wellRED podcast - #201- Blue Eyes, The Harlot, The Queer, The Pusher & ....WAYLON PAYNE!!

Episode Date: January 6, 2021

We are so honored this week to have Waylon Payne on the podcast. A story in country music like none other and with a tremendous new record out. Go to waylonpaynemusic.co to learn more and to pick up all his music1 Enjoy the show!

And we thank them for sponsoring the show. Well, no, I'll just go ahead. I mean, look, I'm money dumb. Y'all know that. I've been money dumb ever, since ever, my whole life. And the modern world makes it even harder to not be money dumb, in my opinion, because you used to, you, like, had to write down everything you spent or you wouldn't know nothing. But now you got apps and stuff on your phone.

It's just like you can just, it makes it easier to lose count of, well, your count, the count every month, how much you're spending. A lot of people don't even know how much they spend on a per month basis. I'm not going to lie. I can be one of those people. Like, let me ask you right now. Skewers out, whatnot, sorry, well-read people. People across the ske universe, I should say.

Do you even know how many subscriptions that you actively pay for every month or every year? Do you even know? Do you know how much you spend on takeout or delivery? Getting a paid chauffeur for your chicken low main? Because that's a thing that we do in this society. Do you know how much you spend on that? It's probably more than you think. But now there's an app designed to help you manage your money better.

and it's called Rocket Money. Rocket Money is a personal finance app that helps find and cancel your unwanted subscriptions, monitors your spending, and helps lower your bills so you can grow your savings. Rocket Money shows all your expenses in one place, including subscriptions you already forgot about. If you see a subscription, you don't want anymore,

Rocket Money will help you cancel it. Their dashboard lays out your whole financial picture, including the due dates for all your bills and the pay days. In a way that's easier for you to digest, you can even automatically create custom budgets based on your past spending. Rocket Money's 5 million members have saved a total of $500 million in canceled subscriptions with members saving up to $740 a year when they use all of the apps. Premium features.

I used Rocket Money and realized that I had apparently been paying for two different language learning services that I just wasn't using. So I was probably like, I should know Spanish. I'll learn Spanish, and I've just been paying to learn Spanish without practicing any Spanish for, you know, pertinent two years now or something like that. Also, a fun one, I'd said it before, but I got an app, lovely little app where you could, you know, put your friend's faces onto funny reaction gifts and stuff like that. So obviously I got, I got it so I could put Corey's face on those two, those two like twins from the Tim Burton Alice in Wonderland movies. You know, those weren't a little like the Q-ball looking twin. fellas. Yeah. So that was that in response to? What was that a reply gift for? Just when I did something stupid. Something fat, I think, and stupid. Something both fat and stupid. But anyway, that was money

well spent at first, but then I quit using it and was still paying for it and forgotten. If it wasn't for Rocket Money, I never would have even figured it out. So shout out to them. They help. If you're money dumb like me, Rocket Money can help. So cancel your unwanted subscriptions and reach your financial goals faster with Rocket Money. Go to RocketMoney.com slash well read today. That's rocketmoney.com slash well-r-R-E-D. Rocketmoney.com slash well-read. And we thank them for sponsoring this episode of the podcast. They're the...

What's going on, everybody? It's your boy. The show. Corey Ryan Forster here. Well-read comedy.com. As you know, W-E-L-L-R-E-D comedy.com. That's where you can sign up for our newsletter. That's where you can get our merch. like our book, The Liberal Redneck Manifesto, Dragon Dixie out of the dark, and also our album, well-read, live from Lexington. Thank you to everyone who listened to last week's episode. It was our 200th episode, and it was one of our most downloaded episodes ever. So really feeling the love.

Really appreciate y'all sharing it. Download and subscribing, telling your friends, leaving that five-star review if you haven't already. We really do appreciate it. We're really having a good time doing it. It's still really wish we could be. I say I'm a broken record. I say this every week on here.

I really wish we could be out there. I don't know why I just went Bill Clinton on you. I don't wish we could be out there, America touring. But I do. It hurts. We had to postpone another show today. But vaccines here. Hopefully things are getting better.

I think that, you know, it'll still be shitty for a minute, but I think we're starting to see a little light at the end of the tunnel. And it's going to be hard. It's going to be hard wading our toes back into normal. see. I don't think anybody knows what it is. I think we're just so used to like, we live on the internet now, whatever. But we had a great time last week

on our 200th episode. And another thing we did last week was we recorded this episode that you're hearing today last week with our guest, Waylon Payne, who is just, I mean, you talk about real deal country music. Ladies and gentlemen, we've been so fortunate

to have so many great musical guests on here that want to be on the podcast for some reason. and don't know why, but it tickles us to death. We're really living our dream with it. Waylon, this was a tremendous conversation. I will say this. Please, everybody hear me out right now.

There's a couple times when his microphone dips and he's just a little bit quieter. But don't adjust your dial or nothing. Everything's fine, you know, but it just happens a couple times. So it should be okay. There's just nothing I can do about it. I'm not a profile. I know I'm the guy that does this podcast, but I'm, I ain't, that level. I'm not like isolating his

tracks level good. But it's only a couple times, so it should be fine. But I just want to let you know. So you didn't like turn your speakers like all the way up and then all of a sudden I start talking and somebody blows the ear drum out. I would like to be not financially liable for the event that that

happened. But we had a great conversation with Wayland. I have since listened to his album Blue Eyes, the Harlet, the Queer, the Pusher, and me, about, I don't know, 47 times walking through the woods.

And again, like, I wouldn't steer you guys wrong. It's, we always talk about on here that, like, country music is, uh, is going away, like true country music. And obviously that's, we're talking about radio stuff. Um, but it still exists. And if this ain't it, then I'll kiss you ass.

You know, it'll hairlift the Pope, as they say. So, uh, me and the boys talk for about 30 minutes. And then we have a, nice conversation with our new friend, someone that I really hope comes back. Waylon Payne, I can't talk. You think I got paid to do this. Waylon Payne, our new best buddy, tremendous country singer.

Just a remarkable story in country music, undeniable. Please go wherever you can and get all his shit. It's absolutely tremendous. You also may know him. He played Jerry Lee Lewis and Walk the Line. So my man's got some acting chops, too. multi-talented renaissance man as it were but i hope you guys enjoy this and again tell your friends download subscribe leave us up five-star review and uh i love you bye

skew they're the they're the river rednecks they like cornbread but sex they care way too much but don't give a fun they're the never rednecks that makes some people upset but they got three big old dick You can sun. Here we are. How about this? Happy, yeah, Merry Christmas. I hope it was great. We can't talk about anything that happened on Christmas because it hasn't happened yet,

even though it has from y'all's perspective. What's that mean? We recorded this before Christmas. You're hearing it after Christmas. That's because of our guests, not because of our guests, which is we had our guests lined up. Made more sense to knock it out at that time. So, yeah, I hope y'all had a wonderful holiday weekend,

and I hope you're looking forward to the new year. I can already tell you. Tomorrow night, tomorrow night, as when this comes out. Oh, sure. Yeah. Well, that means DJ and I are going to have a New Year's Eve show tomorrow night where you can just join us. It'll be free.

It's going to be a hangout. We're not going to do stand-up. I'm going to have guests. I'm trying to get Cho to join me, but he has time to make that decision. Trey, I can go ahead and tell you exactly how my Christmas went, even though it hasn't happened yet, and we're doing that weird Mr. Show sketch, where we pre-recorded. I set at my house, I FaceTime with the family, and then I smoke and drinking,

ate and smoke and drinking, ate, and smoke and drinking eight. Hell yeah. I'm going to be a little sad not being home for Christmas. You know, it's a pandemic, and I've got this scenario going on, and I don't have kids. Andy and I are here alone, and I'm just going to let myself eat and drink whatever I want. Like that's, you know what I mean? Like, I'm going to feel terrible the next day, but I'm just going to hit. I'm going to hit.

I'm going to nap. I'm going to read. I'm a hit. I think I'm going to do the same. I think I'm going to get, yeah, I think I'm going to get like ghost of Christmas past high. You know what I mean? Like I'm going to allow myself. I think I'm going to do it early in the day.

That way if it starts to not hit, like I might be fine by the night. But I'm pretty much, this is going to sound like the vegan, wanting to always bring it up. But it was reset time. this weekend and I kind of just forgot about that and didn't because I genuinely don't really, I don't look forward to drinking like I used to anymore. And I think I just like getting high. I probably will, I don't know, New Year's Eve, that seems like a thing, maybe some champagne. But I fucking, I don't know, man, something happened to me, like the opposite of rookie of the year. Like I got hit and I just turned into a loser or something. I don't know what it is. I just don't

care for it anymore. I want once I stopped going out on new year's eve which you know for me because I mean I had Bishop was born I was like 25 so it's been a while now and once we had we we weren't going to try to get like a babysitter on new year's eve just so we could go out and I honestly was already at a point because I had worked in bars and stuff I out right I had worked in bars and stuff I had already gotten to I was already at a point where I was like this kind of don't even really hit it don't this going out on New Year's Eve thing so once we had the kids and whatnot, it wasn't a big deal for me to stop doing it.

