Ep. 56: Ella Langley's First Number One Hit and Hunting with Your Dad

Published Dec 17, 2024, 10:00 AM

This week Reid and Dan host #1 and platinum artist, Ella Langley, out in God’s Country. The episode has a bit of a twist where Ella has her dad, Jason, join her in the studio to talk her upbringing and tell some epic southern whitetail stories. Jason shares a different side of Ella that fans typically don’t see and Ella shares what it’s been like seeing her viral hit with Riley Green go number one. The guys do a play off her tune “You Look Like You Love Me” and expose how they’ve completely lost their game. The episode ends with hearing what’s to expect next from Ella Langley and a Gravorite that will have you looking through “Rose Colored Glasses."

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What's the.

Shawn, I let my own three parts.

You're off in God's Country with Reed, also known as The Brother's Hunt, where we take a weekly drive to the intersection of country music and the great outdoors, two things that go together, like trying to pick up line on somebody in a bar and going home alone.

Or a daughter's idea of a new tattoo and a disapproving look from her father.

This thing, it's the Eyes Closed.

It was a grimace and press lips brought to you by Meat Eater and I Heeart Podcast.

We got a special one for y'all. We have missus Ella Langley one. And not only did we have Ella, we had she brought her dad, Jason Langley along. They do a lot of hunting, a lot of her stories and and and the history of her hunting is with him.

And uh so he was.

You know, she called me out before well last night, I guess it was like dad's real nervous.

He looked nervous coming in here, real.

Nervous, dude. He did great, He's sad. He's kind of like this good radio radio voice something. Yeah. First time it popped in my ears, I was like, Okay.

It's funny.

He kept on, he kept on saying like he kept on like interrupting, be like, can I just tell one.

More stories about that?

So there's so many great old hunting stories of them too, and it's fun to watch them interact in those things.

So I loved how she was really gonna.

Enjoy it well, telling Daddy telling that story, telling.

You tell him, And she was like, no, I like it when you tell it. So it's gonna be a great episode. You're gonna you're gonna want to listen to the whole thing.

I've got.

I've got something that happened to me a couple of mornings ago that, uh was kind of crazy.

Well, I mean it's not it's not crazy, Like.

It's not like ghosty sound no, no, no, no, nothing like that. It was more like, it's the first time I've ever seen something like this happen.

Okay, dude, what I have no idea what something.

So I was it was in the morning, I think, and Jordan we were, uh, yeah, y'all just got there and Jordan was like, hey, she was like a She was like, there's there's a bird in the We have the sun room off of our house and and it's got big windows and a big door, and we got a little jungle thing in there for our kids to climb on when it gets you know, it's too cold to go outside, so they can play in there and at nights and stuff and so, uh, sometimes birds get in there and they fly in and they try to get out and they can't, so they're just like landing on the curtain, rides around the room, you know, just kind of waiting.

So my tactic could be a bit of a ruckus by the way when that.

Oh, especially when two get in there or three. That's happened for it, it is it's a jungle. Yeah, it's crazy.

It's a party.

So my tactic has been what I figured out, the best way to get a bird out is to close off an entire one side of the room and then completely open the other side of the room. Get them, get them to that one side that's closed, and then just like all them off to the side that's open, and usually they'll fly, you know, they'll they'll they'll start flying and then they'll fill you know, whatever windows open and they'll just head out. It's been a great tactic because the first time or a few times I tried to get them out.

It was terrible.

So though the morning, George's like, hey, I think there's a bird in there, and it's still in there. I was like, okay, I went in there, bird flying around, kind of bird will go here, Uh, just like a little twitty bird sparrow.

No, I don't know, maybe a thrasher.

Yeah.

Actually, so I see it up there and I see that it's kind of like so it's been in there a minute, you know. So I was like, all right, Bud, I'm gonna try to get you out of here as fast as possible. So close off one side, open up the other side, do the tactic. It flies to I get it, flies off of the closed off side, goes to the other side, and lights on the lands on the curtain rid. I was like, man, it's so close to going under. So I was like, okay, I gotta get you flying around.

Well.

I went over to it, and when I just like scared it to fly off, it came down to like head level and flew as hard as it could into.

The closed off the door over there.

The glass door just went boom, dupe comes up, falls down, lands on the towel. I was like, no, man, no, man, not right in front of me. I mean, it's sitting there and it's, you know, kind of twitching. I was like, dang, dude, did I just make this bird commit suicide and run into this glass? So I picked it up, and I was like feeling bad, and I saw it like kind of like just still.

It wasn't dead. It's still alive.

So I went over to the open window and I put it on the ledge and this little and like it was it had enough still there that it was like holding on, but it was leaning and I'd have to like lean it back to upright and then lean the other way and I'd lean it back to upright, and dude, I sat there and I was just like, come on, man, I've seen the same little bird. Prayers over this little bird and petting this little bird head, just hoping that it would come to dude. Two minutes later, it went like this, like it was leaning on and it was still leaning, and I was petting it, and like this, we shook it all.

It knocked itself out.

Birds be knocking.

Themselves out, knocked itself out, Dude, like like we would like you get knocked out out if you if we boxed and I hit you with the right hook, like I would knock you out, and you would lay there for a couple of minutes and then shake and then come up.

It shook its head.

It literally shook its head.

Dude.

It was looking outside and I was petting this little bird head little bird pets, and just it went like this like it was like God, dang, like, what's this dude petting me for it?

Why are you?

I have no clue, because it was interesting, the shaking of it. Yeah, it's just a it's just a I've never seen a bird knock itself out and then fly off like it was fine.

Interesting.

It was gonna be my my glad at you're glad of that.

But I didn't get to tell it today because we started talking about other stuff and I was mad at these shoes cramping my pinky toes still hurting, they're numb and they're past hurting cold.

No, we're fine. So well that was what the intro is.

Now, I mean, I have I have a little I think I have a little bit of advice for for the folks out there. Okay, also and what it also has to do with birds kind of okay, So there was a time we First off, my wife and I have been talking about this, and I'll go ahead and just give it. Give you the point at the beginning so you can have this in your head. I think it's time that we as people start getting rid of things that add stress in our lives. And this is a and this is a solid point to peggyback off of our Dad episode.

What does that have to do with birds?

I'm not there yet. If you'll give me five seconds, you have fifteen minutes of the intro Jesus age. So so my dad comes back and got when we turkey hunt, we turkey hunt together and I we're hunting, and he's like, what's going on? Man, We're just sitting there talking. The birds aren't doing anything. And I said, man, I got these two roosters and they are killing each other and they're fighting all the time, and they're bleeding all over everything.

They were killing each other. They're killing the hens.

And they're killing each other, and they were jumping on the backs of the hens and like digging their little claws into their sides. And I was finding my hands starting to hide cuss spurs in the corn. And it was really getting annoying. Right, So I catch these two roosters and I put them in pins and they're in my garage and now they're just screaming in my garage, just defecate in my garage, and it's it's just a mess. Right. So while we're Turkey, I'm thinking about this. They've been in these pins for two days. We're walking back. Turkey's don't act right. We're walking back to the house and Dad goes, hey, man, what's on your mind. I was like, I gotta do something with these roosters, and he goes, sometimes it's easier to just cut the heads off the rooster. And I was like, in my head, I thought, but I don't want to do that, right, And as I got back to the house, he was started thinking, he's totally right, He's totally right. I walked into that garage, grabbed them two roosters, decavitate them, cook them in a frying pan that night, and the straight was gone. Sometimes in your life, bro, you're so tough, dude, Sometimes in your life you got to cut the head off the rooster. Whether it's something that's it's just adding anxiet the problem to your life. Yeah, and instead it took more effort of me worrying about it for days and days while these stupid roosters were in my garage, when I should have just cut the head off the rooster immediately. So I'm encouraging you if you have a rooster in your life, that's messing. And you know what happened when I got rid of them roosters. The hens came out of the corn, they healed back up, they started laying more eggs. In the entire aura of my little farm was better. Sometimes in your life, bro, you got to cut the heads off the roosters. And that's my advice from the chair in our intro, I hope you enjoyed my story more than you enjoyed reads. I mean, at least I had a point too.

Hey, if you go follow us on social media.

For more sage advice and pointless story. Yeah, go follow us on Facebook.

Guys at the God's Country podcast on TikTok.

We're kind of we're kind of big on TikTok.

Now we are we TikTokers?

Uh?

Well are It will never It will never be on my phone. I'm not getting spot on.

Go Uh yeah, if I gotta.

If you got a phone. You're getting spot on. Go follow the brothers hunt.

There's three cameras ones right now.

Keep up with our weekly antics. Uh, it's wild, it's dumb, but it's fun. You know anything else, Jordan, thanks for listening.

We love y'all.

Peace.

Were rolling, roll and roll and roll and rolling.

Roll and rolling.

Yes, so I'm stuffy. I'm allergic to red wine now for some reason. I don't know why.

What happens you break out in handcuffs?

No, I just I just the last few times that was a go on. Yeah, if I could across the room.

The last few nights that that I've drank it, I've like been fine.

The last few nights, or just just like every night dream.

One thing you need to talk to your brother, you know, it's just like a couple of nights a week.

