LIVE: Martina McBride

[0] He's an on -chair ex -bub.

[1] He's an on -chair like sport.

[2] I was just a baby.

[3] My mama told me, son, always be a good boy, don't you ever play with gun?

[4] But I shout a man in Reno just to watch him die.

[5] And when I hear that whistle blowing, I hang my head in crap.

[6] After midnight, we gonna let it all hang down.

[7] After midnight We're gonna struggle And shout Gonna stimulate some action We're gonna get some satisfaction We gonna find out what it is all right now He's an old chair that's fun I'm crazy That my love could hold you For trying And I'm crazy for crying And I'm crazy How's everybody up there?

[8] You guys, we love Nashville so much We started coming here.

[9] Well, I used to work here when I worked for GM.

[10] Those were dark days.

[11] But this town has become, you know, for me, only second with Austin, Texas.

[12] I mean, this is such a wonderful place.

[13] My wife hosted the CMAs or the CMTs or the country music somethings.

[14] Maybe five years in a row I fell in love with Hattiebee's Chicken, Princess Chicken.

[15] One of the loves of my life, Houston Estes is here.

[16] He's the one who told me to audit my business manager.

[17] if you listen to the show.

[18] A lot of great friends here.

[19] Just a wonderful, wonderful city.

[20] We're so excited to be here.

[21] And I brought a little friend with me. She is miniature and size and maximum in power.

[22] Monica Padman.

[23] A southern welcome.

[24] Yeah, for a southern child returned home.

[25] The prodigal daughter.

[26] That's right.

[27] I wish you hadn't worn heels so they could really get a sense of the dimorphism between you and I. I have a good five inches right now that I don't normally have.

[28] Like, is anyone scared I might injure her just by being next to her?

[29] It's so big.

[30] Oh, I'm powerful enough.

[31] I can take it.

[32] So.

[33] The kind folks at Lazy Boy have donated this furniture for us, and we will be donating this after the show to Habitat for Humanity.

[34] Right.

[35] So we've been wanting to come to Nashville for a while, but we very much wanted to come and get to talk to somebody that was significant for this city.

[36] Yes.

[37] And lo and behold, we landed ourselves a queen.

[38] Oh, yeah, we did.

[39] A legitimate Nashville queen.

[40] That's right.

[41] Every nomination imaginable.

[42] She tied Reba McIntyre for Best Female Artist of the Year.

[43] She is the toast of the town.

[44] Martina McBride, please join us.

[45] Thank you.

[46] What a get.

[47] What a nice welcome.

[48] Thank you so much.

[49] The gang here knew that you loved round features and they made you a beautiful...

[50] Is that needlepoint or macromay?

[51] What is that?

[52] Needle point?

[53] Isn't that gorgeous?

[54] Very nice.

[55] Thank you so much.

[56] Now, you've done a million live shows in your day.

[57] Have you ever seen a crowd of nicer human beings in the arm cherries?

[58] Never, never, never.

[59] Got some good ones.

[60] Yeah, if you're feeling low, you just step out in front of the arm cherries and everything else takes care of itself.

[61] Your ego boosts.

[62] So, Martina, first and foremost, we were shocked to hear that you would do this.

[63] First of all, there's no win for you.

[64] There's several thousand people.

[65] I'm a big fan of the show.

[66] I find that really hard to believe.

[67] It's very flattering.

[68] So flattering.

[69] It is very flattering.

[70] Are you a podcast person in general?

[71] I have just started getting into podcasts.

[72] Okay.

[73] At the past, I don't know, eight months or a year.

[74] Uh -huh.

[75] So, you know, we met on the set of parenthood.

[76] I don't know if you remember.

[77] Oh, yes, yes, yes.

[78] We were friends with, our friends with May and Miles.

[79] May Whitman.

[80] Yes.

[81] Yes, and Miles Seller.

[82] And so we came out to go on set, and I met you and the rest of the cast.

[83] Yeah, May Whitman is probably our favorite human being on planet Earth.

[84] Yeah, she's amazing.

[85] Yeah.

[86] And in fact, her ex -boyfriend's brother will be coming to the 930 show.

[87] That's neither here nor there.

[88] Now, you've been in Nashville now for quite a long time, yeah?

[89] Since, what, 89?

[90] 1990.

[91] So that's 29 years, fast math.

[92] And a couple months, that'll be 30 years.

[93] Yes.

[94] And tell me why is Nashville so fantastic?

[95] Because as I've been traveling through town and talking with my friend Huey, y 'all are pretty mad that this place is getting so popular.

[96] It sounds like...

[97] We are kind of pissed about it.

[98] Yeah.

[99] No, it's just Nashville has been such a small city.

[100] You know, it always had this really small town feel.

[101] And I'm from a very small town of about 150 people.

[102] Uh -huh.

[103] In Kansas?

[104] In Kansas.

[105] So for me, I'm not really a city girl.

[106] So for me, moving here was like, oh, this is cool, I can handle this.

[107] It's like everybody's really nice, and you can get around, and it's easy.

[108] And, yeah, you know, people would always, it's over.

[109] It's over.

[110] I mean, I go out of town for the weekend, and I come back, and I'm like, what is happening?

[111] Now, for us on the outside who visit, it just appears to keep getting better and better and better.

[112] There's so many amazing restaurants here.

[113] That's true.

[114] You got a crate and barrel, we heard.

[115] We did.

[116] Congratulations on the crate and barrel.

[117] We heard it was a really big day.

[118] It was a big, I went to the grand opening.

[119] Oh, yeah, there we go.

[120] Oh, wow.

[121] I'm a big crate and barrel fan.

[122] Was there a line, like, for the iPhone?

[123] Was there people around the block for crate and barrel?

[124] It was an exclusive party.

[125] Oh, no, I got invited.

[126] It was like a pre -grand opening, so I got invited.

[127] I was so happy.

[128] They had wine and, you know, got to shop, and it was great.

[129] Did you get a discount?

[130] I did get a discount.

[131] Oh, good, good.

[132] I would hope so, because they probably put pictures.

[133] of you in the paper and stuff.

[134] I've been on, like, Twitter for years saying, we need a crate and barrel in Nashville.

[135] Wow, this is great.

[136] It's all because of me. I made it happen.

[137] You've climbed that mountain.

[138] Is there another chain you'd like to see get to Nashville that maybe we can help promote?

[139] You got a chick -fil -A, I assume.

[140] We do.

[141] We just got one, though.

[142] Oh, you did?

[143] We just got one just a few months ago.

[144] We boycott it because Monica and I are pro.

[145] Gay rights.

[146] With that said, we fucking.

[147] Love it.

[148] It's so hard to not eat.

[149] It's the hardest ethical thing we've ever been faced with.

[150] It really, truly is.

[151] We will sit around and talk about what we're missing out on.

[152] We haven't been eating it for a while, and I still want it every day.

[153] Yes, yes.

[154] And we've lied to ourselves and said, oh, I think they're pro -gay now.

[155] Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[156] We'll find the headline that matches what we want to hear.

[157] Yeah, confirmation bias.

[158] So in the most frustrating thing is our very best friend, Jess, Roland, who is as gay as it fucking gets.

[159] Oh, yeah.

[160] He comes by the house sometimes, Martina.

[161] 10, 12 chick filets.

[162] Yeah.

[163] And we're like, what are you doing?

[164] We're not eating it.

[165] You shouldn't be eating it.

[166] We're doing this for you.

[167] Yes.

[168] He's like, they're too good.

[169] I don't care what they think about me. It's very upsetting.

[170] It's very upsetting.

[171] Yeah.

[172] And then one other fun thing will happen is on set for my TV show.

[173] Sometimes the caterers order it.

[174] Well, I didn't, that's not my money.

[175] I didn't give any money to them.

[176] So, you know, hey.

[177] So I'll call Minchermouse and be like, I got seven hot ones coming in.

[178] And we will sit there and devour with them all.

[179] I do have a cheat.

[180] I will eat it when I'm home in Georgia because I feel like it's not going to go away in Georgia.

[181] Oh, okay.

[182] That's what you tell yourself.

[183] It's a lot of you'll see me in Georgia.

[184] No one.

[185] No one will see me. All right.

[186] So good.

[187] You're all covered there.

[188] Now you're from Kansas and you're from, I didn't really even realize I'd never heard of the town.

[189] So I assumed it was small, but 120 people?

[190] But 150.

[191] 150?

[192] Yeah.

[193] So it's possible to sleep with 10 % of that population.

[194] Oh, boy.

[195] It's rare that you can sleep with 10 % of a city, but it could get done in a long weekend.

[196] I graduated with 10 people in my graduating class.

[197] For real?

[198] Yeah, so I always say I graduated in the top 10 in my class.

[199] Now, tell me about that prom.

[200] Was it in a phone booth?

[201] It was pretty bleak.

[202] Yeah.

[203] But it's like going with your brother.

[204] Do you know what I mean?

[205] I mean, like, I've known these boys since kindergarten.

[206] So I never dated anybody in the actual high school.

[207] Right.

[208] Yeah.

[209] Did you have, like, a dairy queen or anything nearby?

[210] No, no. No. No, I'm talking about, there's no stoplight.

[211] No stoplight.

[212] Wow.

[213] Dirt streets.

[214] Uh -huh.

[215] There's a few churches.

[216] There is a liquor store.

[217] Oh.

[218] Mixed match.

[219] A post office.

[220] And that's about it.

[221] Oh, wow.

[222] And your dad, your mother and father owned a dairy farm.

[223] Mm -hmm.

[224] I was really young.

[225] When he had the dairy farm, I was probably, you know, he quit doing that when I was about five, or maybe seven, and then it was just a wheat farm.

[226] Oh, it was a weed farm.

[227] And also he built...

[228] Not a weed farm.

[229] Well, now it is, probably.

[230] Is it legal here in Tennessee?

[231] And you all are still here.

[232] Okay, cool.

[233] You know, it'll make that chick -fil -a -slide -down guilt -free is a...

[234] Oh, boy.

[235] A little duby.

[236] A couple edibles.

[237] You'll forget what you steam.

[238] for but your dad well first of all if you were five or seven did you actually like milk cows did that happen i've milked a cow a cow yeah it wasn't like a it wasn't a regular thing but i did go with my sister we would go down to the pasture and we would round up the cows and drive them down the lane or walk them down the lane to the barn so my dad could milk do you miss that at all is that something that you would want your kids to have or you're like yeah yeah i do actually growing up in that really rural, safe, you know, me and my brother would get on our bikes and ride all day, just total freedom.

[239] Yeah.

[240] And also having chores, like physical labor chores, and having animals to care for.

[241] Yeah.

[242] I really missed that for them.

[243] And I would love to go back and live on a farm at some point.

[244] This will sound macab, but also you have kind of firsthand experience with the food chain, which I think people would be helped to recognize, you know?

[245] Like, I read this book called On Killing about how we're kind of all fascinated with death.

[246] And average kid watches like a million murders by the time they're eight on TV, normal TV.

[247] This person's theory was, you know, we used to, grandma and grandpa used to die at home.

[248] We buried them maybe in the backyard.

[249] We dealt with all that.

[250] We actually processed meat on our farms.

[251] We had a firsthand relationship with death and the whole circle of life.

[252] And then when you're completely removed from that, you just become like perversely fascinated by it because you don't have any connection to it.

[253] Right.

[254] Do you feel good about death?

[255] Probably not.

[256] Well, I have seen it first hand.

[257] We used to have one time a year where we would, you know, put up chickens.

[258] And so, yeah, you definitely get to see that firsthand.

[259] And then my mom would go through the whole process of plucking them and, you know.

[260] My great grandma had them.

[261] And I do remember watching my Uncle Kail one.

[262] And, boy, they get busy for a long time after they're dead.

