. Yeah. So after the first week, ⁓ we were both just busy. Yeah. I we, we had just, we were getting ready for our first show, which went really, really well. Yeah, man. Opening for Marshall. So it was, I can't, I can't remember the guy that opened up. ⁓ I mean, I feel bad for that. ⁓ Yeah. Outside of Fort Worth, you know, you started picking up streams and fans and I was working at red 11 at the time and Jeff Turner, who was our Texas agent. He was like, it was right up his alley musically, but it's also, you know, being Texas helped. he's like, dude, I'm checking this guy out. And he played it for him. We were going to lunch one day and he played it and I was like, this is But so yeah, it was us or him, us and then Marshall Tucker and dude, they played all the hits. was very, cause I think Rich was telling me, he was like, man, he don't really play like, can't you see anymore? Dude, they did probably. Who's the singer now? That's still the original singer. What's his name? I can't remember his name, but he, so I think he's the only original member. Yeah. fucking awesome. And I was like, and I like it because it wasn't when I think of Texas music, I think of that red dirt, like who's gonna play the, the tumbleweed dance halls of the world. But this was like, completely different from that aspect, but still very Texas. But dude, they were great. But man, they played like probably a 15, 20 minute version of Can't You See, which I mean, I know it's long, but I mean, like they were, they were good. It was fun, man. It was, was good to, you know, Doug Gray, Doug Gray, that's it. And, ⁓ you know, I've got to say hello passing and stuff, but you know, Grady, ⁓ you know, he's taking over singing for us and, ⁓ you know, we, got some, ⁓ kind of some shows coming up. think our next show is like June 6th in, ⁓
Grady: ⁓ man, well yeah, I take that as a huge honor because yeah, I mean, I kind of always get called Texas country just because where I'm from, you know, I grew up in Lubbock and like, you know, the the big room in Lubbock, not the big room, physically, the the legendary room is called the blue light. Yeah. And so basically, if you're like coming out of that scene and like you play the blue light, you must be Texas country. ⁓ And it's just, you know, I never bite the hand that feeds me so you can call me whatever you want.
Josh: Yeah. you like. It's in Atlanta, or not Atlanta, it's in Georgia somewhere, Clayton, Georgia I think it is. Clayton County or Clayton, Georgia? Clayton, Georgia. It's some festival there, which I'm really, man, like it was so like, I thought I was going to be a lot more nervous than I was, you know I mean? Cause wait, dude, we hadn't played since December and, ⁓ but you know, Grady came in and we practiced and then the next week we got to go in like the studio and
Grady: as long as you're booking me or buying tickets. And yeah, there was a guy named Parker Morrow who helped kind of connect me with Jeff back back then and ⁓
Josh: Yeah. Yeah, the calabire over there, the blue light and he, he worked some other things too.
Grady: Yeah, does Magnolia Motor Lounge, Blue Light, and he started booking his own kind of festival stuff. So he's been a huge advocate for me over the years as well, and somebody I'm really grateful for.
Josh: Mm-hmm. Athens and we just kind of ran through the set and kind of recorded, you know, little bit. And we also wrote a song, which I'm really excited about. Yeah. So we just kind of hit the ground running, man. And I'm really excited to have him be a part of this and, and he'll be, he's our guest. He's our guest today. So we'll talk. Hopefully he's excited. He doesn't come on here and just, he's like, that was a one off. Like, yeah, that was just one off guys. Like I'm done. But no, I mean, you know, ⁓ we'll talk about, know, how we kind of got it all. Yeah. Yeah. Speaking of some other Texas country artists and stuff like that, who was some of the people that really inspired you to get into music? Who did you grow up listening to?
Grady: Man, it wasn't Texas country. That's the ironic part is, you know, in my childhood, it was all nineties country because I grew where I grew up. There was only one radio station and my wife always says it sounds like I'm like Amish or something, but it was the truth. There was one radio station and it was a top 40. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And so, you know, it was the Allen Jackson's Garth Brooks and all that. And then when I got into high school, a buddy had given me a Jack Johnson CD.
Josh: Yeah, man, I'm just he's just man. He's one of the nicest guys in the world and so talented like singer songwriter He's just he's fanta great guitar player. So yeah, dude, I feel like he's just a guy who's got some Some pop hits in his head like I'll do like he could you know, Read the dictionary and make a song out of yeah, man. He's he's so like It'd be like.
Grady: And that was pretty, you know, pretty kind of helped shape my brain of like, ⁓ there's stuff that's out there that I've never heard of and I really like it. And so it ended up being like Jack Johnson, Black Keys, eventually the Wood Brothers, bands like that, that really shaped me. And then when I moved to Lubbock, you know, started meeting guys like Josh Abbott, William Clark Green, ⁓ Flatland Cavalry was kind of after me.
Josh: Very, very social. He's really good at social media too. I sent him one of my McCulloch kid videos that Garrett did from the Georgia theater. I was like, hey man, could you edit something for me? That was him that did it. Yeah. So yeah, so my buddy Garrett ⁓ Cardoso, which dude, he's one of the best photographers, videographers, I mean, out there. He doesn't really do edits. he sent me this stuff.
Grady: after I'd already left is when they popped off. you know, that whole Lubbock scene, Red Sheahan was a huge one. He helped get me my first Blue Light show. And so, yeah, those guys, ⁓ you know, they were doing great things all around me. And so it was real inspiring and kind of helped push me to be like, ⁓ I really want to try to get where, you know, Red is or William Clark Green is. and, and yeah, it was, it was a good place to kind of cultivate a young
Josh: And I just asked Grady, cause I know he's really good at it. And I sent it to him, I think Thursday night and Friday morning, I wake up and eight, eight AM he's like, Hey man, check this out. And I was like, that's, that's perfect. So you want to edit the podcast? Maybe we'll get him to be a part of it. But yeah, man. it knows it was great. We'll tell him, know, guests actually edit their own episode. He's like, he's really good at it. So he'd be like, all right, dude, he'll have it back to you.
Grady: you know, guy who had no idea what he was doing, so.