I say something like that. Yeah, yeah, we got two kids under one dog, I mean two kids under two. My bad, but anyway, yeah, I get I get stuffy. Also, speaking of stuffy, I learned we learned that my two year old daughter has a uh, imagine a friend named Stuffy.

That's a bunny.

Now, imagine your friend that's a bunny.

Yeah, named Stuffy.

I had one name was, was it?

Yeah?

I don't know, remember I just remember I didn't just remember.

It was a factory everywhere.

Or Ella?

Uh, maybe she did.

I don't know, a real friend or a dog or just oh this was a real bunny.

Had bunny.

Oh we did have a bunny. He start, He's thinking, I'm I had a bun.

So what we did?

We had a bunny?

Yeah, And he was on the old deck.

And then you walk out there and and till it finally a hawk called him.

We had to go to tell him why you got ready of the goat?

Same thing.

He's stand at the back door with his feet up against glass, bellowing and crapping on my deck.

And I feel that as a parent, that of kids that will have pets one day, because I love I've got a bloodhound and all love her to death. But she'll sit there and Paul on the door, and Paul and Paul, He'll drive me insane.

Pets man, I've got a great dog, Boykin Spaniel that I've had. I've always wanted one, and I planned to get one, and lo and behold, Ella runs out and gets her one first. You know, of course, completely pissed me off.

You just got that dog because he knew I wanted one.

Oh yeah, that's exactly what she did.

But anyway, but that helped my mom get you a dog.

It did, I did.

I'm using that to my benefit Now I can do lots of things that Ella wants to do. So when I couldn't get any any action out of her, letting me go by a dog, Ella help me.

So.

But anyway, this a boy caned dog is. I mean, they're the best. And I took him training and he's very got.

A lot of drive energy what you're training for. Just a bird hunter.

He'll retrieve ducks and dove and I mean literally, when I pick up my shotgun and put a shot collar on him, he'll deal cards if you ask you to. I mean, he'll do whatever I want him to. But if I take that shot collar off, he's mad.

Man.

He may run over and peel on your but dove stool or something.

Okay, yeah, we got a special one got a special it's I've already laughed hard.

Ella.

Well, first off you in today Sela.

We have a platinum artist, Big Deer Killing recently made her Tonight's show.

In Today's show, Debut's.

Right Alabama girl named one of the country's most promising new stars by the Grammy's Big Deal.

We've got Ella Langley and special guest, her dad.

Jason, Dad's first podcast, the first podcast we just had our dad on too.

This is his first pot Yeah, I'm glad. I'm glad, this is this is what's going on.

Me too, me too. Well, I think it's gonna be cool for people to kind of see me through not just me talking about it. I'm so tired of talk about myself, I feel so let him do it. It's gonna be a little more talking than I would probably do about myself.

I love it. I love it.

Introduced him, tell us too, this guy.

Is well, this is my dad. He's been my dad and my whole wife.

Well, what do you know, we went to the same high school, same high school.

My little sister's about to graduate from the same high school. My mom ordered us all cap and gowns because from my dad down we've all graduated from the same high school.

High school.

Wow, it's called Hooper Academy. It's in a small town where we're from, called Hope, pol You passed it on sixty five, Like, if you're going straight down sixty five south Montgomery. There's this Green School on the side.

Okay, it's been factors.

Fred Hooper, which had he's a racehorse guy and his horse won the Kentucky Derby. He has a big place in o Cala. He's dead now, he'd be like one hundred and ten. But when his horse was racing, when his horses were racing, they let us out of school and you all go watch this.

That's all the race that Hooper h O O P E R.

Okay, and it's south of Montgomery.

So and it's not Hooper, it's Hooper.

People have everywhere we go, all the schools around it would be like, it's why do y'all say Hooper? And it's funny. You'll see the kids that their parents because there's like my best friend from high school. I mean we went to school together kindergarten through graduation and her mom graduated. Her mom and my dad dated and he went to same high school. Didn't you introduce her to mister Green ms Donna.

After you No, No, it's a small town.

But anyway, so you know, it's you see the kids that their parents went there, they all we all say Hooper. But then the new kids come in, they say hooper.

You know, well, that's the same way where I live. It's spelled just like Santa Fe. But they say feet Santa Fee. It's not fae.

And so if you say like on the side of barns, it's like it's pronounced fee.

Literally, it's pronounced fee, not fair.

It's like jord and heirn, and it spelled Jordan, but actually Jord.

Like like Bill.

That's how they said Jorden Jordan.

It looks like we like to start the show with a little segment call We're gonna do it always.

Okay, pie, let's.

Get it.

Up high, give me the other one, give me a gig.

I don't remember what. Just tell us what it is. What you mean.

Kids a boss man or your neighbors, kids.

Like that.

Little Pea Diddy.

I don't think I can say that.

What am I mad at?

Sure?

Go for it?

Sure?

Yeah?

Is that what you're asking? Yeah?

Or be glad, but or be mad.

You could be mad if something can be.

Have it some uh really hot tea. This morning, I drank some tea. It was in a straw, you know, and I took a big gulp and I'm pretty sure there's a degree burn in my mouth right now.

So I'm not pumped.

Everything I'm gonna eat for two days is going to be absolutely terrible.

Yeah, hard, but you know, yeah, I'll piggyback on that. So Jordan and Reed showed me a new recipe with sweet potatoes. When you don't have time to like stick on the oven for like four hours, you can cut them in little cubes, air fry a little hill with a little butter, little spice, and they'll like kind of make a little sweep tat fries. Went too early last night, Oh no, went too early.

Like a pizza role sticks through the outside of It's fine, right, like the touch of it.

It is good.

Pop that thing in degrees.

On the inside.

Yeah.

Also like a hot pocket, and then you burn yourself just to get to the middle and it's cold, you know, you burn yourself all the way to the cool Maybe it did on purpose. It cools you off halfway.

When's the last time you've had a hot pocket?

Years? That was probably college, I mean it would dis I mean.

Houser, I think you know, like those those sketchy hotel rooms were staying in that. You know, when you're starting out in a van. You're selling as much merch as you possibly can to pay your I mean anything anything. I mean some of those shows where I was getting five hundred show in a fan and trying to pay everybody.

You know, that's pretty much.

Yeah, so every night we would have to sell on the merch. But anyways we'd go back and I'm starving because I can't eat before I play show. I cannot eat. I can't eat like hours before I play. I wake up and I eat like a big lunch kind of and then I don't eat till probably eleven, almost midnights.

What do you think it is? What's what's your what?

I've always been that way. I think it's like this the adrenaline. I don't know what it is. I really don't, but I cannot eat it like I will. I just don't have an appetite at all. I feel like if I do that, yeah, that's my big I already fell down for the first time this year.

Did I didn't?

I didn't see everybody does everybody falls?

I didn't.

Hurt.

I brought my well, I like skirted around a little.

When you got hit in the head with the guitar stuff.

Did it hurt.

It gets you pretty good.

It did hit me in the head, but I didn't know it hit me in the head until I watched it talking.

About her falling got hit with a guitar and fell her and the.

Guitar player fell.

Have a video of it.

Yeah, you're okay, I mean we can't laugh at it now, you're yeah.

I was laughing when I did it. I mean it's simple injuries like that.

Is Yeah, Ernest had a good fall.

Yes, oh yeah, Well what was funny is him and I were we were talking like the day before something, and I was like, you know, I've never fallen, and for some reason, I was like, I was like, I just and I've said that a lot. I've never fallen in and I was like, think, think I'm gonna jinx myself and I've almost fallen billions of times. Like right, skirt around it. But I danced for a long time and I kind of danced around on my toes up there, so but my foot went in between the sub and the stage, so when I stepped back, it went down. And when I go do this part in the show, it's the last song, I put my hand on my guitar player's arm to like get down or like just just to show some contact, you know, like we're getting in and he's like ripping this solo. Yeah, And so I go to do that, put my hand here, and at the same time my foot goes to the floor.

He's all you got and he does.

Big muscles all I see. And then then all I see is the big muscles and guitar are just like the light. It was just the shadow of him falling down on top of me. Yeah. I just giggled the whole time.

Really, I didn't hear you.

I should be mad this morning at these uh, at these boots because my pinky toe I can't feel my pinky toes right now. And both of them they're squeegeed up in there so tight.

Are they slender?

Yeah?

I guess so. Man, It's it's kind of hurting.

You can take them off of your socks, match.

But they do. I'm a saw guy.

Now here we go interesting. I'm gonna turn it so the world can see right solo. Yep, see you d damn Yeah, the headstock hits you right in the mouth.

He's got to own it, right, you just got to own it.

I was giggling so hard really concerned about Ben because he fell backwards on his pedal. Oh he doesn't miss what what?

What?

What's so funny is he has fallen a lot. He falls all the time, like and but he never misses a lick. Like the first time he did it, we were with co Wetzel's first arena I've ever played, and he falls down. It's like, dang it. But it was so funny because the way he fell down, he rolled out of it and then just continue to play here for the party.

You know.

Things like that honestly are like connect with the crowd because it's.

Like, yeah, weirdly enough, I think those things are endearing a little bit totally.