[263] Running around with, like, a chicken with your head cut up?

[264] They're running around with the chicken with the headscot.

[265] That's a real thing.

[266] Yeah.

[267] Yeah.

[268] I've never seen chickens more active.

[269] Sorry, Monica.

[270] Yeah, more strikes against Chick -fil -A.

[271] You're right.

[272] Chick -fil -A is not looking so good.

[273] Yeah, not faring well.

[274] But your father started making cabinets, and then he actually started selling cabinetry at some point.

[275] Yeah, and he was a carpenter.

[276] Like, he would build houses and really kind of just whatever needed to be done.

[277] You know, install cabinetry, fix up bathrooms, build houses.

[278] He was a carpenter.

[279] Yeah.

[280] And you used to, is this apocryphal or true that you kind of spent a lot of time with dad in the shop?

[281] and that's maybe where you were introduced to country music?

[282] Yeah, well, my dad also had a country band as a hobby.

[283] So he was a guitar player.

[284] He still plays guitar and sings as a hobby.

[285] Daryl, right?

[286] Daryl.

[287] And so there was always, you know, music around our house.

[288] And it was usually really traditional country music, Ernest Tubb, Hank Williams, Loretta Lynn.

[289] Patsy Klein.

[290] And then also he got into the Outlaw country.

[291] Ooh, that's where I lived.

[292] Oh, yeah.

[293] I was going to sing a whaling song, and then I ran out of, confidence.

[294] Oh.

[295] Yeah.

[296] He's going to sing Lonesome Ornery and Mean, and then I pulled the plug, yeah.

[297] You still might.

[298] I got, let's be honest.

[299] Yeah, so there was always music around the house.

[300] He always had bands as a hobby.

[301] I started singing in the band when I was about seven years old.

[302] In his band, right?

[303] In his band.

[304] So, Martina's real last name is Shift.

[305] I shouldn't say Real.

[306] No disrespect to John, who I met.

[307] Originally, how about that?

[308] Your maiden name is Shift.

[309] Uh -huh.

[310] And so the band was the Shifters.

[311] Shiff and Shifters.

[312] So it couldn't be cuter.

[313] It's a family name, the Shifters.

[314] It's a family name, yeah.

[315] And my mom ran the soundboard.

[316] My dad played guitar and sang and was the band leader.

[317] I played keyboards and sang.

[318] My younger brother played guitar and steel guitar and sang.

[319] And I had, for a while, my older brother played drums.

[320] So it was a family, you know, we would go out on Saturday night and find this, like, abandoned school building.

[321] We'd just have a dance for four hours, and people would come from miles around, and bringing their own big coolers and people of all ages, like from little kids to Grandma and Grandpa.

[322] And we just play music for four hours and they two -step.

[323] How would you promote that show?

[324] How would people know to come to that abandoned?

[325] Well, it's a pretty small town.

[326] It's a small town.

[327] You didn't need radio advertising.

[328] Let's just put it that way.

[329] Right.

[330] So seven or eight years old, were you too young to even be nervous or were you nervous or did you feel protected by, you know, the safest group of people you could be with?

[331] Did that help to be out on stage with...

[332] Yeah, I just loved to sing.

[333] I started when I was about four years old.

[334] So for me, it was just who I was.

[335] It was what I did, and people seemed to like it, and I got to be with my parents, and so I didn't really think twice about it.

[336] Right, and then your role kind of increased throughout this process, because initially you just sang right, you didn't play keyboard?

[337] Right.

[338] Were you taking lessons and whatnot?

[339] Yeah, I took lessons.

[340] Okay, so is it kind of, because I'm imagining like the Jackson Five, where it's like, oh, look at all these, I was saying, you're like, well, hold on a second.

[341] What's this one's name?

[342] Michael?

[343] Huh.

[344] Let's put him up front.

[345] Let's get him to, there are many more songs that are in Michael's wheelhouse.

[346] Like, was it, I mean, not to put your other family members in an uncomfortable situation, but was it obvious you should be like, let's get her, let's push her to the front?

[347] I don't know, because I think it was just so unique.

[348] Uh -huh.

[349] I think that I was the only little girl that really sang in that area and did it on a regular basis.

[350] And, you know, it was just unique.

[351] and different.

[352] But my family's very talented.

[353] It wasn't really like they pushed me out front.

[354] It was kind of an equal opportunity situation.

[355] And did that make you popular in town?

[356] Did that help?

[357] I mean, you only had nine of classmates, so it doesn't really, you're not going to fall into any of my stereotypes about, like, jocks and preps and soches and whatnot.

[358] But did it help to be like known in your community as this spunky singer?

[359] I don't know.

[360] I think it made me a little weird.

[361] Oh, it did.

[362] You know, only because in a small town, you know, sports is so the center of everything.

[363] Yeah.

[364] And like I said, I was the only one doing this.

[365] Not that I, you know, I had friends and stuff and I was not like an outcast, but it just was so different.

[366] But at the same time, we took it for granted and it was just the way it was.

[367] Does it make sense?

[368] Sure.

[369] Well, if your entire family's doing it, there's nothing that unique about it.

[370] Yeah.

[371] I mean, from our point of view, that's a very unique experience to be in a family band.

[372] but yeah that's just normal and um when you were doing that did you at what point did you have aspirations to do this professionally or did you yeah i did when i was a teenager or even before i always just loved to sing i was the kid that would be you know while other people had sports practice i would come home from school we lived 10 miles down a dirt road so once you were home you were kind of home it was like you could run down play video games at the corner store right so i was would just put on records and I would sing along with Linda Ronstadt records and Bonnie Rate records and later you know Pat Benatar records and heart and I would just sing for hours because we didn't have a vocal teacher in that little town so that was really how I learned to sing was just trying to match the tone and the pitch and the nuances of those singers yeah and so you know I can remember friends would come stay all night and they'd be like let's can we go outside and play and I was like well no don't you want to sit and listen to these records you knew barracuda inside now oh yeah you did oh wow god i'd love to hear that have you ever played that live that would blow people's minds if they came to see you and you just ripped out barracuda wouldn't it yeah just consider it think about it yes so great so you went from the shifters a very wholesome family band and then you joined a rock band or maybe you formed the rock band i joined the rock and guys buckle up for the name of the rock band oh boy it was the penetrators oh oh You're like one of these Disney stars that, like, they turn 18, they're like, I'm a slap now, woo!

[373] No, I'll tell you the thing is, like, I was so naive that I really, you know, these were older guys that I...

[374] Oh, I imagine, yeah.

[375] Most penetrators tend to be of age.

[376] They came to my parents' house and asked if I, and they were kind of family friends or whatever, And so I went on the road, and I didn't, I did not know, I had no association.

[377] I thought, yeah, penetrators will penetrate you with our music.

[378] It's so rock and roll.

[379] Oh, wow.

[380] Yeah, first with our music and then later in the evening.

[381] I didn't know.

[382] I swear I didn't know.

[383] And we, you know, rode around in this van that had a hole in the floor.

[384] And we would like.

[385] Did you throw your drugs out if the cops were coming?

[386] I remember one time we were going to play a week long at this, like, holiday inn or something.

[387] Yeah.

[388] So we pooled all our money together, and we bought a huge jar of peanut butter, a jar of jelly, and a loaf of bread.

[389] And that was going to be our food for the week.

[390] For the week.

[391] And we were going to share it all.

[392] And everybody was like, stop taking so much peanut butter.

[393] Like, you know, this has to last us all week.

[394] Anyway, the gig fell through and we just stuffed ourselves on peanut or jelly sandwiches.

[395] Wait, how old were you during the penetrators?

[396] You have to keep saying that, right?

[397] I was...

[398] The overrunner on me saying penetrators is at least it does more times.

[399] Just to get your expectations right, yeah.

[400] I was 17.

[401] 17.

[402] And were you the lead singer of the penetrators?

[403] I was.

[404] Of course.

[405] And did you guys do covers or did you have original songs?

[406] We did mostly covers.

[407] We did heart and journey, Pat Benatar.

[408] Oh, yeah.

[409] Yeah.

[410] Like, wrong on.

[411] And this is what, mid -80s, late 80s?

[412] 84.

[413] Ooh, prime time to be singing some Benatar at a holiday Anne Express.

[414] Well, they weren't even expresses yet.

[415] No. Do you remember off the top of your head what the guarantee was for that week -long residency?

[416] I would love to know.

[417] I bet it was in like the $70 range.

[418] Yeah.

[419] Probably so.

[420] Did you have any aspirations to go to college?

[421] Well, yes.

[422] I moved to Hutchinson, which was about 40 miles away, town of about 40 ,000 people.

[423] And I worked at the Dairy Queen.

[424] Oh, here we go.

[425] I knew a Dairy Queen would be in this story.

[426] Someone who's actually worked at the Dairy Queen.

[427] But you're not Indian, or are you?

[428] You don't seem to be Indian.

[429] You don't know this, but Monica, unfortunately, as a kid, a boy she liked, said he would date her, but he couldn't because her family worked at Dairy Queen, which they didn't.

[430] They didn't.

[431] They didn't.

[432] But it was a stereotype.

[433] I thought you were going to say, you don't know this, but Monica's unfortunately Indian.

[434] No, I briefed her on everyone's ethnicity back.

[435] Good, good, good.

[436] It's hard to tell.

[437] Wabi -wob is scotch irish.

[438] You worked at Dairy Queen.

[439] So I worked at Dairy Queen.

[440] I sang in this band.

[441] The penetrators, yeah.

[442] And I went to this junior college.

[443] Okay.

[444] For one semester, because here's the thing.

[445] My school was the exact opposite of a college prep school.

[446] Okay.

[447] I was not prepared.

[448] The one with ten students.

[449] Yeah.

[450] The year I graduated, there were 34 kids in the four grades of high school.

[451] Oh, my goodness.

[452] What are you talking about sports?

[453] What, they play tennis?

[454] Eight -man football.

[455] Eight -man football.

[456] Oh, wow.

[457] Some basketball and whatnot.

[458] The good news if you have a shitty athlete as a kid, move there, they're going to play.

[459] Yeah, sure.

[460] They're going to have to play.

[461] Who else will they play?

[462] I mean, many years later, I was watching football with my husband, and I was like, what are all these teams that are going in and out?

[463] He's like, well, there's a defensive team and an offensive team.

[464] I'm like, oh, my poor guys just had to stay out there and play the whole game.

[465] They probably ripped tickets at the front of the stadium.

[466] too, and park cars.

[467] Stadium, that's so funny.

[468] The field.

[469] So you're over at the DQ.

[470] The Blizzard has just come out, by the way.

[471] Yeah.

[472] That's like shaking up the whole paradigm.

[473] It was very cool.

[474] The peanut buster parfait was my fave.

[475] Me too.

[476] I love that.

[477] I'm allergic to peanuts and I'll still eat it twice a year.

[478] I don't care.

[479] Extra hot fudge, please.

[480] Do you know the year of the blizzard off the top of your head?

[481] Me?

[482] I don't.

[483] I just remember when I was, like, in seventh grade, that shit hit the front page.

[484] Oh.

[485] Am I right?

[486] It's in that zone, right?

[487] I learned how to make a blizzard.

[488] You had to do the little curly cue.

[489] You had to be able to do that before you could wait on people.

[490] Oh, okay.

[491] You know.

[492] And did you hold the blizzard upside down?

[493] And if so, did it ever go wrong?

[494] I didn't do that.

[495] Oh, okay.

[496] Now when you, yes.

[497] And I feel bad for them.

[498] Go to a dairy queen.

[499] We only go on family vacations, so there's always like 12 of us.

[500] And we'll order 12 blizzards.

[501] And the guy's like, um, Um, rhesus peanut buttercup, bananas, what was there?

[502] Oreo, cream pie, silk blast.

