Unashamed with the Robertson Family - Ep 544 | Phil's Unlikely Hiding Place & the Shared Biblical Ancestry of Ranchers & Guitar Pickers

Episode Date: September 9, 2022

Phil gives Jase a review of his latest batch of jelly and why he had to hide it in the most unlikely place. Jase and Jep are joined by their friend, country music singer Aaron Watson. Jep talks about how much he missed Louisiana people while he lived in Texas and how he has become the greatest cook of all of the Robertson brothers. And Phil gives Jase and Aaron a thorough walkthrough on the history of ranchers and guitar pickers.  -- Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I am unashamed. What about you? So we're back, Unashame, and we got our youngest brother, Jepico. Welcome, Jep, back to Unashamed. It's always good to have you on the podcast. Thanks for having me. Well, Jep's, we had an, he saw me in an, and then, I can't even say that. Jep saw me last night, and it was kind of an embarrassing moment. So Missy got this thing for the little baby that we have Because he loves to kick

So and these people have these inventions in baby world And look trust me there's a new box at my front door Or from Jep's wife Because they're right down the road for the little baby that we have So the one they had yesterday was It's like a kind of a seat with bungee cords on it. It's like a bouncy seat.

Yeah. Is that what it's called? Yeah. But you, look, you hang it up from like a hallway or a doorway. And it's like a bungee cord, and they jump. They jump. But he just was, he was just standing there in it. And I was like, no, you got to jump.

So I started jumping. Now, it was just me and him because Missy put him in there and took off. You know, she just needs a break. So I start jumping. And finally he starts jumping. And where Joe? Where job? And Missy was jumping.

Well, the first thing that happened was Missy goes and runs and gets the video camera. Because now when you're at your just, this is the most embarrassing thing that you can do. You know, 53, we've determined that I am 53, 53 year old man jumping up and down. It's just there. She's like, I got to get this home. him. And so she does that. And then she starts jumping. Well, then all of a sudden, I hear the dog's bar. I look. And there's old Jeff. He snuck in. He's been watching this. Because I have my back. Is he jumping now, too? No, he's, he had a look on his face like,

so I can't unsee. This is what I saw. So I walk up to Jason's kind of side door. I see him jumping. I can't see the baby is in between. him and Missy, and it looks like they're just jumping together, like, and I'm like, what are they doing? Some kind of workout class, but they're laughing. I was like, they've lost their minds. It was the weirdest-looking thing I've ever, and I just stood and watched them for, Jessica was like, you should have filmed it, which I should have.

That would have been hilarious because it looked funny. I thought they were jumping to the 80s or something. We were all jumping in the middle in between the kitchen and the living, room. You were jumping for joy. To the point of I got out of breath and had to sit down. I was getting dizzy. Well, and she,

he kept spinning around, which led, look, right after you left, look, when I got him out of the jumping seat, here's what they didn't tell you, it's probably in the manual somewhere.

It just, I felt it was like somebody just popped me like that. And he just projectile, just right in the chest, just like so hard. It was like a pop. I just looked down just the warming sensation. And then I started gagging because I was already out of breath.

That didn't end, Will. No. Well, that's what happened. It's first just everybody's jumping, then everybody's puking. That's the way, that's where it always winds up. You know what's funny is because, I mean, hit me and I looked at him and he just grinned. I thought, boy, you rascal. you're right it's the only time in your life that you know you can get away with just throwing up on people

you know after a while that that becomes that's a that's a that's a DED don't ever do so i thought it was funny Jep's all met a vulnerable moment ha ha ha so here next thing it was really awkward so jeb you're back you're back in westminster i don't think you've been on the podcast since you've moved home because last time we had you on y'all we're just talking about doing the show. So tell us a little bit about what's the like to be back in West Monroe and kind of what you're up to. Oh, that's been good.

It's a lot more, uh, my speed. I mean, honestly, I miss like redneck folks. You live in Austin. I mean, we wasn't in Austin. We were kind of south, but nobody's from there. Everybody's from California or New York. So it's just like a, and they're not, I met some great people, some, some terrific friends. I think I'll have forever.

But I miss just a good old. Yep, I lived there in Austin. You know, it's just like I missed that. Hey, the name, they say it weird, we're weird. Or what is the slogan? Keep Austin weird. Keep Austin weird. Yeah.