Yeah, And I think it's vulnerable, right. It's live music, and like if if you're playing live music, that stuff's going it might fall down. If you're playing tracks, that ship ain't gonna happen, you know what I mean, it's just gonna be normal and you're not you're playing a love of music, got live band.

It's kind of likes to you do.

Oh but you have not only live She's up there dance and she's getting into it, jumping around.

It's gonna happen at.

Some point, I would love to not have tracks. But I think, you know, when we're playing in these these big stages and we're up against these bands that are you know, full stage, I can't afford a band like that when I, when I get rich, there will be signs. Signs will be There's not gonna be a lot of room on my stage because there will be horn sections, string section. I want them to like compete at each other, you know, like split the band in half and make them go anyways. I don't know. I have a lot of ideas.

I like, I like, when I get rich, there will be there will be signs.

All right, let's let's hop into some some outdoor talk, uh with you?

Did you did you recently kill a big deer?

Yeah?

I just killed a buck? Was that Sunday?

Dad? Oh?

Recently recently.

Back down in Alabama. Got a couple of hunting spots down there.

Leave them loose. You ain't gotta don't spend.

Leave them loose. Yeah, but yeah, so Sunday I made it. It's probably the toughest weekend of hunting. I made it on me and Dad, not for lack of seeing deer, which isn't the usual thing. Because you know, we're just country hunting out there, you know, kind of what we That's what I've grown up doing. You know, some I mean some some seasons would go and I'd be like, I saw a dough today and that was so exciting.

You know, we've had those.

But this weekend was not that. We saw a lot and I whipped twice. I don't like, I don't really want to say that, but I just, like I said, I'm trying to be vulnerable out here. But what can you do? I mean, I don't know what happened. It's hard to fix, but you don't know what you're doing wrong. You know, like there's something I think where I'm like bumping the gun a little bit right for.

What she did wrong. Dad.

She wins, she gets she holds it on in too long, and then she her heart charts pounding. And then I think she's holding her breath some of the time, and you know, you get to hold your breath, you know, you know you should be breathing normally, and she'd them on exhale and you know, but what's that? And then and then once you miss one pressure on, then now I can't miss this other deer and she'd let it build up. But you know, the third the third buck, you know, she she shot him and didn't didn't make the best shot in the oral.

And because I was like, if I do this three times in a row, I'm going to jump off the box. I mean, well head first, I will jump offside this box, like if I have to go home, Like that'll make I don't cry over things, but that makes me want to want to sit down and cry, like I'm so upset about it because it's like the seconds before, like why why why didn't I just take an extra second?

Sure we've been here for.

Said the burden of it's a lot, yeah, yeah, yeah.

And then my dad's sitting there and he's like work so hard to get you know me and deer and wants, you know, obviously me to kill something.

So like my back.

She shot him a little back, and you know, we get Ella's like any hunter, She's dying to get out of the tree stand and go down and put her hands on you know, I could tell he hunched up and ran out, ran into a pine ticket.

So we deally Dali and then that on me.

I went pee before we went out there.

Anyway, we finally got pea. We finally get in looking for him, and I can't findly blood. I mean we've looked and looked and looked like so I said, hell, I'll go back to where you shot him and see if you find blood. And she did, and so here we go. You know, we're spect here spec there kind of deal thing to be a lot. And so we trailed this dear, and I am not exaggerating in a pine thicket for about a mile. I mean he was going, he was going through.

It was like yeah, yeah, And it's tough.

It's tough trailing them in pine tickets too, because it's not like it's not hardwood leaves, big maple leaves.

Our hands right now, like we are up.

And he was going through things from the flow up. He was going through things a rabbit when we go through walking. So anyway, I got to the point where I didn't even know where I was at. I mean, I was trying to figure out how I'm gonna get out of here, you know, and.

Was it just you two?

We trailed for like an hour.

She she shot that deer ten minutes to five, and we loaded him up at seven thirty, and so I had it. We finally found him. I walked out, you know, and got the truck.

And tell him how good I did it?

Tracking the blood by the way, yeah, you know, we we had a couple of instances where we ran out of blood. I just went down every trail. I was on Ella, you know, I just don't know, honey, and I'm trying. She's like, oh no, no, so she she was here. It is she find she found more blood.

And she last light.

She was on my hands and knees, like, I mean, was some points like going. I mean it was just like briar patches thorns. I mean one of the first nights, I got a thorn in my nose. Not only did I miss the deer, I got a thorn in my nose and I had to ride the rest of the way home like that, just dealing with it because it was so small. It was so small, I was afraid I was going to push it in there. So I was just sitting there, missed the deer with a thorn in my nose. But anyways, I mean it was sick. So I was like crawling.

Yeah, I know, those stuff's tough.

Well.

Ella has no quit in her I mean, she has no quit she is, you know, when everybody's ready to say, you know, I'm done with this, she just keeps going. So anyway, her old man was so tired. I was soaking wet, it's freezing outside, and I go to get the truck and I leave her sitting there with that dead deer. You hear Cody's howling everywhere. So she's sitting there on the dead deer, waiting on me.

To get back.

We had to find how to get out because we had no idea to listen for the highway to get out.

I went for a truck to go by and headed that way.

Wow, it was how did you know where to pull back on?

I didn't ask you that hat on the limb When I walked out.

Old Trick went and got the truck and came back to the hat ultimate drug him to the.

Drug him to the truck.

Dang, that was smart, because I was wondering how you knew where to pull back off at. But he's he got out of the truck and he'd said holler, and I was just, you know, holler, and it was just he found me. We found each other that way, and then we had to drag the deer back through all that, and it was like, I mean, vines would get caught on his horns. We fell down like I would. I turned around and I was, I mean, I drug him. I feel like most of the way I was very I mean, I made I put Dad through hell this weekend, so I was like, at least I can do. Let me drag this day there. And it was more for like my pride reasons to like I'm drunk thisterback. I did have to take a couple breaks, and I have Dad to help me. But I mean, yeah, I would just drag, drag, drag until I fell down backwards, and then I would get back up, and then I would drag until I fell down backwards. And we did that all the way out. We finally get there. Out there, Dad has a truck running so we could see the lights, you know, so we don't get turned around again. Yeah, Dad opens the truck door. Not here. Well, I don't mind if you dude just streaming on the highway, and I was like, of course this song is playing around out throwing it there.

Yeah, yeah, I assume just even by your conversation, which, by the way, he sounds great on the mic. He's got a real Yeah, he's a pro. Yeah, great voice that. Uh, tell us, tell us, tell us about your shooting method. It sounds like you seem like you knew what's your procedure if you're going to take a shot on something. What are the steps that you go through in your brain?

You know?

First thing I generally do is calm down a little bit and you know, make sure I got a good stance, prop it up. But I'm a guy that when I decided to shoot a deer, I kill him.

I can get it.

I don't sit there breathing in and out and yeah, worrying and lathering up over. You go into this mode, right, I just going, yeah, going to mode. So and I have, but I'm fifty four years old. I have missed plenty and made plenty of mistakes. So I've had a lot of time to you know, do do better?

You Yeah? Learn?

Yeah? Yeah?

So you are you your breathing guy or you just kind of like down on him, trigger pull, get it done?

Yeah?

I probably I just if it's depending on how long a shot it is. But most time I'll just put the across hers on and kill him, you know, because I know if I start doing this, I.

Think of trying thinking about it.

You know, that's what I'm him by the first of the first deer I killed.

Yeah, I had a meeting in town or something. Ella wanted to go hunting.

Nine eight or nine.

I had a buddy of mine take her over and drop her off.

And the first year, the first year, the first deer, the first buck.

Well, she's sitting in between my legs kind of on the tree stand and dope pops out and she's gonna shoot him. And I said, Ella, get it on him. Is this the deer you're talking about first? And she goes, Dad, I just can't do it. You shoot him and we'll tell him I I shot him.

I said, I ain't doing that, Ellen, I'm not doing that.

You gotta do it well. So she pulls the trigger and she does it. To this day, any deer she shoots at, I mean it's him. I missed him. Yeah, she looked at me and so I missed him. I said, well, he's he's laying right.

There on the road.

I don't think you did, you know, so can I do want to tell you another quick story when when Ella was a.

Little older than that.

This is why you're here to go for it.

We uh, we were hunting, and I took her down as Greenville. I got down there and and uh, off the back of it's kind of a swampy area. So I buzzed down in there. We find this kind of a good spot back up to it by a tree, and I start rattling forellow Ella's eight or nine.

Years old, you know, rattling in Alabama.

I was rattling.

You know, it never works for me unless I'm in the Midwest. Well it does, I mean, but you got to do it at the right time. You gotta do it real close to up. But anyway, so Ella's I have this little two forty three single shot. He cock a hammer, you know. So she's sitting there beside me to my left, gun propped up on her knee. All of a sudden, I hear coming, and here he comes. You know, he's heard hiss, rattling and running. He runs in there, all the hair standing up on his back. Okay, I mean, and I'm I'm leaned up. Ella Ella's got him. I mean, she's probably got it on him. Hats pulled down, She's down down to the barrel. He walks out doing this look around the tree thing, trying to figure out where it was. I bumped the grun again. Here he comes. He is twenty yards from us, man looking at us there at the back, and I'm going killing, killing, Killy. She's not shooting, and I'm thinking, damn, you know, and then she's He starts off again, and I've grun again.

