Full Transcript for The Pug Johnson Interview: Texas Honky-Tonk, Cajun Influences, and His new album “From a Beaumont Bar”

And it was it was at the intersection of Dallin and Phelan and and this collection of bars. 00:02:13.360 --> 00:02:18.560 So John Wayne's and Bart Local have since closed down, but they were on one corner of this. 00:02:18.719 --> 00:02:20.639 It's a pretty uh busy intersection. 00:02:20.719 --> 00:02:26.240 They were over in a shopping center in one corner, and Thirsty's is in a shopping center on uh one of the others. 00:02:26.400 --> 00:02:36.639 And so uh yeah, that was where I I spent quite a bit of time running amok, running from running from all of my problems and staying, staying drunk, you know, chasing ladies and all that shit. 00:02:36.719 --> 00:02:51.680 So yeah, as I started writing it, I was like, man, that this seems like a good opportunity to kind of give a bit of flowers to, you know, all the ladies that, you know, inspired the songs, but also all the bars and bartenders and the people that, you know, kind of helped me through that, put up with me through that time of my life. 00:02:51.759 --> 00:02:54.639 You know, it's not like I was an admirable person at this time. 00:02:54.879 --> 00:02:58.159 Well, I like when I looked it up, I was like, oh, that's so cool. 00:02:58.319 --> 00:03:04.319 Uh there's the road intersection he's talking about, and there's uh Thirsties, and I could tell that a bunch of bars used an area. 00:03:04.639 --> 00:03:11.680 Thirsties will always have a special place in my heart because that was the bar where I really started to develop my stage act. 00:03:11.840 --> 00:03:12.159 Oh, okay. 00:03:12.560 --> 00:03:17.439 For years and years when I was doing this, I wouldn't really speak while I was on stage. 00:03:17.520 --> 00:03:18.400 I would play my songs. 00:03:18.560 --> 00:03:19.360 Okay, here's another one. 00:03:19.520 --> 00:03:20.240 Play my songs. 00:03:20.400 --> 00:03:26.639 When I moved back to Beaumont from Nashville, like I had found Todd Snyder, he was a big inspiration for me. 00:03:26.719 --> 00:03:30.159 I was like, man, you can tell stories like this, you know, on stage. 00:03:30.319 --> 00:03:37.280 Not only is it fine, but you know, it's endearing, you know, because Todd didn't have this real clear-cut way of telling telling stories. 00:03:37.360 --> 00:03:44.479 He sounded like he was just making it all up on the spot, which, you know, we know he wasn't, but he would let himself present it like that. 00:03:44.560 --> 00:03:46.719 And he sounded like he was kind of scattered. 00:03:46.800 --> 00:03:56.479 And that was the, you know, one of the genius parts about him is that he was able to make it feel as if he was just thinking of the story for the first time right then when he had rehearsed this thing, you know. 00:03:56.560 --> 00:03:59.759 So that was a bit of a okay, you can talk like that with the crowd. 00:03:59.919 --> 00:04:06.159 And Thirsty's was where I'd get in there and I'd get a little boozed up and maybe put a powder in my nose or something like that. 00:04:06.319 --> 00:04:09.360 And then I started, you know, really trying to try to do that. 00:04:09.439 --> 00:04:14.400 And that was the bar that I found my thing through quite a bit of trial and error, but I found it. 00:04:14.719 --> 00:04:15.360 That's cool. 00:04:15.520 --> 00:04:16.079 That's cool. 00:04:16.160 --> 00:04:16.480 Yeah. 00:04:16.720 --> 00:04:19.439 A little alcohol always helps loosening things up. 00:04:19.920 --> 00:04:22.160 Yeah, and now I can do it without needing it. 00:04:22.319 --> 00:04:23.120 Yes, yes. 00:04:23.360 --> 00:04:35.519 It was that thing of like, you know, the first few times I did one of the shows at Thirsty's where I was doing that done, and I was like, okay, if I can figure out how to do this without cocaine, then I think I I think I'm on to something. 00:04:36.560 --> 00:04:38.079 And so we finally got there. 00:04:38.399 --> 00:04:39.439 Good, good. 00:04:41.120 --> 00:04:44.240 The first song on the album is Bubbles in My Beer. 00:04:44.399 --> 00:04:44.959 Yes, ma'am. 00:04:45.279 --> 00:04:50.240 Which was uh initially written and performed by Bob Wills, which I love Bob Wills. 00:04:50.399 --> 00:04:56.000 The accordion kind of takes the reins along the organ and uh guitar and steel guitar. 00:04:56.079 --> 00:05:03.439 Uh there's a moment in the middle of the song where you call out a few of your musicians, their solos, kind of like Bob used to do. 00:05:03.600 --> 00:05:09.279 And then also you give a couple of Bob Wills style calls with, oh sure is fine, and uh tell them again. 