The Bobby Bones Show - BONUS EP: The Journey Of The Million Dollar Show

Episode Date: March 19, 2025

Bobby Bones and Eddie shared the story behind the inception of The Million Dollar Show, discussing the journey from day one to its current success. They reflected on the challenges and triumphs that have made the show a game-changer in the music industry, from A-list performers, surprise on stage moments, and giving emerging artists a chance to showcase their talents on a major stage like the Ryman. In 2023, Madeline Edwards joined the show, marking a milestone in her career. During their conversation, she opened up about her journey, describing the profound experience of performing on such a prestigious platform. Madeline shared how the opportunity not only expanded her fanbase but also gave her a renewed sense of purpose in her music. She spoke candidly about the impact the show had on her growth as an artist, and how the support and exposure have propelled her forward in her career.See 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, 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, unfilled 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 IHard 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. Okay, so this podcast is basically about the million dollar show and the journey of the million dollar show from day one to now. Brought to you by Hyundai.

I love Hyundai. It's all about the journey with Hyundai. I think we've done eight million dollars shows, which, by the way, this is airing after our last one, but we haven't done the last one yet. We're just days away from that. So, Eddie's here too. And so mostly it's just, man, think of back about how we started this thing. The genesis of it was Eddie and I have been doing a bunch of free shows. Also, we sucked.

Not that we're Grammy Award winning now anyway. But we were playing parodies and restaurants. Like barbecue joints and they would just move the tables out of the way and there we were. 50 people. Yes. And 22 of them. or just having brisket already. Yeah, wondering what is this on stage?

And we would get a car, we'd rent a car, just in the suit would drive us, we'd find an quote, opening act, which for a long time it was Kelsey Ballerini. Yeah. So we would get in the car and we would drive to North Carolina, we would drive to Tallahassee, Florida.

St. Louis. All these places that were somewhat, they were far enough to drive, but they weren't comfortable, meaning we couldn't get there in an hour. The first ever show we did, though, as The Raging Idiots, was the Amy Show for 30 Abes. Yeah, here in Nashville. At a pavilion.

Remember that crap? Yeah, and people showed up. Yeah, but it wasn't for us. There were other artists there, too. True. Yeah, that wasn't for us. I think one thing you've been really good at is surrounding us with really good artists in our shows, you know?

So when we do play, we do have some other good artists that come. Hence the million dollar show, man. Like, that's what's so awesome about it. It's not us. It's so many good artists around us. Yeah, the first one, there were other artists there. Then after that it was, and we would, you know, do it. But Kelsey wasn't known then, but what we would do is, in my mind, it didn't matter if I said where we were playing, like, on Instagram.

But it was always, how can I sell this thing? How can I market it as being sold out even if it's 30 people? So we'd go play a restaurant and nobody else could fit, but I'd be like, sold out, raging idiots. And we'd play like parodies, basically. And lots of covers. Yeah. and with ukuleleys. And it was just Eddie and I.

And so we would do these shows and we did them for like six months. We donated all the money. I even paid for the gas out of my own money. And then we started to do slightly bigger venues. And I just wanted to be able to say everything was sold out because I wanted to create the idea to people that it was hard to get into one of our shows,

not knowing how bad we kind of were. Where it was fortunate for us was we were getting better the more we played, which makes sense. But man, we played early on. It was rough. The places weren't good to play and we weren't that good. But remember the barbecue place in D.C.

When the fire alarm went off. Do, do, do, do, do, do. That was, then we waited and it was kind of a disaster because the people were outside in the heat and then they had to wait for another, wasn't our vault. But then we went played.

That was so long ago. It was forever ago. Like, I can't remember when that was. And so we just did this for a long time. We donated all the money, all the money. And in my mind, it was if we get to a million dollars, I want to have a celebration concert, because we didn't keep any of the money. I want to have a celebration concert here in Nashville somewhere. And the idea wasn't at the Ryman at first.

And I remember going and Roda could ask me, hey, can you come out to the event? And if you guys want to play great, but you'll be part of the music. And I said, man, if we hit this and we do this, the money raised there, we'll just count. count that because that's money. We're playing at a charity event. And so it hit a million bucks. And I remember calling my management guy and being like, hey, we should set up a show. I don't know for what, but we should call it the million dollar show and celebrate that we raised a million dollars for charity. And he's like, great. How about the Ryman? I'm like, there is no way people are going to come to this. Oh, he mentioned the Ryman. Yeah, it wasn't me. Okay.