Josh: Lubbock really had a, you know, a real scene back then. Is it still around? mean, last band, and I'm not super connected to the Texas world, but it feels like the last band that really broke out of there was probably Pecos. 30, 45 minutes, but no really. Yeah. Really excited to have him all man and excited to talk to him too. Yeah, dude. There was a, um, when I was still at red 11, um, music, a book, an agency that WME absorbed several years ago. Now Grady, uh, was represented by us by an agent named Jeff Turner and, um, I was
Grady: Pecos is there. I tell you the huge one now is Hudson Westbrook. He's out of Lubbock. Yeah, yeah. So his whole band's out of there. He's kind of blowing up. He just opened for George Strait in Tech's football stadium this past weekend. so, yeah, so he's kind of blown up. yeah, so he's getting after it. And so, yeah, it's a magical place. ⁓
Josh: ⁓ yeah, I didn't realize you. Gotcha. Yeah, that could. at scoreboard shocker I know with what with Paul Yeah, and from from Paul's bass player and Brian's band who were sitting there and he was talking he was like man I'm really digging this guy Gritty Spencer and I think we want to reach out and tour with him Yeah, and I was like, ⁓ dude, we represent him Yeah, and then I connected with Washburn y'all Matt Washburn y'all's agent at the time and I don't think I did much of I think Jeff did Probably a beautiful on Texas.
Grady: Kind of a shame because not a lot of people stick around. It's just so far out there in the middle of nowhere that it's hard to live, but I love it and my mom still lives out there, so I go out there a ton. so hopefully I'll be able to take the Vagabond boys out there to the blue light someday soon. Yeah, yeah.
Josh: Yeah, it's so far west. Jeff and Matt just connected the dots. that was the first run where y'all went on and really, ⁓ I think it made a lot of sense then. So like, I think he's the perfect guy to ⁓ fill in, you know, the vacancy that was left open. Yeah, man. like, you know, know we kind of talked about it too, switching. Let's do it. Yeah, Well, Yeah. When did you start leaving Lubbock and touring and did you start just in the Texas circuit, you know, hitting the the Fort Worth rooms and the Dallas rooms and Deep Ellum and Houston and then branch out or what was sort of the plan or not plan but ⁓ trajectory there? Like, you know, I've talked to Danny since and dude, like he was like, ⁓ he was really excited because, know, like we've been friends with Grady for a while. Yeah. And then he probably wants somebody that he trusts will do those songs justice that, ⁓ that he wrote. Yeah. And it's, ⁓ man, it's, it's, you know, great. think towards the end of with Danny and stuff like that, the kind of the way the songs were
Grady: Yeah, it was so it was very ill advised. So like I had kind of built a little career in Lubbock. You know, I was doing all the like patio gigs and, three hour things and, you know, just a ton of like, you know, not the greatest shows, but it was helped building kind of my, you know, getting my skins, getting my chops up. And I met my wife, I guess, in 2011 or 2012. And so at that point,
Josh: Yeah. kind of going, it fits with what Grady does as well. Grady is, like I said, he's such a good songwriter, man. Dude, if you go through his catalog, ⁓ because that's kind of what we're doing. So we're playing like eight or nine of his songs, eight or nine of our songs. We're starting to write. Hopefully later this year, we're going to get in the studio and write an album. it's Grady Spencer and the Vegabonds. ⁓
Grady: I'd played the Blue Light a couple times. always start like Monday night is songwriter night. That's kind of the open mic. Tuesday is like where the really starter out play. And so like I got a Tuesday show and then next show had a Wednesday and all the way to finally I was getting like Friday, Saturday shows. And my wife and I at that point had been married about a year and we're just looking around and thinking, man, we need to probably leave Lubbock and, ⁓ she had done an internship in Fort Worth and so we decided yeah we're going to Fort Worth and probably wasn't my smartest move professionally just because I didn't know anybody and so we moved here and I started over from square one and there's a guy named Jacob Furr who was a Lubbock guy who lived in Fort Worth then and he used to have like a residency at this place called Magnolia Motor Lounge in Fort Worth on Sundays and
Josh: Yeah, man. So we're going to play old school stuff, you know, his and ours and, know, hopefully eventually kind of fade that out, you know, to where it's just new stuff. And yeah, and just, ⁓ you know, get on the road, do some dates and yeah. question. Yes, sir. Is he a Braves fan? Man, no, he's a Rangers fan. I know. mean, it's not like he's at least it's not Houston. Yeah. If was on Teddy and the Rangers. Yeah. So yeah, we talked about that. We're like, I guess we can't play that song anymore. ⁓ fuck that, man. I know that's not one of like the huge songs, but I just think it's like maybe it's a fan favorite. I don't know. Yeah. I mean, in Atlanta, does well. Yeah. Well, we'll get him to sing that one. Yeah. I've centered around the people like for the past, you know, two or three baseball seasons since it's been out. Yeah. And it's like, hey,
Grady: He invited me to come up and I played to him and my wife and the bartender, the first show in Fort Worth. And that was in 2013. And then, yeah, just from then on, just kind of started rebuilding, you know, a following. And then, yeah, once the Fort Worth people started using my song, it kind of all launched. And, you know, we did a ton of residencies and things around Fort Worth and then eventually met Jeff. And that's where I started, you know, traveling and getting the tour.
Josh: Here's the anthem here. Maybe, you know, he had a really awesome opportunity and I want to talk to him and ask him about it, whatever his song and God, the name escapes me right now. Talking about things to do about Fort Worth. Yes. Bless my soul. Yeah, things to do. We definitely play that one. Yeah. And it became the official song for visit Fort Worth or whatever the tourism department's called. Yeah. And ⁓
Grady: you know, outside of my hometown. No, no, I hadn't played outside of Texas until shoot, probably like 2017 2018. So pretty recent, pretty recent. Yeah.
Josh: So you hadn't really left Texas before then? ⁓ wow. Gotcha. Where was that first? Do you remember where that first show was outside of Texas?
Grady: Man, I think it was probably ⁓ Wormy Dog Saloon in Oklahoma City. Yeah, yeah. I think that was the first place we ever went out. It might have, yeah, I'm pretty sure that was it. Yeah, it might have been Mercury Lounge in Tulsa, but I think somewhere in Oklahoma, not too far away, but yeah.