00:05:09.519 --> 00:05:11.600 How did you choose this song for your album? 00:05:11.839 --> 00:05:16.639 So that was one of the first tunes, it was the first cover tune that I picked out. 00:05:16.800 --> 00:05:22.639 It was around the same time I wrote Tucson, but I was listening to uh to Willie's version of uh Bubbles in My Year. 00:05:22.720 --> 00:05:27.439 I don't know, I was just kind of thinking, I was like, man, it'd be cool to do a like change the groove up, you know, how would I do it? 00:05:27.519 --> 00:05:33.920 And I started coming up with that doom, boo, boom, boom, you know, kind of uh almost uh Because I Got High by Afro Man. 00:05:34.560 --> 00:05:45.199 Almost got that same kind of groovy thing, and I was like, and what if what if I put accordion on it instead of you know all the fiddles, and so we'd we make this thing kind of swampy and you know sleazy. 00:05:45.439 --> 00:05:46.399 That's why we chose that one. 00:05:46.560 --> 00:05:48.160 And plus it's a you know, it's a standard. 00:05:48.319 --> 00:05:51.040 Yeah, so here in Tulsa's where you know Bob Wills. 00:05:51.519 --> 00:05:53.040 Yes, ma'am, at Kane's and everything, right? 00:05:53.279 --> 00:06:00.639 Yeah, Kane's ballroom is where he got his on KVO radio, and they've even like now they're getting ready to open up a Pops museum. 00:06:00.720 --> 00:06:03.439 I don't know why it's a Pops museum because it's got a lot of country stuff.

00:06:03.519 --> 00:06:11.040 It's so cool because I got to get a little sneak peek and it's got Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys, their touring van in there. 00:06:11.360 --> 00:06:13.279 And I got to see one of his fiddles. 00:06:13.439 --> 00:06:14.079 Oh yeah. 00:06:14.240 --> 00:06:16.879 I about freaked out and I I geeked out. 00:06:18.319 --> 00:06:19.839 Been to the Bob Wills Museum. 00:06:19.920 --> 00:06:28.399 Uh Mindy and I went once in uh Turkey, Texas, which is a very small, very, very small museum in their little center type thing. 00:06:28.560 --> 00:06:28.720 Yeah. 00:06:28.800 --> 00:06:40.480 Um still worth a visit if you're ever passing through uh Turkey, Texas, which I don't know why you would be passing through Turkey, Texas, unless you're going unless you're going to you know Amarillo from uh Dallas, maybe. 00:06:40.720 --> 00:06:42.160 I think that'll bring you close enough. 00:06:42.480 --> 00:06:46.079 Your song Lowering the Bar, which is the last song on the album. 00:06:46.319 --> 00:06:51.360 One of the lines from it is uh To tell the truth, I'm not raising the roof, I'm lowering the bar. 00:06:51.519 --> 00:06:52.720 It's a hilarious song. 00:06:52.879 --> 00:06:54.879 The video is funny too. 00:06:55.040 --> 00:06:56.560 You want to talk a little bit about that song? 00:06:56.800 --> 00:07:00.240 That was one I co-wrote with one of our roommates at the time. 00:07:00.399 --> 00:07:03.360 We were we were renting a room in a house from a buddy of ours. 00:07:03.519 --> 00:07:11.519 I was trying to write the songs for this one, and I came up with the first part, and I was trying to write a song about a guy that's like bumming everybody out at the bar. 00:07:11.680 --> 00:07:16.720 I'm lowering the bar by bumming everybody out, and I was gonna try to make that a funny waltz. 00:07:16.879 --> 00:07:21.199 And my roommate, a heap, threw out a couple of lines, and I was like, well, that doesn't really make sense. 00:07:21.279 --> 00:07:27.920 And then we realized he was talking about lowering his standards, and so I was like, Oh, okay, well shit, that's funny too. 00:07:28.240 --> 00:07:30.480 All right, let's uh, you know, let's run with that. 00:07:30.639 --> 00:07:37.920 When I was writing it, uh I was imagining this all playing out at Thirsty's, which which I didn't really think about that much until now. 00:07:38.079 --> 00:07:43.279 As I was writing the storyline for this, it was all taking place inside of Thirsty's in my head. 00:07:43.439 --> 00:07:44.560 This song is hilarious. 00:07:44.879 --> 00:07:45.519 Well, thank you. 00:07:45.759 --> 00:07:48.160 I want to talk a little bit about the cover of the album. 00:07:48.240 --> 00:07:49.439 It's a very cool cover. 00:07:49.600 --> 00:07:50.800 It looks like Neon Lights. 00:07:51.120 --> 00:07:52.160 Course is an okay. 00:07:52.319 --> 00:07:54.560 I noticed the blue bonnets behind ya. 00:07:55.360 --> 00:07:56.720 Very Texas. 