But once I stopped going out and chill on New Year's Eve, I very, very often I am asleep by midnight anymore. Because I just don't like, I don't know if you're not at some kind of party, you're not hanging out in some capacity. I don't understand really why. Yeah. I mean, I do understand the point. I guess I just don't care about it.

So like I'll probably be asleep. I love the idea of us, like, having a New Year's Eve show if it worked out on a weekend one year and just kind of like, not staying up until midnight to do it, but just like, I would love to do comedy on New Year's Eve. When we lived in New York, Annie and I worked at a catering company. That's another place she got molested in New York. And we weren't at all, Suto. We worked one New Year's Eve party. We all, we were in Times Square for the job. Those of us who didn't give a fuck about the job, which your boy was at the top of that list. I just left to go watch the ball drop in Times Square. And then we got ripped. We got ripped.

Well, I was at a distance, so it did hit to like spectacle-wise. Then I got ripped off stolen booze from these rich people's parties, found drugs at the party, did them drugs. And then we went out into Times Square area. Somebody got peed on, but it wasn't me. So that was funny. And I remember the next day being like, I don't think I'll ever do it again.

Like, that's it. That's my last New Year's Eve. That's, that's, I did it. I did New York, New Year's Eve in Times Square. I had free drugs. I got drunk. I made money. That's it.

I'm done. Yeah, after, so I, during my residency at the comedy catch where I was just the host every week there for three years, I hosted New Year's Eve every year. And so I've done plenty of comedy on New Year's Eve. And it is awesome. Like, you know, that atmosphere is pretty cool. Like, everyone's there to party, but nobody really heckled, you know, like, they were ready for every joke. You were just on fire.

And then, like, there was an after party, but it was only the amount of people who the fire marshal will allow to be inside a comedy club. So, like, it's not that many. And you're the center of attention in a hitting, like, everyone just, like, nobody's bum rushing or whatever. But, like, when you're walking around, everybody's just like, you hit, you know, like, it's not your fucking dork-ass friends wearing a fucking hat. you know, when the little New Year's hats. Yeah. That was like the last. His hat says the year.

Yeah, like that was literally the last New Year's Eve I enjoyed. And then once I was over, I don't do it no more. Fuck that. Gore, lean in, let's see your hat. I think you have a number on it. Oh, it does. It's got Colt 45. It's macho man.

It's macho man. Way better. Yeah, macho man drinking a Colt 45. It's good, brother. Yeah. I don't know yet exactly how my Christmas will go. Obviously, I'll be in the house with Kay and the boys doing dad slash family slash Christmas shit all day

will not be getting drunk and high and whatnot, but it will hit for me, presumably. I will update y'all next week's episode on what actually happened on Christmas with the presents and whatnot, because I feel like there might be some good stuff coming from that. We talked on a recent episode about how I'm terrible getting gifts like for Katie.

I mean, the boys are easy, but for Katie, how she never likes my gifts. Fuck, hang on. Katie. Katie. you hear her every now and then she slips in the other room to print something off Katie no danger of her hearing this

I know this is post Christmas anyway but still no danger she'd listen to the podcast right she would yes no danger of that and even if she did this ain't coming out until post Christmas but if she came in right now but so this is what happened I could share some slight advanced ravenry she

did you guys see the Saturday Night Live Christmas sketch from this past episode it went like fairly viral it got past a lot. She showed it to me. Kristen Whig came back for like a guest role in a Christmas sketch. You got to see that? Okay. And I saw a

picture of wig and I meant to go look. I forgot. So Katie is the one who showed this to me. Like made me stop doing whatever I was doing and watched this because she loved this sketch so much. And the sketch is like a, it's kind of the Lonely Island style like rap, like humorous rap

type thing where it's like it's Christmas morning. We're a family. Everything, whatever. And all the the dad and all the kids and it's like I got an Xbox I got a globe I got some golf clubs and then at Krista Wigg she's like I got a robe and he goes back to

the kids and they're like I got some what I got some new toys I got a computer game the dad's like you know I got a set of ties and then it goes back to Crystal Wic she's like and I got a robe and on and on and so she only got everybody else got all this awesome shit all mom got

was a robe. Then she has to go, like, make breakfast for everybody while they're still in there hitting with the presents. And then they're like, then there's a big surprise. And they're like, oh, wait, it's not over yet. And you could tell she thinks like, oh, okay, here come my presence. And they're like, we got stuff for the dog. And they put the, the dog comes out and they open all the dog presents. And he got a better robe than she got and all this shit. And anyway, it's very, very funny. And here's what also was funny about it. You got her a robe? I did too. Not only, not only a robe, but it's not technically a robe.

I got her some other things too, but one of the things I was most excited about as far as like in my head, I was like, oh, I really, I really helped. I did it with this. Is this, because she, like every woman, she's always cold all the goddamn time, right? Yeah, Andy bought herself a robe a week ago. It's a wearable blanket. Hey, is it this right here? It is that.

I got the same shit. It's that exact thing. Yes, I got a matching one. We both got pink ones. So I got the same thing and I got myself one. But what is that but a glorified robe? It's a row. It's a sweatshirt.

It's a sweatshirt blanket, which turns into a, it's a robe. But like, yeah, dog, like, we're the same. I'm smiling so much. My cheeks hurt. Yeah, she showed it to me. Because it is a funny sketch and I'm laughing in my head. But in my head, I'm like, God, fucking, damn it. This is going to, this is going to, this is going to.

really, there's no way she's going to not think of this sketch when she opens that fucking gift now. I know she's going to. I would throw it away. No, the hits. No, they hit. Held the boys when it got here and we opened it up and the boys felt it. They were like, can we have one of those? Get us one of those, whatever, because it's like super soft and shit.

I did get myself one. Oh, I mean, I tell her that they helped me pick out everything to try to alleviate some of that, but she knows it ain't true. Dude, that's the thing, though. Like, that sketch is funny, but like she also will like it. It'll actually hit for her even harder because of the sketch, because the gift will now be attached to that memory of the sketch. But, like, it's so goddamn funny that we literally got to say.

It's a good deal, too. That's why I got myself one. Yeah. I wish I'd have got Andy one if I'd have known about the deal because Andy got, she got herself one two weeks ago. And she went to do it. It wasn't like Andy was at Target looking for a thing. And I was like, oh, a robe.

Andy was, like, sitting here and was like, I need a fucking robe. Yeah. So, you know what? fuck s and l it is that is funny though but like i'm i'm dude i'm so pumped about and i saw it and again i saw the deal and i was like i'm getting i'm getting i got two and baby pink and you boys kids what color did you go with tray pink also yeah yeah you guys that's way better than snail what color was the one on snell it's like like very very light pink i would yeah baby pink that's the exact one i order that's funny a shit somebody on one of their writers

saw the deal and literally thought man i've been I bet a couple men somewhere really think this is the one. It is, though, bro. And here's the thing, I'm going to wear my shits to the store. Please tell me I want. Because, dude, I already wear my foot. I wear leggings to the store. I wear my kimono outside all the time.

Like, and DJ's got one too. Yeah, like I wear my leggings to the store. My Rickflare baby blue leggings with a little pink in it are going to look for, fire with that rub. So I can't fucking wait. Of course, I've made Amber's gift about me, you know. Correct me if I'm wrong. The blanket doesn't come down as low as a robe.

So it looks a little bit like a puffy skirt. and you're going to have on leggings underneath. I'm going to look like Cindy Louvre. Will you please buy some sneakers that are heels, like for ladies? I can. Yeah. I can. I'll find them.

Extra wide. Oh, that reminds me. I got myself a gift, Corey. You'll love this. I got myself those Rick Flair, Dame Dillard. Oh, those are the blue ones? No, I got the gold wing ones. Oh, hell yeah.

It just came out. Anyway, but I realized the limits of our life when I told my law school, friends that and not only were they not excited for me uh i was the subject of much ridicule i guarantee because of the because you're into shoes or because of the specific ones i think it was both i'm not sure what happened there i was just trying to celebrate with my friends yeah i mean i don't know what to tell you i i that's in my opinion bullshit i don't think you could pick a better thing than a dame lillard crossover with rick flare fucking tennis shoe like that's what i thought well teeter Teeter said

15-year-old me would have thought you would think you lead the coolest life and since it was over text he could have just been being sincere he could have just been like

God damn son I was about to say I don't I've met these folks like to me what you did objectively hits well I responded to Teeter I go yeah what would you have thought of your red Jeep

and he was like oh he would love it right yeah well anyway I don't know I just thought that hit for you when they get here I'll show them to you yeah please do

I haven't because I haven't I don't even think I've seen those I've only seen the blue They're brand new, and the blue ones, I almost got the blue ones. I tried when they came out and they sold out, and I almost got them aftermarket because I have a blue Rick Flair shirt. But then I realized, tell me how much would show them.

This is, if I get the white and gold ones, I can just buy a Rick Flair shirt that's white and gold. Accurate. I have the Dame Lillard's Stone Cold T-shirt, which is one of my favorite things. I like what Dames do. I love Dame. He's like, he became one of my faves that, you know, that first year he kind of popped and started pulling up from half court.