[503] And I'm like, you can forget the pageantry.

[504] Just give us the damn drinks.

[505] They look good.

[506] I don't even know why.

[507] They want it to be so thick.

[508] Yes.

[509] Like dinty Moore, soupy with a fork.

[510] They really want you to dig into this blizzard.

[511] Yikes.

[512] Yeah.

[513] It's extreme.

[514] All right, sorry.

[515] You're working over at Dairy Queen.

[516] I'm working at Dairy Queen.

[517] I'm trying to.

[518] to go to college, but I'm so overwhelmed and confused how to do it.

[519] I was living off campus.

[520] Well, I don't know if they had a campus, but I was living in a little duplex, you know, that cost me like $200 a month.

[521] Just didn't understand, like, the whole scheduling thing, and it was just overwhelming to me. So I only went a semester, and then I didn't go back.

[522] And I really wish that I'd stuck with it, but, you know.

[523] Well, I think it worked out.

[524] Yeah, you're doing okay.

[525] Everything seems fine.

[526] But there was the penetrators.

[527] I mean, there was...

[528] Yes, yes, yes, yes.

[529] The penetrators are only going to wait so long for you to learn intro to biology or whatever.

[530] Now, the penetrators unfortunately broke up.

[531] And then you formed another group called the double penetrators.

[532] No, no, no. You wish.

[533] Was it called Lotus or something peaceful?

[534] You went the other way.

[535] Yeah, I did.

[536] Well, I sang in a band called The Works.

[537] The works.

[538] Which I sang, you know, Whitney Houston, Bonnie Rate.

[539] These are big swings.

[540] I know.

[541] Whitney?

[542] I didn't know any better.

[543] Did you do dance with somebody?

[544] I did.

[545] I want to dance with somebody.

[546] With somebody who loves me. I got it.

[547] You got it.

[548] You always sing in front of our, like, amazing artists.

[549] I'm doing it in hopes that she'll, it sounds so bad she has to fix it.

[550] No, but I'm trying to get to the best.

[551] band that you formed where you then met your wonderful husband who I met backstage, John.

[552] Well, I sang in a band called Lotus.

[553] You're right.

[554] Five nights a week at this club.

[555] And I ended up having some vocal issues.

[556] And so I had to take a little bit of time away from that band.

[557] Plus, well, I ended up doing two nights a week instead of five.

[558] And the club owner came to me and said, by the way, you need to do more interaction with the audience.

[559] So I think that we're going to have you, give you a wireless mic, and have you come out and sit on people's laps and see.

[560] That sounds safe, yeah.

[561] I was like, sit on people's, I'm not your girl for that.

[562] Also, you look very unstable on stage, so we put a pole up in the middle.

[563] Yeah.

[564] Just feel free to stabilize yourself in a circle.

[565] And boy, you seem to be spitzing up there, so just, why you drop a layer while you're stabilizing yourself?

[566] So crazy.

[567] So then I decided to put this band together on my own, and that's how I met my husband, because somebody said, John McBride has a rehearsal space.

[568] So why don't you give him a call?

[569] He's just building it, and you can rehearse your band there.

[570] And I said, cool.

[571] So I went and did that.

[572] I met John, and our band never made it out of the rehearsal space.

[573] Okay.

[574] Because I was dealing with a bunch of babies.

[575] Like, I was 18 years old, and I was the only one that had a car.

[576] These are 25, 30 -year -old men.

[577] And I had to go around and pick them all up at their parents' house.

[578] So I've got it stacked against me from the get -go.

[579] But we rehearsed, and our biggest dream was to do the Holiday Inn circuit.

[580] Sure.

[581] Right?

[582] So we got a guy, an agent from Kansas City named Frank, literally had a trench coat.

[583] Oh, great.

[584] Like very shady character.

[585] He came down to see us and he said, you know, I've got you this week in the Holiday Inn in Missouri.

[586] And we were like so excited.

[587] band imploded I go to my husband we hadn't even started dating yet but he lived in this warehouse where the rehearsal space was I thought this is a catch he doesn't even live with his mom yeah no he lived there I mean it was like wow he had a car too so I said to him I don't know what I'm going to do I think Frank is going to kill us like he's not going to be happy and John said you want me to call him I'll call him for you Yeah.

[588] There we go.

[589] And I said, really?

[590] Because I was so used to being on my own and taking care of everybody and everything and paying all the bills.

[591] And I was like, you'd really do that.

[592] You'd call that for me. And he was like, yeah, I'll call him for you.

[593] And John says, Frank, this is John McBride.

[594] This band ain't going to make it.

[595] And I was like, my hero.

[596] He hung up that phone and you're like, what are you doing for dinner?

[597] No, we just became really good friends.

[598] And I would go there after my set finished at the the club because I was still singing in that band and, you know, at three in the morning.

[599] And we just talk and hang out.

[600] And we met and like a month later we started dating a month after that, we got engaged.

[601] And we set it for a year ahead.

[602] So conventionally terrible plan.

[603] Yeah, well.

[604] Right?

[605] Most people who get engaged on day 30 aren't long for this married life.

[606] But you're one of these cases where it worked out because you guys have been married since 1990?

[607] Yeah.

[608] No, 88.

[609] So 31 years.

[610] Oh, my God, 31 years.

[611] Congratulations.

[612] That is actually impressive.

[613] Very.

[614] Stay tuned for more live show after this exciting commercial break.

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[617] Or you can listen for free wherever you get your podcasts.

[618] 31 years, that's impressive.

[619] So you guys, you decide to move to Nashville.

[620] also has bigger dreams than where he's at.

[621] Yeah, he had a concert sound company, so he provided speakers and mixing boards and sound for concerts that would come through Wichita.

[622] Yeah.

[623] Because we were living in Wichita at this point.

[624] So I'll never forget, I had taken some time off from singing and was singing in this background for this country band named the Fowler Brothers.

[625] Very wholesome name, right?

[626] Uh -huh.

[627] And then my dad decided to sing in the Battle of the Bands at this club, which he never did the entire time that I grew up.

[628] We never did a battle of the band's thing.

[629] But he's like, I really want to do this.

[630] And would you come and sing?

[631] I'm like, sure.

[632] And I sat in and sang country music, which I had been singing rock and pop and stuff.

[633] And I just, it just hit me, like a ton of bricks.

[634] I was like, this is what I want to do.

[635] Because I had sing, you know, all of this different kinds of music.

[636] And I loved to sing all different kinds of music.

[637] But I just hit me. I said, I want to sing country music and I want to move to Nashville.

[638] And I told my husband and he said let's go god bless john yeah right thank you john for co -signing on that now we we just interviewed the avid brothers i don't know yeah yeah we love them yeah and uh you know they went on a little journey too like they left concord north carolina and they kind of went into punk and you know at some point they came home and they like figured it all out that they were already sitting in like a fertile ground of great music i'm just curious when you were originally set your sights on rock or pop music, did you want to shed where you were from?

[639] Or can you remember why you thought that's where you should go?

[640] You were just young.

[641] I think it was a rebellion.

[642] Uh -huh.

[643] You know, I think that I had grown up singing kind of what my dad wanted me to sing, and then just felt like when I got out of high school, I wanted to be on my own.

[644] I was so ready.

[645] I moved out the day after graduation to Hutchinson.

[646] Uh -huh.

[647] I was 17 years old and just wanted to be on my own.

[648] And can I ask, because you said Hart, you said Pat Benatar, maybe Joan Jett was in that mix.

[649] Oh, yeah.

[650] So I would also imagine that at that time, there was a nice offering of pretty powerful females in that space, in the rock space.

[651] Like, you were a young woman, and here you've got all these, like, you know, heart and Joan Jett and all these women that are crushing and they're rock stars, and it's very empowering.

[652] I just wonder if that was at all part of the appeal.

[653] Yeah, it was totally the appeal.

[654] They were so strong, and I'll never forget when I first heard Heartbreaker by Pat Benatar on Casey Kasem's Top 40.

[655] I was at my grandma's house, and closed and I was like, what is that?

[656] Like, she was so just strong and powerful and like a rock star.

[657] And I don't know.

[658] I was definitely drawn to that strength.

[659] Yeah.

[660] Yeah.

[661] Because again, I could be totally wrong, but my idea of the history of country at that point, I feel like in the early 80s and stuff, you still had like this male, female domain and country.

[662] I was even thinking about it backstage because I was just thinking about how much it's probably changed in your lifetime and in your career.

[663] Some of my favorite songs are like, you know, she's a good -hearted woman in love with a good time and man. She loves him in spite of his wicked ways.

[664] She don't understand.

[665] There's many songs that the guy's just going, I'm a terrible husband.

[666] God bless you, I wrote this song for you.

[667] I hope we're good.

[668] Yeah.

[669] I mean, there's dozens of hits.

[670] Yeah.

[671] They all but list the ladies they're having sex with in the songs.

[672] And so I just wonder if you were conscious of that Or again, maybe I'm ill -informed Obviously, Dolly was always a really powerful woman And there were those people But it just seems like you and a batch of gals Really took this thing forward a bit.

[673] Yeah, I can remember hearing Reba, who I love and loved growing up And I can remember when she had whoever's in New England is through with you.

[674] I just loved that song, but I can remember even as a young woman going, what are you doing?

[675] Like, why are you waiting around for this guy?

[676] Yeah, even Jolene, which was just sang, which is one of my all -time favorite songs.

[677] It's like, please don't take my man because you can.

[678] It's a little victimy, a little passive, a little, like, who the fuck's this guy?

[679] He's got his pick between Jolene and Dolly Parton.

[680] Dolly Parton.

[681] Was it Burt Reynolds?

[682] Is that who that song's about?

[683] I don't know who had that cachet.

[684] Yeah.

[685] And then I think in the 90s, middle, late 90s, early 2000s, we had a ton of women on country radio singing really smart songs, very strong female points of view.

[686] I guess I was part of that, which I was so grateful to be a part of that.

[687] Yeah.

[688] Not you guess.

[689] You were a big, big part of that.

[690] And I'm really grateful for that because, you know, it was so important, I feel like, for young girls to hear a strong female perspective on the radio.

[691] And we don't really have that now.

[692] You feel like right now there's a bit of a void for that?

[693] I do.

[694] Yeah.

[695] Now, Taylor is quite a phenom, right?

[696] Yeah.

[697] Do we consider her country?

[698] She's kind of a crossover, yeah, or no?

[699] You guys like her, but she's not country.

[700] Is that it?

[701] Right.

[702] We're split.

[703] We love her.

[704] Oh, I love her.

[705] Love her.

[706] And she's so talented.

[707] Yeah.

[708] But she definitely made a, you know, drew a line in the sand and said, I want to be a pop artist.

[709] Right.

[710] That's what she's been doing and being hugely successful at it.

[711] Yeah.

[712] I love that song that was written about me. Do you know that song?

[713] Mean?

[714] Ooh, that was good.

[715] That was really good.

[716] Really, really good.

[717] No, it goes, it goes, he's so tall and handsome his hair.

[718] He's so bad, but it does it so well.

[719] That's the one.

[720] The first title was Dax Shepherd, but the label didn't think anyone would know who that was, so they made it ambivalent.

[721] I'll be fact -checking that So Please get her on the phone And ask her if it's about me So you know I think anyone I've talked to Who's successful There's so many pieces to the puzzle Right you have talent And that's great You're a great singer But also you're a hard worker And you're picking up the dipshits Who live with mom and dad And that's definitely a part of the equation And then luck's a huge part of the equation Isn't it?

[722] And that's the part you have I have a hard time talking to people who are aspiring actors in L .A., it's like, we'll do everything you got to do and then just kind of wait for, to get lucky, which kind of needs to happen at some point, right?

