Artist Friendly with Joel Madden - Reyna Roberts

Episode Date: May 1, 2024

On this week's episode of Artist Friendly, Joel Madden is joined by Reyna Roberts. For the unfamiliar, Roberts is a fast-rising country artist. Last year was huge for the “princess of outlaw country,” as she shared her debut album, Bad Girl Bible, Vol. 1, toured with Reba McEntire, and was featured in the Grammy Museum. The Alabama-bred artist also recently snagged two features on Beyonce’s heel-turn country album Cowboy Carter — her first features ever — on the tracks “Blackbiird” and “Tyrant,” which coincides with her mission to bring more awareness to Black musicians within the genre. ------- Listen to their Artist Friendly conversation on ⁠⁠Spotify.⁠ ------- Follow Artist Friendly! IG: @artist.friendly TikTok: @artist.friendly YouTube: youtube.com/@artist.friendly ------- Host: Joel Madden, @joelmadden Executive Producers: Joel Madden, Benji Madden, Jillian King Producers: Josh Madden, Joey Simmrin, Janice Leary Visual Producer/Editor: Ryan Schaefer Audio Producer/Composer: Nick Gray Music/Theme Composer: Nick Gray Cover Art/Design: Ryan Schaefer Additional Contributors: Anna Zanes, Neville Hardman Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hey, what's up everybody? I'm Joel Madden, and this is artist-friendly. On this episode, I'll be sitting down with singer-songwriter and country artist Rainer Roberts. Let's go. I'm smoking on gas. I'm smoking out if that's my kind. I don't want no bad times. I don't want to have bad. Did I get a new? Like, what constitutes new? That's a great question. How fresh is new? I don't know. I just got one last week. I feel like that's new. Okay. What's you got? So me and the other girls on the song called Blackbird. we all got like our different versions of blackbird. Oh.

They got actual blackbirds, but I wanted to get... I have a blackbird. You have a black bird? Oh my gosh. That's great. How much did it hurt scale? You know, tattoos here on the like, on my sternum, killed me. Right.

But the rest was fine. He started here, which was nice because it was the most painful spot. Then everything else kind of felt like relief. That's wild. Yeah. So I have a blackbird. How are you doing, Raina? I'm so good.

How are you doing? Nice to meet you. Nice to meet you, too. Thanks for coming on. No, thank you for having me. So happy you're here. I am too. That's great to have you here.

Thanks. I love your hair. You like it. Thank you. I love it. We have to get props to my mom because she colored it for me. She did? Mm-hmm.

Yeah. I can't take any responsibility for it. That's very handy. It's just very handy. Just in the kitchen, all the fixings. If you have someone that can color your hair that good, you know how much money you save? Yes.

Actually, literally. A good colorist is... A lot. That's why she learned how to do it. She was like, we ain't paying money for this. I'm going to just learn how to do it myself. Yeah, that's good. That's handy.

It is. Are you close to your mom? Oh, yeah. She's here. I love my mama. My whole family, we're a unit. Wait, you're the mom? I thought you were like, maybe like the sister or the friend.

Oh, shit. Thank you. Very. She was like, wait, let me take my back. Very, very good. Well done. Copy and copy. in pace. Living well. What's the key? Lots of joy, laughter, water, sleep. Yep, all those

in prayers and melanin. Melanine. That's probably like the most important ingredient. It is. You guys seem like a very happy, a very happy duo. Yeah, I would say so. I feel like we try to always bring the most like positivity and joy out of people if we can and just be a light. Yeah. That's always the goal. Yeah. Are you guys best friends? Yeah, I love my mama. My mom's my, I can't. It'll say cheesy if I say ride or die. But literally, like.

No, that's not cheesy at all. We all have to have a rider die. Literally anywhere you go, I go. And vice versa. We are the same person. I'm the way more tame, quiet version of my mother. Really? Yes, 100%.

Wow. I'm shy in a return. She's just like a fireball. Do you consider yourself shy? Yes. Because I consider myself shy. Yeah, 100%. Could you see that?

Yes. Yes, I can't. I feel like it's different. when you're in the entertainment business and, you know, that's the part of our job. So we have to have that switch. But that doesn't mean we necessarily change like the inside of who we are, you know. Yeah. I didn't think through what entertaining actually was when I got into it.

Yeah. And then when I got thrown on to the stage, I responded in a way that was like a character of sorts of myself, which became a part of me. Yeah. In a way. A lot of the version of me that people got to know for the first decade or so my career or longer was a version of me, but it wasn't actually me. It was your persona. It was a persona that I inadvertently switched on every time I went on stage without knowing it.

Yeah. Well, this is interesting. I never thought about that until just now. Until you, okay. Until just now. To literally just right? Yeah. Maybe because it's like therapy.

It's like therapy. And it's so natural too. I mean, when you're innately a performer, you have that in you. Like sometimes, some people have to think about it, but sometimes it just comes naturally to others. And then you realize you're like, oh, wait, this is what's happening. I've entered my, like my character, like you were saying. If we were going to try to analyze it, not that I want to start doing that just yet. I like analyzing.

If we were going to analyze it, I would say it's almost like a fighter flight. Okay. Right? Yeah. Because if we, if it was. flight, we would not be in the situation. We'd peace out. We would shut down. We would, we would freeze. But fight is more like, I'm staying in it. And our response to all the eyeballs or the, you know, going on stage or any given entertainment type moment, even this moment, right? You don't know me.

You sit down in the chair and you have to like respond. There's a fight in it that produces a personality. that is a part of us. Yeah, definitely. And the people that are naturally inclined to entertain, they go to a good place. Hopefully, right. Right? And then the people who aren't naturally inclined,

so there's something about like a natural born entertainer. Yeah, I understand what you mean. I feel like I've always been a naturally, I've always been an entertainer my whole life, but I think I had to learn how to be personable and actually have conversations. So that was the hard part for me. In terms of like being an entertainer and singing in front of people, I've never had trouble with that part, but I've always had trouble having like conversations with people, speaking to people, being personable and not just being in a corner reading a book and just in my own little world. That's the part I had to kind of work on.