And then, you know, I got the Dame Portland, but every little thing that he does, I'm like, this is my dude right here. I'm a big fan. Well, he's not undersized, really, for point guard, really. He's maybe a little bit, but he's undersized to be a main score. He is a point guard. He went to a small school. Where do you go?

It wasn't Lehigh because that's where C.J. McCollum went. McCollum went to Lehigh, and he went to, oh, it's in Virginia. It's not VMI. Thray, you know about schools. It's not VMI. Looking it up as we speak. I just know as a small school guy. I'm sure it was one of Trey's safety schools.

Well, I was going to say Lehigh. I was going to say Lehigh, but that's where C.J. McCollum went. One thing I love about that backcourt, they both went to mid-majors. Right, yes. And I saw them, one or both of them talking about Jah to Jah Morant because he went to Murray State and they were like making a, they were broing out a little bit. Oh, Weber State. He went to Weber State or Weber State, however you say it.

And he re-tapped it on the NCAA tournament. Ogden, Utah. He retabbed in the NCAA tournament. And you know what? Lehigh is in Virginia. I'm an idiot. No, it's in Pennsylvania. Lehihyme sure is also purple and white, I think, which is what Weber State looks like.

They both re-tabbit in NCAA. C.J. McCullen beat Duke. I love that shit. That's my favorite shit. So I'm just a dame guy through and through. And he's a good rapper. Trey, do you have, this is off this side. It's not purple and white.

I apologize. Go ahead. This is off this subject, but back to kind of what. what we were talking about before, just because I'm curious. Do you have a, like, movie, a Christmas movie tradition with the boys? Have you, like, tried to, like, get them in on your shit, like, our old shit? Yes and no. My, growing up, and I don't remember what age it was when I started, when we started this,

but, you know, me and Paige and my dad every single year watch Christmas vacation. Are they too young? I'm very worried that they're too young, because do you know? Yeah. If I put that on and like make it much and it don't have for it. I can't even imagine how upset I know I'm going to be. So I'm still putting it off a little bit because I'm like, they're still too young to really get.

Yeah, I agree. So that was my only one. Yeah. Me personally. And I don't feel like they're there yet. However, Katie has instituted a elf lot. We watch elf with them every year at Katie's. But it doesn't.

Don't get me wrong. I mean, elf hits for me. But I'm saying that was. that was Katie's thing but it is a tradition you know we watch elf with them every year they also they do love home alone but I asked about that when you guys want to watch home alone and penton goes meant goes I don't know but whenever we do can we just skip to the end part like they just want to get to the hilarious the big raid on the house which I mean is obviously the hit and as part of the whole movie um but yeah so great but why I mean I know why you asked but

what the honestly it was specifically for Christmas vacation I was curious if you'd showed it to them. And I agree with what you're doing because, like, yeah, that would forever break my heart for you. And, like, I do think, like, I don't think it's like a question of, like, there is some racy stuff in there, but I don't think it's a thing that, like, they don't accidentally hear sometimes. Yeah, I'm not worried about that part at all.

I'm only worried about them not really digging it. I know for a fact, the whole set piece with the squirrel at the end and the cat and the Christmas tree and blowing itself up and all that. All that shit I know will smash for them. Yeah. But that's all like, you know, towards the end or whatever and all the other, like just, you know, I mean, the joke stuff, the stuff that is funny if you get the jokes. I'm just worried that a whole lot of that will just sound like grownups talking to the. Right. They won't be into it and it just, I just don't want that to happen. That movie does, that movie does go through two stages of hit in my opinion. It's like when you're a kid, you can, you love all the stuff that you just mentioned. you love Clark's rant, but I think as a kid you only love it

because he's cussing and yelling, and that's just funny to see a man do that. But there's a second hit, and that's when you grow up and have a family here on and have responsibilities, and then you watch the movie through that lens, and you really, Clark Griswold becomes so much more well-rounded in your head. You get that you fucking get this guy,

and like you get, when he comes in and he, you know, he gives this special present, I just put the present over here. You understand that this man, and just trying to do his goddamn best, and just let me have this one fucking day, and nobody will. Like, every joke in that.

And then Cousin Eddie hits a lot harder because, like, when you're a kid, cousin Eddie just hit, now you're looking at through the lens of like, oh, my God, what a pain in the ass. Like, if this was to happen to me at my house, if fucking one of my in-laws just showed the fuck up in an RV, it's so, yeah, they're not going to be able to get that

until they're a lot older, but still, the movie's just, it's so fucking great. yeah we've talked before about how like comedy in general we say this as comedians because it's just the objective truth yeah ages like fucking milk it does generally speaking comedy don't hold up well for the most part with very few limited exceptions and in my opinion christmas vacation is one of them i mean it's still absolutely uh hilarious to me and that's just not that ain't easy for comedies to do um it's really not uh but when it's you know when the uh something that doesn't change is stress around the holidays,

and they do a really good job of that's the central comedy in it. And surprisingly, there's only, like, really one moment, like, now that we're in the Me Too world, that you're kind of like, I don't know. And it's just Clark talking to the lady at the makeup counter and, like, hell, she's flirting with him, fuck. So, like, for sure. That's a problem with, like, a lot of them 80s comedies

is, like, some of the shit really holds up, but it's like a good 15 to 20 minute chunks. It's just like, bro, that's rape. Yeah. Some of it, it's literal, just actual rape. I know. Yeah. Like Revenge of the Nerds or whatever.

That's right. Like has rape in it. And then the ones that aren't actual rape are still like, you know, pretty rough. Revenge of the Nerds had a few. There was rape. There was also like as a joke, they sold pies and it was illegally gotten pictures of women. So you eat the pie and there was nudity

at the bottom. We're talking about the 80s. One of the biggest comedies of our youths. Youth, our collective youth, American Pie, cultural phenomenon. And I loved that movie, but like a huge plot point in the First American Pie is him secretly setting up a webcam

to film the Audia. Yeah, not, but what's that called? Foreign Exchange student. Thank you, Jesus. Oh, Corey knows something about Film the foreign exchange student changing in his room and getting all his friends to watch it and stuff like that

which I was made to look like an asshole for doing it, right? He was a little bit, but only because he accidentally sent it to the whole school, not because he did it. That was an homage, like the... I know this from the writer-director. Yeah, to porkies. Yeah, right. So it's like, it's a canon, I don't know, it's a trope.

Yeah, it very much is a trope, yeah. But I... Jesus Christ. I'm not trying to downplay this part of it. That's not my point. I'm just saying just for the record, though, it's not like, for me at least, a whole lot of really old comedies.

It's not even something where it's like, God damn, it's so funny, but it's so problematic. Like there are, there are plenty of them that are like that, but dude, there's a whole lot of old comedies that I have, like,

watched way, you know, like, way after they came out, like, because I know they're classics, so I went back and made it a point to watch them. that like it ain't even none of that shit it's just like not good to me like to me it's so weird because I know it was crushing people at the time but literally some of them dude I can watch them and I'm in

my head I'm like I'm a comedian and a comedy writer yeah and everything and I literally don't I don't I don't even know what they were doing I don't know what about this is supposed to be funny like I know that people love this and people were laughing at it but like I see no joke here. I don't see an angle. Like, I don't even follow how this is supposed to be funny. And it's with some classics too. Dude, I'm

going to get buried for this by our fans, and hey, I'll take it. It's fine. Because overall, it is a good movie still. But I rewatch planes, trains, and automobiles not that long ago. Dude, I clocked it. 33 minutes is the first time I even chuckled.

And this is a classic comedy. And again, it's not like oh, that just fell flat because they've done it a lot. I'm like, I don't even know where you're, like what the thing was, but now, again, the moment it was distracting? No, it just, it didn't fit because it wasn't bad. Like, the first 30 minutes wasn't bad. It just wasn't funny.

Like, it just wasn't funny at all. Like, home alone, way funnier. You know what I mean? And playing strange the automobile is like, you know, it's in the, one of the citizen canes of comedy to a lot of people. 33 minutes is when I first chuckled. And I was like, and then the stuff that made me laugh after was like, okay, yeah, that's dated.

It's not their fault. I'm sure at the time it was smashing, but like, I don't know up until 33 minutes what was supposed to be funny. And again, I'm going to get crucified. I'm sure there's a lot of people saw it at the time and they're really nostalgic for it. But yeah, I don't get it.

I don't know what they were going for. Speaking of crucified, what were they doing in the Bible? That wasn't funny at all, man. Heard that, didn't hit. Go to bibles.com and use the promo code well read for 30% off the New Testament. Comedy's the only thing.

comedy's not the only thing that has to deal with that. It's just so pronounced in comedy. Because I just thought of an example. There's a story I heard, I think like a girl told me this in law school, meaning I don't think I read this, but in the composer world, some famous composer who is now huge and we have all heard of him and I don't remember who it was because I'm dumb and don't hit. But they had a thing that's now considered a classic,

and at the time it was so new. and weird, like, the audience, you know, through radishes at them or whatever. Now, I realize that's reverse. That's something coming too soon. But, like, people appreciate classical music, but it don't rip with the kids. So, like, other art kind of changes, right? Yeah, for sure, everything. Another thing that I've thought before, like, I'm, I consider myself a movie buff,

not as much I used to be. My dad on a VL store when I was a kid, I grew up in it. Like, I was a huge movie buff up, and the only thing that changed it is, is I got more into TV. Golden Age of TV started and I became more of a TV guy than a movie guy. That's it.