Because I was like, what about the sit go? Yeah. I'm about the funions. Yeah, I just wanted people to be there. We did play a car dealership early on. We did in Wichita, Kansas. We didn't make any money. either to charity. The station just kept that money, I think. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, there was no money. We never saw any money. Yeah, what I did see was a bunch of cars that were just moved out of the lot and then that's where the people stood. And we used the word people loosely. They were bodies. Yeah, there weren't that, well, there were that many people there. So we got to a million bucks. So we set the show to be six or seven months away. But in the

process, the raging idiots started to pick up a little steam. I feel like I marketed it so effectively that even though we weren't good but we weren't getting better people were like I need to go see this and then we were doing the radio show saying where we're coming to the different towns and so before we had done the first million dollar show we raised two million dollars and I was like dang we should call it the two million dollar show and Tom was like that's too confusing so but we made two million we go we do the first ever million dollar show with the idea of maybe we can get people to come and play with us because we had a band and the reason we had a band is because festivals were asking us to play. Big, big festivals. Bigger than we should have played. And we were playing after people that were bigger than us and were actually good. We were in no position to be in those slots. Our band was really great.

But we didn't like have songs. And I can't sing. So we're playing massive festivals all over the country. We played stagecoach. We played at the gorge. What's that festival? The watershed. Watershed.

We did them all. We did faster horses. Yeah. And. we got to be okay and now we had the full band and so we go and i just make a couple calls myself for the first ever show and dirks bentley played and brett eldridge played a little big town played and it was me just making an ass like would you guys mind showing up and playing with our band and because i knew them they were all like yeah great and it was awesome but we made a few hundred

thousand bucks and so we're like cool what a fun memory we'll never do that again yeah like a one-off right? Well, we celebrated the million bucks. And so, but we were such a, and I still am such a long-term partner with St. Jude that they were pumped about it. They were like, can't wait until next year? And I was like, oh, no, next year. So then I'm all freaking out about it, but they're like, we're going to go tour and just start playing shows and try to get better. And we didn't. We didn't, we started touring our brains off. Signed a little record deal. Didn't really do anything record-wise. And they were like taking money. Not illegally, but I didn't realize. That's the record deal.

Yeah, that's what that means. Because they weren't really promoting it. And then I bought the record deal back and had to pay money to do that. So, but we were on. And we went from a car to a van. Dude, we were a full-fledged. We were a band. We were a touring band.

Yeah, we went to a van, though. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But I'm saying it's like, you're struggling artists. Because we're radio people. Like, we had a radio show. And on the weekends, we were a touring band. We would leave right after the show. and either Tim, our security guard,

just in the suit, would drive us and we'd try to sleep in the back of the van. We'd take whomever the opener was. Still, a lot of times it was Kelsey, but then we'd switch it out a little bit. If we'd had a Hyundai then, it'd been much easier. A fleet of Hyundai's? Probably would have been five shows in a weekend.

And so we'd leave, wake up early, do the radio show, get a car immediately, a van. There are no beds and vans. No. Drive to wherever, do a show that night. I remember once we went down to, You think in Georgia? Augusta?

Yes, exactly. Well, not even that. We played on like a strip center. Yeah, it was like a strip mall. And there was like a dance floor and there were like eight people there. Mm-hmm. It's terrible. But the reason I remember that is because they were like, do we wait and just drive in the morning or should we just drive tonight?

And Justin the zoo is like, I'm driving. I think Tim drove. Or was it Tim? Maybe they both did. They just, but either way, we fell asleep, we woke up back in Nashville. We were like, we'd rather just drive home tonight. And by drive home, that meant we'd rather. just go to sleep while you guys drive home.

Correct. We were exhausted. And we didn't even know what we were doing. We're just raising money. And so we did it pretty consistently, six or seven months. And then it was getting close to, okay, we're doing the million dollar show too? And I'm like, I don't know, can we get people to do this show? You had already exhausted your asks with all your friends.

