This Past Weekend - E327 Travis Tritt

Episode Date: March 5, 2021

Theo sits down with country music legend, Travis Tritt, to discuss Merle Haggard stories, crowds hurling quarters at Travis on stage, starting their careers in bowling alleys and dive bars, their first kisses and a preview of his first new music in over 13 years. Travis Tritt's brand new single, "Smoke In A Bar", is available on all streaming services now, and his new album 'Set in Stone' will be released on May 7th. https://bit.ly/theo-von Follow Travis Tritt https://instagram.com/realtravistritt https://bit.ly/3kLb42W https://travistritt.com   This episode is brought to you by: BlueChew: https://bluechew.com and use promo code THEO to get your first order free Helix: https://helixsleep.com/theo for up to $200 off and 2 free pillows Magic Mind: https://magicmind.co​ and use promo code THEOMAGIC for 20% off Liquid Death: https://liquiddeath.com Music: “Shine” - Bishop Gunnhttp://bit.ly/Shine_BishopGunn "Smoke In A Bar" - Travis Tritt   Hit the Hotline[phone]   Video Hotline for TheoUpload here: http://bit.ly/TPW_VideoHotline   Find Theo:Website: https://theovon.comInstagram: https://instagram.com/theovonFacebook: https://facebook.com/theovonFacebook Group: https://facebook.com/groups/thispastweekendTwitter: https://twitter.com/theovonYouTube: https://youtube.com/theovonClips Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiEKV_MOhwZ7OEcgFyLKilw   Producer: Nick Davishttps://instagram.com/realnickdavis Producer: Sean Duganhttps://instagram.com/realnickdavisSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today's episode is brought to you by liquid death You'll be surprised. It's water Today's episode is brought to you by magic mind Procrastination is a thing of the past with this beautiful sipper Go to magic mine dot co and use code Theo magic for 20% off Flow state now comes in a bottle today's guest is well, he's a

He's a soundtrack of a lot of a lot of lives many lives and he's um, I mean just a real archipelago of talent You know, I really my god, I just Well, you'll hear all about it I'm honored to to be able to be in his presence today and to to have a conversation with the Musical superhero mr. Travis Tritt And How's it been like having kids like is was it was it hard to go from like being a kid because I feel like with fame and popularity there's this You know and I can't imagine your position in my position. I noticed a little bit. There's more

Opportunity to stay a kid. Yeah, right things are just you know life There's more fun going on you're part of the fun. You're bringing the fun. Was it hard to go from that to like Wanting to be like a parent and getting into that vibe like was that was that ever a thing? It you know, it was a process it I got married right out of high school and did what everybody else did you either did one of two things You either went to college, which that wasn't an option for me game. No judgment, bro You know how this is hard exactly or you got married and went to work so I got married to my high school sweetheart and Went to work for heating and air-conditioned wholesale company down in Georgia

So was that a check where you're getting in the addicts or you just selling the equipment I was selling the equipment. Okay, but I was also going to school like Two or three times a year to find out all of the you know, update your products and kind of be a troubleshooter You know for for all the products so I did that and I started out on the docks loading trucks and worked my way up to The manager of the store for in about 18 months. Damn and we a hard worker. Yeah I mean, well, that's right around that same time is when I started wanting to play music as well and so that marriage lasted for about two and a half years and As soon as that marriage was over

I started playing clubs at night and then six days a week Monday through Saturday And then I would play I would go and get get up the next morning and go and do my gig So it that nearly killed me even though I was very young right nearly killed me just those hours that Yeah, and do you think if you had stayed married in that first marriage would you think you think you would have had the same career? Was there inspiration that came out of getting a separation at that young age? Was it were you just too young to even be able to? Put any of that any of those feelings into music didn't he I wouldn't even have thought about it probably at that particular time Thought about music. Yeah, it's as a full-time gig. I mean, I played occasionally with you know I had a little band that I played with you know every now and then but not very often and I

Was kind of my wife at the time she kind of discouraged me from doing that too because you know when you're New young couple. Yeah, you don't want your husband out Around all over the place man. Yeah, and it's not even look play doing a live performance It's not a real job to people until you start to really make it. I feel like that's right I mean until then you're just a really you're just somebody who's trying to break up marriages around the area I feel like Like people are like this shit is a little It's a good analogy it really is so but that whole thing just it just worked out and I

did I did the day job and the night job for oh, I don't know several eight months maybe and I Started realizing that I was having more fun at my night job than I was at my day job and oddly enough I was making more money at my night job. Oh dang my day job. So I went back to my my Vice president and said look You know, if I don't take this shot now, I'll never know I'll end up being an old man one day and I'll never know whether or not I could have made it in the in the music industry So I I quit that job and and never look back Was there a person that kind of like chatty with you and influence you my best friend scott's dad actually he introduced me to Jerry

Clower who I was telling you about is one of my favorite comedians and And just a storyteller, you know, I just missed so often now we everything's glanced over the art of storytelling And it's all just like a almost like everything's an equation of what sells, you know and And Jerry Clower just did it. He just put me in a comfortable place But my friend my best friend when I was young his his dad was from Mississippi and he introduced me to Jerry Clower And then he said to me one day. I say, you know, I think about doing stand-up comedy and he goes Well, you have to go do it, you know, you have to go and take that chance because Otherwise it's your life will be there. You can always come back, you know

Was there anybody like that and that kind of or was it just you playing that kind of influenced you to keep moving the Vice president of the heating and air conditioning wholesale company that I told you about Mm-hmm. He also was a really good guitar player and he had had of course, it was a kind of a family business and his His whole family his dad had been president of the company and they had groomed him to basically do that but When he was very young, I think he had an offer from Carlos Santana to go out on the road and play Guitar with Carlos Santana. That's huge. He's wonderful and he passed it up Oh, and so when I went to him and told him about what my dreams were

He's like man, do it because he said I will be that guy in my rocking chair At however, however old 80 years old Wondering man, I wonder if I could have if I could have made it in the music industry And he gave me he also gave me kind of a safety net because he said look man, if it doesn't work Your job here is always safe. So I knew something. I had something to fall back on. Yeah, but it worked out great Man, I mean it was just it seemed like you're doing it seemed like you just paid off for you. Yeah Do you Do you miss sometimes like

Like I've gotten to some light levels of success it and in my work in the past few years and and it's been a long Series of work, but it's kind of weird. I felt like when I got to a certain level of like Like mild popularity or comfort like I got that every all my problems would go away, right or other things would disappear But really you're just still right there. Oh, it's it's it those things never change, you know, and the the more success that you do have First of all the busier you are. Yeah, you know, I remember the first two years when I started releasing records in in 1989 the first two years I Was home each year a total of 14 days each year and no two days were ever together Theo they they were all it was just like one day here because you're either

You're either writing or recording or you're out on the road performing concerts or You're doing videos or doing press or doing whatever. Yeah, and it's every single day when it takes off like that It just it's every single day and I Don't have the luxury of being Travis Tritt 40 hours a week, right, you know, wouldn't it be nice? You could you lock out at a certain hour? You're like, all right, I'm just Donnie Tritt. You know what I'm saying? Yeah, Joe Schmoe. Yeah. Yeah, wouldn't that be nice?