But I still watch a lot of movies and I used to very much be a movie buff and so I know this is like blaspheming. And not all of them, but it's not just comedies is all I'm trying to say. I have gone back and watched other like classic movies, like classic dramas and stuff. But for me at least typically in the ones that like I'm,

like I'll just name one because a lot of, it's been for, among centophiles, you know, movie lovers. this is considered like one of the best ever made but not in like to regular people so I'll just name it. Francis Fork Hopeless

movie The Conversation, right? It's supposed to be like one of, it's considered by like critics. It's supposed to be one of the greatest movies ever made. I went back and I went and watched it finally as a grown man like probably three or four years ago or something and to me it's got Gene Hackman in it. It's wild because it's kind

of almost about some NSA type shit but it came out in the 70s. So that's why and so that's part of it for me. But anyway, what I'm getting that is I watched and to me it was like, okay, I can appreciate how like wild and groundbreaking and different and everything this all was when it came out, which made it stand out. And this isn't this movie's fault, but all the years have passed and all this stuff has been done a million times by a million other people by now.

Do you know what I mean? Oh, yeah. So it's no longer special in any of it. way and when you don't have that context for it it's like there's not a whole lot too it's not that yeah it's not what it is crazy nothing that great happens i get that it was it's like lindy bruce kind of effect except that's going back to comedy now where it's like i can appreciate how important that wasn't what that meant at the time or whatever but it's not like it holds up in terms of being all fucking edgy and out there and shit anymore i mean of course it doesn't yeah i heard i heard

to put some on a podcast I was listening to recently. It's about Star Wars. And they were talking about if you, if you're basically our age, you saw Star Wars for the first time on like VHS or like the, when they did the re-release in the theater. And there's a good chance that before you saw it, you already knew the reveal of Darth Vader being Luke's father because,

and it's misquoted because he actually says, no, I am your father. But like a lot of people say, Luke, I am your father. It's like, that was like such a part. I didn't either for the record, but that was such a part of pop culture that you could know that. And some people were saying like a lot of y'all truly can't grasp that at the time,

that was the biggest fucking cliffhanger reveal ever. And like nothing had been, like there was nothing on that level ever. And when you watch it now, you can't watch it any other way than how you know it. you can't, you can't willfully forget all that shit. And, you know, a movie like that can be the same way. It's like, it's not these goddamn movies fault that years and years and years of context happen. And like, it's not a movie's fault that CGI is better now.

But if you watch a movie with shit CGI, it don't goddamn matter how many times somebody says, look at the time, you got to understand. It's like, I know, but my eyeballs don't give a rat's fucking ass. This don't hit. I think, though, the difference, you're completely right, though, but start. War still hit. Yeah. With comedy, the misses can be painful. It can be cringy. It can be almost the emotion is close to disgusting. I know that sounds strong, but like, if you think of how you feel when somebody swings for a joke and really misses, you feel embarrassed for them

and painful and awkward. So I think that's why it's harder on comedy. Everything will get dated, but it happens quickly with comedy and dated comedy is horrible. It has to be timely. It's the whole thing. It's kind of wild like that. That's the thing about comedy is like why we're, why comedy's so good is that comedians are very quick and very good at like, hey, something's happening right now.

Let's go make fun of it. But then when that gets recorded in 30 years later, nobody has the context of what was going on culturally. Like comedy's always trying to touch on culture, whereas like dramas can do that, but you know, your typical drama movie can just be like, look, affairs have always existed, people have always cheated on people, there's always been war, these aren't things that are brand new, so this is going to be way more evergreen. Like you watch some, you watch some caddy shack stuff,

and oh my fucking God, Rodney Dangerfield pops up and like, I know by how he is acting that he's hitting, but the stuff that's coming out of his mouth, like I know a lot of these 80s references just because I know who Rodney Dangerfield is and I'm kind of a student of comment. But there's a lot of it where I'm like, dude, there's no reason for an 18-year-old watching this to get what the fuck he's talking about. And it's okay if they think this is garbage because, like, at the time, this was on point. But, like, it just ain't no more. And, like, comedy does that more than any other genre, in my opinion. Absolutely.

Absolutely. You know what doesn't do that? Country music. You know what can be, if not timeless, close to timeless. A good goddamn country record. I agree. It's okay with you guys. I'd like to transition to the next part of our episode today.

Here. We have as a guest the incomparable Wayland Pain. I say incomparable because, as you will hear, his backstory is borderline unmatched, I would say, in terms of being country music royalty. It's legit. And then the album he put out, which tells about, I guess, the other half of his life, is unreal. We talk about the album.

We talk about his life, so I don't want to get to it. But it's called Blue Eyes, the Harlet, the Queer, the Pusher and Me. I think it's my favorite album all year. It's definitely my favorite non-rap album all year. And I hope you guys enjoy this talk and support Waylon. It was a very good, if I can say some, myself, a conversation. This is not only a tremendous artist, but a rad fucking dude who I had a blast with. It was an easy talk.

This was one of those conversations that I think I can speak for the guys. I now feel like I've known Whalen a lot longer than just this interview. I can't wait to hang out with him. For sure. And let me say this because we didn't sit on the podcast. He mentions on there, you guys will hear this, that he kind of started modeling himself after Christoperson. We didn't, nobody replied to this because obviously he kept going.

He came pretty fucking close. When you hear how good this album is, and then as you guys will learn, he was Jerry Lee Lewis in Walk the Line. He's a phenomenal actor. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Well,

I'll do. Hell of a guy. Hell of an artist. So enjoy this. Waylon Payne. Yeah. You know, download it, subscribe to the podcast,

tell your friends, leave us that five-star review if you ain't. And more importantly, just tell everybody, if you like this podcast, there's a good chance your goddamn friends will too.

So here's Whalen Payne. Skew. Skew. Scoo. Everybody, let's take a second and talk about meat. Did you know that the best stuff isn't available

at the grocery store? but if you order your meat online, you should know that some of those boxes import their meat from overseas. Well, I've been getting my meat from United Harvest, which is a new delivery company founded by ranchers. They exclusively provide the best cuts of American beef. Wagyu, which I just learned to pronounce, by the way, ladies and gentlemen, wagyu. I'm probably still doing it wrong. And lamb, which I just had for the first time, let's see, three or four days ago, I had the United Harvest lamb, and I got to tell you, I thought I was going to screw up.

Of course, your boy, Sue viz, so you can't screw up. Man, it was tremendous. Like, this United Harvest stuff, like, again, I know. Look, I know, I know that this is an advertisement, but I promise you, you want to tweet my wife and ask her if I don't talk about this on the reg with all my friends? Ask her. I literally won't shut up about it. I know exactly what I'm getting and exactly where it's from.

And, dude, and again, you can just, you can taste the difference. It's the best steak, the best lamb I've had. We're going to do pork shops this week, so I'll get back at you. United Harvest works directly with North American family farms that uphold the highest standards of quality and animal care instead of an industrial factory. All of United Harvest meat is processed in Oregon go ducks by an expert butcher. The end result is superior to what you get from the big supply chains and sold directly to you at a surprisingly good price. We're talking premium cuts like ribby, which of course you know like me is well marbled and much. mouth-watering, New York strip, which is potato-fed, not corned.

Guys, it's potato-fed. They're feeding these cows potatoes, and then you get to eat them. So you're essentially eating tater beef, all right? It's a richer, fuller flavor. Waygue, top star loin steak, which is a versatile cut that's lean and flavorful, and also lamb loin chops that are perfect for a holiday party. Well, it wasn't a holiday party, it was me and my wife hanging out, but that's a party to me.

They're tender, packed with flavor, quick to cook. The flavor is literally out of this world because premium, quality is built into every step of United Harvest sustainable farming process, which includes no hormones, GMOs, or unnecessary antibiotics. Since United Harvest, farmers are right here in the USA. There's no imported meat from halfway around the world like some meat delivery companies do. Just premium cuts of perfect meat delivered overnight. Guys, we've told this story. I think maybe we haven't told it on this podcast, But we weren't completely aware that we were about to be sponsored by United Harvest. I'll give you a little peep behind the curtains.

How it works normally is, are people come to us and they're like, hey, this company's interested in advertising? Would you be interested? We're like, yes, obviously, though, we have to try the products before we will tell people if we like it or not, and if we don't. I mean, I'm sorry, we're not. We've only had that happen one time, and I'm not going to say who it is because I'm not in the business of burying people, but it has happened.

But we didn't know that. we skipped that process and we all just went out to our, what is it called there, your porch, you know, and we just all had a box of meat, a surprise box of meat. And as Trace said, if you've never done, if you never had a surprise box of meat come to your house, get blackout drunk, order some meat. It's the greatest thing. I can't tell you how great it is. And this has just been the gift that keeps on giving because every day I've just, I mean, the pork belly, I made some ramen.