00:07:57.439 --> 00:08:07.759 So on every one of my albums, because I'm from Beaumont, we're a little different from like every other part of Texas because we have so much Cajun influence down there. 00:08:07.920 --> 00:08:16.160 Like more than any other part of the Texas uh in Louisiana border, because the further north you go in Louisiana, those folks ain't really Cajuns. 00:08:16.240 --> 00:08:18.879 You know, that's that's a bunch of Baptists up there, you know? 00:08:18.959 --> 00:08:23.040 And so you get down there closer to the Gulf, and that's where the Cajuns are dwelling. 00:08:23.120 --> 00:08:33.440 A bunch of them migrated over there to Beaumont and Port Arthur, and in fact, Port Arthur is the Cajun capital of Texas, and that's where Clifford Antone came from originally. 00:08:33.679 --> 00:08:48.480 Went to Austin and started Antones, and that's why Clifton Cheneer is so revered in Austin, is because Clifford Antone brought Clifton Shener up to Austin and everybody like lost their minds because Clifton Cheneer is the shit. 00:08:48.639 --> 00:08:57.120 So we're a little different down there, but on every album I try to include something visually that represents Texas and Louisiana. 00:08:57.200 --> 00:09:00.960 And so the cover you've got the blue bonnet, and you also have the magnolia. 00:09:01.039 --> 00:09:05.519 And so since this record was kind of a flowers to Beaumont, yeah, we went with flowers. 00:09:05.600 --> 00:09:11.600 The other first album, if you looked inside the record, you had a Texas on side A and a Louisiana on side B. 00:09:11.840 --> 00:09:15.679 And then we did the same thing with the second album, but we did reptiles. 00:09:15.759 --> 00:09:18.240 You know, we did the horn toad and the alligator. 00:09:18.320 --> 00:09:20.559 And now I don't know what the next one will be. 00:09:20.639 --> 00:09:25.039 We'll have to see what the theme of the album is and which of the state you know icons fits for it. 00:09:25.200 --> 00:09:27.120 Yeah, I try to do that with every record. 00:09:27.279 --> 00:09:28.480 It's a nod to my home. 00:09:28.879 --> 00:09:31.600 Kind of where Beaumont's history comes from, huh? 00:09:31.679 --> 00:09:32.080 That's cool. 00:09:32.320 --> 00:09:36.480 That artwork was done by Taylor Englert, who is the drummer for Silverada. 00:09:36.720 --> 00:09:36.879 Okay. 00:09:37.279 --> 00:09:38.639 He was awesome to work with. 00:09:38.879 --> 00:09:40.879 And he was asking us, do you have any ideas? 00:09:41.039 --> 00:09:45.679 And I was like, I don't know, man, maybe something like a Bustamian neon or something like that. 00:09:45.840 --> 00:09:47.759 I had no idea if that would even work. 00:09:47.919 --> 00:09:52.799 And when he came back with the first like mock-up, I was like, oh shit, that's awesome, man. 00:09:52.960 --> 00:09:54.799 It was way cooler than I thought it would be. 00:09:54.879 --> 00:09:57.200 So that's totally Taylor, you know, doing that. 00:09:57.440 --> 00:09:58.159 Very cool. 00:09:58.399 -->

00:09:59.200 Very cool. 00:09:59.440 --> 00:10:02.720 The song Tucson is a great song. 00:10:02.879 --> 00:10:09.120 I love the line, would our love had burned down in Tucson if Tucson weren't wasn't six feet from the sun? 00:10:09.360 --> 00:10:10.559 It's such a great visual. 00:10:10.639 --> 00:10:11.039 I don't know. 00:10:11.120 --> 00:10:11.840 It's just so cool. 00:10:12.080 --> 00:10:12.320 Thank you. 00:10:12.480 --> 00:10:13.360 Yeah, that means the world. 00:10:13.519 --> 00:10:15.840 Coming from another writer, that yeah, that means the world. 00:10:16.480 --> 00:10:24.080 I also love, and I don't know if you call it a walk or a turn or what you call it, the thing that the piano is doing on that song, too. 00:10:24.159 --> 00:10:24.960 That's really a killer. 00:10:25.200 --> 00:10:26.559 Are you talking about in the tag? 00:10:26.720 --> 00:10:26.879 Yeah. 00:10:27.120 --> 00:10:29.679 That do do do do do do do do what I love. 00:10:30.559 --> 00:10:31.120 That thing. 00:10:31.360 --> 00:10:37.279 Ah, I love that you brought that up because it's one of my favorite things to talk about from this studio experience. 00:10:37.440 --> 00:10:37.679 Uh-huh. 00:10:37.840 --> 00:10:43.519 And the reason I love to talk about it is because it's, you know, how great the guys that played on it were. 00:10:44.080 --> 00:10:45.519 Because they were real pros. 00:10:45.759 --> 00:10:49.440 It makes a world of difference to like work with pros in the studio. 