- 5 months ago
Old Dominion talk with Katie Neal about the enduring success of "One Man Band," and the importance of 'Man or the Song.'
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MusicTranscript
00:00I want to talk about this new album, Barbara.
00:03First, I would love a life update from everyone
00:05because I think, Brad, you got married this summer.
00:07I'm married, yeah.
00:07Correct?
00:08Three or four months ago.
00:09How was the wedding?
00:10It was amazing.
00:11We got married in the Virgin Islands.
00:14It was small, 60 people on a little island called Sandy Spit.
00:19It was beautiful, not too sunny, didn't rain.
00:23It was great.
00:25It was nice to see both sides of the family together.
00:28And I got, yeah.
00:30I can't say anything bad about it.
00:31That's great.
00:32I have a really hard time at weddings,
00:33and I loved Brad's wedding.
00:35Oh, thanks.
00:35Oh, you loved being in Tropical Paradise.
00:38I did love it.
00:40Number one.
00:41Why do I like this one better?
00:42Yeah, why is this wedding so much better?
00:43Why do you have a hard time at weddings,
00:45and why did you like Brad's better?
00:47All of the ceremony stuff, I feel like,
00:52and even each step of the whole wedding process,
00:55like reception and the pre-whatever dinner and all that stuff,
00:58like I don't know the way other people do that,
01:02like, well, this is just what happens.
01:03So I'm surprised by every step of the wedding,
01:05and then everyone looks at me,
01:07it feels like going,
01:08how come you don't know this is what's supposed to happen?
01:11Brad's whole wedding was just like a kind of like
01:13very laid-back, casual celebration of this beautiful couple.
01:17We tried to make it easy.
01:19Thank you for noticing.
01:19That's like the best compliment that you can get
01:21about hosting a wedding.
01:22Yeah.
01:22I know.
01:23It was the best wedding.
01:26Well done.
01:27Trevor, what about you?
01:28What's new in your world?
01:31What's new in my world is this album.
01:33Yeah.
01:34Do I have a life outside of this?
01:36It has consumed my life,
01:37but in a great way.
01:39You know,
01:39and I have two kids in college now,
01:42and then the other two are at the same school,
01:44so there's a lot less commuting and driving.
01:46Oh my gosh,
01:46you have like made it through that phase of life
01:49that is so difficult.
01:50There's nothing worse.
01:52One of my best friends is like,
01:53yeah,
01:53driving kids back and forth.
01:54They're in different sports,
01:55different schools.
01:56She lives in the car.
01:57Oh yeah.
01:58I mean,
01:58I'm like an Uber driver without getting paid.
02:01Yeah.
02:01Tim McGraw talks about that a lot.
02:02You get paid in hugs.
02:04Are you getting paid in hugs?
02:06Oh yeah.
02:07My daughter controls the playlist too,
02:09so I learn a lot of new music.
02:11That's great.
02:12Matt,
02:12what about you?
02:13Same.
02:13I just moved my oldest daughter back into college
02:17for her second year,
02:18and my youngest is now driving,
02:21so there's no more commuting for me.
02:23She can,
02:23so there's a whole new level of freedom
02:25in the mornings at my house for sure.
02:28I bet,
02:28but are you feeling like worried now
02:30that she's driving on her own?
02:30Oh yeah,
02:31I'm terrified.
02:32I'm just saying like,
02:33you've got all this free time now
02:34to just think about
02:35and ruin it all her driving around
02:36in this car by herself.
02:38And Jeff?
02:39I also just sent a kid to college.
02:40My daughter,
02:42it's her first year,
02:43so that was kind of an exciting,
02:44terrifying experience.
02:46Right,
02:46well at least you have these guys
02:47who have done it before
02:48to kind of like guide you through the process.
02:49Oh yeah,
02:49for sure.
02:49We got it completely right.
02:51Yeah.
02:51Oh,
02:51I bet you did.
02:52Yeah,
02:52they all sat me down there like Jeff,
02:53here's where she is.
02:55Don't do this.