Josh: as well. It was on the Super Bowl even. Yep. Because I want to say that ⁓ they had a Super Bowl at Jerry Lynn, Jerry's World, like past few years and so Fort Worth aired a commercial. Yeah, with things doing it. Yeah. Yeah. Man, he'll tell you about it. ⁓ Yeah, just yeah, when he comes on, ask him about it. But man, maybe he can pull the whatever he did to make that happen, make a I remember around that timeframe, probably 2018 or so, I think it was an Americana Fest. was hanging out with a buddy of ours, Brandon Mize in Atlanta. And you were working with, ⁓ with Jeff at the time. And we were just having drinks somewhere and going over the roster and seeing what would work in Atlanta. And he came to something. I think you played Americana Fest that, that year. And he came out.
Grady: Mm-hmm.
Josh: Tom Petty and the Braves, the official Braves song. Well, dude, it's funny because that's ⁓ one of the reasons we did. ⁓ This was really cool. This was a couple of years ago, right after we released it. We did one of the official Braves podcast. Yeah, one of official. to go to the game and it was because it was really a lot to do with that song. Tugging them, they really liked it. And yes, they, yeah, that was fun, man. You tugged them. and was like, dude, I have this like on my playlist in my office. And he's like, we got to get him in. And I think we ended up booking the vinyl in Atlanta. And if I remember correctly, it was your first time there and it did really well. Atlanta might've been with y'all. No, I can't remember if y'all toured. I know we did the vinyl together. I tucked them. Yeah, speaking of the fucking Bravos. Yes, sir. We are we are the best team in baseball. Yeah. And they are looking like it. Hey, we're 20 percent. I think roughly 20 percent done with the season and still haven't lost a series. Dude, we were talking about it, too, off off air and stuff that, too, we're not even that healthy.
Grady: Yeah, I don't think it was the first time. No, I think we had done a couple before, but I do remember that. And yeah, it was wild and Atlanta has been really good to us. And then it's kind of gone down and now it's back up a little bit. it's like, yeah, that was a huge surprise that first time of like, man, this is crazy. And yeah, Brandon's been a great.
Josh: Yeah. Like, mean, we are. Yeah. I mean, our guys that are playing are good. They're healthy, but we're not at a hundred percent, but it's just these backup role guys, these do bonds and stuff. They're performing. And then there hasn't been no sophomore slump for, for Drake. Nope. Rookie of the year still. Rookie of the year. He's definitely not a slump. Dom Smith.
Grady: great friend and a great dude to know and and always has been really good to us, so Yeah
Josh: Yeah. Yeah, he's, he's awesome dude. Him and ⁓ Joel was over there at the time too. Joel Grubb he's in Midwood now, but those are, those are definitely some, ⁓ some friends of mine for sure. They'll take care of you. Like they're good, just good people. And, ⁓ you know, you hear the, rumors of people in the music industry just being dirt bags and
Grady: I love it. Yeah.
Josh: came out of nowhere. You know who he is this year? He is the sole layer. Like he's going to come in and just dude that cause I saw the, his debut, we were there at that game and he walked off grand slam and it wasn't a one-off man. He's still been performing. Yeah. mean, dude, like top to bottom, like we do have to get our pitching, ⁓ in order, the guys actually like our ERAs and stuff with our starters are solid. mean,
Grady: 100%.
Josh: I don't, take that with a grain of salt for the most part. think most people are genuinely good, but there are dirt bags out there, but. But those guys are like genuine, genuine people. I love them to death. Yeah. Great. Tell us a little bit too. I see your, happy, humble club, your shirt you got on. Tell us a little bit because I know that's your, brand that you've been pushing. like, tell us a little bit how you got that started and kind of where to get the stuff.
Grady: Hahaha! ⁓
Josh: we wouldn't be in the position we're in without some solid pitching. mean, yeah, we need Strider back, Schwellenbach. But the guys out there are looking good, man. And, you know, it took about two or three weeks for our offense to really ramp up except for that fluke grand slam. don't want to say fluke, but like.
Grady: Yeah. Yeah, thanks man. Thanks for thanks for the plug. Yeah, it ⁓
Josh: Dude, I know, I love the stuff that you post, That's one thing me and Josh were talking about too is like, one, I want you to tell us about that, but also the, just the social media, man, like how you, cause you're really good at it. I told him that you'd edited my McCulloch kid video and you just, I, dude, I just, I love the social media stuff you do, you push, but yeah, the happy Hummel club. I like that a lot. So tell us a little bit about that. just to have that opportunity for a walk off to crazy. But you know, and I know you're getting the script of that. No, you could. It was, it was perfect. And I know we were kind of talking about it too. Like I hope it can last. I know it's going to be hard because man, Walt, this, this new skipper, man, he plays, I've only seen him make one bad decision and it was yesterday, but he plays every game like it's October. And I'm like, I don't know if that can last. Dude, I think he pulled, um,
Grady: ⁓ man, thanks. Well, yeah, it's yeah, the social media stuff and like the brand stuff, it all came out of like, you know, having to learn how to do stuff on my own just because I didn't always have a huge budget. The first part of my career, I was a construction worker, you know, just doing music on the side. And so I never had this huge like, budget to hire somebody to go make a bunch of stuff or like, you know, hire a videographer, hire a camera person, you know.
Josh: elder a little too early. his, then I think it was the, comeback game for the Phillies and he pulled him just a little bit too early. He pulled him right before the eighth. And I'm like, man, I think he could have gone a little bit. That's the only bad decision that I've seen him do. Maybe, but man, you don't know what elder saying too. He could have been saying like, right. And, you know,
Grady: I've been lucky enough to work with people, usually they're doing it out of charity. You know, they're working for a lot less than what they would usually make. ⁓ all that to say is, I started making, you know, Grady Spencer and the work that my band's merch ⁓ probably four years ago, just because, you know, the profit margin is a lot better. If you can go buy a t-shirt for three or four bucks, you know how to print it.
Josh: You got to, got to save that guy. You don't need them down for two weeks or no. And get it. But like as Bobby would have left him in, no, I know. ⁓ but this is the pitch count era. Right. And it's different. They used to not count pinches you throw into your arms. Right. But it was funny. It was like an inning before that me and Catherine were talking about it. And I was like, that's kind of like what people were having problems with with SNIP like towards the end of his career. Like everybody thought he was kind of just
Grady: and you sell it for 30 bucks. You make a lot more than going to a shop. I had a shop here in town called Printed Threads who did all my stuff and they're great dudes and I still use them from time to time. But at a certain point I was like, man, I could learn how to do this. And so just watch more YouTube videos than you could ever dream of and ⁓ started making band merch and making good money. And I was really loving all these designs that I was doing for the band.
