Summary

From 2012: Sloane Spencer and Laurence Scott of The Famous dive deep into the vibrant intersection of classic country and punk rock in this episode of Country Fried Rock, laying down the unique sound that defines their music. They explore how their roots in the Dallas music scene have influenced their creative journey, blending genres like a master chef whipping up a signature dish. With a laid-back vibe, they reminisce about their formative years, sneaking into clubs and soaking in the raw energy of live performances, which they now channel into their own shows. The duo also dishes out insights on songwriting, emphasizing that their lyrics often go beyond the surface, tapping into deeper themes of connection and introspection. It’s a delightful chat that celebrates the beauty of music as a communal experience, where even fans can scribble their stories in the “book of the famous” at their gigs.

Chapters

• 00:00 - Introduction to Country Fried Rock
• 03:27 - The Evolution of Sound: From Dallas to the Stage
• 06:05 - Exploring the Essence of Our Music
• 09:21 - The Impact of Music Across Borders
• 14:22 - Exploring Musical Collaborations and Influences
• 18:16 - The Evolution of Craft Brewing

Show Notes

Sloane Spencer dives deep into a laid-back chat with Lawrence, exploring the vibrant tapestry of musical influences that shape their sound. With a nod to nostalgia, they reminisce about the days of classic country mixed with punk rock, a genre fusion that feels like a party where everyone’s invited. Lawrence shares tales from the road, recalling the eclectic radio stations of Texas that served as a backdrop for his musical upbringing. He paints a picture of the Dallas music scene, where punk rock and alt-country intertwined, giving birth to a sound that’s both familiar and fresh. The duo banters about their own influences, from the Pixies to Johnny Cash, and how each note they play is a tribute to the rich musical heritage they stand on. Through laughter and anecdotes, they unearth the gritty essence of their music, which channels raw emotion rather than just storytelling, making it resonate with listeners on a deeper level.

Takeaways

• Sloane and Lawrence vibe hard on how music blends classic country with punk rock, creating a unique sound that’s not just nostalgic but also fresh and lively.
• The good folks at Country Fried Rock dive deep into the influences of radio stations, especially in Dallas, which shaped the eclectic tastes of musicians in the area and beyond.
• They chat about the storytelling in their music, revealing that beneath the surface of catchy tunes, there are profound themes reflecting raw emotions and societal observations.
• The band’s approach to live performances is all about authenticity; they emphasize that their shows are genuine expressions of their musical journey, not just a staged act.
• Sloane shares the importance of community engagement through their music, highlighting how they connect with fans by getting them involved in the creative process, like signing their 'book of the famous'.
• The conversation takes a tasty turn as they discuss their love for craft beer and how it plays a significant role in their music scene and shows, blending food, drink, and music into a fun experience.

Links

• REMINDER: IGNORE ALL LINKS OR EVENTS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE FROM 2012
• The Famous are still around
• You may also enjoy this conversation from 2015 with Rob Keller of 6 String Drag (and Welfare Liners, Workhorses of the Entertainment and Recreation Industry, Roberto Adega)
• Toss a few in our Tip Jar!

Mentioned in this Episode

• Doc Martens
• George Gamark
• The Edge
• Pixies
• X
• Reverend Horton Heat
• Social Distortion
• Modest Mouse
• Old 97s
• Toadies
• Diesel Boy
• FAT Records
• HDNet
• Russian River Brewing Company
• 21st Amendment
• Elizabeth Brewery
• Gordon Biersch
• Anderson Valley
• Pliny the Elder
• Slim Cessna's Auto Club
• Drag the River
• Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band
• Calexico
• Neko Case
• Tom Waits
• Oz Fritz
• Aaron Prelwitz
• Stuart Sykes
• Jack White
• Loretta Lynn
• Bakersfield country music

Recommended If You Like

country fried rock, Americana music, punk rock, classic country, music interviews, creative inspiration, 90s alternative rock, Texas music scene, live music performances, songwriting process, DIY music industry, underground music culture, beer and music, storytelling in music, Southern Gothic themes, music collaboration, craft beer and music, musical influences, alternative country, band dynamics

Transcript

Speaker A

00:00:00.800 - 00:00:12.320

Welcome to Country Fried Rock, where we talk with musicians to find out what inspires their creativity. Country Fried Rock Music Uncovered Hey, Lawrence, thanks so much for being with us on Country Fried Rock.