What do you think that is? Like why is that? Probably because I'm an only child. I grew up around veterans and I would always spend my time like if I wasn't around my family just in my head or reading books and in my own little imagination, people would be like. like, oh my goodness, Raina and your child like wonder. Like, you always mess with me about that. And I think it just stems from being in my head. So I'm not, I wasn't always talking to people. Just keep to myself and no quiet. Yeah. I'm a very quiet person. I feel like people are always surprised like, you know, having conversations. But this is a learned skill set. Yeah, yeah, yeah. This isn't a natural. Well, it's unnatural, right? It's like what I hope in these conversations is that we always have a natural conversation, but you do have to get there because it's unnatural to sit down and go, okay, like, talk.

Right. Let me know everything about you. Tell me. All the things. So it's, and all of us get there in different ways. Right. Definitely. You know, I've now had practice doing this because I've been doing it long enough now.

But, and I had decades of other kinds of interview experience and TV and stuff like that. Because I think you're on the precipice of the next chapter of your. career. I would say that too. I think so. And I think as you go, you kind of, you learn to fly the thing as you go, right? Right. That's one part of it. I was just having this conversation yesterday. Yeah. So it's a real thing. Like learning how to fly the thing as you do. Like that's why you have to have some grace around like all the decisions and all the things. You're not going to get everything right, but you'll only know that on the other side of it. Once you do it. And you're making gut calls and you're trying to, you know, and usually when it rains a pores, so it starts to pick up and then there's all kinds of stuff flying at you and you're just trying to make calls as you you know and and then there's a part of us coming from humble beginnings usually most of us um we also don't want to fuck up the opportunity or or we don't want to be ungrateful for the opportunity so we're trying to be to navigate and we're trying to please everyone thankfully i'll say that i've learned the people pleasing thing because that's that was a big part of my personality in my life to up until maybe like

half a year ago. Are we the same person? We might just be. It's like I'm talking to myself. But I feel like I've definitely learned how to, I'm not a people pleaser anymore. Like I always want to be respectful towards others and also like listen to, you know, whatever they have to say and take it in. But also I've definitely learned not to be a people pleaser because that was a big part

of where I would have a lot of my downfalls because I would want to make them happy. You get pulled into something. Yeah. And I was listening to myself. and what I feel like it's best for me. Yeah, because saying no is okay. Yeah, absolutely. I feel like people need to say no if it's not for them

or if it's something that they're not comfortable with, not happy with, don't do that thing. Or like you'll get something an opportunity or something and you'll measure it up and you'll try to walk around it and then to be able to say like, yeah, I don't know that this is for me. I'm not the right fit for this. Definitely.

And being able to come to that and express that without putting emotion behind it, When we get pulled into our emotion, and we have to say no and we're scared to say no, we usually do it out of anger almost. You know, I feel like I've learned a lesson recently about fear and about being scared in certain situations. I feel like I've grown so much closer to God, and I kind of learned that, you know, God didn't give us the spirit of fear.

And so in moments when I start to have that come on me, I'm like, wait, no, I'm not giving into this. Obviously, situations matter and all those different things. in terms of what I used to be scared about before or would have fear tours or whatever. I'm like, no, I'm not giving into that. What were the things you would have been afraid of before? Definitely saying no to people. Disappointing people.

Disappointing people, missing opportunities. I never want to come across as like someone who's like arrogant or rude or or I don't know, anything that I feel like is outside of like who I am as a person and my characteristics. And I used to kind of coincide those things with saying no to people or saying like, oh, I don't want to do that. and I would put those things together. Then I had to learn like, that's not the case.

That's not what it is. That's not reality. It's not reality at all. Yeah, you have to say no. Right. Something. So I feel like I learned that lesson and it's made me, I feel like a better person. And I like myself a lot more than I used to.

I feel more confident in who I am as a person as opposed to my music specifically. Or just my music. Isn't it interesting though that like I don't know which one, you know, the chicken or the egg, right? Right. Would you say when you like yourself and you have a general perception that you're a good person, that you matter, that you're talented, that, you know, when you have that self-esteem and you like yourself, wouldn't you say you enjoy life more? Oh, absolutely. 100%. And wouldn't you say that success kind of coincides with how you feel?

about yourself and how much you like living. Absolutely. I feel like a lot of people probably get something that some people may get confused is that like you can have a lot of things, but if you're not happy, if you're not a happy person or you don't enjoy life, then all those things don't matter whatsoever. Yeah. Because you can have all those things and you're still depressed or whatever whatever those negative feelings are that are like weighing you down, then you're not going to enjoy all the things that you have. Yeah, like what's the point of eating food if you can't taste it? Yeah. Yeah.

You know? It's like if you're not enjoying it. What's the point? I've been trying to actually think about different food differently, specifically. I'm trying to get in shape and I love sugar and cookies. I know this is so, so like such a side bar. I am too. Listen, I think we might be the same person.

I've been on the last four months on like a life changing, game changing health journey. Okay, that's good. what's my behavior around and my attitude towards working out what is it well that's what i had to find out oh okay have you found it i did yeah do you like it now i do love i love it okay but it took me it took me a lifetime that's fair i wasn't an athlete in school i was i was probably i mean i wanted to be because that's what was kind of rewarded where i lived but um and not to say i'm not athletic because I'm actually pretty athletic but I didn't have any teachers, coaches or parents around that were supportive of that part of my life so it's very hard for me to like find

a rhythm with it right and I realize that with having a son who's an athlete what he has is a really supportive parent and parents and so me and my wife for both of our kids they're both athletes my daughter is a very accomplished dancer that's awesome like extremely good and she works really hard at it but she has support so if she wants a coach we find a coach if she wants to go to that class we do it

if she's on this dance company and it's a lot of commitment so one of us every night is driving at 9 p.m. to the west side to pick her up that was my family one of us is dropping her off one of us is picking her up.

It's constant commitment from everybody to make that work. Definitely. And the same with my son with his baseball, with boxing with the things he does. So what I learned was like, oh, you need support. Yes. To get a chance to see how far you can take sports. Yeah. When you have people surrounding you that are uplifting and encouraging

and that want the best for you, and it's all, and all those things are positive, because people can want the best, but also, you know, be really negative. But when you have that support group that lifts you up and lets you know that you're great and you can do anything that you want to in this world, I feel like that's just a motivator. That'll that'll push you and make you want to work harder for not just yourself, but the people around you.