Yes. So I needed my team to ask people based on the success of the first show. So that's what we did. and they asked Roscoe Flats Sam Hunt Craig Campbell Brothers Osborne

Thomas Redd does say the band Perry You have not And then at the end What I knew was going to happen was Garth was going to come out And present a check Because he said

We didn't know how much it was going to be And Garth comes out And presents a $2 million check And then he was out on stage And we were just like Let's sing one Because he wasn't going to sing But he wasn't not going to sing

And he was already there And it's not like He's going to say no So he's saying no so he sang and we did what Friends in Low Places It was awesome Highlight of my life

Million Dollar 3 Urban This one was super cool Because it was Urban And Darius And Darius came out and did Purple Rain And Darius also did a hooty song

You did And I think he did Wagon Wheel Yeah Darius And I just thought doing the hooty song Was so much fun Luke Combs Dan and Chey Marin Morris

So now though it started to be a thing And I was like Maybe I don't have to continue To like grind at this thing because of the success it's had and we were donating all the money. We never kept any of the money. That people would just say yes much easier. And then it was also how do we get people that maybe aren't in the country space? Because we had better than Ezra, which was an alternative band that I used to love. And a million dollar show for Luke Bryan, Lady A, Coleswindale, John Party, three doors down was

that show. And that was awesome. Brad from Three Doors Down. Those are like our selfish requests. For sure. Sharna showed up because I had one dancing with the stars. year so we did a dance that was awesome it's super Gavin deGraw played that one which was awesome oh yeah million dollar show five we had Brooks and done I just remember it with Brooks and done being at rehearsal and rehearsing with Ronnie and I didn't know Ronnie as well yet in a warehouse like in a little warehouse rehearsal space and he's just there singing away yeah and we're like this is crazy sounding amazing yeah uh Brett young foreigner I want to know what love is Colby Calais came out Laney Wilson before Laney

had a single song. Oh, yeah. She heard with her bell bottoms. I was like, do I'm big fan of Lainty. Let's get her out. No record, no song yet. She came out and did Queen, Fat Bottom Girls. Sam Hunt came back, Sawyer Brown played. So we had like five in a row and it was kind of killing. And we had raised just on these shows like a million bucks. But there was no million dollar show in 2021 and 2022 because the pandemic. Yeah, dumb pandemic. And they were like, hey, you could still do one, but we couldn't have any of the kids out there. Now the St. Jude people could be there. So I was like, I don't think we're going to do it during the pandemic. And I thought maybe we'd never do it again.

Because I will say a highlight too is a lot of these kids' patients come out and if they're healthy enough, they just have a night and they get to enjoy music and it's really cool to see them having fun. I mean, everyone's having fun, but the kids are back there having fun is really cool to see. Yeah, and to have the kids there to show people what's the reality of it. So these kids come and they tell their story on stage as well. And so without that, I was like, man, I don't want to do it. Yeah.

So we came back, 2023, Michelle Branch, which was super cool. That was a selfish one. Tracy Lawrence was going to perform and he got sick like the day of.

He even rehearsed. Yeah, I wasn't there for rehearsal. He rehearsed that one. And then didn't play because he got sick. And we had Dirks on the show that morning and Dirks played a million dollar show one.

And we were like, Tracy Lawrence is sick. And he's like, I'll cover. So Dirks came in and covered for Tracy Lawrence and played a Tracy Lawrence song. Scott Stap from Creed, which he was awesome.

Unbelievable. Jake Owen played that one. A million dollar show seven. Party. Megan Maroney. Sam Hunt, Nate Smith, Ben Rector, Matt Carney. Come on. This is last year.

This is last year. Ian Muncic, Edwin McCain, which is fun. Lauren Watkins, Post Malone showed up at the end. Gosh. And met everyone. And stayed and took pictures with everybody after the show was over for an hour. And so between the shows and the other work that we've done, we've been able to raise over $27 million for St. Jude over the years.

and it's super cool that we have long-term partners. Like I feel like St. Jude thinks that I and that we're a partner. And Hyundai is awesome. And Hyundai's been a long-term partner with me in the show. And they're supporting the million-dollar show. They have their own initiatives as well. And so the Hyundai Hope on Will's initiative has donated over $250 million to pediatric cancer research. So, you know, we're running alongside each other, doing the best we can,

trying to help out as many people as possible. but what they've done this year is they've included $20,000 this year to the million-dollar show in St. Jude. So I'm very thankful that Hyundai did that. You know, since 1998, Hyundai Hope on Wheels has worked tirelessly to support the families, researchers, doctors, and children impacted by childhood cancer. To this day, Hyundai Hope on Wheels has awarded grants totaling over $250 million. So thanks to Hyundai Motor America and its nationwide dealers. And thanks for being a part of the million-dollar show. Now, that was kind of the walk-through.