My God. It's just, it's sincerely, I assure you. I still sing their praises even to people that I'm not trying to get them to just use the promo code. But since we're here, and I did just bring up promo code, what I want you to do is go to UnitedHarvest.com. That's UnitedHarvest.com. Enter the promo code well read. That's W-E-L-L-R-E-D. And get 20% off sitewide with your order of $50 or more. That's UnitedHarvest.com. Use that promo code, well-read at checkout.

Guys, if you value quality, flavor, and convenience, who doesn't? Then check out UnitedHarvest.com. Be sure to use that promo code, well read, save 20% off your order of $50 or more. While we're also talking about food that I love, here's a company that's really giving me a lot. I stand for these people so much, and that is our good friends over at Hello Fresh. all right get fresh pre-measured ingredients and mouth-watering seasonal recipes delivered right to your door with them with hello fresh America's number one milk kit hello fresh lets you skip those trips to the grocery store which by the way guys um I enjoyed that pre-pandemic but now that we're in the pandemic that's one of the biggest benefits you know how to go to the grocery store

makes home cooking easy and fun and affordable you're not wasting anything like you know when you go to uh oh this oh we got to have a little uh a little a little spinach for this gimmick, whatever, and then you have to throw the rest of the way of the bag because it will. It's not here. You get all, every single thing that you need, pre-measure, all that good stuff. It's absolutely tremendous. I said, we had one of their premium meals the other night.

We had Duck O'Lorange for the first time. I felt like I was in like an 80s movie or some shit eating Duck O'Rohans. Literally the best thing I've ever had in my life. Since I had a little fresh as Duck O'Anne, I told my wife I was like, I didn't know, I guess I just never had duck before. I thought that I had. Maybe I'd had a con feed or something.

But I'm about to start duck hunting because, like, I need so many ducks in my life because HelloFresh's was just undeniable. It's just, it's so tremendous. I've been using them for about, I don't know, two to three years now. And, I mean, I ain't going nowhere, son. I just, I just absolutely love it. Go everybody to hellofresh.com slash 80 red. Hellofresh.com slash 80 red. and use the code 80 red to get $80 off.

Is that right? $80 off? Good Lord. $80 off, including free shipping. That's hellofresh.com slash 80 red and use code 80 red to get $80 off including free shipping. And I've maybe have told this before, but if not, I'm going to tell it again. This system here, the Hello Fresh, literally taught my wife that she could cook, not to cook, but taught her that she cooked. My wife was always like, oh, I can't cook. You're so good at cooking.

I can't cook. And we got this and she just step by step. It's so easy. All the ingredients are right there. And then finally she was like, oh my God, I think that I can. I think that I can cook. I was like, yeah, that's all it is. It's just falling. So you follow the directions. It's tremendous. They offer convenience, no contact delivery to your doorstep for easy home cooking and you can stay distance and all that good stuff. Feeding the whole family has never been easier with lower prices for larger box sets. I know they do stuff on Christmas and Thanksgiving. It's absolutely tremendous. They deliver fresh, high-quality, pre-portioned ingredients, as I've said. They are also the first global carbon-neutral meal kit company crushing it. Absolutely crushing it. So, guys,

Hellofresh.com slash Red 80 promo code Red 80. You got to do it. They're also, man, it just gets better. Hellofresh is committed to donating to those in need so far in 2020. they've donated 3.5 million meals. So you can help too with Hello Fresh's Beyond the Box program where you give nutritious meals to those experiencing food insecurity with just a couple quick clicks. A couple quick clicks.

I'm sorry, guys. You'd think maybe I talked for a living. But yeah, I can't say enough good things about this company, the United Harvest. So anyways, there's the Spill, guys. Now back to the show. Love you, bye. Thanks for having me.

Hey, well, it's nice to meet you. Where are you at right now? Nashville? Yep, Nashville, Tennessee, me and Petey, we're hanging out here waiting for Christmas. What's up, Petey? Man, it's rough in Tennessee right now. I know with everything going on. I'm so tired of saying that phrase, everything going on.

It's crazy over here because it's, we go back and forth between, you know, Tennessee and L.A. County daily, like hourly almost. like, well, they're worse than us. No, no, we're the worst. And they show that map of the United States on the TV. And it's like Tennessee's lit up like Rudolph. It's kind of crazy. Yeah, it's wild. You mentioned L.A. County.

That's where Trey and I are at. And then my family and my wife's family are in two of the three or four worst counties in Tennessee. So 90% of the people I care about are in ground zero. You know, my people, my family's in Austin and Houston and Houston and all three pretty hard hit. And I've got tons of friends and y'all's pound because, I mean, for many, many years I lived right there in Laurel Canyon. So it's kind of a weird, weird place that we're in. But we're here at Christmas, so, you know, maybe we'll all get a miracle or something and wake up from this dream. I have a bad feeling it's going to be the exact opposite.

Like when I think of, I mean, I just say that because of like the fact that it is Christmas. And I feel like there's going to be some people that even if they were kind of, you know, taking the pandemic at least a little bit serious, like Christmas is going to be the thing that breaks them into being like, okay, well, we got to have, we'll just all get together for this. And like, I have a bad feeling that like, you know, about a week into January, we're going to see some pretty shit numbers. but I'm going to just, I'll hope with you that we see a miracle instead. Man, you know, there's something kind of strange.

It's really strange, and I don't mean to get political. Go ahead. With this outfit, never. No, it's fine. Notice for the past few years, like, well, of course, I never realized that we couldn't say Merry Christmas. I'm a Christmas freak. I love it. Me too, right.

I say Christmas starting in July sometimes, but my tree. up in October. I'm happy. Love it. And it's been very strange to hear some people over the past few years go, wow, we can say Merry Christmas again. Look at us. We can say Merry Christmas again, but yet Christmas is dead this year under these circumstances in a weird way. It's kind of strange. Everything that you're told to us kind of comes true in a weird sort of way. Yeah, it's almost like the Trump administration, I'll get political. It's almost like the Trump administration is who really killed Christmas. It's almost as if they.

It's like he's been pretty. And it's kind of, I mean, you know, I'm just an observer. I mean, I'm just a country singer. And so my opinion is whatever. But I'm an American and I vote and I pay taxes. And so I believe I have the right to an opinion because we all do under the Constitution of the United States of America as citizens. we have rights that are inalienable.

And so I have a right to say what bothers me. You know, we all do. And I wish that it was heard. Back when I was growing up, I mean, I'm almost 50, you know. And I have voted Democrat and I have voted Republican in my life. It didn't really, you know, I just kind of followed my heart. But there used to be this middle ground that would happen on the day after the election. and everybody would shake hands, and then we would get to work.

It was like, it was like we all remembered that, you know, it was like a fair fight. It was like a schoolyard fight where you would beat each other up and then, you know, shake hands and go buy a beer afterwards. You know, but there seems to be no more of that. It's like everything is so far left and so far right. And, you know, I get called a bleeding heart liberal all the time, and I don't even know what the hell that means.

No, I hear you on two fronts. Like, first off, going with what you said on Mary Cucral, Christmas. I've, A, I'm a liberal. Hell, I'm a goddamn atheist and I still love Christmas, you know, and I, but to that, I've literally never heard, and because I'm a liberal, I tend to hang out with that type of folk. I've never once heard anyone of my liberal friends go, oh, man, that sign says Merry Christmas. It should say Happy Holidays. Like, I've never heard that. But I have heard so many people from my hometown see a sign that says happy holidays and go, bo, that should say Merry Christmas.

It never goes the other way. As when I see, I mean, as a Christmas lover, when I see happy holidays, my brain just goes, Christmas is a holiday. That's what they mean by that. Awesome. And with the liberal and the far right and far left divide, man, I think like a lot of people during this election season, I rewatched West Wing just because it was on Netflix. And I see like Jed Bartlett go out, you know, when he's running for reelection and he's

campaigning and you know all these like uh they were talking about all these undecided voters and i was watching it on the tv and i was like what is that even anymore like that that's like in this show they make it seem like there really is this huge chunk of people who don't have their mind made of and watching that i was like honestly it just doesn't even seem like in this day and age the politicians have to campaign when they're running for president you get one that's a republican one's a democrat everybody knows where they fucking stand that's what we're going to do because we are so far you're either you want to kill babies or you don't want to kill babies. That's how some of these motherfuckers see it.

Yeah. Oh, and that's another one too. I mean, you know what? I mean, they'll eat me alive for this, but like this has been my opinion since my aunt when I was very young, you know, criticized me for voting for Ann Richards when I was 18 because I supported abortion. And I was like, no, no, no, no, no. I'm sorry, but there's one thing I know for a fact.