Josh: Not making the best decisions, which I mean, shout out to Brett. Like he's one of the best, you know, skippers we've ever had. Like I get that, but you know, and then, and then that happens with Walt and I'm like, okay. Yeah, man. I, I was a snit fan. I mean, one of the series with him, but he made some questionable decisions. Definitely ⁓ was a pitch count guy. Yeah, he definitely was.
Grady: but I felt kind of like a tool, like I didn't want to wear my own name on a t-shirt. No judgment, no whatever to anybody who does. Yeah.
Josh: Yeah. That's the Brett Michaels thing. no, seriously, Brett Michaels are poison. He always wears a shirt on stage that you can buy at the merch table. Giver play doesn't exist anymore. I heard some rumors it might reopen. So fingers crossed, but it used to be a venue down in Valdosta, Georgia, name, Ashley street station. Are they open that back up? ⁓ man, I hope so. It needs to be something south Georgia. We've had some good times there. Yeah. We played, we played Ashley street a couple of times. Yeah. The owner, ⁓ Brian, Brian. Yeah.
Grady: And see that's smart marketing, but just for me, it just feels, it feels kind of corny. I'm like, I wouldn't want to be at the grocery store wearing a t-shirt and see somebody I know. I got this guy, he really thinks a lot of himself. And so, and so I to say is like, you know, I want to start something that I can make that I would actually wear, you know, wear on stage, wear around town. And so I came up, yeah, with this happy Humble Club stuff and just kind of rolls off the tongue and.
Josh: He's brilliant himself. He's well, he's very wild, but love him. Nice guy, but huge race fan loves the party. Hated. ⁓ I know. know. Shout out to that dude. I've had some good times. I've never actually been in person, but man, that was the spot. Hey man, you got to fill a date between Atlanta and Jacksonville. Ashley streets nation. That was the only spot. And then he opened up one in Athens that didn't last that long.
Grady: It's just kind of a right now it's just kind of a passion project kind of fun thing. ⁓ You know, definitely not profitable, but if it can pay for itself, then then it's been great. And ⁓ I've kind of started shipping it out to other artists and kind of viewing it almost as like, you know, pro skateboarding teams. They have things that, you know, they have skaters on flow, they call it, where they're just shipping free stuff. And, you know, I'm kind of viewing it that way and just
Josh: which was a bomber. Well, he was also going against like a nowhere bar and the Georgia theater. yes, theater, you know, people forget that they can do smaller stuff there and 40 watt, you know, if you offered played 41, did, we are actually our last show in Athens was 40 watt. But dude, that night, like we were like, man, this is gonna be I forget what was even happening. But it was like, man, this is gonna be such a good night. And then we get there and they're like, Oh yeah, Luke Colmes and so and so are playing the theater.
Grady: getting it out into the world. And ⁓ there's actually a guy named Joshua Sloan who ⁓ I've mailed a bunch of stuff to and he's been wearing it on stage or he didn't play shows yet. But ⁓ I just shipped a box to him today and he's got a completely sold out tour starting next month. And so hopefully he'll rock it and help me kind of, you know, spread the word. But for now, yes, just a deranged man in a garage sweating, making shirts and
Josh: Yeah, it was like a pot and I'm like, ⁓ here we go. I mean, like there were so many big time hitters. Somebody did a pop up there like this week. Yeah. ⁓ it was a it was Luke Holmes and Corey Smith was at the theater. ⁓ very cool. And I was like, OK, here we go. Who did the pop up this week? It was somebody big like here. No, the theater like it was just a random. ⁓ They announced that morning, I think. ⁓ Like literally.
Grady: and hats.
Josh: So did you buy like a screen printing thing and do it all?
Grady: Mm hmm. Yeah, dude, it's for anybody that's watching this, man. I mean, it's you can get a screen printing press like I got mine on Vivo, which is like all Chinese stuff. But like, it's a dude, it's yeah, it's a four color. You know, I can do four colors. And I think it was like 180 bucks. You know what I mean? And so like, you can if you if you, you know, learn how to do it.
Josh: ⁓ yeah. Their stuff is good quality though. it's. about a week ago. And it was somebody, you know, really big that you've been to the theater. ⁓ yeah. Dude, the Georgia theater. That's one. mean, that was what a Georgia Fowers written about is when it burned down. ⁓ that makes sense. Yeah. And, was Aldine album release party, April 24. Yeah, dude. If you days ago, if you've never been to the Georgia theater, like it's awesome. I've DJed on the roof, like after our shows and it's just, it's one of those venues, man, that, ⁓ ⁓ wow.
Grady: they're not gonna be great, I will say that. It takes a couple years to get them where they look good. But what I've found, especially with the band merch stuff, is people, you tell people that you actually made it with your hands, they're gonna buy it so fast, you know what I mean? And so that's what I always encourage artists to do is like, these people know that you actually made this yourself, then they're gonna buy it way more than just some drop shipping thing or something like that.
Josh: It doesn't matter how many times you play it. There's like some, you know, not nerves, but you're just like anticipation. It's just, it's so beautiful. never went before it burned down. Right. I've only been, yeah, I've only, yeah. So I have nothing to compare it to, but it's such a great room now. So, I mean, the sound, the crew there, like everybody, you know, our buddy Rick Paul, so he used to, that's how we met Rick. Now he's, you know, here in, in, Yeah, I guess we got to get we got to get on the Grady Spencer in the vagabonds merch. Yeah.
Grady: Dude, I'm telling you. Yeah, yeah, that's it. Yeah. I want to make sure that those are good though. So I don't like, don't want to screw that up, I would love to do it. Yeah. That's it. A hundred percent.
Josh: Nah, Hey, we're all just waiting. dude, so just curious. Um, now that you've been touring nationally for several, you know, what you 17. So almost 10 years, eight or nine years, what are some of, uh, your favorite venues that you've had the opportunity to play just around the country and in Texas, but you know, that stand out as, Nashville and he works at Brooklyn Bowl. You know, we I want to talk to him I'd love to get him on sometime man, cuz that dude like you talk about somebody that's been in the business for a long time and just knows everybody. ⁓ yeah, he was Theater he went up he was ⁓ he was at Brooklyn the original Brooklyn Bowl and then came back to Athens and now he's here with Brooklyn Bowl ⁓ There's a drive-by trucker song written about him called. Yeah, it's in Ricky. ⁓ dude I mean he's he's one of those people like you don't like dude will have like Holy shit, this was a cool room or something cool happened, you know.
