#223 - Michael Hobby: Lead Singer of A Thousand Horses...They’re Back! What It’s Like Being Dropped for 2 Different Record Deals + Being Related To A Famous Rock Star

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Speaker 1: I'm gonna have a Michael Hobby in just one second, the lead singer of the band A Thousand Horses. They kind of shot quickly to success with the song here called Smoke. That's the number one for them. We'll get to that. And also they have a new song I called Drinking Song, which is right here, song to keep killing. So that's the second. His wife's Caroline Hobby, has a really great podcast called Get Real with Caroline Hobby. You know, she has the whole thing too where she talks to the wives of country stars. Just definitely more than that. That podcast has really turned turned into a great podcast. Um so um. I've just I know him through her again, and I know her and him through Amy too, like I've known Caroline, but I've become i think more friendly with especially both of them on a different level because of Amy because over the house and I guess they live right by each other, so I just kinda be hanging out. So when they put out new music and I kind of tell them in a minute that Rod. You know, my guy in radio was like, have you heard the new song? And I was like, I haven't heard it. I was day we should get an I think I just text you one night. I was like, Okay, let's get my gobby in all right, so um, yeah, he's coming in a second. But check out Get Real with Caroline Hobby. Mike has a podcast called Movie Mike's Movie Podcast, which I saw you when and saw that movie Parasite, which is a movie without English. It's no, it's North Korea, South Korea. Okay, what I like it? I think you would. It's not scary. It's kind of like black mirror ish, but okay, I don't care about that. It's the subtitles, but you don't. You don't After five minutes, it doesn't even like factor into it. M I thought it was gonna be it. She's too That's why I waited so long to see it. But after about five minutes, I was like, I'm totally into this movie. Will it win Best Picture? Is that up for Best Picture? Yeah? I think it's close. One of my friends went and saw nineteen seventeen the movie loved it, and I guess it only goes black a couple of times, like fades to black. Otherwise it looks like one continue shot pretty much. Yeah, they'll do like little camera motions where he goes like to the side will go black for like a quick second and then it goes back into it. It's about a kid who has to get let me see if I'm right on this, because you've seen it. It's about a kid who has to get many miles away during the war to tell them that they're all about to be killed. Yeah, to call off an attack. So it's him and another guy and go travel to tell this other troup, like, hey, call off this attack. And they sent him because of the brothers in the troup and they know he'll do everything possible to get to them. Man, that sounds good. It is really good. Like I'm still holding on that once upon a time will win. But after sing nine seventeen, I like, that's like probably the critic favorite movie. Mike's Movie Podcast where on this week's episode, which, by the way, who knows when you'll hear this, but you're talking about massive A list stars that never won an Oscar? Yeah, who is who is one that comes to mind? Brad Pitt never won an Oscar. He's one as a producer, but never as an actor. So is he up for any of this year? He's up for Best Supporting for one. Yeah, So he'll probably finally one this year. Al Right, check that movie mix movie podcast. Amy has the four Things podcast where she talks about four things that faith, family, love, watermelons, I don't know, it's all different stuff. Check that out The Sore Losers. The sports podcast is obviously this one. Um. We always say that another one's coming. I don't know, is it coming? Are we close to the other one? How close? Pretty close? All right? I give up saying we have another one again. Um, alright, So appreciate you guys. I'm on Instagram, Mr Bobby Bones. And if you like this podcast, heck, even if you don't, if you have a second, go and rate this thing with all the stars. Is it five stars or four five stars? Give up five stars? Write a comment. And we appreciate that because it moves us up to podcast rankings, and if we're up higher, more people see it when they're just looking for something to listen to me when you're scrolling through the like, oh what's this? Yeah, so check it out? All right, that's it. We do need to change. But by the way, hey, where's your Joe Mike. You guys have done a good job on that new thing where it's like me and the R like see your face whatever, it's good. But we need to change the main Bobby Cast image because when i'm you can tell me why we can't or I shouldn't. When I'm scrolling other people have cool pictures. Who knows what the heck of Bobby Cast is. I just named it that two and a half years ago because I don't know to name it. We'll just call it something the Bobby Cast. It's really not I didn't know what to name it. What's your thought? Like, I've seen other people kind of take that now, what like putting their name in cast after you did it? I don't know. I don't know. I don't think I invented that, but I have seen people cloth right, But again I didn't invent that. But yes, people, I know, yeah that's which is weird, Like yeah, but again I didn't. I didn't admit that. But we should change not the name of the podcast obviously, but the header to be more attractive. Because when I'm scrolling through looking for like a sports podcast to listen to, I find a fun picture, I'm like, oh, it looks fun. I don't know, maybe even a face on it. When I have put my books out. I never want to put a picture on the front of the book, and they're like, no, you need to put a picture in the front of the book because people feel like they can see who's riding it, who's voice coming from. If they don't know, we should do something like that. We can keep the same dark, straight colors, but we should do that. All right, here we go. This is Michael Hobby from A Thousand Horses. By the way, check out Velvet's Edge with Kelly Henderson, a lifestyle podcast for women. Um, yeah, there you go. All right, here you go, Michael Hobby. Welcome to episode to three with Michael Hobby of A Thousand Horses. And I was looking at I didn't realize that you guys don't ever spell out that thout due to the numbers. Do you know the numbers are wrong? Twenty one Pilots has the thing too, where they don't put the number. It's spelled t W E N T Y And you guys are a thousand. No do people spell it out? And does that annoy you? I mean, we I got over it, but yeah, everybody writes one thousand like the numbers and horses and I'm you know, after a while, you're like, well, I mean whatever, we're happy to be here. Was that a creative conversation or me on to where Okay, we're just gonna we're spelling it, we're not doing numerals. Well, where it came from was, uh a song title that we had called A Thousand Horses. That's just how we wrote the song. So when we came up with it, we didn't have a band name at the time. We had the terrible band name um, but it was we had to come up. We were with signed to a label and Interscope and we had to come up with this. You know, they're like, we gotta have a band name in like two weeks, like no pressure. So you know, we we get out the white board, everybody writes down a bunch of ridiculous names. I mean space Wolf name space Wolf. Did you guys lean in space Wolf's direction? Personally? I like space Wolf, I like Spacebolf, but also like space hog. And it makes me feel like that's what and you know what that was that came up? Electric Buffalo. Okay, here's the question. Yeah, it sounds like you're going to are your band names are different exhibits of the zoo? Um? You mentioned that the first interest up deal. So was that more of a rock thing? And is that why electric and space Because if you're a country band, I don't hear a lot of you know, astronaut type names and country music. But on then Interscope deal, because when I was over in pop and hip hop, Interscope is a big big deal for rock and pop bands. Was that more of the idea we will be a shot ahead rock band? First? Well, no, I mean we were always like a southern rock band. I mean we all come from South Carolina and Georgia and that was a big influence with us musically and and with country music. You know, Alan Jackson was my first concert, so like we were listening to that constantly in the house. And then you know, my older brother got into the grunge rock phase, so he was always doing that and then so I mean we were just were Yeah, we were a southern rock band, and like, you know, how they thing came about was they were looking to put together a group. I don't know if you remember that back in the day of like an Eagles type thing, and uh, Interscope was yeah, And and my name came across as you know, uh to to meet with him. And then when I met with them, you know, I told I was like, well, guys, I got my own band. Where do you go to meet with them? Will you get an email from like a guy Desmond Child? It was like to see the guy that uh set me up. Like my wife Caroline introduced me to Desmond because she knew him through Victoria. So do you go to New York to meet with him? I'm just curious about what building this is in? Like they came to town, So they came to Nashville. Yeah, and they said we're them, We'd like to meet with you and they wanted to. Yeah. Yeah, So I can give you the whole story if you want to hear, Like how the whole interscipt our first record do we ever got? Came about? How old are you? By the way, when it starts, I was, yeah, um been in town. I moved to when I was eighteen so five, so yeah it was um. Anyways, I met Desmond Child through Victoria's Shaw and I do who that is, by the way, I would have played cool and that like a Desmond Child huge songwriter? Okay, yeah, like uh living on