Right About Now with Ryan Alford - Catching Fire with Smoke with Michael Hobby

Episode Date: April 11, 2023

Welcome back to The Radcast! Get ready to learn the ups and downs of being an artist in today's music industry. We have an exclusive interview with Michael Hobby, a Country Rockstar extraordinaire! Michael shares his journey, from his humble beginnings to becoming a chart-topping artist. One thing's for sure - it takes dedication, hard work, and an unwavering passion for music to make it in this competitive scene. But the conversation doesn't stop there. We delve deeper into the creative process of making music, the challenges that come with it, and how artists can navigate the business side of the industry. Michael's insights provide a wealth of information for aspiring musicians and business owners alike. If you're looking for some practical advice to apply to your own venture, tune in and absorb Michael's wisdom. Who knows, it may just be the push you need to take your career or business to the next level. Don't miss out on this one-of-a-kind episode and get ready to be inspired!Key notes from the episode:Michael started playing guitar at a young age and, after winning a competition, moved to Nashville to pursue his dream of being a musician. (01:39)Michael's band had to take up side jobs in order to finance their music career, which has included touring with some big names. (06:08)Michael discussed the highs and lows of his musical journey, which began when he moved to Nashville when he was 18. (14:41)Ryan and Michael discussed the song "Smoke Number One" which rose to number one on the charts. (22:16)Thousand Horses' new album has a "familiar but way bigger" sound that was crafted with meticulous detail. (28:21)Thousand Horses are planning to release their record independently and tour this year. (34:51)Michael is a musician with a lot of talent and ambition who encourages others to enjoy the journey and emphasizes the importance of relationships. (40:37)This episode is packed with energy, wisdom, and passion and we know you will get a ton of value from this.To keep up with Michael Hobby, follow him on Instagram @AThousandHorses and @MichaelHobbyLearn more by visiting our website at www.theradcast.comSubscribe to our YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/c/RadicalHomeofTheRadcastIf you enjoyed this episode of The Radcast, Like, Share, and leave us a review! If you enjoyed this episode and want to learn more, join Ryan’s newsletter https://ryanalford.com/newsletter/ to get Ferrari level advice daily for FREE.  Learn how to build a 7 figure business from your personal brand by signing up for a FREE introduction to personal branding https://ryanalford.com/personalbranding.  Learn more by visiting our website at www.ryanisright.comSubscribe to our YouTube channel  www.youtube.com/@RightAboutNowwithRyanAlford. 

You're listening to The Radcast, a top 25 worldwide business podcast. If it's radical, we cover it. Here's your host, Ryan Alford. Hey guys, what's up? Welcome to the latest edition of The Radcast. If it's radical, we cover it. And I'm pretty pumped today. You know, I have all of my needs and wants and tastes all in one here. Not only with the cool dude and someone I'm calling a friend now, but who's just a fucking badass. You know, Michael, I'm just going to tell it like it is. Michael Hobby, lead singer of A Thousand Horses, artist, writer, just a fucking badass you know i'm michael i'm just gonna tell it like it is michael hobby

lead singer of a thousand horses artist writer and a friend it's good to have you brother man hey man it's good to be here it's good to call you a friend i'm glad we met that night on the galactic bus that's a good story you know i know the great story i'm hoping like you know like 30 years from now when you know you've got 20 number ones behind you and everything else and we're sitting on the porch somewhere having a beer and you know we'll look back and go we met on old jaron's cadillac three bus that guy we met on that guy's he's one of my oldest friends man i love that dude i love crew chelmy and neil it was a good timing for i was home to see my family in south carolina and uh my brother wanted to go there because he's a fan of their band and i was like oh well yeah we we gotta go yes i'm glad

you did got up there and sang a little little song too and got on stage i'm like damn i mean and then i was told nicole's like jaron's gonna text me we'll hit me up but i'm glad we met man i've been a fan of your music just didn't know you personally and now getting to know you and caroline personally just my kind of people and i'm really just excited for people to hear you know the music industry is interesting i've learned and i know you can tell me uh tell us all the the stories there but i think just i don't know getting underneath the music and you know what it takes to be an artist today and i don't know the highs and the lows but let's just start michael um again with just kind of that journey and that story you know like what what made you want to become a rock star country rock star yeah man you know i i got into

music when i was around you know i got a guitar when i was 11 11 12. um when i was with my mom she used to drag me to the dog and barn South Carolina, which, you know, Saturday auction. And there was a guitar there that was going up for auction, and I didn't have any money. And the lady wanted $25 for it. And I told her I'd help her load all her stuff up that she bought if I could get the guitar. She said, well, if you help me load everything, I'll give it to you for $20. And I was like, okay. So I went and begged my mom to borrow $20.