I will never ever have to make a decision about. about what goes on with a woman's body. That is never going to be, you know what I mean? I'm never going to be pregnant. I will never have to make that decision. Therefore, it is none of my business. And I don't think it should be anybody else's either, you know. But when you say that, all of the sudden, oh, my God, you're a baby killing liberal,

and you probably eat, you probably kill babies in pizza shops and eat their granite. Yeah, I'm so mad that we can't get in on that. like you got a hit country record we're big committee tray's been on bill mar when the fuck are they going to give me some adrenachron maybe tray's holding out on us maybe you and tray got it you won't tell me about i didn't know what you were talking about for a minute there now but i'm nowhere even near the adrenacrome echelon uh yet no i won't even let me say the vials that they keep it in uh i want let's talk i mean hell let's talk about country music because yeah yeah whaling here as i understand

named for Wayland Jennings your godfather, both your parents, country musicians. That's all accurate. Yes, sir. My mother, well, my father was a guitar player, and he played for 30-plus years for Willie Nelson. So I grew up around Willie Nelson. I was around him from a childhood age

because before my daddy played for Willie Nelson in 74, he played in my mama's band. My mama was a country divan named Sammy Smith, and she and he were held parents. I'm really proud to be their kid, dude. That's awesome. But because of them and all that, I mean, you've grown up, you said you were almost 50 earlier,

so you've spent nearly half a century pretty firmly entrenched in the world of country music, right? So, like, I know the three of us have a lot of thoughts about the trajectory that we've witnessed just as fans, but I guess I'd rather start. off broad and ask you like politics you know there's a whole lot of different views

of what is supposed to be for sure Republican and Democrat or country or Western or the vice versa you know right so what do you think like just having what and also not making it sound like you're just a spectator you're not you're music

you're an artist yourself and you've been in it again for a long time how do just generally speaking how do you feel about the trajectory it has taken in your time and where it's at right now. Tell us about it. Well, I will say you mentioned earlier that I happened to be lucky enough to finally have a hit record.

And it's been a journey that I've been on for 30 years. I'm trying to do this since I was 18 years old. I went through some lots of different versions of country music. I was raised from a very young age. beer joints with my mama and backstage at the grand old offering. My mother was very well respected and a huge star when I was a child and up through my teenage years. And then when she quit working and I became a young man, I met my father when I was 16 and around 18 or 19. Part of the family and I split ways, but I was able to go to my father and Willie and pick up there.

And so I started hanging out with them. And I learned everything I know about country music from my mother and Willie Nelson and Chris Ristopperson and Bobby Gentry and so many other people. But those are my four people, you know. That's a damn good education right there. You know, it's really strange. You know, I mean, I was raised with my aunt and uncle in a little town called Viter, Texas. And I had records. had records, albums, and I would play them on my little record player, and I had this thing called

a radio, and like the strangest thing was my mama sang to me through that radio, and my mama sang to me through these records, and so many of her friends, all of her friends that I knew, was like, you know, my own private Muppet show, dude, I had the craziest people around and the coolest people, you know, you'd never know who she'd come through town with, whether it would be Johnny Cash or Mickey Newberry or, you know, Doddy West or, you know, you'd never know. It was just a, and life with her was always crazy. And then when I became a man and I started hanging out with Willie, that's when I really started getting an education, watching that man and watching Christoperson, you know, I had some problems with my family when I was 18,

because I got thrown out for being gay. Right. And people, my mama, included for a while, had a problem with me. So I just picked the most badass mofo I could find, and that was Christopherson, and everybody modeled, you know, nobody ever had anything bad to say about him.

So I watched him, and I learned from him, and I put myself together. So, like, as a defense mechanism, I think you're saying, you just were like, well, I figured if people had a problem with me because I was gay and I couldn't do anything about it. There must be, you know, I don't know. I don't have any rules for how this whole thing in my life happened.

And I'm not a typical gay guy. I mean, I'm pretty gay. I mean, I guess whatever. I don't date, you know, but if I was going to date it, probably be a dude. And, you know, 16 years. So I don't think about that stuff right now, you know. I just kind of have been on. this look at I started getting sober about nine years ago and or I got sober nine years ago and

the last nine years have just been kind of relearning my life because I spent so much time pushing some stuff down that happened to me in my childhood down with drugs and alcohol running from it and once I started facing it kind of you know you put it where it goes I know I don't answer any question at all Well, I think it answered about seven, and it opened up about seven more. So I guess my follow-up there, I guess let's situate you historically then. When you say you started rolling with Willie, around what time period was that? I was not.

So that would be 90, 92. Okay. And you joined the band, correct? Didn't really join the band. My daddy played guitar, but, I mean, I would just go on there. It was just a different kind of a thing, you know. We smoked dope and went on the road, and my dad was a rock. star and he worked for Willie and Willie was our we were a family you know that's that's true

shit and they taught me they taught me how to do what I do you know I had learned a lot for my mama and then the boys kind of pulled me in and they're like all right let's go ahead and we'll love you anyway you are but let's go ahead and show you how to be the badass this badass you can be and they did and is that do you feel like that that's a little bit of where the drugs came in like learning that on the road I mean absolutely my daddy was you know my daddy was completely responsible for me doing you know he was the first person i did speed with coke with me you know weed drinking he couldn't deal with some stuff that you know like he couldn't deal with what happened to me at home and so we didn't talk about it but but we could

be men and we could drink and we could go rock and roll and and that's how he helped me you know It wasn't healthy, you know, but, you know, but it was love. You think he meant well. Yeah, you know, we just did the best we could. We didn't really even know each other when we, you know what I mean? Yeah. It never hung out. I met him when I was 16 and I was still living with my aunt and uncle.

So I didn't really, you know, my mama didn't want me hanging out with him pretty much because, you know, of the fast living. Yeah. But when I got old enough and they, you know, they kind of turned me away for a way. while and I needed somewhere to go and I went to my other family. Yeah, I could say, I mean, that's, let's love. And that's contributed, okay, let's get back to that other thing you were talking about. What do I think of the state of music? I do music like that.

My, my heroes are Willie, Chris, Bobby, Mama. I do a show pretty much just like Willie. I sing a lot of mine and I sing a lot of other people that I think people need to hear and people would like to hear. And I am about making music and making movies and making art. You know, that's about what I want to do. I think that the true stuff is really, would they call us Americana now, which is, I guess, okay.

Okay. So you're just whatever about that? I definitely have asked how you talked about that. I've tried, like, I've been wanting to be a country singer. Right. Since I was a baby, but it just doesn't mean the same thing. anymore. I don't.

Right. You're right. Well, what people like, and I've said this on here plenty of times before and also, I'm just a fan. I'm not saying that I'm right. But out here in L.A., it's the subject to country music comes up or whatever. Or Americana and people out here, you know, Hollywood people don't listen to either. Be like, well, I don't eat.

What is Americana? And my half-joking answer has always been, well, as far as I can tell now, Americana is country music that's good. If it's good, then they call it Americana. And if it's, you know, super poppy mainstream, whatever LCD type stuff, then that's what goes by country nowadays. And I'm very much one of those, you know, just trash radio country types and all about what it gets called Americana.

But I also will be like, but that just goddamn country music, you know, all that stuff. Yeah, amongst ourselves, we still call it country music. Like, for country music's fan, we still call it country music. but if I was out in the wild and somebody was like, hey, what do you listen to? Instead of me having to say country and then give the whole spiel, I'd just be like, I listen to Americana, you know. Instead of going, I listen to country, but like, okay, pre-9-11 and also post-9-11, but only if they play it on it.

And it's just the whole thing. It's like, I fucking listen to Americana. They bastardize the goddamn word country. I'm as mad about it as you are. After 9-11, the real patriots named their whole genre after America, God damn it. It's funny, Trey, you said you say that half joking, and I know what you mean by that, because sometimes Americana does sound slightly different than country music.

Jason Isbell comes to mind. That's true. But Waylon, your last record falls squarely in what Trey was talking about. That's a country record. There ain't no way around it. There ain't no reason to pretend it ain't, but other than trying to get play. Like you call it Americana,

because if you call it country, the people who, I don't know, decide what country gets on the air won't play it. How do you, have you been in the game long enough not to give a shit about that? You just want to put it out there, or does it bother you? Hey, listen, I went through a harrowing experience and I shouldn't be here, but some really cool men saved my life, and I had a hell of a story, and I wanted to write about it because I've never heard a story about it before. And so I just was honest and I put it out there. And like, that's what I want to hear.

I want to hear honest up, you know. And I think that I don't have any expectations for this. I know everybody thought it was a long shot, but I have believed in this for 10 years. I started making this record 10 years ago when it got sobering. And like, I never expected it to fail. I didn't expect it to do this. right away because it just really is

it's the first thing in my life since I've gotten sober that I have started and followed through with as a man and there's something extremely gratifying about that and the songs that I hear on the radio most times are the ones that are lying and they're extremely personal and important to me and like hearing dangerous criminal on the radio is preaching. Hearing sins of the

father about my best friend and his kid that saved my life and my crazy dad and trying to be better it's freaky my little songs have finally made it to the radio and it's pretty cool i kind of like that's great that's that's so i don't know i got chills i don't know about the rest of you i got chills like yeah it's just like i just you know you never really expect it i i kind of just i was happy that it was finally done and it was out into the world which i it's just it's it's a it's It's a song of love, you know. It's an album of love because I feel like love saved my life, a different kind of love. You know, we all have expectations about, you know, what we think love is.

And my mind got blown because I was expecting something in totally a heaven moment that came down. And I met these people that were like, you know, we're just going to love you, never leave you. And let's see what happens. And then throw a kid in there that, like, from the time he's born, depends. on you and looks at you like you're important because you wouldn't be around if you weren't. Give some people some context for that. Yeah. So my best friend Edward, he's the guy that helped me walk through this problem.