[723] So if I have this right, you guys moved to Nashville, John, your husband, side note about John, I met him backstage, he watched Parenthood, and I said, do you think I did a good job acting like a sound engineer?

[724] He said, not at all.

[725] I didn't buy a, I didn't know what you were doing.

[726] I'm like, I didn't either.

[727] I didn't learn one thing in six years.

[728] They would just go like, do more things, and I'd just hit buttons and slide stuff.

[729] And I'd even say to them, do you think there's this much stuff changing while they sing?

[730] Up, down, reverb, on, off, bass, boom, boo, Yeah, he was a pretty embarrassed for me, but at any right, you guys moved to Nashville by some way or another, I don't know the particulars, but he gets involved with Garth Brooks.

[731] Is that kind of how it happens?

[732] He was his production manager.

[733] He was his production manager.

[734] So he's designing the whole shebang.

[735] And then, do I have this right?

[736] You were selling souvenirs sometimes at the show?

[737] Yeah, I did.

[738] Well, we were newlyweds.

[739] We got married in 88 in Wichita, moved to Nashville in 1990, and I didn't know anybody, and I was singing demos and waiting tables.

[740] And he was out on the road with Garth Brooks, as his production manager, like I said.

[741] And I was like, kind of lonely.

[742] And I said, do you know, is there any kind of gig I can do out there?

[743] Like, do you think there's something I can do on the road so I can travel with you?

[744] And so he went to the merch guy and said, my wife.

[745] can she sell merch you know for you and he said sure so I sold t -shirts for garth for about eight months uh -huh at some point he says you can open for me if you get a record contract well he never told me that but I just had him on my podcast and I was asking him like what was he thinking because he'd never heard me sing he'd never seen me on stage but I did get a record deal with RCA records and he had John and I over to the house and was giving me business advice which I'm like if Garth Brooks is giving me business advice, I'm there.

[746] Yeah, he just helped me refinance my home.

[747] Yeah, he is very clever.

[748] He asked him what I was working on the studio, and I sang a little bit of something.

[749] He goes, well, you know, I would like to have you come open my tour for me. And I mean, I didn't, you know, I was like, sure.

[750] So we went out and did 77 shows with him as the opening act.

[751] I have to imagine for you, it's like someone just fucking hit the light switch.

[752] Like he plays to tens of thousands of people.

[753] Oh, yeah.

[754] It was crazy.

[755] And this was where, like, he had friends in low places.

[756] The Thunder Rolls, like, he was, like, on fire.

[757] Yeah, yeah.

[758] I don't even think my single was out when I did our first show.

[759] We did our first show in Denver, Colorado.

[760] Uh -huh.

[761] He just took a leap of faith, you know?

[762] Uh -huh.

[763] That's kind of the part where it's like, you know, do everything you can, and then hope Garth Brooks says, hey, open up for me in Denver.

[764] He tells this story, because I asked him when I was talking with him, I was like, what happened?

[765] And he's like, well, we were in Arizona, and I was selling T -shirts, and he was up on the bus.

[766] and you could tell something was going wrong with the PA system.

[767] It was about 116 or 20 degrees.

[768] You know how it gets in Arizona.

[769] Anyway, I was at the merch stand and I heard this terrible sound coming from the PA, which is my husband's PA.

[770] So I left my position at the merch stand, and I'm like, what can I do to help?

[771] And John said, we've got some dry ice.

[772] I just need you to pull it and put it in front of the amplifiers because it'll cool them off.

[773] Oh, wow.

[774] I was like, okay.

[775] So I'm actually barefoot, which I think is weird that I would.

[776] selling Garth's t -shirts barefoot.

[777] Yeah, that's a bit of a mystery.

[778] Whatever.

[779] So he looked out the window, he told me, he said, I saw this girl, you know, pulling these bags of dry ice that are bigger than she was.

[780] And I was like, who is that girl?

[781] And his brother said, that's Martina.

[782] It's John's wife.

[783] And by the way, she sells T -shirts for you.

[784] And he said, well, whatever she gets, she deserves, you can tell she's a hard worker.

[785] And then that's, I guess, you know, when the opportunity came, when I got a record deal, he remembered that and rewarded it.

[786] That's so awesome.

[787] So cool.

[788] That's also kind of Monica's story.

[789] Well, I was going to say, I don't see it as a story of luck.

[790] I see it as a story of someone who is like, I will do anything.

[791] I will find the avenue and I will get as close as I can and work as hard as I can.

[792] Yeah.

[793] That's the trick, I think.

[794] Yeah.

[795] And a little bit of luck.

[796] No. So can I just ask that first show in Denver, I'm picturing Lady Gaga and, And, you know, Star is born.

[797] Or she comes out and she's a little timid.

[798] And then all she's like, ah, ha, ha, ha.

[799] Did you, how nervous were you stepping out in front of all those people?

[800] And did you find your gaga moment and let it explode?

[801] I feel like I was nervous, you know, but also sort of fearless.

[802] You know, I was young and had just made this album.

[803] And I had like this little short skirt and these white cowboy boots and this white fring cowboy jacket.

[804] I don't know what the hell I was going for.

[805] But honestly, if the crowd had not dug it, my confidence would have been shaken.

[806] But, you know, you're so young and you're just going for it at that point.

[807] You black out a little bit, right?

[808] You kind of like go, oh, if I dial in and recognize how many people here spent money and might be disappointed with my overall selection tonight, it's overwhelming.

[809] Yeah, you can't think about that.

[810] Yeah.

[811] So you do 70 shows with him and then you just start writing albums and then they just keep working and working and working right is the the ride it's kind of punctuated right your career in that you have a stretch before kids and then you recalibrate and then you have a stretch after kid or you still have kids but you know what I'm saying you dip your toe back into it so that first period is it as exciting and as wonderful as I imagine are you and John like pinching yourself oh yeah it's amazing It's hard work.

[812] You know, we had to visit every radio station in every city during the day, sometimes two radio stations, and just all the phoneers and all the press and promotion.

[813] But I was loving it because, you know, I was getting to do that.

[814] Yeah.

[815] But I will say that there were times when I took it for granted.

[816] Sure.

[817] There were times when I was tired, especially after I had kids because I brought them on the road with me. And they were little babies on the road.

[818] And I can remember when I had Delaney, my first daughter, I was opening for Brooks and Dund.

[819] and I toured with him up until December 12th, and she was born on the 22nd.

[820] Oh, boy.

[821] With my second daughter...

[822] You weren't in that miniskirt for that show, were you?

[823] No. No, no, no. You should have been.

[824] But basically, with my second one, when she was three and a half weeks old, I was on a plane to the ACMs to sing because I had that opportunity, and I had to take it.

[825] I got to a point, I think, where there's so many exciting things happening, but it's human nature to take it a little bit for granted.

[826] And also, I was just tired.

[827] You know, I was just tired from being a new mom.

[828] And with my third kid, who's 14, I took some time off.

[829] Yeah.

[830] I learned my lesson.

[831] You did.

[832] You lucked out in that you started releasing albums back when people still bought albums in pretty significant levels.

[833] You've sold 14 million albums to date, maybe more.

[834] That's bonkers.

[835] Yeah.

[836] But as the business has changed now, or, you know, today for sure, and then I imagine gradually throughout that period, more and more your money, your livelihood is performing as doing shows, right?

[837] being on tour.

[838] So at the apex, how many days a year were you on the road doing shows?

[839] Probably 98.

[840] 98.

[841] Yeah.

[842] That's probably a big year for us.

[843] Okay.

[844] Meaning 19, no, 98 days.

[845] Yeah, shows.

[846] Okay.

[847] And yeah, so then days of travel on either side of that.

[848] And so do you have, now here's what, so my wife, she's the best person I've ever met my life.

[849] I adore her.

[850] She's a mother of to, and I've seen her, and I've seen this to be common in my business back home, is that she feels guilty at work, and then she feels guilty at home.

[851] It's like, if she's at home, she's like, I should be a woman who's out making a living and I shouldn't have to be here with the kids.

[852] And then when she's at work, she's like, oh, my God, I should be home.

[853] And this is something dads don't even have to think about.

[854] When I leave, I'm like, Sayanara suckasses.

[855] I'm out for two days.

[856] I'll sleep 16 hours.

[857] I'll watch three movies.

[858] I don't feel any guilt.

[859] And when I'm home, I'm digging it, and I love it.

[860] I never think, oh, I'm supposed to be working because, you know, it is a unique kind of guilt that working mothers have thrown on their shoulders.

[861] Did you wrestle with that?

[862] Oh, definitely.

[863] Yeah.

[864] I mean, even though I took my kids with me when they were little, you still feel like, I don't know, like you're falling short.

[865] It's just, I don't know why we do that to ourselves or where that came from.

[866] initially.

[867] Well, and to each other, I mean, I guess guys say this, but I definitely hear women say to my wife, like, oh, how do you do that?

[868] There's always like this little subtext, or if she's on a red carpet, they never ask me, how do I do it?

[869] Like, oh, you have two shows in a podcast.

[870] How are you parenting?

[871] They don't even think about it.

[872] But with her, they're like, oh, you're on two shows.

[873] How do you do it?

[874] It's societal, and it's all these little suggestions that, are supposed to remind you.

[875] I got asked so many times, and I still get asked, how do you balance having kids in a career?

[876] Yeah.

[877] Every working mom, we do it.

[878] Sometimes we feel like we're killing it, and sometimes we feel like we're falling short.

[879] It's just, you know, you do the best you can.

[880] And my kids, I think, always really knew that they were my priority, and I think are super well -adjusted kids from being on the road with me. As long as they're not in a band called The Penetrators, we're going to.

[881] So when you make a decision that you want to spend more time with your children, That means you're not going to be on the road as much, and that's a big source of income.

[882] So that is just its own thing to wrestle with you and John, right, to figure out.

[883] But then also, you're aware, I'm sure, that there's probably 80 families that you somehow affect.

[884] If you go out on the road, that's not you and a guitar.

[885] That's hundreds of people in some capacity, right?

[886] And their livelihood is in your basket.

[887] Does that become even harder to make that decision?

[888] Yeah, it does.

[889] I was really lucky that I was able to put my band and crew on the salary at some point.

[890] So that alleviated a little bit of that guilt, you know?

[891] But, you know, when Delaney started kindergarten, I said, when she starts kindergarten, we are cutting back and just doing weekends.

[892] Because I really want her to have the same kind of like going to school every day, having her little friends.

[893] Routine.

[894] You know, I was a room mother.

[895] That was like so exciting to me to be able to be a part of that.

[896] Yeah.

[897] And did you have the experience that I had where, I had this fantasy of doing this.

[898] I knew what all that was going to feel like.

[899] I knew what was going to feel like to be famous.

[900] I knew what was going to feel like to have a lot of money.

[901] I just knew.

[902] I was going to wake up in the morning like, da -da -da -da -da -da -da -da -da -da.

[903] There he is.

[904] You do that.

[905] I do do that, but now based on something else, is where I'm going.

[906] I did not find that I felt the way I was expecting to feel having accomplished dreams I had set out for myself.

[907] Yeah.

[908] I mean, on some level, I have this deep sense.

[909] sense of gratitude for it, and I know I'm lucky as hell, but the self -esteem I thought that would accompany that just didn't.

[910] And my children, they arrived and I was like, oh, this is that magic thing I had always fantasized about, and it delivers.

[911] Like being in that room, right, handing out cookies, there's something about, that's really something to hang your hat on as a human, right, or self -esteem -wise.

[912] Yeah, and you're raising people.

[913] Yeah.

[914] You know, like what you do and say to them matters in their formation as people, you know?

[915] So it's a huge job and it's one that I took and take very seriously.

[916] Yeah.

[917] It's crazy rewarding, isn't it?

[918] Oh, yeah.

[919] It's the best.

[920] It beats all this stuff.