He stops.

He's looking now he's got a beat on us. He sees us two sitting in the bottles, and I'm saying, Killy, mellow. Well, he didn't just bold. He just kind of high stepped it out of there and slipped out of there. And I was like, gummy, And I turned around her and she had tears just running down her eyes. She locked up. I mean, she this is a nice buck. She just could not drop the hammer on him.

First big buck I'd ever seen, Like I was probably ten.

Yeah.

I remember specifically coming home eating the soup that night, my mate. I always love having soup or something after hun Oh it's good is my favorite thing. I'm starving when I get out of the tree stand. I just remember like crying, eat my shoes, like not only that I missed a big buck, like I watched this deer for the first time.

We're like, yeah, it's tough, tough, we all go through it.

Tell him about that time when I was little, uh with the you remember that said he's poking them.

Oh.

I had her with him, and Ella would always she would always want to take skittles and those orange crackers, and she was determined.

That is why we always.

Peanut butt peanut.

Okay, okay, so we're buzzlong.

I would drop him to the stand all the way thinking like, I mean I was little, like yeah, leaving the trail for that.

And she's little, She's got her vest on is dragging the ground, and she got a big tobogga on. She couldn't have been three four years old. Man, So I shut this deer runs off the field. We're going there looking for him, and he's not dead, and I shoot him with my forty five and then he gets up again.

I had to shoot him again and.

Got him laying there, and I turned around at la Ella's a little round baby face was sitting there with tears running down, and the guy with us said, hey, honey. She said that deer is a mean deer. He's been poking all the baby deer with his horns.

She goes. Really, I said, yeah, all right.

Was it was it important to you as a dad to get her outdoors, to get to get her into the woods, or was it just like, if I'm gonna go, I gotta take her with me.

What what was your mindset on that?

You know, Ella, I love doing that, and of course I wanted my kids to do that too, and you know I have You know, they don't give you an owner owner's manual. Was raised a kid, you don't know what to do, and all I knew to do was And another thing was I traveled a lot.

I was, and I still travel a good bit.

But I leave on Thursday on Monday morning, and I would be back Thursday afternoon or Friday, and so I just you know, and Heather being worn out with all the kids, you know, she'd get to me and we spent all weekend riding around her listening to my music in the back seat, or we'd go hunt or fishing or whatever it was.

Yeah.

But but yeah, Ella, Ella, she draws. She's a lot like me, And I'm proud of this. I was not the sharpest tool on the shed. I mean, I struggled in school, no offense yellow.

But but she's a lot like me.

I um, yeah, but but you know, if you if you're that way, you gotta you gotta try. You gotta try twice as hard, you know. I know I have to work harder than an average bear to get it done. And working hard is what has been her success. She has no quit in her.

You know.

The other night, were trailing out there. A couple times, I was thinking, damn, I think we lost this dear.

Huh.

She wouldn't have it, you know, and I watched you do it with her music. I watched you do it sports. When she played sports, we brought soccer into the little high school. Wasn't something we always did, but girls had soccer. I think boys had it too.

For a or two.

Ella never went to a game that she didn't get a yellow card, not one. She is extremely physical, but.

That's that's also probably from eighth grade to senior year one, five games and every game I would go out there and like, we might win today, you might halfway through would be like, but I.

Feel like I told her that. I mean that, you know, when you're not, you gotta try twice as hard. You just got to get done. Don't quit, you know, that's.

A good motto, man, And I mean it's the only thing that works in music. I mean, it is the only thing that works, the.

Thing if you're gonna be done, got tough, yeah for sure. I mean you're just calling ella dome no.

No.

I have a song about that.

That's part of the motto, man, you.

Got better be tough. And I wrote it about We wrote about guy cheating on me and you know, yeah, jacking of stuff and you.

Gotta be you gotta be quick on your feet. I mean it's just you know, even this right here is new to me. I'm not real comfortable doing this.

But you.

But I want to tell you a story if I could. So years ago, a couple of years ago, three or four years ago, a friend of mine's dad passed away. So I'm getting ready to go to the funeral home you know where we live. Everybody when somebody dies, you're taking food, you go to you show up for their family. So anyway, I was getting ready to walk out door, and I said, hell, I got to go to a funeral home.

You'n go with me.

She said, I'll go eat dad. So she loaded up. And this is before any of this national stuff's going on. She's thinking around kind of at the local places and stuff. But so she got to be right up there to the to the Uh that's.

Exactly what my dad was, you know, exactly.

We right up there to the to the funeral home. I opened the door in the back of it.

The whole lobby is just filled up with people, you know, and some of them I thought I recognized. I wasn't sure, so I walked around the corner and look inside there where the where the casket is, and this old man and woman were standing there. They came to us on a string. I mean, hey, who were you? I said, I'm Jason Langley. Who's this pretty girl? And I said, this ella, you know, Oh, we're so glad y'all came and come on up, y'all seer. Well, we didn't go to see a woman. We were going to see a man. So he walks us up to the husband. The husband walks us up to the casket and we're in the wrong funeral and he says, uh, doesn't she look good? And I said, it looks just like she's sleeping.

I mean, it's good, you know, and playing along now because I mean there's nobody in there. And he just wants to show his wife, you.

Know, emotions, Della, come here, honey and touch her. And so Ella walked over, no doubt.

He asked me that, and I looked at Dad.

Dad went yeah, yeah, right.

So we got done.

We got done with that, and and I'm thinking, dear God, Ella, don't wrap me out, don't wrap me out.

And so I don't know this ship.

I did.

So when we got done with that, uh, you know, I gave guy a hunt and told we loved him, be praying for him. And we walk out the door. And when we didn't go to the truck, we were off the one we're supposed to go to, and l goes, Dad, do we know them people? I said, hell, no, we don't.

We laughed. Walking from that parlor to the all the way to the line to get into the.

Next we had to walk out another door when we left because we don't want to walk by me.

That is no telling what y'all did for that man, though y'all might have made that.

Man's not just.

We sat in there for a while, They sat us down, We talked to us for a minute, but.

You just off the cuff, just figured out how I mean.

Dad looked at each other and just decided right then and there, we're gonna just ride it out.

Yeah, maybe we should be a prerequit. You have to bring your dad on this podcast.

So we got a lot.

I mean it's like there's uh, there's wedding crashers and then you have you guys are funeral crashers and just roll in.

I don't know that's as much fun.

Uh makes for a great story.

Yeah, let's uh, let's switch it to music for a little bit already.

Oh yes, you know thirty minutes.

Yeah, we are driving to the driving to the stand. We had our dad on the other day and like our driving to the camp song was Don Williams.

Toss the time. That's what that's kind of what we thought of.

Like, that's what I think of when I think of being in a trouble with my dad and looking over and I just seeing you know, doing thingsash.

Forward, drumming.

What was you said earlier you listened to my music? What was what was some of that? Like she brought up on there?

What were jamming back in the day on the way of the deer Stony.

You know, I'm a person I grew up, I was born in nineteen seventy and I grew up in the eighties kind of, you know. And but my brothers, you know, we listened to a lot of Molly Hatchett and thirty eight Special and Leonard Skinner and Boston and def Leppard and you know, you name it. But we also my dad, you know, was an old Hank Williams guy, you know. And so I was listening to a ton of country music. I mean, I love Merle Haggard, I listened to him. I love Jim Crochey all.

You know.

I make CDs and it would have a just a smathering of you know, it might be h Michael Blue Blade, it could be Jim Crochy and then be Boston right behind it.

And but yeah, I just you know, I've got a I like a lot of music.

What did your what do you remember that? What's like?

What's your what's your go to when you're thinking of growing up music wise?

Would you I think my first two favorite songs were probably he never even called me by my name. That was the first. That was the first cuss word I ever said. Damn And that song got run over by damned old excited about that saying that part and then Mama tried, yeah, that was too. Every time a week we'd get done with, Mama tried, I'd.

Go again again again, just really played me.

I tell you funny on that old c D that I had done, it had a skip in it because in a certain spot sounded like a rubbert She thought she thought it was part of it.

Was the wire die, Yes, it was.

It was on It was David Allen Co and Never Call My Name, and it sounded like a rubber ducky And as a kid, I remember sitting there like imagining them in the studio.

Do you do you remember where it?

And I didn't know if I listened to it all the way through. No, it's like earlier, like in the halfways. I mean it sounds like a rubber boots covering water like I don't know how to explain it. Yeah, exactly like that. But I didn't know that that wasn't part of the song until I heard it for the first time out of his truck, because the only way I heard that song was on the CD.

Yeah, that's awesome, it's really funny. That's really that's awesome. So you're cutting your teeth on those tunes and then you're like, how did how did you know that you could sing or that you even enjoyed like doing music? When did that come about?

His parents? My grandparents my like you said, my grandpa was, I mean he could sing. My grandma could sing. He could play every instrument by hear. He was one of four. He was the second of four, his older sister, younger sister, and younger brother. They grew up I mean in a little shack, I mean no air conditioning, know nothing, what year? What years?

