The Bobby Bones Show - BOBBYCAST- Ashley McBryde on Rehab after Almost Dying, Recovery & Opening a NA Bar on Broadway

Episode Date: March 10, 2026

Country music star Ashley McBryde sits down with Bobby and gets real about the lyrics that forced her to admit she wasn’t okay and the moments that followed when her drinking went from “after the show” to off the rails. She walks him through the intervention-style wake-up call, what it felt like to actually stay in rehab, and the tools she had to learn just to be around alcohol again. Plus, Ashley talks about the identity shift from being the whiskey-drinking badass to making sober music, why she believes stage choices can hurt more than just one person, and how her new N/A bar on Broadway has turned into an unexpected safe space—especially when fans walk in having no idea she might be there. Watch The BobbyCast on Netflix! Follow on Instagram: @TheBobbyCast Follow on TikTok: @TheBobbyCastSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed human. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me. Clivert Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits,

my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifers Show. This is a place for raw, unfills of conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated.

So let's get to it. Listen to the. the Clifford show on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok podcast network on TikTok. This week on the Sports Slice podcast, it's all about the NFL draft. And we've got a special guest. The director of the NFL's East West Shrine Bowl, Eric Galco, joins the Sports Slice podcast to break down what really matters when evaluating draft prospects.

From hidden traits teams look for to the biggest mistakes franchises make to the players flying under the radar. This is the insight you won't hear anywhere else. If you want to understand the draft like an insider, you don't want to miss this episode. Listen to the Sports Slice podcast on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slicel Life 12

and TikTok podcast network on TikTok. When a group of women discover they've all dated the same prolific con artist, they take matters into their own hands. I vowed, I will be his last target. He is not going to get away with this. He's going to get what he deserves. We always say that, trust your girlfriends.

Listen to the girlfriends. Trust me, babe. On the IHart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, everyone? I'm Ego Wood. My next guest, it's Will Ferrell. My dad gave me the best advice ever. He goes, just give it a shot.

But if you ever reach a point where you... you're banging your head against the wall and it doesn't feel fun anymore, it's okay to quit. If you saw it written down, it would not be an inspiration. It would not be on a calendar of, you know, the cat. Just hang in there. Yeah, it would not be. Right, it wouldn't be that. There's a lot of luck.

Listen to Thanks, Dad, on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm here and technically I can leave, but we're far enough out in the middle of nowhere that I wouldn't know what, direction to go. Hi, I'm Ashley. I'm evidently a drunk. I'm a big fan of our next guest, Ashley McBride. She's a Grammy, CMA and ACM award winner, so she has all the awards. She's a member of the Grand Ole Opry. She is one of the most respected songwriters in Nashville. You're going to love Ashley McBride if you didn't know her. If you already know her, you're going to love her even more. From girl going nowhere to one-night standards, both jams, to light on in the kitchen. She's built a career on telling it exactly like it is. She's got a brand new album on the way. She's already

dropped some new songs. What if we don't? And Arkansas Mud. She's also headlining her redemption residency up at Chiefs in Nashville where it's a non-alcoholic redemption bar. She's hitting the road with Eric Church. As you can tell, I'm a massive fan. Here she is. Fellow Arkansas, Ashley McBride. Ashley, good to see you. Good to see you. I was listening to your song Arkansas Mud, and I don't pay attention to a lot of words. I'm so much a melody guy. Even like some of the songs that I've known my whole life, I don't even think I know the words to them yet. But I was listening in the first line, just from memory, I think, is percassette, Adderall, nicotine alcohol, throwing dishes down the hall, bad mistakes. I've tried

them all. Is that right? Yeah, bad decisions, tried them all. I love that. Thank you. Yeah, that was really good. Thank you. So I don't. I don't know. Talk about that song and that lyric. Because, I don't know, is that real? Yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. And I think it, when we were making the video for it and we were talking about, we need to get footage of how I used to be after shows, after events, after like, because when it went off the rails, it went off the rails in a big way. So, and as I've had to say over the last three years, I'm a drunk. and if you find yourself wanting to be like, no, you're not. That's how good I am at it. I've had people say, I never really saw you as much of a drinker.

And so now I can say if you were around me prior to three years, nine months, six weeks, and however many days ago, I was drunk. Sorry. I am sorry. Who did notice? When we were in professional settings, like luckily I did not embarrass my organization. I did not embarrass my genre. Everyone that was around me, tour managers, glam, wardrobe, band, entire crew, everybody knows. And I would do different things to get a handle on it or to make myself believe I was getting a handle on it.

You know, there's no drinking before shows. I'm totally fine with that. At one point, I was having to drink before Meekin Cretes, because I was having to drink before Meekin Cretes, because I was so anxious. So I just got some tools to learn now. I was like, I don't want to drink all day, all night. And then it was maybe just after shows that I would drink. But for some reason, my brain was like, you didn't drink until after a show.

And now you have to drink as much as humanly possible. And so everybody that I work with, everybody that was close with, not even my parents knew the extent of it. and when we wrote Arkansas mud and we're putting it on this record, I'm looking at it, we're going to make the video. I was like, well, I don't want anybody to think that when I say I'm made of Arkansas mud that that means alcoholic. It was not being the most true, the most real to myself that caused me to put the wrong things in its place. Percocet and Adderall and nicotine and alcohol. And I'm not a mean drunk, luckily. you know, a pretty jovial person to be around.

And I couldn't throw a ball from here to the broad side of a barn, but I can smash a whiskey glass right next to your head, evidently. You have accuracy with the whiskey glass. Blackout Betty, yeah, she plays in a league of her own. So I think writing that lyric felt good, and it didn't, it's not, it could sound like it's from a glorifying place. But that's just me admitting it. I did.

I tried it all. and it didn't work. And thankfully, because of where I'm from and the people that I come from and the area that I come from, we're made of really stout stuff. And we're one of the most self-reliant groups of people that I've encountered, Arkansasans are. And to think that anything could control in Arkansas, especially me, Joan of Arkansas, bigger than larger than life, runs faster than you. I don't run faster than anybody. To think that that was in control really pissed me off.

When you had, and I saw the video, you said you're recreating. Yeah. Was that triggering for you at all? Like third take-ish, you know, and we were having, we were trying to be lighthearted about it because everybody in the filming crew,

everybody at Warner is, everybody at Q Prime, everybody's in the no. When I went away, it was not because I got up and said, hey guys, I think I have a problem and I should go away. It was intervention style. And so everybody knows that there's a chance that this is really, really hard on us.

But we did good, kind of lighthearted, blocked it a couple times. And by the time we filmed it for real, that's when you, those bottles are full of apple cider vinegar, sweet tea, water. I have no idea what's in what bottle. I didn't feel them. So those reactions are real. and then the farther into it I got being like looking in that mirror

and then grabbing a bottle and then pouring it and then drinking the bottle and then drinking the drink and then being like bigger bottle, bigger glass, pour one for you, I'll drink it too.

And then the faster I got into that and the more it got on my face and kind of everywhere, I don't know what exactly I'm not a neuroscientist but something clicked and went, oh no, we're doing,

we're off the rails. So very last take, I'd be happy to send you the clip. As I was drinking and like, you know, throw on the trash can behind me, being silly, all of that stuff. I looked into the mirror and then got scared. And then for some reason, I started just kind of picking up on the set. I've already kicked stuff off the bed and kick stuff off the nightstand. I started picking up and then I started crying. And then I got in the bed.