I still owe her $20 to this day. But I got the guitar, and I went home and just kind of never looked back. You know, I stayed. I grew up way out in the country and didn't have a lot of things around, so I just stayed in my room and learned how to play and, and, you know, kind of dove in and never, never changed. It was what I wanted to do moment forward and, and just worked my ass off, try to, you know, find band members in a small town and,

and Columbia and Greenville were closest big cities and putting in ads in the paper to uh get calls for people to come try out and finally just kept grinding man i don't know if you guys remember uh 93.5 oh yeah in columbia oh yeah but they were doing the locals lot thing crocodile rocks oh yeah crocodile rocks yeah i remember the t-shirts they had t-shirts like that But they were doing the locals lot thing, Crocodile Rocks. Oh, yeah, Crocodile Rocks. I remember the t-shirts. They had t-shirts. That was the coolest thing, you had a Crocodile Rock t-shirt. Yeah, Banana Jams, Crocodile Rocks, all that shit was popping.

And we entered into that, and we ended up winning the whole thing and getting to go on the radio station and play a song, which was huge, and got some recording time. I think the jam room is what that studio was called. And made a little demo tape and just started, you know, my dad met a guy that was in Nashville. And this was all, I was in ninth grade. I was always in high school. And my guitar player, Bill, he's my best friend. He was in the band and met a guy through my dad that produced records in Nashville, and we talked to him for a little while, and we moved here in 2005 to chase the dream, you know, and learned very quickly, which is, it's funny that we met algerian's buzz but

jiren was one of the first guys i met when i moved to town i went to it was his band was bang bang time um and it was him and neil and kelby still and i went to their show at this club called 12th and quarter and i remember bill and I looking at each other going, holy shit, we got to practice. Like, we got to get better. The bar was raised. The bar was raised. Welcome to town.

You know? Yeah. This is in South Carolina, a little Newberry. All right. So, you know, we dug into that, became friends with those guys and and played locally at buch and it did as much as we could nationally in a car and a trailer and then to a van and a trailer um which led us to i mean we moved here in 05 our our first record deal was in 2009. We got our first record deal on Interscope Records, you know, after, so 10-year town, I guess.

Or not, that was five years. But, and we thought, man, here we go. We were out in Los Angeles and living there for a few weeks or a month at a time and started making a record and about the time we finished it was an ep five songs which is i think still out still available on uh streaming and whatnot now but that didn't it shit streaming and stuff didn't exist then you know yeah um now you're you're you're napster or iPod or whatever the hell it was, right? Oh, I remember Napster. Napster was good.

Yeah. Not good for my business, but good. Yeah, right. Exactly. Anyways, and, you know, as quick as that began, you know, that went away, you know, at that time. We were probably on that label for a year and we toured relentlessly during that time came back to nashville uh regrouped i'm kind of only giving you i guess the bullet points of this no it's good though man i mean it's good we'll dig into some of that

uh regrouped and then uh got a record deal with Big Machine, you know, a few years later in a country label, you know. What are you doing in between that time? Are you just on the Nashville, like, are you working side jobs? Are you, like, what are you, how are you piecing it all together? I mean, like, between gigs and all that. Yeah, well, we didn't really never made any money playing gigs i mean if we did it was it was a it was peanuts but yeah man we yeah we had jobs i worked at buckle selling clothes here in cool springs and then uh

bill our guitar player he worked at a restaurant in the outtown. He was a waiter, and he was doing that grunt. Yeah. And, you know, everybody else was kind of musician friends that would play with us, or we'd give them a little bit of money to play with. Our bass player, Graham, is Bill's cousin, so he moved up right after high school in, like, 07 when he graduated. He literally walked out of the front door to his car and drove straight to here um this was before the big machine thing uh yeah anyways we we signed a big machine and in between

them what we did is we worked odd jobs here and there you know and did whatever it took to make a buck and i got a publishing deal before all that so with Warner Chapel and that was like my first getting getting money to be a writer yeah you know and that was a huge that was a game changer for me because I got a little pub deal and I finally had I didn't have to do any other jobs I could just write and then led to the record deal and And man, we, in that process, we had made that first record. A lot of people don't know this, but we were working with Dave Cobb.