00:10:49.519 --> 00:10:50.159 It totally does. 00:10:50.240 --> 00:10:50.399 Yeah. 00:10:50.639 --> 00:11:02.960 We were tracking that one, and I was like, hey, I was kind of hearing this like walk-up, you know, for us going in to the tag, I said, and I'm not sure what the walk-up is because I musically I'm not that great, you know. 00:11:03.120 --> 00:11:05.759 Like I I know my theory a little bit. 00:11:06.000 --> 00:11:11.759 There's probably two other levels of like theory understanding that I have not yet reached. 00:11:11.840 --> 00:11:15.440 But I was telling the guys, I was like, I think it's a walk-up from the one to the one. 00:11:15.600 --> 00:11:20.559 I was like, I think we're going all the way to the one, but it's I was like, there's more than you know, eight notes in it. 00:11:20.639 --> 00:11:24.720 And the bass player, Jimmy Hartman, he goes, Well, Pug, there's uh there's two ways that we can do that. 00:11:24.879 --> 00:11:25.679 Which would you like? 00:11:25.840 --> 00:11:27.519 And he I was like, Well, play them for me. 00:11:27.600 --> 00:11:33.759 And so he played them both, and I was like, All right, play them again, and he played them both, and I was like, Ah, okay, let's do this one with the flat five. 00:11:33.919 --> 00:11:34.240 Yes. 00:11:34.399 --> 00:11:35.360 All right, there we go. 00:11:35.600 --> 00:11:38.559 Those guys in the studio coming up, you know, mainly Jimmy. 00:11:38.720 --> 00:11:41.679 He was like, Oh, yeah, we can do it like this, or we can do it like this. 00:11:41.840 --> 00:11:43.759 And I was like, That's the one I'm hearing right there. 00:11:44.000 --> 00:11:50.879 And so that little walk-up into that bridge, that tag, is one of my favorite parts of the entire record. 00:11:51.120 --> 00:11:51.840 It's really cool. 00:11:52.080 --> 00:11:55.440 They're definitely amazing musicians on this album. 00:11:55.600 --> 00:11:57.120 That's one of the things I noticed. 00:11:57.360 --> 00:12:05.919 There are musicians who they can get the feel or the idea of the song, and yeah, that's great, and it's scroovy and it's what you want. 00:12:06.080 --> 00:12:15.679 But then to take it to this other, oh, let's add start adding these little pieces, these nuances, because you are sounding like some of the old honky tonk standard type stuff. 00:12:15.759 --> 00:12:18.240 But then, you know, some musicians you can do that. 00:12:18.320 --> 00:12:25.039 But to be able to take it and then, oh, put in a little salt or pepper to make it something new is is really cool. 00:12:25.279 --> 00:12:33.440 Yes, those guys, Jimmy on bass, Jan Fleming, who is renowned in the Austin scene, played the keys and the accordion. 00:12:33.600 --> 00:12:35.840 So he got paid well for this record. 00:12:38.240 --> 00:12:42.720 He I mean, he pretty much played keys and accordion on just about every song. 00:12:43.120 --> 00:12:46.559 And then Caleb Mello on the steel, who is insane. 00:12:46.639 --> 00:12:47.919 He's only like 26. 00:12:48.159 --> 00:12:49.120 Pedal steel player. 00:12:49.279 --> 00:12:49.919 You're kidding. 00:12:50.080 --> 00:12:50.320 Yeah. 00:12:50.399 --> 00:12:51.840 And he is so awesome. 00:12:52.080 --> 00:12:56.000 Chris Shane on drums and Jonathan Matthews on lead. 00:12:56.080 --> 00:12:59.759 And then we had a couple other folks down in Beaumont come in and do some harmonies. 00:12:59.919 --> 00:13:04.559 We had Tuba from Will Landon, who plays with the Lost Gonzo band now. 00:13:04.639 --> 00:13:04.960 Cool. 00:13:05.120 --> 00:13:06.799 Which is uh Jerry Jeff's old band. 00:13:06.960 --> 00:13:07.919 And which song was that on? 00:13:08.080 --> 00:13:09.440 That was Lowering the Bar. 00:13:09.679 --> 00:13:13.759 It's the only thing that I put a horn on, though, with this record, which is rare for me. 00:13:13.840 --> 00:13:15.759 I uh I really, really like my horns. 00:13:15.919 --> 00:13:17.919 Yeah, with this one, I was like, eh, I don't know. 00:13:18.080 --> 00:13:21.360 I had thought about adding strings on uh Tucson. 00:13:21.600 --> 00:13:24.879 By the time we were getting there, this is probably gonna put us like way over budget. 00:13:25.039 --> 00:13:25.200 Yeah. 00:13:25.360 --> 00:13:38.639 And so we decided to, I was like, hey, you think, you know, I asked my producer, Ryan, I was like, what do you think if we ditch the strings and we see if like Jan and Caleb can kind of just fill the texture out with the pedal steel and the accordion. 00:13:38.799 --> 00:13:40.960 Uh and Ryan