That's a prop bed. And I got in it and cried. And nobody said cut and nobody moved. And then finally, Brandon said, okay, cut. And I tried to make light of it. And I sat up and I said, oh, it was just like the real drunk me. And I looked over in my team, especially Sweet Dana, who was, I mean, she's the glam artist, best friend, assistant team. And if I tear up, forgive me.

Just crocodile tears. I was like, oh, no, I hurt her again. Oh, do we have a tissue? I didn't realize that that would be, it'll stop. It always stops. That was tough. And what we follow that with is tough. Because we shot them one right after the other.

So I must step my makeup and did all that stuff. And then we shot the bottle tells me so immediately. Same bedroom, same prop bed. Do you mind some Arkansas tissue, which is toilet paper? Yeah, no, I would love that. Yeah, okay, good. I'm surprised I don't have a handkerchief. pocket. And for those thinking that I'm insulting Arkansas, I also am from Arkansas. That is correct.

Yeah, when I ask for a napkin at home, that means a paper towel. Yeah, a paper towel is everything. That's interesting. This is Aviva. This is a really nice paper towel. And I definitely didn't. There's got to be some kind of record going from everything's fine to tearing up. I really didn't plan to jump in this hard as quick. I was just listening to the song and I was like, I really enjoy that lyric at the beginning. And I knew what you were trying to establish by it. And so I just, because I was listening to it again right before you came in. But you're talking about that. Whenever you went in, because I'd put my mom in rehab a couple times before she died.

And it's never a fun thing. It was always a terrible thing. But she never stayed. She left every time. Yeah. Because she had the ability to do that. She, I check her in, but she's an adult. Technically, I had the ability to leave.

Did you ever want to? I kept being like. I can't do this. I don't know where I am. I can't. Oh, my God. I have to do this. I mean, I'm going to do it. They got me here. I'm going to do it. But I just kept being like, there's no way I'm doing this for 30 days. That's insane. I don't live under a bridge. I didn't hurt anybody. And now I can hear my other self going, oh, kid. Sit down and shut up and put your seatbelt on. Why do you think you stayed? Oh, it's going to die. Yeah, that's the reason I had to go there. Intervention style. God, I wish we gave an award for Who Cries the most often. I woke up at another artist's house, another female artist.

And if I told you who, you would not be shocked, of course. And I woke up in a bed that's not mine, in pajamas that aren't mine. And I was like, oh, my God, that must have been a doozy. I'm thirsty. I don't know where I am and I don't know where water is, so I'll just go find water. And when I went to find water,

I found a living room and in that living room was my team. Dana and John Peets and my day-to-day. And I said, I looked at them and that artist was also on the couch and I said, okay. I don't know where my mom. boots are, but I need my boots.

And they said, we need you to stop. And I said, I need me to stop too. And that was when I found out that she took me to her house that night after we'd been out to make sure I didn't die. But I didn't. Was there a point? Not was there. At what point later, did you appreciate how hard it was even for them to do that for you?

There's so much that I look at now and all during the process. And it was, I say funny, but I'm going to use that in kind of a loose term. When I'd be at treatment and people would say, oh, I really like those shoes. And I'd go, thanks, they're not mine. And oh, cute pajamas. And I was like, my clothes aren't even here yet. And when I think about Dana and Blakely having to go shopping and find me clothes and having to go through my stuff and to decide whether to tell my family, I cannot. I cannot fathom or make up for how much I put them through.

And that's another reason to stay is I didn't die. And I have the chance right now. And yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm hurting me, whatever. And I'm hurting them. And if this goes any farther, this is really, really ugly. This is like they'll have to make a movie. about it, bad. So I just buckled down and decided, well, I'm here and technically I can leave, but we're far enough out in the middle of nowhere that I wouldn't know what direction to go.

Hi, I'm Ashley. I'm evidently a drunk. Evidently, you had to have that version first, right? I did. And when I was like, I don't, you know, filling out different, you know, they give you a worksheet and can you list this and that? And they're like, how much do you drink? And I'm like, at a time, the same as everyone else. I just drink two glasses at a time. Having to go through that to illustrate to myself. And at the, you know, at first you're like, okay, I'll fill out the worksheet, but whatever. Like, again, I do my job.

I do my job well. No one is hurt. I pay my bills. I think I'm okay. And then as you are filling out those worksheets and doing those talks and everything, you go, oh, I'm not. Okay. Oh my gosh, what a POS.

And oh my God, that's me. How terrifying. And oh, my God, that's me how sad. And all of that just looking at everything that you did and accomplished. And while being that ill. And what else could you have accomplished if you hadn't been drunk? How raw did it feel coming out? Oh my God. And when I left, I went to a couple of my practitioners and therapists and I said,

okay, when I leave here, and I left on a Wednesday, Tuesday, when I leave here, you need me to never, ever, ever encounter alcohol again. I will leave here at noon. I will be around alcohol by 10 p.m. I will be in the bus. I've already fixed it at this time to where one of my buses, there is no alcohol, the other bus, you can have alcohol on it. And I said, I'm not going to drink. I know that I won't. And you don't know me well enough to know that if I've made a decision, that's it. I need you to give me the tools to be around it tomorrow.

It is our entire industry. It's one of the most loved and celebrated things about our industry. I built a career on it. I was literally before I ever popped on the scene, dubbed the whiskey drinking badass. So now I need you to give me the tools to not do it. And then all of the fear comes in. Are you any good, not drunk?

That was my next question because you did so much, not because of you drinking, but while drinking, I had the same feelings about therapy. Like, if I get really right, am I going to be able to do this? If I fix this, am I even interesting? Yes. Yeah. Yeah.

Am I still funny? Do I write? stupid songs. I can't write sober records. Who buys sober records? I don't buy sober records. All of that. And then you think about, you just name an artist and you hear those voices going, oh, I liked him better when he was a cokehead. Or like, it was awesome until he quit drinking vodka. And all of that negativity that our brains are trained to scan for to keep us safe, it scans for and hands it to your confirmation bias. You just said, what our brains scanned for? Okay, so you're learning stuff like I'm learning stuff,

because that doesn't sound like that's just something you thought of. No, yeah. I had to learn about why the things happen, how the habits form, why, what that is, what a reticular activating system is, what is confirmation bias, what is experiential bias. And it's over-intellectualizing, which is a way to avoid feelings. And I also know that, which I just over-intellectualized. But it helps me understand, too, instead of being like, I'm angry or whatever. I can say I'm noticing. I have anger.

And then I can immediately try to trace it back and then be like, that's because my experiential bias says based on X, Y, Z. Oh, so I am having that feeling. But I'm having that feeling based on this experience, not this experience. So it helps me to nerd out about it. A lot of what you're saying, a lot of what you've been through is obviously going to help so many people in so many ways. But just on an intimate level with me and even you telling that story, how it helps me is. So I went through the process with my mom a couple of times.

She died in her 40s from drugs and alcohol. I'm so sorry. Put her in a couple times. She would get out. But I was wondered if she knew that I was doing it out of pure love. Yeah. Like I really wondered if she knew it. And I think she did.

But hearing you talk about that and you understanding and knowing that they did that out of pure love, even as uncomfortable as it was for everybody. Yeah, they basically had knocked me over the head and put me in the car. And that's what I had to do and I just wondered. And at first I was like, they're just going to send me away. I'm too much trouble. I'm love. They're just going to send me away.