What's your favorite single performance? of all time. Gosh. I think it's going to have to be Garth Brooks friends in Low Places because that's the one that I tell everyone about. Because Garth just, like you said, showed up, wasn't expecting to sing. But what people don't realize is that we are the house band. So our band that we put together is the house band for a lot of the artists that come up

and sing. So when Garth came up, it's like, we're ready to go. We all know Friends in Low Places and we sing it. And just the fact that the goat is standing right there, not to mention on the rhyming stage, and you're singing one of country music's biggest songs with him, dude, that's just a highlight of my life. I think mine's Brooks and Dunn

because we did three songs with them, and they let me pick the songs. And with Garth, we kind of just sang a little bit of like the background of like the choruses. But with Brooks and Dunn, like, we sang all of it. All of it. And they were like, what do you want to do? And I was like, let's do Ma Maria.

That was cool. Yeah. And so to do. to do all and like to be an integral part of three Brooks and Dunn songs and them standing out there like to me Brooks and Dunn is probably my favorite and when it comes to artists we try to book artists too that aren't country now there are a couple like Post Malin was awesome but he went out and did that acoustic Hansen was crazy and they did imbop but they did that acoustic because if we don't have time to rehearse or they get in late we're just like don't worry about playing with the band if you

want to play acoustic, just do your own thing. Yeah, with Hanson, they came from out of town. But, like, better than Ezra, because I loved better than Ezra, and then we did, oh, huh. And then when Dirks did, hoot did hoot-hast did. And sang a hootting the loofish. When Darius did. Oh, yeah, sorry, Darius.

Michelle Branch, whenever the wreckers did their thing, and Michelle Branch did her. That was super cool because that was just being selfish and picking stuff we wanted to pick. And two, our buddy Amad proposed to his wife on stage there. Do you remember what year that was? Dude, I don't know years of anything. but that was cool.

He said he wanted to propose to his wife, and he did it in the middle of the million-dollar show. I remember no years. I remember no song titles. I remember no book titles. I know nothing. And, you know, part of this too has been me finding artists that haven't popped yet that are really good. And I'd put Lainey on that. You've done such a good job at that.

Lainty, she hadn't hit yet. And I was like, man, Lainie, you're awesome. Come do it. But we've done that with a few. artists and one of them is Madeline Edwards and we're going to talk with Madeline in just a second but Madeline's like next level and she played the piano. I'll let her tell her story but we'll talk to Madeline Edwards coming up in just second. 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 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. Okay, Madeline Edwards is here. You text me. I'm glad you did because I don't know you had new music coming out. I didn't ever know anything. Unless my people were like, hey, I got new music. And you're one of the few people that I would be like, oh, that's cool.

Let me take a look. So I was super excited to hear that because you know why I was a prize? because it's been a long time. Wait, can I tell the story from my perspective? I texted you. I think, okay, hold. And then you didn't text me back. Correct. And then days later, your team reaches out.

That doesn't mean I wasn't listening for the record. No, of course you were listening. All the time. Of course you were listening. He does not text me back. Go ahead. Well, but he's listening. He ghosted me for like a couple days.

If his team reaches out to me, is that technically ghosting? No. And I didn't ghost because I was not. We, other than, like, like social media and be like, what up? Like, like, it's not like every Tuesday night we have a set time to text. I do value you as a person. And I would never just completely ignore. But what happened was you text me. And I was like, oh, cool. And before I could say anything as far as let's do this or that, I said, hey, scuba Steve, I want to get Madeline up. And here's what I want to do.

And I love it. That was it. So I didn't ghost you. It was delayed. You know, I'm just giving you a hard time. I know, but I'm giving it back. Delayed gratification. Yes. Yes. So you text me. I took care of it. I did.

Thank you for having me. It was very much like, yo, I'm indie. I'm doing my own PR. That's what you said. I'm doing my own PR. In not so few words, I was like, here's the new music, here's the story. Are you in or not? Yeah, I do want to hear it.

I do want to hear it, actually. Oh, my God. It was nothing embarrassing. I don't think. No, it's not. Do you remember it, Madeline? Do I remember what? The text?

Oh, of course. I think it was just like you in or nah. Yeah. That's straightforward. I know this might be a long shot, which by the way, me speaking here, it wasn't a long shot. Because if she texts me one way or the other, I'm going to respond. But the new chapter for my album starts on March 21st. I'd love to sit down and talk with you about it if you're interested in helping me promote it.