[921] Yeah.

[922] Is in 2002 you released The Greatest Hits and it went three times platinum.

[923] But when you release an album like that, first of all, I must be like, oh my God, I have a greatest hit.

[924] Like I can do a greatest hits.

[925] Yeah.

[926] That's just wonderful.

[927] That's a great part of being a musician, isn't it?

[928] Well, you know, it is an accomplishment, yeah.

[929] I mean, it's amazing when I put that record out and I felt like every song on there was bona fide hit.

[930] You know what I mean?

[931] It wasn't like this two hits and a bunch of filler.

[932] Yeah, sometimes you see people, and you're like, a little early on the greatest hits.

[933] A little early.

[934] You can't say three songs, and then the other ones you're new to.

[935] Yeah, and we put four new songs on there, which were blessed, Concrete Angel.

[936] Oh, shoot, I can't remember.

[937] Oh, shoot.

[938] When Godfrey women get the blues, and I think, where would you be?

[939] And that was humongous, and you have been called, and I just want to ask one question about this, you've been called the Celine Dion of Country Music.

[940] That's crazy.

[941] That's a moniker you have.

[942] Being the Celine Dion of Country Music, have you cloned any of your dogs?

[943] No. No, that's Barbara Streisand.

[944] Oh, shit, I got them wrong.

[945] Aye, aye, y 'all.

[946] Although I wouldn't put past Celine.

[947] No, she has to have some cloned cats or something.

[948] Have you cloned any animals yet?

[949] No, not yet.

[950] You got to start building your legend, you know what I'm saying?

[951] You've got to do some crazy eccentric shit.

[952] Have a swimming pool of champagne or something.

[953] Yeah, wow.

[954] Now, you also, as I said earlier, you were female vocalists of the year several times, and you tied Reba McIntyre, and can I do my Reba McIntyre impersonation for you really quick?

[955] Don't look at him while he does it.

[956] It's very unsettling.

[957] her, too.

[958] They don't look out of his face.

[959] I'm Breba Brackenbrier.

[960] That's my full impersonation.

[961] I say her name, but I change it to Breba Brackenbarreier.

[962] I'm Breba Brackenbara.

[963] Why?

[964] I'm so confused.

[965] I don't know.

[966] My wife was hosting the award show, and I met her.

[967] I met Reba.

[968] I was so excited, and she gave me, like, Tom Cruise level, like, here's my full energy.

[969] And she goes, I'm Breba Brackenbrier.

[970] No, she did not.

[971] Hold on.

[972] Hold on.

[973] Oh, my God.

[974] And I said to Kristen, I think she said her name is Breba Brackenbrier.

[975] That really happened.

[976] That did not happen.

[977] Clearly she knows her own name, but I swear to God it sounded like Brieba Brac and Briebrier.

[978] God.

[979] You're good.

[980] What are you on, Scrubs?

[981] Now, quick question.

[982] You can have her on the show.

[983] Of course.

[984] Oh, we'd love to have her.

[985] But her initials, they'll say B .B. B .B. Breba Brackenbrier.

[986] I want to ask, have you gotten to be friendly and friends with some of your heroes throughout this process?

[987] I have, actually.

[988] Yeah.

[989] It's amazing.

[990] And so I've gotten to spend a lot of time with Loretta Lynn.

[991] Oh, yeah.

[992] She's just awesome.

[993] And Riba.

[994] I got to meet Whalen Jennings.

[995] Oh.

[996] And Willie.

[997] Oh, wow.

[998] Do you watch this show called Tales from the Two?

[999] tour bus?

[1000] You've seen it?

[1001] I love it, yeah.

[1002] Okay, so there's a Whalen, Whalen got a two -part episode, and what they do is they interview the whole band, and they tell you the history of the musician, and then they animate it.

[1003] Mike Judge makes it, he animates the stories.

[1004] It's so great.

[1005] The first season's all country stars.

[1006] Almost all of them have shot somebody and not gone to jail over it.

[1007] But my favorite part was, he's talking to, like, the drummer of his band, and he goes, yeah, you know, before shows, we would take uppers, and we all wanted to make sure we was on the same page, so I'm going around the circle, I said, Jimmy, how many uppers you want?

[1008] He said, I'm on three.

[1009] I said, Mike, what do you want?

[1010] He said, I'm on three.

[1011] I said, good, I'm on three.

[1012] You -haws?

[1013] I'm on 42.

[1014] It was a wild, wild west back then.

[1015] Oh, my God.

[1016] I always really fantasized about that lifestyle because it was fucking hard partying.

[1017] Somehow they all had these awesome wives and no one seemed to give a shit.

[1018] And as a young man, I was like, they figured it out.

[1019] They're on yellow jackets and sidewinders.

[1020] and blue widows and black beamers and popping pills and singing music he was sweating like a motherfucker oh my god you can't find a picture of Whalen that doesn't look like he just hopped out of a sauna true that's so true now when you met Whalen that was in his calmer years I'd imagine yeah it was I opened a couple shows for him and my dad was he idolized Whalen and he kind of looked like him he had the beard and the kind of long hair and wore the cowboy hat and that was kind of his persona, you know, minus the speed and the drugs.

[1021] Sure, sure, that we know of.

[1022] But, um, so when I met Waylon, I was like, you know, I'm so happy to meet you and you just remind me so much of my dad, which is probably a terrible thing for me to say to him.

[1023] He's probably like, nice.

[1024] Yeah.

[1025] But anyway, he took a picture with me and I got to see him several times after that.

[1026] And it was just, yeah, I mean, that kind of thing, meeting your heroes, first of all, I'm so shocked that they even know who I am.

[1027] Yes.

[1028] It's so flattering, right?

[1029] Yeah.

[1030] Yeah.

[1031] Have you ever had your dad out to play?

[1032] playing with you?

[1033] My dad got to sing on the opera with me. Oh, he did?

[1034] Twice, yeah.

[1035] I had him on stage to sing.

[1036] And, you know, I was so nervous for him.

[1037] He was fine, you know?

[1038] He channeled his interwailing.

[1039] But it was like such a cool thing for, I guess, for me to be able to do for him, because he's listened to the opera since he was a kid.

[1040] And probably in a different place in time would have pursued a career as an artist.

[1041] And so I'm standing there going, I'm so nervous for him.

[1042] And He opens the mouth, starts singing, and it's like, oh, yeah, this is the guy that taught me. I mean, he knows what he's doing.

[1043] Yeah.

[1044] So sweet to be able to share that with him.

[1045] And my younger brother was playing guitar on the stage with me, so we got to kind of, you know, go back in time a little bit.

[1046] Yeah, that's so beautiful.

[1047] And then isn't it nice, we were talking about it earlier, it's like, yeah, you can get used to success and you can take it for granted.

[1048] And it's hard to actually even sometimes internalize the good things that are happening in your life.

[1049] but it's much easier when you see that you could give your dad an opportunity like that.

[1050] Like isn't that kind of, isn't that moment almost better than any moment you've had for yourself?

[1051] A hundred percent.

[1052] To be able to, like Monica's rich and famous now.

[1053] That makes me so much happier than anything I've ever done.

[1054] Well, she's loaded, guys.

[1055] If you're at a bar with her tonight, she should buy.

[1056] Don't ask me for money.

[1057] But over your career, you've, I'm sure, been able to have.

[1058] help other people and be a part of their story?

[1059] Yeah, I didn't have anything to do with their success, but a little big town was an opening act for me. Oh, really?

[1060] And their very first starting out, they had their first album out.

[1061] And it was one of those experiences where it was just, we clicked.

[1062] You know, and they clicked with my whole band and crew and my family.

[1063] And, you know, sometimes when you go out on tour with an artist, there's a separation that happens.

[1064] With us, we stayed, we were out in the parking lot every night.

[1065] night after the show until we told the crew would pack up and we'd move on just just having some drinks and talking and listening to music and they're the salt of the earth by the way and so talented i cannot root for them enough and so i think what they maybe took away from that was how to treat opening acts on tour now that they're in that position and also just to be able to see there and watch that star take off take off yeah yeah have you ever been in willie's bus I have.

[1066] Yep.

[1067] What happens on Willie's bus stays on Willie's bus.

[1068] Willie's got like Vatican status, right?

[1069] Like wherever his bus is, it's legal.

[1070] Yeah, exactly.

[1071] He's a sovereign nation within our nation, right?

[1072] And now his son is using his bus, Lucas Nelson.

[1073] Oh, he's, yeah.

[1074] He's fantastic.

[1075] I imagine they don't even have to light up in there anymore.

[1076] Just shut the door and take a little.

[1077] a couple deep breaths.

[1078] I went out to Pilgrimage Festival to interview Lucas from my podcast.

[1079] I walked on the bus and saw him before the show and I left that bus feeling kind of happy.

[1080] I didn't even do anything.

[1081] It was just from the air.

[1082] Yeah.

[1083] I'm 15 years sober and I went to interview.

[1084] Oh, thank you.

[1085] I went and I was going to write some project and I thought Kevin Smith, that writer -director, you know, Kevin Smith.

[1086] I thought, oh, he knows a lot about superheroes.

[1087] I'll go talk to him.

[1088] And so I went to his office and he's like, oh, yeah, I'd be happy to talk to you.

[1089] He's like, do you mind if I smoke pot?

[1090] I'm like, no, not at all.

[1091] Go crazy.

[1092] And I was in there for two and a half, three hours talking about Superman with him while he burned dubies.

[1093] I was riding home on my motorcycle and I was like, I'm going so slow.

[1094] I never ride this slow.

[1095] I'm always in a hurry.

[1096] And I'm just like, don't think I got out of second gear that whole ride home.

[1097] And I was like, oh, I think I got a freebie.

[1098] You're planning like a meeting a month with him?

[1099] I got to meet with Kevin.

[1100] I got to work with him nightly now on this project.

[1101] I'll never write.

[1102] Stay tuned for more live show after this exciting commercial break.

[1103] We've all been there.

[1104] Turning to the internet to self -diagnose our inexplicable pains, debilitating body aches, sudden fevers and strange rashes.

[1105] Though our minds tend to spiral to worst -case scenarios, it's usually nothing, but for an unlucky few, these unsuspecting symptoms can start the clock ticking on a terrifying medical mystery.

[1106] Like the unexplainable death of a retired firefighter, whose body was found at home by his son, except it looked like he had been cremated, or the time when an entire town started jumping from buildings and seeing tigers on their ceilings.

[1107] Hey listeners, it's Mr. Ballin here, and I'm here to tell you about my podcast.

[1108] It's called Mr. Ballin's Medical Mysteries.

[1109] Each terrifying true story will be sure to keep you up at night.

[1110] Follow Mr. Ballin's Medical Mysteries wherever you get your podcasts.

[1111] Prime members can listen early and ad -free on Amazon Music.

[1112] What's up, guys?

[1113] It's your girl Kiki, and my podcast is back with a new season, and let me tell you, it's too good.

[1114] And I'm diving into the brains of entertainment's best and brightest, okay?

[1115] Every episode, I bring on a friend and have a real conversation.

[1116] And I don't mean just friends.

[1117] I mean the likes of Amy.

[1118] Polar, Kell Mitchell, Vivica Fox, the list goes on.

[1119] So follow, watch, and listen to Baby.

[1120] This is Kiki Palmer on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcast.

[1121] Tell me about your podcast.

[1122] What's the name of your podcast?

[1123] It's called Vocal Point.

[1124] Vocal point.

[1125] Okay.

[1126] It's on Luminary.

[1127] Luminary.

[1128] And how often do you record it?

[1129] I have to work around whenever people are available.

[1130] So we have 26 episodes in the first season.

[1131] I think we've recorded maybe 18 or 19 so far.

[1132] But I think we've had five or six released.