That doesn't last long. That doesn't last long. When you can stop being like, I'm uncomfortable because of someone else. And you just even consider that you're the reason you're so miserable. And then you can look at it and go, oh, my God, they love me so much. I'm so sorry. Yeah, you telling that story makes me feel like maybe she understood that. Yeah, I would say chances are very good.

And I didn't make a sober record, but I did make a record about being a drunk and almost dying and not die. Last question about it, because it just triggers so many things inside of me because this is something personally that I've dealt with too my whole life on a different level, you know, in a different way. Like, did you ever not want to live instead of getting sober? Part of why they had to take me there. Because I think that is what we were dealing with to it in my family. Also thinking it would be much easier than trying to quit. And the more times I would allow myself to be that drunk, the scarier, the darker it got faster. And it wasn't six drinks in then.

It was three drinks in. And pretty soon that becomes one. And that's a scary place to be. It's a scary spot. I know you did it for you, but so many people are going to look at this, hear this, use this for their own journeys. And again, I can appreciate you talking about this because I didn't expect to have, who knew if we even went here in this conversation. But this has helped me even. So I appreciate you being generous with that story.

And I didn't want to talk about it at all when I first quit drinking because I didn't want it to look like it was performative. Sure. Especially when nobody knew how bad it was. they're like, oh, she must be suffering for ratings right now because she's suddenly like, I'm going to be sober. And I thought, well, if I screw it up, that's the first thing we're going to wait for is for me to screw it up if I talk about it. So I waited a cell several hundred days in to at least be able to say I'm this far into it. And that was three years ago.

You know what I like? That video, because you have an N-A bar, which is non-alcoholic, and there's a video of people coming in. I think they were touring and you were playing on stage. Yeah. And they had no idea that you're going to be playing on stage. That was the greatest TikTok because you got to watch these people that are obviously fans of yours come into your bar. And in Nashville, there's music everywhere. And of course someone's going to be playing in your bar because that's just what.

Of course. And they slowly, I don't think some of them realized it for a minute. I was in a hoodie. Like, I wasn't like a woman of country music. I was a chick with a guitar. I was so glad you enjoyed it. It was so much fun for me to find out that there's coffee tours. And so that's early in the morning.

they're coming through, they're having their coffee and walking through redemption and being able to just go play. And I was able to just ask, you know, there's like 30 of them. I'm like, what song do you want to hear? It's anything. Mine, Barbara Mandrell, Paula Abdul, I don't care. Whoever thought of that concept, like A plus to them. That was a really great video. What do you think about the bar? I'm a big in-a-a-a-a-goy. I've never tasted alcohol for the reasons that we talked about. Like, I do worry, though, that someone's going to put alcohol on my drink all the time. Yeah.

Do you worry about that? I, luckily, I've got Dana Slogginhop, and if there is anything given to me that she did not make or I did not make, then she'll drink it and say, okay, this is safe or not. And lots of people on my team would do that. And in redemption, we help you distinguish that with clear straws for every drink. If it has alcohol in it, it's got a black straw, which safe. my butt the other day at Chiefs. I'm the kind of person that if there's like seven drinks on that table and it's after a show, they're all watered down.

Like, I'm just thirsty. I'm just going to, I'll drink your drink. I don't care. And I went to grab a cup. And one of the guys was like, that's got a black straw. And I was like, you just saved your life because we would have had a blast for about three hours, I'm told. And I think it's awesome.

I've made the joke. I didn't know not drinking came with a bar. But it's wonderful. And it's the only place on Broadway where you can order anything on the menu. It already comes without alcohol. And you're welcome to put alcohol in it if you'd like to. Our bartenders are happy to do that for you. But everything you order, Martini McBride, there's no alcohol in that.

Funny name. I had to pass it by her first. I didn't want her to be upset by it. And it's okay. Nobody's going to give you guff either way. Nobody's going to be like, think it's weird for you to not drink. no one's going to think it's weird for you to drink alcohol. And the stage only holds one person plus one player.

If you really, you can put two people on it if you really squeezed it on there. But it's that way for a reason, because you can hear every type of music. Well, you can hear everything from the radio, right? Anywhere you go on Broadway, you can hear the old years, the fresh top 40. And we didn't have a spot where a kid like me in 2005 had. just moved to town. I want to play on Broadway. I want to figure out how this works, but I won't have a spot to learn it. And now we do. And you can go and hear somebody who has written hits, or you can go and hear somebody who just moved to town today. And it's wonderful and charming. And my brother was the one

that pointed it out to me. He said, when I was still living in Nashville and I'd take people on dates, I'd want to go hear interesting music. I just wouldn't, didn't want a bunch of drunk people slobbering all over us all the time. He's like, we can only go to the coffee place, like, so many times. So now there's a place you can go and hear music and experience community and hanging out. It's just that if you say something stupid, you get to be anxious about it now, not tomorrow. Let's take a quick pause for a message from our sponsor. A win is a win.

A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me. Clever Taylor the 4. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated.

One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast. It's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream,

this is right where you need to be. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. There's two golden rules that any man should live by. Rule one, never mess with a country girl.

You play stupid games, you get stupid prizes. And rule two, never mess with her friends either. We always say that trust your girlfriends. I'm Anna Sinfield, and in this new season of the girlfriends, Oh my God, this is the same man. A group of women discover they've all dated the same prolific con artist. I felt like I got hit by a truck. I thought, how could this happen to me?

The cops didn't seem to care. So they take matters into their own hands. I said, oh, hell no. I vowed I will be his last target. He's going to get what he deserves. Listen to the girlfriends. Trust me, babe. On the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts,

or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, everyone? I'm Ego Wodom. My next guest, you know from Step Brothers Anchorman, Saturday Night Live, and the Big Money Players Network. It's Will Farrell. Woo, woo, woo.

My dad gave me the best advice ever. I went and had lunch with him one day. And I was like, and dad, I think I want to really give this a shot. I don't know what that means, but I just know the groundlings. I'm working my way up through, and I know it's a place that come look for up and coming talent. He said, if it was based solely on talent, I wouldn't worry about you, which is really sweet. Yeah. He goes, but there's so much luck involved.

And he's like, just give it a shot. He goes, but if you ever reach a point where you're banging your head against the wall and it doesn't feel fun anymore, it's okay to quit. If you saw it written down, it would not be an inspiration. It would not be on a calendar of, you know, the cat. Just hang in there. Yeah, it would not be. Right, it wouldn't be that. There's a lot of luck.

Listen to Thanks Dad on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. This week on the Sports Slice podcast, it's all about the NFL draft. And we've got a special guest. The director of the NFL's East West Shrine Bowl, Eric Galko, joins the Sports Slice podcast to break down what really matters when evaluating draft prospects. From hidden traits teams look for to the biggest mistakes franchises make to the players flying under the radar. This is the insight you won't hear anywhere else. If you want to understand the draft like an insider, you don't want to miss this episode.

Listen to the Sports Slice podcast on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slica Life 12 and TikTok podcast network on TikTok. And we're back on the Bobbycast. When you first moved to town, how do you do that? Do you go and ask people at bars, can I play? How do you do move to town? I needed first to have place to sleep. So on campus at Arkansas State, I walked up to my most favorite mentor and professor and said I'm dropping out right now.

And he said, good, you should. That's where you want to be. Go. So I left. I called my friend Jenny, who worked at the time, it was called Sure Storage. And I think it's called something else now. But it's the kind of storage building that's got like the lighthouse looking thing on it. There was one in Donaldson.

