WEBVTT
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So many others, and they are touring in areas more than their hometown or state.
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I am sure many loyal listeners could flag me for having a few artists on the show who didn't meet the full list of requirements to be a worthy guest on the show.
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But I say to those nay singers, I'm happy to make an exception if they meet two out of three.
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All that said, today's guest checks off all three boxes' songs, galore, great voice and band, and touring the country.
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Plus, he has charm and personality.
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Who is this purveyor of story-driven, love-laden, soul-filled country songs?
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Allow me to introduce you all to Alex Lambert.
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He first found some success after a brief stint on American Idol back in 2009.
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But then, as you will hear in my conversation with Alex, he stepped away from the music industry for some much-needed personal understanding before stepping back into the spotlight, bringing us gritty, emotive, textured, sexy songs that will tickle more than the hairs in your ears.
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I can describe Alex Lambert's songs to y'all in many other ways, but why not let you hear him talk about his own music, career, and more right here on Down the Dirt Road?
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Well, my guest today on Down the Dirt Road is Texas Country.
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I don't know what you say.
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You've been around for a while, Alex, but you know, Texas country rising star, uh Alex Lambert.
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Welcome, Alex, to Down the Dirt Road.
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Hattie Hattie.
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How are you doing there today?
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Doing good, doing good.
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The sun's shining here in Nashville, Tennessee.
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So I'm Oh, you got yourself in Nashville.
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Yeah, moved to Nashville a couple years ago.
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Oh, you didn't want to sit sit around in Texas, did you?
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Hey, you know what?
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Texas will always have my heart, but you know, right now, this season of my life, Nashville is the place I gotta be.
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Yeah, there's a lot of great people there to get to know and network.
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Because you know, you know this industry, it's all about who you know, right?
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Yeah, a little bit, a little bit.
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Who cares about talent anymore?
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It's really all about who you know.
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But you originally come from Texas.
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Where in Texas do you come from?
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I'm from a little town outside a suburb of Fort Worth called North Richland Hills, but I just claim Fort Worth.
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It's easier.
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It's easier, yeah.
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So you've been in the industry uh quite a while.
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You um started out a little bit um before American Idol, or did you was it like you just launched right into American Idol and then did your stint on that and then backed out for a little bit before coming back?
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Yeah, before American Idol, I was just picking my guitar around the house and I did like a couple shows.
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So that was really like my the start to my career, I guess you'd say.
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And that was that was 15, 16 years ago now.
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Yeah, yeah.
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What possessed you to audition for American Idol?
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Well, honestly, at the time, that was like the biggest show on TV.
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I think there was like 30 million viewers weekly on that.
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And so my we we watched it at home.
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We watched it at home, and my mom was like, if you don't go audition this year, I'm taking away your phone.
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And so I was I was a nine 18-year-old kid, and I said, All right, let's pay a minute.
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You're 18 and and you're still gonna let her take away your phone.
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You're legal, though.
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You're legal.
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Yeah, but you know, I got held back, so I still was at home.
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Ah, okay.
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So I was still uh I was still a C a senior in high school, so you know.
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Okay.
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Yeah.
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So you're still paying your dues and making your way.
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You're talking about right now?
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Well, well, now you are again, but you know, back then you're paying your dues to your mom, is what I was trying to say.
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That's why she held it over your head.
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You know, I'm gonna take away your phone.
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Well, that's good.
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So she and she instructed you with inspiration to get out there and do it.
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What was the audition like for you going through that?
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Man, it was wild.
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I was I was a kid, I had the worst stage fright ever.
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I hadn't really shared my musical giftings with a lot of people, and so I didn't know how to perform.
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I didn't know I was a kid also, so I had my social skills were lacking pretty hard.
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So it was nerve-wracking.
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It was nerve-wracking, it was a it was a whirlwind doing all that.
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I can only imagine.
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So if we Google your name with American Idol, do we get to find the videos of your audition process on there?
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So my audition never aired, thank God.
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Because I was like so nervous.
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My my actual audition never got put on the show.
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So I'm I'm very thankful for that because Joe Jonas was a judge, and it was back when Simon was there.
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And I they were really positive, but I don't think I did very well.
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Did you you did make it past the audition, right?
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Yeah, I made it past the audition, but I was what I thought.
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I was petrified.
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I I think I I was really nervous.
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I think I it affected my vocals a lot.
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Okay.
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But hey, you made it through that part, and then you made it into you know the lives and all of that.
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Like, what did you have to do after the audition process?
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You know, you have to wait for a lot of things, you can't tell anybody, and what was it like being out there just going through the process of being on the show?
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I'll tell you, I mean, I don't I don't really have that much to say about it because it's been so long, but it was a whirlwind, like I said, and it was but it was fun, it was exciting, you know.
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I always wanted to make music and do this thing for a living, and that was like my first taste of getting doing it kind of professionally.
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And I know American Idol is such an interesting experience with people who don't have much experience kind of being up thrust into the thing, so it was fun.
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I was really, it was really encouraging to get so many, you know, followers at that time and go get so much so much encouragement from the judges, Simon.
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And after that, I signed with the 19 Entertainment and they kind of brought me under their wing.
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So I'll tell you what, man, it was it was such a blessing.
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I wasn't ready to really chase my dreams because I didn't have much work ethic and drive then.
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I just I just loved to write songs and make music, but I really wasn't ready to to to work.
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And so that's why I never really had much success after the show.
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Okay, I get that.
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So, were you writing a lot of songs prior to going on, or was it really inspirational that you went into writing songs after the experience?
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Man, I started writing songs when I was like in like probably 15, 16 years old.
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And so I I had some experience writing, but going out there is when I started co-writing.
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Okay.
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And I started learning how to work with producers and co-writers.
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And I stayed out in Los Angeles for five years and you know, wrote wrote the song for Justin Bieber and Carly Ray Jepson and had some success with the songwriting stuff.
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So that was that was also very encouraging to know that like that I had the writing chops to to do the thing.
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So when you look back at those songs that you wrote back at 15, 16 years old, what do you think of those?
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And do we get to hear any of those on any of your albums or singles?
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I th what do I think?
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I think these songs are dog shit, and no one will ever hear these.
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Man, if it gets a hold of these songs, I'll kill them because they're so bad.
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You know, you're not the first artist to stay to say something like that, but I think that you know, we should produce an album and go back to all of these artists and record those songs and you know, let the let the public be the judge on it, right?
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Probably not, Kyle.
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No.
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You've got such a great sound, you've got a smokiness, a graveliness to your sound.
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I noticed though, under you know, the genre that it's been under for uh what is it, Apple Music, you know, your first music is it's considered pop.
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They put it under the pop category.
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Is that you know true to what you were going for back then?
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Or would you say that you know it just had to go underneath that because they didn't know where to put you?
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Yeah, it's probably they they probably didn't know where to put me.
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Yeah.
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Yeah, because when I listened to that, what is that first album there?
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Um reminded yes, thank you.
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I listened to that.
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You got a lot of great mixed sound on that album, and which is why I'm pulling some of those songs from that, like Stroll and She Ain't Texas.
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You then really switch gears and go in you lean into that country feeling with your your most recent um singles, uh Rules of Attraction and Shoot Me Down.
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And I guess you could say, uh, you know, from I heard from your team, and I was even thinking of the same thing as I've been listening to you over the last few weeks.
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You have that Western soul sound in all of your music, whether it's your voice or the instrumentations and the arrangements.
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Uh, is that what you would say that you know you're trying to lean into is be like that western soulful sound?
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So for this record, yes.
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So I think I consider myself just more of a soul and blues and RB singer.
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But you know, I grew up in Texas.
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My granddad was a country music singer, songwriter, producer.
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Country music just has is runs through my veins, and but I love soul.
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I think I've just been always such a fan of artists like Sam Cook and Otis Redding and Marvin Gaye and so and Smokey Robinson.
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So those kind those are like my bread and butter artists, and so I pull a lot of my inspiration from that soul RB thing.
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But country music song uh songwriting and storytelling is a big part of what I do too.
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And so at my shows, I say this at the beginning of my set.
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I don't really, I everyone, when I first started making music again a few years ago, people were like, you ought to go straight country or you ought to go straight do this, go RB.
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And I just said, you know, I'm not gonna do one thing.
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I I think I would get bo I'd get burnt bored and burned out so quick if I had to just be a country artist, if I had to just be a soul artist.
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So we do a little bit of everything, and I think that we live in a day and age where you can do a lot of different stuff.
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And I I believe my voice and my writing is the through line.
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I also think about, you know, because you're talking about, you know, your style just isn't, you know, supposed to be pigeonholed or pinpointed into one thing.
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You know, Brandy Carlisle has made a great career of doing the same thing of what you're setting out to do, which I think you know, you're gonna be great and successful at that because listening to your music, it's it's got variety, and variety is the spice of life.
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And and yeah, you we're not gonna sit here and listen to the same thing over and over again.
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And that's what I listen for with artists that I bring onto this show.
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So great, keep doing what you're doing with that.
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Thank you.
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Thanks, Kyle.
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Yeah, so the first song I want to talk to you about is Stroll.
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You wrote this by yourself.
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Was this a co-write?
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This was a co-write.
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Okay.
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I wrote this song with a couple of good buddies of mine, um, Andrew Beeson and Keller Cox here in Nashville.
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What was the inspiration behind this one for you?
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Man, you know what?
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This one was really spur of the moment.
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Kind of, I pulled up and I pulled up to my buddy's studio, and he was playing the guitar, and he was just playing the bong, bum, bum, bum, bong, bum, bum, bum, bum.
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And he was just playing that lick, and I just started freestyling, and a lot of the song got wrote in that first little freestyle.
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And I just started kind of stream of consciousness, and then we kind of we shaped it out.
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And but I really, really for that song, I was like, I want a song that has like a dance thing to it.
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Like, what could we what could we call it like?
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And I was like, what if we just call it like stroll?
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And my inspiration around the song was like that being like the dance, and I was gonna I I created a little dance for it and everything, but it never really caught on because I'm I don't think I'm a teeny bopper enough to do tick TikTok dances and stuff, but yeah, that's a dance song.
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That's that's a fun one.
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That's one of my favorite songs to play live because it it's just so high energy.
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Well, you know what you need to do then is get in touch with one of those line dance instructors that have a big following there in Nashville.
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I think I follow one.
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I talked to him a while back because um I was working with an event that was looking for somebody to do line dance instruction.
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So you should partner with him and have him with a bunch of people do the dance, and then you record that, and then you got yourself something good.
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I should have done that.
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That song's a couple years old now, I think.
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But that's okay.
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Liz, I mean, Ashley McBride has got a song that is climbing all of a sudden into a lot of radio stations, and I think it's called All I Want Is You or something or other.
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Came out in 2024, and now all of a sudden, last week, she posts something about that.
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She's got 75 radio stations that have picked up that song.
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Oh, okay.
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And yet she just dropped, you know, Arkansas Mud, which is like this rocking out country song, which is great.
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But then all of a sudden, you know, this one's being picked up from 2024, so it's never too late.
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That's right.
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Okay.
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Good to know.
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Good to know.
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What's that song?
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It's never too late to do the right thing now.
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So yeah, I I I I encourage you to do that for yourself, and you never know who's gonna pick up on it.
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And it could be a big line dancing hit in all of the places all around the country.
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Maybe, maybe we'll put one together before we get out there to Madison.
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Yes, and then you can debut it in Madison, teach us in the audience, and then we all do it for you.
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So you were on American Idol, and then you had a few years out in LA doing some co-writing.
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You mentioned some people, you know, some you dropped some names for us all.
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And um that's then you backed out.
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That's it.
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That's not saying I'm a name, yeah.
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I'm a name dropper.
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You're yeah, I can tell you that kind of person.
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So you you did that for a little while, and then you backed off for a little bit.
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What happened with that?
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What led you to be like, you know what?
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I just need to take a little breather and you know, decide what's going on for you.
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I'll tell you what.
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I think when I was in LA, it was I was just so young and I got thrown into the idol thing and then immediately just started just busting it and just working so hard.
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And I I just I just all my friends were in college, and I just I don't know, a part of me feels like I lost I lost my roots and I needed to get back home to Texas to like remember who I who I was and you know my the purpose behind what I was doing.
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It felt like it lost purpose and I needed to just go honestly, I needed to go make some money because I was dead broke.
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And I LA can do that to a person.
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Yeah, LA will do a lot of stuff to a person.
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I love that city, but it put it made me broke, broke financially, spiritually.
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So I had to get home and get back to my mom and my family, my brothers, and like just get back to the purpose of what life's all about, which is just God and family and love.