was like, dude, that sounds like a great idea. 00:13:41.039 --> 00:13:41.440 Let's do that. 00:13:41.519 --> 00:13:41.679 Yeah. 00:13:41.840 --> 00:13:42.720 And yeah, it worked out. 00:13:42.799 --> 00:13:43.360 It's a vibe. 00:13:43.519 --> 00:13:44.480 Yeah, that is cool. 00:13:44.559 --> 00:13:45.360 That is really cool. 00:13:45.519 --> 00:13:52.720 There's this whole thing that I would like to study more about is like, uh, when I was because I was reading, I read Bob Will's biography. 00:13:52.799 --> 00:14:03.200 So what was really cool about it is the guy that wrote it talked a lot about the difference between honky tonk versus versus on the other side of the Mississippi music. 00:14:03.360 --> 00:14:08.559 Because it was more listening music over there on the East Coast because people were closer together. 00:14:08.720 --> 00:14:19.919 Whereas people on the frontier when they moved out because farms were so far apart, and then people would meet and gather as a social event and play music, and it was hard to carry brass instruments. 00:14:20.080 --> 00:14:23.279 So you didn't have as much brass instrumentation on the western. 00:14:23.360 --> 00:14:24.000 It was really cool. 00:14:24.240 --> 00:14:40.960 To me, anyway, it seems like you know, when the country music industry was born, at least with the story that we that we've heard, Jimmy Rogers and the Carter family, uh, I kind of looked at those two acts as they kind of set the standard or set the direction that country music wound up taking. 00:14:41.120 --> 00:14:41.360 Right. 00:14:41.519 --> 00:14:49.039 Like it's almost like they're the m mom and dad of country music, and everything else kind of branched off from them. 00:14:49.120 --> 00:15:08.320 And like you had Jimmy Rogers that was a bar room act, much more about the bars and the you know, the gritty side of life, whereas you had the Carter family that was way more folky, Christian, gospel-based, more on the the nostalgia side of country writing, and Jimmy's more of the, you know, I'm a fuck up. 00:15:09.200 --> 00:15:18.559 And so from that, everything is kind of branched out, and I think I think your guys like Ernest Hub, you know, in the beginning only wanted to be a Jimmy Rogers impersonator. 00:15:18.799 --> 00:15:22.639 Yeah, I mean, a lot of your early country guys, they wanted to be Jimmy Rogers. 00:15:22.879 --> 00:15:23.519 Yep. 00:15:23.840 --> 00:15:27.120 You know, there's the whole thing of cocaine and rhinestones talks about this. 00:15:27.279 --> 00:15:43.120 Like you don't get George Jones, really and truly, you don't even get Hank Williams without Roy Acuff over there from you know Appalachia, you know, Ernest Tubb from down in Texas, you know, Hank right in the middle, that created his own thing out of it that inspired everybody else after it. 00:15:43.200 --> 00:15:46.799 Uh, I love like that part is like tracing the lineage. 00:15:46.960 --> 00:15:54.480 Country music has you know has a lineage of its own,

but also like all the artists themselves have their own little kind of lineage. 00:15:54.559 --> 00:15:55.840 And I love tracing those. 00:15:56.080 --> 00:15:56.480 Oh yeah. 00:15:56.639 --> 00:16:02.480 When I was reading that Bob Will's book, it was also cool about how he was inspired by Western fiddle. 00:16:02.720 --> 00:16:08.159 He was also inspired by a lot of black singers of the area and from jazz, you know. 00:16:08.639 --> 00:16:10.799 Jazz had already taken over the world at that point. 00:16:11.039 --> 00:16:18.960 Yeah, and and part of why he even came up with Western Swing is because he wanted to be able to play to the young kids who were listening to jazz. 00:16:19.360 --> 00:16:22.639 Dance music, you know, you want to make everybody get out there and move. 00:16:22.879 --> 00:16:26.720 Because if you're making everybody dance, you're selling more beer. 00:16:27.279 --> 00:16:32.000 Oh, you're selling more beer, and then back then they also had to pay to dance with a lady. 00:16:34.639 --> 00:16:40.000 The ladies didn't have to pay for the dance, but it was like a nickel a dance or something like that. 00:16:41.600 --> 00:16:42.639 I never heard that. 00:16:42.720 --> 00:16:43.519 I'll be damned. 00:16:43.679 --> 00:16:44.720 Yeah, it's kind of funny. 00:16:45.120 --> 00:16:47.200 Show up to the dance with a sack full of nickels. 00:16:47.440 --> 00:16:49.360 I'm gonna dance with that one, I'm gonna dance with that one. 00:16:49.679 --> 00:16:51.840 Your song, Shuckin' and Jivin'. 