I'm doing all my own PR. No pressure, obviously. Just wanted to float this your way. And then the song. And then it's a, you know, the... My phone's Bluetooth isn't working. It's like the voice memo. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. And so all I did is that morning because I don't want to lead her astray and say, hey, scuba, let's bring her up and do this thing and take care of her. And that's it. Madeline, is that hard to send a text like that because you are doing your own promotion? Yes. I mean, listen, it's Bobby Bones.

Oh, yeah, that massive star. The most massive. Oh, yes. Like, I listened to you growing up, you know? So it's weird to send a text like that and be. like, okay, we're doing this on our own. Let's see if, you know, if this works. For you to say that that you're texting me is not fair because Eddie, look at we, this is how much we've texted over time. That's a lot of conversation. It's a lot. It's not like she got my number and is like,

I'm nervous to text them. No, it's just been a minute. Yeah. I know I kind of disappeared for a little bit. Me too. Everybody disappears. But you, which is why I'm excited you're here. It's been a few years since you've had stuff, like new stuff. So what's up? What's up with that? Oh, man. I mean, I'm putting out a new album. And I want to talk about your show.

You know, we don't have to. No, no, I'm here to talk about you right now. Okay. Let him ask the question. Yes. Okay. No, I'll let you direct. You're in my home.

So I've planned to the meal. So we're going to start with this course talking about you. Okay. So let me ask this. What did you do the last three years? What's going on? A lot. I've been working on this album for the last three years, and it's been a lot of good and a lot of bad. I last year lost my brother. He got diagnosed with schizophrenia and took his own life, and that was really tough. And, you know, it just kind of kept leading into like a hell of a year. And so a few months after that, I lost, you know, my team. And I mean, that's honestly the most insignificant.

part of the story. The story is beautiful because I got to see so much fruit in my life because of this community I have in Nashville and how much people surrounded me and they came around me when this happened. Like they always have when my husband was in the hospital. They came around me. When my brother passed, they came around me. And it was just such a, just such a beautiful story of artistry and storytelling in Nashville and how that always kind of comes from. first and it's always the pinnacle. And I think people saw this story and we're like, you know what, we don't care what happened. We just kind of want to help push this story into the world because we think it's really beautiful. And my family's come from a lot. I mean, I've come on your show before and

I've talked to you about my dad and, you know, surviving abuse and me and my siblings just kind of banding together and just surviving the odds. And so the fact that I get to tell this on the other side of things with my brother being gone is like, man, it's life is so precious and time is so precious. You know, it's funny, when I came on your show last time, I think you asked me a question of like, what do you want? And I kept answering like, I want a Grammy or something, some bullshit like that. Has that changed? I mean, if I asked you that question, hey, Madeline, what do you want?

Now, what do you want? I have everything I want now. That's perspective. It is. I, uh, I live a beautiful. beautiful life, you know. I get to walk into a studio almost every day and make music and write stories with beautiful people. And I think that's the best life in the world. You shared a lot about your brother. Let's go pre your brother that couple years and then post your brother. Were you

working on something and did that change after that very difficult time? You're still in that difficult time, but did that change what you were creating and how you were creating it? No, actually, well, yes and no. I was, I had already started an album about the redemption of my family and our story and, you know, us kind of banding together in the name of Jesus and trying to live an absolutely normal life against the odds. And I think Jonah's passing just further propelled that story and just showed that we could, come together in some pretty significant ways. My family is just so strong. I'm so proud of my siblings and the way we tell our story. My brother out in Houston, his name is Micah Edwards. He goes by Mr. Texas soul and, you know, he's the second oldest. So he and I would step in a lot and parent the younger kids when, you know, when they were off doing their thing. And my dad wasn't around and my mom was just kind of surviving abuse. And, you know, my brother and I, it took a toll on a relationship.

relationship being parents and not just getting to be best friends and siblings. And so there was a lot of time that passed where, you know, it was a lot of tension. And it's crazy. It's so full story because I invited him here to Nashville to come right with me for his record. And while he was riding with me, we got like the last minute call to do the Opry for Dolly Parton's birthday. And I told him I'm like, listen, I'll only do this on one occasion if that's if my brother can. sing a song with me on the Opry stage. And so that was his first time being at the Opry ever. How'd that go? It was incredible. I mean, we did some back catalog of Dolleys and we got texts from our siblings all night being like, man, we get to feel Jonas Spirit again. It's like our family is surviving this again.