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And I had to get grounded again, and uh, so I had to go take a coup take a couple years off and do some hard work and get some regular jobs and just live a little bit.
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Live a little bit, grow up.
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I needed to grow up, really.
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Man, I was immature, it took me a long time to to just mature.
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So well, we're guys, we're never mature.
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What are you talking about?
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That is a couple of things.
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I I tell that to my teenage.
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Uh I teach piano and voice lessons up here, and uh, some of my teenage uh ladies that are in high school, and they start talking to me about boy problems and things like that.
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And I look at them just like, you need to know something.
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Us guys, we never mature.
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Don't expect it.
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Don't try to fix us, don't try to change us.
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So, where'd you live in LA?
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I lived out there for five years working for the recording academy, doing all sorts of stuff out there.
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I was down in the Westwood area, um, near Santa Monica.
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Very cool.
00:15:50.240 --> 00:15:52.559
Yeah, I lived all over when I was there.
00:15:52.720 --> 00:16:06.320
I lived in started off, I was on another reality show in in Beverly Hills, and that lasted about that show was called If I Can Dream, and it was a Hulu series, and please don't please don't go watch it.
00:16:07.360 --> 00:16:17.600
And then uh after that, I was in West Hollywood and then East Hollywood, and then moved down to Redondo Beach, and that's kind of where I that's kind of where I retired from LA.
00:16:17.679 --> 00:16:21.200
Just but it was a good it was a good last place to live by the beach.
00:16:21.440 --> 00:16:23.360
Yeah, Redondo Beach is really cool.
00:16:23.440 --> 00:16:30.720
It's it's definitely out outside of you know more congested LA area and near the water to be relaxing when you want to be.
00:16:30.799 --> 00:16:31.919
But no, I get it.
00:16:32.159 --> 00:16:34.320
LA is um it's crazy.
00:16:34.480 --> 00:16:39.360
I mean, I had a good time, but then I would say 60% of my time was spent in other parts of the country.
00:16:39.440 --> 00:16:43.200
I didn't even get to live there full time because I traveled so much.
00:16:43.679 --> 00:16:44.480
That's pretty cool.
00:16:44.639 --> 00:16:46.799
Yeah, it was a fun chapter.
00:16:47.200 --> 00:16:59.600
It was, it was a fun chapter, and I got to meet a lot of people, and you know, it it taught me a lot about what the music industry is all about after working at the recording academy, which is the parent company for the Grammy Awards.
00:17:00.320 --> 00:17:05.759
And oof, it it really taught me that I didn't want to pursue it.
00:17:07.920 --> 00:17:19.119
I'll be the behind the scenes that helps promote the person who's trying to pursue it, but no, I I don't have the skin to try to pursue it nor the energy, especially now, you know, in my late 40s.
00:17:19.440 --> 00:17:21.119
Yeah, I'm tired.
00:17:21.440 --> 00:17:23.279
Man, I'm I'm I'm 35 now.
00:17:23.359 --> 00:17:24.799
I'm I'm getting tired.
00:17:25.279 --> 00:17:31.039
Well, what what's inspired you to come back to it as the solo artist you are today?
00:17:31.599 --> 00:17:33.519
You know, COVID 19.
00:17:33.839 --> 00:17:34.799
Remember that?
00:17:35.359 --> 00:17:37.119
No, I don't what what was that?
00:17:37.440 --> 00:17:39.359
It was a virus that went around.
00:17:40.400 --> 00:17:41.839
Did a lot of people get it?
00:17:42.240 --> 00:17:46.640
I think only a couple people got it, but anyways, it shut a lot of stuff down.
00:17:46.799 --> 00:17:47.599
And it did.
00:17:47.839 --> 00:17:53.279
Um man, when COVID happened, I just I was running a real estate business at this point.
00:17:53.359 --> 00:17:55.279
I thought I was gonna be a real estate mogul.
00:17:55.359 --> 00:18:07.519
I was flipping houses and doing all that, and I was buying pre-foreclosures and buying distressed properties, and when COVID hit, my business shut down, and I was like, What do I do?
00:18:07.759 --> 00:18:15.119
And I had saved up some money, and I was like, man, the only other thing I know how to do is sing and write songs.
00:18:15.200 --> 00:18:29.759
And so I just picked up my guitar and I said, This is my chance to switch gears and do something because there wasn't a day that went by and any other job or career that I had that I didn't wish I was singing, and that that someone didn't ask me why aren't you singing?
00:18:29.920 --> 00:18:35.920
And so I just picked up my guitar and started writing new songs, and that that's how the new chapter began.
00:18:36.000 --> 00:18:43.440
And I I told myself I was gonna because I had such bad stage fright before, and that's kind of why in LA I pursued more of the songwriting thing.
00:18:43.920 --> 00:18:54.880
And I told myself right when I started again, I'm just gonna play as many shows as I can so I can cut my teeth and pay my dues on stage and not have not have that stage fright anymore.
00:18:55.039 --> 00:18:57.119
And um, so that's what I did.
00:18:57.440 --> 00:18:58.880
Well, that's awesome.
00:18:59.119 --> 00:19:01.200
Let's talk about one of your other songs.
00:19:01.279 --> 00:19:04.319
It was off that previous album uh you mentioned.
00:19:04.480 --> 00:19:06.400
It's called She Ain't Texas.
00:19:09.200 --> 00:19:11.759
Evidently, this one means a bit to you, huh?
00:19:12.640 --> 00:19:13.759
Yeah, it sure does.
00:19:14.240 --> 00:19:14.640
I love that.
00:19:16.000 --> 00:19:17.200
Yeah, so I wrote that song.
00:19:17.279 --> 00:19:20.640
That was the very first song I ever wrote when I got here to Nashville, Tennessee.
00:19:21.359 --> 00:19:21.759
Oh, really?
00:19:22.240 --> 00:19:22.559
Yep.
00:19:23.039 --> 00:19:30.720
And I was playing shows on Broadway, and I was everybody talks kind of like they're from Texas.
00:19:30.880 --> 00:19:43.039
Everybody, there's there's a lot of honky tonk spots, and you know, everybody wears a lot of similar clothes here in Tennessee that they do in Texas, but but I just said, you know, but it's not the same.
00:19:43.200 --> 00:19:44.079
She ain't Texas.
00:19:44.160 --> 00:19:46.960
There's no place like home, and I'll tell you, there's no place like Texas.
00:19:47.039 --> 00:19:50.880
I've been around the world, and I can tell you, Texas is a special place.
00:19:51.039 --> 00:19:54.240
The people, the culture, everything about it.
00:19:54.319 --> 00:19:55.599
It's it's just a special place.
00:19:55.680 --> 00:20:00.160
And I I wrote that song about missing home and and missing the Lone Star State.
00:20:00.640 --> 00:20:11.039
Wow, that it takes on a whole new meaning because I, of course, I heard it as, you know, maybe you were dating somebody and then you're just like, you know, she ain't Texas, meaning like she ain't the Texas person I had before.
00:20:11.279 --> 00:20:16.319
But now hearing it, what you just said, that it takes on a whole new meaning, which is it's just great.
00:20:16.559 --> 00:20:23.599
So you mentioned having a lot of stage fright, you know, being, I think would you say that you're categorically more of an introvert?
00:20:24.160 --> 00:20:25.119
No, that's the thing.
00:20:25.440 --> 00:20:26.079
Not anymore?
00:20:26.319 --> 00:20:28.559
No, I would never was, I never was an introvert.
00:20:28.720 --> 00:20:31.039
I was just I just was scared to get up there.
00:20:31.119 --> 00:20:35.839
I felt oh I think I was just a young and scared to be vulnerable.
00:20:35.920 --> 00:20:48.400
And I I never really was like the center of attention growing up, or you know, I it just was it just was weird, and I I needed to just it's it's almost like you can't shake it unless you just go out there and do it.
00:20:48.559 --> 00:20:56.160
So what happened to you on those first many times of trying to shake you know the stage fright from you?
00:20:56.400 --> 00:20:58.720
I I just got really, really nervous.
00:20:58.880 --> 00:21:10.480
It was like my nerves would get so bad where I'd like puke before every show, and then slowly but surely, every like it just got easier and easier, and then it just started feeling like another day in the office.
00:21:10.720 --> 00:21:22.880
And uh man, I'm so thankful for that time to be able to be in Fort Worth and just gig around town playing small dive bars and all kinds of stuff just to just to just gotta pay my dues.
00:21:22.960 --> 00:21:24.319
You gotta pay your dues.
00:21:25.119 --> 00:21:32.880
Yeah, get out there and definitely try it because you can only dream, and if you only dream and don't do, then what's the point?
00:21:33.440 --> 00:21:34.559
Yeah, that's right.
00:21:35.359 --> 00:21:46.000
So would you say that you have, you know, uh uh rediscovered your passion for this industry, for making music and for entertaining, you know, your your fans and your audiences?
00:21:46.640 --> 00:21:47.599
I would say so.
00:21:47.759 --> 00:21:52.640
I think in this chapter of my life, I feel like I'm getting a a second chance at this thing.
00:21:52.960 --> 00:21:59.759
Being doing the idle stuff and not really having the work ethic or drive to to to be persistent.
00:22:00.559 --> 00:22:02.319
And to have a purpose with it.
00:22:02.480 --> 00:22:07.599
Like having the second chance just feels like I it's a lot more meaningful and purposeful.
00:22:07.680 --> 00:22:11.440
And I just feel like I don't want to squander my giftings from God.
00:22:11.599 --> 00:22:15.519
And I just I feel so inspired.
00:22:15.599 --> 00:22:22.640
And it feels like all I ever do is work, but it's it's hard, it hardly ever feels like work because I love music.
00:22:22.720 --> 00:22:24.319
I've loved music my whole life.
00:22:24.400 --> 00:22:28.240
And uh I love writing songs and playing the guitar and singing.
00:22:28.400 --> 00:22:29.920
So I'm just I don't know.
00:22:30.000 --> 00:22:32.000
I'm just enjoying it, enjoying the process.
00:22:32.160 --> 00:22:34.240
And I have the best team in the world.
00:22:34.319 --> 00:22:38.319
I have the best manager and publisher and everything else.
00:22:38.400 --> 00:22:39.920
So record label now.
00:22:40.000 --> 00:22:41.920
And so I'm just blessed, dude.
00:22:42.000 --> 00:22:43.839
And I feel blessed and I feel thankful.
00:22:44.000 --> 00:22:48.160
And that's I think it reflects in my music and my shows and everything else.
00:22:48.400 --> 00:22:54.160
Yeah, it I I mean I can hear it in your music, and of course, I can hear it in just this conversation with you.
00:22:54.319 --> 00:22:59.839
You know, you're a very, you know, kind sound, kind-hearted sounding, humble guy that you know.
00:23:01.920 --> 00:23:06.880
Oh, wait, so we got an arrogant, you know, selfish side to you that you know people need to watch out for.
00:23:08.880 --> 00:23:13.279
Well, then, you know, you're talking about, you know, all you do is work, work, work, but yet doesn't feel like work.
00:23:13.359 --> 00:23:18.240
So take us through what possibly could be a typical day for Alex Lambert.
00:23:18.559 --> 00:23:21.920
Uh it just depends on the depends on the day, the month, you know.
00:23:22.000 --> 00:23:23.680
It's what if it's a writing day for you?
00:23:23.759 --> 00:23:26.000
What we what are we gonna do if we're tagging along?
00:23:26.160 --> 00:23:29.279
This is your chance to pitch your reality show.
00:23:29.519 --> 00:23:30.319
Okay, here we go.
00:23:30.400 --> 00:23:31.039
Here here it is.
00:23:31.119 --> 00:23:32.480
This y'all buckle in.
00:23:32.960 --> 00:23:37.200
I get up, I get up 30 minutes before I have to be at my writing session.
00:23:37.440 --> 00:23:41.839
I haul ass out the door after throwing some water on my face.
00:23:42.079 --> 00:23:45.519
I get I get there 15 to 20 minutes late.
00:23:46.000 --> 00:23:58.559
I immediately go grab a coffee and then um try to try to small talk for like at least 30 minutes to to to break the ice of the session.
00:23:58.880 --> 00:24:08.720
But I sometimes I'll I'll just die, I've always have so many ideas, so I'll just dive in with concepts and ideas, chord progressions, grooves, and then we'll just be off to the races.
00:24:09.039 --> 00:24:17.440
That's sometimes sometimes it's like uh sometimes you gotta beat your head against the wall to get the song, but that's kind of the in a nutshell.
00:24:17.519 --> 00:24:19.680
And but I love Nashville, Tennessee, man.