Grandpa born nineteen twenty nine, and there are five of them, he was the oldest boy. Gotcha five of them, and they grew up like a lot of country people did they did? You know what do they sit around and singing. They could all pick guitar and play the piano.

First one learn and taught the next one, and then the next one taught the next one. And so like our family reunions were all of them would get together and everyone was singing. Music has just been a big part of, you know, of our life. On my dad's side, but also my mom's side, they love music and they're just because my mom's from Michigan, so her that whole side of the family is completely opposite from my dad's side of the family, especially meaning to you know, like they listened to a lot of Pearl Jam and Grateful Dead and Peter Paul and Mary and that's.

All the stuff you said, and all that stuff is wrong. It's it was a really.

Cool way to grow up. I mean, I've listened to I mean, Motown was a big one. I mean, and then I'm from Montgomery, so I did listen to some rap too, So you've got those has come from.

I want to say that, you know, a big part of this I see it because I've had an outside of the fish bowl look at this whole thing. But my mother was she she could smell a beer over telephone. There was no drinking at all around.

You've been drinking. She knew you've been drinking. Yeah, and she tell you about it. So uh.

And my dad, my dad was not that way, and so he had a piano out in the barn where he could sit out there and play piano and drink his beer and and keep.

It out there separately.

But when Ella came along, she was the first girl that had been around. And I'm telling you, we let my mom she come pick her up. When we went to work. She'd keep her all day long and that's all they did. They played the piano, had her performed stuff. She was so confident of her ability, probably because they oh, it's the best thing.

We ever did. I loved her and and she she was always a little kid. It was one to performed in front of everybody.

That's great.

And so she'd stand up there in church and just let her rip.

And what's some of those early performances songs, what what?

What?

Amazing Grace was probably the first song I ever sang in front of people. I remember learning that song. The first two songs I learned how to sing It's amazing Grace. And then this other song called Froggy Went According.

I know, Froggy went in Gordon, you do?

I think I might start this next record off with, oh really, next record is going to be a lot about Alabama. That's awesome, just kind of about my roots and stuff.

Were talking about it.

Give me a little bit of Froggy.

It goes a Froggy went according and he did right on. Froggie went according and he did right back by? F are you in according? And he did ride sword and pistol by his side? Oh baby and mine, and.

So I ain't even gonna try to do nothing, but that sounded real good headphones. Yeah you're a killer. I mean, I know you're a killer, but you're a killer.

Oh thank you. I've just seening that song. But I remember I would when I was learning those songs. My grandpa would be sitting he was sitting on the piano, my Grandma's in there doing the dishes, and I'd learn like two words and he'd play it for me, and I'd go in there and show my grandma learned the two words. And I remember I went home and practiced it, and then we had Wednesday night church and I ran up to my grandpa and I was like, look, I learned it, and he just had me sing it right there in the middle of church. Everyone's eating, you know, and I'm just sitting there singing. I mean, I had a cousin that worked at my dentists and sometimes she'd make me get up and sing like kids would be like, and I'm like, oh, may you know. So it's like this has been this has been the plan for me in my whole life. Yeah, I mean I loved it, everything about it. I've always loved it. I've never wanted to do anything else, not even that I've just I think that I could be good doing plenty of other things, but this is what I want to do.

So when was it when you were like, all right, I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna my whole life, moved to Nationville, I'm gonna do the thing.

Well, when I graduated high school. So in high school, I was playing. I was seeing like some wedding stuff, like wedding ceremonies, but I wasn't really gigging. I Mom and dad took me to the studio in Eclectic, Alabama, which is closer to Lake Martin.

If y'all know where that isn't Great Fishery.

Yeah, And it's just this little studio in the sky. They're doing this thing called a vp K. He's going to do it for me. And this is kind of an old school way to do yes video press kit, and it's an old school way of this is how they used to get gigs. So they would do a video and they would do eight songs and covers and then you'd send it around to all the venues and then that's how you book. Well, obviously this is in nineteen eighty anymore. So it's like you just look him up on Facebook and see what you're doing. But at the time I was sixteen, I didn't know anybody. Yeah, of course, so we go and I pick out songs like I can't even really remember.

Dude, do you still have the vpk Oh, dude.

There's somewhere. Oh, I know I did do it. No love with that, you know, But I remember watching that video thinking I suck. I am terrible, Like I remember you remember that. I went back in my room and just cried. I cried, I no. I was like, oh, I'm so bad. I'm never gonna be able to do this. And he said, the guy said, I want you to get fifty cover songs together and I'll help you start booking. Suff fifty fifty cover songs.

That's plenty of sheese, that's like an eight hour show.

But he told me that's what I needed to do. I didn't know any better. So from six minutes eight a lot.

Doesn't it a lot?

But at the same time, it's pretty much it's like setting you up for whatever coming.

Yeah, I mean it was really beneficial, and honestly it helped me, Like having to go in and all those songs, and I mean that was just it was. I grew a lot in that time. So from sixteen eighteen, like you know, I played sports and I was really involved in my high school, so I didn't really pursue music. Then I wanted to pursue music all the way. I knew if I wasn't gonna just you know, put a pinky toe in, and so I just start doing it like I was gonna go all the way. So I graduated high school, I went back to the guy and I said, here my fifty Kever songs, and he brought me this little bar in Neglectic, Alabama, and I played like some random songwriter night. Same night, there was a band playing that night. They just all kind of got up and played together, and I got up and just sang with them. And I looked at all of them, I said, do y'all want to be my band? And they're like yeah, sure, and they're there. They're in my band Fordals from eighteen to I moved to Nashville when I was twenty, so I went to Auburn University for two years and that was awesome because that's how I met Bradley Jordan. We used to play over there, Bob Sky barb Bourbon Street. So I played all that, and then you know, I was with the band. I was playing four hour cover gigs Thursday, Friday, Saturday. I'd go play an acoustic gig on Sunday, you know, Tiptart. I mean, well that's what I did. Yeah, that's This is the only job I've ever had. I've never given myself another way to make money at all. This is I've just given myself this because I know this is what I want to do. I don't want to do anything else. So two years in Auburn, I feel like I've played you know, all the bars in Southeast. I don't want to do covers anymore. I'm burnout. I'm playing and doing it from eighteen, you know, I guess I was two years of just straight doing it.

Did you play rist?

I didn't never play ricks because Rix is kind of hard ticket. It's it's it's it's portrayed as a soft ticket, but it's kind.

Of heart tickets.

So Trey Lewis, I had a boyfriend who was in music and then his manager. They were both moving to Nashville, and we're going to live with Trey and I was like, well, I'm not staying here.

Yeah.

Uh so I just I called mom and dad and I said, I think I want to drop out of school and move to Nashville. And you know, I'm just gonna be in more dead anyways, when I graduated, just starting, I mean, I'm gonna go do this anyways, I would rather start it now.

Let this be your school.

But that and that's what they said, and that's what you know, And they helped me out when I first got here, and they did they treated it like like school. My mom always said that, She's like, this is your schooling. And I said, I wasn't in a big rush when I moved here. Well then COVID hit six months afterwards, so I wasn't able to be in a big rush. But I just didn't ever feel like I was racing against the clock just because it I was just figuring out how to do it, you know. And what's funny is all these videos of me are resurfacing of when I did all these covers back in the day, and Risky refused to share them, and you know, and my voice has changed a lot. I got my tonsils out. It's four years this December.

It changes. It changed my entire life. Yeah, pretty much.

So I got my tonsils out when I was twenty twenty, right when I moved here. I did it. I moved here that December. I got my tonsils out and then COVID hit, and my voice has changed so much since then. It's crazy, even if you had listened to Damn You. I mean, it's wild. But it's just also from consistent working, you know, and COVID hit. That's how I found Joy Beth Taylor, who's my right hand man and songwriting. You know, she's just we we we. I remember our first write on that back porch. I was living in a house with three guys, you know, and I also playing some cover gigs, and I was watching all of them get gigs over me, and it was tough because you know, I was like, I'm put on just a good of a show. But but it lit this fire under my house. Yeah, and same thing kind of with songwriting, you know, and her and I were out there. She's from Alabama as well, so we just kind of had that little bit of a connection. But I remember that first day we were writing a song and we joke we found the first song we wrote a couple of weeks ago, and we were laughing listening to it. You know, it's kind of silly to think about the melody's actually kind of good and we could just put different words in there and we start over. But I remember us talking about some of our goals and you know, writing with Marana Lambert for both of us, that was one and I looked at her, I said, I bet you and I will do that together one day, And with that just happened two weeks ago. Yeah, the first time we wrote with together. We did a little retreat with her and Luke Dick and that's great. So it's it's been a cool journey of finding those people for me in town that I just love and love me and believe in me, and I believe in them, and so that's what's really kept me going a lot through this. And obviously my family support me in the way that they do and just loving me. And but that's the thing, like nobody has ever thought I was going to do anything else, you know, none of them. They everyone knew that. Like my if you ask any of my family, they're like, yeah, we all knew that this was gonna that's what she was going to do. So there wasn't ever really any question or when I wanted to move. I think it wasn't easy for me to tell Dad, Hey, I'm going to go live with three guys and move four and a half hours away.

Yeah, I can't imagine.