[1133] Garth was the first one Coming up, I got to talk with Loretta and Brenda Lee John Party was this week And do you enjoy it?

[1134] I love it, you know, I love it I'm kind of an introvert So I don't know how I'd like it I was kind of like, I don't know But I've loved it and what I've loved the most about it Is getting to sit down with these artists For instance, John Party or Pam Tillis We've known each other for years We kind of see each other backstage But I've never sit down and had a conversation with her Yeah.

[1135] So it's really fun to, I just got to talk with Vince Gill and Amy Grant.

[1136] Oh, no kidding.

[1137] Be coming up around Christmas time.

[1138] And, you know, have known them for years, but to sit down in this capacity.

[1139] And what I love about it, too, is I get people when they're out of their promotion cycle.

[1140] Yeah.

[1141] So they're not just saying the same old sound bites.

[1142] I think people see a different side of them and a different side of me because it's like this.

[1143] It's just like conversation, which is so cool.

[1144] And yeah, I've interviewed, like, friends I've had for a decade where in this context, all of a sudden we're talking about stuff.

[1145] I would have never known about them.

[1146] Or even my mother, like, talking to my mom and going like, oh, I guess I would ask anyone else I was interviewing this question.

[1147] So now I've got to ask you this question.

[1148] Yeah, it's really kind of a special little cocoon you get into, isn't it?

[1149] Yeah.

[1150] Well, that's fantastic.

[1151] I look forward to it.

[1152] Now, I want to talk about your charity work because I noticed you work with several, you're the spokesperson for the National Domestic Violence Hotline, or you were at one time were.

[1153] It was, yeah.

[1154] And a lot of your work is about domestic violence.

[1155] And I'm curious, what drew you to that?

[1156] It all started with the song I had called Independence Day.

[1157] Oh, uh -huh, uh -huh.

[1158] An Independence Day really changed my life on so many levels.

[1159] Like, I can remember hearing that demo and feeling so passionate about that song.

[1160] And when we did the video, I was really like, I want to meet these directors and I want to sit down and talk about this.

[1161] Because if we're not going to do it in a really realistic, hard -hitting way, if the record company wants to sugarcoat it, I'm just, I just don't want to do it.

[1162] So we really made, for the time, was a really hard -hitting video.

[1163] Because growing up in a small town, of course there was probably domestic violence, but nobody knew about it.

[1164] It was really swept under the rug.

[1165] And so I had no idea.

[1166] Really, it never really occurred to me, to be honest.

[1167] And then the scope of it.

[1168] And so when I recorded Independence, when I heard that song, I was so enraged.

[1169] Yeah.

[1170] It just ignited this passion in me to try to figure out a way to make a difference.

[1171] And so that's how I got started working with, like the National Domestic Violence Hotline and a great teen dating website called Love is Respect.

[1172] I can remember feeling so on fire about this issue.

[1173] Yeah, and not because you had personally experienced or witnessed it?

[1174] Not really.

[1175] I mean, I think, you know, as women, I feel like we, if we're really honest with ourselves, we've all been kind of helpless at the hands of a man. Yeah.

[1176] There's so many layers to it, right?

[1177] You just think like, oh, someone kicking someone's ass.

[1178] Well, that's one thing.

[1179] But then there's these layers of control, right?

[1180] Yes.

[1181] And there's gas lighting.

[1182] And there's all these things that us terrible men do.

[1183] But it can start small, right?

[1184] Like I read a quote of yours.

[1185] It's like, I don't want to hang out with your friends.

[1186] Right?

[1187] So, like, first is like a step of isolation.

[1188] Isolation, sure.

[1189] Like getting your lady away from the other people in her life that might point out, you know, Paul's kind of an asshole.

[1190] Yeah.

[1191] That's kind of the strategy, right?

[1192] And not letting you be with your family.

[1193] Right.

[1194] Talk on the phone.

[1195] or have any money that's in your own control.

[1196] Did you watch the R. Kelly documentary?

[1197] I did.

[1198] Oh, my God.

[1199] When you look at those steps, it's just a game plan of how to do this.

[1200] Yeah, they keeps ratcheting up.

[1201] Then call me daddy.

[1202] Now I'll tell you when you can eat, all these things.

[1203] So people need to know, oh, they could be in an abusive relationship or a controlling relationship that doesn't maybe have the physical.

[1204] The physical aspect.

[1205] Yeah.

[1206] Sometimes when I'm performing on stage, I think to myself, statistically, someone in this room is being abused.

[1207] Oh, most certainly, yeah.

[1208] And so I think to myself, what's the abuser thinking?

[1209] And also, how brave of this woman to come here to be able to hear that message.

[1210] And some people, maybe they, you know, some people, maybe they don't know Independence Day, but they find themselves at a show and they hear it.

[1211] And my hope is that it gives them some kind of, I mean, I got so many letters about that song.

[1212] Uh -huh.

[1213] Back in the day when people still wrote fan letters.

[1214] and I mean just reading over and over about the impact of that song and my point is I don't take credit for that because I feel like I was just the vehicle that that song flowed through to do its thing in the world that it was meant to do I'm so lucky and grateful that I got to sing that song but it did make a big difference for so many women sometimes they would say I've been in this relationship for 10 years I heard this song in the radio and I went home and got out that's amazing yeah that's amazing And it's true that because those folks are probably isolated to such a degree that weirdly the only thing that might penetrate that bubble is a song or is a movie or is a show or something that can get in there.

[1215] And make them feel like they're not the only one going through it.

[1216] Because that's the thing, right?

[1217] Everyone feels very alone in all of their own trauma and all their own.

[1218] And that it's not their fault.

[1219] You know, I had my mom on, which is my favorite interview.

[1220] I know her whole past and I had a stepdad that abused.

[1221] her and I witnessed all that and the disconnect I had was I know my mom she's a fucking badass she raised three kids by herself and built this business and she's tough she would get out of the stoplight and challenge guys to fights and stuff I mean she was a beast she is a beast and I had never thought to ask her like how could you of all people have been in a relationship and she said you know I was so ashamed to admit I had failed again I had already been divorced from your dad and now I knew my, I was going to have to call my parents and say, I did it again, that that shame I would rather get hit than have to deal with that shame.

[1222] And that fucking broke my heart.

[1223] And I just thought, man, that is the power of shame.

[1224] And that's the power of people not sharing their imperfections and not owning all this many struggles that we all are up against all the time.

[1225] So it's so important.

[1226] I thank you so much for being a part of that.

[1227] I'm really happy that you spend your time and energy helping women like that.

[1228] Well, you guys, Nashville, we love you so much.

[1229] Thank you, Nashville.

[1230] You guys, let's give her a huge round of applause.

[1231] Miniature mouse.

[1232] You guys are beautiful, and I hope you'll have us back.

[1233] We would love to come back.

[1234] Thank you guys so much.

[1235] And now my favorite part of the show, the fact check with my soulmate Monica Padman.

[1236] Nashville, boy, what a town.

[1237] What a town.

[1238] Tinky town.

[1239] What fun food, King Prime we ate at.

[1240] We did.

[1241] We loved it.

[1242] We loved that place.

[1243] Yeah.

[1244] Is this as good as Houston's?

[1245] It might be.

[1246] Kristen thinks it's better.

[1247] Right.

[1248] I'm not willing to say it's better.

[1249] Yeah.

[1250] No. I don't think it's better, but I did love it.

[1251] It's on par.

[1252] It's in the same world.

[1253] It is.

[1254] So delicious.

[1255] And then, God, Hughie, Houston Estes.

[1256] Houston Estes.

[1257] He makes me so happy.

[1258] Yeah.

[1259] I enjoy his.

[1260] company so much.

[1261] Houston is our friend that we got to see in Nashville.

[1262] You told me to audit my business manager.

[1263] Yep.

[1264] I love them so much.

[1265] He's so fun to talk to.

[1266] And you got to party with your friends with you so fun.

[1267] I know.

[1268] My friends, my nice friends drove.

[1269] Your good -looking friends.

[1270] My beautiful, good -looking, nice friends drove up.

[1271] And I was really excited because one of them has been in love with Martina since she was just a little gal.

[1272] Oh, really?

[1273] And she was so excited.

[1274] She got to get a picture with her.

[1275] Oh, good.

[1276] Yeah.

[1277] I was happy I could give that to her.

[1278] Yeah.

[1279] It was really, not that I gave anything to her, but I was excited.

[1280] You were a part of her meeting someone she loved.

[1281] Yeah, I loved, I liked that.

[1282] I really liked Martina.

[1283] Me too.

[1284] Yeah, she has like some kind of like smooth confidence that I really am drawn to.

[1285] Me too, me too.

[1286] She's very special.

[1287] Yeah.

[1288] Yeah, I think I fell in love with her a little bit.

[1289] Oh, wow.

[1290] Yeah.

[1291] But John was there.

[1292] John I fell in love with.

[1293] Yeah, he was great too.

[1294] Speaking of, he sat next to my friends.

[1295] Oh, he did?

[1296] Yeah.

[1297] The whole time he was just like fact -checking her.

[1298] Oh.

[1299] Like he was like, oh, it was 178 shows.

[1300] Yeah.

[1301] Oh, that would be me. I was laughing.

[1302] Yeah.

[1303] That's funny.

[1304] Such a husband and wife thing to do.

[1305] Okay.

[1306] So you said that the average kid watches a million murders on TV by the time they're eight.

[1307] The average child will watch.

[1308] 8 ,000 murders.

[1309] I think you got the 8 number.

[1310] I was being facetious.

[1311] I didn't really think it was a million, but that's a lot, 8 ,000.

[1312] Before finishing elementary school.

[1313] Oh.

[1314] On TV, yeah.

[1315] I feel like it would be a pertinent time to mention Jack Nicholson's great quote.

[1316] If you hack a breast off with machete, that's PG -13.

[1317] If you lick a breast, it's NC -17.

[1318] Yeah, you have talked about that.

[1319] Yeah, I like that.

[1320] Yeah.

[1321] It's a real good.

[1322] eye opener for what we allow.

[1323] What's what we're threatened by.

[1324] Yeah, exactly.

[1325] We're threatened by sensuality and not hacking a tit off with a machete.

[1326] I know.

[1327] That's disturbing to me. It's so disturbing.

[1328] You know, some people were understandably put off by the Richard Dawkins interview.

[1329] They felt like he and or I or both of us were too harsh on religion.

[1330] On religion.

[1331] I understand that.

[1332] I think I'm supportive of people being whatever they want to be, makes them happy.

[1333] So I'm not being critical of any specifically religion, but I do hate how puritanical our country is.

[1334] When it comes to sex, it really bothers me. It's like so laden with shame.

[1335] I think it's all about the patriarchy, too.

[1336] I think it's all, the foundation of it all is males fear of women having pleasure and them not being the one that provides it to them or their fear of being terrible lovers or insignificant.

[1337] I think that's the bedrock of it.

[1338] Maybe.

[1339] And so this puritanical thing and the note.

[1340] that being sensual is dangerous or sexuality is dangerous.

[1341] I think it's rooted in male insecurity somehow.

[1342] I like that.

[1343] That's probably true.

[1344] I'm sure there's a lot of reasons and layers.

[1345] I mean, you are the most vulnerable when you're naked and you're intimate with someone.

[1346] But in the most beautiful way, imaginable.

[1347] Well, or not.

[1348] Or you're getting taken advantage of or you're getting.

[1349] Yeah, but the percentage of the sexual activity.

[1350] that happens in America, that is something negative or criminal, daily rate, it's under 1%.

[1351] Or it's all violence is violence.

[1352] Yeah.

[1353] No one's like loving getting hit in the head with a bat.

[1354] It just doesn't exist.

[1355] Right, right, right.

[1356] Or getting shot.

[1357] No one's pumped.

[1358] They got shot.