00:24:19.759 --> 00:24:25.759
When I moved here, people were saying, Oh, it's Music City, and it is Music City, but I'll tell you it's Song City.
00:24:26.079 --> 00:24:33.440
This is where the most beautiful, most amazing songs are written, and you can't hardly meet a single soul here who can't write.
00:24:33.839 --> 00:24:36.160
So, how many people are you usually writing with?
00:24:36.240 --> 00:24:44.720
And do you meet with the same people over and over again because that's your team, that's who you click with, or are you you know meeting with different people almost every time?
00:24:45.039 --> 00:24:54.079
So I've been out here four years now, and so I've kind of developed a lot of folks that I love to write with, but when I first moved, it was like, yeah, we it was speed dating.
00:24:54.319 --> 00:24:58.000
But now we're I got a good crew of people that I love to make music with.
00:24:58.160 --> 00:25:01.599
But every now and again I'll you know, I'll do a blind date.
00:25:02.079 --> 00:25:11.519
And I love how that's uh that's how you put it because it is you got to find the people that you click with, that you groove with, and that can, you know, spit fire right off the right off the bat with.
00:25:12.319 --> 00:25:16.079
Um, how long does that you know take for somebody to click in for that?
00:25:16.240 --> 00:25:24.960
You know, was it within that first year that you were there, or has it been, you know, all four years and like it's been four years, and like I'm getting into that fifth-year groove now?
00:25:25.200 --> 00:25:28.720
It probably depends on the person, but for me, it took a couple of years.
00:25:28.960 --> 00:25:34.880
It took a couple of years of just writing with a lot of people and writing a lot of bad songs, honestly.
00:25:35.599 --> 00:25:41.839
Like percentage-wise, how many of them, in your in your opinion, are bad songs versus this one's a good one?
00:25:42.079 --> 00:25:43.759
I'm not even gonna lie to you, Kyle.
00:25:43.839 --> 00:25:45.759
I'd say about 50-50.
00:25:46.160 --> 00:25:50.640
Okay, I expected, well, you know, because we're we are our own worst critic.
00:25:50.720 --> 00:25:54.160
I affect I expected like 70, you know, 30.
00:25:54.559 --> 00:25:59.359
Maybe I was being I was probably lying to you that it probably is 70, 70 bad, 30 good.
00:25:59.599 --> 00:26:01.440
Maybe you're trying to focus in on the positive.
00:26:01.599 --> 00:26:02.400
Be that more positive.
00:26:02.640 --> 00:26:04.000
I'm trying to be positive, dude.
00:26:04.079 --> 00:26:05.119
Come on, man.
00:26:07.279 --> 00:26:09.920
Focus in on the positive and you'll do better, okay?
00:26:11.680 --> 00:26:15.680
I'll be your life coach and I'll encourage you from the back the background.
00:26:17.279 --> 00:26:19.359
Well, let's talk about another one of your songs.
00:26:19.440 --> 00:26:20.799
That was what she ain't Texas.
00:26:20.880 --> 00:26:21.920
Didn't we already just talk about that?
00:26:22.000 --> 00:26:24.079
Did I did I lose my way on this?
00:26:24.319 --> 00:26:25.920
Yeah, I think you lost your way.
00:26:26.400 --> 00:26:27.519
I lost my way on this.
00:26:27.599 --> 00:26:29.680
It's because we're in a good conversation.
00:26:29.839 --> 00:26:32.000
So we talked about She Ain't Texas.
00:26:32.880 --> 00:26:33.119
Good.
00:26:33.279 --> 00:26:36.640
So, yeah, let's talk about another one of your songs that we need to listen to.
00:26:36.880 --> 00:26:38.319
Rules of Attraction.
00:26:38.559 --> 00:26:41.920
That's one of your latest, your last two singles that we have here.
00:26:42.160 --> 00:26:44.000
Tell us the story about this one.
00:26:44.480 --> 00:26:46.000
Rules of Attraction.
00:26:46.240 --> 00:26:51.200
So, um a good friend of mine, she sent me a text message.
00:26:51.279 --> 00:26:53.519
You see, she says, I have this idea for you.
00:26:53.680 --> 00:26:54.960
We should write soon.
00:26:55.119 --> 00:27:01.839
And I said, I'm touring right now, but please send it to me so I can like catch the vibe.
00:27:01.920 --> 00:27:07.279
And she sent me this, it was like a verse and a chorus kind of sketched out.
00:27:07.599 --> 00:27:10.799
And so I was like, Okay, I love this so much.
00:27:10.960 --> 00:27:19.839
And so I just went ahead and rewrote some of it and finished the chorus and wrote my own verse and just kind of restructured the song.
00:27:20.079 --> 00:27:21.920
And I love the concept.
00:27:22.079 --> 00:27:24.720
She came up with the concept, I won't try to take credit.
00:27:24.880 --> 00:27:26.240
Just rules of attraction.
00:27:26.319 --> 00:27:27.839
Like, I don't make the rules.
00:27:28.000 --> 00:27:33.680
I it you love who you love, and it's some it just happens, it's not something you can force.
00:27:33.839 --> 00:27:51.759
I know a lot of people are doing dating apps and everything else, but like it's just when it comes to love, it's just like a God thing where it just it happens and your person gets brought into your life at the most unexpected moment, and you could try to force it and plan it as much as you want, but those really aren't the rules.
00:27:52.000 --> 00:27:54.640
So uh that's what that song's about.
00:27:54.960 --> 00:27:57.680
And that's a that's a great premise for a song.
00:27:58.000 --> 00:28:16.640
But speaking of, you know, you know, people looking for that right person, everything, do you think that the that we're skewed by what we see in on television shows and and movies, and that you know, we miss out on that probably a great person because we don't think that they're perfect enough because they don't meet those ideologies.
00:28:16.880 --> 00:28:18.400
Ideology is what's the word?
00:28:18.559 --> 00:28:19.119
Is that the word?
00:28:19.279 --> 00:28:22.000
I can't speak, but yeah, do you know what I'm talking about?
00:28:22.319 --> 00:28:23.680
Yeah, I know exactly what you're saying.
00:28:23.839 --> 00:28:25.759
I don't know rules of attraction, right?
00:28:26.000 --> 00:28:27.039
Yeah, you know, I don't know.
00:28:27.200 --> 00:28:36.400
I I've I have a beautiful, amazing girlfriend that I love so much, and I haven't been dating in a while, and so I don't know.
00:28:36.480 --> 00:28:52.799
I I I feel like it's probably true, but um I just got done reading this amazing book called The Meaning of Marriage, and Tim and this author Tim Keller, he talks about how in our culture we get up, we're so obsessed with certain things.
00:28:52.880 --> 00:29:02.160
I'm not gonna say it, it's gonna, it's kind of a lot, but essentially we get so obsessed with like physical attraction, financials, financial success.
00:29:02.319 --> 00:29:14.799
But it's more important to just find your best friend that you can just trust and that you can love and that that's gonna that's gonna stick with you, and and um I think that's more important than anything else.
00:29:15.119 --> 00:29:31.440
Yeah, we allow so many other things to get in the way of seeing the person that we thought we loved, and then we turn it into, well, I don't love you anymore because of X, Y, and Z, when you could still love that person for who they are, instead of you know caveats.
00:29:31.839 --> 00:29:32.160
Yeah.
00:29:32.480 --> 00:29:33.680
Love is a verb.
00:29:33.920 --> 00:29:36.960
Actions of love lead to feelings of love.
00:29:37.359 --> 00:29:38.960
Are you writing this down?
00:29:42.240 --> 00:29:43.440
Oh, that's funny.
00:29:44.160 --> 00:29:48.559
Alex Lambert, I can't thank you enough for being a part of Down the Dirt Road.
00:29:48.799 --> 00:29:52.240
Hopefully, you haven't felt like I've put you through the ringer in this interview.
00:29:52.559 --> 00:29:54.799
No, I'm very thankful to be on the radio show.
00:29:54.880 --> 00:29:56.799
Um I'm enjoying our conversation.
00:29:56.880 --> 00:29:57.759
Thanks for having me.
00:29:58.079 --> 00:29:59.359
Well, you're very welcome.
00:29:59.519 --> 00:30:08.799
So when you're out on the road, what do you have to take with you to like feel normal or not be homesick or just have some sort of normalcy with you?
00:30:09.039 --> 00:30:13.119
If anyone ever tells you they feel normal on the road, they're lying.
00:30:13.599 --> 00:30:21.039
It's an it's an unnatural, uncomfortable, inconvenient, not good sleep, not good food.
00:30:21.279 --> 00:30:21.920
I don't know.
00:30:22.079 --> 00:30:24.799
You know, I just I think I don't know.
00:30:25.039 --> 00:30:27.200
I don't I don't ever feel normal on the road.
00:30:27.279 --> 00:30:27.920
I love it.
00:30:28.079 --> 00:30:28.480
I love it.
00:30:28.720 --> 00:30:29.359
It's so funny.
00:30:29.759 --> 00:30:30.240
I love it.
00:30:30.400 --> 00:30:39.920
I love being on the road, but it's like being on a vacation, and then it hits that point where you're like, okay, I'm ready to go home now, but then but you can't.
00:30:40.160 --> 00:30:43.200
And you just but you just try to embrace it and enjoy it.
00:30:43.440 --> 00:30:44.960
I just I don't know.
00:30:45.039 --> 00:30:47.279
I there's nothing that makes me feel normal.
00:30:47.359 --> 00:30:49.599
I really don't, I can't, I can't think of anything.
00:30:49.680 --> 00:30:52.720
I wish I had a tour bus, but we'll get there.
00:30:53.039 --> 00:30:54.000
Eventually, yeah.
00:30:54.079 --> 00:30:57.279
You right now what you're you're aiming for a Mercedes Sprinter.
00:30:57.759 --> 00:30:59.359
Yeah, we got we got a sprinter.
00:31:01.039 --> 00:31:02.240
Yeah, we're rolling in the sprinter.
00:31:02.400 --> 00:31:04.559
So those are awesome, those are really cool.
00:31:04.799 --> 00:31:07.839
Yeah, I gotta I gotta bring my you know my pillow and my blanket.
00:31:08.000 --> 00:31:09.359
That's what makes me feel safe in the van.
00:31:09.599 --> 00:31:12.559
Is it is it a blue blanket, like a linus blanket?
00:31:13.200 --> 00:31:16.880
It's gray, but yeah, for the radio show, yeah, we'll tell them.
00:31:16.960 --> 00:31:17.440
Yeah, it's a blue.
00:31:17.519 --> 00:31:20.880
It's it's a blue linus blanket from the peanuts cartoons.
00:31:23.920 --> 00:31:35.039
That's interesting that you like it out on the road because the closest anybody else can get to what you know artists do on the road or that life of the road is being a person who travels for business.
00:31:35.119 --> 00:31:36.240
And I used to do that.
00:31:36.400 --> 00:31:41.039
And yes, you're right, being gone for X amount of days, and you're like, oh man, I gotta get home.
00:31:41.279 --> 00:31:43.920
But yeah, I remember, and maybe do you have this issue too?
00:31:44.000 --> 00:31:48.559
Like you wake up in the middle of the night and you're just so disoriented and you don't know where you are.
00:31:49.039 --> 00:31:54.480
Well, that sounds like a that sounds like you woke up after a long night of drinking.
00:31:54.720 --> 00:31:56.000
I'm just kidding.
00:31:56.319 --> 00:32:07.039
I mean, it was my 20s when I really worked that angle, but we you know, you know, everyone always talks about all these stereotypes of like, oh, we're touring, we're gonna be like partying.
00:32:07.200 --> 00:32:08.640
We we are really healthy.
00:32:08.720 --> 00:32:17.279
We're we're doing it for the love of music, and we're trying to like serve folks by not making it, it's not about us, me and the band.
00:32:17.359 --> 00:32:21.759
Like, we want to go out and we want to make people feel good and and just kind of inspire.
00:32:21.839 --> 00:32:23.680
And so we we try to stay healthy.
00:32:23.759 --> 00:32:26.960
We always work out and eat good and go to sleep early.
00:32:27.119 --> 00:32:29.920
So I don't wake up disoriented much.
00:32:30.160 --> 00:32:30.880
Oh, that's good.
00:32:31.039 --> 00:32:40.000
So you're saying that the rider that you have for all of your venues says it's just supposed to have what veggie trays, protein powder, um whole milk.
00:32:40.319 --> 00:32:46.720
No, you know, we'll have a couple beers, we'll have we'll drink a little chicken left, but we're not out like partying and turning up, you know.
00:32:47.039 --> 00:32:47.920
Ah, okay.
00:32:48.079 --> 00:32:50.000
Yeah, those those people do exist.