Speaker B

00:00:12.320 - 00:00:34.650

Sloane, thank you very much.

I feel that this is almost a set of kindred spirits making acquaintances here, because when you talk about what the famous is, a shot of classic country with a post punk chaser, I mean, the idea really is music and. And, well, I'd say liquor, but there's also a lot of beer involved and especially food. I mean, that's very much what we're about.

Speaker A

00:00:34.970 - 00:00:38.170

Awesome. So I don't have to hide the fact that I owned Doc Martens at one point in my life.

Speaker B

00:00:38.330 - 00:01:31.180

No, I had green ones and blue ones. We went outside of the box on that. That's exactly where we are with our sound, by the way, that 90s era sound, you know, what it came out of.

And it's cool when you talk to radio people because they get this. There's a couple of stations in the South.

I'm from Dallas, and they had a station where it was a punk rock guy that started this station, or it was one of the main DJs, George Gamark, in Dallas, the Edge. And they were playing music that you just simply wouldn't have in Oklahoma City, for instance.

Funny, because I'm not calling Oklahoma City a wasteland. But Tulsa had a cool alternative rock radio station. Dallas had one. Houston didn't, for instance. Not that I knew of.

But the kind of music that you start hearing, I'm talking the Pixies and X, you know, you know, which so much new wave. But like, you. You kind of got an influence for this that you simply wouldn't have had if it was just playing, you know, Def Leppard over and over.

Speaker A

00:01:31.180 - 00:01:38.660

And speaking of total craziness there, you know, X. Exene Czervenka, their lead singer, has a couple of fantastic Americana alt country records out.

Speaker B

00:01:38.660 - 00:03:25.360

Yeah, she sings on an alt country album with the old 97s from the early 90s, right? Yes. We're fans. We see them every time they come. We tout this like this is. We say, you know, well, what does this sound like? What's your band?

It's like a marriage between classic country and punk rock. It's as Buck Owens, Johnny Cash as it is X.

And the Pixies, people tell us they hear, like, Reverend Horton Heat or Social Distortion or Modest Mouse influences in the song. They're right. Ness keeps making it happen.

I mean, this album just now, I mean, like, it's definitely Definitely what we're about, especially here in California. Sure. For us that's definitely the sound. Another Dallas. I used to see shows in what they call the deep Ellum district in Dallas.

And it was really kind of an honor because one of the bands that I just always really was super into and I was just, you know, I was actually sneaking into clubs. The Toadies. They got out on the radio with this song that was a very big hit. But their band is so much bigger than that.

Actually we just played with them here in San Francisco and that was extremely cool. I think I would say I was influenced at the time. I was like 14, 15 years old, pretending like I was what, 21.

I had big horner black glasses, so tried my best to keep my voice as low as possible. Side deals here and there, but got into these clubs and I would see these shows. Especially this guy Todd Lewis of the Toady's. He was so charismatic.

I was. Now that is something to do.

And Dallas had a great freakout rock music scene that was a bit southern music, but mostly kind of like taking where ZZ Top had gone and turning it on its ear and bringing out, you know, a lot of energy and craziness. I mean that's kind of what our show is about. It's like this frenzy, this fervor.

But for me it really did start like watching the Reverend Horton Heat the Toadies and seeing this up close and personal in small clubs in Dallas.

Speaker A

00:03:25.990 - 00:03:27.750

So when did you learn to play an instrument?

Speaker B

00:03:27.910 - 00:04:14.680

I'm still learning. I am not the total musician of the band. I self taught myself on guitar. But our band's players have been lifelong musicians. Vic is our lead guitarist.

Vic Barclay. He can play anything. I mean any instrument. You hand him anything, he can figure it out in five minutes. He's amazing.

Our bassist GD another guy from Houston, Texas, played in a band, Diesel Boy, a punk band for years and toured. Very successful band, affiliated with FAT Records. And he went to music school. He's solid, you know, solid, solid, solid. Our drummer is our backbone.

I mean he's amazing drummer that, you know, played all his life. Me, I'm kind of the storyteller, the showman, the carnival barker. I can play an acoustic guitar and I'm not bad.

But that's not the focal point of the show.

Speaker A

00:04:14.920 - 00:04:17.400

When you first decided to pick it up, then what were you doing?