a prayer Manjoe, I mean huge Aerosmith angel like big songwriter. UM, so I was stoked when I got to meet this guy. He wrote a bunch of huge hits and uh, I guess the lady like Katie Perry's, um what was that song? Woke up waking up in Vegas? Um? So he called. I went to his house and played him some like demos that we had and he was like okay, cool. And he's like, I'll I'll be in touch and I was like, all right, we'll see you later. So he kind of took me under his wing and he introduced me to a guy, Brian House, who had an imprint with Interscope and he's the guy that like started Hinder and founded them and reproduced that record and uh and uh. He called his boss, who was Jeff's oz now who was the head of A and R at Interscope, and said, Hey, I got this kid and he's got a band and I think they're really great. You want to come to town and see him? And uh He's like sure, So like next week he flew in. We get an email from Jeff's assistant to meet him at the Hermitage Hotel. How nervous do you get the one you get the email saying someone's gonna come watch your band. They could make they could they could change your life. I think showcases are the worst like for artists to do. I mean the conference room showcase to uh, you know, the where they set up the tables and everybody comes in at six o'clock for a show. I've never quite gotten that, but it's worked for a lot of people, so great. And Uh, anyway, so we go meet him at the Hermit's Hotel. We go in his room. He's got four chairs like set up in front of his bed, and he hops in his bed and he goes, okay, cool, play me some songs. And we're we got our acoustic guitars, and we run through a song in this little hotel room and he goes, okay, play me another one, and so on and so forth, and he goes all right. He's a very methodical guy. He's very quiet, and uh He's like, can you play electric for me tomorrow? And we're like yeah, I mean, hell yeah, we can play whatever you want to do. Books the room at s ar We go in um and honestly, it's crazy that the people he brought with him, he brought Dave Cobb with him, which we didn't know David at the time. Um, and then an attorney and then another guy. Anyways, we play on song and he walks up to the stage and he goes, welcome to Interscope Records, and we thought, this is the greatest day of our life. We just signed a major deal. Holy cal you didn't have a name at this point, well we did. It was called sterling Y, which is the name that Bill and I guitar player, came up with back in South Carolina when we started playing music together when we were teenagers. Um, and we moved to town together. So anyways, we knew that name wasn't gonna work because we didn't like it either. But I was saying name in a band's tough. Um. But so anyways, two weeks later, we're in l A. We're playing for Jimmy IV, you know, at his little club. He's the final say so of anybody that gets signed. So we go to his little clubs called the Time Sign Club. It's right across the street from their office in Santa Monica. We played three songs. Jeff says we're good to go. We go to the Rainbow Room, like old school style, and celebrated and then picked Dave to do our first little six song EP. What's the conversation though at the celebration, because again it sounds like a whirl wind. Hey, we'll come to town. They come to town, you play, then you play one song, and then it's like you're in. But now let's go get really into l A. Then you're in. I mean at that point you've been through about five stages. It's like a callback, call back and cons and then they go, yeah, you're in, let's go celebrate. What is that? What are you thinking at the celebration? What what is your head wrapping around right then? Well, you know, like everybody's verbally like committed, but then you gotta negotiate your contract, which you know they always say, well, you know, hopefully everything works out with us negotiating, so you know, and that takes they they'll tell you it takes a month, but it takes six. I don't care what anybody says. We've done a few of them now and it's um that. But yeah, we just celebrating like, hey, we got a team, and like all these people are around and you know, they make you feel like you're on top of the world and you feel great because you're just some kids that land at a record deal. Now you're in Los Angeles on sunset and everybody's stoked about your band. I mean, it was a dream come true for us. I mean I still look back on it and think about those memories. So, Sterling, why you're here? Did you guys? What were you gonna stay in Nashville without the plan? Yeah? Yeah, So when we picked Dave Cob to do the little EP that we did, he had a house in Silver leg So we went to Los Angeles, Los Angeles, Yeah, California. So we went out there and stayed with him and we spent three weeks recording in his little basement. You know, this was before Dave was Dave and he was just doing records too, and um we uh made the EP and then went home and then it came out just digitally like a little release. We were on tour, you know, in our van. What year was this? This was two thousand ten, Okay, so streaming really wasn't a super thing. Yeah, you could download. Yeah, we were talking about we were like gonna get high MySpace place, you know what I mean. Uh So, yeah, we're on tour, it's like six months into touring and we're out just rough, and we've always been in a van, but this tour was like just grew to like three months at a time. And uh we get a call from uh raining and Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and ever forget We just got off a skinner cruise. We did the Lenear Skinners simple Man cruise, and we're about to start back up and we're in a hotel in Fort Lauderdale, raining like crazy, and our manager calls us and says, Interscopes, let go of all rock bands and rock department. They've shut down the vision the label of d g C. And we're just like, oh man, how does that conversation get to that point? Does do you? Did you take the call by the way where the one I was always a guy that takes call. Do you remember because there are certain times in my life where I can vividly remember looking at my phone and seeing a call and answering and knowing every part of the call right there. There are three or four times in my life. Do you remember that call? Yes? Absolutely? And how does your manager warm you up to that or does your manager go right to it? Like like Michael what you just got dropped? Well, it was you kind of could feel it in the area anyways, you know, because we'd had conversations before because the label wasn't really doing anything and we couldn't get really any answers, and that's always a pretty big red flag. And then we talked to some other friends that were bands on the on the roster, and they were getting the same thing. And then so the call, when I answered it, I knew it was gonna be you guys are gonna be okay or we gotta figure something out, and it was your drops and we gotta figure something out. What do you do with the tour? Do you keep going? Yeah? We had to finish. Everything was booked already. Yeah, I mean, and and what's funny is in our agent quit right after that, of course Classic and uh and then our management we parted ways. But we finished the tour and then we came back home to Nashville and like regrouped. Were you a thousand horses at this point? Yes, we were. Yeah, we were already a thousand horses this point. So Sterling I was dead when we did that deal. And then thousand Horses was born in Dave's garage. So okay, so you get you're in you're in Florida, the whole thing disintegrates. There is no in front of that that the rock part of Interscope is done. So not just do anyone else get dropped? A note. You can have big bands like Marilyn Manson and popa Roach and like some other things, and like if you weren't really in the pop world, it was pretty much done because boy band I mean boy bands, and they've been humongous in pop, like in my time in pop, they were probably the biggest record label that would constantly blow acts up like Interscope is massive. Yeah, I mean they had a bunch of huge I mean you still have a fuge stuff. But yeah, I guess who was on was Instinct, Yeah yeah, and then Biscuit was huge and eminem and so you get dropped. You go back to nash. How much longer do you have to tour? And are you just defeated? Like six months? You had six months because this was in January and we weren't there. Last date was in like June or July. Okay, so you're still out, You're grinding trying to figu yourself out while you're grinding it. Yeah, no tour support, and we weren't making any money, I mean anything, so we were you get crafty um. So yeah, we come home. We didn't really know what we were gonna do. You know, we had a bunch of songs that we had written, so we regrouped and you know, all the new material leaned like where we are now, you know as a southern rock country band, and you know, we just kind of started plugging away at that and and you know, we we signed it with CIA. They came to the table, and then we met our manager, a new manager at the time, Scott McGee and Doc McGhee and then uh, that's when we had Jimmy Harden at Republic or Big Machine and signed a deal with him. So how long between you getting dropped and you're signing a new deal? Um a four years? And then what's the celebration like the second time you signed? Well, I mean yeah, I guess you know, it's different. It's always different the second time. But what was crazy about that is, you know, we were kind of a band that always bets on ourselves and in any type of defeat and just you know, if you don't stop it won't stop. It's kind of our mentality. So what we did too, we had to you know, Dave would record us because he moved to town too, so he'd record us, and we exchange for recording. We'd clean his studio or we'd help him move gear and he could use our band trailer and things like that. So one day we're like, man, we gotta make a full length record, Like