It would be great out of it. It'd be great, but on the other side of that coin. I found that for me the old saying about find something that you love to do and Find a way to make a living with it and you'll never work a day in your life and that's really true for me I mean, you know, yeah, there's there's it's not all Glitz and a lot of people out there think it's celebrity all the time and they think it's glitz and glamour and all this stuff But that's that's not it at all as a matter of fact when I come home a lot of people that

That I correspond with through social media or whatever they think that The only people that I hang out with are celebrities, right? Right are people in that and that's the furthest thing in the world from the truth in my case I go back home when I get off the road. I go back home and hang out with people that I've known for Some of them I've known since high school. That's cool and like 30 years, you know, and they're all every single one of them You know, these are not they're not even involved in the entertainment industry I mean, they're most of them are blue collar hard-working people that go out and work with their hands and

They keep me grounded. Hmm. They keep me grounded if I if I came back home and started acting anything other than The Travis that they know and have known for all these years man. They wouldn't hesitate one second You didn't ask what but maybe oh man put me right back in my place Exactly. Exactly. Was there a time like cuz yeah, it's a rock when things get busy Especially in you guys's world like it is it's such a rocket ship I mean, I did about a year and a half a tour and it was so intense like around the world and it was just in town It was just like there were countries. I don't even remember being in right really and this happened a year and a half You know, it's just like yeah, it's almost bizarre kind of just the pace that you go at and

Was there a time when you had to kind of check your ego at all because the ego is a dangerous thing It's not even something we control You know that ego it can start to because you're see a reflection yourself so often in posters and in people's smiles are so Excited to see yeah little things like that. It can creep in your soul and build you up. Did you ever struggle with it? I Don't know that I never necessarily struggled with ego but Obviously when you're just trying to get started and especially back in those days It's everybody's in competition with each other and there weren't

As far as all of the people that were the newcomers They they didn't hang out a lot, you know together with each other I mean everybody's kind of and they're very secretive They're keeping their stuff to themselves because they want to rush almost or something exactly. They don't want anybody else to know Exactly what it is that they're doing for their recipe for success Wow, and so it gets competitive and I've always been a competitive guy Yeah, you know, I like to compete and I like to win. Yeah, so There there comes a point in time where you have to

Realize that hey a little friendly competition. There's nothing wrong with that, but at the same time you have to remember that You know, nobody was more surprised to have the career success than I was I remember in the early days man You know, you dream about it. You dream about wanting to have that but and it becomes a reality I mean when it becomes a reality, I remember being on stage man And I'm you know, you being in these big huge arenas that seeded You know 25,000 people and it's sold out and they're there to see you and I'm looking at the band and looking at the guys and it's gone Can you believe this shit is happening?

Yeah, this is this is unbelievable to me. Tell me I was dreaming baby. That's unbelievable. Yeah. Wow Yeah, yeah, there's something sometimes there's some surprising moments. You can never really live in the fame or in the popularity It's almost like it's something that's bigger than you. It's exactly It's like you can't really wear it that much. It doesn't feel like I mean, I guess you could if you really wanted to that would almost seem bizarre but It's almost something that even though you're sitting in it you marvel at it almost like you're in a pond But you have waiters on or something for sure like it's not seeping into you, but you're right there in it. I think it's for me I

Am no more The extrovert that I am on stage In real life Then you could ever imagine I mean I'm just I've always been you know, I kind of you know I'm one of those guys that you know, I kind of keep things on the down low You know and that sort of thing And any partying I did back in those days. I did pretty much with a very small group. Yeah And it was hidden from the public. Yeah, of course

I was before cell phones and all that other stuff camera. Everybody had cameras everywhere that that didn't happen back then but For me it was about just I Don't know maintaining The love for them for the music but being able to you know when the when the when the show is over It's almost like you put on That's gonna sound bad to say but it's almost like you put on this this Suit that is Travis Tritt right on stage, of course and then as soon as you come off stage that suit comes off and the real me

The real my real personality comes back right through. Well, I think it's almost a necessity Because you also want to be a showman at that point like there's a level of it's not really expectation It's not really expectation, but you want to give people their money worth you want to put on your best Self at those, you know, especially at that moment where they came to see you and you came to see them It's like watching a college football game, you know, if you watch the team right before they run on the field What are they doing? They're jumping up and down there banging each other in the head with their helmets And they're firing each other up to go out there on this field man And there is nobody on this planet that's gonna do better at what we're about to do on this field

Today than us and that's exactly the kind of thing that I have always had to do In order to be able to get up enough nerve to go out on stage and backstage I would tell myself I started doing this as a ritual and I still do it to this day If I'm backstage and the lights are going down and they're getting ready to You know fire off the band and I'm getting ready to run out there I am backstage jumping up and down and firing myself and I'm telling myself in my head There's no other time that I think this way, but at that particular moment, I'm thinking to myself there is nobody on this earth

living or dead That is going to be able to do a better job of entertaining these people than what I'm about to do right now Yeah, and I fire myself up. Yeah, of course as soon as I come off stage. I realized there's a whole hell You know that are a whole lot better at this than I am but in order to get Look it's a lot you're going out there and the lights are there you have to meet the the environment It's like you can't show up to your wedding day like enough in in beach clothes You know like you got to you have to meet the moment. That's exactly right Did your son go to school here? No

I live in in Georgia still and My oldest daughter and my son my oldest son are both Striving to be artists in the business and they're working real hard at it My youngest son is my middle son. Excuse me my oldest one. He is His music is very different than mine. My daughter's She's kind of a throwback to a kind of a Linda Ron stack kind of era Yeah, she's wanting to bring that kind of back, but more in a direct country Style and my middle son he's more

He's more southern rock blackberry smoke. Yeah kind of in this gun. Yeah. Oh, yeah man, you know, so But they're both very talented and you know, it kind of makes you feel good when your kids come along and does it want To be a part of the family business, you know, I like that Yeah, it's kind of cool. Is it hard to be supportive since you had such success because success is a unique thing it's like There's people that deserve it that don't get it and there's you know, it's a real wheel of fortune out there, but is it tough to be a parent of of artists like

You know knowing that you've had success not knowing exactly what their future will be Is it hard to like balance how you? How you kind of parent that and support it or is it easy? I'm just it's scary I mean because you've seen I've seen so many people in this industry That the industry has literally chewed them up and spit them out. Yeah, and It's Your chances once again your chances of being successful in this industry or being successful in sports or whatever are It's my newt they're miniscule to reach that success level so

It's it's always the thing But I I have to tell them because I raised my kids all three of them from the time they were born to believe that The only limitations that you have on yourself are the ones that you put on yourself You can do anything you can accomplish anything but the biggest part of Being successful, I think is just showing up every day and constantly try to work to move yourself forward Constantly try to do something constantly try to learn something constantly try to make yourself better. Yeah So that you and I think when you do that you appreciate it more of when it does happen

Was there moments where you had to trust your instincts over what other people were telling you or anything like that? Was there moments where you kind of like just had to follow like an inner voice or inner vibe? Where maybe the market or the You know, there's a lot of technicians that are also in every business. You know, was there was there times like that along your path? I started out I Came out with that first single which was country club in 1989 and Is that that's it that's it and it became top-ten hit and then we came with the album in 1990 and the second single was helped me hold on third single was I'm gonna be somebody all

All all those were huge and then the fourth single I released this song called put some drive in your country that I had written at Dwayne almonds gravesite down in Macon, Georgia down at Rose Hill Cemetery years ago Damn and all my mushrooms or something. You're just no, I just that's where they used to hang out That's because that song memory of Elizabeth Reed that was on a gravestone That's right down at the bottom of the cemetery where they used to go down there and hang out. Damn. So I Just used to sit by the grave and just try to soak up some of that vibe that energy and Because that's that song

had all these Distorted rock guitars on it and it was a throwback to that Leonard Skinner to Almond Brothers kind of thing man Everybody in Nashville, Tennessee That was involved in the music industry and everybody at radio in country radio All of a sudden they just came out man calls out and They started angry. Oh pissed off because you had what taken their sound. No because I was Not following the rules at the time of country music

Which were you can use pedal steel guitar and you can do this and you can do that But we don't allow that kind of stuff, you know, so All these writers in these country music magazines man, they start trashing me and I turn on the radio and here's some disc jockey or Some program director talking about. Oh, well, he's just trying to be a rebel or he's He's a he must be hard to get along with and some of them actually came out privately and said it He's an asshole. Yeah, it's kind of cool. Yeah, I think it's kind of dope, dude So when you hear somebody needs your asshole, it hurts you a little but be like all right It's kind of cool. Well, it was starting it was starting to get to me and then they hit me with the one that really did

The most damage at the time. They said well, he's just an outlaw and It was really starting to get to me until I met Waylon Jennings We have a question that came right here This might be pertaining to it actually, so let's just pop this up and see if it fits in man. Hey, Theo. Hey Travis. Hey, man Hey, man, this is Josh Southern, Indiana Travis seen you in concert a couple of times

Always remember the tribute to Waylon Jennings Tell me how he influenced your life and you're singing Thanks, man gang gang gang brother now and I'll and I'll tack on to that question Thank you for the question man, and I love you brother. Thank you for submitting that and um Yeah, you kind of got accepted by like the You got that dirty thumbs up from the bad boys in a weird way, you know, which was What was that kind of like, you know, and I guess what role to kind of Waylon play in that and um Yeah, Waylon told me that first time I met him