Speaker B

00:04:17.640 - 00:05:06.250

I would say this and I tell anybody like who wants to get into starting to play the guitar. You get a cheap electric guitar so you can push down the strings. You Know, junk store electric guitar.

Just so I could just keep practicing and getting the hand placement and stuff down at first, but. And I wasn't hiding it. I was just hanging out.

I. I never really thought of learning to play the instrument as, like, what my role would be in a music project, which is ridiculous in some ways, because it did for years in another band. I was in kind of hold things back. What do they say? It's that guy. You do something for 10 years and you can finally do it. That book.

It's not the Tipping Point, or there's one of those. The guy. The guy with the crazy hair. That was kind of the deal with me playing. I'm not the musician in the band.

I mean, I'm in the band, but I'm not the musician. These other guys really are the musical foundation for the band. So that question. I wish I could port them in to answer that.

Speaker A

00:05:06.250 - 00:05:09.090

But somehow you end up writing for the band.

Speaker B

00:05:09.330 - 00:06:04.890

Yeah. Victor and I are the primary songwriters. You know, he can come up with a kernel of an idea for the music. And I will expand on that.

I am the lyricist of the band and come at a lot of things with ideas for what a course would be or where we're trying to go with sort of the imagery of the song. I mean, it's important to me to express thoughts beyond just, like, kind of the obvious. In our song.

Some of our songs, people think that they're like breakup songs. And really, in some regards, yeah, sure, they could be. But it's kind of also an acknowledgement that we have limited resources.

And if we're to be saved from ourselves in this closing window that we have that we're kind of looking at into this future here, we might get passed over. So what could be done? Acting on it, Just using impulses to do something that's kind of imperative right now.

And like, I don't say the music's a call to action, but it's not always what it exactly seems to be.

Speaker A

00:06:05.290 - 00:06:08.330

What sort of themes, then, are pushing you with those calls to action?

Speaker B

00:06:08.490 - 00:08:07.310

I mean, it starts at the roots of what the music is about. I mean, it is in the tradition of, like, Bakersfield country music. There's something that's a snarl in this music.

It's like a reclamation, having some quiet confidence, knowing that your own intuition is what serves you best. Not letting yourself be fooled by false prophecies. Taking your most inner, most guttural feelings and expanding on that.

This music is more about raw emotion than it is trying to say something specific in A story. And that's a little bit different in Americana, but in rock, that's obviously something that really does fit. It's all tied together.

I mean, the title track of our album, Come Home to Me, fairly self explanatory. I mean, the lyrics directly tell the story. Nothing is hidden.

We have a video that tells a deeper story of the evolution of being born and then working and then dying. You know, in some cases, this is a little bit too dark. I mean, traditional channels were kind of like. I don't. I like.

There's been some people like HDNet who really have glommed onto the video and other video channels who've played it. But that. That. That's a story that. I mean, it's a classic country story.

Going down to the river, but he finds the woman in the river and she's not with somebody else, she's laying down in the river and the story unfolds. I encourage people to hear that song. It's. That's a fun story song, that song. The story really is the story. More Southern Gothic in its tones.

There's nothing here. Of all the songs on the album, the title track, that is exactly what it is.

But there's another song that we have that there really aren't lyrics other than Mono Negra. It's back. That's what it's for. Just repeats on a loop. And I've also had songs like on our previous album, Light Sweet Crude.

The first song on the album, Son of the Snake. Basically the mantra that keeps spinning and spinning is mind over matter. Doesn't matter when you've lost your mind over matter.

Doesn't matter when you've lost your mind over matter. Keeps going. And there's some speaking in tongues in the album. And like, it brings out sort of different space. You.

You can get a little bit more immersed in the song in a different way than if you were just listening for. Well, here's the story being laid out to you.

Speaker A

00:08:07.310 - 00:08:09.549

And so does that come from a religious perspective for you?

Speaker B

00:08:09.549 - 00:08:11.950

All spiritual, not necessarily religious.

Speaker A

00:08:12.030 - 00:08:15.470

How do you find that that plays out? Coming from the south and then moving to California?

Speaker B

00:08:15.630 - 00:09:17.810

Well, there are people here who. I'm surprised. You know, the best thing about music that I found is there are people that will find you that are coming at things from such different.

You would have never expected we could have said, well, this is who we want, the audience. And I'm telling you, that is not at all who the audience is.