Grady: Yeah, yeah, think, yeah, like our hot markets have always been like Atlanta. So I mean, the first time that we played the vinyl, their center stage in Atlanta, that was incredible. It's a cool room, wood floors, and that was really awesome. ⁓ We've played Denver a few times and we got to play the Oriental Theater in Denver, which is kind of a cool spot. ⁓
Josh: just name them a musician that has played Athens at a walk-in and be like, I'm looking for Rick Paulson. You're like, what? Like, and he just like buddies with them. You know, Rick was a super early on to the Charlie Crockett. Oh yeah. Thing whenever we signed him. And I mean, I can remember booking him on the rooftop of the theater for 200, 250 bucks, whatever the pay was. Yeah. We've done it. Yeah. And now he's Mm. at all.
Grady: And yeah, it was. Yeah. Yeah. So we played it the first time a couple years ago and yeah, it's just a really cool room. And then ⁓ what else did we do? ⁓ the Casbah in San Diego. We got to do that ⁓ probably three, four years ago. So you could just feel like, you know, it's very punk rock and, and ⁓ very cool. But yeah, man, it's been, it's been incredible to
Josh: Huge and then right before COVID when Brooklyn Bowl was supposed to open up. ⁓ Actually, it was before the tornado. Remember the tornado hit and then two weeks after that COVID but the tornado went right through Germantown and ⁓ they were due to was on the books private ⁓ opened in part industry like open house sort of thing. I think it was coming up in like a week or so and the tornado came and it was like what? Is that a headline show? Awesome. ⁓ yeah, yeah. Amazing. Yeah.
Grady: you know, wake up and say like, holy crap, we're, you know, we're up in New York or whatever and, and have people actually know your music and be singing it back to you. It's, it's, just, it never fails to just blow my mind that people could care and ⁓ that somebody who has no idea what he's doing could be out here doing this, you know? And ⁓ yeah, it feels good.
Josh: Then two weeks. Cove is like, man, there's going to be a year or two. But he was in town. He came and met me and old mold haunt ⁓ Buffalo Billiards on Second Avenue. Buffalo's. Yeah. So great. Yeah. I love that place. And he walked in and ⁓ we had Charlie on the books, I think, for Brooklyn Bowl, ⁓ one of the opening shows or something. Maybe I can't remember, but he comes in and he's like he's hanging out and. I mean, you got great songs that are easy to sing to. just continue. I mean, continue to write them, man. mean, like that's, yeah. I'll do it. I'll always get a bad. think you're an incredible singer songwriter and yeah. He's like, man, put some Charlie Gawd Crockett on the jukebox. He's like, what's that one song? In the night in the night. I was like, you mean in the night? He's like, oh, that's the name of it. Yeah, is called Daytime. Yeah, dude, I love it like Rook Paul. He's he's one of those. I love it, man. Just a good dude.
Grady: That's it. Dude, well, people aren't gonna believe what they're hearing next from the vagabonds.
Josh: I know. Right. I'm excited to hear the stuff. remember I was sitting at Scoreboard. was telling Brian earlier before you came on, before you met the guys, I was sitting at Scoreboard, this little sports bar that I hang out at with Paul. And he was telling me that like the whole band had gotten into your music and was like, really want to do a tour with him. There's some killer shows coming up at Brooklyn. I saw Sepultura is like this weekend. Who is it? Sepultura. ⁓ yeah. Dude, it's funny because like I won't know who's playing. I'll just go work it. ⁓ I think the Hives were probably my favorite we've had in a while. ⁓ They were just so good, man. But dude, have there's at Brooklyn Bowl. There's so many good shows. It's such a good room. It's probably my favorite venue in town. It's definitely up there. And then I connected Washburn, their agent to Jeff and that first tour came together and it seemed like y'all just hit it off like immediately. I was, you know, thrilled that it worked. And sometimes it's like oil and water when bands get, they think they're fans of each other, but then they get together and you know, people in this industry sometimes have egos. I don't know if you know that, but, but it just seemed like, ⁓ like it just was a perfect fit. Yeah, the only the only thing that sucks about is the parking. If they can figure out over whenever I go. Yeah. But I'm just saying, like, if you drive down there, like parking is really hard. You know, now it's a live nation venue. They bought it out, I think, about eight or nine months ago. So what's been live nation? What's that? They were partners the whole time. I think they were partners, but I think they're like complete control now. Gotcha. Which I mean, they had control of the calendar the whole time. Yeah.
Grady: For sure. Yep.
Josh: Yeah, definitely natural fit, man. I natural. Yeah, absolutely.
Grady: 100%. Yeah, those were, I remember, yeah, those first few shows and, and yeah, just enjoying hanging with the dudes and it was a great fit from the start. So.
Josh: I remember we tried to do the whole feud thing and it was just, was so funny shooting those videos because me and him were just laughing so hard. We're just, everybody's going to believe this. I remember, yeah, I know I did a thing with ACME radio and I think it was you were coming in town. I think we were playing a show and I told ⁓ the DJ, was like, Hey man, like I want to do this off air. We're like, No, I know that, but I think they're like, own all the Brooklyn Moles now. Gotcha. ⁓ And which like, I get it, but like, man, some of these prices are, you know, for drinks. I went to the Pinnacle. Yeah, you've mentioned that before. Yeah, dude. Like some of those. Pinnacle's AEG, it's not Live Nation. Yeah, but dude, some of these venues downtown, like have you seen the thing with ⁓ Acme where they're doing like $3 beers? Yeah, but I mean, that's a bar. No, I know. But like I'm saying, so you could.
Grady: Yeah. We're bad actors.
Josh: Paul's to film ⁓ You could have been doing this the whole time. $3 beers. They're also about to shut down. I know which sucks. I love it. Unless they can get some money to ⁓ pay those property taxes. That's getting ridiculous. You're going to drive. You're going to do your own Nashville. Step it up because you're going to drive all the good places. That's the problem. Yeah. Like, yeah, you want to capitalize and make money for the city, but not at the expense of the business. Like if it becomes not profitable to own a business, then where are people going to work? Where?