He I was getting ready to leave we came into the dressing we were playing a show together at the Omni in Atlanta and You're younger than him by how much I know that but by a lot um 20-something years 30 something year So do you are is it like when you're spending time with him is it I mean it's almost like it's like a seventh grader being around a ninth grader I'm assuming kind of he was a hero. I mean, I loved everything about him before I ever met him I loved his singing voice. I loved his song right now. I loved his guitar picking I loved everything about him, but one of the things I loved about him was he was not afraid to do things his own way and

And he sat me down in his dressing room that first that first time we ever met and he said listen, I've been Listen, I've been here and all the stuff that they've been saying about you in Nashville and on these radio stations He said let me just remind you that everything that they are saying about you now Is exactly what they said about me and about Willie Nelson and Johnny Cash and Hank Williams, Jr. and David Allen Coe All he just goes down the list and he said, let me ask you a question. He said Are you still selling records and I said, yeah, I said man, I've been lucky everything I've done so far so platinum or better A million copies are better and he's he said, well, are you still drawing people into your shows? I said, yeah, man

We're playing huge arenas and they're sold out. He said listen Those are the people you should care about their opinion because All these people in Nashville, they're saying all this stuff about you they get their their music for free He said these people that come out there. He said those are the people that work hard 40 50 60 hours a week To put food on the table for their families and he said and they're willing to spend a certain amount of that hard-earned money to buy your music

every time you put out new music and Occasionally they'll Splurge for a concert ticket to come see you when you play in their hometown He said those are the only people that matter and as long as you're pleasing them what you obviously are To hell with all the rest of these people. Yeah, and man, that was like an epiphany for me um, and it also it took a tremendous amount of Weight off of my shoulders because I realized at that particular point Waylon and all the rest of those guys that were labeled as outlaws

They got that label By simply doing the same thing that I was doing which is just wanting to do my music my own way and do Show my influences all my influences which were Very Very widespread. I love I grew up a country was always my center. George Jones Merle Haggard, that was my center But I also grew up loving the Almond Brothers Leonard Skinner Marshall Tucker band Charlie Daniels and then of course the Eagles and Boston and and Fleetwood Mack and you know all this other stuff

And then blues I was always a blues fan still am your voice has a lot of it man when I listen to some of your tunes I'm like man this reminds me there are moments where it goes into a guy like light gospel, you know what I'm saying or a light It takes me through like the different neighborhoods that were you know adjacent to the neighborhoods I grew up and it takes me through There's just uh, yeah, I can really I can feel some of that man. Well, Mississippi man I mean that's so much great blues stuff came out of there, you know, and uh, that's one of the reasons why That was that was always a staple if you take if you take bluegrass and if you take blues and

straight ahead country and southern rock And mix all those together and then sprinkle a little bit of southern gospel over the top of that gospel, baby That's me looking for the lord man. That's like jerry claire. He ended up being a pastor at the end of his time I think yeah, I think so he was a preacher at the end of his time. Here's a picture right here where you go back to that Sean here's a picture of you and uh, and mr. Jennings right here. Is it kind of interesting to see this photo? Oh, yeah That was the first time we met really that was right before we had that conversation that I just told you about And was he like, uh, did he carry himself like an outlook? Oh, he had that jesse james vibe a little His giver shitter was totally broken. Yeah

He didn't care dude. That's awesome, man. Yeah, man To have that moment right there. Yeah, that was the first night And did he have any traditions that you noticed kind of backstage or what was kind of did he have any? I as far as traditions, I don't you know Uh, I'm allowed to spend time with him backstage before the show we kind of like to be by himself Or did he no he was he was always really good about you know Anytime I was around he and I we Waylon was one of the kind of people if he liked you he lets you know it and uh

one of his favorite sayings that uh, that I remember was Because a lot of people they would talk about Man, when you do this many shows, do you warm up or do you how do you prepare for a show? Waylon's favorite answer to that question was I'd get up off whatever i'm sitting on and go out and play music for people. That's what I do And that answer alone just gives you an idea of what is his his his he was just cool man a cool guy and a guy that was just

You know Wanted to do his kind of music his own way and that's what what he was going to do and he didn't give a shit What anybody thought about that? I love that you know sleeping is a popular hobby And uh, and you really you need to start making sure you're doing it Not being able to sleep because of politics or pandemics Or because of a neighbor who's probably in bread and

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Just pay five dollar shipping. That's blue chew dot com promo code thio Get hard on the penis boy I love that Do you um, do you see any of that nowadays still like there's a lot of and I don't want to judge it There's a lot of cookie cutter cutter stuff out there, but um You know, I come from a cloth where I didn't have much luck with the entertainment industry I started creating my own stuff and right, you know went on Joe rogan and learned. Oh, I can podcast and talk about my life

I sure I spent a lot of time in hollywood trying to like, um Get rid of whatever kind of accent I had in my throat even though I didn't grow up like really redneck We just grew up kind of poor and white right more like white trash like we didn't have a boat right, you know I'm saying like I didn't we didn't have bait, you know, I'm saying like those were fucking, you know Chicken liver was a delicacy. I thought you know, so I thought it was sushi when I first heard about it You know it was fucking it seemed pretty nice. But but so we didn't have like a country kind of vibe We just had more of like a regular white vibe But when I got to hollywood, they really was like, oh here's a country

It was like there was no nuance to anything right And I for years I would take vocal classes trying to like get like a straight normal voice where I sounded exactly And then finally one day I said man, I just can't even I'm just tired of pretending, you know, I just don't even know what's going on anymore sometimes and once I started to fall into my own world You know in my own life is when I started to have a little bit more success Um Do you see any outlaws still out there these days? Do you see any there's a few? I mean, uh in just the last few years You know, you've had people that have basically chosen to

Say to hell with whatever's going on in Nashville and they really don't use that as as a gauge for What they think they should be doing right and they're not they're not afraid To break those rules, you know, you've got guys like, uh, Cody Jinx, you know, and some of those guys Jason Isabel is one Um, some of those other guys that are they just want to do their kind of music their own way. Yeah, and Those are the people that I think Especially in today's world they stand out from the crowd, you know And that's all I was trying to do back in those days too

Not only just show my influences, but also Be a little bit something different so that people remember your name and they remember your music And they remember your your performances because they're a little bit different than everybody else Yeah, you need to get people to remember you. I remember thinking man, I you know I don't care if they remember my jokes, right? I want people to come back to see me Exactly as a human as a as an entertainer, but also as So I need to get as close to my work as as I can to my humanity Yes

So that when they see one they see a little bit of the other And I want them to come back and pay a fair price ticket to see me as a person I want them to be like, oh, we're going to see Theo like What jokes does he tell him? I don't even know That's fine. If I don't if they don't even know what jokes I tell I just want them to come and see me Don't you think a lot of that comes from people just want to want to Gravitate towards something that's real I think I think especially these days. Yeah, you know, we saw on this podcast

You know, we do a lot of episodes where it's just me talking into nobody really but Um And so yeah, we try to talk about like just things that make us feel or that make us think or yeah Because everybody has these things going on and it's like we've kind of disappeared. Um, Some of that's kind of disappeared. It's everything's become so formulaic It has it has and that's one of the things that you know, it's when you when I hear people talk about being a little bit nostalgic for the the music that It took place and not just the music but lifestyle with all the all the stuff that's gone on in the last few years

um I'm just in the in the process right now of releasing a single off of a new album and it's called smoking a bar and it's talking about Kind of being nostalgic for the days when We didn't seem to have all this upheaval and you know, you people came by neighbors came by and talked on the porch We all said good night. We never locked the front doors. Yeah, even downtown You could still see the stars when the world turns slower and you could smoke in a bar. Oh, yeah You know that kind of thing. So I forget about that there. Yeah, I mean and people are nostalgic for that kind of thing especially as crazy as things

Are getting Those of us that are that are old enough to remember A simpler time. Mm-hmm. I think we kind of long for that Do you feel like well, and well, it's one of the reasons why recently I've tried to relocate to Nashville, I still have my place in Los Angeles and I'm from Louisiana originally but um But I do notice here. There is a there is certainly a bit more of you have a little more time for people as humans, right? Um And it is a bit of a slower pace. There's a little more trust amongst people. There is it's not as eroded away