00:32:50.240 --> 00:32:53.680
Those people, I mean, hey, but hey, yeah, no judgment.
00:32:53.839 --> 00:32:54.720
No judgment.
00:32:54.880 --> 00:32:57.920
I'm just 35, I'm getting old, I can't I can't do it no more.
00:32:58.319 --> 00:33:01.440
Make me have like a question my whole identity.
00:33:03.759 --> 00:33:07.039
Yeah, because the older you get, the longer the hangover takes to get over.
00:33:07.119 --> 00:33:09.039
I mean, I think was it just the other day?
00:33:09.119 --> 00:33:20.559
I decided it was a Saturday, had a bunch of uh rum and diet cokes, and that was the first time I've had like four or five in a row, and it was like two o'clock in the afternoon, and I had stopped drinking by noon.
00:33:20.720 --> 00:33:25.119
Yes, I was drinking early in the day, and all of a sudden I had this headache.
00:33:26.000 --> 00:33:30.480
And I was like, do I really have a slight hangover in the middle of Saturday afternoon?
00:33:30.720 --> 00:33:32.160
I can't do this anymore.
00:33:33.839 --> 00:33:35.119
What's that rum, man?
00:33:35.200 --> 00:33:36.400
You gotta drink tequila.
00:33:36.480 --> 00:33:37.519
It's tequila.
00:33:37.920 --> 00:33:39.039
Well, I'll tell you this.
00:33:39.200 --> 00:33:46.960
Um, there was a tequila brand, I'm not gonna say who it was, that sponsored one of my VIP rooms down in Miami for three days straight.
00:33:47.279 --> 00:33:52.319
And the people kept coming in to hang out as I was the host of this VIP room.
00:33:52.720 --> 00:33:57.359
And of course, every time somebody, yes, every time somebody came in, they're like, hey, Kyle, let's take a shot.
00:33:57.440 --> 00:33:58.000
Let's take a shot.
00:33:58.079 --> 00:34:00.000
I got to the point, and I still do it today.
00:34:00.160 --> 00:34:02.319
I don't need salt and I don't need lime.
00:34:02.480 --> 00:34:05.680
I just need the tequila, and it goes down fine.
00:34:08.880 --> 00:34:15.519
People will look at me if I do shots right now and they're like salt on their hand, and they got the lime to squeeze, and I'm just sitting there for the shot, and they're like, You don't need this.
00:34:15.599 --> 00:34:16.239
I'm like, no.
00:34:16.480 --> 00:34:18.000
You're like, no, I'm a grown, I'm a grown up.
00:34:18.719 --> 00:34:22.239
Yeah, my taste buds know exactly what's gonna happen, they don't care.
00:34:22.960 --> 00:34:28.079
Oh well, let's finish up here and talk about one more song, Shoot Me Down.
00:34:28.239 --> 00:34:32.639
I always love to know the stories behind the songs that these people hear on the radio.
00:34:32.719 --> 00:34:34.639
So tell us all about Shoot Me Down.
00:34:34.960 --> 00:34:35.840
Shoot Me Down.
00:34:36.159 --> 00:34:40.079
Okay, so thank you for playing the song, by the way.
00:34:40.320 --> 00:34:41.920
Um, shoot me down.
00:34:42.159 --> 00:34:48.639
I walked into a session and I was just feeling like, man, nobody can can't tell me nothing.
00:34:48.800 --> 00:34:50.400
I'm gonna do whatever I want.
00:34:50.559 --> 00:34:52.400
Like, I've always kind of been that way.
00:34:52.559 --> 00:35:01.920
Like, that's probably what held me back in my LA days, is that I just always had this kind of like rebel spirit and just a little bit defiant.
00:35:02.079 --> 00:35:03.199
And I don't know.
00:35:03.360 --> 00:35:12.559
I just as an artist, I feel like it's so important to have your own vision and and to stick to your guns and to just do your thing.
00:35:12.639 --> 00:35:15.679
Don't try to be like somebody else, just be true to yourself.
00:35:15.920 --> 00:35:18.320
And that's kind of what shoot me down is about.
00:35:18.400 --> 00:35:23.119
It's kind of what I was saying earlier about my show when I say we do so many different things.
00:35:23.360 --> 00:35:26.000
Um, I think that's a big part of who I am as an artist.
00:35:26.159 --> 00:35:30.079
That I don't ever want to be pigeonholed, I don't ever want to be boxed in.
00:35:30.320 --> 00:35:32.000
And that's what I wrote that song about.
00:35:32.079 --> 00:35:34.719
You can't shoot me down, you can't fence me in.
00:35:34.800 --> 00:35:38.559
And uh you just gotta stay true to yourself, baby.
00:35:38.800 --> 00:35:41.519
Yeah, and I think a lot of people can relate to that.
00:35:41.760 --> 00:35:48.719
And you got to sort of have that attitude anyway, when you are going after a goal like yours, or you have a dream that you're going after.
00:35:48.960 --> 00:35:53.760
A lot of people are gonna be, no, you can't do that, and shoot you, try to shoot you down.
00:35:54.719 --> 00:36:00.079
And you gotta, you know, stand your ground and really aim for it and go for it.
00:36:00.239 --> 00:36:03.599
Because if you don't try, you're never gonna know, and then you'll be on your deathbed.
00:36:03.679 --> 00:36:07.119
And instead of saying, you know, I love you, it's gonna be like I wish I had.
00:36:07.440 --> 00:36:09.360
Um, I've heard too many of those stories.
00:36:09.599 --> 00:36:17.360
Man, I'll tell you what, that's the that's my biggest fear in life is to be an old man on my final days, wishing I would have.
00:36:17.599 --> 00:36:21.360
Wishing I would have gone for this thing, wishing I would have given it all I got.
00:36:21.519 --> 00:36:22.719
So that's what I'm out here trying to do.
00:36:22.880 --> 00:36:27.519
Give it all I got and be honest and real and authentic and be true to myself.
00:36:27.679 --> 00:36:30.239
So well, I think that could be a song title for you.
00:36:30.400 --> 00:36:31.440
Don't wish you would have.
00:36:32.400 --> 00:36:33.039
Ooh.
00:36:35.199 --> 00:36:36.719
I'll give that one to you.
00:36:36.880 --> 00:36:37.599
You can run with it.
00:36:37.679 --> 00:36:38.320
Don't wish you would have.
00:36:40.559 --> 00:36:41.280
Oh, great.
00:36:41.440 --> 00:36:41.920
One point.
00:36:42.000 --> 00:36:42.719
One point.
00:36:44.079 --> 00:36:47.519
Yeah, I'll take it on the back end and I'll wait till it comes out.
00:36:47.920 --> 00:36:50.400
But you gotta wait till we recoup and everything.
00:36:50.559 --> 00:36:51.679
Sounds just cool.
00:36:52.159 --> 00:36:54.559
Man, that's gonna take forever in this day and age.
00:36:54.719 --> 00:36:58.639
I'm so glad you joined me here today on Down the Dirt Road.
00:36:58.800 --> 00:37:02.800
Um, thank you so much for you know enlightening us about your career, your music.
00:37:02.960 --> 00:37:05.760
I'm sure we can expect a lot of new music coming up.
00:37:06.079 --> 00:37:06.559
That's right.
00:37:06.719 --> 00:37:08.400
We got a lot, a lot coming.
00:37:08.559 --> 00:37:11.119
Some exciting news really, really soon.
00:37:11.760 --> 00:37:14.320
And I'm very thankful for you having me on the show, Kyle.
00:37:14.559 --> 00:37:16.079
Thank you so much for being a part of the show.
00:37:16.239 --> 00:37:18.800
You have yourself a great rest of your day, okay?
00:37:19.039 --> 00:37:19.840
You too, Kyle.
00:37:19.920 --> 00:37:20.800
Thanks so much for having me.
00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:05.120
So many others, and they are touring in areas more than their hometown or state.
00:00:05.360 --> 00:00:14.640
I am sure many loyal listeners could flag me for having a few artists on the show who didn't meet the full list of requirements to be a worthy guest on the show.
00:00:14.960 --> 00:00:20.079
But I say to those nay singers, I'm happy to make an exception if they meet two out of three.
00:00:20.399 --> 00:00:28.239
All that said, today's guest checks off all three boxes' songs, galore, great voice and band, and touring the country.
00:00:28.320 --> 00:00:30.480
Plus, he has charm and personality.
00:00:30.640 --> 00:00:35.200
Who is this purveyor of story-driven, love-laden, soul-filled country songs?
00:00:35.439 --> 00:00:38.240
Allow me to introduce you all to Alex Lambert.
00:00:38.399 --> 00:00:43.280
He first found some success after a brief stint on American Idol back in 2009.
00:00:43.600 --> 00:01:00.640
But then, as you will hear in my conversation with Alex, he stepped away from the music industry for some much-needed personal understanding before stepping back into the spotlight, bringing us gritty, emotive, textured, sexy songs that will tickle more than the hairs in your ears.
00:01:00.880 --> 00:01:11.120
I can describe Alex Lambert's songs to y'all in many other ways, but why not let you hear him talk about his own music, career, and more right here on Down the Dirt Road?
00:01:11.359 --> 00:01:16.000
Well, my guest today on Down the Dirt Road is Texas Country.
00:01:16.159 --> 00:01:17.359
I don't know what you say.
00:01:17.519 --> 00:01:23.439
You've been around for a while, Alex, but you know, Texas country rising star, uh Alex Lambert.
00:01:23.519 --> 00:01:25.200
Welcome, Alex, to Down the Dirt Road.
00:01:25.359 --> 00:01:26.239
Hattie Hattie.
00:01:26.480 --> 00:01:27.840
How are you doing there today?
00:01:28.079 --> 00:01:29.200
Doing good, doing good.
00:01:29.280 --> 00:01:31.439
The sun's shining here in Nashville, Tennessee.
00:01:31.519 --> 00:01:33.920
So I'm Oh, you got yourself in Nashville.
00:01:34.079 --> 00:01:36.400
Yeah, moved to Nashville a couple years ago.
00:01:36.560 --> 00:01:39.040
Oh, you didn't want to sit sit around in Texas, did you?
00:01:39.200 --> 00:01:39.920
Hey, you know what?
00:01:40.079 --> 00:01:44.959
Texas will always have my heart, but you know, right now, this season of my life, Nashville is the place I gotta be.
00:01:45.120 --> 00:01:48.319
Yeah, there's a lot of great people there to get to know and network.
00:01:48.400 --> 00:01:51.920
Because you know, you know this industry, it's all about who you know, right?
00:01:52.159 --> 00:01:53.920
Yeah, a little bit, a little bit.
00:01:54.480 --> 00:01:56.079
Who cares about talent anymore?
00:01:56.159 --> 00:01:57.760
It's really all about who you know.
00:01:58.719 --> 00:02:00.159
But you originally come from Texas.
00:02:00.239 --> 00:02:01.519
Where in Texas do you come from?
00:02:01.760 --> 00:02:08.400
I'm from a little town outside a suburb of Fort Worth called North Richland Hills, but I just claim Fort Worth.
00:02:08.479 --> 00:02:09.120
It's easier.
00:02:09.360 --> 00:02:10.560
It's easier, yeah.
00:02:10.719 --> 00:02:13.599
So you've been in the industry uh quite a while.
00:02:13.759 --> 00:02:26.400
You um started out a little bit um before American Idol, or did you was it like you just launched right into American Idol and then did your stint on that and then backed out for a little bit before coming back?
00:02:26.719 --> 00:02:32.000
Yeah, before American Idol, I was just picking my guitar around the house and I did like a couple shows.
00:02:32.159 --> 00:02:36.639
So that was really like my the start to my career, I guess you'd say.
00:02:36.879 --> 00:02:40.159
And that was that was 15, 16 years ago now.
00:02:40.240 --> 00:02:40.960
Yeah, yeah.
00:02:41.120 --> 00:02:44.639
What possessed you to audition for American Idol?
00:02:45.039 --> 00:02:49.680
Well, honestly, at the time, that was like the biggest show on TV.
00:02:49.840 --> 00:02:53.520
I think there was like 30 million viewers weekly on that.
00:02:53.680 --> 00:02:56.159
And so my we we watched it at home.
00:02:56.400 --> 00:03:02.879
We watched it at home, and my mom was like, if you don't go audition this year, I'm taking away your phone.
00:03:03.120 --> 00:03:09.039
And so I was I was a nine 18-year-old kid, and I said, All right, let's pay a minute.
00:03:09.120 --> 00:03:11.439
You're 18 and and you're still gonna let her take away your phone.
00:03:11.599 --> 00:03:12.159
You're legal, though.