And now it's just like this giant open book and we actually Bring a giant book to our shows as part of the show. And it is sort of like a revival thing. We send out the book, get people signing the book and inscribing themselves in the book of the famous.

We make a big deal.

Inscribe yourself in the book of the famous, like let us know something about you and then starting point to talk or get emails or ways to reconnect with people to make sure that they can, you know, find us again. I find that, you know, if you went out and said, okay, this is who the audience that we want. That's not reality.

And it's amazing to me how many different parts of the country, different parts of the world, really, I would tell you we have sold more records.

I mean, I hope I'm not selling anybody out here giving away business secrets, but like, we have sold more records in Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, pockets of the UK than we do in the United States.

Speaker A

00:09:17.970 - 00:09:19.410

That doesn't surprise me at all.

Speaker B

00:09:19.870 - 00:09:43.310

We have really.

I would love to say we had a plan to go to these folks maybe one day, but I'm intrigued by the half a world away, there are people experiencing this thing that I may never ever meet them. Here in Northern California, we do play a lot. So we do meet a lot of the people that really do enjoy the music.

And it's just fascinating to me the way that this all works now that somebody could be listening to this, you know, halfway across the world.

Speaker A

00:09:43.310 - 00:09:50.430

Yeah, anywhere. And that is one of the incredible things about the ability of our instant communication. What else has worked for you all with that?

Speaker B

00:09:50.800 - 00:10:24.310

You know, we've done every single thing. We have two albums and have done, I mean, the traditional and then the non traditional.

I think the thing that seems to work the best, I mean, and there's some people who are making like really like big careers out of this is some video stuff. Victor, our lead guitarist and, you know, co founder of the band, he really, really got into social media stuff for the band very, very early.

It's part of what he does. And he's just these really a great technical guy as much as he is a great person, a great musician. And that really has helped us connect with people.

Speaker A

00:10:24.630 - 00:10:42.310

You were talking a little bit about the spectacle of your live performance.

It made a little thing run through my head of, you know, I kind of get the revival thing and I get the using some of those techniques in the live performance. Where have you all played that? It has surprised you of how well it's been received, the performance, not just the...

Welcome to Country Fried Rock, where we talk with musicians to find out what inspires their creativity.

Country Fried Rock Music Uncovered Hey, Lawrence, thanks so much for being with us on Country Fried Rock.

Sloane, thank you very much.

I feel that this is almost a set of kindred spirits making acquaintances here, because when you talk about what the famous is, a shot of classic country with a post punk chaser, I mean, the idea really is music and.

And, well, I'd say liquor, but there's also a lot of beer involved and especially food.

I mean, that's very much what we're about.

Awesome.

So I don't have to hide the fact that I owned Doc Martens at one point in my life.

No, I had green ones and blue ones.

We went outside of the box on that.

That's exactly where we are with our sound, by the way, that 90s era sound, you know, what it came out of.

And it's cool when you talk to radio people because they get this.

There's a couple of stations in the South.

I'm from Dallas, and they had a station where it was a punk rock guy that started this station, or it was one of the main DJs, George Gamark, in Dallas, the Edge.

And they were playing music that you just simply wouldn't have in Oklahoma City, for instance.

Funny, because I'm not calling Oklahoma City a wasteland.

But Tulsa had a cool alternative rock radio station.

Dallas had one.

Houston didn't, for instance.

Not that I knew of.

But the kind of music that you start hearing, I'm talking the Pixies and X, you know, you know, which so much new wave.

But like, you.

You kind of got an influence for this that you simply wouldn't have had if it was just playing, you know, Def Leppard over and over.

And speaking of total craziness there, you know, X. Exene Trevenka, their lead singer, has a couple of fantastic Americana alt country records out.

Yeah, she sings on an alt country album with the old 97s from the early 90s, right?

Yes.

We're fans.

We see them every time they come.

We tout this like this is.

We say, you know, well, what does this sound like?

What's your band?

It's like a marriage between classic country and punk rock.

It's as Buck Owens, Johnny Cash as it is X.

And the Pixies, people tell us they hear, like, Reverend Horton Heat or Social Distortion or Modest Mouse influences in the song.

They're right.

Ness keeps making it happen.

I mean, this album just now, I mean, like, it's definitely Definitely what we're about, especially here in California.

Sure.

For us that's definitely the sound.

Another Dallas.

I used to see shows in what they call the deep Ellum district in Dallas.