Grady: ⁓ That's good stuff. Hehehehe
Josh: Well, what's next, man? What's next for you? And mean, I'm you get this project, but also the Texas thing. Like what you, what's just give us the rundown.
Grady: Man, I'm just gonna... Yeah, mean, that's kind of the beauty of what's going on is, you know, ⁓ we've got I've got some Grady Spencer in the work shows coming up this summer. Not a ton. And and then, yeah, we've got some vagabond stuff that's booked. And hopefully, you know, we can start booking and ⁓ hope the goal is to record some new music ⁓ for both sides. ⁓ We've already started writing stuff for the vagabond stuff. I had.
Josh: They don't just leave Nashville. We lose tourism. Then we were like, well, we got that new stadium coming in, baby. Yeah. Already lost WrestleMania. Did we? Yeah. Sent you a text. It's going to Saudi Arabia in twenty twenty seven. They had already committed to here, but for some reason, the dates didn't work out. I was wondering why you sent that. Yeah, I didn't know we had committed to it. They had committed WWE. It's a little stadium will come in twenty seven. Like on record, saying that.
Grady: some stuff kinda in the chamber for a great expense from the work. And so ⁓ the goal is just make a ton of new music for people. ⁓ Cause just talking with everyone and that ever asked us like, Hey man, when's new music coming, when's the music coming? And it's always, it's always like, I don't know, you know, and the truth is like, you know, budget, it's pretty much budget time and budget money of like doing it. And so, ⁓
Josh: And so it was a done deal. But then they said the dates didn't work. In my opinion, we're not getting our WWE is not getting international travelers right now. I people just aren't do go to Vegas. International tourism to America right now is just down. I won't get into the political side of that. But I mean, it's expensive right now. Dude, everything globally. You know, and then
Grady: Yeah, to be able to team with the Vagabond stuff and then have a little bit of time to hopefully plan records ⁓ all around. It's just, I'm at the point, you know, I'm 41 years old. I just, I just want to make as much music as I can, you know, cause I'm closer to the end than I am in the beginning. And so it's like, you know,
Josh: People are kind of scared to come here from certain countries. ⁓ you know, so I think, ⁓ who was it? was, it was some wrestler, ⁓ or, know, prominent wrestling figure, ⁓ in the industry. It's like, yeah, like WrestleMania was like, usually you hear an accent from everywhere. Right. And he's like this year it was nothing. And when I was in Vegas this summer, And we're podcast is like geared towards trying to help ⁓ up and coming to worry musicians and like how to hit the road and all that. But the reality is that's the game plan record music, take it on the road. That's the simple answer. And hopefully it resonates with people. ⁓ But that's all you can do really.
Grady: Yeah.
Josh: I was there for Labor Day. And one of the bartenders was telling me that it was like the 20 years he'd been bartending there. was the slowest he'd ever seen. was like, dude, we've got no international tours right now. Well, dude, it's also so expensive. Like, man, it is like everything's just expensive. But guess what we are getting? What? 2030 Super Bowl. Oh, yeah. Yes. Which I'm man, I'm hoping like I want to go. I know it'd be expensive, but I got to find a way in.
Grady: That's it, man. People, it's like nothing against younger guys, but I think everyone just thinks there's some magic button that you can push or like some move or some email that you can email. And that's then all of a sudden you're going to be getting all the streams and selling tickets. And it's just like, that's, that's not it. And, know, without getting on the AI horse thing, but I think people want to hear human natural music. And so that's what I want to create.
Josh: Yeah. We need to get this thing blown up so we can do media. We're actually the official podcast of the 2030 Super Bowl. I'll tell you who probably won't be there, the Titans, but we'll see. We'll see. I'm not hating. I think they did get on the draft, which the draft happened and we'll see. Yeah, didn't go. I know I love that. But dude, I was waiting for the first. You're hater. Dude, I know. Here's the thing. If you're going to be like Yeah.
Grady: as much as I possibly can while I'm here because it's like We only have so much time and I think I was put here to make music and that's what I want to do and I want to do it with people that I enjoy hanging out with and dudes I love so Yeah, that's that's the goal for me is like, you know be a good husband be a good dad and make music. That's it
Josh: Record music and yeah. Music taken on everyone. Every year I feel like there's a new trend on waterfall releases or something is just you're chasing something that's already been done. Maybe it worked for somebody, but the reality is just record music and put it out there and take it on the road. Like nobody wants that on the team, man. Don't be cocky. Just be humble. But dude, I will say, I thought with the first overall pick, like the Titans had, know, had the fail. I was like, dude, they're going to get a kicker. I just knew it. Cause dude, they just make some terrible decisions. No, they got a receiver, which I was happy about. don't pay attention. Yeah. It's well, dude, a couple of things I want to go over real quick. Cause
Grady: Yes. That's it, dude. I'm so guilty of it too, of like, you know, I'm like, ⁓ I'll hear about something or I'll watch a YouTube video. I'm gonna go try that. And it just never works. And it's like when you're expending all your energy and your attention to like doing stuff that's not making music, it's, I think it's a futile effort. Not saying that it doesn't work. You sometimes it pops off for people, but for the most part, the odds are it's not gonna work. So get out there and just do it.
Josh: Yeah. before we get the guest on here is, well, speaking of Live Nation, they lost their lawsuit. But- So what does that mean though? You know, like- It means they lost, like nothing. Yeah, they're still gonna make billions of dollars. Yeah, I mean, well, I think they're appealing, they're going to appeal. So there is no, there's nothing right now. Right. It just, lost. Right. I will die a happy man if I never hear the word algorithm again.
Grady: ⁓ my gosh, dude, it's so nuts, man. Well, and that's the beauty of like the Joshua Sloan guy that I'm mailing all this stuff to. You look at his grid, it's just him setting up a phone, you know what I mean, and playing music. That's all it is. There's no fluff, there's no nothing. It's just a great voice, great songs, and a great guitar sound. I mean, that's what I'm like, yeah, that's all it should be about. And hopefully, business comes around to that sometime.
Josh: ultimately probably won't mean anything for consumers. Because no matter if they split it up or not, which they probably won't from my understanding, it'll probably be ended up being similar to the settlement they had agreed to. ⁓ But even if they do split it up and now venues have more options, it'll help them lower the fees that they have to pay. Yeah. There's the secret. Be just be good at it. Be just good at it. Yeah, Grady. What like, all right, if you could go now, you could talk to yourself or a young musician. Give one piece of advice of like how to do this, man. Josh said, this is what this podcast is about. Just telling, you know, young singer songwriters, man, what's the best piece of advice you can give them?