Yeah. And I had to do that at 45. Mm-hmm. I had to find a trainer that I liked that also was the right coach. Mm-hmm. Yeah. So learn, you know, the first four months of my like working out. I was just learning how to work out for real.

Uh-huh. Yeah. Like learning about it while we did it. Instead of just doing what someone, yeah. Yeah. Instead of just doing what someone told me. And then now I'm at like phase two where I'd say I'm taking it to the next level where I got the base down.

Now we're trying to like get to the next level, you know? So it's like it's like a fun game. I probably need to do what you're doing. I haven't worked out in forever for a while, for a minute. But you probably, time is probably hard for you, right? Yeah, but you know what? I used to, well, when before I had like more interviews and more things happening, I would get up at like 4 a.m. Go work out for like two hours, do whatever I was doing. Or basically I was rehearsing for shows. And then I would do everything else for us today. And I feel like I need to go back to that. It's just finding the like right time management to make it happen. Well, I'm lucky because I'm home most of the time. Okay. So being in one place helps when you can just go, all right, at 9 a.m.

Every day, 9 a.m. I'm going in and I'm doing something. And so that helps. But it also just took me emotionally and ready to get there where I actually saw myself doing it. Yeah. And then also learning how to be nice to myself. Yeah, you have to have grace when you're, when you're working, especially because if it's something you've never really done and it's a building process. And I feel like we're in the time where everybody wants things to happen really fast. Yeah, yeah, yeah. you say everything coming instantly. Yeah. That when it's something that takes a process, it's just like, I don't want to do all that.

There's no other way around diet and exercise. Yeah, no. It's all a process. Right. That you have to like build on like where you're really at. Yeah. Not where you want to be. You have to be where you're at.

You have to grow. You have to build real. Like if you build muscle, you got to build muscle. Yeah. So it's all muscles. It's all habits. It's like learning how to eat right. makes it's a lifelong journey of especially if you're addicted to sugar like me I'm addicted

to sugar I like wake up and eat cookies and brownies I would eat cookies all day I literally know but I actually I literally wake up and that's the first thing I eat and so I'm like but but I'm like okay I can't do that but I'll eat I'll go really bad I'll go dark I'll go to the gas station and buy like that's already questionable I will buy hostess cakes little dead Debbie cakes. Those aren't even good sweets. I'm so upset. Just and like so like a grape soda.

Have you ever been in a Torrance Bakery? Where? Torrance Bakery? No. Actually, don't go there if you're trying to do better. No, no. I'm off. I'm off of all that stuff.

Yeah. Okay, never mind. Ignore what I said. Although I will make a confession. The other day we were at a baseball tournament with my son and I stopped at the gas station to buy some bottles of water. You had a hostess? And I saw the hostess cakes.

And I bought a few and I didn't need them. I didn't need them. I put them in the bag with the stuff that I bought. And then when I got home, I knew they were in the bag. And what did you do with the bag? The waters were gone. They all got drank. Yeah.

But I had the bag in the car, like, tucked away. And when I got home, I, like, grabbed the bag and I went into the pantry and I, like, slid them back in the thing. And then last night. Did you eat one? So what I did, this was the compromise. I really wanted it. Okay. I've been thinking about it since I bought it.

Since I bought it. I took just those like ding-dongs. You know ding-dongs? Yeah. And I took them, I opened them, and I took two bites. That's great. And then I threw them away.

That's awesome. That was the compromise. Progress. Progress. That's better than eating all the whole thing. I would have eaten six of them if I... Six to two bites is massive change. Progress.

It's progress. That's how I look at life. I can't say that for me. Oh yeah. Okay. Yes to that part. Are we building better patterns or are we building worse patterns? Oh, you know what? I never thought about that before. That's a, I think I'm going to start. It's all just patterns. I'm going to start telling myself that from now.

It's all just patterns. It's really good. Think about all your success. Mine? Yeah. So it's a pattern of what you've done. You went to the session. Yeah.

You went to the meeting. You went to the thing. You went. You went. You went. You went. You went. That's a pattern. That's true.

There's a bunch of reasons you could say, is it worth even. trying or do I really need to do that or do I really need to go there? Do I really need to think about this? It might feel unnatural for you to think that way because I would say you're likely naturally driven and some people aren't around certain things. Yeah. And then they may be around other things. Right. So someone who goes to the gym all the time might be naturally inclined for whatever reason. But they might not be naturally inclined around their work life. Right. Right. Definitely. And if we divide our life into categories, our category around our personal health and fitness, our category around work, our category around like interpersonal relationships, our, you know,

romantic relationships and things like that, our transcendence, our, you know, our spiritual life. I love transcendence. Yeah, so our spiritual life. I love that, though. I'm going to start telling people that from now. So, yeah, the transcendent part of life is our spiritual life. It's the there's something more, right? and our understanding may be a God, but for someone else, it might be something else.

So if we don't have, if we don't actually stop to think about the patterns we build in each category, then we won't really actually be growing in every category. And if we're succeeding in one but failing in the rest, we likely can't enjoy the one we're succeeding in. But if we try to find a balance of what we perceive as success in each category, we're likely going to build out a more balanced life where we can enjoy each part. And each part is a full life. If you have no spiritual life or no transcendent part of life, but you're super successful, you may find something missing. If you have no personal relationships, you're certainly not going to

have people to celebrate with, people to cry with when life is always going to throw things at us. 100%. There's always pain. There's always going to be. There's always going to be. some part of life that every one of us has to suffer. I heard something. You just reminded me of a quote, but I can't remember the whole thing right now. So my bad. I'm listening.

That's okay. I like quotes. I can't remember what the quote was. Something about suffering. I was going to say it was something about suffering, but I can't remember. Well, we all suffer.

Yeah. And so if we can realize our full potential. Most people don't realize their full potential. Most people don't realize that they can, everything that they dream can be reality. Absolutely. I believe that. And that's really why people don't,

reaching their full potential. And then everyone has to ask themselves in an honest way, I think, am I reaching my potential here, here, and here in life? Yeah, all these areas. And then is it worthwhile to aim higher? Oh, is it higher? Right? So if my interpersonal relationships in my life aren't fulfilling, can I stop?