And it was really kind of an honor because one of the bands that I just always really was super into and I was just, you know, I was actually sneaking into clubs.

The Toadies.

They got out on the radio with this song that was a very big hit.

But their band is so much bigger than that.

Actually we just played with them here in San Francisco and that was extremely cool.

I think I would say I was influenced at the time.

I was like 14, 15 years old, pretending like I was what, 21.

I had big horner black glasses, so tried my best to keep my voice as low as possible.

Side deals here and there, but got into these clubs and I would see these shows.

Especially this guy Todd Lewis of the Toady's.

He was so charismatic.

I was.

Now that is something to do.

And Dallas had a great freakout rock music scene that was a bit southern music, but mostly kind of like taking where ZZ Top had gone and turning it on its ear and bringing out, you know, a lot of energy and craziness.

I mean that's kind of what our show is about.

It's like this frenzy, this fervor.

But for me it really did start like watching the Reverend Horton Heat the Toadies and seeing this up close and personal in small clubs in Dallas.

So when did you learn to play an instrument?

I'm still learning.

I am not the total musician of the band.

I self taught myself on guitar.

But our band's players have been lifelong musicians.

Vic is our lead guitarist.

Vic Barclay.

He can play anything.

I mean any instrument.

You hand him anything, he can figure it out in five minutes.

He's amazing.

Our bassist GD another guy from Houston, Texas, played in a band, Diesel Boy, a punk band for years and toured.

Very successful band, affiliated with FAT Records.

And he went to music school.

He's solid, you know, solid, solid, solid.

Our drummer is our backbone.

I mean he's amazing drummer that, you know, played all his life.

Me, I'm kind of the storyteller, the showman, the carnival barker.

I can play an acoustic guitar and I'm not bad.

But that's not the focal point of the show.

When you first decided to pick it up, then what were you doing?

I would say this and I tell anybody like who wants to get into starting to play the guitar.

You get a cheap electric guitar so you can push down the strings.

You Know, junk store electric guitar.

Just so I could just keep practicing and getting the hand placement and stuff down at first, but.

And I wasn't hiding it.

I was just hanging out.

I. I never really thought of learning to play the instrument as, like, what my role would be in a music project, which is ridiculous in some ways, because it did for years in another band.

I was in kind of hold things back.

What do they say?

It's that guy.

You do something for 10 years and you can finally do it.

That book.

It's not the Tipping Point, or there's one of those.

The guy.

The guy with the crazy hair.

That was kind of the deal with me playing.

I'm not the musician in the band.

I mean, I'm in the band, but I'm not the musician.

These other guys really are the musical foundation for the band.

So that question.

I wish I could port them in to answer that.

But somehow you end up writing for the band.

Yeah.

Victor and I are the primary songwriters.

You know, he can come up with a kernel of an idea for the music.

And I will expand on that.

I am the lyricist of the band and come at a lot of things with ideas for what a course would be or where we're trying to go with sort of the imagery of the song.

I mean, it's important to me to express thoughts beyond just, like, kind of the obvious.

In our song.

Some of our songs, people think that they're like breakup songs.

And really, in some regards, yeah, sure, they could be.

But it's kind of also an acknowledgement that we have limited resources.

And if we're to be saved from ourselves in this closing window that we have that we're kind of looking at into this future here, we might get passed over.

So what could be done?

Acting on it, Just using impulses to do something that's kind of imperative right now.

And like, I don't say the music's a call to action, but it's not always what it exactly seems to be.

What sort of themes, then, are pushing you with those calls to action?

I mean, it starts at the roots of what the music is about.

I mean, it is in the tradition of, like, Bakersfield country music.

There's something that's a snarl in this music.

It's like a reclamation, having some quiet confidence, knowing that your own intuition is what serves you best.

Not letting yourself be fooled by false prophecies.

Taking your most inner, most guttural feelings and expanding on that.

This music is more about raw emotion than it is trying to say something specific in A story.

And that's a little bit different in Americana, but in rock, that's obviously something that really does fit.

It's all tied together.

I mean, the title track of our album, Come Home to Me, fairly self explanatory.

I mean, the lyrics directly tell the story.

Nothing is hidden.

We have a video that tells a deeper story of the evolution of being born and then working and then dying.

You know, in some cases, this is a little bit too dark.

I mean, traditional channels were kind of like.

I don't.

I like.