They're doing a great job. Yeah. They really are. They are nailing that. Because I thought the same thing, man. When I got back here, I was like, oh. But basically, well, we've been fixing a lot of stuff that was wrong with our house, which has not been fun.

Like the AC. And we rented it and then some other people ran it for a while. But then it was kind of left empty for a while too. And that's kind of hard on houses when nobody's kind of keeping up with stuff. But we're back in the groove. So you've got two kids in college, right? Yep. The two older girls.

And they're in Abilene. Both, right? They both go to. That's right. In Abilene. Yep. And then so what about the littles? Are they excited to be?

What does Gus think about? Because he only knew Austin. So what does he think? about it. He loves it because my kids are real close too with Jessica's mom and my mom too. So she's been over a ton and it's been great. And they like the, they are going to OCS was where I went to high school and they love it. It's a good school. So everything's good. Well, you never, I mean, you're five minutes in this. You never said, I mean, you've been hanging out at my house a lot. I thought you'd say I came back. I'm enjoying being back with my brothers. I'm not even mentioned. I thought that was implied. Yeah.

Well, I've enjoyed hanging out with you. I've made him an awesome steak for his birthday. Oh, he did. Yep. As, you know, his cooking skills, they've escalated to a point to where, I mean, he cooked me a hamburger. What was that? A couple nights ago.

Yeah. I mean. Well, I was recently asked who's the best cook out of all the brothers. And I was like, I mean, to be honest with you, it's me. It used to not be. it is now. I have mastered. It's another level.

I have to admit, so we have a revolving meal once a week. We cook. Now, this sounds like it's not that great, but Missy, she's taking beans and rice and cornbread to another level. It's the best in the world. It really is. Look, you hear what he said? He validated it.

She just took it and she made it. It's the best in the world. That was a large step on her part. Oh, I know. It was a big one. It was a long way. And so I just said after a while, once she honed it down to where it is now, I said, we must eat this once a week.

And let's make it, let's make it an event. Invite the neighbors, the family. Al, you've participated many times. So when Jelp and Jessica moved in, because they, I mean, Jep, I would, have to admit he's he's a better cook than me overall i mean there's a couple things that i think i do better in the wild game just pan cornbread or is just uh fried cornbread yes well it's pan cornbread but it it's uh it's basically a hybrid in what y'all make and then what lisa makes it's it's somewhere in the middle of that because y'all have the little you know the appetate what

i call appetizer the little crunchy corn bread that it's good for appetizer, but it's not a main event. And I think Lisa's is such a main event that if I eat a piece of that, I got to go lay down in the fetal position. So somewhere in between the middle is where Missy. It's a great description. Yeah. So, and I mean, I'm passionate about this.

But Jeff and Jessica, they love it. But I think they felt like, look, we need. We'll take a night and we'll have us a meal. But I'm like, well, you're trying to, you got a, this is a big request. But I believe, Jessica, I don't know if you participate in that, but she, she did this beef stew. I think I talked about it on earlier podcast. It stopped me in my tracks now. Of course, she took filet mignon and basically made, now mom's soup, well, we just called it soup,

but it's basically a beef stew. She took that to the 10th or perhaps 100th power. Now, she did put filet mignon in it, so I would call that cheating, I guess, but why wouldn't you? I mean. I mean, super good. But I just, the broth, I tasted it, and I thought, whoa, whoa, whoa, I got me a big bowl then. And she said, do you want that? I was like, oh, I'm, and then when I ate it all, I said, well, that's now.

So now two nights of the week, we have a meal together, inner family meal. I just thought I'd let you out of the world. And then sometimes we just neighborhood it. Yeah. Well, you know, Willie is a good cook, but then Willie tends to go a little overboard on whatever he, you know what I'm saying? Phil has him accurately depicted in that he's a gullion man. And I'm always slum. It makes me nervous because I'm not sure what's in there.

Nobody does. I like to. I've never been a casserol, man, because most people who make casseroles, they're taking two or three things that you don't like by themselves and slapping them together, and then all of a sudden trying to create magic. But now we just have three things that are particularly not good all together in one pile. While you're there, I'm now finished. with a yearly thing.

We made wild grape jelly out of Texas, out in the Texas, out in the hills out there. Did you go to Texas and get the grape? No, some guy, he was a friend of my brothers who passed on, Tommy. So he sent the grapes, and I picked them all, and cleaned them all up, you know, and got the juice out of them. So we've got... And you say when he sent him, did he mail them, or did he send somebody...