And can I ask myself the harder questions? Like, what part of that do I own? Am I causing a repeated problem? Right. Or am I choosing people that are that fit a problem that I have? And a lot of that comes from childhood and stuff like that. Definitely. But I think the mission in life is to aim upwards and try.

And then reach the potential outcomes that are on the good side. Yeah. Like my perspective is that I want to be. I don't know. I want to be excellent at everything that I want to be excellent. excellent at. So when it comes to, I was going to say when it comes to like having a great relationship with my family, great relationship with my friends, I want to be a good person. I want to be giving. Also want to be excellent at the music I create, the art I create, whether it's music or

whether it's like outside of songwriting, just writing in general, whatever I'm doing. I want to be excellent at it. You know, that's, that comes with so many years of growth and, and experience and whatnot. But I haven't necessarily always been super optimistic. I feel like there is a good part of my life where I was pessimistic and I was thinking about things in terms of like, oh, that might not happen or that's not likely. I don't feel like that now. I'm just like, I plan to do all the things that. What part of your life was that?

What age you think? Probably all my life up until last year, maybe. Oh, wow. But I mean, I don't know the best way to describe it, but I've always known that I was going to be a superstar. And I say that because, not because of, like, I want necessarily like money or like, I do want fame, but I want fame because I want to create things that outlive me. and that are legendary.

I want to leave a legacy behind. But I would say, like, there would be certain instances where I'm like, oh, that might not happen, or that's not likely, or I don't really know how realistic that is in certain areas, but I don't feel like that. Even if things don't look likely, I'm like, I'm sure there's going to be a way to find, whether I do it, God does it, somebody going to do it.

We do it together, but it's going to get done. It feels like you're doing it. I feel like I'm doing it too. Yeah. Well, you kind of know you are, right? I am. Yeah. Yeah.

So I think that that is before anyone acknowledges our, let's say just from our perspective, before anyone acknowledges our art, we're called to do it. So something calls us to do it. There's a subconscious calling. It's a desire. I think I could do that. I want to do that. It feels good to do that.

Right. And then we try. And then we try again. And we try again. And then we start to find our way. Doing your patterns. Doing our patterns. Yeah.

Yeah. We get this. kind of resilience to trying and not actually really getting caught up in the result, but we're just trying. And then the results is more something like people acknowledging that it's good. Right. So it's the yeses, right? Oh, this is good.

And then with each yes, it's kind of a confirmation of like. Like, oh, I'm going in the right direction. I was right. Yeah. I can do it. And then as you continue to grow and level up and it starts to become what it is for you now, which is a career. right um the day one problem is solved yeah can i do this will anyone care whatever that question is

when you start like can i do this like everyone has that right that the little doubt or whatever that's kind of removed because the day one problem was that and that's solved you're here um now the day two problem is always easier to solve than the day one problem to be honest i've never had that day well that the one that you spoke of specifically like can i do this Thankfully, I've never had that doubt. Oh, you always knew? I've always known. I'm so grateful for that, but that's also because, like, my family, like, cultivated that,

um, and made sure to, they made sure that I would never like second guess, like, my talent and what I was created to do what I'm made for. So thankfully I didn't have to, I didn't have that fear of like, oh, this, is this what I want to do? Is this right for me? I've always known. I'm like, yeah, this is my destiny. This is what I'm here for. The day one problem, I guess, is, is this is what I'm here for.

my guess is like how is this going to happen what do i need to do to make this happen because i don't know anybody in the music industry okay so so the day one problem that's good that's actually a really good to point out so for you the day one problem was how and okay so that problem is solved yeah yes because you kind of realize i'm the answer to that problem i just have to try yeah and then as i go down the road i'm going to meet opportunity on the road i'm going to do what i do which which is In your case, I know I can do that. So now it's more about finding the opportunities to do that. It's like, how do you keep breaking that threshold that's there?

Because I want to be like my version of success is performing at the Super Bowl one day, doing songs with my favorite artist, breaking records in different areas, making history. And it's kind of like, okay, so I know that these things are going to happen. I know that they will happen. How do I make those things happen? So it's always like those question marks of is it, is it, will it be this way? That will it be this way? And then just continuously like making sure that I'm leveling up.

But in a way that I'm proud of and in a way that's hopefully like inspiring to other people and all ways that are positive. Yeah. Yeah. What would you say the things that that you've done so far would fall on that list? First would be definitely doing a song, Beyonce, because I love her. She's always been my biggest inspiration. She's incredible.

She's absolutely phenomenal. And I'm not saying it because she is Beyonce, but because I literally feel like she's been one of my teachers in life. You could also say it because she's Beyonce. Well, yeah. But I think because a lot of people, I know for some people it's because she's very popular and all those other things. But for me personally, I've watched her, like I would say basically my whole life.

And her music, her artistry has shaped my voice, has shaped my vision, my artistry in my career because she's been my biggest teacher when it comes to music. And so that's why it's so important to me. She is my favorite in the world. She's special. What I notice about Beyonce, the times whenever I've come in contact with her, been around her, she is extremely kind. There's something about generosity.

of a person that there's a through line that I've noticed with really iconic, successful people that have at great cost built these legacies, but that have also been through all the challenges that that come with building a legacy. There's a through line with like kindness and generosity that I notice, especially in her. We're really big fans of her. My whole house we we celebrate her but just iconic absolutely and like I feel like people kind of toss that word out like casually now you know how so you know how like I don't know there's different phrases and phases and people have been just to be like oh that's so iconic that's so I'm like no but that that's that shit's iconic well there's people that are iconic and then there are people that can do iconic

things so there's ways to differentiate like or clarify yeah because I do you think that there's lots of opportunities for all of us to be iconic. I love that you said that. Yeah. That's so true. So I think it's something that can be attained, but there's a lived life that you have to look after. Right.

And I think that her and Jay Z. I don't know if I call him Jay because I don't know. Jay or Daisy. I don't know if I'm close enough to call him Jay. But I'm a big enough fan to say I call him Jay in my house. MJ. Their family have, it seems, you know, the world can all look in and try to assess or do whatever. Tear apart a family that's risen to a place that we should all aspire to rise to.