00:16:52.080 --> 00:16:54.080 I figured I was gonna get asked about that one eventually. 00:16:54.240 --> 00:16:56.559 Oh my gosh, it's hilarious, though. 00:16:56.720 --> 00:16:58.960 I'm gonna give a couple lines from it. 00:16:59.120 --> 00:17:00.720 But the truth shall I seek. 00:17:00.879 --> 00:17:04.319 You haven't touched me in weeks, so why'd I find this rapper on the floor? 00:17:04.400 --> 00:17:05.440 I was like, oh my gosh. 00:17:05.599 --> 00:17:07.279 It was kind of an oh shit moment. 00:17:07.359 --> 00:17:08.319 And I was like, damn. 00:17:08.480 --> 00:17:10.160 Can you talk a little bit about that song? 00:17:10.400 --> 00:17:13.440 Yeah, I was uh totally a fiction. 00:17:13.599 --> 00:17:15.599 I have never had that experience, honestly. 00:17:15.839 --> 00:17:18.319 But it was, I don't know, it was just kind of a funny, funny thing. 00:17:18.400 --> 00:17:19.599 I wanted to write a cheating song. 00:17:19.680 --> 00:17:28.640 I forget how I came up with the premise to begin with, because what I remember was getting to that line, that verse, and being like, Can I really say this? 00:17:28.799 --> 00:17:32.400 Like, can I like should I say this line? 00:17:32.480 --> 00:17:35.759 And like, is it is it gonna convey the way I want it to? 00:17:35.920 --> 00:17:37.519 So far it seems to have done all right. 00:17:37.599 --> 00:17:40.000 It seems like I didn't miss the mark that much. 00:17:40.240 --> 00:17:43.359 But you always wonder if if it's gonna be received that way. 00:17:43.519 --> 00:17:46.160 One of the plights of being a writer, well, I know what I meant. 00:17:46.319 --> 00:17:50.799 Is it gonna convey, you know, for somebody that doesn't already have the story in their head? 00:17:50.960 --> 00:17:52.160 Did I make it clear enough? 00:17:52.400 --> 00:17:53.119 Yeah, exactly. 00:17:53.279 --> 00:18:04.640 Because I've heard, I think, other artists, I know I've heard Ani DeFranco, I feel like I've heard Garth Brooks say this, heard other artists say that live shows are a really good place for that, trying to see if audiences really are getting where you're coming from. 00:18:04.799 --> 00:18:06.160 Do you do that a lot with your shows? 00:18:06.319 --> 00:18:07.119 Try out new stuff? 00:18:07.279 --> 00:18:08.079 Yeah, absolutely. 00:18:08.240 --> 00:18:12.000 The difference was with this album is that it all got written very quickly. 00:18:12.079 --> 00:18:17.519 You know, the last two albums were pretty much collections of songs that I had written over like years. 00:18:17.759 --> 00:18:23.359 This album, I wrote Tucson and figured out the arrangement for Bubbles in my beard that I wanted to do. 00:18:23.440 --> 00:18:26.480 And then two weeks later, I wrote Just to Love You. 00:18:26.559 --> 00:18:33.279 And then that was when I said, okay, I'm gonna write a classic country heartbreak album, or at least my version of it. 00:18:33.359 --> 00:18:33.680 Yeah. 00:18:33.839 --> 00:18:39.759 Um, and two days later, 48 hours after I finished Just to Love You, I had the full album. 00:18:39.920 --> 00:18:40.319 Wow. 00:18:40.559 --> 00:18:43.839 Which I wrote seven songs, I think, in two days. 00:18:44.079 --> 00:18:44.880 Holy cow. 00:18:45.119 --> 00:18:50.640 Dallin and Phelan, I came up with a piece of that and I sent it off to my buddy in Beaumont, Tyler Darby. 00:18:50.720 --> 00:18:52.160 I said, Hey, help me finish this one. 00:18:52.319 --> 00:19:00.640 And so he threw me a line that I wound up using, and then I had three of the songs that are co-written though with Peyton, the dude that we were renting a room with. 00:19:00.799 --> 00:19:11.599 We had a giant whiteboard in the garage, and I went in there and I was like, okay, I need, you know, 11 songs for an album, and I was basing that number off of all the Jerry Lee albums I had been listening to. 00:19:11.759 --> 00:19:14.319 I noticed every single one of them had 11 songs on them. 00:19:14.480 --> 00:19:16.240 Alright, let's do that, you know. 00:19:18.319 --> 00:19:22.559 And so uh I went through on a whiteboard and kind of like made an outline. 00:19:22.640 --> 00:19:25.279 I was like, alright, I have these three songs already. 00:19:25.440 --> 00:19:27.599 I think I'd like to do uh this cover. 00:19:27.839 --> 00:19:29.599 Covers kind of changed around a little bit. 00:19:29.680 --> 00:19:33.119 Uh I wound up swapping out, but uh I knew I wanted to do about three. 00:19:33.279 --> 00:19:34.720 I wanted