we can't make two or three songs here and there in this. So we all got on our phones and called our credit card companies to try to get a lot of like to put it on a credit card. Because day was like, pay the musicians, pay this and don't worry about me, and we'll we'll just make a ten twelveth song record. Wow, yeah, huge, huge, And uh couldn't get any credit card. But you're paying your bill on time though, yeah we didn't. I don't even that's the question because if you're paying the bill on time, did you pay your bills on time in twenty one? I don't know. That's that's the whole thing though, is is And I know a few people who have done that, who have said, hey, I'm gonna kind of bet at all myself the most notable and I don't know him. I met him. I don't know as Kevin Smith, who did Clerks and mall Rats and Chasing Amy. So what his whole story is is that he had no money. He wanted to make clerks, so he opened a bunch of credit cards and put the whole thing on credit. He was like, believe in myself so much. I'm just gonna finance the whole thing on credit. I bet you it's a hundred of one. Didn't work out for people, for sure. You guys couldn't even get credit. Yeah we could. You never even had the shot there. But so you do record the music. So yeah, what we did is actually had a friend of mine who was the head of Avenue Bank, and he'd become a really good buddy, and he was always a fan of our band, and he believes in us. And I don't know if he likes people doing this but or thinking banks should do this. But he gave us a line of credit and he's he said, I'll never give you more than I know you can't pay me back sweeping my parking lots, and we're like deal. So he hooked you up. So he hooked us up How does he write that on paper? How does he That's what I'm saying. That's why I don't know. I mean, we talked about it now, but um and and we did it. And then that led to our deal, you know, with with Big Machine and Republic with Jimmy because we took that chance. We we we got that opportunity before the even record was done. They heard it, and so we just kind of moved right into you know that world. What were you doing for four years to pay the bills? I worked at Buckle in Cool Springs? Is that because here my experience of the Buckle not a not a great one. I apologize for you used to go there a lot. But here's my thing with the hip thing with the Buckle. Would go into the Buckle and I need a pair of jeans, and so I go in and I would say, I'm a thirty one and I find me a pair of jeans that I like. And I don't like the jeans two shaved or I don't like fancy pockets. You know. So I'm I'm I don't like I don't like to be the jeans to be the story of who I am. I'd like the jeans to be there. The rest of me will define who I am. My jeans are just they're just they're they're placeholders for the rest of me. And so I get my jeans and put them on. I go into the dressing and put them on, and all of a sudden, there's like seven things coming over the top of the dressing room door, like this show look great with those. Here's a bell, here's a T shirt. What do you think about this? Here's a corset. I'm like, don't you go the corset? So that so you had to do that at the buckle? You didn't. I didn't really like that either, so I would kind of figure out ways to not be that guy. Did they tell you to do that? Though someone grab something, you need to grab things that match exactly. Do you make commission? Yeah? I would do that too. Then yeah, yeah, I lost just lost a lot of hate for that because if it's the commission, I would do that too. Well. Now, when I go into stores, like, uh, like, if I see shirts, un fold them up because people would come in like you do this immaculate table, It's take you an hour and then people just come in and just throw your stuff where I'm like, God, come on, let me grab it armed people awesome and sucky because that's what I learned and working in service because I had waited tables or did a marina, I did maintenance on a golf course. I have all these jobs where people could really make my day so much easier and better with just a little bit of um being nice kind that they could also really piss me off and ruin my day too by doing things, especially in the restaurant business especially I worked a hobby lobby and where people would when people would come in and just knock over complete racks and displays like you're talking about with shirts, just you do just like one second to fix it. And and you're talking about because I want he just displays now and it'll give me PTSD display PTSD. I gotta fix it back for them because I know somebody's struggling with that. So I feel the same way. And so when I when I see it's funny that you say that about shirts, because I do that with corner displays like edge displays. So you're working at Buckle, how long did you work there? Just like a few years off and on? And then what's our guitar player? Zach had a photo booth rental company, so we would go work for him, like doing photo booth events and like setting it up, set it up, and like stand there and he'd you know, he'd pay us to do that because that was his side hustle. So we all kind of jumped in on that, and you guys all decided you were gonna stay together. We did. Yeah, was there ever a minute where you go, you don't want me to try to my coobby project? No? I mean I never wanted to. You know, I've never I've always wanted to be in a band, and I've never really had like a big desire to do a solo thing. Even even when opportunities were presented. It was always like, well, I want to, I want to. These are my brothers and we grew up together and we're best friends in our families, your best friends, and you know, this is what we do. It's kind of was always my thing. So you're working at Buckle, You're you're working the photo booth. You're just hustling so you can hustle harder at something else later, Because it's a difference on hustling o something you love. You were hustling to do something you loved. Yes, absolutely, So you're making them, you're making money to pay the bills, did you were you guys playing together at all? And and you know, we play in town like we and we tour regionally like we'd go out and do these gigs and people would give us opportunities. And when we took every opportunity we could get what did anyone ever see a buckle and gohahs, Oh my god, I saw you play a show? Uh no, I don't think so. So it had been cool, that'd have been my day. Yeah. Right, you're playing a little bit and you cut this record and who hears it though as you're making it, and they go, hey, this may be a cool thing for us. Well, I guess our manager, Scott you know, was was with us. He just signed on with us, and because he'd heard some demos and yeah, I didn't even know that he was playing it four people, you know, so he was. I guess he was playing golf, he said, and with with Jimmy Harden and he played it for him on like the last hole one. Jim he was like, oh, let me hear it again. And then speaking of showcases, we get to do the awkward conference for him showcase for him and his staff, and then we do it again for for Scott Borchetta A Big Machine, which was funny because like this showcase, I messed up the first song, like I didn't. No one knows this, but I sing the chorus twice and I never went into the verse. But the band covered me. So the course was the best part anyways. And uh, and you know Scott's sitting like right here in front of me, like just as as nerve racking as it gets, you know, And uh, I mess up the first song, So I'm like, you know, did they know you messed up? Okay? So so really get didn't messed up? Because if they're covering you, and you don't because I mess up a lot, but you know that feeling you get, yeah, and you gotta pull yourself balance balance. Yeah. So luckily we pulled ourselves together and kept playing songs and that, and you know when we left there, we weren't sure that wasn't like a slam dunk. And uh, talk about though for a second, because I've been in these rooms where you're playing for someone and they're giving there's like four people watching you, and you're pouring your heart into something and they're looking at you like this, there's nodding their head really not. You know, it's different than to show people are pumped. They've seen a thousand bands come through. You really can't read them. They almost don't want you to read them. I could agree with that. And even if they're loving you, they may crack a smile or but for the most part, they never show it. And for you, as a performer, you're playing towards something that's isn't giving you anything back. And that's the hardest to do, is to play towards something that isn't reciprocating anything back. And that's what you guys do as artists. In these you talk about how weird it is to go into these rooms and do these showcases. I mean, I have to imagine that's what it was like playing in front of Borshadow. Yeah, I mean it led to great opportunity. But I recommend everybody. I mean, yeah, if you get the shot. But it's like comedians who go on Saturday and a lot of the talk about warming in front of um, Laura Michael's and he just he doesn't move and even though he loves him, he's just like, all right, next Yeah, you get a phone call the next day of good or bad, and if it's good, and that's it. It's just like okay, all right, here we go. Let's get to work. But you play it and then how long until you know that the deal at Republic Big Machine is actually gonna work for you? Guys? We got a little word that night, but the next day, what's the word that night? What's a little word that night? I mean like he did great, feels good, We'll be in touch when you left the room, did feel good? No, I don't think so. I don't think any of us were like super stokes about you know, how it went down, and plus I'm in my head about messing up and anyways, you know. But I was like, you know, we're all positive and optimistic. It's like, well shit, I mean we