And we get to see our story continue to thrive by seeing us kind of like be up on that stage together. It's crazy. Like there's so many full circle things like that. I feel like too what you're saying is a bit of a parallel with the song, Sunshine and the Rain. Mm-hmm. Because rain is the difficulty and how you see the sunshine whenever it's raining. I mean, tell me about the song.

I wrote it with Foy Vance. He's incredible. He's an incredible singer-songwriter in the folk space. And he's done a lot of stuff with Ed Shearin. And, you know, I came in with a song a few months after Jonah passed, and it's called Other Side. grief and major C. And I walked into the studio and it was just me and him. And he's crazy.

He has this like crazy like twisted mustache and he looks like a character out of like a Lord of the Rings film or something. It's wild. But I walked in and I'm like, I have this song. I would love for you to finish it with me and I walk in and he's like, you know, I think you have this song done. I'm going to go get coffee for an hour and you're going to finish this song by yourself. and then we're going to start another one.

And so he left for an hour and left me in this room with like all of these instruments and this beautiful grand piano and it's just this gorgeous loft space. I can't remember whose studio it was actually now that I'm thinking about it. But I just stayed there for an hour

and finished out the song and then he came back and then we wrote Sunshine and the Rain together. And this is the first song of eventually the album, right? Yeah. So what's the plan timewise on other songs, and then when does the full the album come out?

So, sunshine and the rain will come out on March 21st, and then I'll be releasing single number two, six weeks after that, and then single number three, six weeks after that. That's what it is, like every month in a couple weeks?

Well, the album's going to drop in June, so a few, you know, weeks before the Bob and Willie tour, which is exciting. And I do for sure want to talk about that. And I'm not going to play the whole, song because it's not out yet. I don't want to steal it, but from my phone, from far away, here it is. That's all you get. The end. It's just playing in the room. Don't worry about it.

That's it. That's all you get. Just played in the room. Nobody can have it. So low key. So when you say Bob and Willie, Bob Dylan. Yeah, casual. Yeah, how'd that come about? That's pretty cool. I have an incredible agent that stuck with me through all this. And she's the one that got me the Stapleton tour for my first tour. And, you know, she reached out to the right people and said, I think this is a story that needs to be heard. This is a woman who survived a lot. And she keeps pressing forward with this story of redemption and how you can live between joy

and pain in a really beautiful life. And so I don't know, she sent them my demos and my work tapes. And then they got back to her like, I think a day later and offered me the tour. Quicker than I got back to you. Bob Dylan got back quicker than that. Wow. And Willie. That's right.

And with Willie, how'd that come about? Same thing. Same thing. It's the same tour, Outlaw tour. Oh, that's right. It's the same. I'm thinking of Cheryl Crow. You're doing stuff with Cheryl, right?

So Outlaw is going to be Willie Nelson, Bob Dylan, Cheryl, Waxahatchee, and me for that little East Coast run. All that's on the same show. Dang. Isn't that wild? I feel like Bob and Willie have been touring, done shows together for so long. I think they have, yeah. I think they've done the Outlaw. lot to her together before actually now that I'm thinking about it. That's really cool.

Yeah, that's pretty legit. I'd for sure like want to get him to sign something, but I guess you got to be cool, huh? I mean, do you want to come with me? No, no, no. Why? You know what he means, though? Like, how do you ask Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson for an autograph without looking not cool? I don't think so. No. I think they would. No, maybe they wouldn't. Have you met Bob Dylan at all ever? No. Met Willie at all? Mm-mm. I met Willie. Super nice. Super nice, right? He seems super nice. Super nice. He seems super nice. Super nice.

Oh, gentle, but old. Yes. Like, he doesn't have to give you a minute of his time, but he will give it to you and he will look at you the whole time and talk to you for as long as you. You've met him too? Oh, yeah.

Oh. Yeah. Did you all smoke weed with him, though? He did. No, I did not. That's my biggest regret in my life. No way. He offered it to me, but I'm pretty sure he's just on Eddie's now.

I was driving and I drove, I drove to Willie's Ranch with me and a reporter that were going to interview him about some relief show he was going to do. Yeah. And we got there in his ranch. And so what's really cool is his bus is parked outside, like three buses parked outside, plugged in. And his house is up on a hill. He never goes in the house. He lives on the bus.

Really? That's comfortable. He says his wife's up there, but he's like, this is where I stay. I'm dead. Yeah. So then, like, after 45 minutes, he buss out a joint and offers it. Wait, when was this? Probably 2,000.

I would say around 2,000. Yeah. And I said, I can't, William drive. And he was like, that's good. No, you should have. You should have gotten a hotel. This Uber. You should have just slept in your car.