No, no, no. Took a vehicle. Set a vehicle out there to bring him back. His name is Dwight. His name is Dwight. He's a friend of mine, and they met him in Longview and got the grapes. I mean, this was a whole operation. We were going to get those grapes.

Well, I want to try that today, because we have a special guest that we're going to introduce. We have a may haul jelly. It's all put up. We have, we just finished up with the slows. But my Cobbs, my cousin, sent a bottle large. about like a gallon of blackberries. So we have this year, it already stored ready to go. All right.

I like it. We have these four kinds of jelly. We just finished up with the slows. They're a ball, plum, early fall, and they fall on the ground. We pick them up. I must have some if you don't know. Oh, it's delicious. I'll give the country western man, Aaron.

I'll give him a jar of that. Well, that's, I was going to that, Al. so yeah so uh we're going to have a special guest on after the break and uh and you guys met him i guess when you were uh metal detecting out in the abilene area is that is that we were filming the show and one of the episodes we were in a war war two training camp in abilene and uh okay now jelp i can't remember how we how we exactly may he wasn't walking down the side of the road it wasn't one of those deals. True to country music form, like hitchhiking,

he's country music singer, guitar on the back, pick him up. Wasn't that, but it was similar. We have some usual friends in Abilene, because I've spent a lot of time there since my girls go to school there, so gotten to know some of the locals, and somebody said, oh, y'all need to go to Aaron's place and, like, medal to take,

because it's awesome. It's like this, and it was awesome. How cool it was. We didn't film being there. But we just, we were scouting it, I guess. Well, Jay's, you were impressed with him. And so we're going to have them as our guest on the podcast. So we're going to take a break.

And when we come back, we will have Mr. Aaron Watson in the house. So we're back. Welcome, Aaron, to the Unashamed podcast. I wish I was there to meet you. But I know you're going to have a good meal today. So we always do you for having me. Aaron, Aaron's lineage goes way. fact, Aaron, I knew you knew this before, but I'll just let you know that there was Jabal.

He was the father of those who live in tents and raise livestock. But 7,000 years ago, your ancestors, here he is. His brother's name was Jubal, which is your lineage. You go all the way back because he was the father of all who played the harp and lyre, the stringed instruments. you're a descendant from Jubal. That's where they got Jubilee. Yes, sir. That's your lineage.

That's why you're here. Well, you cleared that up. Yes, sir. I just want to let you know, man. Not everybody came from Jubal, but you do it. You don't go the bloodline in genetics. You're like, if a guy plays a guitar, you don't need a DNA test. He's a Jubilee.

I'm a Jubal. Aaron, you'll understand it. Some people, as it turns out, they say, man, they just got a knack. for that they seem to they just seem to have a knack you should it's in your blood yes sir way back some god made them the streamed instruments so you're like so now to this day a lot of them you know they start playing and you say it just seems like that is you need to do a song about that i'll do it i'll give you a hundred dollar bill if you can get the term jubal in a song i can i've done a lot of things for a hundred dollar bill so let me hey

Hey, you got to remember, I'm not even in your league. You're a race inside itself. How do we spell jubel? What is the spelling? J-U-B-A-L. I got it. J-U-B. You get a tattoo.

Just call me Jubal. They're like, where did you get that Jubal tattoo? I say, it's a long story. That's it. Let me tell you about it. Yeah, there you go. I love it. That's my great, great, great, great-grandpa.

And what was Jubal's brother, dad? Well, Jabal was the brother? But he was the one that they made tents and took care of livestock ranchers. The ranchers came from a bloodline. Oh, so he has both of them. He's in Texas and he. And do you have cows? Well, no longer.

But you've had them. I've been on your ranch. So, yeah. We're kind of a, we were a two horse ranch. Yeah. So, you know, for entertainment purposes, it just sounds better if I say, I got horses. Oh, I see. Versus saying, I got a horse.

It doesn't sound that good. That's funny. That's funny. This is a rage. That is my horse. Dad, who were the jelly makers back there in your Genesis account? I don't know. I got them back all the way to Scotland.

You got to tell them about that jelly now. When we visited Scotland from where we're from, I ask them there. Some guy had a little skirt on there, you know, one of the way they look. The kilt. The kiltz. And I said, well, the Robertson name, I said, so what are they good at? He said, jam and jelly makers. Well, I'm sitting there with jam and jelly under my bed.