did it. What songs did you play? Remember man old songs like some landslide that's I think it's still out Tennessee. Whiskey was a song. We played a bunch of other songs we didn't end up cutting and uh, and we played I think they wanted to would play like tin song Holy crap. I mean it was a record. Yeah, we played like a whole set. Like I even thought, I was like, really, did you stand up or sit down? We're standing up? Yeah, right at the end of the coward really weird. Yeah, that's part of it though. It is. So you get the call the next day, tell me, tell me about the phone call. Yeah, Like our manager calls and staid we're doing a deal, and they and we did the deal. I mean that was pretty much it whenever we call it. When you going to round two, you've been through it once, so you're probably not as wide eyed and just like life has changed, but you're like, we got a shot again, right, it's gotta be a different a different optimistic feeling than it was the first time. Yeah, I mean you feel lucky for sure, and then you're like okay, like you still swept the small stuff because you're like, well, this will take a while and they'll get it all worked out. And you know, do you get money initially when you signed a deal? Uh? No, we did not. Uh did you have to keep working your side hustles after you signed the Dude, I did a pub deal. I gotta pub deal with Water Chapel before that. So you're being hay to write. Yeah, so that took That took me out of the work working force game, which was like about probably a year before we did that deal. I got a pub deal. You Did you ever have any cuts? Uh? No, I mean not no. Do you feel like they signed you because they knew as an artist you would probably hit soon and they wanted you as a writer because of what you were going to write for you as an artist? Did you feel like there was anything there with that? You know? I think I think when it comes to artists and writers in town, the separation is if your sign as a writer and an artist, you're viewed as an artist, you know, and and there's a difference between just being a soul writer, you know, like a lot of our friends that we have. But so I think that's you know, people write writers and artists talked about at all the time, like what's the the difference? Like why can't I be an artist and a writer for other people as well? Or you know, why can't these songs be cut and I'll just cut these from my project and do this. Um, you know, that's a that's something that comes up all the time. I had that conversation, you know, last night with a friend. It's like, I don't know. I guess My point is if I thought that you in the next year or two would be good enough as an artist to get a deal, I would try to sign you as a writer because my assumption is you're gonna write songs for you as an artist, and that's where I'm gonna make my money. Totally, absolutely so. Do you feel like that someone had faith in you as an artist a year prior that signed you to a published deal or they just saw you as a writer Michael Howe the writer and signed you to a pub deal. I think they just saw me as a writer, an artist who writes his own songs, so level one, Yeah, yeah, cool, that's good. That's someone investing money in you a year prior to you landing an artist deal. Because a lot a lot of my friends were artists. They get a pub deal for a year and a half, they don't have a record deal, but whoever signed them just was betting early money that they would get signed eventually. And then if you're an artist writer, you're gonna write most of your own stuff, and that's how you're gonna make your money back, because those you're gonna get cuts because you're writing your own cuts. So you go over and you guys are like, wow, we gotta deal. So what what what? What do you do as a band? Like, what's what's the first thing when you get to deal at the second time? What do you? Well? We went keep writing, so and uh we kept writing. We you know, book studio. We went right back in to finish the record and kind of redo some stuff and it was like September of two four we did that, and uh, I wrote all the way up till the day we started the record, and thank god I did, because the last song I wrote for the record was Smoke, and it came in in the eleventh hour. Turn it in first song we cut, and then first single, and you know, then it all that that began, which is crazy. Here's a little bit of smoke from a thousand and we'll get around to being a number one song in just a second. But what's interesting is the last song I wrote got on the record ended up being the single because it's not just you, guys, has happened to a lot of friends go but as the last song I wrote. Now, my theory is this that it's the last song you wrote, and it's the one you for sure. Remember you're very passionate about because you just finish to it's so top of mind, and you've been writing so much and you know what you're writing for because you're you're building, You're you're writing for a record. Now, I could be telling it wrong in this situation, I think. I think there's a lot of truth to that. And you're like calibrated, you know of what you're doing, and yeah, the excitement and what you need and yeah, you're like that focus is like really strong, especially like up to the you know, the game. Did you feel like you were trying to write a radio single when you wrote Smoke? Like did you walk in the room and go, all right, we gotta I need a we need a radio song, we need to hit. I was just in the room, right, you know. And that's what's funny, Like I wasn't even like planning on writing anymore because they told me that the record was done, but I just like to write. And they had this right lined up and which was with Ross Copperman and John Knight, which, by the way, massive, huge, So yeah, like I'm not gonna go into that, yeah massive, right with guys who are just monster songwriters, producers, so yeah, all above, those guys are incredible. What's that room? Like? You walk into the room, and again I'm asking you to pull deep from the memory tap. You walk into the room, and how does this concept come up? Okay, yeah, so the concept came up. I walk in and I met Ross and John and uh, I was wearing a BlackBerry smoke hat, the camouflage BlackBerry smoke at I still have it. Um, And you know, we're sitting there and like hass around ideas and Ross has got a vibe going and and uh I think he said he was. Was he building a track going on about this? Yeah? You know what he does, That's what he does. He does his thing, and um, he's like, let's writing a song about what about the title smoke? You know, he's looking at my hat and I was like, okay, that could be cool. And like then you start hashing and it's like, well, what about an addictive relationship? It's toxic but compared to you know, a cigarette in a way, and uh, and then it just kind of fell out. I mean it didn't take us very long at all, and then we had it. He sent me the demo at midnight that day. I played it and sent it to my guys and send it the label and management. And then the next morning just the phone lit up and we're like, this is the one, Like this is the first single. Let's let's go crazy. How it was the last minute thing? You got the demo in and time everything. Yeah, I think we started recording September five. I wrote a September three. Whenever you're nailing something with Ross and he goes, he gets that's his enthusiasm is what makes the right which man, Yeah, he's got his thing. That's that's Ross. So you're right, this right on the edge of the record. It's gonna become the first single when you signed a new deal. How much of them is picking the single? How much of you care that they picked the single? I mean, I think in any situation, whatever they felt was the strongest way to lead and whatever, they're gonna put the reference behind exactly. I mean, that's their job, not ours, as the way I always look at it. I mean, you can voice your opinion, but that was you know, we're just in there and like this thing's happening fast, and you know they're like, we're gonna go with this one, and it's getting great. Response. You know how that that world goes and so we're like, hell, yeah, that sounds great. What you know, we love all these songs. So so it goes to radio. And did you feel like it was going to be a success at first? It wasn't? On the verge? Was that the biggest So, which is the biggest thing you can get as a new artist new song because it's the biggest company playing your song the most amount of times, and so, holy crap, there's a lot that's happened quickly. New Deal wrote a song on the record, it's gonna be the single. Now you're on the verge. Yeah. And then when a debuted debut at like seven, which is not normal. No. Yeah, so we're sitting here going, wait this how this works? You know, I mean kind of blown away by it? And then you know that's when it all began. And you know, you learn a lot in that time period, and we were just going a million miles a minute in that process and it Yeah, and then it just kept climbing and kept going and everything was perfect. What was kind of the apex of that Smoke run where the song was killing it, like you do something real cool? I don't know, if it's a TV show, if it was a festival, like where did you go? Holy crap, this thing this song had right now has taken us. Just do this man, I mean, I guess you know, getting to do like Kimmel was awesome and and uh, you know we did The Morning Good Morning America. I think, yeah, and uh, but like some of those big festivals like the Tortigos I mean I remember, I mean, uh Root ninety one festival we did in Vegas like sixteen fifteen or six sixteen, and that was like I still have a video of that where these the entire place is lit up in like the whole crowd at night is just and that for me was a moment where it was like wow, I mean, because you know when a song it went number one and then you're out on these tours, but when you go back out on another tour, that's when