And she worked there and lived there. So that was where I lived. How do you live there? There's an apartment, like, connected to the office. So, as you can imagine, eity-bitty living space, but I could crash there until I could get a place. And then I know I have one friend who lives here, and I'm like, what bars do you hang out at? And she's like, damn McGinnis. And I'm like, cool, what's the bartender's name?

Whatever, Peyton, all right, cool. Can you introduce me? And then what other bars do you hang out at? Oh, winners, losers. Who's your favorite bartender? And just go start talking to people. Do the same thing that I'd been doing in Oklahoma and an all. Arkansas and Kentucky and do all of those things, but just do it here.

And that's how I found out that everyone plays for free here at the time they did. There was no base pay. It was all tips. All tips. So do you go, hey, I'd love to play for a couple hours? Yeah. Do you have anything, any slots that need filled? And they're like, yeah, patio, there's nobody there from six to eight on a Tuesday.

So you're like, okay, cool, I'll take that slot. And then you try to get people to come or you try to get. people that are walking down to Mumbrian to come into Dan McGinnis. And then you go to the Riders Nights. You go to Guinness Girls in Dan McGinnis. And you go to Rusty Nail out in Hermitage and you meet those songwriters. And you find out who plays where and gig swap and just start trying to. I mean, it's just boots on the ground.

Same thing I did in Memphis. It feels like you build a community and the community together kind of figures out where everybody can go. Yeah. But you have to build that community too because, you know, you know, You know, it almost felt like college. You go to college. I didn't know anybody. Made a friend.

That friend knew somebody. Then we kind of had a group and the group looked out for each other. It kind of sounds like what it's like to move here to Nashville. It's like you have a spot or two, but then in those spots or two, you meet other people and you're sharing information. Does it feel competitive when you first move here? I think when you're first moving here and you're bumping into the people that are doing kind of the same thing you're doing, trying to get their feet under them. I think it's a we get farther together feeling. And you go to the Commodore and you play the Riders Night and then you talk to the guy that just sang and you're like, hey, what other Riders Nights do you like?

And he's like, oh, I really love the one that's at Blah Blah Blah Tavern at Blah Blah Street. When is that? That's on Tuesdays from 9 to 10. And you're like, okay, cool, what's the open mic? Who's the host? And then you go to that Riders Night and you meet the same type of people. And you're like, where do you like to play? And they're like, oh, I like to play at the Mexican restaurant in Nolensville.

on Saturdays from 6 to 8, and you're like, who do I talk to about that? I think we're so willing to give the information around because we all know that we're here to do the same thing. It was sort of like playing the bar circuit. If I ran into you and you played 4 to 8 and I'm playing 8 to midnight, we aren't in competition with each other because we are the same animal and we are both in this bar playing songs that we love to play to keep the lights on in our house,

and there's no competition involved. That feels very supportive. Is there a stage when it starts to feel a bit competitive? Absolutely. What stage is that? Immediately as soon as you get any momentum at all. Because that's what everybody's competing for, right? Is momentum?

Yes. And especially being a chick, and I'm not being like, let's play more women. We all know what the climate is. But we know that in country music, We are only allowed to celebrate and promote and get behind one at a time, even if there's 10 of us.

We know only one of these girls is getting the stool at the bar. And that's when it starts to get gross and catty. But if you're lucky, then you've created relationships and earned respect in your community so that it's not just catty. How do I explain that? Miranda used to say it to me. I want you to challenge me. I want you to make me a better performer. I want to make you a better performer.

This is how we sharpen our edges. We challenge each other. We show up for each other. This is the way it should be. And I completely agree. Now, when it comes down to it, if there's only room, if there's only one parachute,

you're going to cut my throat. I know that. And you know I'm going to cut yours. It's nothing personal. It's just that only one of us gets the parachute. Did you have times where you felt momentum? Oh, yeah. And then regression?

Oh, gosh, yes. Everything was going. I mean, just skyrocketing. I was like, oh, my God. And then the great separation happened. COVID? Yeah. And then so the Never Will record, which still is the only country music album that was nominated for the ACM, the CMA, and the Recording Academy as Best Album of the Year.

And we're all like, we're so excited. And then it was like, and we'll be doing it from your couch. That was when a bunch of us saw a lot of lost momentum. Not that we didn't keep our feet moving. We did. But then after that time ended, when things pick back up, it picks back up on whatever shiny bright new. Not on, wait, been doing all the heavy lifting over here and carried it through a pandemic.

What's up? And they're like, what? I don't know. This guy has a hat. Like, what? So there was a little bit of a skirt. Whenever the pandemic happened, and I'm just going from memory, I think you were one of the first people that I saw that was like, I'm playing live on this thing.

Yeah. Like at the very beginning. You're stuck on your couch. I want you. Before everybody started doing it, I remember seeing you go, I'm just going to play a show is live. Yeah, we'll just play them on my couch. I don't care.

You don't have anything else to do. I don't have anything else to do. We don't know how long it's going to be this way. let's do something that we can look back on and go, what a scary time. But oh my gosh, that was so much fun. And I don't remember how many lives I did a week, but it was fun.

It was fun to do. And it kept me from despair. It did not keep me from tipping the drinking problem completely over the edge. But it kept me from losing hope. Because despair is really, really dangerous. because you may not get back from that. If you allow yourself to be in the depths of we haven't worked in however long and we never will again. If you allow that belief to set in, man, that's a tough mud pit to climb out of.

I kept my guitars in their flight cases in the hallway by my front door. For what reason? Because I will be putting them back on the bus. They need to stay visible so that I can put them back in a plane, back in a bus. They're going to be used. A little bit of a mind trick there Yes This new record

When's it coming out? Summer That's what they told me I could say You're just gonna You're just a broad Just when it gets warmer Look on your phone And it might be there

Would you always do 11 tracks It seems to work out that way But is that a thing If it's more than 11 it's bad luck I love the number 11 But it's not like If it was a 10 track record It would be a 10 track record

I wouldn't be like, whatever this song is, what's it called? Paper Rose, put that on there. I can't do that. But it seems like, and did we have 12 for this one? It almost ended up as 12. I think I thought 11 because I just saw that it was 11. Am I right on that? It's 11 on every record. Okay.

Is Lindyville? Is even Lindyville 11 tracks? Because we took out one of the songs that was written for Lindyville. To make 11? And then put in a Linda Ronstat song. So I don't know if that one, that one might be 12. Superstition? I think maybe once we did it two or three times that I was like, okay, it probably should be 11.

But again, for this record, I was like, if it's 14, it's 14. If it's 10, it's 10. How many did you record? Everything we cut stayed on this record. Wow. So you were very precious then with what you cut. So how many did you write that you considered cutting? Everything's always in the pile at the beginning.

But I wanted to do something a little different on this record because I knew that there were, I knew I wanted rattlesnake preacher. I knew I wanted water in the river. I knew I wanted creuso because I had been guided away, suggested away from cutting those three specific songs from the get-go. Why? Because nobody cares about that sound. Whatever, it's swampy, it's bluesy, it's been done.

And I was like, but that's what? I sound like. And they're like, whatever, we will delightfully, gently suggest that you not do that. So I was like, I want to do that, but I'm going to have to balance that out. And luckily, my bread and butter is songs like light on in the kitchen. And so the acoustic finger-picky stuff, I've got plenty of it we can choose from. But I knew to balance it out, really to round that out, I was going to need to call my publishers. When I first got my publishing deal in 2014, I was sitting here in these rooms, writing these songs, and some of them were terrible. And some of them were very good. And I would say to my co-writers, man, every artist is a songwriter. So nobody's going to cut our

songs, because nobody will listen to them because they aren't a writer. They aren't a producer that's a writer. They're not an artist that's a writer. They're not a track guy that's a writer. And if somebody would just listen to my songs, they would cut them. So here I am, 2025, 2026, going, I'm the thing that I bitched about. Because I'm always on the road. I don't take time to go to writer's nights and hear things. I don't call and ask what's going on in the writing world. Shame on me.