It's success in the work life is one thing. That's what we tend to focus on. But I look at the personal life. I look at a family that's navigated, a very difficult business, a very different world and time. I mean, everybody's eyes are on you nonstop 100%. Yeah. And now all the platforms on the internet, anyone can say anything. That's what I was getting to next. And I was kind of just like, I think it comes with the time we live in. But to watch a family navigate that with grace is, it's, it, it gives me something to go like, okay, I kind of want to move like that if I can.

Yeah. Go ahead. especially being married and being a parent, you look at other families. I don't know none about that, but that's, yeah. You kind of especially, you know, if you come from a broken home and you don't have a model for like, how does a family present itself to the world when people are looking? Got it. I've never even thought about that before. But we don't talk about it.

Everyone's like, you don't think I'm not going to try and put the best version of my family out there if you're looking at it. Yeah, that's true. I'm not going to put all our dirty laundry on the street. Right. And. Right. You know? I'm going to try and present myself in a way that I feel best about.

Also, that protects us from your, all the comments and all those stuff. And we don't ever talk about that because like we're all just people. Yeah, I honestly, I was just talking, I might have been talking to Christine about this other day. But I was thinking like, you know, you go on social media is its own thing and people will say what, you know, whatever they want to say. It's what it is. What do you say? It is what it is. Yeah, it is what it is.

But then I've just been, I'm a very open person. Like, people can probably ask me almost anything, and I'll most likely, like, tell them, like, how I actually genuinely feel. But I was like, oh, I have to be mindful of, like, the people I'm posting on my social media, my friends and my family, because I want to make sure that they're protected and that people, if they say anything to them, it'll be, like, in a positive light. And I just have to be aware of not just what I'm doing and what people will say about me, because I don't really care all that much I do sometimes.

It depends. But I do want to protect the people I love and make sure that, you know, people are, you know, that people see them in the best light and, and just make sure that they're protected. I think that's how most of us feel. Yeah, right. Any person. Because when you said family, I was like, you know, I never thought about that. Because I don't have a, like, I don't have a boyfriend or I haven't been married or children or anything like that.

So I hadn't even really thought about. that those kind of things yet, but I have been thinking about, um, like where I am now and making sure that the people I love and care are protected and nobody comes at them. I think it's natural when you care about people. Yeah. And you have experienced any of the, the negative side. Right. Of any attention or fame or whatever you want to call it. Um, that you start getting protective of people's, not only their privacy, but like, they're like innocent bystanders in your life. 100% like, like, because like, like, people might say whatever they want about me.

Sometimes I don't care about it. Sometimes I guess it really depends. But I'm like, how is a person that I love, how is it going to affect them? Like it might not affect them the same way that affects me. Like I might read something and be like, I don't care. But they might not feel that way. And it might get to them and I don't want that. Absolutely.

Absolutely. You care about their feelings. Yeah. And on the other side of it, I kind of like also put myself in the shoes of the commenters. I do that a lot Because who am I to say they shouldn't make a comment Right that's the nature of entertainment That's the hard part

And so I accept it But I'm going to play the game That they're also participating in And so What's that mean? Meaning that I'm going to try to protect the people That they are waiting to make some Throwaway comment about that

They haven't even thought through It's not like they thought oh, I'm going to say something mean about this guy's kid or about his wife and what she was wearing that day or whatever. And you're like, I'm not even saying, fuck you, you shouldn't say that. I'm saying I understand the nature of this. And I expect that from you. That's why I'm trying to protect her from that.

Because on the other side of it, the argument would be, well, that's what you get when you sign up for this. I was going to say a lot of people, I mean, that's, I don't know, it depends on what the situation is, but a lot of times, like, I don't know, maybe something as simple as this. I hope I'm not, like, veering it off too much, but, like, if I'm tired, if I've had, like, I don't know, two performances and a whole bunch of meetings or something, and I'm sleeping and I don't have, like, the best energy. And I think, like, instead of being like, oh, complaining about it, I'm like, this is what I signed up for.

This is the deal. You know what? I might be tired, but I'm grateful that all these things are happening right now because I could be doing nothing and nobody could know anything about. my art or what I'm creating. I kind of, sorry, I totally pivoted, but I was just saying in terms of that way of thinking. But you're still a real person who's tired. Yeah. So that's the, that's the, that's the balance, right? That is the balance. All that to be said that Beyonce is a graceful because of each other. Yes. And I feel like, it's outside of music even, like I feel like I've probably

got a lot of a good amount of my mindset from her, from my family, my parents definitely too, but just hearing how she talks about herself, talking about being a legend in the making and just all the ways that she describes, like, her and in her career and her vision. I feel like I've learned that for. And never compromising that idea of yourself. Exactly.

Yeah, definitely. I mean, that's, that's really important. I honestly think that's one of the reasons why I'm so authentically myself and I'm not like cutting corn, not like, I'm not fitting into a box that, some people want me to be because I've made sure to keep myself, not just me, because my family and my friends do it with me also. But making sure that I know that who I am and what is

authentically me is what draws people to me also. Like I'm not going to change that just to be, I don't know, more acceptable or more like everybody else. Right, right. What would you say if there was a box? What would you, what do you think the box would be? In terms of like my music and how I look in the artistry and everything. Yeah, what people would put you in? Just because, like, I'm in country music, so we'll take that, for example, probably having, like, I don't know, black,

probably, like, natural hair, black hair, wearing some fucking jeans and some, I don't know, like, dresses and stuff. Yeah. What you wear. Just being, just not being who I am. Not saying what I say, not having, even the instrumentation that I have,

I call myself, like, the Princess of Outlaw country, because a lot of the stuff I do is, Like, some of it is traditionally country, but some of it has like a lot of rock to it. It has a lot of, um, it carries all of the influences I have from other genres and I'm putting it into like my version of country music. And a lot of times when I was in Nashville, people would be like, oh, this isn't like for country radio or this or that. And I'm like, I don't care.

Yeah. Yeah. What people would accept what, or let's just say the institutions of country music, what they would except for a long time. 100%. I feel like this new wave over the last, let's say this new generation of country is completely different. It's so different.