you start to see the people have really heard it, and you know, there's moments like that, you know, Tortugo was one of those moments. And and then being out on the road with like Al Deane, you know towards the end of that too, where you started to see that the arena light up you know, and and those are things that you know you'll never forget still to this day, you know, when it happens, so smoke kills it. We're gonna run through a couple of these other ones, so that ain't no drunk dial. Here's this one here, So this one peaks according to my chart here at three. Yeah. So after you have a number one and the song goes to twenty three and kind of peters out, How what what's the conversation like in between the band members when that happens. I mean, to be honest with you, that was super stressful, you know, for where we were at and what we were doing. And you know, that was a point where things really started to like get wobbly, you know that quick you know, as quick as that other one happened, is as quick as they got wobbly. So it put us in a very I mean, it was a stressful time, you know, I mean it was. It was when tension started to build build between you know, our situation with la Able in a way, and then you know, we were like what's going on? You know, like you know, are we were just frustrated, you know, and like nothing was happened, but why does this song look like you couldn't have gone farther? I mean, it got that high in a very short period of time. So we're like, well, let's keep pushing, you know. Let's did you feel like you're feeling was the label stopped before they should have and you're feeling right? Right or wrong? Was your feeling? As a band man, you got to keep pushing, you know, we didn't know any We just we kind of trusted them that that was the right thing to do, to be honest with you, and we didn't really know any better. We thought, well that you know, if they want to put come off of it, then they'll come off it, will come with something else, and that's okay. You know, let's let's just keep keep rocking. But looking back, I think maybe pushed a little harder, you know, in our end, but we didn't We didn't really know any better. So you have a couple other songs, uh, Southern reality, like a Southern Reality and then preaching to the choir depot didn't work at least radio wise. Yeah, that that was That was when we were like talking about timing. That's when we were like in the position to get out of this, like situation that we were in. So that song came out and then we parted ways. How did that go down? It was just more like, you know, they wanted us. It just was the relationship wasn't working any What do they want from you that you didn't want from you? Well, I think it got it to the point of trying to change things to a big degree for us, Like fundamentally they wanted to change something with you guys. Yeah, like what you know, just you know what we musically and like recording wise, and like we started trying different hats on. You know, we got in that situation where we're trying different things and try different people and we're cutting you know, an outside song and we're doing this, which is great. We love that song. We think it's a great song. Um, and it just got really like cloudy and like really like heavy, you know, and it just wasn't the relationship wasn't the right where it needed to be. So we just both agreed two, you know, walk away, and they were super great about it. We were super great about it. We went out and had drinks after it, you know, and we took our things and we went home. And then they continue to do what they do. So it wasn't like a big you know, fight or argument or anything. It was more like, Okay, we need to go be a band and you know, our career is still here and before anything else happens, like can we go do our thing? And they said, you know, we just all agreed on that. That's what was. It really was a blessing and they changed our life, you know with that was what we did on that first record. And the difference between not having a record deal after the first one and the second one is people now know your music and you can still go tour and make money. Yeah, you can go and actually sleep. So even though you're not in a record deal, people now knew what thousand horses because of the success that you had. Yeah, so you're able to go out and play shows and actually maintain a lifestyle. Do they still when you broke off? How long do they have like part of your part of your deal, part of your touring or was it all like it right then done? Yeah? So yeah we went back back on the road and regroup. What are we gonna do next? So you know, we did like we did the first time. We it's got a while to think about, but we uh had a bunch of songs, wrote a bunch of songs. Called Dave said, hey, we want to make a record. Same guy, same freaking guy. We want to make a record. By the way, he's much elevated. He's elevated, we're elevated. So we're all in a way better situation. But you know each other, and we known each other for ten years, so I mean, Dave's like family to us. And he calls us his little hippie brothers. So we called him and he goes, okay, cool, Well, come play me the music. So we sat playing some music. He's like all right. So we went to Hooters, and he loves Hooters, and we had these little Hooters cards for a minute where you got free Hooters, So we went there all the time. How did you get a Hooters card? A friend of a friend, a girl that a regional that worked for Big Machine had a friend that like, I don't know, owned Hooters, or like a gold card. If you just go it says, you know, you eat for free on us, and you just how long a year at a time? Holy crap? And did they cancel it at some point? Did the record label call and be like, wait, wasn't It wasn't a label thing. It was just her friend things. So, I mean we had them for a couple of years and then we didn't get them. Would you take advantage of that? Would you go a lit Yeah we would. Yeah, absolutely, I got here. I had an out back one. That's cool. I know, it was really cool and and so and I forget the name of the company. Where there's a company. Well crop was part of it too, but they all were owned. Yeah, and they were like, here's a card, go whenever you want. It was like outback Corrobs, bone Fish Grill. There were like four of them on this. I never used it. This is a gold mine, I know, and I was so I didn't. I was so scared of being the guy that was looking like he was going to take free food. I never used it. It's out of my wallet, bloom big tips right right right. I know. I just felt like looking back, looking back, I wish I would have used it a lot. You had a good varide, I did. We were just we were stuck in one spot. Yeah that's a good spot though. Yeah, so you're going to Hooters. He goes to Hooters. What what's he doing at Hooters to make to decide. Well, he knew we had these cards, so like we just got a bunch of wings and uh, he loves you know, we all love footers, and uh he said, all right, cool, we're gonna make the record and this is what we're gonna do. But just gotta schedule it and we'll do it. But it's just gonna be us and me and you guys and that hip. We're like great. So gets scheduled. We lock ourselves in his studio in our c a for a month or three weeks in September. Another September thing. Where are you getting the money, by the way, to make this record? We just yourself. Okay, so you went on the road, you save money touring for the record? Yeah, once again, but on ourselves. Same guy at the bank said, well I'll go in a little heavier this time. Is good for him? Yeah, well we've already, we've done well in the first You didn't make him look smart already? Did you pay that one back all the way immediately immediately? That was a great One of the greatest things you know, to pay off isn't to prove someone right? Really like a wonderful blessing to prove someone right that believes in you absolutely. For a lot of my life, people were and I felt this way and you may feel this way too. For a lot of it, I was trying to prove the naysayer is wrong a lot of people. I didn't think I, or you or anyone else would turn out to you know, we come from places where a lot of people don't. You know, don't because it's not because they can, it's because they don't chase their dreams. When when you're told that your dreams can't come real, sometimes you got more than me. I shouldn't chase them, um, And I think that happens a lot in places like we're from. But whenever people would say now, you can't do it because of where you came from, for a lot of my life, I thought I'm just gonna prove them all wrong. But then there was that point or it flipped for me and it was I'm going to prove them all right that bet on me or then invested in me. I've never actually thought about it like in flipping it of like the people that really believe in you and letting them have the glory as well. And to me it has become one of you know, my favorite things to do is to go to someone and say, hey, you believe to me. And I was able to achieve this because of what you did for me back. And it's also encouraged me time and time again to believe in other people because you just are constant you're chasing the people that helped you. You're like, man, I'm so grateful that people bet on me, and you start betting other people because of this. And so when you mentioned your friend, I'm like, man, how great is that that you got to go and prove him right? Yeah? For all the big win you pay him back, and he's like, I'm gonna give you even more to you still him right now. So you go into the studio and how long has taken to record the new record? And how many songs you got? Songs took a out three weeks and then we did some overdubs and stuff after the fact, but uh, you know, and then we get a phone call from another electra a labeled Dave's imprint that he has through Warner in Atlantic and and they they heard it, you know, he obviously Dave