Like, honestly. I know. Yeah, maybe no Uber's in, though. Yeah. No Uber's. And you can't really put a pen at Willie's house. No, and his ranch is so far out there. Oh my gosh.

Was this in Austin? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. That's where I met him too. It was Austin. He did the show. What did you guys, do you guys talk about? He was in Duke's Hazard the movie. Uh-huh.

He was. He was. That's right. And so he came in. in the studio, because he lived in Austin, so he just came in the studio. Yeah, it's super cool. I know a son pretty well, too. I know a son better than I know. Lucas is so great. He's awesome. I love him. And man, when he sings, I know. It's like religion in your guts. It's like there's a little church service happening right in your belly. And so I'm super happy you're here. And, you know,

we were talking before you came in about the million dollar show that we've been doing for a long time. And I was talking about some of the artists that I brought in selfishly, like from bands that I loved when to like people that are my friends. And then it was like, there are artists that I have said, man, they are so good. I want to put them on stage, even if they haven't popped yet. And I say yet because I've never put anyone on

that I don't believe is going to just pop like crazy. And you're obviously one of them. Were you last year or the year before? My years get messed up. I think it was like 2002. See, COVID. Tovice, COVID's fired my brain for no one in a year. Whoa, I wouldn't have thought that.

Yeah. Was that your first time? You were playing guitar. Of course, yeah. Was that your first time to play the Ryman? Yes. It was. And you took a video of me crying during sound check.

That's right. Which if you still have that, I want you to eardrop it to me. I don't know if I still have it. That's okay. That was amazing too because it was just sound check. I'll look. And for people that don't know, it's like the day of the show is sometimes just the only time we can really rehearse with the people playing the show.

And we do it from like all day until the show starts. And yeah, you got really emotional. I mean, how can you not like you feel the history? also I think I was still so new to Nashville that like soaking that all in and just realizing like hey I always have to have these little check-ins with my 13 year old self and be like hey you did this like I almost just said bitch hey bitch you did it like you said she almost did it again right but you have to like it goes by so fast this industry is so fast pace and then before you know it everything's gone. And so I'm having to like mentally take these checkpoints of this is what you've

always wanted to do and you get to hear your voice fill this space. Make sure that you congratulate your younger self for doing that. And so I think in that moment when you caught me crying, it was just me recognizing that I'm getting to do everything that I've always wanted to do. And it doesn't take Grammys and it doesn't take any crazy awards or recognition. It's just getting to understand that you get to sing in front of people. and let them hear your story. It's cool. Then a night you crushed

and they loved you, obviously. Oh, I did crush. You crushed. It was so good. Yeah. And that's so cool for you to know you did so, because you did. I mean, you absolutely walloped the room.

And they appreciated you walloping the room. It was a real moment. But yeah, it's always important for me, like in my personal film, my cup self is to find people that deserve it or maybe we'll deserve it in the future. Maybe they don't even know they deserve it yet. and go, all right, here's a little taste of the big legs.

Let's see how you do. And then you just crushed. It was awesome. Thank you. Thank you. Well, so did you. And so did you. You know, I tend to.

No, we didn't. How musical are you? Because, like, one thing I did notice when you walked in, even the first time we rehearsed, like, you know, you know what you want. You know what you're doing. You know what to tell Walker on keys. Like, hey, you need to play this. And, like, how musical are you?

Like, could you play everything? Well, I can play keys and drums. I just started on guitar last year, and I'm absolute shit. It's so bad. I've been doing it for more than a year, but I'm that too. So bad. You're better than I am, though. Possibly.

I can only play in drop D right now. Well, okay. Well, you just don't even know what that means. So you're already doing. Of course I know what dropped me is. But yes, I would like to consider myself musical. I'm producing my album right now. Or I'm produced it, so.