00:03:12.240 --> 00:03:12.719
You're legal.
00:03:13.039 --> 00:03:16.240
Yeah, but you know, I got held back, so I still was at home.
00:03:16.800 --> 00:03:17.520
Ah, okay.
00:03:17.759 --> 00:03:21.360
So I was still uh I was still a C a senior in high school, so you know.
00:03:21.599 --> 00:03:21.919
Okay.
00:03:22.159 --> 00:03:22.479
Yeah.
00:03:22.719 --> 00:03:26.000
So you're still paying your dues and making your way.
00:03:26.319 --> 00:03:27.759
You're talking about right now?
00:03:28.000 --> 00:03:33.360
Well, well, now you are again, but you know, back then you're paying your dues to your mom, is what I was trying to say.
00:03:33.919 --> 00:03:35.280
That's why she held it over your head.
00:03:35.360 --> 00:03:36.560
You know, I'm gonna take away your phone.
00:03:36.719 --> 00:03:37.280
Well, that's good.
00:03:37.360 --> 00:03:42.240
So she and she instructed you with inspiration to get out there and do it.
00:03:42.319 --> 00:03:45.840
What was the audition like for you going through that?
00:03:46.400 --> 00:03:47.680
Man, it was wild.
00:03:47.759 --> 00:03:51.120
I was I was a kid, I had the worst stage fright ever.
00:03:51.280 --> 00:03:56.400
I hadn't really shared my musical giftings with a lot of people, and so I didn't know how to perform.
00:03:56.479 --> 00:04:01.039
I didn't know I was a kid also, so I had my social skills were lacking pretty hard.
00:04:01.280 --> 00:04:02.879
So it was nerve-wracking.
00:04:03.039 --> 00:04:06.719
It was nerve-wracking, it was a it was a whirlwind doing all that.
00:04:07.039 --> 00:04:08.560
I can only imagine.
00:04:08.879 --> 00:04:15.120
So if we Google your name with American Idol, do we get to find the videos of your audition process on there?
00:04:15.439 --> 00:04:18.160
So my audition never aired, thank God.
00:04:18.720 --> 00:04:21.040
Because I was like so nervous.
00:04:21.199 --> 00:04:24.160
My my actual audition never got put on the show.
00:04:24.240 --> 00:04:30.959
So I'm I'm very thankful for that because Joe Jonas was a judge, and it was back when Simon was there.
00:04:31.040 --> 00:04:34.879
And I they were really positive, but I don't think I did very well.
00:04:36.000 --> 00:04:38.399
Did you you did make it past the audition, right?
00:04:38.560 --> 00:04:40.720
Yeah, I made it past the audition, but I was what I thought.
00:04:40.959 --> 00:04:41.839
I was petrified.
00:04:41.920 --> 00:04:43.839
I I think I I was really nervous.
00:04:43.920 --> 00:04:46.240
I think I it affected my vocals a lot.
00:04:46.560 --> 00:04:46.879
Okay.
00:04:47.199 --> 00:04:53.120
But hey, you made it through that part, and then you made it into you know the lives and all of that.
00:04:53.199 --> 00:04:56.160
Like, what did you have to do after the audition process?
00:04:56.240 --> 00:05:03.439
You know, you have to wait for a lot of things, you can't tell anybody, and what was it like being out there just going through the process of being on the show?
00:05:03.680 --> 00:05:13.680
I'll tell you, I mean, I don't I don't really have that much to say about it because it's been so long, but it was a whirlwind, like I said, and it was but it was fun, it was exciting, you know.
00:05:13.759 --> 00:05:21.040
I always wanted to make music and do this thing for a living, and that was like my first taste of getting doing it kind of professionally.
00:05:21.199 --> 00:05:31.360
And I know American Idol is such an interesting experience with people who don't have much experience kind of being up thrust into the thing, so it was fun.
00:05:31.519 --> 00:05:41.920
I was really, it was really encouraging to get so many, you know, followers at that time and go get so much so much encouragement from the judges, Simon.
00:05:42.000 --> 00:05:47.439
And after that, I signed with the 19 Entertainment and they kind of brought me under their wing.
00:05:47.519 --> 00:05:49.920
So I'll tell you what, man, it was it was such a blessing.
00:05:50.000 --> 00:05:55.920
I wasn't ready to really chase my dreams because I didn't have much work ethic and drive then.
00:05:56.000 --> 00:06:00.800
I just I just loved to write songs and make music, but I really wasn't ready to to to work.
00:06:00.959 --> 00:06:05.360
And so that's why I never really had much success after the show.
00:06:05.839 --> 00:06:07.279
Okay, I get that.
00:06:07.600 --> 00:06:16.160
So, were you writing a lot of songs prior to going on, or was it really inspirational that you went into writing songs after the experience?
00:06:16.480 --> 00:06:23.199
Man, I started writing songs when I was like in like probably 15, 16 years old.
00:06:23.360 --> 00:06:28.720
And so I I had some experience writing, but going out there is when I started co-writing.
00:06:28.959 --> 00:06:29.279
Okay.
00:06:29.439 --> 00:06:32.639
And I started learning how to work with producers and co-writers.
00:06:32.720 --> 00:06:42.800
And I stayed out in Los Angeles for five years and you know, wrote wrote the song for Justin Bieber and Carly Ray Jepson and had some success with the songwriting stuff.
00:06:42.879 --> 00:06:50.639
So that was that was also very encouraging to know that like that I had the writing chops to to do the thing.
00:06:51.040 --> 00:06:57.600
So when you look back at those songs that you wrote back at 15, 16 years old, what do you think of those?
00:06:57.759 --> 00:07:01.600
And do we get to hear any of those on any of your albums or singles?
00:07:02.079 --> 00:07:03.199
I th what do I think?
00:07:03.360 --> 00:07:08.800
I think these songs are dog shit, and no one will ever hear these.
00:07:09.279 --> 00:07:13.920
Man, if it gets a hold of these songs, I'll kill them because they're so bad.
00:07:15.439 --> 00:07:28.560
You know, you're not the first artist to stay to say something like that, but I think that you know, we should produce an album and go back to all of these artists and record those songs and you know, let the let the public be the judge on it, right?
00:07:29.439 --> 00:07:30.560
Probably not, Kyle.
00:07:30.800 --> 00:07:31.120
No.
00:07:33.600 --> 00:07:38.959
You've got such a great sound, you've got a smokiness, a graveliness to your sound.
00:07:39.120 --> 00:07:48.399
I noticed though, under you know, the genre that it's been under for uh what is it, Apple Music, you know, your first music is it's considered pop.
00:07:48.720 --> 00:07:50.319
They put it under the pop category.
00:07:50.399 --> 00:07:53.920
Is that you know true to what you were going for back then?
00:07:54.000 --> 00:07:57.920
Or would you say that you know it just had to go underneath that because they didn't know where to put you?
00:07:58.240 --> 00:08:00.720
Yeah, it's probably they they probably didn't know where to put me.
00:08:01.920 --> 00:08:02.319
Yeah.
00:08:02.639 --> 00:08:05.759
Yeah, because when I listened to that, what is that first album there?
00:08:06.079 --> 00:08:09.360
Um reminded yes, thank you.
00:08:09.519 --> 00:08:10.240
I listened to that.
00:08:10.399 --> 00:08:19.120
You got a lot of great mixed sound on that album, and which is why I'm pulling some of those songs from that, like Stroll and She Ain't Texas.
00:08:19.279 --> 00:08:30.480
You then really switch gears and go in you lean into that country feeling with your your most recent um singles, uh Rules of Attraction and Shoot Me Down.
00:08:31.040 --> 00:08:37.519
And I guess you could say, uh, you know, from I heard from your team, and I was even thinking of the same thing as I've been listening to you over the last few weeks.
00:08:37.840 --> 00:08:45.679
You have that Western soul sound in all of your music, whether it's your voice or the instrumentations and the arrangements.
00:08:45.840 --> 00:08:51.200
Uh, is that what you would say that you know you're trying to lean into is be like that western soulful sound?
00:08:51.519 --> 00:08:53.279
So for this record, yes.
00:08:53.440 --> 00:08:58.799
So I think I consider myself just more of a soul and blues and RB singer.
00:08:59.120 --> 00:09:00.720
But you know, I grew up in Texas.
00:09:00.799 --> 00:09:04.320
My granddad was a country music singer, songwriter, producer.
00:09:04.559 --> 00:09:10.080
Country music just has is runs through my veins, and but I love soul.
00:09:10.240 --> 00:09:18.799
I think I've just been always such a fan of artists like Sam Cook and Otis Redding and Marvin Gaye and so and Smokey Robinson.
00:09:18.879 --> 00:09:25.519
So those kind those are like my bread and butter artists, and so I pull a lot of my inspiration from that soul RB thing.
00:09:25.600 --> 00:09:30.799
But country music song uh songwriting and storytelling is a big part of what I do too.
00:09:30.879 --> 00:09:34.720
And so at my shows, I say this at the beginning of my set.
00:09:34.879 --> 00:09:44.080
I don't really, I everyone, when I first started making music again a few years ago, people were like, you ought to go straight country or you ought to go straight do this, go RB.
00:09:44.159 --> 00:09:47.519
And I just said, you know, I'm not gonna do one thing.
00:09:47.759 --> 00:09:54.639
I I think I would get bo I'd get burnt bored and burned out so quick if I had to just be a country artist, if I had to just be a soul artist.
00:09:54.799 --> 00:10:00.320
So we do a little bit of everything, and I think that we live in a day and age where you can do a lot of different stuff.
00:10:00.399 --> 00:10:03.600
And I I believe my voice and my writing is the through line.
00:10:03.840 --> 00:10:10.080
I also think about, you know, because you're talking about, you know, your style just isn't, you know, supposed to be pigeonholed or pinpointed into one thing.
00:10:10.159 --> 00:10:23.039
You know, Brandy Carlisle has made a great career of doing the same thing of what you're setting out to do, which I think you know, you're gonna be great and successful at that because listening to your music, it's it's got variety, and variety is the spice of life.
00:10:23.120 --> 00:10:26.879
And and yeah, you we're not gonna sit here and listen to the same thing over and over again.
00:10:27.039 --> 00:10:30.320
And that's what I listen for with artists that I bring onto this show.
00:10:30.399 --> 00:10:32.559
So great, keep doing what you're doing with that.
00:10:32.799 --> 00:10:33.120
Thank you.
00:10:33.440 --> 00:10:34.320
Thanks, Kyle.
00:10:34.559 --> 00:10:38.240
Yeah, so the first song I want to talk to you about is Stroll.
00:10:38.559 --> 00:10:39.759
You wrote this by yourself.
00:10:39.840 --> 00:10:40.960
Was this a co-write?
00:10:41.200 --> 00:10:42.399
This was a co-write.
00:10:42.559 --> 00:10:42.879
Okay.
00:10:43.279 --> 00:10:50.000
I wrote this song with a couple of good buddies of mine, um, Andrew Beeson and Keller Cox here in Nashville.
00:10:50.320 --> 00:10:52.559
What was the inspiration behind this one for you?
00:10:52.879 --> 00:10:53.759
Man, you know what?
00:10:53.840 --> 00:10:55.519
This one was really spur of the moment.
00:10:55.679 --> 00:11:05.519
Kind of, I pulled up and I pulled up to my buddy's studio, and he was playing the guitar, and he was just playing the bong, bum, bum, bum, bong, bum, bum, bum, bum.
00:11:05.759 --> 00:11:12.480
And he was just playing that lick, and I just started freestyling, and a lot of the song got wrote in that first little freestyle.
00:11:12.559 --> 00:11:17.440
And I just started kind of stream of consciousness, and then we kind of we shaped it out.
00:11:17.519 --> 00:11:23.919
And but I really, really for that song, I was like, I want a song that has like a dance thing to it.
00:11:24.080 --> 00:11:26.399
Like, what could we what could we call it like?
00:11:26.480 --> 00:11:28.799
And I was like, what if we just call it like stroll?
00:11:28.960 --> 00:11:44.559
And my inspiration around the song was like that being like the dance, and I was gonna I I created a little dance for it and everything, but it never really caught on because I'm I don't think I'm a teeny bopper enough to do tick TikTok dances and stuff, but yeah, that's a dance song.
00:11:44.639 --> 00:11:45.679
That's that's a fun one.
00:11:45.759 --> 00:11:49.840
That's one of my favorite songs to play live because it it's just so high energy.
00:11:50.320 --> 00:11:57.679
Well, you know what you need to do then is get in touch with one of those line dance instructors that have a big following there in Nashville.
00:11:57.759 --> 00:11:58.639
I think I follow one.