sent it to him and and they called and said, hey, we we love this, and we wanna we wanna offer you another deal and what's the third deal? Party like that? Now this is what this is because we're in this now, you know that, you know, yeah, what is the At that point we can figure this out together, man, And it's like all right, well let's let's just let's eat and get back to work. Yeah that's pretty much. Yeah, it's like, great, what's the plan? You know, where everybody's a little sharper, everybody's a little more knowledgeable of how you know what, how you think it works? I guess and uh, you know, and that was it. So now that's you know, that's where we are now with this new record, and it's about to you know, come out here in a little it and it just just to you know, always to keep going, I think is what you know. Always tell people to ask, you know, people ask you, like what's your advice or what you're thinking. It's like just don't stop and like don't be afraid to jump and just keep kind of rocking. I mean you're gonna hit. I mean for us, I mean, hell, they go from like where we like that's first song to like dropping back down to like coming back you know, it's the peaks and valleys, and there are a lot of them. There's a ton of them. It's funny you bring that up. I have a whole whole deal that I talked about because you've had to go through no no, no, yes, no, no, no, no, no, yes. You know, it's a lot of nose to get to that one. Yes. And if you find that thing that you love so much, it could be music, it could be horses, it could be it's gonna be hugs. I don't need. If you find that thing that you love so much and someone telling you know doesn't keep you from loving it. That's what you're supposed to do. And as soon as someone telling you know it makes you go, well maybe it shouldn't be that's not your thing anymore. Like you guys are being told no, not for us, or yes and then no again a lot, and it sounds like you guys were never like, all right, well maybe this isn't for us. It's not like you guys were always like, we may have to go work at the buckle for a little bit, or do you know, picture boots. We'll figure something out. But you know, it's it's that if people telling you know does not disenfranchise you at all. That's what you're supposed to be doing. I agree with that, Like that is it because that someone saying not for you, we're not gonna and you're like, it's good. Maybe it's not for you, but I'm going to keep going. That's how you know, that's what you're supposed to be doing. And that's what's so cool about I'd tell you. What's cool is to me about you guys is that you're still a freaking band that you stayed together through through some ups but a lot of downs. That's I mean, that's great. I mean, that's my favorite part of this whole story, frankly, is that you guys are still together because who knows what's gonna happen. You may have tend number one, you may may get another deal in three years. Imagine that party. That party we're gonna do that. I a nap, Like all right, I'm gonna take a nap, celebration, nap. We'll be back. Come on here, we'll talk about the chapter here is. Here's the new single drinking song from Thousand Horses. Everybody was a drinking song to keep you going long into tree too strong. The glass raised every time it comes, hoverybody in the body, crawl, getting singing, even nib doors all wrong, every song my my, I mean, I guess it's my boss. I guess what kind of appears. But he's the head of country for I Heart Radios and Rod Phillips. Rod came to me and he goes, hey, this is a month ago, so you are that thousand Horses news and we didn't. He doesn't bring up music to me, and I don't bring up music to him unless it's kind of a And we don't even talk about the big the songs that are already hits, because those are the ones, you know, the al Dean's and the Luke they're gonna flya off the chart anyway. Um, we don't get a lot of time to spend together. But it's one of my dearest friends, and we worked together. And he comes up and he goes, hey, you hear that new thousand Mors song and drinking song. I don't even if it was out yet, and and I hadn't, and he was like, that's a good one. He never said he almost almost never says that that's great, and rarely, yeah, it rarely does he bring songs to my attention. So he said it was like it's real good. So here we are the songs out now, Like what's happening with it? Like, what's the hasn't he been playing it? Yeah? No not Yeah, we're there gearing up for that whole plan. So it's not as of right now, that's not happening yet. It's gonna happen. It's coming. Are you doing the whole You're going to stations and stuff, you know, I don't. I don't know what they have planned for all that they're they're doing that whole brutal I let them where you know, let's you know the people that do that. But I mean, well, it's it's coming very soon. I mean, you know it's out now, and then radio is right right behind it. Your voice is pretty distinct and very raspy and strong. You have a very really strong singing voice. If you get sick, what the heck happens? Oh man? You just hope that doesn't happen. Have you ever had to cancel let show because you had no voice? No? Wow? Is that right? No? I did one time, thought it was going to have to and then I got a shot. Yeah, and who Yeah, does that work? Tell me about it. They have been a couple of times, and I'm like, I can't go on stage and do standard. I feel like you go and then you feel like garbage the next after that, you gotta take the next week off. Well, my thing is, I'll book two or three shows and three, you know, consecutive nights, and so I'll get this shot, and I'll get an I V and a shot, and I get if they can put it in any hole in my body, I'll take it. I don't care what it is. Do you have anything to put in my hole? Medical? Not medical? Stick in the hole. Let's just see if it works. And so you get that shot and you're like, oh, and your your voice starts to come back a little bit and you're like, I'm top of the world, baby. And then you take it and you crush and then you feel like garbage and you're like, I don't know if I go on the next night. You do it again, and you do it again vicious, and then it just wallops you after that, But the show much freaking go on. Gotta play, got pay, I gotta pay for the lights of the podcast. I gotta go do this expensive lives people. Um, so, okay, so you have not you have a whole record that's gonna come out. Do you have a date on that yet? No, not yet. So they're pretty excited about it though. Man, we're so it's been a long time since we put out a record, you know, since the first one, and uh yeah, we're just ready to get back get back at it and do what we love to do. You're one line insta bio husband to Caroline Hobby, father of Sonny Yah. Let's let's talk about the baby first. How much is the baby changed your life? I mean, like unbelievable, Like how much she's changed my life. It's you thought you loved something and then like we have her, and like the amount of love you feel for that child is like nothing you've ever felt before, at least for me. And Caroline says the same thing. But you know, like Carolin, I love each other, we're married, that's all great, but like with her, just watching her grow and you know it definitely it drives you and it makes you more like pay attention to everything that's around you because you're now you've got a human that you gotta take care of and send an example for and and try to raise to be a good human, you know, And I think that's the that's the thing about me is just it's it's all fun too, Like I want to have fun with it and not be so serious. But you know, keep it. I don't know every parents probably got a different story. But and when I happened a baby, it's I'm gonna do bits with it all the time. Yeah, I'm gonna do like like a puppet. Don't have a baby. It's gonna be all bits all the time. Yeah, I mean the puppet thing. Whatever I've spen around my uh even Caroline have been married for how long? Five years? How's that going going great? Yeah, it's better be the answer. Yeah, can you imagine? I mean it's all right. I mean, I'm glad you have me on here getting things so much as I's been married for five years. Do you listen to every Caroline podcast? I not every single podcast. I do when I go on like walks or runs like I'll pop you one in like especially like a friend or something and listen to. I mean, she's got a very you know, female audience, extremely female. Yeah, I mean I think it's her. It's like a hundred percent female unless I'm listening to see what's going on in you may be you may maybe the one percent that ticks in from time to time. Um, but yeah, so a lot of the topics of conversation aren't really a male thing for me, I guess. But she does an incredible job. I mean, the people come to the house and I get to meet all these awesome people that come in and people that we've known, and she's just got a gift for that thing. Man, She's really good. Yeah. And she always says she's like, is this a stamp on my forehead that says tell me your problems or something. I'm like, yeah, I mean that's kind of been the name of the game for a long time. And uh, she's just done a really great job and being a part of your you know, your thing with the Heart and Bobby cast is. She loved it. It's called Get Real with Caroline Hobby if you want to check it out. And the thing is, I remember Caroline coming over and I was like, hey, because I think she thought she was really good. Thinks she's really good, really talented. She just hadn't been with the right person to actually show her what road to walk down and she was like, I never made any money off this, but I've been just grinding at it. And I was like, well, welcome to the world of you know art period. And she had done that in her band too, That's right. She was an artist before that and a radio regional done it before that. I mean, she's she's done it all and but now she's