He was our producer at the time. And we, this was before Dave was Dave. We went into his home studio and we made that record with, like on our credit cards. Like, and we didn't, you know dave was so nice he didn't charge us for anything but we had to pay these musicians and stuff that would come in and i remember i'll never forget it we were out and we were walking in his driveway and all four of us in the band were on our phones with credit card

companies trying to get whatever little white credit we could get a piece none of us had any money or any credit i mean and finally uh i'd become friends with a great guy by the name of here he was a part of a local bank called avenue bank but now it's pinnacle bank and and i called him and i, we can't get a credit card to give us any money to finish this record, but I know this record is great. And he said, how about this? I'll loan you enough money that sweeping my parking lots could pay for. And I said, you got a deal.

So he gave us 15 grand um and we made the record it landed us a record deal with big machine and we were off for the races running we ended up going back in with big machine and re-picking the record and adding a few songs and thank god we did because that when smoke came in and uh the drug doll already been written and then that song on the record called where i'm going came in that i've written and they were kind of like the 11th song for the record and i brought i wrote smoke on a thursday played it for the guys there were sent it to everybody late late Thursday night and Friday morning my phone was blowing up from our label and the band of like man guys this this is it

our label was like with this one so we went right into the studio on Saturday cut that song first and it was our first single out of the gate which So they knew it was a hit. They heard it. Yeah, yeah. Before, I mean, that's their job, I guess, you know. Yeah, it just kind of came out of the blue, man. You know, when I wrote it, I thought it was great, and I liked it. But, you know, I just turned it in like I always did. And, yeah, the Big Machine ran with it. And then it was the highest debuting single

on the chart in history from a group. And we came in at like 26 out of the gate, which was unheard of. So we were like, holy shit. Truly like smoke. Yeah. I was like, holy shit. Here we go.

You know, we lost the Interscope deal. Now we're big machine. And now we got a hit on the radio. The rocket took off, you know, and it never really stopped, you know, after that. And so smoke goes on, dropped off. You know, it goes, it gets like top 15. And then things kind of started to get shaky, which was wild at the time. And, you know, shortly after that, we're, you know, we're on the Jason Aldean tour.

We're touring with Darius Rucker. We're touring with Jason Aldean and Thomas Rhett, brother Zosmore. And just on top of the world, man. And then the deal with Big Machine fell apart right kind of in the middle of all that which was super deflating you know I mean it was a bummer and we came home and then and we were like well what are we going to do here? And then, boom, we got the Kid Rock tour right after that, like his tour back. And we went out and did that. And then in the process, so what we did is we repeated.

You know, we were in a way better position than we ever had been. So we went and put up our own money and went back in with Dave and made another record. and went back in with Dave and made a record and while we were making that record we got another record deal from Elektra and Dave's label Low Country Sound and we were like hell yeah we got another deal this is our third at this point yeah major label deal and we finished the record geared up ready to go we had a two-week european tour and then a u.s tour and it was march of 2020 and we're on the plane from nashville we we stop in charlotte to get on the big plane to go across the the the pod to play our european tour and we get off the plane to Charlotte because they banned international travel, and our whole world shut down, you know,

right in the middle of that gear up to go at it again. And as you know, I mean, things for a lot of people got tough during that time, and still now are tough, and it brought our world to a halt, which was a real bitch. And a lot of our friends, I mean, so so many people it was just kind of a shitty time a terrible time for everybody and in that

process we the year or in two years we weren't really on the road touring or couldn't tour you know we we parted ways with electra and Atlantic in that time period and we fired our manager or parted ways with it firing such a harsh word yeah uh different directions yeah we went different directions and and we had this record that we had back. So we did what we always did, and we put our heads down and dove into it. We went with a new manager for a little bit, put this record out, you know, and now we're just now starting to come back from the two years, or three years, really,

of dealing with the sludge of what happened. And in that process, in the last year, we made another record. So we have that record that hasn't been released yet. You've heard some of it. Oh, yeah. I can't wait to talk about it. And now we're back in the game. If you don't stop, it won't stop.