00:11:58.720 --> 00:12:05.919
I talked to him a while back because um I was working with an event that was looking for somebody to do line dance instruction.
00:12:06.080 --> 00:12:14.240
So you should partner with him and have him with a bunch of people do the dance, and then you record that, and then you got yourself something good.
00:12:14.480 --> 00:12:15.360
I should have done that.
00:12:15.440 --> 00:12:17.600
That song's a couple years old now, I think.
00:12:17.759 --> 00:12:18.799
But that's okay.
00:12:18.960 --> 00:12:27.759
Liz, I mean, Ashley McBride has got a song that is climbing all of a sudden into a lot of radio stations, and I think it's called All I Want Is You or something or other.
00:12:27.919 --> 00:12:32.399
Came out in 2024, and now all of a sudden, last week, she posts something about that.
00:12:32.480 --> 00:12:35.600
She's got 75 radio stations that have picked up that song.
00:12:35.840 --> 00:12:36.639
Oh, okay.
00:12:36.879 --> 00:12:43.279
And yet she just dropped, you know, Arkansas Mud, which is like this rocking out country song, which is great.
00:12:43.519 --> 00:12:48.480
But then all of a sudden, you know, this one's being picked up from 2024, so it's never too late.
00:12:48.639 --> 00:12:49.200
That's right.
00:12:49.360 --> 00:12:49.679
Okay.
00:12:50.000 --> 00:12:50.720
Good to know.
00:12:50.879 --> 00:12:51.360
Good to know.
00:12:51.600 --> 00:12:52.240
What's that song?
00:12:52.320 --> 00:12:54.960
It's never too late to do the right thing now.
00:12:58.080 --> 00:13:03.679
So yeah, I I I I encourage you to do that for yourself, and you never know who's gonna pick up on it.
00:13:03.759 --> 00:13:07.360
And it could be a big line dancing hit in all of the places all around the country.
00:13:07.600 --> 00:13:10.559
Maybe, maybe we'll put one together before we get out there to Madison.
00:13:11.120 --> 00:13:15.840
Yes, and then you can debut it in Madison, teach us in the audience, and then we all do it for you.
00:13:17.759 --> 00:13:23.840
So you were on American Idol, and then you had a few years out in LA doing some co-writing.
00:13:23.919 --> 00:13:27.519
You mentioned some people, you know, some you dropped some names for us all.
00:13:28.159 --> 00:13:30.080
And um that's then you backed out.
00:13:30.159 --> 00:13:30.559
That's it.
00:13:30.720 --> 00:13:31.759
That's not saying I'm a name, yeah.
00:13:31.840 --> 00:13:32.879
I'm a name dropper.
00:13:33.039 --> 00:13:35.600
You're yeah, I can tell you that kind of person.
00:13:38.080 --> 00:13:43.440
So you you did that for a little while, and then you backed off for a little bit.
00:13:43.679 --> 00:13:44.639
What happened with that?
00:13:44.720 --> 00:13:46.240
What led you to be like, you know what?
00:13:46.320 --> 00:13:51.919
I just need to take a little breather and you know, decide what's going on for you.
00:13:52.720 --> 00:13:53.519
I'll tell you what.
00:13:53.600 --> 00:14:03.519
I think when I was in LA, it was I was just so young and I got thrown into the idol thing and then immediately just started just busting it and just working so hard.
00:14:03.600 --> 00:14:20.879
And I I just I just all my friends were in college, and I just I don't know, a part of me feels like I lost I lost my roots and I needed to get back home to Texas to like remember who I who I was and you know my the purpose behind what I was doing.
00:14:20.960 --> 00:14:27.840
It felt like it lost purpose and I needed to just go honestly, I needed to go make some money because I was dead broke.
00:14:28.080 --> 00:14:30.399
And I LA can do that to a person.
00:14:30.559 --> 00:14:32.960
Yeah, LA will do a lot of stuff to a person.
00:14:33.120 --> 00:14:39.120
I love that city, but it put it made me broke, broke financially, spiritually.
00:14:39.360 --> 00:14:49.519
So I had to get home and get back to my mom and my family, my brothers, and like just get back to the purpose of what life's all about, which is just God and family and love.
00:14:49.679 --> 00:15:00.720
And I had to get grounded again, and uh, so I had to go take a coup take a couple years off and do some hard work and get some regular jobs and just live a little bit.
00:15:01.600 --> 00:15:02.879
Live a little bit, grow up.
00:15:02.960 --> 00:15:04.320
I needed to grow up, really.
00:15:04.480 --> 00:15:09.600
Man, I was immature, it took me a long time to to just mature.
00:15:09.679 --> 00:15:11.840
So well, we're guys, we're never mature.
00:15:11.919 --> 00:15:12.879
What are you talking about?
00:15:14.320 --> 00:15:15.039
That is a couple of things.
00:15:15.200 --> 00:15:16.879
I I tell that to my teenage.
00:15:16.960 --> 00:15:26.320
Uh I teach piano and voice lessons up here, and uh, some of my teenage uh ladies that are in high school, and they start talking to me about boy problems and things like that.
00:15:26.399 --> 00:15:29.519
And I look at them just like, you need to know something.
00:15:29.840 --> 00:15:32.240
Us guys, we never mature.
00:15:33.440 --> 00:15:34.639
Don't expect it.
00:15:34.879 --> 00:15:37.919
Don't try to fix us, don't try to change us.
00:15:40.159 --> 00:15:41.600
So, where'd you live in LA?
00:15:41.679 --> 00:15:45.600
I lived out there for five years working for the recording academy, doing all sorts of stuff out there.
00:15:45.679 --> 00:15:49.360
I was down in the Westwood area, um, near Santa Monica.
00:15:49.679 --> 00:15:50.159
Very cool.
00:15:50.240 --> 00:15:52.559
Yeah, I lived all over when I was there.
00:15:52.720 --> 00:16:06.320
I lived in started off, I was on another reality show in in Beverly Hills, and that lasted about that show was called If I Can Dream, and it was a Hulu series, and please don't please don't go watch it.
00:16:07.360 --> 00:16:17.600
And then uh after that, I was in West Hollywood and then East Hollywood, and then moved down to Redondo Beach, and that's kind of where I that's kind of where I retired from LA.
00:16:17.679 --> 00:16:21.200
Just but it was a good it was a good last place to live by the beach.
00:16:21.440 --> 00:16:23.360
Yeah, Redondo Beach is really cool.
00:16:23.440 --> 00:16:30.720
It's it's definitely out outside of you know more congested LA area and near the water to be relaxing when you want to be.
00:16:30.799 --> 00:16:31.919
But no, I get it.
00:16:32.159 --> 00:16:34.320
LA is um it's crazy.
00:16:34.480 --> 00:16:39.360
I mean, I had a good time, but then I would say 60% of my time was spent in other parts of the country.
00:16:39.440 --> 00:16:43.200
I didn't even get to live there full time because I traveled so much.
00:16:43.679 --> 00:16:44.480
That's pretty cool.
00:16:44.639 --> 00:16:46.799
Yeah, it was a fun chapter.
00:16:47.200 --> 00:16:59.600
It was, it was a fun chapter, and I got to meet a lot of people, and you know, it it taught me a lot about what the music industry is all about after working at the recording academy, which is the parent company for the Grammy Awards.
00:17:00.320 --> 00:17:05.759
And oof, it it really taught me that I didn't want to pursue it.
00:17:07.920 --> 00:17:19.119
I'll be the behind the scenes that helps promote the person who's trying to pursue it, but no, I I don't have the skin to try to pursue it nor the energy, especially now, you know, in my late 40s.
00:17:19.440 --> 00:17:21.119
Yeah, I'm tired.
00:17:21.440 --> 00:17:23.279
Man, I'm I'm I'm 35 now.
00:17:23.359 --> 00:17:24.799
I'm I'm getting tired.
00:17:25.279 --> 00:17:31.039
Well, what what's inspired you to come back to it as the solo artist you are today?
00:17:31.599 --> 00:17:33.519
You know, COVID 19.
00:17:33.839 --> 00:17:34.799
Remember that?
00:17:35.359 --> 00:17:37.119
No, I don't what what was that?
00:17:37.440 --> 00:17:39.359
It was a virus that went around.
00:17:40.400 --> 00:17:41.839
Did a lot of people get it?
00:17:42.240 --> 00:17:46.640
I think only a couple people got it, but anyways, it shut a lot of stuff down.
00:17:46.799 --> 00:17:47.599
And it did.
00:17:47.839 --> 00:17:53.279
Um man, when COVID happened, I just I was running a real estate business at this point.
00:17:53.359 --> 00:17:55.279
I thought I was gonna be a real estate mogul.
00:17:55.359 --> 00:18:07.519
I was flipping houses and doing all that, and I was buying pre-foreclosures and buying distressed properties, and when COVID hit, my business shut down, and I was like, What do I do?
00:18:07.759 --> 00:18:15.119
And I had saved up some money, and I was like, man, the only other thing I know how to do is sing and write songs.
00:18:15.200 --> 00:18:29.759
And so I just picked up my guitar and I said, This is my chance to switch gears and do something because there wasn't a day that went by and any other job or career that I had that I didn't wish I was singing, and that that someone didn't ask me why aren't you singing?
00:18:29.920 --> 00:18:35.920
And so I just picked up my guitar and started writing new songs, and that that's how the new chapter began.
00:18:36.000 --> 00:18:43.440
And I I told myself I was gonna because I had such bad stage fright before, and that's kind of why in LA I pursued more of the songwriting thing.
00:18:43.920 --> 00:18:54.880
And I told myself right when I started again, I'm just gonna play as many shows as I can so I can cut my teeth and pay my dues on stage and not have not have that stage fright anymore.
00:18:55.039 --> 00:18:57.119
And um, so that's what I did.
00:18:57.440 --> 00:18:58.880
Well, that's awesome.
00:18:59.119 --> 00:19:01.200
Let's talk about one of your other songs.
00:19:01.279 --> 00:19:04.319
It was off that previous album uh you mentioned.
00:19:04.480 --> 00:19:06.400
It's called She Ain't Texas.
00:19:09.200 --> 00:19:11.759
Evidently, this one means a bit to you, huh?
00:19:12.640 --> 00:19:13.759
Yeah, it sure does.
00:19:14.240 --> 00:19:14.640
I love that.
00:19:16.000 --> 00:19:17.200
Yeah, so I wrote that song.
00:19:17.279 --> 00:19:20.640
That was the very first song I ever wrote when I got here to Nashville, Tennessee.
00:19:21.359 --> 00:19:21.759
Oh, really?
00:19:22.240 --> 00:19:22.559
Yep.
00:19:23.039 --> 00:19:30.720
And I was playing shows on Broadway, and I was everybody talks kind of like they're from Texas.
00:19:30.880 --> 00:19:43.039
Everybody, there's there's a lot of honky tonk spots, and you know, everybody wears a lot of similar clothes here in Tennessee that they do in Texas, but but I just said, you know, but it's not the same.
00:19:43.200 --> 00:19:44.079
She ain't Texas.
00:19:44.160 --> 00:19:46.960
There's no place like home, and I'll tell you, there's no place like Texas.
00:19:47.039 --> 00:19:50.880
I've been around the world, and I can tell you, Texas is a special place.
00:19:51.039 --> 00:19:54.240
The people, the culture, everything about it.
00:19:54.319 --> 00:19:55.599
It's it's just a special place.
00:19:55.680 --> 00:20:00.160
And I I wrote that song about missing home and and missing the Lone Star State.
00:20:00.640 --> 00:20:11.039
Wow, that it takes on a whole new meaning because I, of course, I heard it as, you know, maybe you were dating somebody and then you're just like, you know, she ain't Texas, meaning like she ain't the Texas person I had before.
00:20:11.279 --> 00:20:16.319
But now hearing it, what you just said, that it takes on a whole new meaning, which is it's just great.
00:20:16.559 --> 00:20:23.599
So you mentioned having a lot of stage fright, you know, being, I think would you say that you're categorically more of an introvert?
00:20:24.160 --> 00:20:25.119
No, that's the thing.
00:20:25.440 --> 00:20:26.079
Not anymore?
00:20:26.319 --> 00:20:28.559
No, I would never was, I never was an introvert.
00:20:28.720 --> 00:20:31.039
I was just I just was scared to get up there.
00:20:31.119 --> 00:20:35.839
I felt oh I think I was just a young and scared to be vulnerable.
00:20:35.920 --> 00:20:48.400
And I I never really was like the center of attention growing up, or you know, I it just was it just was weird, and I I needed to just it's it's almost like you can't shake it unless you just go out there and do it.