actually making a little money to a podcast, which is great because she's so good and it's just and I can just see it really turning into something really special for her. Like like, you know, you gotta pay the bills, but if you find something you love, you tend to work harder at it and pursue it with a passion. And when you do pursue something with a passion and you work hard at it, that's when you're successful. And that in you know music are I just really see big things for her and what she's doing. So I agree with me to you, man, she if she puts her mind to it and puts her head down, I mean she I can't wait to see what she turns all this into because she's such a special person in that way and and just just as great at it. Do you let her pick songs? Like, which one do you like? Play her everything? Yeah, And it's funny when like she's like, I don't like that, and I'm like, I don't know any wrong, But sometimes they're mostly don't me around. I think everybody plays their their wife, a significant other, um their music to see what they think. And does she ever go, let's do it, do it? Let me get on that. No, we haven't. We haven't done that yet. She always laughs about that. Maybe one day. You know, she's a great singer. So yeah, that would be fun. That would be fun. Maybe like a Christmas song, that would be fun. Christmas. I want to do a Christmas song, right, because then your band want to get mad if it's like Michael and Caroline Hobby the Hobbies Christmas, nobody gets mad at Christmas and let the band play on. That's the name of what is it? What does that? The name of the new album? Possibly the name just doesn't come out. It is not out yet. No, Yeah, we're just getting a street day. So it's like a baby that you have named. It's not out, Yeah, it's not quite there. What's up? What's sunny? The name of the baby? Like, what's the story of that? So Sonny Uh, yeah, it was a name that we just kind of randomly came up with. Her middle names Grayson. So a lot of people don't know, but I had a brother that passed away when I was younger from cancer and his name was Grayson. So I wanted to honor him with our family and her, you know, for his name, because he was such an incredible, you know guy, and you know, his life got cut short unfortunately, but um, you know that was kind of my like honoring him, you know, in his life that he had, in his impact on me. I mean he was he was the one that encouraged me to do music, and he helped me buy my first guitar, and he was always there and uh he was very wise, you know for his his age, and you know, it's it holds a special place in my heart. And then to have her carry his name on as something that we thought would be special. It's fast forward thirteen years. She's Sunny's fourteen years alto comes up. She's dad, I want to be a country singer. Oh boy, I mean, if that's what she wants to do. You know, what's the first piece of advice you give your fourteen year old daughter who wants to be a country singer. Oh man, first piece of advice? What would I have told myself? Oh? I mean I definitely I first write your own songs for sure. You know that would be the what somebody told me that, Um, I don't know, stay away from stay away from guys. That's probably gonna be whatever she is. You can't say that anyway. What's Newberry, South Carolina? Like? Man, it is a little small town, just a street light town. It's about ten thousand people I think there now, but just a little town. Everybody knows everybody. You know. We grew up about fifteen twenty minutes outside of town on some land that my parents had, and so we were country kids, you know, and everybody knew everybody in that town. Still do still talk. I mean it's a small town. I mean so I'm pretty sure it's similar to your small town. Well, your guys are like New York City. We're populate. Yeah yeah, yeah, okay, so little the same prize. Yeah yeah, well I'm related. Everybody's difference because I don't just know everybody. Somehow our twenty three and me all match up somewhere. I did the thing. It's kind of weird. What was the conversation, Like, um, you did you and billgo, We're gonna move out there together just in Nashville. Was that? Yeah? So we, Uh, Bill and I met in middle school and uh there was a one local music store and we would go there every day after school. And he was the only kid to play guitar too, and I played guitar, so we'd play every guitar in that place, and uh, we just kind of formed a friendship and bond over music and uh and when we were in high school, his cousin Graham, who's our bass player. You know, he come to the town every summer and stay with us, and he played punk rock music, and you know, he had his nipple piers and he was like the long haired rebellious guy. So he would come to town and we would just listen to records and play music together. And we were kids. And then we got the opportunity to come to Nashville, um to record with a guy that my dad had met, and UM, we came here and uh stayed here for like a few weeks, I think, and recorded a few songs. I don't know really what we got done. And this wasn't a good situation. That we got into, I don't think, but and then we went back home and came back to do some more and then we just never left. So I was eighteen at the time. Bill was seventeen. He was still in high school. But our principle was really cool because we were in a small town and they knew that, you know, that's what we wanted to do from away young age, because we knew everybody, and so they just supported us, and our parents supported us, you know, they they were there for us. And Bill got to do high school from here over there. Yeah, it's pretty cool. It's pretty cool that an educator actually let education happen in a non traditional way. Yeah, Principal Floyd, Bill Floyd was his name. That's that's really great. Look at you guys back again, and you know what, no speaking of what you said, like prove everyone, prove those people right. When we finally had success, we went back to our hometown and went to the high school and he'd be retired at the time, but he came back and we filmed a thing and like did a thing and he walked around the school and we kind of told our story together. And you know, it's because of him that we were allowed to miss school days and still get high school deployma. I mean we had decent grades. I don't know if I had great grades, but uh, you know it's guys people like that along the way that just do a little thing that helps you in the in a big way. And that was one of those moments to that we were proud to be a part of. Do you have long hair? Didn't you for a while? Oh yeah you don't. It's in your hat? Or did you cut it? No, it's it's cut okay. So it's it's what's that conversation, like who says, hey, cut your hair? Or do you say it? Or and and also I always wonder what the barber's thinking, like I'm going to be the one that has to cut all this hair. Well, I talked to my the lady that cuts my hair, Debbie. We probably talked for four years about me cutting my hair before I actually committed to cutting my hair. And I think one day I came in there and I was like, you know, I think maybe I'll do it, and she's like the like before you know it, She's like, you know, I'm just sorry to hearing you talk about this. So she just went at it before that chance to go back. She just went at it. And I was like, thank you for just making that because I had long hair my forever, like that was the rebel thing to do in our little small town. And yeah, she just cut it and I've never I love it. Are are you related? Are you the Black Crows related? Are you related? It was one of them, your cousin, Christian rich Robinson And what is their relation to you? So they're my my dad's cousin, my second cousin, but my dad and their dad grew up they were similar to the same age in Atlanta, and you know that was a yeah, So they're growing up like they were a big influence on me because like my cousin, I mean they were. Did you ever know them? Not till uh my dad let me meet them in ninety nine nine, when I was like really, I mean I was, you know, I was like twelve, um when they came to Columbia, South Carolina to play and he's like, all right, I'll let you. I'll let you meet your cousins. Now you're old enough to kind of understand and like you obviously were taking this music thing very serious, and uh, that's who told me to write my own songs was Rich. I was like, hey, man, what's your advice for a guy like me? You know, He's like, well, write your own songs. He's like, don't learn other people's You'll have time for that, but writing your own songs is what makes you unique. So I took that obviously to heart. And uh, and then ever since then we've been close and even two now, and you know it, it's kind of a while to have a you know, that's your family, you know, I don't think of it and the sometimes I'm like, well damn, I mean, those guys are a badass. But yeah, that was a big musical influence for me growing up. The biggest really because they were family, or because of their style. Their style and like you know, when you're a kid, you're like, man, these guys were rock stars and that's what you know, that's what I wanted to be. And uh, and they were cool and like I was a huge Black Crows fan. Yeah I still am. They're coming to play the show in a few weeks um here in nashvill which is pretty cool because I'm die hard and they were like, what come players shows? So they gonna come to brother because they're back together, they're coming to show. Awesome, Yeah okay. And so because i'm red Light Management, they're red Light Yeah yeah, Mark Yeah. And so they know I'm a fan, and I was like, dude, I'm on like hundred fifty cities like that. And so they're gonna come play the show. So I'm super pumped about it. But I've also sure, whatever you want. I'm a family affair. But it's it's interesting to hear and know their story because as big a fan as I am with them, I also followed their story. And I've