There's been some people like HDNet who really have glommed onto the video and other video channels who've played it.

But that.

That.

That's a story that.

I mean, it's a classic country story.

Going down to the river, but he finds the woman in the river and she's not with somebody else, she's laying down in the river and the story unfolds.

I encourage people to hear that song.

It's.

That's a fun story song, that song.

The story really is the story.

More Southern Gothic in its tones.

There's nothing here.

Of all the songs on the album, the title track, that is exactly what it is.

But there's another song that we have that there really aren't lyrics other than Mono Negra.

It's back.

That's what it's for.

Just repeats on a loop.

And I've also had songs like on our previous album, Light Sweet Crude.

The first song on the album, Son of the Snake.

Basically the mantra that keeps spinning and spinning is mind over matter.

Doesn't matter when you've lost your mind over matter.

Doesn't matter when you've lost your mind over matter.

Keeps going.

And there's some speaking in tongues in the album.

And like, it brings out sort of different space.

You.

You can get a little bit more immersed in the song in a different way than if you were just listening for.

Well, here's the story being laid out to you.

And so does that come from a religious perspective for you?

All spiritual, not necessarily religious.

How do you find that that plays out?

Coming from the south and then moving to California?

Well, there are people here who.

I'm surprised.

You know, the best thing about music that I found is there are people that will find you that are coming at things from such different.

You would have never expected we could have said, well, this is who we want, the audience.

And I'm telling you, that is not at all who the audience is.

And now it's just like this giant open book and we actually Bring a giant book to our shows as part of the show.

And it is sort of like a revival thing.

We send out the book, get people signing the book and inscribing themselves in the book of the famous.

We make a big deal.

Inscribe yourself in the book of the famous, like let us know something about you and then starting point to talk or get emails or ways to reconnect with people to make sure that they can, you know, find us again.

I find that, you know, if you went out and said, okay, this is who the audience that we want.

That's not reality.

And it's amazing to me how many different parts of the country, different parts of the world, really, I would tell you we have sold more records.

I mean, I hope I'm not selling anybody out here giving away business secrets, but like, we have sold more records in Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, pockets of the UK than we do in the United States.

That doesn't surprise me at all.

We have really.

I would love to say we had a plan to go to these folks maybe one day, but I'm intrigued by the half a world away, there are people experiencing this thing that I may never ever meet them.

Here in Northern California, we do play a lot.

So we do meet a lot of the people that really do enjoy the music.

And it's just fascinating to me the way that this all works now that somebody could be listening to this, you know, halfway across the world.

Yeah, anywhere.

And that is one of the incredible things about the ability of our instant communication.

What else has worked for you all with that?

You know, we've done every single thing.

We have two albums and have done, I mean, the traditional and then the non traditional.

I think the thing that seems to work the best, I mean, and there's some people who are making like really like big careers out of this is some video stuff.

Victor, our lead guitarist and, you know, co founder of the band, he really, really got into social media stuff for the band very, very early.

It's part of what he does.

And he's just these really a great technical guy as much as he is a great person, a great musician.

And that really has helped us connect with people.

You were talking a little bit about the spectacle of your live performance.

It made a little thing run through my head of, you know, I kind of get the revival thing and I get the using some of those techniques in the live performance.

Where have you all played that?

It has surprised you of how well it's been received, the performance, not just the music.

People in San Francisco have seen just about everything, really, when you take it other places.

I mean, in Sonoma county, this place in Santa Rosa that we play a lot, the Russian River Brewing Company, they got great beer, by the way, there.

Pliny the Elder, we did a little tribute to that beer as a present to the guy that makes that beer.

That's something to listen to at some point.

I don't say tongue in cheek, but that was us having fun.

Sure.

When we go out to places where people usually are used to, maybe in this part of the country, jam bands, that sort of thing, what we're doing is so direct that it really does connect.

And I think maybe, maybe when we do this in San Francisco, it always is well received.

But in San Francisco, again, people have seen just about everything.

And it's not an act, it's real.

But I would say when we go other places, that's where it picks up.

And we played, you know, at festivals in Colorado or North by Northeast in Toronto and Canada, and we've had some success, you know, taking this onto the road, but we were always pretty insistent.

This is not an act.

It's not like we're staging some fake revival.

It just is the song and it is how it kind of just unfolds.

But, you know, that's one of the things that makes live music always different from recorded music.