game we're just you know it's a if you don't stop it won't stop we got a million wreaths to quit and you know our our true hearts and belief and artistry of what we do is what keeps us going you know it's the little wins along the way and the highs and lows that keep you moving towards the bigger success but it's been a process man i mean that that started from when I was a kid and moving to Nashville when I was 18 right out of high school with just a dream to now and it's been very uh it's been very great like very good and it's also been shitty you know like anything else, and frustrating. In the music business, you know, it can be frustrating, very frustrating. It's not, it's like, it's not, it's unlike any other business in the world, I think, you know, with what it's based off of. And you learn something new every day, and you go and adapt.

But we're excited about this new adapt but we're excited about this new record we're excited about the things we have lined up for it and being back out on the road um starting probably in may i think it's when we start back up to be out through the summer and we'll see now where this journey in this record takes us yeah that's all we can do it's like every record is a different journey i mean in a way but before i go there man it's i think for someone listening and myself getting to know you it's it's smoke was just such a fire hit and obviously you told that story but people don't realize the trials tribulations the ups like they just don't understand i think it's fascinating hearing the true journey you know from the passion

as a kid to you know you're working at buckle you're in between like you do all these things you've had a record label and all that ups downs all that i think people just think these things you go into a factory and you know these hits spit out and like but there's just such a journey there that's unlike a lot of other career paths just like you said it's very unique yeah there is man i mean it's it there's so many things that have to line up and come together at the same time i mean some people call that magic some people call it the stars aligning and it it really truly is and it's it's it's nothing you that's the problem with it you can't you can't pinpoint like this is what works and this is how you do it, and it'll work again and again and again.

It's not repeatable. It's not a rinse and repeat thing, and it's based off, you know, criticism of it. It's based off, like, who likes it and who doesn't. It's completely opinion opinionized of whether a song works and then and the inner workings that go behind that on the business side or you know all just have to line up and and you don't ever know why or there's no reasoning you know why a song works why a song doesn't work you just got to keep

trying and and and keep going and trying to be better and improve yourself and be a better writer be a performer um and and also just deal with life in the same sense you know you know a lot of us we got married we got kids you know in. So, you know, the growing pains of learning how to be those things. I mean, learning how to be a husband and then learning how to be a father. I think that's a whole other department, especially when you're on a country rock and roll band tour in the world and you're gone and you're back and forth. You know, it's a lot to adjust to, but it's wonderful. I love it. You know, that's why we all do it.

You can't stop let me ask you this you know the politics side you started to go there a little bit you know and i'm gonna i keep coming back to smoke because there's such a before and after and then today and i'll definitely want to get to the new album, which is Fire. It's interesting because I see it as if the right person wants to make your song big, it seems like it can be manufactured in a way. But the counter to that for me is Smoke. I remember hearing it the first time.

I was like, that's a fire hit. It's just so catchy and told the story. You never heard it positioned that way, the whole story within the story of the song. But they heard it. And so, again, it's not just politics. They obviously, because like you said, you send it in overnight, the next morning, we're recording that tomorrow. They immediately know. So, obviously, it's not just politics it's obviously talent and uh you know the right formula coming together but like because for the longest time i was just like well if the

right person knows you they can make your hit a hit but it still has to have substance i'm just curious like you know like that process absolutely yes there there there still has to be that that magic or that that connection in it that you can't you can't make up but you know i always tell people too it it's it it's just it's not that somebody has to hear your song. It's the right person has to hear what you do and align with what they believe. Yeah. You know, and that person is very important, fighting for you and making sure it's heard

and making sure you get the opportunity to give it its best lice, you know, for a song. So it's, you know, if you get a thousand no's, all you're looking for is one yeah. And it's the right person. You know, some people don't get it. Some people do. I mean, when that happened to us, you know, there was a lot of people that were like, y'all are fucking crazy for signing that. like y'all are fucking crazy for signing up or