I started getting sober in 2008. I went down to Texas and my friend Cory Morrow. I was strung out. I'd been shooting meth and had gotten really hard because my mom had died in 2006. and it just escalated to a blow of boiling point. And I ended up in Texas and met this guy Edward, dude, and I kind of fell in love immediately. It was just like somebody that just came along,

and I was like, holy smokes, I don't know who this person is, but I need to know this guy. And it was almost like he felt he was giving it right back. Hey, I'm going to know you. And so I was like, hey, I think I love you. And he was like, hey, that's great, but no. But let's let me help you.

do some other things first and I'm going to show you something different, you know. So he helped me stand up, help me pull my affairs order. I was, I had to live in Hollywood. I had much needed, I didn't know where it was. I spent like a hundred grand, 200 grand on drugs in the past year. You know what I mean? I was, I was, I had potential to be something and I had thrown it away. But Edward helped me pull myself together. I moved in. To put that in the context for people real quick, I'm sure some folks know and some folks don't. You were in Walk the Line with Joaquin Phoenix. You played Jerry Lee Lewis.

You feel free to talk about that if you want, or we can get right back to where you were. I just wanted people to know why you were in Hollywood with that much money. Well, I mean, I was working with Shelby Lynn and I'm here. I stayed. I ended up meeting Keith Gaddis and we started making music and he produced my first album. and it came out in 2004 right about the time we were filming while

on the line so everything just kind of happened and my record came out and went and I kept making movies I kind of had a secondary career and made quite a few and so I'd been out there

and then I just kind of lost control over the drugs I got a bad relationship with somebody that was more of an addict than I was and before I knew it we were smoking meth and I'd never done that before.

I'd just been, like, snorting it with my dad, you know. And so I thought I could party because we'd been partying for years, but, like, smoking meth is something crazy different, and then injecting it is even more different. And suddenly I was just there because I had no barriers, you know. So I ended up just being this junkie, and I'd reached out to Corey and ended up in Texas to do some dates. I met Edward.

My family was down there. Willie was down there, you know. And so I moved on to his golf course, Willie's golf course, New Condo, and he started trying to get sober. I just knew I needed to stay around. I never came back to Nashville. I needed to stay in Texas and get myself together. So slowly over the next 10 years it did.

It took me about four years to get off of it. And then on my buddy Lake's first birthday, Edward had a baby, he and his wife. And I got to be right there with this family because we were family. And so I watched this child be born. And he would talk to me while he was in the wound. I would put my hand on his mom's desk, you know. And when he came out, he knew me.

And it changed my life. It just really, really changed my life. I wanted him to respect me like he respected his father because his father was a respectful man. And Edward helped me remember that I could. have respectable people in my life. So those boys helped me put myself together, and I just wanted to write about it. And that's what the album is all about.

The album's about all that, the new family, the stuff you went through. It's a moment when it starts at Sins of the Fog. We started hanging out, Edward and I moved back to Texas in 2008, and Daddy had left the road as Willie by then, and he just kind of went home and drank himself to death. It took him a few years, but he did. hard death, you know.

What a high horse. The dead man's on. It's about his funeral and about my stepmother and I trying to deal with the aftermath of that, you know. So much of it was me analyzing the need that I've always had for a father and I never had it, you know. And suddenly this stranger, Edward, he's more of a father to me than anybody, you know. crazy how that works well the record is called Blue Eyes the Harlot the Queer the Pusher

and Me and I think it is unbelievable for something to sound this good and I don't start there to diminish the story you just told but to supplement it for it to sound this good and then also be

that personal and sincere I mean I don't even know what my question is congratulations some props out to Eric Massey and Frank LaDelle and some great musicians. I want to tell you a secret. This is how cool this thing is. Frank gave me pretty, Frank and I've known each other for 25 years. He's been in my life. He's a publisher at Carnival. Music is married to my friend Liam Lomack, and he's a producer in Nashville.

He produced Lee Ann, Miranda Lambert, countless great hit records, and he produced this album with his friend Eric Massey. And we recorded. it at Southern Ground Studio, which is Chicken Fried, which is Zach Brown. Well, it's also the studio where my mom I've recorded every hit song she ever had.

Help me make it through the night. Wow. Pregnant with me many of those times. I stood exactly where she stood and we recorded this album. And it has been magical every step of the way.

They just loved, they love me and they loved we all just love each other we all came together because we love country music for music and they helped me get this thing out and it was just a laborer of

everybody really you know and you feel it you know I I went on the road last year you know and part of this year and it works you know we didn't have shit for crowds

because it was like coming out You know? And so they were like, we like New York City and there were like four people, you know, and you're like, hey, thanks, you know, and you are running from the COVID. But still, the people that were there, you heard from, you know. Hey, Petey, what happened? They heard from Petey too. Yeah. Pedy wants you to know. He likes it. That's right. Say, hey, buddy. Say, hey, buddy. Petey. Do you want to say hi? Do you? Do you, are you hoping to tour of the record when things hopefully get back to normal? as quick as we can. I want to do a lot of stuff and, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey. He's fine. Our fans like dogs more than they like us.

Come up here and get up here. You know what, man? I want to do some stuff in Vegas. There's this cat out named Charlie Crockett. Yeah. Oh, I love Charlie Crockett, man. That shit's good. It is.

It's going on. Hey, hey, hey. And I bet it's a packet. Anyway, it doesn't matter. I just got into him this past year and, man, I fell in love. love that dude yeah that shit's gold i told him i was like dude that's sexy i don't even know if that's bad to say to you but it's like sexy and then being a cool manly way you know yeah you don't hear music like that and you feel it you know you feel it and like uh it's like our record i feel

it the strings you know frank and and eric and everybody that played on it you know uh glen warp and deep and balanced it's just great yeah well i mean yeah world unends itself how did you how did you come across it me yeah uh i think tyler mayhan co had been tweeting about how this record is going to have an effect on the industry and while i realized that when he tweets he's always trying to move a needle I didn't, I was like, he wouldn't say that if he wasn't blown away. So I don't even know what, he didn't even say what he was talking about. He was like real, you know, like there's going to be one coming out. And I figured out a couple of days later what when he was talking to.

And the first song is Sins of the Father. And I was immediately floored because that song particularly is so bluesy and fun while being so dark and real. And I guess, I guess, honestly, which is my favorite genre. Well, I was going to say, I guess if I could be so, I don't want to say arrogant, but like, we do comedy about dark shit. Like, it's not that it was funny. It's just, damn, this is, I want to dance to this and cry.

That's, yeah, that's our whole, that's our whole deal, which is, and I found out about it through Drew, which I can concur with all that. My whole, my whole mood always is, hey, tell me the sad truth, but do it, do it in a major key. You know what I mean? I want to. Well, I'm glad it's, I'm glad it's reaching it smart. You know, it's our family shadows and secrets and stuff. Makes for good, makes for good Southern golf, I guess.

Yeah, I'm right. Yeah, definitely made a Bobby Gentry-esque record. I agree with that. You hit the mark on that. And they're all so great. And please, people listen and go check it out. What a High Horse is the top one for me. Schiver killed me.

I don't even know. Is it a ballad? It's heartbreaking. It's unbelievable. It's all great. That's one of the, that was, that's one of the oldest songs on the album. I wrote that song in 2000 and, between 2003 and five. Really?

Yeah, I was, I was in a relationship out in California with somebody I shouldn't have been. And we were both country singers. And it was just wrong. And he had a bit of a problem, you know, like I said, smoking meth. And I had never seen anybody do that before. I'd been partying, like I said, with my dad for years, so I thought I could hang. I don't mean to be flipped, but it wasn't my daddy's meth is a very fucking funny. Yeah, this is a funny story.

So, Daddy, you know, we brought Daddy and my stepmom to the house, you know, out there in California one night. And, you know, our family motto was like, at Christmas was like, clean your plate we'll cut you a line that was just like what we did we did hell yeah mountains of cocaine and lots of wooded and lots of mushrooms we just were freaking hippies and well uh californian dude we got doing that crank you know and we would line up lines that long and just go to town and i almost killed my daddy that christmas Jimsy Speedboat We were terrible

I shouldn't be alive you know it all is a story because like we lived back then and that song

that's heartbreak I'd never been in love that strong before and I thought I was fighting for something and it's strange when you love a guy it's it's

you know what I mean guys are it's just we're different You know what I mean? And it's, it's, it's, you just find yourself tearing each other apart. And I was like, man, I love this person. There's no reason we should be doing this. And like when it ended, it was as tragic as all that, you know.

He'd never left the guy that he had left for me. You know, so like I've been committing adultery basically months and months. And this other guy found out, doctor and he comes he's like coming over with the shotgun to kill me out of my own house you know and so the other guy's like well you need to get the car and go get a plane so I'm like great yeah I'll go to austin so I get in the plane and take off to austin and we do a stop over in Vegas and as we're taking off in Vegas we get up about 30,000 feet and leaves cabin pressure so we have to circle back down and land back at LA and Vegas and I'm freaked out hi that's fun and like so I'm like no dude I'm

I'm not getting back on a plane. You can kiss my ass. And so I went to the grand and I got a hooker and, like, couldn't perform because I was high and, like, broke up. And, you know what I mean? So it was just a tragic love story. It was like, it shouldn't, I don't know what, it's one of my favorite things in the world, though, because you feel it. And I don't know, I love telling stuff. That's what I grew up on, guys.

