THE TROUBADOUR PODCAST

On this episode, Wynn Williams is the featured artist and talks with us about his start as a steer wrestler and eventual transition into a touring country artist.

Wynn is a rising star in the scene and his tip of the cap to traditional country is very evident in his music.

With his work ethic and attitude, he’s an artist who’s destined for big things.

Check out his music by clicking HERE.

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In this episode of the Troubadour we have a great conversation with West Texas Singer-Songwriter, Dalton Domino.

During our visit Dalton doles out some great and heartfelt advice for aspiring writers and artists.  He has a unique perspective on life and music and this interview gives the listener a great snapshot of who Dalton Domino is.

I also find out in the episode that Dalton, like me, is a fan of Todd Snider.  I dig his taste!

Enjoy the episode and make sure and check out Dalton’s website by clicking HERE.

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William Clark Green and his new record, "Live At Cheatham Street" is the topic of this episode. Enjoy!

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I’d never met Jody Booth before this interview.  But, before it was over, I knew I was talking to a guy that would be fun to sit at a bar with, down a few cold beers and just talk music and life with. 

Holy cow, I laughed a lot during this interview!  Like me, I’m sure that before this episode is over you can understand why Jody is liked by so many of his peers in the industry.

If you are unaware, beyond Jody’s own career, there are a couple other important musical females in his life.  The first, and in no particular order, is Bri Bagwell.  Bri has been a past guest on the podcast and her and Jody have recently teamed up for a new musical endeavor.  They are booking some gigs as a duo and they call themselves the “Set ‘em up Joes.”  Jody and Bri have been longtime friends and collaborators so they said it should be fun chasing down this little side project.

The other musical female in Jody’s life is his daughter, Laci Kaye Booth, who’s musical stardom began taking off after having success as a contestant on American Idol.  We visited with Jody a little bit about her and what it’s like to have a daughter who’s success in the business is really taking off.

There are a ton of other things I could say about this episode but I think I’ll let the audio speak for itself. 

Make sure to check out Jody’s website and music by clicking HERE !

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If you are even a little bit familiar with Texas / Red Dirt music, you are most likely well acquainted with the Braun brothers.  The four Braun brothers, originally from Idaho, have all found success in the Texas / Red Dirt genres with their music. 

Micky Braun, the youngest of the clan, followed his older brothers, Willy and Cody, of the band Reckless Kelly, to Texas around the turn of the century and he’s never looked back.

In this interview Micky explains that in the early years of the band’s existence the Motorcars would take almost ANY gig they were offered.  They were determined to prove that they were a legitimate hard-working band that deserved its’ place in the genre.  Now, some twenty years later, the proof is in the pudding.

Micky and the Motorcars are on the eve of releasing their new record “Long Time Comin’” produced by Keith Gattis.  Micky explains that this was the first project they’d recorded outside of Texas and talks a little about the experience of recording in Nashville with session players.

Another new turn of events with this latest Motorcar release is that Micky’s brother Gary, who is also in the band, was a writer on several of the songs as well as handling the lead vocals on the recording.

You can order your copy of “Long Time Comin” by clicking HERE.

Sit back and relax as you listen to Micky tell us what is was like to grow up in a very musical family in Idaho and find success as a musician in Texas!

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I first came across the music of Max Stalling around the year 2000.  I believe it was my older brother, Kade, who shared a copy of Max’s 1997 record, “Comfort in the Curves”, with me. 

By now, listeners of the podcast probably know how much I “geek out” on great songs and quality songwriting.  So, when I started listening to Max’s music, I couldn’t keep the grin from creeping across my face.  I often had those: “Damn…I wish I’d thought of that line” moments.

Without writing “over your head”, Max is still able to weave more graduate-level lyrics and concepts into his music than a lot of writers I listen to, which is part of the reason I dig him so much.  Through our conversation in this episode it’s easy to understand why, as he explains that when he was a child, he would actually just thumb through the dictionary to find new words he didn’t know.  Then, there’s the fact that prior to his career as a singer and songwriter, he worked as a research scientist developing new food products for Frito-Lay.  We actually got to visit a little about that part of his career too in this episode.  I find that kind of stuff fascinating so I’m glad Max was cool with sharing.

Max talks about his start in the music business which was suggested to him by several other songwriters and musicians he had befriended; specifically, Mark David Manders who Max is still close to. 

Max also has the good fortune of traveling and performing with his wife Heather, who plays fiddle along-side him.  We visit a bit about Heather’s career as a fiddle player as well. She started playing at the age of 3 and her ability allowed her to eventually land gigs in Branson, MO with some of the biggest names in the business.

While Max’s writing is unique, another thing that you’ll hear in Max’s music that is a bit uncommon is the use of a classical nylon-string guitar on most of his songs.  To me, that instrument just fits SO well with Max’s writing style and delivery.

So, if you haven’t had yourself a healthy dose of Max’s music, what are you waiting for?

Get on-board!

Max’s Website & Music

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While Adam Hood is well-known in the Texas and Red Dirt Music scene today, it all started for him in his home state of Alabama.  Many musicians and songwriters in the scene harken back to a time period in their lives (that usually coincides with their college years) when playing music became a possibility for a career.  Not for Adam Hood.  Adam was already playing a weekly gig, paying $150, at the ripe old age of 16!  So, to say he’s a veteran of this music thing is a fair assessment. 