y'all are fucking crazy for thinking that song's a hit and it's just as many people said well this is a no-brainer you know yeah it's it's always you're always up against the critic you know especially in the business and you know like not to talk about another artist, but, like, Luke Combs has that story of when he came to town and he played a major player in this business, you know, four, five songs, and the guy told him to go home. That none of those were hits, and he'd never make it in this town. And all five of those songs were five monster number one hit you know and he just took that as well fuck you and he kept going yeah and that's it you know hit that door so that's that's that's the the rule that you play every day with a song is you just you do the best you can and you put it in the chamber and and pull the trigger man and and you don't

know what's gonna happen well let's just go there because i was texting you while i was having you know probably my fourth margarita in mexico yeah you know listening to uh this ain't this you know listening to uh uh this ain't no drunk dial and which which is it was a i don't know what's number one versus number seven but let's just call it it was is it was a i don't know what's number one versus number seven but let's just call it it was a it was a fucking jam hit and you know i know i i i'm not good at a lot of things but i've always been good at hearing a ringer and that was that's a ringer i don't know how much you can share i mean i know you're not going to bash the label or anything but like that thing was rising and i'm trying to understand exactly why or how you're with a label you have smoke number one fastest hit song on the charts ever you've got

a clear even if it wasn't smoke it's not you know 20 steps behind It's a close number two to being a hit jam. How did it go south, or why did that momentum? What makes them not go, well, there's not another one behind this? I can't quite get my head around that. That makes two of us. That makes two of us. Man, you know, those kind of things are above my pay grade when it comes to it. I don't know what happened with that song. I don't know where, you know, if or what balls got dropped, you know, like I said, we were,

we were kind of on that rocket ship. I mean, that was frustrating, you know, for us coming out of the gate with such a heater, but in, in, in, in all things considered that song was a hit. It just, it didn't ring a number one. It was top 20. So, I mean, so that's a, that's a winner, right? Yeah. And it didn't ring the number one bell. You know, looking back now, it was a bummer then, but now I look at it and go, well, shit, man, the puck is still a hit. Yeah, it was a hit.

That's incredible. But that's the things behind the scenes and the politics of things that I don't know. You know, that's where whatever the label was thinking or whatever they had coming or whatever they wanted to go with or, or, you know,

they always call out research and, and all these things that is an artist. You're like, what, what are you, what are you talking about? Yeah. Like,

are you calling people on the phone and playing 20 second clips? Yeah. Right. However many people hang up goes against you if the song is good or not. Yeah. Right. You know, so that,

that was a, you know, that was deflating at the time. But why didn't it go, but if you had, you had, you've got, look by any measure of success,

I would, you correct me. You're, you have a, a, a heater number one and a top 20 number two. Two songs that hit that high, I think, would be a marker of success of the album overall

for just about any group. If you get one number one, I mean, that's probably a successful album. So why did it fall apart? Why wasn't it immediately, y'all need to, you know, Michael, we need 10 more songs and, you know michael we need four ten more songs and you know let's let's ring it up again i mean you know so maybe there's no we'll never quite understand that one song i guess i just don't follow why it wasn't like let's ring up another you know and you know and those conversations were had and we had songs lined up, but then we kind of got caught.

We kind of got lost, you know, as a as a band, you know, to be honest. And and with the business of of the of the music world and, you know, the pressures coming from the other side of changing producers, changing who you're writing with changing trying to find it's kind of like i always describe it as like the sky is falling mentality yeah and and it never really was but it was being treated that way so as an artist like it's it's it happens all the time where you get lost and you lose your identity that made you what it was what you were and you you lose focus on what you started in the beginning because you got all these other you got pressure on you from the other side and you know it it gets rushed and you know haste makes waste and and money gets spent and you know it it it just kind of implodes.

You know, it's a great recipe for disaster for an artist's career. You know, it's like, we love you. You're great. We want to do this. Can we change everything? You know, and it's fucked up, but it happens. Yeah. It happens a lot.