Just like every song I write, I'm not the best voice for. Something that someone else wrote is my story, is for my voice, and I've not been listening. So I ask my publishers to go song hunting. Is that a conversation with your ego? Yeah, especially because that's what I'm a songwriter first. Yeah, because I think you write awesome songs and for you to go, maybe I'd like to hear some other songs. What if I'm missing out on magic? And it's okay.

And it's not a marriage proposal. It's a pitch meeting. And you play me a bunch of songs and I don't take any of them. How did it go the first time that happened? The first pitch meeting where they're playing you songs, were you already open to it? There was only one pitch meeting for this record. Really? And I think they played me 12 or 15?

I took five. Wow. So you were ready then. There's two more that I would cut today if I had room for them. Yeah, then you were ready then. I was ready. I was ready. And I knew kind of what I was looking for, especially since I know what the ingredients

already are. And I need to balance out this, the chick rock with a southern accent, things about trains and things about whatever. And I need to balance this out. And so I knew when I heard the ingredient, yes, I think I think I. need that. And even those, well, I wound up taking five, six, seven songs, and then going home and living with those and being able to go, these five. They do the correct job. They help me tell this story. They feel natural in my bones when I sing them. And then the other two that I had

on hold, I'll cut those as soon as I get a chance. Songwriters are magic. They're just magic. It feels like a new version that you have to, like, introduce yourself to because you've always been that person. I've always been the songwriter. Yeah. And so now, but I think you have to be comfortable with yourself as a songwriter to listen to other songs. Like there's no, I should say there's no, because to do anything in the creative world,

you have to be insecure. Like I tack that to the wall. But I think there's a security in your songwriting now within you. This is me just saying, you can tell me if I'm wrong, that you now can listen to other songs because you're confident with who you are as a songwriter. Yeah, we know I can write a song. Yeah. It doesn't make you feel less than to write somebody else's song because you know you can write a song.

Right, yeah. I would say I feel good about the songs that I have written, that I've put out, that I continue to write. And I just knew I was missing out on magic. What's a magic song that you heard? Wild. The co-writers on that are Michaela Lynn, Jeremy Spillman, and Matresa Berg. What about that song stuck you? The melody.

We haven't heard a melody like this since, you remember the chick's record, Home, the song, Home? Maya Sharpe's a writer on that. That melody where you're like, what, that's not a traditional country melody. This was brave in that direction and brave that it made sense, not defiantly. Like, here's a weird chord. And when it did that, I was like, oh, I'm interested. And then lyrically, there's a phrase. and it's a question in the chorus.

And it's, do the razor wire white picket fences keep you from running for miles? And then your picture in your brain, for me, it's my mom, my sister, my aunts, my grandmothers. Razor wire white picket fences. Is it everything you wanted it to be or is it a trap? And am I the representation of what's on the other side of that fence

that did not get trapped, that lives her life as a vagabond? and that just goes from town to town. So when I heard that phrase in that song, that was magic to me. And, oh, there's a song, oh, she asks in the first verse, where do you go when you're dreaming? You with the faraway stare. Do you ever take me with you when you go there?

And I knew who she was singing to. She was singing to me, the little me, in my bedroom, playing my guitar, just knowing that I'm going to be a star someday, and imagining what I would look like and what I would walk like and what I would wear. And I would be in like cool jeans and like a ripped up leather jacket and a white t-shirt. And I would just be so cool. And I would walk so cool that it looks like I'm animated or I look like I came off of a video game. I'm that cool. That's who this song is written to is that little girl. And when I hear it and I, at I take this in and I'm getting ready to sing it.

Then I realize while I'm cutting it with my band, those little boys are who are performing this song with me right now that dreamt of what they would be like when we grow up. Oh my God, that thing exists still very much in all of us. And they've been napping in some cases. And we can wake that up. This song does that. And it's not because it's my voice.

You could sing it and it would wake everything up too. And then realizing that, oh, my God, that's the kind of the whole thing of the live show. is that's who I bring on to the stage and that's the you that I want to sing to the part of you that dreamt who you would be and people like me and people like you I am what I want to be when I grow up.

That's funny you say that I was just thinking I had the thought the other day that I finally think young me would think I'm cool just now. Yes. Just now. Like I think eight-year-old me would be like that guy's cool.

That guy's got it going on. Yeah, she would think I'm so dope. She would love my leather. jacket. And adult me plays an electric guitar, which I was not allowed to have when I was little. I could play the acoustic guitar, but electric guitars make you lazy, which is not true. They help you learn scales real fast and get a grasp on lead, but... That's true. I have a niece that's learning guitar right now, and she's learning on an electric, and I said, man, I wish you wouldn't learn on electric.

For your strength and your dexterity, you really should start out on acoustic, but you should start to work, I think, electric in so that you don't get married to only rhythm. You don't get married to only cowboy chords. It's going to be way easier on her hands to learn bar chords in different formations on an electric, which hopefully will encourage her to play

above the fourth fret, you know, which I didn't have. I do now, but it was me being like, it still have to be like E, F, F, short, G, shirt bay. And my guitar player is like, C is right there. And I'm like, hang on, F, F, F, Sharp, G. Did you ever have a moment where you're like, I now deserve a really nice guitar.

Did you ever get your first, like, really nice guitar? Definitely. When I have a Santa Cruz that I bought when I was 16 in Mountain View, Arkansas at Signal Hill Music Store, which was very expensive for me at the time. And I paid it. We made a deal, the shop and my parents, that I would send money every month to I just paid it off. It's my first version of...

It's the layway. Right. But you got it. Right. It's my first version of like a car note. I had a guitar note. Yeah, yeah. And I learned great lessons on that.

And I loved that guitar. It's an incredible instrument. And then as I'm playing in bars and everything, things start happening to hug. And beers get spilled on him. And he gets bumped into stuff. And this case isn't sturdy enough. And then I'm like, what am I going to get? I think at one point I played a Taylor...

because the electronics were great in it. And then when I was like, I need a nice guitar. And I knew I wanted a J-45 because there's such a workhorse. And I'm a bluegrass girl from the word go. So Martin, of course. But I knew that a J-45 cuts through well in a PA and cuts through well in a band setting. And you could build a house with it and then play a show with it. It's really hard to damage them.

And that's Dinah that you usually see me play at the Opry. And boy, does she have some dings from me trying to build a house with her. And I didn't know how to save up. I didn't know how to get a nice guitar at first. So I learned what songs to play to make more tips. So I could save up and buy a new guitar. No one handed me a thing. Not my PA, not how to run it, not the truck I was driving, not the topper that.

that kept most of the water off of it. And I would get that at the bar. Is that your husband's truck? No. It's your husband's truck. Isn't it? Well, for me, I would resent having to do everything for so long until I then later got to a point where then I understood how to do everything.