00:20:48.559 --> 00:20:56.160
So what happened to you on those first many times of trying to shake you know the stage fright from you?
00:20:56.400 --> 00:20:58.720
I I just got really, really nervous.
00:20:58.880 --> 00:21:10.480
It was like my nerves would get so bad where I'd like puke before every show, and then slowly but surely, every like it just got easier and easier, and then it just started feeling like another day in the office.
00:21:10.720 --> 00:21:22.880
And uh man, I'm so thankful for that time to be able to be in Fort Worth and just gig around town playing small dive bars and all kinds of stuff just to just to just gotta pay my dues.
00:21:22.960 --> 00:21:24.319
You gotta pay your dues.
00:21:25.119 --> 00:21:32.880
Yeah, get out there and definitely try it because you can only dream, and if you only dream and don't do, then what's the point?
00:21:33.440 --> 00:21:34.559
Yeah, that's right.
00:21:35.359 --> 00:21:46.000
So would you say that you have, you know, uh uh rediscovered your passion for this industry, for making music and for entertaining, you know, your your fans and your audiences?
00:21:46.640 --> 00:21:47.599
I would say so.
00:21:47.759 --> 00:21:52.640
I think in this chapter of my life, I feel like I'm getting a a second chance at this thing.
00:21:52.960 --> 00:21:59.759
Being doing the idle stuff and not really having the work ethic or drive to to to be persistent.
00:22:00.559 --> 00:22:02.319
And to have a purpose with it.
00:22:02.480 --> 00:22:07.599
Like having the second chance just feels like I it's a lot more meaningful and purposeful.
00:22:07.680 --> 00:22:11.440
And I just feel like I don't want to squander my giftings from God.
00:22:11.599 --> 00:22:15.519
And I just I feel so inspired.
00:22:15.599 --> 00:22:22.640
And it feels like all I ever do is work, but it's it's hard, it hardly ever feels like work because I love music.
00:22:22.720 --> 00:22:24.319
I've loved music my whole life.
00:22:24.400 --> 00:22:28.240
And uh I love writing songs and playing the guitar and singing.
00:22:28.400 --> 00:22:29.920
So I'm just I don't know.
00:22:30.000 --> 00:22:32.000
I'm just enjoying it, enjoying the process.
00:22:32.160 --> 00:22:34.240
And I have the best team in the world.
00:22:34.319 --> 00:22:38.319
I have the best manager and publisher and everything else.
00:22:38.400 --> 00:22:39.920
So record label now.
00:22:40.000 --> 00:22:41.920
And so I'm just blessed, dude.
00:22:42.000 --> 00:22:43.839
And I feel blessed and I feel thankful.
00:22:44.000 --> 00:22:48.160
And that's I think it reflects in my music and my shows and everything else.
00:22:48.400 --> 00:22:54.160
Yeah, it I I mean I can hear it in your music, and of course, I can hear it in just this conversation with you.
00:22:54.319 --> 00:22:59.839
You know, you're a very, you know, kind sound, kind-hearted sounding, humble guy that you know.
00:23:01.920 --> 00:23:06.880
Oh, wait, so we got an arrogant, you know, selfish side to you that you know people need to watch out for.
00:23:08.880 --> 00:23:13.279
Well, then, you know, you're talking about, you know, all you do is work, work, work, but yet doesn't feel like work.
00:23:13.359 --> 00:23:18.240
So take us through what possibly could be a typical day for Alex Lambert.
00:23:18.559 --> 00:23:21.920
Uh it just depends on the depends on the day, the month, you know.
00:23:22.000 --> 00:23:23.680
It's what if it's a writing day for you?
00:23:23.759 --> 00:23:26.000
What we what are we gonna do if we're tagging along?
00:23:26.160 --> 00:23:29.279
This is your chance to pitch your reality show.
00:23:29.519 --> 00:23:30.319
Okay, here we go.
00:23:30.400 --> 00:23:31.039
Here here it is.
00:23:31.119 --> 00:23:32.480
This y'all buckle in.
00:23:32.960 --> 00:23:37.200
I get up, I get up 30 minutes before I have to be at my writing session.
00:23:37.440 --> 00:23:41.839
I haul ass out the door after throwing some water on my face.
00:23:42.079 --> 00:23:45.519
I get I get there 15 to 20 minutes late.
00:23:46.000 --> 00:23:58.559
I immediately go grab a coffee and then um try to try to small talk for like at least 30 minutes to to to break the ice of the session.
00:23:58.880 --> 00:24:08.720
But I sometimes I'll I'll just die, I've always have so many ideas, so I'll just dive in with concepts and ideas, chord progressions, grooves, and then we'll just be off to the races.
00:24:09.039 --> 00:24:17.440
That's sometimes sometimes it's like uh sometimes you gotta beat your head against the wall to get the song, but that's kind of the in a nutshell.
00:24:17.519 --> 00:24:19.680
And but I love Nashville, Tennessee, man.
00:24:19.759 --> 00:24:25.759
When I moved here, people were saying, Oh, it's Music City, and it is Music City, but I'll tell you it's Song City.
00:24:26.079 --> 00:24:33.440
This is where the most beautiful, most amazing songs are written, and you can't hardly meet a single soul here who can't write.
00:24:33.839 --> 00:24:36.160
So, how many people are you usually writing with?
00:24:36.240 --> 00:24:44.720
And do you meet with the same people over and over again because that's your team, that's who you click with, or are you you know meeting with different people almost every time?
00:24:45.039 --> 00:24:54.079
So I've been out here four years now, and so I've kind of developed a lot of folks that I love to write with, but when I first moved, it was like, yeah, we it was speed dating.
00:24:54.319 --> 00:24:58.000
But now we're I got a good crew of people that I love to make music with.
00:24:58.160 --> 00:25:01.599
But every now and again I'll you know, I'll do a blind date.
00:25:02.079 --> 00:25:11.519
And I love how that's uh that's how you put it because it is you got to find the people that you click with, that you groove with, and that can, you know, spit fire right off the right off the bat with.
00:25:12.319 --> 00:25:16.079
Um, how long does that you know take for somebody to click in for that?
00:25:16.240 --> 00:25:24.960
You know, was it within that first year that you were there, or has it been, you know, all four years and like it's been four years, and like I'm getting into that fifth-year groove now?
00:25:25.200 --> 00:25:28.720
It probably depends on the person, but for me, it took a couple of years.
00:25:28.960 --> 00:25:34.880
It took a couple of years of just writing with a lot of people and writing a lot of bad songs, honestly.
00:25:35.599 --> 00:25:41.839
Like percentage-wise, how many of them, in your in your opinion, are bad songs versus this one's a good one?
00:25:42.079 --> 00:25:43.759
I'm not even gonna lie to you, Kyle.
00:25:43.839 --> 00:25:45.759
I'd say about 50-50.
00:25:46.160 --> 00:25:50.640
Okay, I expected, well, you know, because we're we are our own worst critic.
00:25:50.720 --> 00:25:54.160
I affect I expected like 70, you know, 30.
00:25:54.559 --> 00:25:59.359
Maybe I was being I was probably lying to you that it probably is 70, 70 bad, 30 good.
00:25:59.599 --> 00:26:01.440
Maybe you're trying to focus in on the positive.
00:26:01.599 --> 00:26:02.400
Be that more positive.
00:26:02.640 --> 00:26:04.000
I'm trying to be positive, dude.
00:26:04.079 --> 00:26:05.119
Come on, man.
00:26:07.279 --> 00:26:09.920
Focus in on the positive and you'll do better, okay?
00:26:11.680 --> 00:26:15.680
I'll be your life coach and I'll encourage you from the back the background.
00:26:17.279 --> 00:26:19.359
Well, let's talk about another one of your songs.
00:26:19.440 --> 00:26:20.799
That was what she ain't Texas.
00:26:20.880 --> 00:26:21.920
Didn't we already just talk about that?
00:26:22.000 --> 00:26:24.079
Did I did I lose my way on this?
00:26:24.319 --> 00:26:25.920
Yeah, I think you lost your way.
00:26:26.400 --> 00:26:27.519
I lost my way on this.
00:26:27.599 --> 00:26:29.680
It's because we're in a good conversation.
00:26:29.839 --> 00:26:32.000
So we talked about She Ain't Texas.
00:26:32.880 --> 00:26:33.119
Good.
00:26:33.279 --> 00:26:36.640
So, yeah, let's talk about another one of your songs that we need to listen to.
00:26:36.880 --> 00:26:38.319
Rules of Attraction.
00:26:38.559 --> 00:26:41.920
That's one of your latest, your last two singles that we have here.
00:26:42.160 --> 00:26:44.000
Tell us the story about this one.
00:26:44.480 --> 00:26:46.000
Rules of Attraction.
00:26:46.240 --> 00:26:51.200
So, um a good friend of mine, she sent me a text message.
00:26:51.279 --> 00:26:53.519
You see, she says, I have this idea for you.
00:26:53.680 --> 00:26:54.960
We should write soon.
00:26:55.119 --> 00:27:01.839
And I said, I'm touring right now, but please send it to me so I can like catch the vibe.
00:27:01.920 --> 00:27:07.279
And she sent me this, it was like a verse and a chorus kind of sketched out.
00:27:07.599 --> 00:27:10.799
And so I was like, Okay, I love this so much.
00:27:10.960 --> 00:27:19.839
And so I just went ahead and rewrote some of it and finished the chorus and wrote my own verse and just kind of restructured the song.
00:27:20.079 --> 00:27:21.920
And I love the concept.
00:27:22.079 --> 00:27:24.720
She came up with the concept, I won't try to take credit.
00:27:24.880 --> 00:27:26.240
Just rules of attraction.
00:27:26.319 --> 00:27:27.839
Like, I don't make the rules.
00:27:28.000 --> 00:27:33.680
I it you love who you love, and it's some it just happens, it's not something you can force.
00:27:33.839 --> 00:27:51.759
I know a lot of people are doing dating apps and everything else, but like it's just when it comes to love, it's just like a God thing where it just it happens and your person gets brought into your life at the most unexpected moment, and you could try to force it and plan it as much as you want, but those really aren't the rules.
00:27:52.000 --> 00:27:54.640
So uh that's what that song's about.
00:27:54.960 --> 00:27:57.680
And that's a that's a great premise for a song.
00:27:58.000 --> 00:28:16.640
But speaking of, you know, you know, people looking for that right person, everything, do you think that the that we're skewed by what we see in on television shows and and movies, and that you know, we miss out on that probably a great person because we don't think that they're perfect enough because they don't meet those ideologies.
00:28:16.880 --> 00:28:18.400
Ideology is what's the word?
00:28:18.559 --> 00:28:19.119
Is that the word?
00:28:19.279 --> 00:28:22.000
I can't speak, but yeah, do you know what I'm talking about?
00:28:22.319 --> 00:28:23.680
Yeah, I know exactly what you're saying.
00:28:23.839 --> 00:28:25.759
I don't know rules of attraction, right?
00:28:26.000 --> 00:28:27.039
Yeah, you know, I don't know.
00:28:27.200 --> 00:28:36.400
I I've I have a beautiful, amazing girlfriend that I love so much, and I haven't been dating in a while, and so I don't know.
00:28:36.480 --> 00:28:52.799
I I I feel like it's probably true, but um I just got done reading this amazing book called The Meaning of Marriage, and Tim and this author Tim Keller, he talks about how in our culture we get up, we're so obsessed with certain things.
00:28:52.880 --> 00:29:02.160
I'm not gonna say it, it's gonna, it's kind of a lot, but essentially we get so obsessed with like physical attraction, financials, financial success.
00:29:02.319 --> 00:29:14.799
But it's more important to just find your best friend that you can just trust and that you can love and that that's gonna that's gonna stick with you, and and um I think that's more important than anything else.
00:29:15.119 --> 00:29:31.440
Yeah, we allow so many other things to get in the way of seeing the person that we thought we loved, and then we turn it into, well, I don't love you anymore because of X, Y, and Z, when you could still love that person for who they are, instead of you know caveats.
00:29:31.839 --> 00:29:32.160
Yeah.
00:29:32.480 --> 00:29:33.680
Love is a verb.
00:29:33.920 --> 00:29:36.960
Actions of love lead to feelings of love.
00:29:37.359 --> 00:29:38.960
Are you writing this down?
00:29:42.240 --> 00:29:43.440
Oh, that's funny.
00:29:44.160 --> 00:29:48.559
Alex Lambert, I can't thank you enough for being a part of Down the Dirt Road.
00:29:48.799 --> 00:29:52.240
Hopefully, you haven't felt like I've put you through the ringer in this interview.