I think it's also like outside of country, like within genres in general, I feel like everything is becoming genreless. Yeah, yeah. Or people are, I feel like if you're a musician and you think about genres, you know what genre bending is and mixing sounds together because that's what we do as artists. but if you're just a listener, you don't know that much about music, people might start realizing that, you know, there's country and there's rock and there's pop,

and there's all these different layers that are creating, like this new genreless sound. And that's a lot more acceptable now, I would say, than a little bit ago. Yeah, I think it's changing because of this generation of artists, which you're a part of. I think there's all these artists that are coming out and saying, it actually doesn't matter.

And country music is everywhere. And great music is great music. Like whether I'm writing or singing a country song or a rock song or a pop song, trap, hip hop, I don't. I just want to create great music that, like, hopefully inspires other people and that I feel really proud about and that I can sing, like, 10, 15 years from now and still love it and be grateful that I was, like, felt free enough artistically to write it. So, like, those are the things that I think about outside are like,

is this country? Is this not country? Is this? Is it that? I'm like, is it great? Yeah, I agree. And I do think things are starting to change. I mean, I've only been in country music like five years.

And I have people. Five years is a good amount of time. It is a good amount of time. And I say only, I guess, in comparison to some of my other friends in country music who have been doing like 10 years plus. And so I think that things, since I've been in it such a short amount of time, I feel like things are slowly starting to change. But, I mean, I have such a small perspective.

I have such a small window of experience in comparison to... When you say five years, though, when I think of it, that puts you at what? Like 21 when you put out, when you started making country music? 20? Yes. So that's like you're at 25?

Yes. No, I'm 26. I had to think about it. So you've been doing it for 20% of your life. Good amount of time. That's a good amount of time. And if you wanted to say your adult life, you could go even, you could, you could, if you could, if you, if you, if you, if you, if you,

you said from 18 to 26, that's eight years. I've been doing it for five. So I've been doing it for over 50% of my adult choice making life. I love. I love. I'm just saying, no, no, it makes sense. It's enough time for me that I say it's credible. I definitely think it's credible. And I only say like I'm not minimizing the five years, but I'm saying that that's such a short amount of time in comparison to people I know who have been doing it in 10 plus years, especially when the space was a lot more, a lot different than it. How, it's been in the past five years. Because people are always asking me about, like, the change in country music and where I think

things are added and headed. And I feel, I mean, I feel like things are changing slowly. But at the same time, that's why I say five years, because that's such a small window in comparison to people have been doing it so much longer. And yet, such a big part of your life. Definitely a big part of my life. Yeah. Which is what I hear.

It's definitely been a big part of my life. And I also say that, too, because because of Beyonce, um, you know, um, you know, releasing her music this year. Some people are fine a lot, well, not some people, like a good amount of people are finding me for the first time? And they're like, oh, like, are you just getting into this? Are you doing it? Because Beyonce's doing it. And I'm like, I absolutely love Beyonce. She actually is one of the reasons why I wanted to be in country music because she released her song Daddy Lessons in 2016. And that was a lot, that was around the time I was listening to like Chris Ableton, a lot of brothers Osborne and Carrie Underwood and, and, and Beyonce and Adel and whatnot.

And I was writing a lot more country songs. But I also want to make sure. people know that I have been, I was doing it before, like this new wave of country music started to become a lot more popular and brought to a lot more. Yeah, well, at every level of discovery, you're going to have people asking those same questions. Yeah, they're like, oh, you just got here. And I'm like, man, I've been doing this for like 10 years. And on your, as you continue to go down the road, you're going to have a new crop of people who discovered you who are going to want to know more about how. And especially if you're such a different artist from the typical or the average or however you want to put that country artist so that's a that's a good thing i think it's

proof of concept i think it's also really interesting well because i've been let's say i've been in the music industry let's say 10 years because i released my first song when i was 16 what song was that it's called lying to myself i wrote you when i was in high school i had crashed on my wrestling captain man yeah i um that so that was my first time like riding going to the studio recording a song. Yeah. Where was that at? Where was that at?

What school? I went to three different high schools. I was in El Dorado, yeah. Where at? Where's El Dorado at? That's not in Walnut. Wait, wait, no, no, that was my third school. I was in Walnut.

I was in Walnut. El Dorado and Fullerton. In Fullerton. Okay. Wow, okay. Yeah. I went to a school in Long. I went to Milliken in Long Beach, Eldorado, in Fullerton, and then Walnut in the city of Walnut.

Wow. Yeah. I was just out near Fullerton this weekend for a baseball tournament. It's nice. It's cute. Inland Empire, I guess, right? Yeah. Yeah.

Right. So that's when I did my first song. It was about my little, my little crush. And you moved around a lot? Yeah, my family, we've lived in so many different cities. So I was born in Alaska because my parents were in the military in the Army. And then moved to Alabama. That's where my mom's side of the family's from.

And then we went to California. Four years. And then summers during. When we did move to California going back for... Where in Alabama? Birmingham. Oh, okay. Yeah.

My mother-in-law and my father-in-law are from Tuskegee. Oh, are they? Yeah. Hey, where's our family? We're a big Alabama family because of, obviously. Yeah, I'm like, where's my family at? I know nothing. That's what I thought.

I was just double checking. I didn't want to be like, ooh, I'm wrong. And then I don't know, Auntie calls me or something. It's like, what do you mean? We don't. Yeah. Big Alabama. fans. My mom has Alabama

everywhere. Wait, let me see my socks. People from Alabama love Alabama. Yeah, I'm checking to see if I have her Alabama socks on. No, I don't. I have my wrestling socks on, but I always grab them and wear them even though I had never even been to Did you wrestle? Yeah. Wow. Oh, yeah, yeah. That's why I wrote a song about my wrestling

captain, because I, because I liked him. So, wait, so is, was wrestling was there, was it a mixed? Oh, like, was Guys and boys? Yeah.

So I wrestled at three different high schools. Wrestling is a great sport. I love it. It's my favorite. I wrestled. What a class did you wrestle? 135. You did?