Um, it hasn't been as marketed. Right. Um You know, I uh, dude, I remember I used to play these have this place in st Louis the funny bone over there And so it was a comedy club man and the first The first show was no smoking. Right. The the late two shows dude those bitches were smoking bro. I remember bro like I didn't know if there was nine people in there or if I can nine thousand there was so much smoke It was seven foot ceiling on that nest trust me and no uh, no Uh, I don't even think they had a damn system to get the smoke out. They had a frickin

I swear to god They had a waitress by the window with the window open is waving a menu at it like they didn't have a damn game plan, bro And I would tell you bro if it was a dam I swear at one point. I saw a damn boat go through the mist. I didn't know what It is fucking big in here, but I would just still do my shows. I had cancer by that second show But I kept doing them boy. I was in remission by the second day. I was there. I was in remission Did you ever smoke cigarettes? Oh, yeah, I used to smoke them and I smoked for probably about 16 years Yeah, I I did about the same thing. Do you miss smoking it? Sometimes I miss some of it not at all

How bad did it get for you? Um, I never was a heavy smoker. I at my I would always smoke when I drank And so at the very most I was maybe a pack a week Well, it's not bad, you know, so it wasn't bad at all. But um, I got bronchitis in I think it was 1992 And I went to the doctor and he said man, he said I don't give a shit if you start back immediately But you've got to quit smoking for at least three weeks And I thought to myself well if I can quit for three weeks, man, I can quit completely. Yeah, and then

Um, ever since then I'm not completely tobacco free. I still dip every now and then, you know, yeah I couldn't dip good man. Yeah. Well the good thing about dipping is nobody's ever died from secondhand spit. Yeah Well, I don't know In some places who knows what's going on some people real caught up in some wild shit, but uh Dude, I remember when I was young we went the first time we got a can of dip man It was like cherry skull or something. Yeah, and my buddy had got his driver's permit in Louisiana They gave it to you at 15 man. They gave you that bastard at 15 and it didn't even have a picture You literally had a drawing of you on it. I was like, damn that shit looks sketchy

And uh, my buddy got his mom's car and we got a can of cherry skull, dude, and that was our night, bro We didn't even we was just hitting puberty man. So we didn't even know nothing about really women We knew about him, but we wasn't thinking about right exactly. So we went out man and I got sick on it Right and I puked out of my buddy's driver's side window. Then I got so sick. I said, I need to sit in the back I puked out of each window in the back. Okay, look So in the morning my buddy his mom came back in town or whatever She sees the car and there's vomit out of it all three windows So she said who were you went out with some kind of party and he said

Look, I went out with Theo. He got sick. He just vomit out of all three windows his mom to this date. I'm believing She said what kind of maniac would vomit out of three different windows? That'll make you do it. It was fun. Especially the first time. Oh, yeah, dude. I missed stuff like that. You remember the first time Remember the first time you ever drank or anything like that or anything? Yeah Man, I man, I shouldn't even tell this story, but I'm gonna tell you. Yeah, I was uh, I was 16 years old And my high school was doing The play god spell

And I was I was in I was in the play. I was singing. Oh, damn off stage. I was singing off stage Oh, damn. Yeah, it would ready for you to center. Yeah. No, no, no. Let's put them in the wing. There you go. Yeah, and uh The guy that was our theater teacher He's sitting we were doing rehearsals And he's sitting on a coke can And I just got a whiff of it and it smelled like peppermint And I thought now that's not coca-cola man. So I asked him one day. I said, what are you drinking?

And he said peppermint snops And he told you and he gave me something. Oh, hell yeah So the lord working man. I remember that was all I needed right there, man. It's like, yeah, this is good And uh until I got sick on it and then I can't I can't stand the smell of it to this day Oh, I could imagine that's a strong one. Yeah, that's a weird one. But oh god, I just I did you say would you just do it at the shows? Uh, yeah, well, I mean all my buddies. I mean, we're we're country boys. Oh, yeah, we lived out in the country. So

You know the thing everybody went to work and did what they had to do and then So when you get off work, let's go buy some beers and let's go find someplace to hang and party Oh, yeah, you know and that might be a club That might be a bonfire out back That might be you know There was a big waterfall That was close to our our area where the Chattahoochee River ran through And a lot of times hey, we're all gonna meet at the falls tonight. Let's go over there, you know

So just you know stuff like that. Yeah, it was you know normal Normal yeah, and such a good such a rich environment for creating music. I feel like such a rich environment for creating Memories and moments like I ring like I just remember yeah things then a lot of songs and I felt like had a little bit And I and I hate to blanket statement like this because it's it's not always true But there was sometimes more story that I could relate to Maybe I was also at an age where I was really just growing up and still coming into life, you know in your in your late teens and 20s But yeah, there's something about like moments that are just yours where you can really then

create art from them Whereas now so many moments are uh, they're so manipulated before They you ever even put the pen to the paper. That's right because they've been shared so many times or Back in those days, man. I mean and from its its inception country music has always been in my opinion the Best genre for storytelling of all music and no matter where you're from what your background is There's going to be a country music song out there back in those days. There were

That is going to speak to how you're feeling no matter how you feel about your your job your social status your family your country um your spouse your Boyfriend girlfriend whatever um

There's going to be a song that's going to relate To how you're feeling and the things that you're dealing with in your life at that particular point and that's one of the things I I think I miss the most About a lot of today's country music because I just miss those great stories, man Yeah, being able to tell those great stories that everybody can relate to Johnny's daddy Exactly taking him By the time they got to the end and they're in the damn hospital I'm just fucking I'm at the gym, bro. And I'm fucking crying

I'm looking trying to do 45s and I'm fucking See that's good That's good because that means it obviously touched a really special spot In you that made you feel if it makes you feel something. Yeah, I don't care what it is anger fear Uh sadness joy, whatever it may be if it makes you feel something. Yeah, that's a pretty darn good sign, man Yeah, man. I remember I'm trying to think of ones. Well, we went to the dances

So a lot of y'all's music they would play at some of our dances once I got like later in the high school, man And some of those man you hit those ballads you get out there with a lady, bro. There was nothing like that There was nothing like that man And that's where music becomes more than just music for a lot of people too It becomes really kind of the soundtrack of your life. Yeah, that's one of the things about music that's always amazed me It's like I can remember Where I was for very specific moments in my life

And exactly what song was playing in the background like first time I ever drove my dad's car by myself Mm-hmm, you know or first time I ever went on a date first time I ever kissed a girl first time You know all these different things and I knew exactly what song was playing In the background for each one of those individual things because because they're They're not just something that's playing in the background It's the soundtrack of your life and every time I hear that song today. Yeah, any one of those songs It takes me right back to that spot again, and I think a lot of people music does that for them Yeah, I think man my mom my mom got one of those war of Warner Brothers like music diss things for like 19 cents

You got like six albums, you know So she picked out four and she let us pick out two, you know and um and we would have to clean the house to brian adams every weekend, man Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah, man. Have I told? Yeah Oh No, that's not even brian now that's uh Rod stewart rod stewart rod stewart was one of the seek god She got Leonard Cohen rod stewart brian adams, but man we would uh Oh, and the traveling will bear oh, yeah, man

Dude, that was a band that never got the account. I mean, I'm sure they maybe did at the time But I mean that was even before your time, but it was like man that band. Well, that was like the uh That was like the country music equivalent of what the highwaymen were which was Johnny cash Willi Nelson well in Jennings and chris christofferson. I gotta go back and listen to more of that. Yeah, it's good stuff, man Yeah, the traveling will bearies man. Yeah, that was some traveling will bearies. That's some of the best in the business right there Got tom petty in there. You got george harrison

Did you ever want to do you ever try to cheat genres a little you ever feel like you were or trying to get out of your Like because it's like I know it's not cheat genres, but did you ever Was there ever a moment where you felt like you were just sometimes your our lives change Right, and so the art we're putting out changes with it and it's sometimes it's hard to You know, we're like, man, this is this has worked so well for me I'm almost scared of getting older growing into something different or anything Do you ever feel like there were moments where your music changed? No, I really did now

I've always kind of used the same recipe for making records And that is that I just want to include a little bit of each one of those different genres That were so influential to me. So there's going to be In the process of just recording this I just recorded the first album That I've done in studio in 13 years. Oh dang and I recorded it with dave cob who produces Yeah, the legend chris stapleton And sturgill simpson and all those guys and it's done now. Yeah, it's done. And how do you feel good about it? Yeah, I feel great about it. It's going to be out may 7th. It's called setting stone, but

People were asking me when people found out that I was going to be doing an album a new album Um, what's it going to be like man? Are you going straight head country? Are you going more toward the rock side or you're going to do more blues or what are you doing? I said man The only way I know how to answer that it's going to be a Travis tread album And that means that every Travis tread album that I've ever done has had the same recipe Which is show a little bit of the blues show a little bit of the southern rock rock Influence show a little bit of that straight ahead country stuff Show a little bit of the bluegrass and just show and sprinkle a little bit of southern gospel over the top of it

And that's me. So that's exactly what we did and there's um If you Are particularly into one genre over another uh You may not like every song, but there's going to be something on there. You're going to like I like that We got a question right here from a fellow that came in. Let's get to this right here. Thanks Sean What's up Theo?