[1359] Right.

[1360] But the vast, vast, vast, vast, 99 .9 % of people who are being sexual or it's a pleasurable experience.

[1361] And that vulnerability is a beautiful thing.

[1362] It's like you're saying to someone.

[1363] trust you to take me like this uncovered.

[1364] What a beautiful thing.

[1365] Yeah.

[1366] And that's somehow negative?

[1367] I know.

[1368] I agree.

[1369] It's disturbing to me. It seems backwards for sure.

[1370] A study in the Journal of Pediatrics says the average eight -year -old child spends eight hours a day on media.

[1371] By age 18, a U .S. youth will have seen 16 ,000 simulated murders and 200 ,000 acts of violence.

[1372] Well, I guess if they're a boy and they have the internet, they've probably also seen 6 .9 million sexual scenes.

[1373] Probably.

[1374] Well, I don't know that those are independent of violence.

[1375] And by the way, that's the result of ushering it into the fringes.

[1376] Yeah, I agree.

[1377] You reap exactly what you sow.

[1378] Like if you're, you think lovemaking's dirty and shameful, then that's what you get.

[1379] That's what you're going to get.

[1380] Yeah.

[1381] It doesn't mean you're just going to turn that section of your brain off.

[1382] You can't.

[1383] It's just going to get like.

[1384] pervertized.

[1385] Yeah, exactly.

[1386] Fetised.

[1387] Proclitized.

[1388] Yeah, if you only, if you leave it to people who have no regard for society to present it, then, you know.

[1389] Yeah.

[1390] I agree.

[1391] Steven Spielberg should be making a lovemaking scene, you know?

[1392] I'm sure he has.

[1393] I don't think he has.

[1394] Yes, he has.

[1395] I don't think he fucks with sex.

[1396] Also, these guys don't fuck with sex.

[1397] They're like, even Tarantino, Tarantino, who's so bold and so fearless.

[1398] No love -making scenes ever.

[1399] There's a couple of rape scenes.

[1400] Yeah.

[1401] There's the great, great sexually charged date between Vincent Vega and Uma Thurma's character couldn't be more romantic and sexy.

[1402] But there's no physical sexy stuff.

[1403] I think it's a little disturbing that he's not showing that and then showing rape.

[1404] That's kind of my point, though, is that all of these people feel much more comfortable with violence than they do with sensuality.

[1405] Yeah.

[1406] Even a guy as fearless as him is afraid.

[1407] I don't know if he's afraid.

[1408] He's never done it.

[1409] I don't know why.

[1410] It does beg the question why there's no lovemaking scene in any Tarantino movie.

[1411] I'm sure there's a lovemaking scene in a Spielberg movie.

[1412] There has to be.

[1413] Maybe I can't think of one.

[1414] But yeah, maybe you're right.

[1415] We'll put that on the list.

[1416] Rob, your end fact check.

[1417] Was there no lovemaking scene in true romance?

[1418] He only did the screenplay.

[1419] And yeah, there was lovemaking scenes, but I think that was all Ridley Scott or Tony Scott, whichever one directed that.

[1420] Which, they have tons of lovemaking scenes, like Top Gunn and Days of Thunder are as beautiful lovemaking scenes with Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman and all that.

[1421] Some people do it, but I think a lot of directors are very nervous about it.

[1422] That's so interesting.

[1423] I mean, in my head, most movies have lovemaking scenes and not all, like, earned.

[1424] like you know it's just like girl just decides to have sex with the guy yeah but i don't think there's like a lack of lovemaking scenes in movies i'm gonna say at the count of three say your very favorite love making scene one two three gray's anatomy oh wait a minute you didn't say anything oh i know mine mine's out of sight oh i thought we were going to say it at the same time oh i was just curious i didn't want you to think too much about it i just wanted you to my favorite is um yeah this Seen in Gray's Anatomy With Nick Dreamy And Meredith Gray Ooh Hot is now?

[1425] Yeah What were they doing that made it so?

[1426] Oh, pathogens God, I wish I could remember the details It's been a long time since I watched that show But it was very steamy So steamy They were on a hospital bed Oh, okay, wow Yeah Not a conventionally sexy So, listen Oh God It made me defend it No, I'm not even challenging I just want to know there was like a fake prom happening oh that's romantic and then they they kind of escaped into this room sexy hospital yes no that's where it's the most sexy places like what's sexy it's not like sexy on the beach i think that's lame me too sand up in your asshole and in your vulva it's too cliche yeah so no but it had been leading up so much sex tinch yeah that's the real thing for me it's like the sex tinch has to be palpable cut it it with a knife.

[1427] Yes.

[1428] So that you're just like, just do it.

[1429] Yeah, that is the moment.

[1430] Yeah, I love that.

[1431] And then there was this music in the background.

[1432] Oh, it was hot.

[1433] Wow.

[1434] Yeah, it was hot.

[1435] And you like out of sight, which I've seen.

[1436] Yeah, I can name three that I loved.

[1437] Out of sight.

[1438] Desperado.

[1439] Angel.

[1440] Oh, Desper.

[1441] Thank you, Wabi, Wobbe.

[1442] I would have forgot that.

[1443] Desperato.

[1444] It was so sexy.

[1445] Nine and a half weeks, Mickey Rourke.

[1446] And then also, Angel Heart, Mickey Rourke.

[1447] Mickey Rourke could land a sex scene like you can't imagine.

[1448] How fuck is he sexy?

[1449] I mean, for me, they have to be in love.

[1450] That's a pre -reck for me. For me, for you, dog, he was in love with both the ladies that I just mentioned.

[1451] And also, out of sight, they have a lot of chemistry.

[1452] Sure, they did.

[1453] I mean, they're fucking build up and they can't be together because he's an outlaw.

[1454] He's law enforcement.

[1455] Oh, yeah, I like that.

[1456] I love that.

[1457] Love that.

[1458] God, it's good.

[1459] Try anything if there's ever been one where it's like banging.

[1460] Yeah, I would not.

[1461] That would not be on my list.

[1462] I'll have to think.

[1463] Grace and Adamie was definitely the first thing that problem.

[1464] I want to see that.

[1465] Well, let's compare each other.

[1466] Let's have a little Kristen throws some, her favorite.

[1467] We'll have a night of lovemaking scenes.

[1468] Great.

[1469] We'll see what happens.

[1470] Just see what happens.

[1471] You know what I'm saying?

[1472] Sure, sure.

[1473] I hear you.

[1474] Okay, when did Holiday Inn Expresses start?

[1475] 1991, the first Holiday Inn express location.

[1476] Wow, that's earlier than I would have thought.

[1477] 91.

[1478] Gosh, I feel like I just started seeing the commercials in 2000.

[1479] Well, three hotels opened then.

[1480] And then...

[1481] That was a very successful rebranding, if I can say so.

[1482] I don't really even get it.

[1483] Well, there was just Holiday Inn.

[1484] When I was a kid, it was just Holiday Inn.

[1485] In fact, they were the competing hotel in Sturgis, Michigan, where my grandparents owned the Colonial Motor Inn.

[1486] Holiday Inn was the higher end.

[1487] end one.

[1488] Uh -huh.

[1489] And then the colonial memory was more affordable.

[1490] And then it was such a long -standing brand that I think they needed a revamp.

[1491] Like, people were just like, they associated with what their parents went to.

[1492] So then they came out with Holiday Inn Express.

[1493] But is there still Holiday Inn regular?

[1494] I don't know that there is.

[1495] Really?

[1496] I don't know.

[1497] I think there has to be.

[1498] There is, yep.

[1499] I think there is.

[1500] Certainly more Holiday Inn Express is now.

[1501] Rob, are you Scotch Irish?

[1502] I don't think so, no. Yeah, I don't think so either.

[1503] You said Rob was Scotch Irish.

[1504] He said he thinks, which means nothing.

[1505] No. Why haven't you done 23?

[1506] He did do it.

[1507] You did?

[1508] I don't think that was on there.

[1509] Northwestern European.

[1510] Eastern European.

[1511] What about the English?

[1512] British and Irish, French and German, Scandinavian.

[1513] What was the English?

[1514] What percentage?

[1515] I'm 27 % Polish, 23 % British and Irish.

[1516] There we go.

[1517] Is that the majority?

[1518] No, but not Scott.

[1519] What was Polish?

[1520] Oh, so you're more Polish than you are English.

[1521] And you're not Scottish.

[1522] Scotch.

[1523] He's Scottish.

[1524] 16 % German and French.

[1525] This is adding up to like 200.

[1526] And Oshkanasi Jew, 2%.

[1527] Oh, wow.

[1528] That's exciting.

[1529] Dairy Q. Dairy Queen.

[1530] DQ.

[1531] Dairy Queen Blizzard came out in 1985.

[1532] Ooh.

[1533] But Dairy Queen's been around since 1940.

[1534] And I have to tell people.

[1535] So when you're telling the story about Dairy Queen and we go as a family and you're you're doing this character of the guy working at Dairy Queen and you're reading out all the blizzards.

[1536] Yeah.

[1537] You can't see it, but you're turning your hand upside down.

[1538] You're holding the blizzard in your hand and turning it upside down.

[1539] That's what they do when we go to Dairy Queen.

[1540] But you don't see it and you can't tell.

[1541] Oreo, shelf pie.

[1542] Okay, you're doing it again.

[1543] You are doing it again.

[1544] Isn't that the cute thing about humans is we all make the same mistakes over and over and over again?

[1545] It's so cute.

[1546] It's so cute.

[1547] The monkeys are so.

[1548] So silly.

[1549] Okay, we talk about Jolene, the song Jolene.

[1550] So according to Parton, the song was inspired by a red -headed bank clerk who flirted with her husband, Carl, Dean, at his local bank branch around the time they were newly married.

[1551] Oh.

[1552] In an interview, she also revealed that Jolene's name and appearance are based on that of a young fan who came on stage for her autograph.

[1553] Well, that's conflicting.

[1554] It is.

[1555] Well, maybe she got the name.

[1556] Oh, because she liked it.

[1557] Right.

[1558] So it was a bank teller that flirted with her husband?

[1559] That's what it says.

[1560] That's a strong reaction.

[1561] If we went somewhere in the waiter floated with Chris and I wouldn't go home and write a song about it.

[1562] You would probably draw a picture of it.

[1563] Don't steal my wife because you can just on based on one interaction.

[1564] I mean, I'm not taking anything away from Ms. Part and she's the queen.

[1565] She is.

[1566] And I love that song.

[1567] I'm so glad she got jealous of that bang tailor because we got a great song out of it.

[1568] Okay, the Taylor Swift song is not about you.

[1569] I mean, I didn't check with her directly.

[1570] Then you don't know.

[1571] Well, let me give you some hints.

[1572] He's so tall.

[1573] Am I tall?

[1574] Yes.

[1575] Handsome as hell.

[1576] Yes.

[1577] He's so bad.

[1578] Ish.

[1579] But he does it so well.

[1580] No. That's why I lost you.

[1581] It's shocking because I thought I would have lost you and handsome, but I had you and he's so bad and does it so well.

[1582] So you don't think I'm bad and do it so well?

[1583] No. Okay.

[1584] But people think it's about Harry Styles.

[1585] Oh.

[1586] Is he the, he's what royalty?

[1587] No, not Prince Harry.

[1588] Oh.

[1589] Isn't Harry Stiles, I'm so silly.

[1590] No. What is he?

[1591] He's a singer.

[1592] Oh, great.

[1593] One Direction.

[1594] Oh, one direction.

[1595] But is he British?

[1596] Yeah.

[1597] Okay, that's what it is.

[1598] Anyone British that's famous, I assume is royalty.

[1599] Got it.

[1600] That's literally why I thought he might be royalty.

[1601] I'm being sincere right now.

[1602] I thought he was royal.