I was one of six. Okay. For guys and then for girls, I was like, I was 101. Wow. Yeah. What's your favorite move? Favorite move? That's a good question.

I like the firemen. What's that? I like the firemen. The firemen. The firemen and people. Yeah. I was, I was big on.

takedowns. Yeah. So always love to get those first points. Yeah. I was a pretty good wrestler. Yeah. I mean, I wasn't at first. It took me some time. I lost every single match my first year. I was like 98 pounds, scrawny, super like not athletic. I've never been athletic. What made you want to wrestle? Right? I asked myself that too. I don't know. Maybe I just inherently just like challenges somehow. But I think I'm inherently just like challenges somehow. But I I remember I had two friends in middle school, and they would wrestle. And one day I was like, man, I want to wrestle. Like, that looks awesome.

They're doing it. I want to do it. And so the first day of school, I was like, okay, let me find out where the wrestling team is when found it. And I was like, I want to be a wrestler. They're like, you do? Okay. All right.

Come on. Let's do tryouts. I mean, I'd be terrified. If I went out on the mat and I had to wrestle a girl, I'd be terrible. I know. It's so interesting. I didn't know else to say that. No, it's okay.

I don't know if there's a right way to say that. I'm so used to it. It's so interesting because, like, I don't know, most guys that either get mad or they feel bad or they cry, maybe. Right. Like, those are kind of like the, I feel like the three. Yeah. I don't know. Like, my first year, I lost all my matches to the guys and the girls.

And then. So are there a lot of girls who wrestle? Yeah. This is a new concept for me. It definitely is now. I actually just went to a wrestling tournament, maybe like, two or three. three months ago because somebody had a friend asked me to sing the national anthem at one of the wrestling tournaments. I was like, yeah, let's do it. And there were so many women, like, I would

say when I was in high school, there wasn't a lot. It was like starting to become a thing. Kind of like country music now with like everything that's happening. Things are starting to grow and grow and people are starting to know about it a lot more. In terms of like women when I was wrestling. And yeah, I mean, wrestling. Guys and girls, by my second year, I was really good. And I was winning, like, half my matches and third, fourth year. It was, like, doing really. Dominating.

I was doing pretty good, I'd say. But, yeah, that was, that was, that was like my little wrestling journey. So you're actually never worried. You're like, I could, I could pin this guy right here. I mean, no problem. I did a little bit of Muay Thai and a little bit of Jiu-Jitsu. I haven't done it in a while. Yeah.

But, I mean, I, the thing is, I'm not a fighter, but, like, I'm not scared to fight. You know what I mean? Like I always come from a place of love, but if, I mean, if somebody wants to try it, they can. I did Muay Thai too. It's great. Yeah, I love it. Oh, my goodness. I actually miss it so much.

You use your elbows and your knees. Yeah, everything. And then also, like, I love throwing people. Throwing people is really fun, I feel like, except suplex. I've never been suplex. I don't think I want to suplex somebody, but they do look really. It does look awesome. Do you watch MMA?

No. I actually don't really watch any sports. Really? No. not at all. I would say like if it was if I did have to watch a sport somewhere it would be like MMA that'd be the only thing I feel like I'd actually be like intrigued by and actually can I just tell you a story I just thought of because I'm talking about wrestling. Yeah. Have you been a stage coach? So I'm Anna Mena. And like my music, my hair changed with me and has to be able to

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Yeah this festival No I have it So okay Stage Coach is coming up in a few weeks

And this is what made me think about it. Are you playing? I'm not playing this year, but I played, I performed there two years ago. Okay. And I have a funny story to tell you because it involves a wrestling. So I went on a date in Nashville and I don't go on dates. And literally, how did you tell me earlier, Christina? I may or may not be under the influence.

That's how she said it. I may or may not. So you were drinking. May or may not have been. On your date, you were drinking. I was. Okay. Sounds normal.

Sounds like something that might happen. What makes it funny though is the fact that like literally during the date. Who was the date with? I've only dated one person. I've only had one boyfriend and it was him. Okay. Was it your first date? Yeah, it was our first date.

What makes it funny though is the fact that on this first day we both realized that we're wrestlers. Do you ever know what happens when you and somebody else always, like, do you have I'm guessing you say you want to wrestle? You always wrestle. This always happens to me. And almost any time. Oh my God. Yeah, that's exactly the reaction.

And I don't back down to somebody. It was like, oh, you're a wrestler. Let's see if you wrestled. And I'm like, okay, bet. And so drunk wrestling ensued in I dislocated my shoulder. I dislocated my, well, he dislocated my shoulder, actually. He dislocated your shoulder? Not on purpose.

He threw me. And I wasn't ready for the third. Where were you wrestling that? We were wrestling at a place where I, how do you say this? Like, I, I didn't even, I didn't even post. Was this like, you went on a date to dinner? No. To a bar?

We actually went to an ice cream shop. Okay, that's nice. It was an ice cream shop, but it's in Nashville. Okay. And so Nashville has a lot of bars. I usually don't go out like ever, because I'm just like a, I don't know. I just go, I don't go out. Right.

But I was like, you know what, why not? I don't go on dates. I don't go out. Might as well go to a bar. So we did karaoke. That's how it started. Okay. So you go ice cream, karaoke.

At what point is the wrestling? Like, where does that happen? Red Door. And if you're in Nashville, people know Red Door. Hit Red Door. And the thing, what happened was, I didn't even get myself drinks. What happened was, I think earlier that week I was on my first billboard. I think that's what happened.

Okay. You're excited. Well, people were seeing me. And they're like, you're Raina, do you want to drink? And I was like, sure. Sure. Yeah, sure. Why not?

We're celebrating. This will be fun. This is great. And yeah. And then I had like, I didn't even have a lot. I maybe had like three or four shots. Okay. That's enough.

That's enough to drunk wrestle and get your shoulders. Get yourself into third gear. Yeah. And so wrestling happened. And then I didn't even, I didn't post, but like I was, there was like, I don't know, say like a little stool, something right there. I got thrown. But when I tried to catch myself, my shoulder like.