to do three songs on there. 00:19:34.880 --> 00:19:44.160 And so yeah, the rest of the tunes, I just went through and like made an outline of like, I need a song like this, I need a song like this, and then I started just kind of tackling them. 00:19:44.319 --> 00:19:47.839 Alright, if I was gonna write this kind of song, uh it varied, you know. 00:19:47.920 --> 00:19:53.599 Some you might kind of start off with a groove and some second chances that started off with the hook line. 00:19:53.680 --> 00:19:56.960 I wish they served second chances at the honky tonk next door. 00:19:57.039 --> 00:19:58.480 And I was like, all right, I love that line. 00:19:58.720 --> 00:19:59.839 How am I gonna write this now? 00:20:00.000 --> 00:20:02.720 So then you know, you just kind of tackled it song by song. 00:20:02.880 --> 00:20:05.200 I wasn't trying to write it in 48 hours. 00:20:05.279 --> 00:20:06.240 That wasn't the point. 00:20:06.480 --> 00:20:09.599 I just got on a groove and I was like, oh shit, this is working. 00:20:09.759 --> 00:20:11.279 I actually do like this song. 00:20:11.440 --> 00:20:15.200 I didn't really have time to sit with them for too long before we went into the studio. 00:20:15.440 --> 00:20:18.079 You know, and now I haven't written anything since. 00:20:18.559 --> 00:20:20.000 Oh, wow, that's wild. 00:20:20.160 --> 00:20:27.599 Um, you know, and speaking of that song, Second Chances too, like um the uh the drums in that chorus are killer. 00:20:27.680 --> 00:20:28.799 I love that. 00:20:29.119 --> 00:20:29.680 Thank you. 00:20:29.839 --> 00:20:30.319 Thank you. 00:20:30.640 --> 00:20:32.799 My drummer was very pleased with that. 00:20:32.960 --> 00:20:35.359 When I brought it to him, I was like, I think I want to go to this. 00:20:35.440 --> 00:20:37.680 I want it to mm-mm mm. 00:20:37.759 --> 00:20:40.240 He was like, he was like, oh, okay, uh flat tire. 00:20:40.400 --> 00:20:42.559 I was like, yes, okay, that's what you call it. 00:20:42.640 --> 00:20:43.359 A flat tire. 00:20:43.519 --> 00:20:43.839 All right. 00:20:44.000 --> 00:20:45.279 So we started working on it. 00:20:45.359 --> 00:20:48.640 That was one of the things that we've when we finished the tracking, Chris. 00:20:48.720 --> 00:20:51.359 He came up to me and he was like, dude, I'm so proud of that. 00:20:51.519 --> 00:20:55.440 The way that flat tire came out in that and like how we transitioned in and out of it. 00:20:55.519 --> 00:20:57.279 And that's again, that's all them. 00:20:57.440 --> 00:20:59.039 Yeah, it was it was pretty cool. 00:20:59.200 --> 00:21:02.000 It was another one of those moments where I was like, oh, this is killer. 00:21:02.160 --> 00:21:02.799 Well, thank you. 00:21:02.960 --> 00:21:07.519 Well, um, Pug, I want to thank you so much for joining us today. 00:21:07.759 --> 00:21:12.880 I encourage everyone to go out and check out From a Beaumont Bar. 00:21:13.039 --> 00:21:16.319 Releases October 23rd of this year's. 00:21:16.480 --> 00:21:17.920 It's a really great album. 00:21:18.079 --> 00:21:19.440 Loved having you on the show, Pug. 00:21:19.680 --> 00:21:20.720 Well, well, thank you, Miss Sarah. 00:21:20.799 --> 00:21:26.240 And yeah, hopefully, hopefully for too long, we can uh meet up in person and you know have a drink, maybe play a show. 00:21:26.480 --> 00:21:27.759 Oh yeah, that'd be cool. 00:21:28.000 --> 00:21:32.319 We're excited to release American Music Town's very first show. 00:21:32.480 --> 00:21:36.240 Here's a short clip from the podcast's first show, Muscle Shoals. 00:21:36.640 --> 00:21:44.799 In an Alabama town near the Tennessee state line, Fame Studios, founded by Rick Hall, was where the Muscle Shoals craze all began. 00:21:44.960 --> 00:21:50.160 At the time, Aretha Franklin was recently dropped by her label and found her groove at fame. 00:21:50.400 --> 00:21:59.039 It's where Mustang Sally was recorded by Wilson Pickett, Percy Sledge recorded When a Man Loves a Woman, and Tell Mama was recorded by Etta James. 00:21:59.200 --> 00:22:09.680 Today, America Americana artists like Jason Isbel, Turnpike Troubadours, Maggie Rose, Allison Krause, and Grace Potter have all recorded there to obtain some of the fame magic. 00:22:09.839 --> 00:22:12.000 It's a privilege to welcome Rodney Hall. 00:22:12.240 --> 00:22:20.559 Tell us a little bit about, I know I went through some of it, but some of the history of muscle shoals and the recording studio that your dad started. 00:22:20.880 --> 00:22:23.119 Oh wow, it's you know, that's 65 years. 00:22:23.680 --> 00:22:24.880 How much time we got? 00:22:25.119 --> 00:22:25.680 All right. 