Do you feel that your recordings have captured what it is that you do live, or do you want them to?

In some cases, yes.

In other cases it's almost impossible.

And in the worst case scenario is when you record something that sounds so great on the record and you so desperately want to play it for people in a live setting.

But there's just absolutely no way.

Song I was telling you about, some of the Snake is the mind over matter.

We can't play that.

Just can't play it.

It would fall flat.

It would just fall flat.

I mean, there like what I would consider Modest Mouse, for instance, of the latest bunch of bands, you know, in kind of this sphere, to be maybe the best at recording music.

That just sounds incredible and then you see them live and it's a little bit different.

And that different bothers me.

We really do try to, at least if we're going to do something adventurous with the recording, make it something that we could kind of replicate in the live, just because we want to share this music live.

If you had people you could work with to help you create the perfect sound of what you want, what would you be looking for?

Pretty simple.

And let's see Let me give you a pillar of four people here.

Set the table up with four people who could record the perfect album and work with anybody.

Let's start with something fairly local.

Oz Fritz, who collaborated with Tom Waits some and great producer.

There's a guy in North Carolina who everyone knows from Southern culture, honest.

The guitarist of that band.

And he is also an engineer who runs his own studio in, I think, Chapel Hill.

That would be exciting.

I had four in my mind.

Well, for certain.

And there's a guy who makes incredible records in Tucson, Arizona, at Wave Lab Studios.

Craig Schumacher, who has basically done every Calexico album but one and helps record some Nico Case stuff.

He's excellent, just excellent.

And I've gotten to know him through different projects and would love to be able to work with him again.

And then there's the fourth one.

The guy that mixed our first record, Aaron Prelwitz, who's in Portland now.

He just did such a great job on Light Sweet Crude.

And we worked with a gentleman in Dallas.

Stuart Sykes did a stellar job on Come Home to Me, our most recent album.

And that was something that was very important to us.

So kind of like answering your question before I gave you.

We kind of lived out this fantasy with the way we recorded parts of Come Home to Me, our latest album, was definitely to have it be mixed in the sound as if it were on that Jack White produced Loretta Lynn album, the Van Leer Rose.

The guy who did that with J. Stuart Sykes, is who helped us with our most recent album.

And we contacted him.

We recorded it as best we could to sound this way.

He was very kind in helping us realize the vision.

Do you all come from different kinds of musical backgrounds?

I mean, in terms of your preferences.

Kind of, yeah, sure.

The guys in the band are just a shade older than I am.

They like metal maybe a little bit more than I do.

And again, it's kind of the original thing we're talking about, like where you grew up, what radio was available at the time.

Because, I mean, being kids of the analog age, you had what was being piped down to you.

And in Dallas, this radio station, the Edge, really did take a post punk, what would been like legitimately alternative rock at the time.

So I was exposed to that.

I don't know that the guys I was playing with previously or these guys in this band had that kind of experience.

So you know what was being piped down to them.

And in some cases, you know, Rush.

It's rock and it's, you know, things that people love, love Love all the way around the world.

I got very fractured musical taste.

Everybody in the band really has better, more wide open musical t. So when.

Y' all are on the road together, what can you agree on at that point?

You know, npr.

You know what we honestly like to do?

I sound ridiculous, but, like, we honestly like to have whatever the band we've just most recently played with.

People really love to share their music with other people they're playing with.

And I can't tell you, at least nine times out of 10 bands share a disc with each other.

Just swap them and then the other band will throw it away.

We really do pride ourselves on making sure we're listening to what other people are doing for out and about.

That is what we're listening to.

Listening to the CDs we traded with, you know, the bands we're playing with.

Who has pleasantly surprised you all?

There's a really cool band in Sacramento called the Nickel Slots that we played with.

They hosted us at a show in Sacramento and they really are for fans of the old 97s.

It's a really well written set of songs and you can hear the lyrics when they play.

And they're all really great musicians.

That would definitely be one of the bands.

You know, we do try to.

Because our stage show is kind of more geared to being like something that opens up a show.

We usually are openers for touring acts.

So in the past year, we've done this with Drag the River from Colorado Slim Cessna's Auto Club.

Reverend Peyton who.

It's an amazing act when you see him touring around with his cousin and his wife on washboard.

And he plays like a slide blues guitar, but at like a breakneck speed.

Reverend Payton was a lot of fun.