Grady: Yeah.
Josh: which does lower fees, but ticket prices aren't necessarily going down because we also know consumers are paying for it now. So it's not ultimately gonna make much of a difference. Yeah, I think until people just stop paying it. Yeah, don't do that, please, please, please. No, it would destroy the end, know, it would, but it's, something's gotta be done because, you know, I remember when we were younger, dude, you go see a band for 10.
Grady: Man, it sounds so corny, but I think being authentic to yourself and being authentic to the people who start showing up, because I think, you know, people come to shows now who used to come watch us on Tuesday nights when we would play for three hours. And they'll tell me a story about, ⁓ we sat down and had a beer. We talked about this and that. I'm old. I don't remember it. But those people do, you know, and they're going to keep buying tickets and keep coming to shows and keep supporting you because you were
Josh: 15 bucks. And I mean, could also put five bucks in gas. I'm driving around all night. Yeah. mean, it's just, I mean, it's more expensive. So yeah, that happened. And then ⁓ we still got an ongoing, ⁓ 90s one hit wonder bracket. Yes. And got some updates.
Grady: you know, genuine and authentic and connected with people on a deeper level. so if that's your goal and making good art and connecting with people and, you know, being a good person, eventually there's going to be some success like in one form or another, I don't know how big it'll be, but you will find success if you're a good person, you work hard, you connect with people and are authentic, you know.
Josh: and scratch the desk. One big song we still can't quit
Grady: All the other stuff, you know, the big crowds, the huge streaming numbers, all that, like, that's nice and fun, but eventually it's all gonna go away. And then you're gonna be left with what, you know, if you put all the eggs in that basket and that's the only way that you view success is huge numbers or huge ticket sales. You might get them someday or you might not, or you might get them and you might lose them. And then when you lose them, if that was the only thing that you were viewed as a success, then.
Josh: ⁓ What is the name of that song? Did you ever name it when you recorded it? It's called 90s one hit wonder bracket. Coming to iTunes, Spotify, everywhere streaming. All the DSPs, it's going to be on there pretty soon. Yeah, so we did the final, or the first round is over. And I have discovered that Instagram is...
Grady: then what do you have left? You know, so yeah. ⁓
Josh: the best way for us to ⁓ calculate votes. Cause I can put up the polls, make a little graphic, share the music and, and it tells me exactly. Yeah, it's nice. Yeah. So moving forward, we're doing polls on there. So, So follow, ⁓ after loadout on Instagram and quarterfinals will be posted this week. But, the updates, so tall Bachman, she's so high versus I it's almost kind of what BJ Barham said when he was a guest. That's the foundation is building. The goal is to build that foundation. So when all that fluff goes away, you still have a strong support to stand on. And that's your career, not the bullshit hype. Yeah.
Grady: Yeah. 100%. Yeah, because I mean, I have friends who have absolutely exploded millions of streams, millions of ticket sales. But what people don't realize is, that stuff gets expensive. You reach that goal and, you know, it's all of a sudden the business side of it becomes this huge thing that you have to manage. And it's a lot less about the music and the stuff you're creating. it's, you know, much more money driven and, you know,
Josh: The full compulsion natural one. think we know who won that. She's so high. With 91 % of the votes. Yeah, I can see that. Deep blue something breakfast at Tiffany's versus Lynn steal my sunshine. How that yeah. Which deep blue something was 70%. You knew that was coming. Okay. Yeah. ⁓
Grady: Not to say I wouldn't mind to love try to deal with some of those problems but, you know, for now I would just want to make good music. Yeah, exactly.
Josh: Yeah, especially, you know, I wanted to find something else instead of Lynn. just I don't know if that's all rock really. I mean, I guess so. Yeah, I guess so. Eels Novacane for the soul versus Eagle Eye Cherry. So save tonight. This one kind of shocked me. Really? It did shock you. Yeah, because I voted deals. Did you? Yeah. No, no. Yeah. I did. That didn't shock me at all. Eagle Eye Cherry. 82 percent. Of course. Now. Yeah. More money, more problems. I have clients that are at like this mid level, which is really tough. And people never talk about where you have those real expenses, but you're not necessarily at the level where like, you're, you're making a whole lot of money on top of it, but you also can't go backwards. So it's like, man, it was like,
Grady: Yep.
Josh: We're doing really good. And now we're here in the middle. And it's like, do you get to the next point? Yeah. It's like, man, this is costing us money to maintain this level because we have these expenses. We have a crew now or whatever, but we're not, you know, selling out a red rocks and actually seeing six figure shows. But we have, we've incurred all these costs at the same time. Are you talking about the McCulloch kid? Yeah. I mean, yeah. This is the unfortunate one. This would kind of hurt me when you sent this to me. I was like, you gotta be kidding me. Yeah, I mean, it was seeded the way they came in. So this was the second seed versus the 15 seed. ⁓ unfortunately, this probably should have been the final. Let me do a sad one. Yeah. Harvey Danger, Flagpole Sitta versus the Verve, Bittersweet Symphony and... Yeah.
Grady: That's it. Dude, I bet your account and your tax guy, I bet that's just crazy. Your team?
Josh: the verve moves on. I want to recount. I want to recount. Yeah. That one, that one, that one hurts man. Yeah. Cause that dude heart. I know, I know you guys spoke even though y'all don't know what you're talking about. So quarter finals. There are some more tough ones. ⁓ Meredith Brooks, bitch versus totem possum kingdom. ⁓ My team, like I could do, I couldn't do it without my team. Grady man. I appreciate you coming on. And before you go, I just want to hear if you've got a one road story you could share with us. The don't this not incriminating.
Grady: Yeah, for sure. Um, I'm trying to think man. I should have thought of something earlier. Hang on. Give me a second. Yeah, I mean, yeah.