You want to know what it is? I grew up on record. And there's a difference when you grow up on albums. I agree. You hear stories and you want to hear, you know what I mean? Yeah. Yeah, story songs of any kind of always been among my favorites and whatever genre they're in.

But since you sort of circle back a little bit, I wanted to make sure before we let you go at some point, I wanted to ask your perspective on something because it's something that we have talked about a lot, but you are somebody who was actually there throughout it all, throughout both eras. And I'm going to ramble for a minute. Talking about the state of,

country music and everything. I've always had this thing in my head. I've wondered, 90s country music, like that was on the radio, I mean, 90s country that was on the radio and on CMT. I was a kid then, the three of us all were. My mom listened to it. I listened to it. I still have a lot of love for 90s country, even now, the stuff that they played. Today, the stuff that's on the radio, and starting, Corey said earlier after 9-11, which I mean, I would agree with, but from the aughts on up, and especially today, the stuff that's on the radio, I, for 95% of the time, revile, right?

And I've always been, it's like, no, it ain't the same. Back in the 90s, even the radio country, people like, they were, they were, that was still way more country than this shit today. But like, I've known people or had friends that didn't care about country music at all one way or another. And to those people, they would be like, man, that stuff in the 90s, that was dumb too, like to these, but they don't like country, period. And I'm always getting fired up like, no, no, it wasn't. It ain't the same as this day.

It's two different things. From my perspective as a fan, I would love for you to comment on that. Has it actually gotten less, like, I don't know if legitimate's the right word or whatever, but or has it kind of, has the attitude sort of always been there, at least from the 90s on between the like commercial music row stuff and, you know, real deal shit.

okay, I'll walk you through as best as I can. From the 70s, my mama popped me out. So that was in 72. That was, helped me make it through the night. It was one of the biggest songs of the year. And you take every other song around that, and that's what I was raised in. But not only that, they started when you were raised in that.

You also heard stuff from the 50s and the 60s, because it was only 20 or 10 years old. And you know what I mean? Yeah. Yeah. Had a firm history in country music. So I've seen several transitions of it. Now, when I started making country music, I came to Nashville in the 90s, 94, 95,

and I went to Broadway, and I started singing in shitholes down there when it was nothing but hookers and thumbs, and you'd get shot, you know, but you were singing with the Texas Trevadors, or you were singing with the Opry staff band or Tanyi Tupper's band. And Country in the 90s, I mean, it was getting big. bigger, you know, but it still seemed like it was, I remember the biggest thing that changed my head or made me turn around was the woman in me by Chenai Twain. That record really, that record changed things almost overnight in a certain way because, you know what I'm saying? Music weren't a different direction because it could because she had balls and they did

something different, which was nothing more than Aerosmith and like Brian Adams, you know, same guy. But, like, there are traditionalists that kept going on, but it all kind of, it's all, I don't understand a lot of it right now. I'm not going to trash it because it's part of my, you know, I live in this town, I guess. Right. Yeah, for sure. But I have friends that are still doing it great.

You know, Miranda, she still rocks it. Ashley Monroe still rocks it. Ashley Ride still rocks it. I don't think it's a quintuble. incidents these are women for the record and that's not me trying to get woke points i think there's they're making better mainstream country generally i agree right now you need to have some sort of feeling guys well have some sort of feeling and you need to know what's going on in the world now that either takes having hard living or being a woman because you know what i mean no they they're they're

they're the birth of life they're they're their life givers they're the wisdom offer you know. Men out here, it seems a lot of our, a lot of these, I don't understand a lot of what it is. It's pop music to me. I mean, you know, people making country music, you're right, we're over there in that Americana thing, and that's okay. Let me ask it a slightly different way.

Without trashing any of the people I'm going to mention specifically, what I'm curious when I hear Trey to ask that question, what my brain wants to know is, do you think that Joe Diffy and Florida Georgia line do the same thing? Just in a different era. Just in a different era. Or was Joe Diffy and not really pop something else and Florida Georgia line is kind of without trashing what they do just.

Listen, Florida Georgia line are great. They are making lots of money and it is not Joe Diffy. Joe Diffy was country as cornbread, dude. Okay. So, yes, thank you, Drew. I appreciate that because, yes, that is what I wanted. to hear. Here to Nashville in 2015,

as we started making this record a few years ago, I took a job with my friend Lori Morgan, and I sang harmony and played guitar and a band for a couple of years there. We toured with Joe a lot. We toured. I mean, those people are country as cornbread, you know? And it's sad because I remember,

I remember when my mama stopped getting work, you know, and I remember when they stopped playing Loretta on the radio. I remember that because they stopped playing Dottie on the radio, and Tammy and Dolly. I remember that because my mother was one of those women, you know? And I watched what happened to those women. And unless you had the power and the money and the interest to pick yourself up and find something new to create it, you know, you were left by the wayside.

And that happens every time, you know. There's a turnover. Right. Strange working with my heroes, Lori, Joe, Mark Chestnut. These people were the biggest in the business and now they can't hardly get booked. Right. Or they're playing, you know, shit fairs in Iowa, you know, where they have Lori Morgan, one of the fucking biggest selling artists of country music, women-wise,

they have her in a goddamn trailer out back that's got a leaky roof, and it's a teardrop trailer trailer. And they expect the queen of country music to sit on a haybail out on the stage after coming out of her trailer where they're expecting her to do. You know what I mean? Yeah. Our heroes have to, unless you're Willie and you can command. man, 100 grand tonight, you know?

It's sad, but it keeps going, you know. Now, they're not, these, it's, it's a whole different world out there today because these guys that are playing country music, they're like multi-millionaires is singing in the sing-along. It's really kind of crazy, and things that are unheard of, like, you know, okay, well, Florida, Georgia Line and B.B. Rexa, I mean, we got to give them props. They had a country song or a song on the country chart at number one for three, for

57, 58 weeks. It was a year. That's crazy. That's, it's, it's incomprehensible that, you know what I mean? So that would, that, you know, that doesn't happen. So you got to give, I just think that the music changes. people change there's a lot of young kids out there that they don't get beer drinking and food scoop

yeah well they get dirt roads they don't get dirt roads right I think that's true but I also think when this is over you're going to see you're going to be pleasantly surprised by the amount of people who come to your shows because they still get fucking sincerity and great music I think yeah I agree you know but it's all I want to do I miss an old chunk of cold. I miss loving her was easier than anything I'll ever do again.

It's angel flying too close to the ground. Tell the people how they can check your stuff out. We know that musicians have preferred places. If you really want to support them the most, you can get the record from versus from another outlet or that type of thing. Where would you like people to check it out from? I'll tell you what, for the first time in my life. my record or my music is anywhere you want to get it.

You can get it on apples and iPods and spots and you can get it everywhere. So my record is out on Carnival and Empire. They're a great independent label and distribution company. You can get it at Waylandpane.com because somebody took the AML. Yeah. Waylon painmuse.com. Waylandpainmucin.com is where you can get the album or you can order it on iTunes. It's called Blue Eyes, the Harlip, the Queer, the Buster, and Me.

And I appreciate you're listening. And you know what? If you listen to it, write to us. You can write to me at 24 Music Square West in Nashville, Tennessee. Waylon Payne, tell me what you think of it. I'll write you back. And then look for us. to make some, I want to take this stuff to Vegas.

I want to do something different. I want to find my buddy Charlie and some other people that I dig, and I want us to go put on Bobby Gentry-esque shows in those rooms out in Vegas and make a shit ton of money and have boobies everywhere and feathers. You know what I mean? I mean. Old Vegas country music, writing letters,

writing letters, this man is a throwback. It is. Kitty's. Come on. Bring it. Right on. You're here to check it out. Check out, Waylon, check out the record. Waila Paine, thank you very much. Thank you so much. Awesome. Thanks, guys, for even knowing who I am and talking about it.

My friend Barbara Lamb is such a big fan of y'alls, and she listens to y'all with fervor all the time, and she called me the other day. She's like, holy shit, these comedians that I love, they were freaking talking about you on the radio, and she sends me this thing of Trey going, so there's this, he's a gay country singer, left his wife and cheated with a guy who said that.

I think that was me. That was true, yeah. So you had a good fan. So there you go. Well, we're certainly, we're very glad that she pointed that out to you and that you reached out because we're proud to have you. We're proud for you. We're anytime, anytime real country music starts making really good sparks,

it does our hearts well. So, Wailen, thank you for coming on here. And I speak for the guys when I say, come back anytime. You got it, pal. I'll see y'all. Vegas. All right. Absolutely.

See, Wilde. See, man. Bye. They're the liberal rednecks. They like cornbread

but sex. They care way too much but don't give a fun. They're the liberal rednecks that makes some people upset

but they got three big old dicks that you can suck.