I think something too is that you, and Ringo Star, I was talking with him. He was at the house doing the podcast last week. And we were talking about because the Beatles are put in the book, Outliers about doing 10,000 hours. And he's like, yeah, we're referenced in the book because they would play six hours at these six hours, six hours, every day. But you had to play a lot in like restaurants. Yes. Like for hours and hours where you had to learn how to be so versatile that all of- That was the best I ever sounded. Mm-hmm. What do you mean? Oh, man, like your voice is a muscle. Because it's just worked, you're working constantly. I would sing five.

nights a week for like four or five hours a night and play piano and sing and my voice was just cream of the crop i need to i need to do that again and your piano skills i'm sure are sharp were sharp as crab too because i mean you're doing it so often even if you don't realize it like you're on oh yes yeah so when he said a musical i thought well you kind of if even if you are what you always have been like those blades were sharpened so much yeah by that four or five nights a week for four or five hours a night when it maybe doesn't feel so glamorous, but who cares you're paying the bills, right? That's that stage of life. We all had those where you're like happy to do something you love and pay the bills. Oh man, I mean, I feel like that prepared me coming to Nashville. I'm so grateful for

playing in stakeholders where people didn't give a crap if I was singing to them because, you know, you come into Nashville with almost more performance capability than some of these TikTok people that are coming in with none. So I'm totally good with that, you know. And also when you play that long, that often you learn that a mess up really doesn't matter. And you learn how to, you learn how to correct it quickly. You don't have to bounce back, even if you don't correct it quickly, because show must go on. Like, there are all these little skills that you can only get by doing it wrong. When I started doing stand-up, that was it. Like, I would be freaking out. Ah, screwed up, screwed up. But then I would do it wrong so many times. Yeah. Sun comes up. Sun comes up tomorrow,

regardless. Five minutes from now, I can't be thinking about that. Like a defensive back playing football. Okay. They just do a touchdown over your head. You can't think about that. You can't think about that was going to affect the rest of your performance. And I'm sure that was valuable in that world. And if you pointed out, it's actually kind of funny. Yeah. But I'd pointed out like eight times in a row. And so then they're like, okay, we get it.

It's not that funny. So, okay, so here's where we are. Sunshine and the Rain is out. You'll be dropping songs every month and a half or so. You're on tour with, I mean, awesome people. That's crazy. And you go to Madeline Edwardsmusic.com. I did not ignore you.

And you do know that now, right? I do. No, you did more. than not ignore me. Yes. You went above and beyond, yes. Well, she messaged, again, this is my head. You message me.

And I go, I can respond back with an answer that's going to seem like bullcrap and go, hey, I don't know what's happening. I don't know what our schedule is. And I would have meant that, but it would have sounded like typical garbage that everybody says here all the time. So I thought to myself,

I'm going to say nothing because I would rather not, I would rather not her think I'm like lying or kicking the can. So I said nothing. And I was like, I'd rather her think that I'm ghosting her or have changed numbers. Which I wasn't offended. You're so like, you're busy. I'm busy. We're all busy. I wasn't going to be offended if you didn't. I just, you know. But I thought, and then it would be extra like, oh, I knew I had faith in that guy. Because I came up and talked to scuba and we got it all set up. And I didn't even know you come up today because we're doing this today. And we're all good. It all worked out.

made sure that other things were cool in this situation. Like they, you know, so it's great. Random Hyundai sponsorship. Like, what the hell, man? I did not ignore you. What the hell? How do you find this? Like, how does he do that?

Do what? Yeah, yeah, be specific. No, yeah, how do I do what? I don't know what you're even saying. How do you find random, like Hyundai sponsorships for artists? Like, what is this? So I, Hyundai is, that's my team. Okay.

So I'm a partner with Hyundai. I've been a Hyundai guy forever. Okay. Love it. And when they're like, who do you love? I'm like, I love her. Let's get her in. It's that easy.

And let's get her in. Let's promote her. Let's, heck, let's start. Let's break off a little something for it. Well, I appreciate you thinking of me for that. Yeah. Thank you. You know what?

It could have been anybody. But it was you. Damn, dude. I know. What? But 10%. Hey, listen, I'll give you, I'll give you 20. You want 20?

Really great to see you. It's good to see you. Looking forward to seeing this next phase. play itself out. Yeah. And the question, like, what do you want? It's changed, you've changed. Perspective has been what has changed that,

and perspective is like the greatest thing we can get. And you don't get perspective without going through hard times. No one in my life has ever got a great perspective because everything was fun and easy. Like, it is the most valuable tool that you could possibly have, but you have to get it through difficult situations. And I'm very sorry that, I'm very sorry about your brother. Mm-hmm.

I feel terrible for you with what happened with you growing up. But from that, you have a toolkit that not only will make you better, but will help others. And there's real value in that. So I appreciate you and appreciate the time. And good luck with the music. Thank you. Thanks for having me. Yeah, there she is.

There's nobody to clap. It's just us. Bill Madeline. And now a single clap. 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 fourth. 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 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 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. This is an IHeart podcast.

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