You know, Slim Cessna's Auto Club, they're amazing.

We told you about the toady.

So we play with bands that we're kind of opening for them and setting the stage in this area for them, and that's.

That's always a total thrill.

So it's rare if we're playing out of town.

Usually we're just the one band on the bill that we know because somebody's contracting us to come out there.

But here it's.

Sometimes we're more openers people, but we do collaborate with bands sort of at our level, you know, just getting going.

A little birdie told me that you might be either a foodie or have some favorite places you've been.

Well, my family is all from Texas and Louisiana, so anytime that I can make a steak or crawfish at TOU Fe or we cook a lot and we have band cookouts.

And a lot of our music is honestly truly centered around the craft beer scene in Northern California.

And I'm really not kidding.

So that then all comes in food.

I mean, we play this Russian River Brewing Company a lot, but have been doing shows with and around other beers like Gordon Biersch, which do like some really serious German beers.

And we're gonna do a show with the speakeasy and a friend of ours who has us all the time to his.

This is a cool story.

There's a place called the Elizabeth Brewery in San Francisco and it's this gentleman, Richard Brewer Hay, and his wife Allie.

And they have built an English style pub.

Cool.

In the bottom of this building, this house that they live in.

And they invite the neighborhood to come over and try their beer.

And he's now started taking the beer out for pours.

He works with Sean O' Sullivan with the 21st Amendment, which has great beers in downtown San Francisco.

And they've collaborated on beers together.

And what I'm telling you, this is really.

We are asked to like play different events that are always kind of in this beer community.

And it's been really fun because you've kind of gotten to see the evolution of the craft brewing scene at different levels.

The bigger brewers, the world renowned brewers who've got, you know, the incredible beer that people, you know, are clamoring about on the Internet and rating as like the very top in the world.

This one, we made the song for Pliny the Elder or like a friend of ours who will play a show.

Or we did our.

Before we released our cd, Elizabeth Street Brewery said, well, we'll have people over to the pub and play the record and you guys leave the room and everyone leaves comments.

And that actually helped us put the record in the order that it was.

That's great.

So we made.

We made the.

I won't speak as much to food.

I will speak the beer.

We've made beer.

Sort of the social experience.

Cool.

And it's always been really great beer because there's such a vibrant craft brewing scene.

Cool.

What do you like the best?

There's a watermelon wheat beer that is great in the summertime from 21st Amendment.

I mean, we sing about Pliny the Elder, but I mean, for a double ipa, the hoppiest thing you've ever had with really interesting hints to what the other flavoring of this beer, if anybody can get ahold of it, I don't know how you do it outside of Northern California.

I know it's sometimes in stores here.

Pliny the Elder is definitely one to try my standard, my fallback.

I look in the fridge, make sure I'm not doing this wrong.

The Barney Flats Oatmeal Stout from Anderson Valley up in Boonville in Mendocino County.

That's just kind of.

That goes with anything.

It is so exciting to us to be asked to play shows where the ultimate of this was the San Francisco Giants in this World Series season.

They had us come play at stadium their San Francisco Giants brew fest.

They had all these beer.

So like the same as really is good beer drinking music and driving music, but not together, but not at the same time.

Right.

So, like they were really gracious.

And what an exciting year is actually for baseball fans out there.

It was actually the day that we did this show was the day that they called up Buster Posey, who was the rookie of the year in the end and helped the catcher lead the Giants to the World Series win in Texas.

We were there the night that they called up Buster and we were playing at the Brew Fest and it was just a real party.

That was incredible.

Well, on this opening day, which obviously we're not going to be broadcasting on opening day baseball season, I'll put in my go Braves.

Yeah.

And I got to tell you, I want to thank Brooks Conrad for helping this whole thing continue for the Giants.

I do that.

That's okay.

We can still be friends.

When I was a kid, the Braves were so bad, they gave away free tickets to the kids in public school who had straight A's.

And yes, I was that kind of dork.

To the very, very top row of the old Atlanta Fulton County Stadium.

Yeah.

Yeah.

That was when you really went to see Dale Murphy.

You did Dale Murphy.

He was the one that was that.

That and cold beer.

Cold beer here.

I wanted to be that beer barker guy.

Appreciate you being with us.

Great to talk with you.

Thanks much.

Have a great weekend.

Thanks.

Thanks for doing what you do.

Country Fried Rock.

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