Hey, mr. Travis trick one of my favorite artists by the way me and my dad just went to a show two years ago And uh, it was a blast. Uh, you guys got some fun looking mullets trying to grow one out myself For Travis. I'm just curious some of your new favorite artists a country. It seems it used to be but uh, just wanted your take Thanks guys gang gang Well, you said cody jinx you said, um, I love chris tableton too. I think he's he's uh He's tremendously talented Yeah, he's thomas. It's almost like listening to a cavern of

Nostalgia comfort. There's a lot that goes in. It's it's almost like a whiskey or something. Yeah, like a really good whiskey Exactly. He's really good. I love Marcus king Oh, yeah, he was just on uh thomas the girls podcast. Wouldn't he Sean? Yeah, people love him. He's such a neat person as well. It seems like yeah, man. He's he is a talented dude There he is. Yeah, he's so uh There's just something immediately so endearing about him when you even see him He's got a great voice great guitar player great musician. He's uh And he's got a lot of that same

blues Southern rock influence And he's not afraid to show it that larry fleet you listen to it. Oh, I love larry fleet. Yeah, I actually met larry fleet For the first time I was I was hosting Uh a show for usa network called real country. Uh back about uh, I might remember this three years ago Oh, yeah Uh me should I twain jacoan We're the we're the oh jake's awesome guy host judges

and uh one of the people that came up in the competition Was larry fleet and I remember telling him um as soon as he actually won his round and uh, I remember going up to him After cameras were shut off and just telling him man, you are an amazing talent I'm looking forward to hearing more from you and he just has just done some great stuff recently He's got a song out called that's where I find god. Oh, yeah That is just it's one of the ones that made me feel when you talked about songs that make you feel there you go

I mean, it's like, uh It's like somebody took a trailer hitch from The world and literally hooked it onto my heart. That's right. That's right. There's something especially does there Um, yeah, he's a super unique man. Super talent. Um, I I believe that we're kind of getting into a time where Um, morgan walley listen to morgan. Yeah, I like morgan. Yeah, I love morgan Yeah, he came on he came on it like maybe a month ago. Yeah, um, yeah, he's a close buddy of mine, man He's god. He's all he's almost too talented. Yeah, exactly I almost feel like sometimes I listen to so many of his songs. I'm like, Jesus christ, man

Throw a couple bad ones in here You know and then he's got like he's always like, you know, he's like, look, I always want to tell you, you know, uh, they don't Somebody is leaked my music at walmart and I don't even shop at walmart. I love him, bro. He's such a uh And morgan, you know, I love you. So I'm just uh, but I introduced him to ufc. We watched some ufc fights a couple weeks ago Um, he's a special talent man. He's a special talent. Um, I think that people are getting more into I think like you're talking nostalgia and connection I feel like during this virus during the pandemic that a lot of people have started to say I don't know if I want this rat race

Yeah, man, whatever this is it doesn't The allure of it. It's almost like the curtain got pulled back on some of just the Relentless go-go for what exactly and I think a lot of us. Well, I know for myself. I can only speak for I'm sitting and Kind of just in myself and saying what do I want? I want to feel good, right? You know, I want other people around me to feel good. I want to be able to Be a part of things that are good. Exactly. And I think that a lot of people are starting to feel that way I think there's going to be a a resurgence of

Not country music, but music that connects people music that makes people feel I'm looking forward to seeing What takes place in in all of music really But especially in country music. I'm looking forward to seeing what takes place as a result of being locked down for all these many months in and Because you know good and well

All these great songwriters and all these artists and all these people They have had nothing better to do with their time than to sit down and do exactly that all of those things and I think it's going to be it's almost going to be like a baby boom Except for music. I think I think we're going to see that and that's exciting to think about but the baby's a pedal steel Maybe that's a dragon. Yeah It's a six pound eight ounce pedal steel guitar. It's a girl. Congratulations. It's a progressive instrument Um, we have a question that came in right here from you might even notice this lady. She was at uh

I remember her from she was at kid rocks 50th actually awesome Hey travis tammy here big fan. I think you had some of the best music videos of the 90s I think your performance in your video. Tell me I was dreaming should have won an oscar My question to you is I know you've done a lot of acting in your career. Which do you prefer? full-time rock star Or full-time movie star Love you

Love you too. That's a good question, man Because at certain points of of popularity They start to offer you things that they might not have offered you You don't have to go into that room to audition as much. That's that's exactly man. I had no aspirations whatsoever about being an actor Right, but did it grow on you though? Well, I enjoyed it and I'll tell you the reason why um I was always out of my element when I was doing a a movie or a television show or whatever it may be when I was doing any kind of acting

And So because I was so insecure about it and so nervous about it. I didn't just go in and learn my lines I learned the whole damn script I knew everybody's lying and um Because I'm I have a real hard time multitasking. I I get real Laser focused on whatever it is. I'm doing at the moment. So if I'm songwriting I'm focused on that if I'm recording. I'm really focused on that and if I'm performing. I'm really focused on that

So doing these acting roles It forced me to concentrate so much on that that I completely Took a vacation from music. I didn't think about music. I didn't talk about music. I didn't Uh try to write music or whatever And I found that the benefit of that was when I finished a acting role And came back to the music. I found that I was more creative um, it was like Man, this is a fresh start again. Yeah, and um, I wrote better songs

Um, I performed better My mind was more in the game Because if you do anything I think over a long period of time same thing over and over again It can tend to get a little bit monotonous. Yeah, but If you get a break from it and then you get a chance to come back and look at it through A little bit different perspective Uh It helped me tremendously. I think it helps make me a better artist and

and a better songwriter and a a better entertainer Was there um Was there a role ever that you kind of like oh, this is kind of neat like Because acting one of the reasons that people don't know acting if you're a touring artist Acting takes a lot of time. It's a really long. So you know As a musician you could probably do six shows in a daytime of you would do one set or one scene

Or half an episode of a tv program or something. So that's one of the reasons I think a lot of uh entertainers don't go over And acting that aren't actors. Um, was there a role or something you felt like you kind of got into or something The one I had the most fun with was I got to do and do you remember a show called tales from the crypt? Yes Yes, I remember the beginning the opening thing with skeletons. Yeah, exactly. Okay. I got to do tales from the crypt with hankers area and

with Ben Stein and I played We were robbing bodies for this Doctor so that he could try to find what he believed was the soul gland in a person and

At the end, I'll go ahead and give you a spoiler. Yeah, there you go right there. I get my head cut off And I come back from the dead Because they didn't remove my soul gland I come back from the dead and That was so much fun because there were no Limitations on what the director basically said do whatever you want to do come up with your own voice for it Act as crazy as you possibly can

Do any wild stuff that you want to do in this your your parameters are just wide open and That was so much fun, man. I came up, you know, I come out and of course I'm I've got this head on backwards And I look like I'm walking your head. Yeah, they did a they did a A Todd masters who did all of the special effects for that show He created a head a rubber head of me It was perfect that they dropped down a well and I come back out of the well