And I was so grateful that I knew how to do everything for two reasons. One, I was grateful because I knew how to do it just in case anything ever went wrong. And then two, I actually appreciated the people that were doing. doing it. Yes. Because I had done it before. I can wire my own pedal board. I mean, I don't know if I could do it today because it's been so long since I've had to set my own up. But knowing that if something goes wrong, I can troubleshoot it was really comforting. And like you said, now when somebody sets something up for me, I appreciate, especially if something goes wrong on my current pedal board, I have,

all I can do is turn something on and turn something off. The knowledge that surrounds how pedals have progressed and how all of the things, how power supplies have progressed and all of that. There's not 80 wires under there. There's one. I don't know how this works. I have such an appreciation. And I was offended a little bit at first when I wasn't setting up my mic stand. How is it going to be right?

And a bandmate said, well, it's going to be right because that's his job. He knows where your mouth is according to his height. And I'm like, but I can set up. I've been set up my own stuff for 20 years. I'm doing myself. And what's posed to me by the bandmate is that's right. And maybe you've earned your right to have someone else do it for you. And I was like, I mean, gross.

But thanks. The Bobbycast, we'll be right back. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me. Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media.

Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment. and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast, it's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream,

this is right where you need to be. Listen to the Clifford Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. There's two golden rules that any man should live by. Rule one, never mess with a country girl. You play stupid games, you get stupid prizes. And rule two, never mess with her friends either. We always say that trust your girlfriends.

I'm Anna Sinfield, and in this new season of the girlfriends... Oh my God, this is the same man. A group of women discover they've all dated the same prolific con artist. I felt like I got hit by a truck. I thought, how could this happen to me? The cops didn't seem to care. So they take matters into their own hands. I said, oh, hell no.

I vowed. I will be his last target. He's going to get what he deserves. Listen to the girlfriends. Trust me, babe. On the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, everyone? I'm Ego Wodom. My next guest, you know from Step Brothers, Anchorman,

Saturday Night Live and the Big Money Players Network. It's Will Ferrell. Woo, whoo, woo, woo. My dad gave me the best advice ever. I went and had lunch with them one day, and I was like, and Dad, I think I want to really give this a shot. I don't know what that means, but I just know the groundlings. I'm working my way up through, and I know it's a place that come,

look for up-and-coming talent. He said, if it was based solely on talent, I wouldn't worry about you, which is really sweet. Yeah. He goes, but there's so much luck involved. and he's like, just give it a shot. He goes, but if you ever reach a point where you're banging your head against the wall and it doesn't feel fun anymore, it's okay to quit.

If you saw it written down, it would not be an inspiration. It would not be on a calendar of, you know, the cat. Just hang in there. Yeah, it would not be. Right, it wouldn't be that. There's a lot of luck. Listen to thanks, Dad, on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. This week on the Sports Sliced podcast, it's all about the NFL draft, and we've got a

special guest. The director of the NFL's East-West Shrine Bowl, Eric Galco, joins the Sports Slice podcast to break down what really matters when evaluating draft prospects. From hidden traits teams look for to the biggest mistakes franchises make to the players flying under the radar, this is the insight you won't hear anywhere else. If you want to understand the draft like an insider, you don't want to miss this episode. Listen. to the Sports Slice podcast on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slice of Life 12 and TikTok podcast network on TikTok.

This is the Bobbycast. What I found so interesting about Nashville and just touring is you're at whatever level and you're moving up. But now you've got to spend more money when you get up. But now you have a song. Well, now you've got to spend more. It's always this game of you're having to do. The more money you're making.

More money has to be invested into. So it's almost never like just straight. You just get all this extra money because it mostly turns into, well, now we got to get trucks. Now we need multiple buses. And I was like, oh my gosh, a truck. And then I was like, oh my God, a truck. We have to have this. How small of a lighting rig can we use?

That's a crazy part of the touring here is that it just keeps costing more money. And you're having more success in making it, but you have to then spend more money. or at least feel like the show is bigger. Yeah. And then the more equipment you have, the more hands it takes to run that equipment. That's more mouths to be responsible for making sure that they eat and their family eats. And then there's the pressure is now we have to have enough success to, enough growth to keep growing because everything will keep costing more and asking more of us.

and being the woman behind the ship's wheel and going, uh, it's this way, knowing how many people are hungry if you're wrong. Let me put that pressure on yourself, huh? Absolutely. I will shirpa it everywhere with me. And it helps me make great decisions, especially now that I'm not a drunk. Well, a drunk living a sober life. Have you felt different creatively since you've stopped drinking?

Yeah, I think so. I was really, really worried. And I'm sure that there were some real turds that I wrote. And there were some times where anger kept trying to be a co-writer, and those don't make very valuable songs. I don't understand what you're saying. And also, nobody cares if you're mad. To where you're like, well, I can't write that because I don't drink anymore.

And then you're mad at that. Well, now you're, okay, well, now the song is shot. So stop. Try it again as an adult. It's okay to access anger. It's okay to use it as a tool. It's not okay to let it drive the car. Then I had to re-meet myself as a writer.

I've been drinking since I was 12. Oh, that's... Sorry, Mom. My friend Blair's sister gave me a bottle of Crown Royal when I was 12. Technically 12. But I've been drinking, there isn't anything where alcohol wasn't already just part of the recipe. So extracting that and then learning how to create without that element was it's a learning curve. And getting out of, getting it out of my way, I was able to re-meat myself. And then I found out that the quirkiness, like the stuff that's in Lindyville and things like that, there was more of it. That was really me. That wasn't soused me. That wasn't pickled me. Those were moments where actual me was writing the song. And then being like, oh, gosh, this gives me hope. Follow that. And things that are very heartfelt. And I had more colors to color with. And I just didn't know. It's like you came in and just pulled a sheet off of this giant easel and paint set. And I was like, there's more blues than this. And you. And you. after I re-met myself and decided that when I'm angry or I think something, that feeling that something is missing, that's never going to leave.

That part of your brain is still over here going, you still want that. You're like, no, I don't. You're an idiot. You have to make room for that feeling, whether it shows up a sadness or anger or frustration or whatever. You're going to have to look at it and go, there is room for you. May I continue writing my song now? When you look back at your body of work, is there a concept that you look back on and go, man, that was awesome?

Oh, I'm so proud of our records. Like a songwriting, a song, a concept where you're like, man, not just the lyrics, but the idea behind the song. That you just, it still feels so original. Stone. Stone's a tough one. but I still think that if anyone else had been in the room, if any other two people besides Nicolette Hayford and myself

had tried to write a song about the fact that both of us have lost our siblings, I think we did the right thing by saying stone, that we were cut from the same stone. And then talking about, especially since we'd both lost a brother, instead of only saying, I miss you so much and I'm so sad you're gone and I'm so angry you're going,

saying the different things that you learned from that sibling about the rolling ones and the throwing ones. And that way there was all of those feelings in there, but I didn't have to spell it out. Nobody had to feed that to you. Us making those references give you the feeling. And then when you're like, oh, yeah, she's talking about rocks. And then to end that with, we were cut from the same stone.

And you're like, oh, well, they wrote the tar out of that. really, really proud of that one. That's tough though. It's hard to play that song live. Really? Yeah. Even if you played it 100 times, you still feel it? I have played it live three times ever.

Oh, you haven't played it much because of that. Wow. We tried it full band one time, like different rooms. You know how you'll get to a theater and like that. You're like, oh my gosh, this theater really needs to hear whatever. Like this theater would be perfect for like Chicago the musical or whatever. We got in one and I said, this room. wants stone.

And it did. And we tried it in sound check, tried it in rehearsal. And when we got to the bridge where I say, there's a lot of things that should be written in one, but your name ain't one of them.