Yeah. And I'm like, well, good night. That makes sense why I'm. This is a revelation, Phil. Do you hide? Is that your hiding spot for your jelly? I shouldn't have said it on air because, you know, somebody come along around. That's the end of the jelly.

You want to find it. Well, off air, we were talking about that. Not all jamming jelly goes under the bed. You have to taste it first. That's it. To be under bed worthy. I sample it before it went under the bed, and I said, whoa. Do you realize you may be the only human being on this planet that has jelly, jars of jelly, multiple jars of jelly hidden under their bed?

Yeah. That thought never crossed my mind. I was just putting it in a place. I figured they wouldn't look. that would be the first place I would love for money and I'd say oh yes jelly it sounds like from spot and I said well did we leave a good name but when boy that we all went to the states and 1600 our ancestors and he said I said what was their reputation over here he said both good and bad I thought well well fierce when roused

Fierce one rouse. That's one of my favorites. So, Aaron, you're from Texas. Have you always been in Texas? Were you born and raised there? I was born and raised in Amarillo up in the Panhandle. And then I actually went to school at Abilene Christian University. And I met my wife there.

And I thought, this isn't too bad of a place. Yeah. And you've been there ever since. Been there ever since. And it's a good place to be from. We live out in the country. We live probably about 25 miles south, Abilene. Does she make your concert?

She goes while you're performing or? Well, you know that podcast you all did before this about marriage? Yeah. I think that's probably a whole other episode. But I think it's one of those things. She saw the show so many times. She's, you know what I'm saying? Yep.

I'm like a rerun. Yep. She doesn't want to go is what you're saying. She goes sometimes, yeah. She's really been going a lot lately, though. But it's not for me. My oldest boy, Jake, he has a knack for playing that guitar. Look.

Jubal. All the way. All the way up. You need to talk to him about sitting down and have the Jubal conversation. I'm going to say, Jake, we're going to change your name to Jubal. But Jake plays the guitar, the drums, the piano. He's playing football, basketball, baseball. But I've taken him on the road with me.

And he'll play acoustic. When did that start? And how old was he? Did you notice that pretty quick? Like I handed him a guitar when he's like six and was like, here's a couple of chords. And he just learned him and he had rhythm. And now I'll show you all. some videos later on. I mean, he's, he can play anything rock and roll.

But if you think about it, Aaron, when you read way back to the father, stringed in, you say, the Bible even answers that? It's the family business. Yep. Yeah. Yes, sir. So how many kids do you have? I've got three.

Jake's oldest. He's 16. Jack, he's fixing term 15. And my favorite one, Jolie, she's 12. Okay. I like the J theme. Yeah, it's great. Unless you're mad at them.

Yep, I get that. And then they're all, you know, but I've changed. I don't, a lot of things have changed for me. You know, we were talking about it. I hurt my voice, my vocal cords, and I had to have surgery. And so I was off for three months or so. And so, you know, you kind of have to change. your lifestyle because I'm used to, you know, walking outside if one of the boys are over there

in that part of the yard mowing, you know, I scream at them, get their attention. Jimmy, Jimmy, Jimmy, Jubel. Jubel. Jake. Yeah. Jabal. What was Jubel's brother? Yeah.

But, you know, if you'd have had this conversation before, you'd probably name your kids Jubal and Jabal. Yeah. Possibly. Yeah, I would have lobbied for that. Yeah. But now, you know, I take. I texted them one day.

They were giving their mama some fits. So now you're having to text. I texted them. I said my voice doesn't work, but my boots still does. Your great-grandparents, wherever they are, that y'all came forth, were they all Texans? I'd like to think so. Because, you know, Jabal, he was those who live in tents and raise livestock. Well, you said, he's got a horse.

think what happened is I literally think they they jumped on a ship right there from the Middle Eastern area came up through the Horn of Mexico. Yeah. And said, there's Texas. They said, there it is. Never left. Yeah. Because if you reel back probably a couple hundred years and look to it when they were found in the country, you're kin folks.

They probably, but we're out in there. No telling you said, well, livestock of your, you know, tents. So y'all have come a ways. We had that reputation of just riding around on horses and singing. Yeah, there you go. I think that's his point. Yeah, that blood runs deep, man. Not much has changed.