Yeah, and man it was that was just so much fun to do that particular role because they were You know, it's always fun to play kind of the bad guy. Yeah, you know, that's always fun But but especially when it's like you're this monster that has returned from the dead. There's no There's no limitations on that. Oh, yeah, it's free free. It's all it's it's open game. Yeah, exactly Yeah, you're already dead. Dude. It's a wrap. I can do whatever you want now That's exactly dude. I missed the old days man back when they had peeping times and shit I was growing up. Dude. We used to do peeping time and when I was growing up, dude We had a guy in our neighborhood who had a ladder and we'd have to like almost sign it out from because everybody was always

borrowing it Or we'd get that bitch on a thursday, dude. We get out there dude Do some peeping time. I don't even have that anymore You know what I'm saying? Like, man, that is when's the last time you heard of anybody getting arrested for peeping time Dude in high school. We had a buddy who did but yeah, all my other friends like man, that's disgraceful. I'm like, I think it's pretty cool I told him I even said, hey man, don't smoke cigarettes out there and leave the butts. That's how they catch it And I said, look if you're gonna be out there for a couple hours do a little garden and while you're out there There you go. There you go. Have some respect. There you go. Have some respect. Yeah. Have some respect

Dude, I miss those days man. I just you know, I'm heavily nostalgic. I love nostalgia I love like just sometimes just laying back and trying to feel through the moments that I had as a child and as a young adult and There's just something so wonderful about like the freshness of life then how it's The every moment is like in a ziplock bag and you're just cracking that thing open for the first time, you know um Was there what about like a first kiss? Was there anything special that you had like that growing up? Uh, yeah, I mean, well, yeah falling in love Oh, it was fun. What oh man. It was awesome. It was awesome. Oh, it was fun, dude. It was so severe

Oh, yeah, exactly exactly and everything Everything that happened man. You could relate it to oh, man. This relates to how I feel about so It's just crazy, but But you know the I don't think that ever really goes away completely, you know, because I remember When I met my wife um I've been married three times. This is my third marriage like hit by rice, huh? A bird seed

Yeah, man that cheap rice. That's right. My wife and I We met in 95 and we got married in 97 and we've been together ever since and I've heard a lot of nice things But we were at Hilary Williams birthday last night and she said oh, she had a ton of nice things to say about you guys She's just wonderful But I knew as soon as I met her that this person is it wasn't love at first sight But it was darn sure heavy attraction at the first sight man because she not only was she beautiful but she Was just so down to earth and relatable and that's that's the kind of people I grew up around So we just kind of gravitated toward each other and it just

And I I remember that how that felt and Even though it was you know, 20 some odd years ago It's it doesn't feel like that to me. It feels like it was You know could have been last week I think some of that is adult love whenever you kind of get that person that you're just so comfortable being around um But yeah, I remember childhood love. It was just like I remember I'd go to school I knew I was going to see this girl katie and like all day. I was like

I was like just practicing what face I would have on when she looked over, you know And it was always the worst one when she finally looked. It was always a fucking worse one Um, do you remember our first kiss? There were some even just a little like smooch around the neighborhood anything. Yeah Uh, I was and no offense to your wife. She's the best. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Well, she doesn't mind that because she knows uh I first girl I ever kissed was a girl by the name of uh, melody mccoy Oh, yeah, and uh, I was dating her And she was in that same play god spell. So this was all around the same time. Oh, yeah, you liquored up. You're learning at all, baby

Absolutely, man. I'm learning quick I'm one of the same guy that gave you the liquor didn't teach you how to run the smooch man. That's what I'm hoping And I had a my first car What was it a 1969 rambler three on the tree 306 cylinder Damn new. Oh, no

69 oh ramble. Oh my bad 69 rambler. It was oh, it was a piece of junk, man And if rambler was an appropriate name for oh my god, it was terrible But it was mine and I bought it. Yeah. How much was it? 500 bucks. Hell. Yeah, dude. I had a 1984 Ford escort for $600 somebody stole the passenger seat out of it So people would get in and that'd go directly to the back Nobody would have wanted the passenger seat out of this one. It was awful. It was terrible It was so bad

Instead of you know how you turn on the windshield washers, you know spray the windshield washer fluid up Well, this one had a little bulb on the floor board that you had to pump like a like a water water gun Oh, it was terrible like a little under some bird shit out there Exactly and go exactly but man that would yeah, we went out Where'd you take her? Do you remember I took her to a There's a there was a park close to our house and they had like swing sets and you know

One of those merry-go-round things and I took her to that. Were you nervous? You remember? Yeah, I was nervous Yeah, big time, but man, oh That was a great experience dude, I remember they had this girl in my neighborhood named Chrissy Haunt and She was missing a tooth or one of us was I don't know. You know I'm saying it was that age I don't know somebody dude between between two of us. I think we had about 11 teeth, you know, and it was just I didn't come from a heavily enameled area, you know and uh And she was yeah, I remember she we kind of locked ourselves in her room or something

I think we'd felt so much pressure kids in the neighborhood We're gonna kiss each other, you know, just like yeah, and we were so scared and And then I remember at one point thinking I was supposed to like touch her breast, but I remember touching my own I was so scared to touch hers. I started touching my own I just didn't know what to do man. I just I didn't want to be a well wimp, you know, just absolutely Dude, I think I had bigger chest than she did at the time. I mean it was just young, you know And we had do we had this guy in our neighborhood the dad was a Elvis impersonator, right? But we only had about 600 people in town. We didn't we don't need a fucking Elvis impersonator. Let's do his alcoholic

Oh, okay, so but I mean he also dressed up like Elvis at least, you know, so it's pretty entertaining But he would make his kids stay in the yard He had an electric fence dude and one of the girls would let me go over there and like kind of smooch her through to electricity, bro Oh, man, bro. The stress at just god. I can still feel the stress in my neck trying to kiss through those Holy cow. God. Wow, man. Dude, and then we had I forgot about this So this girl Chrissy's brother, he was like I think he more preferred the company of men, you know And so he made us I remember this now He made us dress up like army people and put our hair back and like made our hair look short hers and

And made me and his sister kiss each other Dressed up like little men Yeah, I think how old? Dude, I think it was probably about 13 boy 12. Maybe He shouldn't have been doing that. He's only about 16. So I don't think he really knew what he was doing either But when I look back on it, I'm like, why are we why are we both lieutenants? I do and then he went into the military years later. He went in really. Yeah, he did man. Awesome. But uh Damn, yeah, I just there's something I love about that. We got a question right here that came up from somebody

What up Theo gang, baby? I just got a question for Travis real quick I want to know what do you miss most about The climb to fame in the music industry when you were out there cutting your teeth on Broadway or wherever you were Uh, what do you miss most about that and uh, Theo, why don't you use some of that money from your butt and get your tire fixed? Amen, dude. I just I had a Flat tire and I got up to eight cans of fixa flat in it before I finally Took it in man. So that's who I am. You know, you're a procrastinator. Oh, I was like, you can hold one more can

That it replaced a lot of stuff and I finally got They said your tire has plaque buildup. I said plaque buildup Take it to the dentist. Yeah, dude. I need to take this somewhere else somewhere else Um, yeah, what about that climate because there's something once you kind of achieved a left once you and I mean your level of Of success is a really rare level. But what do you miss about that climb? What do you miss about like really miss about some of the early moments? You know, I wouldn't say I miss it But um, because you can never replicate that. Exactly. You can't rep. I mean, you can only you know, you can only launch that rocket one time you know, but

And when it's all new to you, you know, that you're only you're only a virgin once. Yeah, and the fact that I was playing all those bars and clubs and stuff and I've told my My son and my daughter that want to get into music about that uh, experience Man, I learned so much The hard way playing all those smoky clubs like you're talking about those smoky bars and dives and beer joints and honky-tonks and

Bowling alleys and poo halls and bowling is always the weird. Oh man weird place, man, right? You're hitting a low note and somebody just damn gets a split But you're having to compete against all of that and plus you're having to compete against alcohol to try to get these people's attention and every one of the places that I played man, they had They either had pool tables or they had dartboards or they had pinball machines or maybe all of the above so you're trying to compete against all that and And it was difficult man. It was rough and I went through a lot of nights where