So you wrestled at the bar. I didn't. We wrestled at the bar. We wrestled somewhere else. We wrestled where I shouldn't have been wrestling at and instead of our place. And then, and the moral of the story is, don't wrestle on your first date. That wasn't the moral of the story, but that's a good one. The moral of the story is don't do it before stage coach, because I had, I was in a sling for three weeks straight up until stage coach. And then literally I had it on up until I had to hit the stage and then took it off. But the relationship worked out. It did. We're not together anymore, but he is a great friend.

Okay, that's good. So you ended on good terms. Yeah, yeah. You made a natural decision to do what you were doing, but then you discover the meaning of it after. In a different way. In a different way. And I just realized that I'm doing that like kind of maybe with my whole life. Not even on purpose, like the whole wrestling thing and doing country music. And apparently the one point out. Yeah. Starting to see a pattern here. Yeah. Let me challenge all your ideas of what you think something is. Exactly.

And the thing is it's not even on purpose. Like I'm literally just being who I am and trying to be the best version of myself. I'm trying to be excellent. And I'm just realizing like, man, I'm just so controversial, but not even on purpose. It might be like disruptive. Disruptive. Yeah. People say that.

People say I'm polarizing, disruptive or all those, all those things. Some of those things are on purpose, like in terms of doing Bad Girl Bible Volume 1 and like the imagery I wanted to have and things like that. But just, yeah, there's also. I don't even think it's. So for me, like I feel like you're like naturally compelled to go into spaces and that you like. Right. So you naturally, you naturally like it. So with wrestling, you're naturally drawn to something about the physicality of it.

and the idea that even if it's a perceived idea, even if no one said these are the rules. So obviously they weren't because you got to wrestle. But the perception is, is that's what boys do. So you're drawn to it. I think I could do that. And then you just go do it. And you almost naturally like that you're challenging an idea and perception of something.

And then you just go do it. I think the thing is, Probably makes you feel happy. Well, it does make me feel happy. Yeah. But one thing that I feel like I keep realizing about myself is that, honestly, I don't even think about the rules. And that's why it ends up happening because I'm not, I'm not really thinking about the

rules. I'm thinking about, I'm in my own little fairy tale plan, like always. I'm always in my imagination. So I'm like, oh, wrestling sounds cool and it looks awesome. And I want to be a badass. How do I do that? Yeah. Let me train to do that.

And I'm not thinking about, like, girls don't wrestle. It's also probably because my parents didn't instill, like, those kind of, of those things in me. So I'm not like, oh, women don't wrestle or, you know, these like stereotypes that people place on others. And so when I'm going into these spaces, I'm not, I'm not really thinking about it. I'm just like, oh, I just want to do this. I love it. It looks fun. I want to be great at it. Yeah. And there's like a pride you get from figuring that out. Well, I think. Like, what's next that? Okay, I'm going to go do it. And then, and then you discover all these byproducts of it, these ancillary things that you did, like rules you didn't even know

you were breaking, but now I'm proud I broke it because it's, oh yeah, well, cool. Because it's not actually a real rule. It's not a real rule. Right? Like there's no rules. No. There's no rules in country music. There's perceived ideas that we don't talk about. And I will say with country music too, like that was like wrestling, I didn't really think about

it any kind of way. I was just like, oh, it looks awesome. I want to do it. And I want to be great at it. So I'm going to train really hard. Yeah. But when it comes to country music, I grew up listening to all genres of music. I grew up listening to trap to classical to blues, to Spanish music, to like every rock.

I'll listen to everything. And so when I decided like, oh, I'm going to go to Nashville and see about country music, I was very aware that I didn't know any black people at all in country music. But my mindset was like, well, that means I just need to be the first person. And I didn't know any like history or anything. I just listen to my favorite artists like Gretchen Wilson, Chris Stapleton, Love the Chicks, and Brothers Osborne. And I was like, oh, I just want to create great music. So I'm not seeing anybody that looks like me.

But people are going to love me and I'm going to be the first. That's what it's going to be. And if they don't like it, then they don't have to look and they don't have to watch. So I was aware of that going into it. And obviously because of like the country music space, I know that there's going to be a lot of challenges. But at the same time, I don't know. I see past those challenges. I feel like, I don't know, maybe I just know what my purpose is, and I know my purpose is, like, greatness.

I feel like I was put on here to do what I love and to be great at, to be great at it. And so I don't, I don't want to say like I overlook the challenges because they're real and I have to face them every day. But my mind is focused on, I'm going to win regardless. So what's next for you? World domination. Yeah. Let's see. Working on.

What's the first step towards that? I'm wanting to go on a world tour. And so right now I'm believing in going on tour with either. Not either. Let's say all the above. Let's say Beyonce, Megan the Stallion, Chris Stapleton, right now. I love all of that. Those are the artists I can think of off top of my head that I feel like would be a really great fit right now.

We love Megan our house. Love me. Love Chris too. And Beyonce. I mean you're really naming artists that we celebrate. Adele, we love Adele. Love Adele. One of the greats.

Her and I feel like Lady Gaga, Adele, Chris Cornell. I feel like I'm missing one other artists in particular. But I feel like those three artists, oh, and Sia. I feel like she really shaped my songwriting the most out of all the people. Oh, Evanescence too. So I feel like those those ones in particular help me with songwriting. Yeah, yeah, good songs. Yeah.

Love Chris Cornell. Are you working on an album? Yeah. I have so many, I have enough songs for like, I don't know, probably two, three albums, but I want to make sure that my storytelling and what I want to express to the world is captured in the best way possible. And I'm very specific about my vision. Not all the time, but a good amount of time I know exactly what I want.

So I want to make sure that it's as great as it can be and it's exactly how I envision it. And then I'll be like, okay, let's show it to the world. Yeah. But until then, I want to make sure I have everything exactly how I want it to be. Where you're off to a good start. off to a pretty good start i mean you're i can't take credit for it you got to be a part of what i think is one of the most iconic um important albums of uh recent times i agree so love that album um yeah so i think it's it's it's a it's a great start to work to to to excellence or the idea of excellence so

congratulations thank you thanks for coming no thank you for having i hope you enjoyed today's episode of artist friendly. If you really liked it, you can follow, like, subscribe to the show, anywhere you listen to podcasts, Spotify, Apple, Amazon. We appreciate your support, and we'll see you next time.