I'd probably still be in a tent, but I married someone outside of my tribe. She is not a tent dweller. Yeah, that's right. We have that in common, I think. Our wives are a little different. I haven't met your wife, but you told me that we, we, Yeah. We have similar situations.

Yeah, she's not a tent dweller. Yeah. So how long have you been making music on the market? Yeah, how did you get in the music? Hang on before you do that, let's take a break. When did the band come together? Well, you know, I was going to ACU. I was playing baseball.

I heard my back. My baseball career was over, and I played the guitar a little bit. I was working a couple of jobs. and I had this guy asked me if I would play a show for his little business event and he said

he asked me he said how much do you charge I said well I don't I don't know I'm going to have to talk with my agent and get back to you and the old man that was giving me guitar lessons there at ACU Dan Mitchell I called him

Dr. Mitchell, even though he didn't have a doctorate, he played that guitar like he did. And I said, well, what do I charge? He was like, well, what's the event? And I was like, oh, it's for a doctor. He said, well, you should charge him a lot then. And I remember, I told the guy 500 bucks, and I played for 20 minutes and got paid $500. Oh, man. And I mean, I don't know.

I had to work three months of waiting tables. and working on the school grounds to make that. And I was like, this is the law from me. And then, you know, you asked me earlier what the name of the band was. And we really don't, the band kind of doesn't have a name now, but in the beginning, it was Aaron Watson and the Orphans of the Brazos band.

And every Monday, I would, that was what my bank account was, orphans of the brassus. So the brisus is a river running through the middle of Texas. Yeah, and we were always crossing that river. And on Mondays, I'd take the money that we made to the bank. And I did this for, you know, a couple of years. And one day, the little old lady that I always was doing my deposits with, she said, do you mind if I say something to you?

And I was like, yes, ma'am. And she was a grandma. And she kind of got a little teared up. And I was like, what is fixing to happen here? She says, week after week, you come in here and you deposit all this money for those little kids. The children of the... And it took me a second to realize, oh, she thinks that I'm raising money for orphan kids. And I told her the truth and the disappointment on her face.

So why were they called the Orphins of the Brazos? Well, we just kind of felt like we were homeless because we were always sleeping in a van. It was the jubal, modern day translation. We were tent dwellers for sure back then. Gypsies slash orphans. Yeah. I disappointed that. lady greatly that day.

Oh, man. But, you know, here we are. To make a long story short, I've always been an independent artist. Yeah. I was fascinated when we got to meet you. We weren't real sure how we met, but you were just a friend of a friend. We went and looked at your place, and we scouted your place as a possible destination to metal detect, because you had this, it's a nice ranch, but it had a big hill on it.

We climbed the hill. You were like, you were giving us to play by play, which was funny. Because the first time we took a turn, you're like, yeah, right here's where I burned my first truck. You said your truck caught on fire. Yeah. And I was like, oh, well. Yeah. And we got up on the hill.

And remember you told us you had an idea of a romantic getaway with your wife on the top of the hill. But she didn't. That idea burned up just like that truck. I'll tell you, so what happened is it was our anniversary, and this area is, it's a mountain to us, but it's more of a plateau bluff, whatever you want to call it, and it overlooks the countryside, and it's just beautiful. It's a nice view in your defense. It is.

And I thought, you know what I'm going to do? I'm going to go pick us up dinner. Yep. I'm going to throw a little couple sleeping bags and maybe a pillow in the back. We're going to go up there. I took a picnic table up there. Yep. And it was hard to get up there.

It was hard to get up there. I worked. And I had, we had dinner. And I thought we'd just sit on the tailgate of the truck and watch the sunset. And then, you know. Where this is headed is just straight. There's not a person. Yeah.

And what? How far? A lot of miles. A lot of miles. This is the perfect, I mean, I thought this was a great idea, which should have told me that things could go wrong here. Well, I thought things were going great. Yeah.

And, you know, and I was putting the moves on Mama. Mm-hmm. And about that time, you know, we got an Air Force base there, Dias Air Force Base, and one of those B-1s came flying over. low altitude and you're high up on a mountain and you're you've already you know begun the process yeah and that shut things down because she goes my word what if they see something i said those boys are serving this country girl and it was done and uh i loaded up that picnic table all by myself in the back of that truck it's funny now yeah

So do you have record companies knocking on your door saying if you'll give us the money, we'll give you a little piece? Or did you say, forget that, Bonswell, let's just go ahead. Well, and before you answer, I was going to introduce that because what struck me about you, and I think while we hit it off, is kind of like us. We had a show that was on TV that was not a religious show, but we, you know, we're believers. And so God kind of used us in an environment which reality TV has nothing that we represent just on a normal show. And here we are having a reality show and I think it was a shock. So that's what I'll say you struck me because when I met when Jep said, oh, he's a country music singer, I thought, oh, boy, I bet this will go good.