You know, people wonder what happens to people or people, you know, wonder what happens to people or people you know what happens to songs and and i think that's kind of what we got caught in man it was just a it was a it is wild that that's how that played out because like any other person or any other situation you go all right man shoot we have two hits off the first record let's go in and make another record and let's have a couple hits off that and make another record we're building this thing exactly for long term and that wasn't the case for us in the situation we were in come to find out yeah so we've gone independent right we're independent yeah i mean officially i mean but open to possibilities right you don't you're not necessarily absolutely man i mean you know we're we're we're older wiser and more experienced now and in and we got to go make the record we wanted

to make and we used our judgment our our inner compass to to do that and there are other opportunities out there for us now which we're incredibly grateful for, and we'll continue to strive. So, yeah, we're open to kind of any scenario to help level up what we've already built. The business has changed so much. I mean, like talking with Michael Hobby, lead singer of 1,000 Horses, you know, we've talked about this. I mean, the streaming game and TikTok and like, you know, there's never been a time to, you know, to be able to do it your own self. Like you don't, you need it. Don't get wrong.

Radio is still important, but damn, like you can make a lot of hay on your own these days. It's a little different, isn't it? Absolutely, man. That's, we talk about that all the time, how much the landscape has changed in the last five years. yeah, it's unbelievable, man.

The opportunity for people to get their socks out and get them heard and build a career and really make a living doing it and do what they want to do, it's limit it's, it's limitless to be honest. And that's exciting. You know, I think artists are kind of realizing that. And I think in labels realize that for sure.

And they're still, you know, the gatekeepers of the world and all that, but it's, it's, it's, it's changing. Yeah. And, and, and just like you said, through TikTok and through social media platforms and where you can be heard and reach an audience, it's wide open. Which also is kind of scary because it's not the way it used to be. Yeah. So you've got to change and adapt and move towards that and go against things that you don't know how to do. You know, we're kind of a man that was caught,

we're caught in like the middle of it all. Like, you know, when we had Smoke and Big Machine, like Spotify was not something that we were allowed to really support. You know, it was a new thing. Nobody knew what to do with it. We loved it. And they've been incredibly great.

They've been great to us. And then it came ins and outs, what it's all about. I'll tell people the gut instinct that used to be on something is very hard to come by now. It's really based off the word metrics always comes to mind of what you're doing same similar thing with what you do with your podcast you know i mean you know who's listening you know when and all that and we didn't have that you know back you know 10 years ago yep um the algorithms and everything else the uh so i mean, are you guys shopping? You know, look, for everybody listening, the new album is fire.

It's like if you go listen to like a couple of their Michael and the group's original songs, it'll sound familiar. It's familiar, but, you know, I asked you like, what is it? What's the, you know, it's like a it's familiar but you know i asked you like what is it what's the you know it's like it's like country but fucking way bigger it's like i'm like but it is man it's just there's like this americana this rock to it there's you know i know i always throw that. I don't know. And I grew up like black Crowley loving it. Like there's a certain just rock vibe with your stuff. That's always present. It's always got a little bit of the country it's

it's there, but dude, I mean, there's just some jams on that and it, they're all different. Like I just, I went from track to track, um, and in a really good way, it just felt almost like a thousand horses, but every song felt like an experience in and of it. Sometimes you listen to an album, and you're kind of like, not every song sounds the same, but there's just this thing. I just kind of felt like I was going on a different trip every time. One was a trip down to Charleston.

One was, I was headed to Nashville to party my ass off. One, I was like going out to the field to make out with my wife. I mean, it was just, it was like all over the map. Yeah,

that's good. Well, man, I mean, that's, that's, thank you for saying that. And that's what we were kind of going for.

You know, we, we want our record to be a journey through the whole thing. You know, we want to pay attention to that detail to give people an experience. I mean, just because, you know,

it's a singles world and songs come out that way. It's like, well, we can still create, keep a little bit of the old craft, a record that's good, like a play of work that says who you are and expresses your emotions and your feelings towards it that, you know,

hopefully connects, you know, a song on that record may connect to somebody and not the other person, but they got, there's one for everybody on it. Yeah. And apply it to your life and story. So, yeah, I'm glad you feel that way. That was what we were going for, just what we

loved and and kind of arrived through the whole thing i mean we even got like an intermission track in there that's just us jamming in the studio you know uh i'm glad you said that because i'll say this so you know since we met i've become like the world's greatest thousand horses fan just because you know that's what you meet somebody and you like them. I liked your music. I liked Smoke, and I knew I'd heard Drunk Dial a little bit, but I knew I didn't hear it enough. Now, worn it out, at least with my wife or something.