Quinn Hill plays a military cadence on his snare drum, and I lost it. Like, you know how I start to cry, and then you'll get it together and I can get through this line. There was no, it was like, slobber, bha cry.

And then I was after just, I was like, and I was like, okay, we're not doing that one. What a power, though, if that's not magical or witchcraft, what is to conjure a feeling like that? And we wrote the song, I know what's in it. And for those words and sounds to still create that emotion, that's like the coolest thing. being a songwriter, being a creative, is the coolest thing I could ever hope for anyone to experience. What's the coolest thing about being a country star? The coolest thing about being a country star.

You mean something simple like having institutions like the Grand Ole Opry to lean on? I think the most valuable thing for us as country stars is knowing, compared to us, other genres may be. We're more accessible. If I want to go to Lucinda Williams and say, your records change my life, I may have that opportunity. It's never painted to look such a way that you may never reach or speak to or you totally can. And that's what we're for. We're not here to be a mythical creature. We're here because regular stuff happens and somebody needs it to rhyme. people that to you. Yeah. Yeah, especially growing up in the Bluegrass World, the best the best flat picker you've ever seen in your life. You can go talk to him. That's how I learned to

play guitar. Going to Bluegrass Festivals when I was little with a little guitar and I was terrible and I only knew a chord and being able to go to those guys and be like, how do you make, when you do your hand this way, how do you make this sound instead of just this drum, having access? I think that's, I think being a star and it not meaning in any way better than. Sometimes it's louder than. Sometimes it's more sparkly than. And sometimes it's more traveled than.

But it's never better than. And that's not the point of our genre. I guess what I meant was in the new, I mean the people now get to do that to you, where you got to do that to people. Yeah. Yeah. I just experienced that the other night at the Opry.

What happened? During our set, a young girl and her mom came to the very, very front during Loudoun in the kitchen. And they sang every single word, both of them. And I even mentioned to the audience, I can't look at that when that happens. I will cry, you know me. And I thought it was such a great moment. Well, we stayed a little bit late after the Opry. They came to kick us out.

The tours are starting. We're like, oh, we've got to leave. Guitars are on our backs. We're walking out. And the after the Opry tour came through. and a group of people went and we're like, oh, good night, guys. And then this group stopped. And in that group was that young girl and her parents.

And I was starstruck. I was like, oh, my gosh, you're the girl from the front row. I tried to throw you a pick. I couldn't. It went over your head. And she came and introduced herself, and she's so well-spoken. And she said, my name is Sawyer June. And my family and I grow and harvest pecans.

And I would love to give you a bag of pecans. And I love pecans. And we chit-chatted. And everybody that has to do with the tour is being so nice and calm. while we have this minute to talk. And she gave me a sticker, and I signed a sticker for her. And I don't have my, I think I still have lashes on, but I don't have my extensions in,

and I'm in a leather jacket, and I don't look like a woman of country music. I look like the chick I thought I was going to be when I grew up. And her mom says, she sings too. And I said, oh, okay, do you sing? She said, yeah. I really love to sing Bible in a 44. And I had two guitars right there as we were getting ready to leave.

And I said, well, let's get a guitar out. you and I should sing together. No way. And, you know, like coming in the artist entrance where it's just like concrete floor. So we sat on the rug and I played and she sang and I sang harmony with her. Bobby, she looked me in the eye the whole song. And in her eyes it looked like a forest fire. And it was just magical.

And the way she shaped her vowels was so itself. It wasn't put on. And there was no like a young child actor Broadway vibrato. This was a young girl who sounds the way she sounds at her age. And she knows every word. And she has worked out when her breaths are in the song compared to where mine would be. And she's not thrown off by this grown woman singing harmonies with her or the whole tour singing the last chorus with us. And at the end of us singing together, she said, oh, it's going to cheer me up with her a little pouty lip.

She said, you're my favorite singer and you always will be. And I said, same. It was so magic. We posted it on socials and people are commenting about how good she sounds, which is true, and how lovely of a moment this is, which is true, and how I changed her life, which might be true. But she changed mine. She's proof that I am what I want to be. I saw the spark in her eyes.

It is there. And I put more wood on the fire. And we might watch her walk across the opera stage someday. I hope I do. I hope I will see her do that. That's the whole point of anything we do is to make more of it. If we don't make more of it, we're the last. I don't know if she's 10 or 12.

She also plays guitar, by the way. I looked her videos up. And it reminds me of me. And when I was little, I was 12, my mom had some friends. they were in a band called the Cluster Pluckers. Fantastic Musicianship in that band. And we knew a couple of the players.

And we came to Nashville for Spigma to go to the Bluegrass Convention. And they worked on Opry campus. And Mom said, well, can we come say hi and blah, blah, blah. So we did. We went and saw them, walked around to do whatever. And she said, is there any chance that we can get in the Opry house and let Ashley see the stage? And Richard said, sure, no problem. So he went to an office, grabbed a guitar on the back.

You remember whiteout pins? On the back of the guitar, it's written, please don't steal me. I'm cheap in whiteout pin. And he took me to the stage. And I stood in the circle at 12 years old with this much understanding of what is happening to me right now. And I sang Peach Pick and Time in Georgia, because it was my favorite song at the time. And that moment for me at 12 is this moment sitting in the floor.

at the Opry for her. I paid it forward. I did the right thing. It's the circle of life. Like, it's happening. We're creating new ones and we're appreciating the old ones and we're here and I'm an Opry member and this is crazy and I'm not drunk and I can remember it. And that's magic. That is magic. And if it doesn't make you tear up, call your mom. Call your mom. Let's take a quick pause for a message from our sponsor. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions,

my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes,

creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment. And the next, we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast. It's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger.

So, if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to the Clifford Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. top. There's two golden rules that any man should live by. Rule one, never mess with a country girl. You play stupid games, you get stupid prizes.

And rule two, never mess with her friends either. We always say that trust your girlfriends. I'm Anna Sinfield, and in this new season of the girlfriends... Oh my God, this is the same man. A group of women discover they've all dated the same prolific con artist. I felt like I got hit by a truck. I thought, how could this happen to me? The cops didn't seem to care.

So they take matters into their own hands. I said, oh, hell no. I vowed. I will be his last target. He's going to get what he deserves. Listen to the girlfriends. Trust me, babe. On the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts,

or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Ego Wadam. My next guest, you know from Stepbrothers, Anchorman, Saturday Night Live, and the Big Money Players Network. It's Will Ferrell. Woo. Woo.

My dad gave me the best advice ever. I went and had lunch with him one day. And I was like, and Dad, I think I want to really give this a shot. I don't know what that means, but I just know the groundlings. I'm working my way up through, and I know it's a place that come look for up-and-coming talent.

He said, if it was based solely on talent, I wouldn't worry about you, which is really sweet. Yeah. He goes, but there's so much luck involved. Mm. and he's like, just give it a shot. He goes, but if you ever reach a point where you're banging your head against the wall and it doesn't feel fun anymore, it's okay to quit.

If you saw it written down, it would not be an inspiration. It would not be on a calendar of, you know, the cat. Just hang in there. Yeah, it would not be. Right, it wouldn't be that. There's a lot of luck. Listen to Thanks Dad on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts. This week on the Sports Sliced podcast, it's all about the NFL draft, and we've got a special guest.