But when I met you, I was like, I think he's actually a believer. Oh, yeah. Who's a country music singer. And I was going to say, I mean, Aaron is known for being independent, like really well known for that because my friend Bruce, with mutual acquaintance, when I told him I was coming to your place, he was like, tell him, let me give me a call. It was like he was, and he manages a lot of bands. Yeah. He wanted your ear just to say, hey. Well, you know, I was the preview I was going to give you is like, you're on a podcast and we're, a name of this podcast is unashamed.

And you were quite clear when I first met you that you were unashamed to your faith. And I thought you could just describe that in that light. Well, you know, to answer your question and dad's all in one, in the beginning, nobody wanted anything to do with me. And we just worked hard and, you know, played good, clean shows. Do you think it was because of your faith that nobody wanted anything to do with you? Or I don't know, maybe I was, maybe it could be my incredibly average looks. I don't know. But an interesting thing happened.

just worked hard and we worked hard and we worked hard and in 2011 or 12 we had an album that we put out independently and I got a call and they said hey you won't believe this but that sucker charted top 10 on billboard nationwide and that got my wheels turning and I thought well if we can accidentally chart an album in the top 10 without we tried yeah so but they all told us they said no you know, an independent artist can't do this, they can't do that. But we, I put out an album called The Underdog, and it became the first independent album in the history of country music to chart number one on Billboard.

And it just gave me this great opportunity to just give God all the glory. Yeah. You know, Rolling Stone called me up, and they said, how in the world to some country boy from West Texas, with no record label or any type of major funding, how do you outsell all these major label artists? And I said, well, I said, you just got to, I don't know. Got to give all the glory to God for blessing me with all these fans.

And, you know, and that's the thing. If you come to my show, we have fun. and it's we have fun and I've opened for Kiss you can open me I'll open up for anybody yeah I'll tell you this is I have ADD so this is a little side deal hang on hang on hang on in let's take a break all right don't feel bad I have ADD oh it's bad we open for kiss at shine frontier days and uh my agent told me that jean Simmons requested that I open for him so I was like Okay, that's weird. And for those who don't know,

so these are the guys, the painted faces with the tongue hanging out. Okay. They're from my era of music. Yeah. Well, Gene is a big old boy. Yeah. And we went to take a picture together,

and I remember his hand kind of come around my face right here, and I thought, that's weird. And I thought he was going to fish hook me or something. Yeah. And he just said, you. are a powerful young man. And I said, thank you, sir.

And we took a picture, and I got on out of there. That's all I needed to hear. Put his hand on my face. Told me I was a powerful young man. I didn't need any more compliments from him. But, you know, I've just been blessed. I love music. And it's been neat what we've been able to do.

I mean, independently, and it lets me do whatever I want to do. I mean, if you come see me at a show, it doesn't matter if I'm playing at a honky-tonk or a dance hall or a fair rodeo opening for kiss. Boy, and today we clarified your lineage. We sure did. It goes way back. It's all making sense. Well, it goes with the livestock, because I'm not going to lie.

So we met you. I had never heard your music because, you know, Phil was part of the problem. When we were young, country music was frowned upon. And I'm not real sure why, but it's just because you were a rock and roll. Who do you like? Who are your? All these old guys. Oh, he's Leonard Skinner, C-C-R.

Pink Floyd. Pink Floyd. You ain't wrong. You ain't wrong. But he would tell us, well, they can't sing. And but when the only time that he said, well, wait a minute, is because when Hank Williams Jr. came out with a country boy can survive, of which basically depicted our lifestyle.

Yeah. And he was like, well, now the words are pretty good there. I mean, that was the little grace. So, you know, he left that open a little bit. But what I was going to say is when we listened to your CD, I'm not sure which one. Maybe it was the greatest hits on the way of it. I was like, let's check this guy out.