How in the world am I going to get these people's attention? But I even though I hated some of those Instances that I was put in some of those positions I was put in I wouldn't take anything for them now because I learned I learned how if If the show Is interrupted for whatever reason if you break a guitar string for example or if a mic quits working or something You learn how to keep people's attention. You learn how to keep the pattern up. You learn how to

Work your way through it And those are the things that I still pull from the that book of knowledge I still pull from that every single day when I get on stage so Was there a song that you would go to because it's funny you say that because I remember being in places where The the the music was secondary to the liquor

So it's like these people are having a good time. We're gonna also let you do comedy over here Right, but if you have you want to get everybody's attention, that's gonna you have to do that There's nobody in here is going to help you do that You know Was there a song or something you went to sometimes when you realize? Okay, I got to kind of reel it back in here ever when you were starting Yeah, there were there were two there were two Songs that I really learned right off the bat

Um after playing clubs because I started out with just an acoustic guitar and that was it and then um I went out and Probably I don't know it was probably 1984 And I went out and bought a fender twin amp and I bought a fender strata caster And Somehow no I've never even

Seen one since then but I bought a hundred foot guitar chord So the first the first two songs my first two sets rather that night You know because they're serving food in there too. It's a bar restaurant kind of thing The first two sets man. I'm up there with my acoustic guitar and I'm playing James Taylor and John Denver and you know, whatever George straight But by the time it got to that third one Pull out that electric guitar And that hundred foot guitar chord and I'm running out on top of people's tables kicking beer and shit over, you know And just but I had their attention

Absolutely, man Absolutely, and I'm doing uh Johnny be good. Yeah, you know and stuff like that traveling man getting people's attention On the other side of that coin. I found out that Because you'd have fights that would break out, you know Yeah, what do you play a ballad then what do you do at that point, man? I found out They're not only a ballad, but the right ballad Nobody can fight I learned this

Right off the bat, man. Nobody can fight if you play Silent Night The Christmas song Oh, yeah, that will stop a fight quicker than anything on this planet I could see that man So Yeah, man So I learned those two things right off the bat. I learned how to take them up And I learned how to take them down if it got a little bit crazy

Dude, I'm so bad at karaoke my song that I've always done is rocking around the Christmas tree Right, I do that at karaoke no matter what time of year it is and people like at first like this guy's a fucking idiot But then about it's only a two minute and 16 seconds song the one I do Right So about a minute and you kind of see people are kind of okay with it and then you're done So you kind of got it out of your system But I can relate to going to a christmas carol man. Yeah, man using it when you need it. It worked Um

What's it like to be a father man? What's that what's that experience been like for you? Man? It's the greatest thing in the world. I did you know it would be going into it? Did you have skepticism about because I have a lot of fear going about going in and being a father and I'm not a father yet I uh No, I really didn't because and I guess the reason that I didn't was because after my second uh divorce I basically took about

Six eight years And man, I I played the field. I sowed all the wild oats That I could have you was out there, huh? Oh big time. Okay, and played the field And the good thing about it was I figured out During that period of time Okay, this is what I do want and that right there is what I definitely don't want and I So by the time that I met my wife Uh, I knew exactly what I was looking for and I knew she was it and so

having Kids with somebody like that that you feel that way about it's not scary at all. At least it wasn't for me Now it would have been Extremely terrifying had it happened in the first two marriages, but we Thank god. I got nothing. Yeah got through both of those with no kids But uh, I remember being excited to be a father um and

in my my daughter When she was born I uh, I was with Warner Brothers records at the time and I Had been with them since the beginning of my career and I was

looking to get off of that label And I also wanted to stay home and see what being a dad was all about. So Um, as soon as we found out she was on her way I Told my record label. I'm not doing any more records for you. I'm gonna get out of this contract And I'm staying home. I'm not touring. I'm not doing anything. I wanted to be home the first time I wanted to be home when obviously when she was born, but I wanted to be home When uh, she took her first steps. Yeah when she said her first words

I wanted to be home for all of that. So I took from 1998 to 2000 off Just to be home and see what this daddy thing is all about. Yeah, and was it pretty special? Oh, extremely This is her right here extremely. Yeah. Oh, you got a beautiful little family, dude. Oh, thank you, brother That's all three-year children. Yes. Oh dang, huh? Yeah, that's them a couple shorties in there beautiful lady, bro. Sorry Oh, wow, um What's your daughter's? What was the first daughter's name? Tyler Reese Tyler Reese and she's the one that plays music He said yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, she's been uh,

obviously before COVID and everything hit she'd been out on the road doing a lot of shows Uh, do you guys play together ever? Yeah, we do as a matter of fact, I took her in the studio when she was 14 and uh Recorded a song For one of my albums and we we've been doing that song together I bring her out on the road with me and you know, we do that song together and then she started working on her own and

and uh She's doing shows on her own And she was really I mean everything was really at that stage where it was She was getting to be known by a lot of people And then COVID hit. Yeah, but it's gonna come back. It's gonna come right back. It's gonna come right back What's something special about Tyler? Just how

Even though even this is a human it doesn't have to be music the fact that she is She's got one of the kindest hearts. I think I've ever ever been around. She really is I mean she can be now. She can be rough. Yeah, you know, she lost her cell phone back At easter of last year. Oh, that are rough on the girl. That's a that's that's females vietnam right there dog man, she lost her cell phone for about four or five hours six hours and man She didn't speak to me for like a week

You know because I was just trying to help and oh, yeah, it was pissing her off But she's outside of outside of Of stuff like that. She's really one of the kindest hearted people and she cares about people. She cares about family and she She's extremely sweet That's cool, man. That's cool And uh, and your son his name is taylor. You said no tristan is my is my middle

And then my youngest one is terrian T-a-r-i-a-n. Oh dang like the lannisters almost like the game of thrones. Yeah, that's dope dude. Yeah, that's dope um, and what's tristan like Tristan is uh, he's Very laid back. He's uh He looks almost exactly like me Um, oh, we've got to get that mole going then. Does he have a haircut or no? Yeah, he had some flow. Yeah, I praise god Yeah, he's got some flow going. Yeah, man. That's the kids call it lettuce. You know that? That's what they call it

They call it. That's what they call it. Yeah, they call it that lettuce. Yeah Well tristan tritt is he's coming into his own Uh, and the more I watch him perform live He's got a uh group called tristan tritt and pale moon creek And the more I see him live on stage The more

He looks exactly I look at him and it's like looking in a mirror. Wow. It's interesting. Yeah I see him and I see me. It's just a fact But uh, yeah, that's him. There you go. There he is on the left. Oh cool. Yeah, that's him That's cool, man That's neat to have your family kind of be involved in what you're in and it seems like you guys are able to navigate it pretty comfortably without any uh Uh, too much envy or anything like that. That's the thing that would I think would be tough Maybe it would seem like from an outsider's perspective if there's like envy from the kids that makes the parenting uncomfortable or something Yeah, everybody, you know our family really has always gotten along extremely well

And I know one of the things that blows my mind As I said, my daughter is 23 my son is 21 And my youngest son is 17 And I know when I was at any one of those ages man All I wanted to do was get as far away from my parents As I possibly could man. I just get out on my own and do my thing but

Our kids and I give my wife credit for this She raised them with so much of a An appreciation for the family unit And hey, this is family blood stickers and water. You take care of your family. Amen And uh, so she Instilled that in them and they still man. I mean they love being with us And we have some of the greatest times in the world together just that's cool going out and doing things and you know But even like mundane things if if my wife and I are home

Uh watching a movie or something on television kids come walking through the room and go hey, what are you watching? And they'll sit and watch it with you sit down and watch it with us. You know, that's very cool It's never happened. I know I know I I would have never done that What's something you guys are watching today anything you and the wife sit back and watch or a program that you kind of enjoy? Oh, man, we've been uh Gosh, we've been watching so much stuff, man. I just watched the center. That's what I'm on season one the center. Yeah I haven't seen it. It's like a murder mystery kind of what Jessica Biel. What's good. Oh, really? Yeah we've been watching just

I think we've watched everything that there is is available on Netflix Yeah, because the covid lockdown stuff, you know, everybody's just staying at home It's going away pretty quick though. Do you start to feel that a little bit? Yeah, we're starting to see our schedule It's starting to open back up For the next few months and it can't happen too soon for me, man because there is something about from from an artist standpoint I can tell you that if you love it as much as I do There is a part of your life that is not complete if you're not able to go out there and do that