She's like, are you going to play that song again? Yeah, I am. Get over it. But in all seriousness, here's where I'm going with that. but but in all seriousness here's where i'm going with that the level of craftsmanship and and the quality of the music and the abilities like i told you i felt like every song had like 18 instruments going like they were like dude i'm just saying like it is really quality quality like music musicmanship or whatever the hell you call it but like just the quality of the instruments the sound like i just felt like there was a depth on every song that felt like there was a lot of attention paid to this yeah man there was and

and and we you know we were musicians yeah we we play play a thing and we can do that and we do that well. And we worked hard on getting to that level of being able to do that. And I appreciate you saying that again about the record. And we took time with it. You know, we had time and we took time to really craft opposed to doing it the easy way. What's the I mean, are you going to shop that record to try to get a deal, or are y'all just going full bore independent launching it?

Man, it's all up in the air right now. Okay. You know, we're going to forge ahead like we do, and, you know, the opportunities that arise or have arisen from it already you know take it slow you know we've been in in the mix of it for a long time and and you know we're open to any and all opportunity that comes as long as it fits our narrative and fits our our vision for what we want to do with the the band and the record when does the decision have to be made though like okay you've you've mastered it you got i'm sure other stuff going on artwork music video whatever that might be but

when do you have to decide if you're going to self-release it or if it goes elsewhere i mean is there a is there a line in the sand or one way or another you're going to self-release us it just might get picked up or something yeah we're kind of in that process right now figuring out how how long we want to wait or or do we just want to go ahead yeah um and that's to be honest with you that's exactly where we are you know it's done the hard part's done now it's the planning that goes into it you know there's there's a lot of 18 to 24 month plans you write for something for a release you know and that's that's kind of where where we're at you know we we we like doing it ourselves and on our timeline and being in control of it.

And if that leads to another deal in the future because we've built it more and more, then, you know, that's best for all parties involved. But you got to keep moving, you know. And like I said, the world's changed and releases have changed and music's changed and how people consume has changed. And, you know, we want to give our audience and our fans music. You know, that's that's that's why they're there and they're the best in the world.

And they've stuck with us through this whole time. And they don't care about any of this business stuff that you and I talk about. Like, it's just great music. Go put on great shows and have a great time. Where's your tour going to be? Oh, man. You know, right now we're up in, like, West Virginia, and then we got a few things. We're going to Ontario, Canada for a show this summer.

We're going to be announcing soon. We just released this Wood and Wire project, is what it's called, and it's acoustic songs. So we take some of the songs off the last record and reimagine them acoustic, and then we added a new one on it called Don't Move to Tennessee. And we're going to go out and do an acoustic run of shows, like in small venues, and play the songs in a different way. And you get the Wooden Wire experience of A Thousand Horses,

and then come out this summer, and you get the big band full-blown thing with the record. So we're working on putting that together starting in May. And I'm sure we're going to be close to Greenville. I think that's on the list of cities. Close! You're coming to Greenville. Come on, man. Yeah, well, that not the only place close so we're we're that'll be out then once we finalize the details of it and we're looking forward to that

we never we'd never done and we we we love playing you know acoustic and stripped down and and that's going to be a lot of fun and it's kind of give you that wooden walk experience and we're going to continue wooden walk series one two three and fun. It's going to give you that Wooden Walk experience. We're going to continue Wooden Walk series one, two, three, and four after every record just to give a different way of listening to music, a different way of doing it that a lot of people don't get a chance to see. It's smart. Talk to me. When you go back out on tour,

is it still politics? Like, as long as you're independent, is there just not going to be, like, a thousand horses opening for Eric Church? I mean, you know, like, is that just, even though things have changed a lot, if you're not on the same record label or something, has that just become, like, impossible?

No, not at all, man. Those kind of things come from, you know, usually guys like your church. Like, if they like your record and they like what you're doing, and obviously it's a small community around here, you know, but friends, you know, they'll, you know, graciously ask you to come out and play with them. And, you know, you jump on those opportunities.