listened to the interviews on Howard Stern and they did not like they there was a big old right between those two brothers. Yeah, they had some turmoil for sure. Did you talk to both of them while they were split or any either one of them or did you have one year were closer to I did? I mean I talked to Rich Moore, you know, and his wife and my wife are friends, and he's got kids and now that we have a kid, but and there they were more in town than Chris was. But I see Chris when he came to town and we go to the show, and you know, he was always great, But yeah, there was a time they don't even talk. They say this, this is not your saying. I listened to many interviews they didn't talk like years. I mean, imagine not talking to your sibling for sick and I always it say like, man, just it's your brother, like call but for whatever reason, you know. And then I guess they finally did their back. I love they're back because and they're playing they're playing the whole record from back Yeah, which that to me is one of the albums that, as I look back at what I really listened to as a kid, that was one of the records that was most influential to me growing up in Arkansas being a grunge kid. It was kind of this weird hybrid. It wasn't eighties metal, it wasn't like sound Garden, and it wasn't quite grunge, but there was a little bit of everything. And it wasn't quite country. But if you put you know, she Talks to Angels out now, you definitely could put it on country radio. Absolutely, they've said that before, So it's this. It was a big part of because again they were like southern rock is they don't like to be called that. Other things, right, That's what I'm saying. Yeah, what do you call it? Rock and roll band? But it was interesting though because when they came out that they were this sound and nobody else was. And I tell a lot of new artists that are different, for example, like a Cassie Ashton. I don't know if you know Cassie at all. It's she's so different, but yeah, but all of it. But she's so different, and at times it can be a struggle to be very different. But if you're different and you pop, you now have created them. You're now and everyone wants to get in your road. Every wants to get on the road that you've now created. I think you you saw that with guys like Sam Hunt, who comes in and you know, half the public was like, what is this garbage? But the other half was like, this is the greatest thing ever. But then success happens and then everybody's using snap tracks, everyone's using all of this thing. Everyone's like talking in their songs, yeah just so, and everyone is going, well, I don't know if that's gonna but once itau and Sam created his own lane, you see that with I would even say you guys did it for a bit where people were starting to hop in and be this kind of southern rock thing and so we're still here with Yeah, and with the Black Crows, that was that was what happened. They were the first of the sound and other people trying to emulate them, and it's the emulation is never quite the same. But I was just a massive fan. I'm so pumped there coming in, man, that I didn't even think about you guys being related till I was. I was like, I knew you related. It's not even my note. I knew related at somebody and I was like, Oh, they're coming on the show. Yeah, I'm I haven't announced that on yet on the radio show, but um, that's a cool one for me. That's my favorite artist to bring in or those from when I was a kid. Nobody is really famous and cool to me unless they were famously cool when I was a kid. That's like the time to be famous. Well, it's like, also, I don't care. It's like your favorite football team. It's like and I'm so jaded because I see what this fame crap is. There's nothing, it's nothing. Who cares? And like and I've just had like a little tiny morsel of it like just and it's like you're killing grills, man. But again, even at the tiniest more in it, it's like everybody's just putting the drawers on the same way. As my dad always said, everybody wakes up and puts their pants on the same way. To either and the person you think has that most together, Often it's the opposite. Often it's the opposite unless you were famous. When I was a kid, then you were awesome. Who's like your number one? Like the guy, like the person whoever you want to get on the show that you haven't done yet? Well, I mean I think I've got them. But for me it was like, obviously Garth was a big deal to me, Um, who do you? Was a huge part of my childhood. It was the biggest foot in the Blowfish fans and Darius and are buds and like close and so to get Darius and then do the hoodie stuff was cool. But even aside from the show. Once this is one of my cooler stories that most people don't find it fun at all. But I'm a massive sports fan and I was getting on a Southwest Caroland's flight and I was the last one on the flat right before they shut the doors, and they're like, I gotta get in, I gotta get it. So I go on and they shut the doors and one there's like just one seat left, and it's a middle seat, obviously, and I'm walking back and trying to find that seat, trying to find that seat, and in between there was one middle seat and there are two old men sitting on both sides of the middle seat. And one of the men was Eddie Sutton who coached Arkansas Oklahoma State. It was a massive college basketball coach. And the other one Barry Switzer, who is Arkansas played Arkansas one national champions Oklahoma Dallas Cowboys. And the seat was opened in the middle of them and they were famous to me as a kid, and I sat between them and I was like, oh my god, why didn't no one else sit here? And Barry Switzer was the nicest guy. He was. He we talked the whole time, and I was trying to be very I was cognizant. I'm not talking too much because sometimes now I'll get on Southwest and someone will go, oh, I'm gonna about Bobby, and then they won't stop talking. They will not and I love it. I don't get me wrong. I love it, but I want airplane. I get motion sick, and I get tired. I'm tired. I'm just trying to sit by the window because I want to take a nap. Yeah, and I put the headphones on, like no, no, no, I didn't want to be that and he but we talked the whole time. So for me, that was cool, like the childhood you know, fame. It's still cool. Otherwise who cares? Yeah, like I just wrote for my friends that are that are good to do good things and move on. It's always a few though, like that our garbage. Yeah, well listen, um, whenever you hear this is gonna go up soon. So right now, drinking song is out. But if you're listening to this far away now, the record may already be out. If you listen to this way later on and the record it's fine. Don't tell me the name of it. Don't tell me the name of it, because I need to remember this too. It is called let the band play on. Why that because you guys are like back and freaking let us play. Yeah, it's kind of the same. But at the end of this song, I ad libbed that, like randomly doing ad libs at the end of the song, and I said, let the band play on, Baby, and then I think grahamar bass player. We're trying to figure on the name for their title, and he's like, man, you said this in this song. He's like, why don't you just why don't we just call it? Let the band play on. That's what we are. We've always forged ahead, and we've always just played. And at the end of the day, we're just a band, and we're four dudes. They love to play music together and that's what we do. So that was the whole sentiment to the whole album, and that's what we did. We just went in and played one final note. Zack in your Band, which, by the way, he has an interesting name, yeah, which is the same Zack Zack Brown, which is is that weird? He's got the h But I mean, people did they ever confuse just so he's he's actually um he calls himself the real Zach Brown, but he uh. He was in Vegas one time that had staying at a hotel doing a photo booth event and out there with his wife and he was like, uh, checking in and the lady was like, oh, Zack Brown and she goes, sir, you know that we we have private you know, interest is for people like you. You know that you can come in and like don't we we're gonna take care of your room and we're gonna you know, room service will take care of all that, like, but thanks for staying at our hotel. And he's like, they're like, you're a musician, musician, right, and he goes, well, yeah, I am a musician and she's like okay, great, great, great, And you know he didn't lie, and then like they just kind of like took care of a lot of stuff for him, and he was like, man, this whole is Zach Brown. So he never had to pay. They just I think he did a little bit, but like they treated him, but any of it, if he gets any of it, because that's what he looks, nothing, nothing, nothing. My point was zac as we were playing a softball game, he slid hard in a second and like towards what did he is? That? What it was? He slid hard and then he limped off and I was like, I was wearing a boot on stage for a while. That stuck and he was giving it all he had. At a charity game, the only person I've seen go harder than Zach with Lauren Lane, who I saw it actually face first dive into home plate on a play that didn't matter and I will never forget it. And she went as harder because she and you can tell you play ball as a kid. She went face first harden too home and it was like eleven to one, and I was like, Lauren, there was no need for that. He could have just walked. Yeah, you could. So we'll listen. Congratulations, I'm glad, You're glad you're able to come over, and thanks for having me. I was very excited about this. Carolina said, hello, absolutely, there we go. Um, so there, we can check it out. Drinking song that is episode to three. You can follow Michael on Instagram at icle Hobby, or you can follow a Thousand Forces both the the the solo and the band. All right, that's it, We'll see you next time. Everybody. M hm hm hm