At some point interesting. Um, and I think from an audience standpoint We have to bring live music by yeah, people are ready. They are there chomping at the bit man. I've I've been lucky Uh luckier than a lot of people. I've had the opportunity to do a few shows here and there in different places But the people are just so hungry for it because they've been locked up and cooped up too And there's as you well know Think about concerts and stuff that you went to when you were young And as you grew up and just the experiences that you had at some of those places

There is nothing like being in a In a live audience And your favorite band or one of your favorite band doing some of your favorite songs and you've got your fist up in the air You're playing air guitar Out in the audience and the lights are going and and everybody drink your buddy exactly the whole thing man There is something about that that can't be replaced by anything else. Tell me how is that your song tell me I was dreaming Damn, bro. Yeah, that's cool. Is there a moment where you like get so far along where you some of you're like, holy shit I forgot about this. We haven't played this one in a while. This one's great. Yeah, that's got to be pretty cool

We do that as a matter of fact, that's one of the hardest things I think about changing the set list around From one year to the next always taking some things out taking some things out and then putting new things in but it's always When you run across a song that's like man, that was that was that was a great song and that song meant a lot to a lot of people

It was just my imagination Exactly telling us God, bro crying on the wait bench, bro I would do I used to listen to like the most sentimental shit in the gym I would be just and I was doing steroids in high school So I'm doing steroids just ball people are like, is it the steroids? Is it the music? What is going on, bro? Get it together Oh music is a powerful thing. It really is, huh?

It's amazing to have something that can almost just be a key and and some days it doesn't do it a song doesn't do it Sometimes that's right, but sometimes you'll have heard it a hundred times You might even like it and then you'll hear that one time and it just like fits every little groove. Yeah, man it's the thing man music is a very very powerful force and It never ceases to amaze me how powerful it is in some people's lives. I've had people man Oh, I can only imagine they could write they come up to me and they say man when you wrote that song You must have been reading my mail Because that's exactly what I've been feeling for a long time and I just didn't know how to put it into words

But you did in a Three and a half minute song you you said everything I've been wanting to say That's that's powerful. Do you feel like it's a gift from because sometimes I feel like I like to do a lot of words and talk about stuff and But do you feel like it's a gift from God or do you feel like it's something you've created? No, like you're just like a vessel kind of I have I have And I have no reason in the world to understand why I got that gift

I have no reason in the world to understand why uh, he picked me but Thank god he did. You know, I mean it's yeah, you got to accept it. It's been great. Yeah, it's been it's been great Because I've loved music all my life and then to have the opportunity to play it and sing it and perform it and write it for a living Really good living over all these years and provide for my family with it

Man, that's it's the best. It's the best doing what you love. I got one last question for you So I heard a uh, this is a rumor and this is just like there's lore out there There was a that the song here's a quarter that you got tired of playing because people would throw quarters on stage Actually, I didn't get tired of playing it. I got hit by one. No way When we first started playing that song We were playing small clubs So even and people would start throwing quarters up on stage And even if they threw if they threw one it's not going to hurt anybody

But when we when we start playing theaters and you're You're third row balcony To throw a quarter hard enough to do that people that are crazy as hell, man So we started getting pelted I would look down and Sorry to laugh at it. It's just crazy to think oh no some guy in the third row like man

I think Travis needs this for a song At least I didn't have Leonard Skinner's problem Leonard Skinner had a song way back in the 70s called give me back my bullets And people would throw live ammunition on stage Oh man, but this guy I was on stage one night in uh In Knox, I think it was in Knoxville, Tennessee and

I got hit somebody threw one from third row balcony And it hit me right here and I thought I'd been shot. It was just one of those things where it's like Whoa And you kind of lose it for a second and then I look down and There's blood just streamed. I got hit right above my right eye Damn, and it's just gushing blood So I grab a towel and I'm trying to stop it and I couldn't stop the bleeding so

Bottom line is it stopped the show it ended the show. So We had to start making an announcement to people It's like look, you know, if you start throwing quarters and somebody gets hurt on stage You're actually cheating yourself because it's going to Put it into the show right then. Yeah, and uh, and it raises your ticket price by damn quarter You know kind of But thankfully with Venmo now a lot of people didn't have quarters on them, you know what I'm saying Like if I even see a quarter I'd be shocked sometimes

I got uh, wow, that's wow. I got Larry the cable guy a couple of years ago to do a Intro for me and it's like hey, y'all this Larry cable guy Uh, because of the danger involved Please do not throw quarters or any other hard objects at the performers during the program Otherwise, I'm gonna come over your house Just shove a milk bone down your throat stick a hungry dog up your head then That's awesome, man Did you ever meet Jerry clower or nowhere even get to see him?

Here's probably kid you got to meet him. I got to meet him way in the early days of my career Uh, there was a show on uh The Nashville network which was later became cmt. There was a show called Um It was Ralph Emory that hosted it and uh, it was Nashville now And I went on that show one night and Jerry clower was one of the other guests and I got to meet him And he was everything. I hoped he would be man. Just what a great guy and I grew up

Probably the same way you did listen to all those records that he did, you know, knock them out John Marcel led better. Yeah, and uh in the chainsaw Yeah Marcel Louvdale, here we go. You name all of them. It's great man. Man. I loved him. But he was he um And was he was he a big was he a big known Star when you were young kind of when you're with your to your parents. I'm sure your parents loved him, huh? Yeah, my parents my dad That's back in the days of eight track tape

and my dad had Four or five Jerry clower eight track tapes that he would listen to, you know from time to time Of course a bunch of country stuff thrown in there, too But yeah, and then he was on television almost every weekend. Oh, wow He had a show that he hosted. I can't remember what network it was on but he hosted every week with uh, Jim ed brown And

He was just man. He was great. Of course, you'd see him on he off from time to time, too Yeah, you haven't watching a lot of he hauling just some uh replays of it and stuff. Yeah, it's really fascinating what they did with that show Yeah, it was amazing. Um Did uh, yeah, I thought about trying to even do a documentary about him like trying to put it together and fund it and everything You know just before because I know his wife is still alive So before like some of that disappears, you know, just find a way to Memorialize some of it. There's a lot of that that I think needs to be that's one of the biggest reasons why I like to

Recall and recollect. I'm gonna write a book at some point. I I did one a few years ago but I want to write another one and just tell all of the stories that I've experienced and and heard about throughout the years about all of my Heroes the people that came before me whaling Jennings charlie janiels. Oh, yeah, willy nelson Uh, yeah, I have those things because they'll go away even you know, exactly. They'll go away if you don't tell them

They do go away. Yeah, and there's nobody else that knows those stories, but me Amen, and them and them. Yeah, and the lower baby. Well, we got to hold on to what we can anything else, uh, shone You feel good. Uh, Travis man, thank you so much for being here with us today. Thank you so much for having me thank you for uh Yeah, I think keeping nostalgia and just keeping my feelings alive throughout my life. I think that's Something that you and a lot of entertainers of of your ilk have done man, and well, thank you It's a real value to be able to It's just someone who kind of is running like a

It's almost like you're just running this stitch every now and then through time that kind of holds people Just close enough to the world that they're in that makes them feel a part of something, you know well, I appreciate you listening and I appreciate the fact that um You were able to recognize something in some of the music that I did that that touched your heart and that's good Yeah, thank you, man. I appreciate that. Yeah, the one uh About the uh, what was in the spell man? I used to I couldn't even spell and I was singing it all the time TRO UBLA. Oh, no, no that one

You made that one easy for me, but no is uh, I'm gonna be somebody. Oh, yeah, I remember dude. I remember being in spelling class I'm thinking man. I'm gonna hear that song I'm gonna be somebody someday and it'll be like, I'm gonna Got some of the bed. I wouldn't do that. I was getting the f in spelling, bro But in fucking the hope in my heart dog. I had a plus. There you go, man. Travis chit. Thank you so much for being here Thank you, Theo Daddy's were daddy's and mama's were saints What preachers were preaching you could take to the bank

Kids playing outside up until it turned dark when the world turned slow and you could smoke in a ball Trucks took a beating The working man too you could turn on six o'clock and get the whole truth A seed bed was a backup for mama's right on when the world turned slow And you could smoke in a ball