00:22:27.440 --> 00:22:31.039 I mean, yeah, it it all started in the late 50s, early 60s. 00:22:31.119 --> 00:22:43.519 He was a songwriter, and uh he and a guy named Billy Cheryl and Tom Stafford were partners, and Billy went on to run Columbia Records and did George Jones and all kinds of people, Johnny Cash and uh Tammy Wynette and so forth. 00:22:43.599 --> 00:22:50.400 But anyway, they started writing songs and had some success with George Jones and with uh Roy Orbison and and some other people. 00:22:50.559 --> 00:22:56.400 And from that, that kind of gave them the the uh the idea that they might be able to make money in the music business. 00:22:56.480 --> 00:23:11.200 So he started a little publishing company in recording studio and uh started recording artists and found an his niche was in black music and started doing RB and soul music with Arthur Alexander first, who had a hit, he hit, and then Jimmy Hughes. 00:23:11.279 --> 00:23:21.359 And from there it just kind of snowballed into you know everyone from Wilson Pickett to Otis Redding, Lil Richard, Lou Rawls, Eddie James, Ray Franklin, Candy Satan, Clarence Carter. 00:23:21.599 --> 00:23:23.440 Just it goes goes on and on and on. 00:23:23.599 --> 00:23:29.519 It's a it's a a mountain of music has been recorded here and uh uh it's we're still going on, still doing it

today. 00:23:29.759 --> 00:23:36.640 So I saw that recently you guys have been adding a lot of updates as well to the studio. 00:23:36.960 --> 00:23:37.359 We have. 00:23:37.519 --> 00:23:47.680 We have in the last couple of years, we've remodeled our Studio B control room and uh brought in uh SSL 6000 E and a bunch of new equipment and a bunch of old equipment too. 00:23:47.839 --> 00:23:54.480 We revamped uh the original console that was in there, which was a universal audio built console, custom built console. 00:23:54.640 --> 00:24:00.000 And uh then recently we've opened up a uh an immersive uh mix room, spatial audio. 00:24:00.079 --> 00:24:05.759 Uh and that's that's off site, so it's not at our our building, it's in uh across the river in Florence. 00:24:05.839 --> 00:24:07.759 But uh it's a great studio, great room. 00:24:07.920 --> 00:24:09.359 We're excited about it as well. 00:24:09.599 --> 00:24:10.240 That's really cool. 00:24:10.319 --> 00:24:11.039 That's really cool. 00:24:11.359 --> 00:24:15.200 So, how did the transition go with you, you know, running the studio? 00:24:15.519 --> 00:24:18.160 Well, it was slow and painful. 00:24:19.920 --> 00:24:34.319 I I had graduated from college and got my master's degree and was in Huntsville selling uh computers, thinking I was gonna do the tech thing and be in in the computer world and got over there and was selling to NASA and Boeing into a corporate computer sales gig. 00:24:34.400 --> 00:24:46.880 And uh, you know, I was uh enjoying that, but then I saw that there was there was an opportunity for someone to come run the studio and just saw the opportunity and realized, you know, God, how many people would kill to have that gig. 00:24:46.960 --> 00:24:50.079 And I've got the wide open door, obviously, because it's my family. 00:24:50.240 --> 00:25:01.759 So I bit the bullet, took a huge pay cut, and came over here and did that, and then got into publishing and started uh working in the publishing world, and we started having a lot of success with that and had two or three Song of the Years. 00:25:01.839 --> 00:25:08.720 And then my brother and I bought my dad out of the publishing company, and he was ready to cut back on what he was doing. 00:25:08.799 --> 00:25:22.640 So we we bought that, and uh, that was in '99, and uh have taken that forward over the years, and just it's just evolved into, you know, as my dad eased out, I was taking more responsibilities, and then obviously he passed away in 2018. 00:25:22.799 --> 00:25:24.559 It all kind of fell on my shoulders. 00:25:24.720 --> 00:25:25.599 Mine and my mom. 00:25:25.680 --> 00:25:30.319 She's still here, she's 83, she still does our books and does the royalties and and all that. 00:25:30.400 --> 00:25:33.119 And my brother Mark is still involved somewhat as well. 00:25:35.440 --> 00:25:39.200 Thank you so much for listening to Americana Music.com podcast. 00:25:39.279 --> 00:25:45.119 Be sure to go to Americana Music.com and find playlists of the Americana artists we've interviewed here. 00:25:45.359 --> 00:25:48.799 Also, be sure to follow us on your favorite podcast platform.