My not-so-greatest hits. No, it's greatest hits. But the first song we listened to was called Freight Train. Oh, yeah. And I thought, now this guy could be an auctione. here because I couldn't believe I was like how many takes did it take goes like this you ready I'm gonna give them that two four for on the floor left my law boy son did before got the pretty girls out there begging for more got to give them all what it came here for doing my thing singing my

song right on track I'm chugging along I'm here and gone like yesterday rolling like a old freight train coming on down line feel that ditchal engine wine smell the smoke like here the years grind full steam head out of my mind two for going to be turning back one word jubble jubble one word anybody that could do that that's cool way back he did that because I thought livestock

I thought that he's got to get that is cool man lives oh my goodness you know we just have we have fun that is a great song I mean I love the song when people coming to my show

it's important that they they feel that it's money well spent it's important that they know how much I love my country and I can share my beliefs through my music and my experiences. My daddy is 100% disabled from serving our country. I grew up at a VA hospital. So I've written dad's songs. And because I write my dad these songs,

you know, I have all, every night I have my veterans and my active duty and raise their hands. And I have the rest of us that don't raise our hands. I ask them to turn on the light on their flashlight because I need our veterans and our active duty to visually see. that they are appreciated. Yeah. And then there's the part where, you know, I kind of, it's the Cowboy Church part of the show. Yeah.

And, you know, I think I really started to share my faith. I was never ashamed of it. I just wasn't probably mature enough to know how. Yeah. But I started to share my faith about strongly. more boldly probably about 12 years ago my wife and I we had a little girl pass away shortly after she was born and her name was Julia Grace and that was tough oh man and I I just struggled with my job after that I never my faith I never struggled with my faith I mean Jesus came back newsflash

Jesus came back because the world's not great. Bad things happen. But a little lady by the name of Elsie Frost, she's the mother of legendary bull rider Lane Frost, who died, you know, 20-something years ago, but maybe 30 years now. She shared something with me that just got me refocused. And she said Lane was a world champion bull rider,

but that wasn't his greatest achievement. She said that Lane's greatest achievement came a year before he died when he asked Jesus to be his Lord and Savior. And I wrote her a song called July and Cheyenne. And I sing that every night, and it gives me an opportunity to share my struggles,

my weaknesses, mistakes I've made, and struggle, and then share what Jesus has done for me. So I don't have to sit out there and point at people. I just point in myself and let them know, what Jesus has done from me.

And that kind of started the, that started the ball rolling, and that's kind of, we're in the next chapter still doing the same thing. I mean, it's, oh, I got a, I got this old rock and roller right here. Let me, let me tell you, let me show you some,

some rock and roll lyrics for you. Hang on, let's take our last break while you're doing that. Well, one thing I can say before we do that, Aaron is it there's a lot of weirdos out there I'm just glad me or you are not one of them Me too Me too

You know what I'm saying? That means feels blown away by your story Yes sir And I know exactly what you mean about Coming back home I mean These are good parts, good people Yep

But You know I texted you And said hey if you ever want to have me on your podcast. Yeah. And this is a blessing for me. I wasn't able to work for four months. And in the middle of that,

I had an album come out called Unwanted Man. And I couldn't even promote it. And music is the family business. Yeah, you can't even talk. Well, tell us about that. What, was that the lyrics you were going to read on your rock and row? Yeah. So I wrote this song.

There's this old man named Mr. Pete. And I met him in college. And both my granddaddies had passed away, so there was that void in my heart. Yeah. And I remember I met him. And he invited me over for dinner that night. And he and his wife, Miss Dorothy, they made me chicken fried steak. And it was amazing.

And then we watched a John Wayne movie. I think it was Big Jake. And that started a tradition. And they would always have me over. and we will watch movies after dinner. We drank a lot of coffee together. And over the years, we grew closer and closer. I remember when I bought my first house after we got married,

I didn't have a lot of tools, and he'd always bring over his tools to help me remodel the house. And he had a stroke. And my wife was pregnant with our first son, Jake. And Mr. Pete started really good. going downhill. And he called me up one Sunday after church. And he just said, Aaron, I need you to come over to the house. There's some things that I need to talk to you about. And I just said, yes, sir. I'll be right over, Mr. Pete. And I went over to his house and where his recliner

used to be was now a hospice bed. And I helped sit him up. And I'm sitting next to him. I'll never forget. He said, Dorothy, he said, did you bring us in here some coffee? You know, real, but he was loud. I'm trying not to scream in the mic, but he's thing. He's half deaf, so he's yelling. And sweet little Miss Dorothy

came in and brought us coffee, and we sat there, and for the next hour, he needed to share with me things about being a, being a man, being a father, being a husband. And

I'm fighting back the tears the whole time because it's a goodbye talk that he was having with me and I went out the door he said I need to take a nap I'm tired and I hugged him and I said I'll see you again soon and I went out the door and I just remember crying the whole way home

and he died a few days later and then a few hours later my son Jake was born it was a it was a beautiful bittersweet. Yeah, it was like a transition almost from a heavenly perspective. It was.