[1603] Yeah, you just don't know anything about royals.

[1604] No, I don't.

[1605] Harry Stiles in her date.

[1606] for a while.

[1607] Harry Stiles is a, the fact that he's successful with that name is a testament to his skill and talent because his name is Hairstiles.

[1608] Harry Stiles.

[1609] Hairstiles.

[1610] That's his name.

[1611] I like that.

[1612] Yeah, but what I'm saying is that's a name to overcome.

[1613] Harry Stiles.

[1614] I wonder if that's even his real name.

[1615] Jesus, have he changed it to that?

[1616] He probably did because it's cool.

[1617] He's like, what do people love?

[1618] Oh, they love hairstyles.

[1619] Yeah, he was right.

[1620] He was right.

[1621] One Direction was huge.

[1622] It's huge.

[1623] It's huge.

[1624] The royalty.

[1625] All of it.

[1626] Harry Edward Stiles.

[1627] It's not even Harold Edward style.

[1628] Harry, I'm seen in my head, H -A -I -R -R -W.

[1629] Oh, my God.

[1630] That's what I'm seen.

[1631] Oh, my God.

[1632] Can you look at Prince Harry and see if his name is Harold?

[1633] I would guess it's not.

[1634] Actually, it probably is because it's so fancy.

[1635] So royal.

[1636] Henry Charles, Albert, David.

[1637] Harry is short for Henry?

[1638] And Hank is.

[1639] too that's interesting that's one of the ones i hate that Hank is short for i know i don't like that there's a k in there it's changing the name completely it's not yes it goes h a and henry's h e so you've changed the vowel it's a new word we we yeah yeah we agree we agree it's a new word we agree to disagree with being nicknamed hank that's like maggie is short for marg which feels weird it does marge marge marge would work marge is also one And Margie would work.

[1640] Never heard Margie?

[1641] Margie.

[1642] I've never heard Margie as an option.

[1643] Marge, I've heard, Maggie, and Molly I've heard.

[1644] You know what word I like?

[1645] Titular.

[1646] Titular.

[1647] Titular.

[1648] I love that word.

[1649] I'm not surprised.

[1650] Well, not because it has the word tit in it.

[1651] Are you sure?

[1652] But the fact that it's the title character, the titular character, right?

[1653] That's a real deviation from title character, the titular.

[1654] Yeah.

[1655] I like it.

[1656] I like it.

[1657] I like it too.

[1658] It's weird because that's the same thing I'm objecting to with Hank, but I like it in the case of titular.

[1659] Goes to show the reason is because it has tit in it.

[1660] Yeah.

[1661] I'd like it more of it was called tidi alert.

[1662] Okay.

[1663] So you thought Celine Dion had cloned animals.

[1664] You were mixing up Barberstry sand in her.

[1665] I was mixing up my divas.

[1666] Yes.

[1667] And Celine doesn't.

[1668] I looked.

[1669] Oh, okay.

[1670] Does she do anything weird?

[1671] She just likes animals.

[1672] Oh, okay.

[1673] That's nice of her.

[1674] She's an animal lover.

[1675] I'm so disappointed in myself.

[1676] that I'm triggered by her.

[1677] It's so embarrassing.

[1678] By Barbara or Celine?

[1679] You're triggered by Celine too?

[1680] Big time.

[1681] You're also triggered by Barbara.

[1682] I am.

[1683] Both of them feel rich and smart and educated and condescending and affected.

[1684] That's all me. It has nothing to do with them.

[1685] And it's humiliating that I have that feeling.

[1686] I don't even know either of those people.

[1687] It's not humiliating.

[1688] It is.

[1689] That's an embarrassing thing that I dislike them because they are well spoken.

[1690] Yeah, she performs in a gown.

[1691] But that's okay.

[1692] That's her thing.

[1693] I know.

[1694] Of course it's okay.

[1695] I'm at fault here, but I'm just walking you through what I think in my head.

[1696] Okay.

[1697] I'm like, oh, she's so fancy.

[1698] She performs in gowns and they have like diamonds all over them.

[1699] It's so stupid.

[1700] Well, it's not stupid.

[1701] You're allowed to feel how you feel, but it's not stupid.

[1702] It's just not fair because what you're doing to them is what I'm accusing them of doing to me. Exactly.

[1703] Yes, I agree.

[1704] Yeah.

[1705] I acknowledge it all.

[1706] The awareness of it doesn't change my emotional feeling when I say it.

[1707] My intellectual response is one of self -awareness.

[1708] Yeah.

[1709] But my emotional response, which I can't ignore, it's specific.

[1710] It scares me a little bit that, I mean, this is just the truth, I guess, but it feels very doomsday to me that, like, you can know something's true.

[1711] And then, like, it doesn't really matter that you know it's true.

[1712] No, the order of events is, I look at her, I have an emotional feeling when I see her interviewed, and then I have to intellectually think my way out of that feeling I have.

[1713] But then do you?

[1714] Like, does the feeling go away once the intellect comes in?

[1715] Well, it's interesting because, like, I imagine hearing her talk right now, and I think she has such an affected way of speaking.

[1716] like it's so measured and perfect and this.

[1717] And so, yeah, I still would feel like she thinks I'm a piece of shit emotionally.

[1718] Right.

[1719] Like if I met her at the grocery store, she'd be grossed out that I was next to her.

[1720] Then I might have poop out my pants or something.

[1721] You probably do.

[1722] That's fair.

[1723] But then intellectually, I know that's ridiculous.

[1724] I don't know this person.

[1725] She might be the kindest, most generous, most inclusive person alive.

[1726] You know, a lot of my, I figured this out the other day.

[1727] I don't know why it took me so long, but I had step -grandparents that were wealthier than us.

[1728] And I don't think this is in our head.

[1729] They thought that their son had married trash.

[1730] And when we were around them, they were grossed out by us.

[1731] Yeah, yeah.

[1732] And I think that was really impactful for me. Of course.

[1733] Yeah, yeah.

[1734] I think, I'm like, why do we have?

[1735] such a chip on my shoulder about people's money i think it's probably just solely based on that few years that we have i'm sure yeah and even he the stepdad he would remind us that he had gone to better schools than my mom and he went and he had an engineering degree yeah he was he was pretty condescending yeah he reminded us that we were in a different class than he was quite often right that's probably where that comes i'm sure all these things come from a real place It's all my issue.

[1736] It's stupid.

[1737] But within that, I've really been thinking a lot lately about like dressing nice.

[1738] And people will act like dressing nice is implicitly of value.

[1739] But I very much think that this has always been designed for people of wealth in class to display that they are above you.

[1740] I think the whole thing is calculated.

[1741] I think wardrobe and dress is always.

[1742] way to delineate what class you're in and in that way i think it's a really stupid endeavor like this notion of wearing a suit it's like what wait why tell me why well you you dress up and you honor this thing but it's like yeah but but why why is that a way to be respectful of something is to put on this uniform but the uniform really is just signaling a tuxedo is signaling rich and that's why you that's why normal people rent one to go to a wedding Right.

[1743] Like they act.

[1744] It's an opportunity to rent.

[1745] But it's like they get to rent this evening where they're high class.

[1746] I think there's something implicitly wrong with that.

[1747] Yeah, that's fair.

[1748] That's fair.

[1749] And they have basically a day that they can't afford in real life.

[1750] Like your average person, your poor average person is like dumps all this money on a wedding that they can't afford.

[1751] Or that minimally even if they can afford it.

[1752] much better spent investing in a house or something.

[1753] Everyone could agree on it.

[1754] So then the question is, why are they doing it?

[1755] And it's because they want to feel rich for a day.

[1756] I don't know if they want to feel rich.

[1757] Like, I don't think they know that that's what they want, but I think that is what's going on.

[1758] It's like they get to act like royalty on this one day.

[1759] And they get to eat in a way they wouldn't normally get to eat.

[1760] And they get to, you know, it's all wrapped up in class stuff, I think.

[1761] I mean, I do think psychologically, maybe this is tied into what you just said.

[1762] But I think psychologically people like having moments where they feel special.

[1763] Right.

[1764] And dressing up is a part of that.

[1765] It's like part of the whole thing.

[1766] Like I'm doing something different today than normal days.

[1767] And it's a special day.

[1768] So we're going to do things different.

[1769] We're going to do fancy food.

[1770] And we're going to do.

[1771] And so I'm with you all the way right now.

[1772] I'm totally with you.

[1773] And that's a valid thing to do.

[1774] But why is it the special thing we're going to?

[1775] to do is emulate Great Gatsby.

[1776] Like, why isn't the special thing we're going to do is we're all going to dress up like our favorite characters from Game of Thrones at this wedding?

[1777] Or why are we going to do, you know, X, Y, or Z of things I love, we all like.

[1778] Everyone wants to be fancy and they want the train on their dress to be 80 feet long like the princess.

[1779] I think in general it's like I want to look my absolute best for this special day, something out of the ordinary.

[1780] I agree.

[1781] And that part I'm on.

[1782] I'm with you.

[1783] But why is the ordinary thing to look rich?

[1784] It's not to look rich.

[1785] It's to look different than normal.

[1786] And different than normal is dressed up.

[1787] You don't do that normally.

[1788] If I wore overalls to wedding, it's like, yeah, I would do that all the time.

[1789] You want it to be like a heightened version.

[1790] I want you to get married in like a rodeo bar.

[1791] That's not very me. I know, but it's different.

[1792] If you want special and different.

[1793] You want it to be you.

[1794] You should have gotten married in a rodeo bar.

[1795] I wish I had.

[1796] You should have.

[1797] That was the end.

[1798] That was the end?

[1799] Yeah, this is the end.

[1800] I guess I like that about country and western stuff.

[1801] Those guys like, this coat and tie is killing me in this high society, you cry all day.

[1802] They've always kind of rejected the fancy thing.

[1803] That's true.

[1804] It's kind of a staple of country and Western music.

[1805] Like the back of that pickup truck tailgate drop, fucking Cottonwood falling like snow in July.

[1806] Uh -huh, sure.

[1807] Yeah.

[1808] So maybe I'm just more country.

[1809] Right.

[1810] That's so funny.

[1811] I mean, everything just triggers people differently.

[1812] Like, that triggers me way more than seeing someone in a dress.

[1813] Because you're afraid of, like, racism.

[1814] Yeah.

[1815] Yeah.

[1816] But I don't think, I do not think that all people who are country or live in the country or like country music or wear a cowboy hat or racist.

[1817] I do not think that.

[1818] But, you know, I just, that's my immediate emotional reaction when I see someone in the back of a pickup truck with that, I get nervous that that's a viewpoint.

[1819] Yeah.

[1820] And I don't know if it's not fair.

[1821] Confederate flag flying that tips it.

[1822] Exactly.

[1823] Well, it was a fun time in Nashville.

[1824] God damn.

[1825] I want to go every year there.

[1826] Me too.

[1827] To me, that's like Austin.

[1828] Oh, one thing.

[1829] So I got a shirt there where I talked about it that I love.

[1830] That I loved.

[1831] Nudie's honky talk.

[1832] Nudie's titty bar.

[1833] Nudie's honky tonk.

[1834] There was a naked lady on the shirt.

[1835] Her Natchies were out.

[1836] And I tried to order you one because you liked it.

[1837] And it's sold out.

[1838] I'm not surprised.

[1839] It's a dynamite shirt.

[1840] In your colors.

[1841] Nudies, you could send us one for Dax.

[1842] He's a large and he likes black and gold color.

[1843] Oh, love black and gold.

[1844] Yeah.

[1845] All right.

[1846] Well, you know, again, we had two great guests in Nashville that were.

[1847] both very big gets for us and a ton of gratitude for both of them.

[1848] Yeah, me too.

[1849] Stay tuned for Dirk's.

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