Josh: Why would like you can make something off? No one's hanging out with actual roads. What do you think? It's probably going to be ⁓ probably possum King. Yeah, I think so too. Yeah. This is going to be a tough one. Chumbawamba versus four non-blondes. I honestly don't know. I would say probably ⁓ Chumbawamba. Yeah. That's the story of my life, dude. I get knocked down. But you get up again. They're never going to keep me down. The story of my life is a
Grady: So ⁓ the first iteration of Grady Spencer in the work, ⁓ there was a bass player. I didn't know a bass player. I knew a drummer and I knew a guitar player from church and I didn't know a bass player. And so I got on Craigslist. This was back when Craigslist was still popping. And I found a gentleman by the name of, ⁓ by Steve. And Steve was a gentleman who was, I believe well into his sixties, maybe closer to seventies, but he had ⁓
Josh: Whiskey drink. Yeah, good drink. Tall Bachman. She's so high versus Deep Blue something breakfast timpani's. I don't know. I breakfast at Tiffany's was probably the bigger song, but that she's so high, man. That's a it's a banger. It's a nineties. It's a rom-com. So I feel like that was in every like teen. Yes. All of them.
Grady: He had, he was really excited to be in the band. So he had bought this van and, you know, he kind of solidified his place in the, in the band and he owned the van and we were up and we were coming out of, I think Pamper or somewhere North of Amarillo and the van just started just taking a huge dump. And so we're, you know, of course you got to call the tow truck and Here comes the tow truck. doesn't have enough seats for four guys who are all crammed in there. you know, just being stranded in a maze field north of Amarillo, Texas in the summertime, you know, in a 1993, you know, E 350 van, I'm just looking out. like, this is it. This is is rock star life, man. This is like this is what people talk about.
Josh: And then eagle-eyed cherry save tonight versus ⁓ the verve. Yeah. It's going to be good. It's a dude. It's, it's a good list. You know? So we'll get those up this week. ⁓ but yeah, there we have it. That's the, ⁓ the nineties one hit wonder all rock, bracket and moving on and we're going to crown. Yeah. We're going to crown the King. Yeah. It's going to be, it's going to be good. I appreciate everybody voting. Keep voting. Yeah. Yeah. Great. After load out. ⁓
Grady: you know, I on my, was, you know, I don't wear cowboy boots when we travel anymore because it's like not comfortable, it hurts my back. But I remember having my boots like out the passenger window and just like sweating my, just my brains out of like, man, this is horrible, but this is also gonna be a funny story someday of like, you know, the band that broke down north of Amarillo and ⁓ it felt like a rite of passage and it was like, okay.
Josh: or at after load out on Instagram. Yeah. Post clips there, post the polls and have some fun with it. So you ready to bring our. Let's bring on. Like I have to say it. He's one of my buddies. You know what I mean? He's one of my, I would say probably my best friend now. Mr. Grady Spencer. Yeah. Let's bring him. So Grady couldn't bake it. Yeah
Grady: We've had our van breakdown story and ⁓ yeah, exactly.
Josh: today. Anyways, so Grady left. Now let's bring him home and let's talk to him. I'm excited. Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Grady Spencer. Yeah. You have it too easy. Hey, that's where we found our keyboard player was Craig's last. ⁓
Grady: There you go, man. It's magical place. Maybe I should call Steve up then we have like a super Craigslist super group.
Josh: Well, dude, yeah, Grady, thank you so much for coming on, man. I appreciate you doing this and looking forward to June 6th. We're going to be in like Clayton, Georgia. It'd be great, Yeah, man. need a Nashville show on the books. Hey, we're going to work on it. We got to call. We got to call this week. We're going to, we're going to start setting some stuff up.
Grady: Yeah. Dude. It's gonna be awesome, man. I can't wait. And thank y'all for having me. Can't wait. I can't wait man, I'm a big fan of what you dudes are doing and yeah man, I hope y'all keep at it for a long time and I'll keep listening.
Josh: Yes, sir. Likewise, man. Appreciate you coming on.
Grady: Alright man, take care.
Josh: See you, Grady. Grady Spencer, dude, I'm telling like, like you listen to him talk and stuff like that. you're like, he seems like he true, like that is him. Yeah. He's a nice dude. Such dude. He's such a nice guy. Like I said, man, I'll go to bat for him. think he's just incredible. some nice things to say about you and your band. I figured he would have. Grady checks in the mail. Yeah. Appreciate it. Yeah. I told him I'd pay him 150 bucks to come on. I guess I got a bed moan now. But no dude, hey, it's good to be back. I know, three weeks off. Sorry for the time off to all our, the millions and the millions and millions. But no, dude, you know what? That's a strong episode to come back with. yeah, I mean, dude, I'm excited for the future with Grady, man. I'm glad to be playing shows again. And yeah, it's gonna be good. And I don't just say that this, I it to you privately on the air and to him. That you wanted to kiss me? ⁓ wait, were you, what? What? What? edit that out. No, I really do think it's like the perfect fit to replace Danny and I'm excited for it. Instead of throwing in the towel, man, ⁓ when life gives you lemons, you, you become an adult. Yeah. And you make a good spiked lemonade. Yeah. And dude, and I think that the best thing was is truly like Danny, like Texas all was like, man, I'm so, cause I mean him and Grady, they're buddies and you know, and it was, was, I think that was the thing is like, know, Grady's guys were like, this is a great idea. And Danny, you know, he's like, this is a great idea. Like, I'm really excited. So I think after that happened, man, it was like, let's go. And then, you know, the funny thing is we actually, you know, we had talked to Grady and was like, this was the idea, but we kind of took the show with Marshall Tucker before we'd even gotten together and practiced. Yeah, I was about to have to get up there. I know, I thought you were coming. So yeah, let's get a wrap. Well, dude, this, hey, I'm glad we're back, Josh. We're back, baby. Well, dude, so we'll be back next week. Yeah. We should be. Maybe we'll bring Gavin Adcock. Yeah. We'll have to both of them again. Yeah, see if we can schedule them. There was a ongoing joke. You're talking about Jimmy. Jimmy. Yeah. Sorry for Matt Damon. Sorry to Matt Damon. Sorry to Gavin Adcock. couldn't have you on this week. Yeah, sorry to Gavin Adcock. Ran out of time. Ran out of time. We'll see you next week. All right, everybody. ⁓ Thanks for tuning in this week and we'll be back next week and keep this going. And you know, we are legal now. This is episode 18. Yes, sir. But thank y'all for tuning in to After Loadout here in the Brookstone Studio brought to you by Georgia Fire Hotsauce, The Wallet Drum Key, Signal Fire Agency, and of course, Drum Pickers. We'll see you guys next week.