I’d first been introduced to the music of Adam Hood when I ordered a Dell Computer back in 2004.  Pre-loaded on to every Dell Computer that year were a handful of songs from several artists.  To my good fortune, and with “A” being the first letter in the alphabet, Adam Hood and his song, “Play Something We Know” was at the top of the list.  I was instantly a fan, and the rest, as they say, is history.  During the interview Adam and I recount this story and how to this day, many folks still bring up getting introduced to his music through their Dell computer.

Adam tells us how using a industry person in Austin, TX to help him put out his 2004 EP “6th Street”, introduced him to others in the Texas Music and Red Dirt scene.  This eventually led to friendships and music contacts with the likes of Miranda Lambert and Frank Liddell.

After meeting Frank, Adam started writing for him in the mid to late 2000’s.  He was also starting to do more co-writing with folks in the Texas/Red Dirt scene by this time with artists like Stoney LaRue and Wade Bowen.

We visited quite a bit about Adam Hood, “the songwriter” on top of Adam Hood “the artist.” While Hood says he can’t imagine being one, without the other, he does have extensive songwriting credits and has wrote with some of the best out their including now-superstar, Chris Stapleton and has had cuts with many Texas/Red Dirt acts as well as national acts like Little Big Town.  You can check out a good deal of his songwriting credits by clicking HERE.

We eventually talk about things like being a family-man as well as a touring musician and songwriter which Hood has navigated quite well.

So, there’s your brief and written intro to this episode.  But like always, the only way to truly experience what we captured in our interview with Adam Hood, is to press that play button and listen.

Enjoy!

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In this episode, Carly and I had a great time getting to visit with Grammy nominated and critically acclaimed songwriter, Hayes Carll.  Once again, this interview proved to be all we’d hoped for.

Hayes explains that early on in his career he didn’t really think that being a well-known artist was necessarily feasible but, he did feel like he had the ability and desire that would allow him to be a successful writer of songs for other people; so first and foremost, that’s what he felt he was going to be.

While living on Galveston Island, TX Hayes explains how one-night walking down an alley he heard music coming from a place called the Old Quarter Acoustic Café.  This venue became Hayes’ second home and he said he just started camping out there.  This lead to building relationships with the touring artists that would come through to play on weekends like Sisters Morales and Ray Wylie Hubbard. 

Eventually Hayes recorded his first record at Willie Nelson’s Pedernales Recording Studio with Lisa Morales taking the reins as producer.

As he was plugging away playing shows where he could, he had the good fortune of a Dallas radio station and its listeners falling in love with one of his songs of the first record called “Down the Road Tonight”.  The radio station subsequently invited Hayes to play an event they were putting on and when Hayes played that song, he had the surreal experience of 3,000 people singing the song back to him and going nuts.  This turned out to be a seminal moment in Hayes career as a performer and writer giving him the validation he needed to press on.

In the latter parts of this interview we visit about Hayes relationships with other great artists and songwriters such as Corb Lund and Darrell Scott; both of whom I regard as major influences that I had the good fortune to share stages with during my days of touring.

We also get to visit about Hayes’ latest record entitled “What it is”.  Check out the VIDEO for a song off the record called “Times Like These” that was filmed at the Coupland Dance Hall.

Carly and I both agreed we could have easily visited for another hour with Hayes and we can’t wait to have him on again in the future!

Enjoy the episode!

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So imagine this:  You’re a 15 year-old with musical aspirations.  Fatefully, your sister marries a guy who is in a band, tours on a bus, and is cool if you ride along every summer until you graduate high school… IMO, that’s the hand of God at work.  This is the actual life experience of Texas singer-songwriter, Charlie Shafter.

In this episode you will quickly realize just how likeable of a guy Charlie Shafter is.  Shafter’s musical stylings are certainly influenced by other artists he mentions in this interview such as James Taylor, Neil Young and Bob Dylan. 

To Yours Truly, Charlie’s music is a nice breath of fresh air in a in the Texas Country – Red Dirt Music world that is sometimes a bit over-run with songs following “way too familiar” of themes. (Beer drinking, skirt chasing, unrequited love, etc.)

Charlie and his side-kick, multi-instrumentalist, “Starfire On the Mountain”, can be seen HERE doing what they do best together.  And yes, the guy’s name is Starfire On the Mountain.  You can hear all about how “Starfire” got his name within the episode.

During the episode we also visit a bit about how Charlie and Starfire also produced almost 70 episodes of their own podcast years ago called “You Can’t See Us with Starfire and Charlie.”  Charlie explains that their podcast was mostly about non-music topics such as conspiracy theories.  Click HERE to check it out!  Maybe if we get enough people to listen to it Starfire and Charlie will resurrect it!

Charlies latest album, “When I was Yours and You were Mine” was mostly penned during a time in his life that can be described as highly emotional and complex.  Fans of Texas Country Music will also be interested to know that Josh Abbott acted as a co-producer on the record along with Dwight Baker.  Click HERE to check it out.

Everything Charlie Shafter can be found by clicking HERE or by following him on your favorite social media mediums.

Enjoy the episode!

Listen via:

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