00:29:52.559 --> 00:29:54.799
No, I'm very thankful to be on the radio show.
00:29:54.880 --> 00:29:56.799
Um I'm enjoying our conversation.
00:29:56.880 --> 00:29:57.759
Thanks for having me.
00:29:58.079 --> 00:29:59.359
Well, you're very welcome.
00:29:59.519 --> 00:30:08.799
So when you're out on the road, what do you have to take with you to like feel normal or not be homesick or just have some sort of normalcy with you?
00:30:09.039 --> 00:30:13.119
If anyone ever tells you they feel normal on the road, they're lying.
00:30:13.599 --> 00:30:21.039
It's an it's an unnatural, uncomfortable, inconvenient, not good sleep, not good food.
00:30:21.279 --> 00:30:21.920
I don't know.
00:30:22.079 --> 00:30:24.799
You know, I just I think I don't know.
00:30:25.039 --> 00:30:27.200
I don't I don't ever feel normal on the road.
00:30:27.279 --> 00:30:27.920
I love it.
00:30:28.079 --> 00:30:28.480
I love it.
00:30:28.720 --> 00:30:29.359
It's so funny.
00:30:29.759 --> 00:30:30.240
I love it.
00:30:30.400 --> 00:30:39.920
I love being on the road, but it's like being on a vacation, and then it hits that point where you're like, okay, I'm ready to go home now, but then but you can't.
00:30:40.160 --> 00:30:43.200
And you just but you just try to embrace it and enjoy it.
00:30:43.440 --> 00:30:44.960
I just I don't know.
00:30:45.039 --> 00:30:47.279
I there's nothing that makes me feel normal.
00:30:47.359 --> 00:30:49.599
I really don't, I can't, I can't think of anything.
00:30:49.680 --> 00:30:52.720
I wish I had a tour bus, but we'll get there.
00:30:53.039 --> 00:30:54.000
Eventually, yeah.
00:30:54.079 --> 00:30:57.279
You right now what you're you're aiming for a Mercedes Sprinter.
00:30:57.759 --> 00:30:59.359
Yeah, we got we got a sprinter.
00:31:01.039 --> 00:31:02.240
Yeah, we're rolling in the sprinter.
00:31:02.400 --> 00:31:04.559
So those are awesome, those are really cool.
00:31:04.799 --> 00:31:07.839
Yeah, I gotta I gotta bring my you know my pillow and my blanket.
00:31:08.000 --> 00:31:09.359
That's what makes me feel safe in the van.
00:31:09.599 --> 00:31:12.559
Is it is it a blue blanket, like a linus blanket?
00:31:13.200 --> 00:31:16.880
It's gray, but yeah, for the radio show, yeah, we'll tell them.
00:31:16.960 --> 00:31:17.440
Yeah, it's a blue.
00:31:17.519 --> 00:31:20.880
It's it's a blue linus blanket from the peanuts cartoons.
00:31:23.920 --> 00:31:35.039
That's interesting that you like it out on the road because the closest anybody else can get to what you know artists do on the road or that life of the road is being a person who travels for business.
00:31:35.119 --> 00:31:36.240
And I used to do that.
00:31:36.400 --> 00:31:41.039
And yes, you're right, being gone for X amount of days, and you're like, oh man, I gotta get home.
00:31:41.279 --> 00:31:43.920
But yeah, I remember, and maybe do you have this issue too?
00:31:44.000 --> 00:31:48.559
Like you wake up in the middle of the night and you're just so disoriented and you don't know where you are.
00:31:49.039 --> 00:31:54.480
Well, that sounds like a that sounds like you woke up after a long night of drinking.
00:31:54.720 --> 00:31:56.000
I'm just kidding.
00:31:56.319 --> 00:32:07.039
I mean, it was my 20s when I really worked that angle, but we you know, you know, everyone always talks about all these stereotypes of like, oh, we're touring, we're gonna be like partying.
00:32:07.200 --> 00:32:08.640
We we are really healthy.
00:32:08.720 --> 00:32:17.279
We're we're doing it for the love of music, and we're trying to like serve folks by not making it, it's not about us, me and the band.
00:32:17.359 --> 00:32:21.759
Like, we want to go out and we want to make people feel good and and just kind of inspire.
00:32:21.839 --> 00:32:23.680
And so we we try to stay healthy.
00:32:23.759 --> 00:32:26.960
We always work out and eat good and go to sleep early.
00:32:27.119 --> 00:32:29.920
So I don't wake up disoriented much.
00:32:30.160 --> 00:32:30.880
Oh, that's good.
00:32:31.039 --> 00:32:40.000
So you're saying that the rider that you have for all of your venues says it's just supposed to have what veggie trays, protein powder, um whole milk.
00:32:40.319 --> 00:32:46.720
No, you know, we'll have a couple beers, we'll have we'll drink a little chicken left, but we're not out like partying and turning up, you know.
00:32:47.039 --> 00:32:47.920
Ah, okay.
00:32:48.079 --> 00:32:50.000
Yeah, those those people do exist.
00:32:50.240 --> 00:32:53.680
Those people, I mean, hey, but hey, yeah, no judgment.
00:32:53.839 --> 00:32:54.720
No judgment.
00:32:54.880 --> 00:32:57.920
I'm just 35, I'm getting old, I can't I can't do it no more.
00:32:58.319 --> 00:33:01.440
Make me have like a question my whole identity.
00:33:03.759 --> 00:33:07.039
Yeah, because the older you get, the longer the hangover takes to get over.
00:33:07.119 --> 00:33:09.039
I mean, I think was it just the other day?
00:33:09.119 --> 00:33:20.559
I decided it was a Saturday, had a bunch of uh rum and diet cokes, and that was the first time I've had like four or five in a row, and it was like two o'clock in the afternoon, and I had stopped drinking by noon.
00:33:20.720 --> 00:33:25.119
Yes, I was drinking early in the day, and all of a sudden I had this headache.
00:33:26.000 --> 00:33:30.480
And I was like, do I really have a slight hangover in the middle of Saturday afternoon?
00:33:30.720 --> 00:33:32.160
I can't do this anymore.
00:33:33.839 --> 00:33:35.119
What's that rum, man?
00:33:35.200 --> 00:33:36.400
You gotta drink tequila.
00:33:36.480 --> 00:33:37.519
It's tequila.
00:33:37.920 --> 00:33:39.039
Well, I'll tell you this.
00:33:39.200 --> 00:33:46.960
Um, there was a tequila brand, I'm not gonna say who it was, that sponsored one of my VIP rooms down in Miami for three days straight.
00:33:47.279 --> 00:33:52.319
And the people kept coming in to hang out as I was the host of this VIP room.
00:33:52.720 --> 00:33:57.359
And of course, every time somebody, yes, every time somebody came in, they're like, hey, Kyle, let's take a shot.
00:33:57.440 --> 00:33:58.000
Let's take a shot.
00:33:58.079 --> 00:34:00.000
I got to the point, and I still do it today.
00:34:00.160 --> 00:34:02.319
I don't need salt and I don't need lime.
00:34:02.480 --> 00:34:05.680
I just need the tequila, and it goes down fine.
00:34:08.880 --> 00:34:15.519
People will look at me if I do shots right now and they're like salt on their hand, and they got the lime to squeeze, and I'm just sitting there for the shot, and they're like, You don't need this.
00:34:15.599 --> 00:34:16.239
I'm like, no.
00:34:16.480 --> 00:34:18.000
You're like, no, I'm a grown, I'm a grown up.
00:34:18.719 --> 00:34:22.239
Yeah, my taste buds know exactly what's gonna happen, they don't care.
00:34:22.960 --> 00:34:28.079
Oh well, let's finish up here and talk about one more song, Shoot Me Down.
00:34:28.239 --> 00:34:32.639
I always love to know the stories behind the songs that these people hear on the radio.
00:34:32.719 --> 00:34:34.639
So tell us all about Shoot Me Down.
00:34:34.960 --> 00:34:35.840
Shoot Me Down.
00:34:36.159 --> 00:34:40.079
Okay, so thank you for playing the song, by the way.
00:34:40.320 --> 00:34:41.920
Um, shoot me down.
00:34:42.159 --> 00:34:48.639
I walked into a session and I was just feeling like, man, nobody can can't tell me nothing.
00:34:48.800 --> 00:34:50.400
I'm gonna do whatever I want.
00:34:50.559 --> 00:34:52.400
Like, I've always kind of been that way.
00:34:52.559 --> 00:35:01.920
Like, that's probably what held me back in my LA days, is that I just always had this kind of like rebel spirit and just a little bit defiant.
00:35:02.079 --> 00:35:03.199
And I don't know.
00:35:03.360 --> 00:35:12.559
I just as an artist, I feel like it's so important to have your own vision and and to stick to your guns and to just do your thing.
00:35:12.639 --> 00:35:15.679
Don't try to be like somebody else, just be true to yourself.
00:35:15.920 --> 00:35:18.320
And that's kind of what shoot me down is about.
00:35:18.400 --> 00:35:23.119
It's kind of what I was saying earlier about my show when I say we do so many different things.
00:35:23.360 --> 00:35:26.000
Um, I think that's a big part of who I am as an artist.
00:35:26.159 --> 00:35:30.079
That I don't ever want to be pigeonholed, I don't ever want to be boxed in.
00:35:30.320 --> 00:35:32.000
And that's what I wrote that song about.
00:35:32.079 --> 00:35:34.719
You can't shoot me down, you can't fence me in.
00:35:34.800 --> 00:35:38.559
And uh you just gotta stay true to yourself, baby.
00:35:38.800 --> 00:35:41.519
Yeah, and I think a lot of people can relate to that.
00:35:41.760 --> 00:35:48.719
And you got to sort of have that attitude anyway, when you are going after a goal like yours, or you have a dream that you're going after.
00:35:48.960 --> 00:35:53.760
A lot of people are gonna be, no, you can't do that, and shoot you, try to shoot you down.
00:35:54.719 --> 00:36:00.079
And you gotta, you know, stand your ground and really aim for it and go for it.
00:36:00.239 --> 00:36:03.599
Because if you don't try, you're never gonna know, and then you'll be on your deathbed.
00:36:03.679 --> 00:36:07.119
And instead of saying, you know, I love you, it's gonna be like I wish I had.
00:36:07.440 --> 00:36:09.360
Um, I've heard too many of those stories.
00:36:09.599 --> 00:36:17.360
Man, I'll tell you what, that's the that's my biggest fear in life is to be an old man on my final days, wishing I would have.
00:36:17.599 --> 00:36:21.360
Wishing I would have gone for this thing, wishing I would have given it all I got.
00:36:21.519 --> 00:36:22.719
So that's what I'm out here trying to do.
00:36:22.880 --> 00:36:27.519
Give it all I got and be honest and real and authentic and be true to myself.
00:36:27.679 --> 00:36:30.239
So well, I think that could be a song title for you.
00:36:30.400 --> 00:36:31.440
Don't wish you would have.
00:36:32.400 --> 00:36:33.039
Ooh.
00:36:35.199 --> 00:36:36.719
I'll give that one to you.
00:36:36.880 --> 00:36:37.599
You can run with it.
00:36:37.679 --> 00:36:38.320
Don't wish you would have.
00:36:40.559 --> 00:36:41.280
Oh, great.
00:36:41.440 --> 00:36:41.920
One point.
00:36:42.000 --> 00:36:42.719
One point.
00:36:44.079 --> 00:36:47.519
Yeah, I'll take it on the back end and I'll wait till it comes out.
00:36:47.920 --> 00:36:50.400
But you gotta wait till we recoup and everything.
00:36:50.559 --> 00:36:51.679
Sounds just cool.
00:36:52.159 --> 00:36:54.559
Man, that's gonna take forever in this day and age.
00:36:54.719 --> 00:36:58.639
I'm so glad you joined me here today on Down the Dirt Road.
00:36:58.800 --> 00:37:02.800
Um, thank you so much for you know enlightening us about your career, your music.
00:37:02.960 --> 00:37:05.760
I'm sure we can expect a lot of new music coming up.
00:37:06.079 --> 00:37:06.559
That's right.
00:37:06.719 --> 00:37:08.400
We got a lot, a lot coming.
00:37:08.559 --> 00:37:11.119
Some exciting news really, really soon.
00:37:11.760 --> 00:37:14.320
And I'm very thankful for you having me on the show, Kyle.
00:37:14.559 --> 00:37:16.079
Thank you so much for being a part of the show.
00:37:16.239 --> 00:37:18.800
You have yourself a great rest of your day, okay?
00:37:19.039 --> 00:37:19.840
You too, Kyle.
00:37:19.920 --> 00:37:20.800
Thanks so much for having me.