I mean, I'm his first, mama's first girl, you know. So it's you know, we're close, we have a great relationship. So that was tough and moving here not knowing anybody and just pretty much having a dream. And it's been really it's been a really cool five years here. I've been here five years now.

I remember the first time that we wrote with joy Beth, me and you and joy Beth, and I remember seeing a chemistry between the two of you, and even while you know, and I had been in town at that point eight nine years, so I kind of knew how it worked, you know, and watching you guys kind of work together, it was kind of like I was like, man, I just need to kind of yeah and what you know. And I remember at the end of the right saying, Hey, you guys got like, y'all got it. Y'all just need to stick together. You don't really need help, you know.

Like is great, you know, just her personality and her thing is her vibes.

Great people like her is another reason I worked so hard when I moved town. I mean joy Bath like I had to have a sit down talk with her about how many songs she was writing a week like it got she has since she signed to publishing deal, has turned into most songs every single year out of all of Sony Wow. Every year's I mean even the first I mean every even the first year when she signed her deal halfway through the year, turned in more songs that year off of her schedule. A So she's just you know, having people like that. And then Trey, you know this is Trey's been doing this for over ten years now. And when I first moved to town, he was doing the same thing cover gig and I mean he would go haul off in his little I don't even remember what kind of see Corey had, but it was the let me tell you, and I mean him and the whole band was sleeping it. They'd play four hours sleeping it, dripping next place, sleeping it. And so being around people like him it is, you know. I remember one time I canceled a Skybard gig because I had a terrible anxiety attack. It's probably one of the only I even to this day, I've canceled less than five gigs and that's one of the ones. And I remember I had a freak out this day and I just couldn't do it. It was just a mental day. I just so. I mean, I was so wrapped up in those cover gigs in skybar Man, when you do that so often, and these kids are just stealing drinks all over you, and it's like no one gets about you up there at that point, you know, and you think you just kind of live on it and hope that they do, but they don't. You know, You're just a jukebox at that point.

Yeah.

So I just, you know, I always have one of those days. And my band back and then, you know, and that was tough being a young being a young female trying to control these guys, not control, but work with them even, you know, and they just don't respect me in that way. I remember my guitar player back in the day, I said, Hey, I wish we could play some more of my songs. She said, well, you just start writing better songs, we'll play him. I'll never forget him saying that. It was crazy and you know, I was eighteen years old, nineteen years old, and I was just starting to write songs. And but I remember canceling that gig and I wasn't gonna tell anyone about it. But Trey knew I was supposed to play, and he's like, why aren't you playing the gig? And I couldn't say I was sick because I lived with them, and he knew I wasn't sick. And he's just remember being like, hell, you just can't do shit like that. He's like, you just got to get up and play the damn show. Get up and play a damn show. He's right, get up and play a damn show. And so having people like that on days, you know, and I feel depressed or anxious or whatever, when I'm in my bed, I want to pull the covers over my head, Trey will literally come in there and rip the covers off of my Yeah, He's like, get out of the bed, get up, go to work, you know. And even this year, both of them are people that I've met, friends that I've made in this town that are family for me now. They really are. And you know when they just you know, Trey always like you just got to say I'm a machine. I'm a machine, and you know I'm not a machine, but there are days where you do have to be a machine, for sure. I'm learning this year just how insane this job is that you are, especially.

With the nutso rise of my gosh. We even made a game about it.

Yeah, we're gonna play a game. We're gonna let you sing. Excuse me, just the excuse.

We got to talk about it. I mean, it's huge.

And then we're gonna we're gonna we're gonna throw out some pickup lines after that part, and you're gonna y'all gonna rate them.

I'm gonna decide on the best because the song is kind of about.

We'll get to you know how I got the title right?

I don't.

We'll get into it. Let's get into it after this game, all right.

Hold on and pull it up. Hey is my guitar coming through? I can't hear my headphones. It doesn't matter. I'm just making sure I didn't do something wrong.

Pick up turned up?

Man, I'm good if y'all are good? All right, where is my I took some pictures of my favorite pickup lines. I'm starting with this one, Okay, you say, excuse me, excuse me, are you my appendix? Because this feeling in my stomach makes me want to take you out. That that's pretty good?

Yeah, pretty good?

Found Yeah, all right, so now you say one, I will give that an eight.

Okay, okay, interested in that one?

The bodily function thing maybe like some.

Of these, maybe cringey. That may be good. We're just trying to figure out.

Excuse me, are you wi FI? Because I feel a connection.

I'm gonna give that a five. I've heard that one before.

It's pretty good.

I've never heard that one before.

The appendix one was good.

Okay, man, I might have started off with the best one.

Excuse me.

I assumed happiness started with an H, but I believe it starts with a you.

Why'd you point it?

Dad?

I feel like I could get any more nervous.

I don't know.

Give it a rate?

Oh, probably.

Maybe five or six, depending gives better.

Okay, I was pretty good rounds. I won the first round. Let's see how this round goes.

Excuse if you.

Were a vegetable, you would be a cute number.

That's good. That's good, that would work. I'm trying to like when I respond that's what I'm writing. I would at least be like that was good.

Last round, that one, last round? All right, one to one, Let me look, let me look and make I'm gonna get you. Excuse me, I'm going to complain to Spotify about you not being this week's hottest single.

If someone say that to me, though, it would be kind.

Of weird, because it is you do have a single. Actually, all right, give it a grade. Just give it a grade one to ten.

I probably wouldn't respond to that one.

Bo I got you.

I want you go ahead to do I like respond or not respond.

You're looking a little sick, looks like you might need a little vitamin me.

I don't know if I respond.

All right, we'll do one more because that was a tie. That was a terrible tie.

Best pickup lines I've ever heard is from Riley's dad. He gets the best pickup lines I've ever heard.

His are like mate, he makes them up though, right, Oh, he's.

Like off the cuff. I mean, it's incredible, it is. It is a work of art. Honestly, this is these are.

Bad because I just looked him up on there. All right, you're ready, Damn, this is gonna be bad. If you were a fruit, you'd be a fine apple.

I like that.

Okay, okay, okay, so it's I feel like I've heard that one.

But at least gets a grade.

Gets a grade?

Okay, it gad. I mean, look, you've always been out of the game for a minute. Okay.

I thought you said respond and not respond.

Basically just like just I like responding.

Yeah, all right, I'm going a little inside ball here, but this is my last one. Excuse me, Really you a dough in rut because you're looking hot?

What hot dough boom? Anyway, it's not me, it's you. You like that one?

Confused me a little same?

I mean, yeah, those don't really rut?

Are you a dough in rut?

You should have You should have gone with heat because you're looking hot, heat hot? All right? Who won?

I don't like this game?

All right? Who won? Say? Who won? Who won?

He looked at you and at you.

I think you are pretty evil, to be honest.

All right, all right, give us the story.

How did you come up with that?

Let's talk about the song from it? Well, because it is gigantic.

It's again breaking crazy. I don't think I have comprehended it.

Well, it's impossible to at this point it will set in.

I don't know.

I think the coolest thing about it is I saw a video of you figure y'all finding out that you want to see m a and you looking at Aaron and being like, isn't it crazy?

Like we've written a ton.

Of songs together, tried to write great songs, and that's what we do, right as long as we come to this town wanting to write, yeah, great songs.

And sometimes you're in there like this.

For sure, man and overthinking it. But you said, we sat there and laughed for thirty minutes, and here we are with this, with this tune. Like, it's crazy to me that my first cut in town was the same way. I mean, we wrote it as the chorus as a joke and it ended up being my first ever cut. And so yeah, like just tell us, tell us the journey of that song and how it came to be.

Well, me and Aaron were written another rite actually, and whoever we were writing with walked out room, and you know that's when you strike up your little conversations, and me and Aaron just don't quit talking, like we literally don't stop talking. It's insane. Adhd is flying everywhere everywhere. Yeah, he's got to do like seven things while he's writing, Like he'll be sketching you while he's writing song, while he's like, maybe paint something over here. I don't know, that's just how he is. Anyways, he was like, hell, how's your relationship life going. I was like, Aaron, honestly, I'm out of the point where they look like they love me. I got to get out of there. You know, it's just too much for me right now. And we giggled at that. And then you know, as songwriters, when you hear something like you look like you love me, we're like, well there's a title. Yeah, And we just wrote the title down and didn't. This was we wrote the song in twenty twenty two, so six months later we had an afternoon. Right. He loves to talk about how I brought in this bowl of spaghetti. I was like, I made my lunch, brought it in, and I had this bowl of spaghetti, which says, this is like the luckiest bull of spaghetti. I think we might get a tattoo with like.

A tiny piece of spaghetti.

That's cool, Sorry, dad, it's too far gone now. It's too far gone the tattoos.

Now classic classic.

He said, it's too far gone now. So anyway, so we just sat down and I was like, what would they look like? You loved me song or that?

You know?

And Aaron is probably one of the funniest people I've ever met. If you don't know Aaron ray Tier, just look up this song called Jesus Jenny. Look it up on YouTube. Aaron ray Tier doing it, because him doing it acoustic is one of the funniest things ever. It's like Jesus Jenny, diddies popping at your turtle. Now you're riding around and your red or of it getting all the wrong kinds of respect, Jesus Jenny doing what your mom wouldn't want your mama to see. You know, It's just hilarious all the way through. And because I grew up on all that, you know, I got up with a lot of talking countries. Like I said, one of my first favorite songs was You Never Even Called Me by my Name. I knew the talking part that song before the age of five.