He was... He was 88. Yeah. And I wrote down, I went home and I wrote down some things. I wrote down the old man said and then I wrote down

some things. Then I wrote down the old man said and I wrote down some things. And it took me 14 years to finish this song. I couldn't get through it. Yeah.

And I finally finished this song, and it's the song that we just released. And the old man said, son, I don't have long to live. He slowly raised his cup, and he took a sip. And the old man said, I fought a dang good fight. So I pulled up a chair and sat there half the night. And the old man said, Don't take a single day for granted Love like there's no tomorrow

Tend to the seeds you planted Be a good friend and a brother Love your children and their mother And die by those living words in red Pretty cool I like this Real cool And the old man said

Money really ain't worth a dime Then gave me his golden watch and said it's all borrowed time and the old man said if i could do it all again i'd spend more time loving her and a little more time fishing and i was able to take his words don't bill walls around your heart never shackle up your soul love is the only thing that you'll take with you when you go always be quick to forgive forever slow to throw stones, just like a flash, life is a dash between the birth and the bones.

And for me, it's just been neat to honor him, but also, I mean, this is cowboy gospel music. Oh, that's connected. It's authentic, and it's real life, you know. So it's been fun for me all these years later to, you know, Oh, he would have loved you guys. That's like an awesome dude. He would have fit right in.

Oh, he was, he was amazing. You know, how he claims what happened is he smoked from age, he smoked cigarettes for 75 years, age 13 to 88. and he said that the doctor finally convinced him to quit and he had a stroke the week later. And he was, I remember I went and saw him, and this is the kind of character he was and the kind of man he was. I went and saw him at the hospital and I said, Mr. Pete, what happened? He said, well, you know that little tiny bathroom there on the other side of the kitchen? And I said, yes, sir, I know. And it's a tiny, just a commode.

and there's one of them little tiny corner sinks. You can barely get in there and shut the door. He said, well, I went in there to do my business, and I had a stroke, and I fell in between the wall and the commode, and I was stuck. He said, brother, talk about being stuck between a rock and a hard place. And he was just great. He was just great. And so for me, I'm a songwriter. and you know the the good times and the bad times they make for good songs yep yeah well i appreciate

you sharing your heart and you can see that in your songs i mean it's kind of like it reminded me of us you wouldn't think it's a religious concert is these are just people having fun but all of a sudden that authenticity comes out and that passion and belief and i think that's what connects to people you know you are who you are and you're real and uh you're real and uh you're you have a positive spin. Well, tell us before we go. Yeah, how can people find your music and things like that? Well, you can get it just about anywhere you can get some music.

I mean, it's on all the streaming platforms and shoot. I got, since I write known everything, I got permission. Look, I'll write it right here. You can play Old Man Said for your listeners. There it is. That's legal or a handshake. I like it. Nice.

So we can play some of your songs here. Yeah, you can play my songs. Yeah, I like a man that doesn't have much red tape. There's not, I don't, yeah, we don't have a lot of red tape in Buffalo Gap, Texas. Yeah. That's where we were. I was trying to think the exact location. Oh, you, now, so I got to tell everybody.

So we went up on that hill and I was saying, rumor has it, that these were some bunkers. And that the, the Army boys trained how to take a hill. That's what got us there. And look, why don't we do this, Al? In overtime, Jeff actually found something a relic that you still have, right? Yeah, oh, it's there. Jep found a relic on the hill where his wife turned him down the night the plane flew too low. Yeah.

That could be another song. All right, so we're going to head to overtime. Aaron, thanks for being on our podcast. If you want to follow us over and hear about this story, you can do that by blazTV.com slash unashamed and subscribe. We'll see you on the other side. Thanks for listening to The Unashamed podcast. Help us out by rating us on iTunes. And don't miss an episode by subscribing on YouTube and be sure to click that little bell to get notified about new episodes.

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