The director of the NFL's East-West Shrine Bowl, Eric Galko, joins the Sports Sliced podcast to break down what really matters when evaluating draft prospects. From hidden traits teams look for to the biggest mistakes franchises make to the players flying under the radar, this is the insight you won't hear anywhere else. If you want to understand the draft like an insider, you don't want to miss this episode. Listen to the Sports Slice Podcast on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slica Life 12 and TikTok podcast network on TikTok. And we're back on the Bobbycast. One of my favorite things about being able to do this, especially in a long form, you know, spoken back and forth is that people get to bring music they appreciate. Yeah.

And so we just kind of say, hey, if there's like a record that influenced you so much, feel free to bring it by and donate it to our, you. you know, influence collection. We have a whole collection of it here. And so you mentioned Lucinda Williams. Yes. Would you mind picking that album up, showing it to the camera, and then just telling me why this matters to you so much? Carwheels on a gravel road, top to bottom, the most perfect listen I've ever encountered.

1998. Some of the things that I loved about Lucinda from the get-go was, and I didn't know anything about her. I just, a friend of mine gave me a burned CD of this, totally pirated. I've bought enough copies since then to make up for that. And I put it in and I heard the carwheels on a gravel road, which is track two. And I thought, well, that's really cool. And then I heard song three, too cool to be forgotten.

And I thought, what an interesting concept. Too cool to be forgotten. Hey, hey. a part of the song where she says Junebug versus Hurricane. She says it over and over, Junebug versus hurricane. And I'm like, yeah, that's the life I want to live is, number one, I'd be too cool to be forgotten. And the music business is Junebug versus Hurricane. Like, come on, that makes me want to be a Junebug. There isn't anything I could skip on this record from the very first listen, Drunken Angel. If you're tuning in,

and you've never heard that song, please listen to it. It's amazing. She never tries to be anything she isn't. And sometimes she doesn't say a complete syllable, but that's because you didn't need all of the syllables in that word for you to feel the way she wanted you to feel, and you know what she was singing about. You get it.

Even if she throws something away like in, I can't let go, when she says, I feel like I've been shot and didn't fall down. Didn't fall down is not a word. You know exactly how she feels. those words that she said. If, and oh my God, the very last track on this record, Jackson moves me to tears, and I would sing it. I mean, you could just pick me three other artists to sing it with right now. We could sing it, Acapella, four-part harmony, and just, I would be completely happy.

Over the years, when people have said, one record, you listen, one record the rest of your life, it's car wheels on a gravel road. What did you learn from that record? Oh, wow. actually I learned to play harmonica because of this record because of Drunken Angel. It had a harmonica part that I wanted to play. I put Can't Let Go in my show. Joy is on this record and the entire song is, you took my joy and I want it back, right? And I'm going to go to different locations.

I'm going to go to West Memphis and look for my joy. You got to look for my joy. And I was like, as repetitive as that song is, it doesn't ever feel repetitive. it feels, it doesn't feel boring. It feels like you're starting to feel the way she feels. By the third verse, you're feeling the way she felt when she started writing it down. You took my joy, I want it back. And then by the time she gets down far enough in the song,

she's not even saying back anymore. She's just saying, blah. And that kind of frustration, I was like, okay, repetition isn't always mundane. and I had the chance to meet Lucinda Williams. We played a show at Skydeck last summer, two summers ago. And I am at the time of a 40-year-old woman. I am grown as I can be. And it was all I could do to keep my jaw from hitting myself in the stomach.

I was just like, Miss Lucinda, it's very nice to meet you. And my face is like shaky. And you know how it is when you meet somebody and they ask you to sign something in their handshakes. That's how I was. And I know she noticed because I heard her band make comments about it later. And yes, I'm a fan of music. That's how I got here. New album comes out this summer.

Yeah. We're dead set on loving tracks. I'm dead set on it. Okay. Just making sure. Yeah. Man, I just love your generosity with the stories and just you being you. Like, I've always loved it.

So that's just what I want to say to you. I love sitting and talking to you. Plus seeing another Arkansas. We're the two that made it. I know. I know. And when I met May Estes, I was like, oh my God, I'm from Arkansas. Yeah, same with May.

Like, I was instantly drawn because there's just, like, you said away earlier. Like, when you come from where we come from, you kind of have to learn to do it yourself. Yeah. You have to be. And so even with May, like, we would sit and talk. And, like, she's got it. She does. She's got to figure out which direction to point it sometimes, but she's got it. And so it's funny you mentioned May. I love me. And you're just the best. So thank you for spending time with me. Again, I always really, really just value the time. Thank you. I do too. I love it so much. And I know when we do like events and red carpets and all that, all we ever get to do is wave at each other. But I've got...

You just know, in my heart, it's more than just a wave. Same. And I've got your back. Yeah. Same. Yeah, same. Okay. That's amazing. When the record comes out, and, you know, in the summertime, we'll do something again and make sure everybody knows. We have to remind people a hundred times over and over again. But Arkansas Mudd, that song, that song is awesome. Thank you. And initially, I was like, okay, it's got my state in. Let me just hear it.

Because I know you represent as well. I told you that first line, I was like, oh, she's going hard. I like the whole beginning of it, too, where it's just a build, just to music, just the music. Oh. And you don't have many. My guys are so good. You don't have many extended intros anymore in songs because everybody's, you know, but I think that now is what makes them stand out so much, especially when they're good.

And if we were to hit you right in the face with bampo-bao-da-da-de-do-de- It'd still be good. But it might have too many teeth and you might be like, ah. I agree. I love it. I love it. I'm so glad to you. My guys are so good.

And with John Osborne at the helm. He produced the record. Yes. Yeah. With him, there's a magic thing that happens when John Osborne and I are in the same room with each other. And putting him in charge of my band guys is incredible. Did he ever just grab a guitar and be like, no, like this.

Sometimes he would grab a mandolin, sometimes he'd grab a guitar. Oh, yeah. And when we were cutting, I want to say it was wild, it might have been behind bars. He started dismantling the front of the piano while Wesley was playing it and moving more microphones over there. He's like, just keep playing. And he's just taking stuff off because he wanted to get the mic closer to the felt on the hammers. And I think in my band, there's three Arkansasans. And I want, we should look it up.

That might be the federal limit. Yeah. Thank you. I will end with that. You're awesome. I'll end with that instead. There she is. Ashina McBride. Thanks for listening to a Bobbycast production. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, fields of conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated.

So let's get to it. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok podcast network on TikTok. This week on the Sports Slice podcast, it's all about the NFL draft. And we've got a special guest. The director of the NFL's East West Shrine Bowl, Eric Galco, joins the Sports Slice podcast to break down what really matters when it's. evaluating draft prospects, from hidden traits teams look for, to the biggest mistakes

franchises make, to the players flying under the radar. This is the insight you won't hear anywhere else. If you want to understand the draft like an insider, you don't want to miss this episode. Listen to the Sports Slice Podcast on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slica Life 12 and TikTok podcast network on TikTok. When a group of women discover they've all dated the same prolific conference. an artist. They take matters into their own hands. I vowed. I will be his last target.

He is not going to get away with this. He's going to get what he deserves. We always say that trust your girlfriends. Listen to the girlfriends. Trust me, babe. On the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm I go to you. I'm Igo, my next guest, it's Will Ferrell. My dad gave me the best advice ever. He goes, just give it a shot. But if you ever reach a point where you're banging your head against the wall and it doesn't feel fun anymore, it's okay to quit.

If you saw it written down, it would not be an inspiration. It would not be on a calendar of, you know, the cat. Just hang in there. Yeah, it would not be. Right, it wouldn't be that. There's a lot of luck. Yeah. Listen to Thanks Dad on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.