I had a duck in it, and I had a duck in it, rubber duck.

So I was like, let's just write it funny and let's just like exactly like a woman walking up to a guy in the bar, and we hit record and Aaron just let it rip, and him and I were just freestyling pretty much like five ten minutes, and we wrote the whole song like that, and then we just kind of pieced it back together from that work tape. It fell out almost immediately. We had a whole second verse and then so, I mean, after I wrote that song, I just didn't think it was gonna do anything because just talking in the verses, it's not very common song about a girl walking up to a guy who she's had a couple of drinks. She's like, let me take you home, baby. You know. It's like, yeah, when you're first writing in town, like people are very opinionated on what works well, you know. I'm like, you know, there's a formula, you got it there, what's radio looking for? What's a radio song, what's not a radio song? And so you just have all these things in your head as a young writer, especially I mean moving here and this is I mean, there's everyone's writing songs here. So it's just not like I'm living in Alabama right with a couple of people and make them up my own ideas. But so this is girl named Maya Hanson. She signed me to my first publishing deal at Sony what I'm currently in right now. But she loved the song. Some of the work tape. We just have a shitty work tape. I'll text it to y'all too. It's a great work tabe. I think I want to put the work tape out. But and we were doing the work tape and I remember trying to deliver the song. I did it once and it was kind of weird, and he's like, do it like you're trying to remember a story when you're telling when you're doing the talking part, because I was like, I was all but twenty two I think at the time. And then you know, just kind of reading it, talking it like normal, and he's like, I'm gonna do it like you're trying to remember a story. So I was like, I was all but twenty two I think at the time. It puts that out on the road, well only at night, and it changed how I was singing it completely, and Maya heard it, loved it. Try to get me to put it in the drop by for the EP. I put out excuse the mess, and I was like, no way, man, Like, no one's gonna like that song. And I just didn't. I mean, I just I don't know. I thought it was more of a joke. I wrote it to when people aren't listening at Live Oak or say someone to get their attention right around the bonfire, you know, at the Hunt camp, trying to make everyone giggle.

You know.

I love songs like that. I love a funny song, you know. And she when we were cutting for the record, she slipped it in there. She didn't tell me it was the last song on there. And I got calls from my agent, from people high up in my record label that and called me like all these people from this shitty work tape. I mean there's all these like great demos at this point, like I've got great demos now, you know, and this is I mean the worst sound in one on there. It's a crappy work tape and it's you Look Like You Love Me? And they're like, this song is insane, and so we cut it with the first round we cut songs. It wasn't going to be a duet. We cut it. When we cut we did you Look Like You Love Me? Nicotine Hungover, Paint the Town Blue, and another one I can't remember, thank you all those thank you. So we cut that song and then right after that, Riley asked us on tour, I think the week afterwards. So I was driving around listening to the cut, and you know, I'm Don Riley or I was like the first famous person I ever knew, you know, Like he was around playing all the same bars. I was trying to play it and he's already done that, you know, So I was always, you know, a bunch of steps behind him, but I was, you know, trying to follow in those footsteps, you know, for I've done all. You know, we're from the same area kind of you know, I means from Jacksonne from Alabama, but I mean from Montgomery. But you know it's not it's like two hours apart. So grew up going all the same places. I knew he grew up on the same kind of music, and I just asked him, I straight up just asked us, like, would you run want to write a second versus this? And Bradley sent it to him and we didn't hear from him about it until like December, and he's, you know him right in a second verse. You know, I knew we weren't done cutting the record, so I wasn't like in this massive rush, but he called me I'll never forget. I was getting my nails done and I looked down and me and Kaylee my phone his face up and it said Riley Green and I was like what I answered it and he's like, hey, I sang so the verse, like it's in your text messages. If you like it, He's like, I would love to do it. So I listened to It's exactly what it was. I was like, it's perfect, you know. I just told him to do it. I was like, why would you respond to it? One one walking up to you in a bar and I gave him the reference off, you know, I was like, think of Dave down Car. I was like, think how they do that? And I think you can kind of in Riley's verse specifically, hear the the reference of the way that they talk it like that. It's cool and I really wanted to do it so we could sing it on tour the whole time, but I couldn't get his to do it on tour, but we did all kinds of other songs and we played it all the time. In the green room. I mean he played it constantly. Everyone knew it. We played it after when everyone's hanging out. We played the guitar. I think one of the first nights on tour, we like sang it together in the back of the green room. THERE'SI there's a video on my Instagram of it. There's like a him cheap McDonald's half eat and cheeseburger on the table, you know whatever. Just after after showing life.

He that cheeseburger though, no, no.

He ain't. But so we go to the whole tour. I've been like trying to get videos of us doing the song. You know, I'm like just trying to like, you know, not be weird about it, but like he's still trying to like promote the song, you know, Like I did this so we could do it on tour. So the last night on tour he had asked me, so we did it in color. That was the song I can't I went up and did with him every night, and then he loves Dreams, so I flee with Matt. He loves that song. He does the thing shoulders. It's really weird, like he just can't help himself, you know. So uh, he asked me. One night, He's like, hey, we do Dreams with the band tonight, and he just took his guitar off we did in color, took his tar off, put it on me, and I just play Dreams with his band on stage front the whole arena. You know, I'm like, you got it. You know, I don't know what key. I don't know keys and nothing, so don't just don't ask me, just sing it now. He just walked off stage and did whatever, got a drink or something, and then came back on and played it. Said he does. He's so chill and like it's just he's loose like that. But the last night of tour, we get dalnthon Color and he looks that leans down and I'm like pull my hair out, and he's like, you want to do that other song. I was like, yeah, something and I put my cape on one. I'm ready to do Dreams and Ralely goes, well, we haven't done this song before, and I was like, he's talking about you look like you loved me. This is the last night of tour. The band doesn't know. I didn't and nobody knew. It's just Riley of course. So We did a song video comes out and I teased it once before Riley announced it was on it, and that first video I did it was just up the talking verse and it went insane. I don't know how many views it has on TikTok now, but I mean it did it on Instagram too. It was just one little video we did. I just did one little random one before the show one night and it went insane.

Wow.

So it was already going like millions and millions of views viral before he was announced. But then when he was announced on it, it was like yeah yeah, and then yeah it came out in July. What was crazy is we played We did Hyde Park with Morgan Wallen on fourth of July. It was really funny to be in London on the fourth of July.

Yeah, did they even celebrate over.

There America's Holiday.

I'm just wondering if it like got exciting over there or No. No, it's like it didn't even happen.

No, It's like this is how we you know, It's like we separated from.

Them, so like I think I acknowledge that.

No, they didn't. I try to. I thought about getting every one in my band. I did buy everyone American flag underwear, and then I accidently left it all here. I know, of course, but there's fifty thousand people there. And I when Riley plays on the festival, most time we save it for his set, you know. This time, I mean, the song wasn't even out yet, it's only been the TikTok and we went out there and it was a sea of people. It's the most people I've ever played in front of. Fifty thousand people like that is like, you can't mean, it is a sea of people.

It's unfathomable amount of people.

And I remember walking out there and starting the song and fifty thousand people. This is like one of the first times I've ever experienced people sing the words back that I wrote and it's fifty thousand people. Well, you know, like I think, when you spend so long wishing for something, and for me it's been my whole life and not just wishing so hard, but working for something. And recently I've been talking about the way when you start out, you got to do it for you. You can't do it for anybody else because nobody else has given you that. Nobody else is gonna give you what you need from them. Emotionally or anyway. Because you're starting out. You know, you're you're not writing the songs you're gonna one day, You're not playing shows you're gonna you don't sound the way you're gonna, you know, and you're just you got to do it for you. You got to do it because you want to. So this past year it's kind of changed a little bit where the fans are like, thank you for doing this. I'm like, thank You're thanking me for chasing my dream, like what you know. And it's weird. It's really weird for people that come up and to me and I'm experiencing like fans for the first time in that way. And we just finished this headline and tour, and I think with having a song is viral, it's scary a little bit because it's like, man, I mean the shows are sold out, but it's like, are they coming and listen to the one thing? You know, I'm a pessimist. I'm thinking to your's grandma, by all these tickets, it made all of them come, you know, I know that's what it is.

It's because you're creative. I mean, we all are. And you've had this town, this town kick you in the teeth a little bit like we have, and it turns you to that kind of a person. But I'm here to tell you don't. You shouldn't be worried about that because the records so damn good. Like the songs. I mean, it has a foundation under it. It's just right, hit cat, you know what I'm saying. It's a it's a great record. You're a great artist. You're going to continue to write great songs, and I think you're gonna have a big, fat, long career in this town.

Yeah seriously, all right, I want to show you this video and you're talking about having fans. This little girl right here is one of your biggest ones and I don't know.

One of your littlest ones.

Yeah, well, I don't know if I can't show this but to the but here.

Loud, all right, let's hear it.

I was turning it down.

Okay, that's so, that's all right.