Okay. So those things are still out there. They don't, they're not, because I imagine 10 years ago, it was probably record label driven stuff, even if they wanted, I mean, I guess if they got enough power, they can do anything they want.

But you guys, they'll bring independents on the road with them. Oh, yeah. I mean, just because you're independent on a major or whatever, that has nothing to do with who you tour with and who you go out with. You know, that has to do with, you know, what kind of band you are. Does it fit what they do? Do they like what you do? you know, what kind of band you are, does it fit what they do, do they like what you do,

and what opportunities, you know, are in the play to help out the whole, the whole package. Yeah, right. It's not really a, well, I can't take you out, you're not on Capitol. Okay, I didn't know that level. I mean, they, I mean, you know, companies gun for their artists to go out with other people and thing, why wouldn't you? But it doesn't really play a role nobody really cares i don't think artist wise you know who who you're on or what you're doing it's just more about the personal relationship and then the music that you make you know and if it's something they like where's it all headed brother i know you i know that's always the million-dollar question.

Let me rephrase it. Where does Michael Hobby want this to go the next 10, 20 years? Like, you know, what's the perfect playbook for you? Man, as far as we can take it, know this is something you know music to me i i can't stop being a musician and an artist and it's what i signed up for and it's what i love and it's what i god gifted me to do you know i believe all of it comes from a higher power in this world. And to have fun with it and take it as far as you can take it. And everybody will tell you, I want to do stadiums. I want to do this. Well, yeah, those are obvious things.

Who doesn't? But enjoy it while you do it. Because it can very easily not be enjoyable in the throes of it. And and finding, you know, we get to play music for a living, man. I mean, that that that was my dream when I was. And so I'm living it and and living proof that you can do it, too. It's just so I want to take it as far as we can take it. And I love my band.

I love, we're all family. And we love our fans and playing for people and meeting people. And that's never going to stop. So, you know, to put a, to put a, I'll know I've made it win. There's no, there's no limit to that. It really is, you know, you'll get to the top of one mountain

and you got to go right back down, get back up to the other one. You know, but enjoy it along the way. You know, more important things than fame and success in life, especially where we're all at at our age. And we're young you know but still with families there's just more to it now than there was when we were 20 of course but you know business and life and everything is driven by relationships and you know i'm just glad and music brings people together i mean i'm just glad i met you man i and can't wait yeah man i'm good you know i do want a granny right i want a grammy grammy all

right yeah hey dude you're talking to the right man i make shit happen all right that's why i did this podcast i said that's the guy you know i i uh if if only by sure will and manifestation and just, you know, like I just, you know, I don't know. I just don't take no or accept anything but pushing shit, man, and stuff that I love. And I don't know. I get blessed to do what I love and talk to guys like you and, you know, make connections. But you're blessed, man. Caroline's wonderful. Sonny is awesome.

She is. Thank you. They're wonderful. I love them. They're the best. How can everybody keep up with everything 1,000 horses and Michael Hobby? Man, 1,000 horses. All our stuff is at 1,000 horses.

You know, A, know a thousand spelled out horses and uh and then at michael hobbies all my handles on social media and whatnot but you can follow along our journey and say hello and we'll see you in a town at some point and it it'll be uh it'll be a good time you'll have a great night yeah man so if you're listening go follow these guys you can tell you can see how good of a guy michael is how real raw original this group is and you'll thank me for it later especially once you hear the jams man they are off the chain and you know what if you don't sign with the record label on this new album, we're going to do something and get this thing just to fucking blow up on TikTok

and everywhere else. We're going to figure that. We're going to break the algorithm. All right, let's go. Let's do it. Let's break the algorithm. Hey, guys, you know where to find us. We're at theradcast.com.

If it's radical, we cover it. That's why we have the best in the business, including Michael Hobby with a thousand horses you know where to find me i'm at ryan alford on tiktok instagram facebook verified on all the channels because you know you're going to get it raw and real we'll see you next time on the radcast to listen or watch full episodes visit us on the web at the radcast.com or follow us on social media at our Instagram account, the.rad.cast or at Ryan Alford. Stay radical.