Who does she look like right here?

So little kids that I think that's one of the reasons this song is done. What it's done is how I mean, there's no telling a day how many videos of kids that age two year old, yes, really, all over the world singing this song it's crazy. And you know little kids, when they get obsessed with song, they gonna play that song over and over. So it's like, oh, we've been shooting for the wrong audiences. I think they sharked it so well.

I got real shark.

I saw a video of a dog going like, you know, sing a song, it's crazy, dog. I've seen videos of dogs with it like it's nuts.

I mean, that's what That's what Roger Miller did, right, He just wrote like everything he wrote tried to do like like preschool rhymes.

You know, that's well, it's it has changed the way I write songs completely, the way I approach writing songs, because you know, you said it, like what we said in that video, it's how how many times you just sat there and wanted to bang your head against the wall trying to write a song. Sometimes it's not even a good song. You know, you get done and you're like that was some worse you know, and ever since for you a little bit, ever since the song, and I feel like I was kind of doing it before the song Blue Up, but it really sentiment in my brain where it just doesn't have to try that hard if it's a great melody gets the point across. Sometimes people don't want to think that hard about music.

They just don't.

They just don't, And you know I do. I listen to my music a lot of different ways. Like sometimes I'll listen to songs, I'll turn it down where I can't hear the lyrics anymore, because I just want to hear how it feels when you're listening to it. I think that's why Morgan Walling a reason he his music streams so well. I mean, obviously it's great, but when you can turn Morgan Walling down right here, not hear really any of the words, and you can sit here and listen to it like this, it's great music to have a conversation over just to and then but also turned up and listen to it and it's great. People just says that too, and so I do that a lot with what I've been doing that a lot recently with my songs and what I'm doing for this next record is I want it. It's a lot about feeling. And that's what I love so much about country music, especially in like the seventies and the eighties and the sixties. It's it's not the most complicated title, but the way that they approach the title is so cool. Sometimes it's just simple, but the melody, you won't get that melody out of your head. And I feel like sometimes when you're listening to a song and you don't have to think too hard about it, the melody is like, not this crazy, like you know what I mean, Like it's it's just sing along. And that's what we wanted with this song. It wasn't this. It wasn't like I was trying to show off the best vocal past I could ever give. It was all about I wanted this song to be where guys are in the bar, girls are in a bar, like leaning on each other like this, like we did a take. There's BGVS in there where me and Will are just in the room singing it like almost monotone stacked in there. Just because we wanted it to feel like a bar song.

I wanted it to feel.

And it's it's showing man, I mean, it's it feels great. It's a giant. It's a giant. WHOAOA we got we got.

More, we went.

It's an hour and fifteen minutes.

Let me ask some more questions. What's next for you? What's You've got?

This song?

It's is possibly, if not the biggest, one of the biggest songs in the in the world right now.

How do you follow it up?

What do you?

What do you do next?

What do you? What do you?

Uh?

What's next for you?

I'm really excited about where I'm going next. I have the title for the next record, I have a music video planned out, I have the creative for it pretty much done, and it's really organically falling out, rocking. I'm just letting I'm really just letting God take the wheel. Honestly, I'm I've always believed that he wouldn't put this passion on my heart so aggressively, so aggressively to the point where I would I would feel sick as a kid thinking like what like going to concerts was kind of a miserable thing for me at a young age because I would sit up there and I would want to do it so bad that I would like, I would feel sick to my stomach because I just wanted to be up there so bad. So, you know, with this next record, I kind of want to show that side a little more of me. Where the Alabama?

Who?

Who is Ella Langley? You know, not just not just the songwriter or the artists, but the human being, and people are going to want to know. Yeah, And I think just I think there is a level of honesty in my songs that not everyone has, and I think that's maybe what's going to set it apart a little bit, you know. But this next record, it's I'm so excited about it. I just I start every one of my rights right now. It's like this massive spiel. I've made this whole playlist that I listened to every day, like of reference tracks and just like you know, to kind of get me in the headspace of where I want it. It's it's gonna be groovy, country nice. I've been listened to a lot of Ronnie millsap if that gives you any indications, a lot of George Jones. I mean, I was literally I'll send you all the playlists that I've been listening to. I've been sending to a lot of writers I've been writing with because I kind of send this little spiel of like what I'm doing before the right that night, and then you know they can listen to it and be in that headspace.

But artists take notes.

Well, it's just really or it's okly falling out. It's crazy. I can't wait to share what it is, and I'll tell you all when we get off the thing. But it's just it's such a cool follow up. And I know that this next record is going to only be better than the one that I just put out because that's my first record. That's me, that's me guessing. I know how to put out a record now I've done it before. I have a little experience, and I know what I what I want and don't want, and I know the band that I want to a t you know. I think we're going with a different producer on this next one, and I haven't completely nailed that down yet, but you know, just excited for this next chapter of just growing and playing the shows that I'm not in a rush. I plan on doing this the rest of my life. So I'm just really enjoying the journey.

Of of I think you should of all of it.

You know.

That's why it's gonna work, and that's why it's gonna be huge, and You're gonna be huge, and the whole thing's gonna be awesome.

Thank you, all right, go for it.

We're high.

That thing I had to say it was. But it's the time of the show for the one that got It's part of the show. You go, you switch it every time?

Yeah, that's what I do. This is part of the show Ella where we talk about the one that got away. If you didn't understand that little ditty that just happened there, did we prep her for this? Yeah? You got one?

What is it.

You want? This is how I learned to not get out of the tree stand too early. I was in I was actually in a tent. There was this buck that we've been seeing on camera. It's I mean, do you think it was that twelve point we were seeing on camera all the time.

It was if you turn this into a deer hunting.

Story, this is the one that got away.

They said, okay, all right, I didn't know we switch.

Gears anyways, So I mean, biggest buck. It was massive, and I was so excited that I think I probably waited about six minutes. I don't know what shot. Waited about six minutes. And my plan was to go ahead and find start finding blood before Dad got there, so I could be like Dad, Look, I did it myself, you know. I think I was like seventeen sixteen or seventeen, and I got out there and start looking for blood in there, and I knew immediately. I'm just like, oh God. So I go back and sit in the tent and wait on Dad and act like I didn't get up and I wasn't gonna tell him. But then we go out into the woods and there's this big pile of blood where there's lung and heart in it, and obviously he was laying down, I mean right off into the woods. If I would have waited fifteen minutes, he would have been laying right there. And we look. I mean, it went from that to this to this. I mean I thought he was gonna be right up in there, and went down to Specs and then nothing gone gone. I just take the act the next morning and Dad's like, I mean we had leave, And Dad's like, I've never just left, you know, as the biggest year I've ever shot out of my life, and I've been seeing it on camera. I wanted I wanted to see it. I wanted to have it in my hands, no doubt. Anyways, I told that I got up early and ran them off, but we never found deer Ah brutal, never found there to this day, probably one of the biggest deer I've ever killed. It's dad say it died. Yeah, and we looked for so long. Now we don't even have that land anymore, so we'll never know.

You'll never know.

That's a tough lesson to learn.

It was because because I mean, yeah, as a young hunter, you want to you know, shoot something, you want go get it.

But yeah, but those lessons teach you.

Man.

I learned that lesson. I remember feeling sick. I remember that was the worst score I made on the A C T. I didn't ever score great, but that was the worst one by far.

I got a twenty one and I was like, I'm done. I'm not taking it again. That'll get me in Misissippi State. And that was it. I hate test.

Oh God, can't do.

We also do favorite tune, So this is the greatest slash favorite song that kind of comes to mind for you in your journey coming up.

I want to do my my Spotify rap just came in today. Everyone's dead, I think, and my number one song on that is Rose Colored Glasses John Connolly. That was on the CD of Dad. That's one of my first I think that was the first song I realized, I thought what a good melody was interesting. I just remember, like, I love the way it sounded, in the way that he's sang it, and I didn't even before I knew really what a melody was. That's the first melody I remember remember and thinking with these roads could glasses that IMA again through.

Show the beauty?

They oh the truth?

So I'm asky believe you need me when you brew so many times it ain't true.

And I find one good reason for steam.

Maybe leaving would.

Be for you.

These bo.

Cooldard glasses that I again through.

Show a.

Beauty. Hey ah Trutham.

And man Ella Langley, thank you for letting my dad on here. You did great, Dada.

Thank you, I said, I don't know, thank you. Uh sounds good.

Yeah, Hey, congrats on everything. Thank you you're.

Killing Thank you for having us. It's great.

Yeah, you're gonna be great. It's huge this next record. I'm pumped for it. It's gonna it's gonna be a huge, huge, huge.

But thanks for coming, hanging out, thanks for.

Coming, and thank you for having Yeah, Megan, thanks for making it work. Appreciate you, that's right, Appreciate you. Appreciate the gift back, dude, first gift back, Got a gift back.

For anybody that's gonna come on the pod, just know that La brought the gift back.

We'll promote it even more than I'm just kidding.

Thanks for that, Thanks for hanging out, Thanks for hanging out with us in God's Country, and we'll check out next time.

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God's Country

“God’s Country” with brothers Dan and Reid Isbell is a rollicking weekly podcast that sits at the in 
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