02:56Right,
02:56right.
02:58Amazing.
02:58All right,
02:58well let's talk about the album.
03:00We will talk about
03:01who Barbara is in a second,
03:02but first,
03:03talk about
03:03what Barbara is,
03:05the album,
03:06these 13 songs.
03:07Kind of one in the same,
03:08honestly.
03:08Barbara,
03:10you know,
03:10if you look at the album cover,
03:12she's the visual representation
03:14of this album.
03:16You know,
03:16you can see immediately
03:18that she has a lot of stories to tell
03:19and there are a lot of stories
03:21on this album.
03:22So we explored a lot of different subject matter
03:24that we haven't touched on
03:25in the life of this band yet.
03:27So,
03:27it was a fun way
03:29to kind of visually represent that.
03:31The silliness that's on there
03:32that we have,
03:33certainly always have had,
03:35but also,
03:36you know,
03:36she's got some wisdom to her.
03:38You definitely want to hear
03:38what she has to say.
03:40Okay,
03:40but like,
03:40how did Barbara come to be?
03:41Because when I saw you guys
03:43at the release party,
03:44I said to Matt,
03:45I was like,
03:45I can't wait to know
03:45the story behind Barbara.
03:46He's like,
03:46there isn't one.
03:47We just thought it was hilarious.
03:48Yeah, it's just funny.
03:48That actually is the story.
03:50So now,
03:50where did it come from?
03:52Barbara had been around
03:53for a while,
03:54that album title name,
03:56which we did just create as a joke.
03:58And then we were about to name it
04:00Late Great Heartbreak,
04:01and then we just decided
04:03at the 11th hour
04:04to go back to our comedic roots.
04:07And just name it Barbara.
04:10How did you pitch this to the label
04:11and how did it go?
04:11Actually,
04:12they were there.
04:13Really?
04:14Yeah.
04:15I think they missed,
04:16like back in the,
04:17when we first started
04:18and we handed in an album
04:20called Meat and Candy,
04:21they were baffled
04:22at why we would do such a thing.
04:24The album cover.
04:25Yeah.
04:25And it was just,
04:26it was a new thing for them,
04:28especially in the country world
04:30to have,
04:31first of all,
04:31the artists not be on the cover.
04:33And then this weird name
04:34like Meat and Candy.
04:35And then the next one
04:36was Happy Endings.
04:37Same kind of thing.
04:38And we kind of drifted away
04:39from that a little bit,
04:40but they,
04:41once they kind of learned
04:42who we are as people
04:43and our personalities
04:44and learned that
04:45that actually works really well,
04:48they were like,
04:49hey guys,
04:49can we go back
04:50to that kind of side of you
04:52a little bit?
04:52Yeah.
04:52I mean,
04:53they lit up,
04:54the people from Sony lit up
04:56when we were talking about
04:58the potential for the album cover.
04:59Like,
04:59well,
05:00it could be this,
05:01you know,
05:01woman with the boa
05:03and then the chair.
05:04And they were like,
05:04we have to do this,
05:05we have to do this.
05:05So it really kind of helped.
05:07Did you have to be there
05:07in like the auditioning
05:09finding of Barbara
05:09or like,
05:10did we have a Barbara in mind?
05:11We had,
05:12well,
05:12once we told them
05:13what we were looking for,
05:13they sent us a bunch of headshots
05:15and it was over email.
05:17We were all separate
05:17and it was so fun
05:18to watch the email responses
05:19come back
05:20because normally
05:20there's like a lot of discussion
05:21about anything over email,
05:23anything.
05:24And this was like,
05:25we all picked the same woman
05:26as like,
05:26boom,
05:27boom,
05:27boom,
05:27Shaleen,
05:27Shaleen,
05:28Shaleen,
05:28Shaleen,
05:29right down the line.
05:29It was great.
05:30She's clearly was the right person.
05:31She was definitely Barbara.
05:32She was.
05:33Yeah.
05:34Yeah.
05:34There's no question.
05:35Yeah.
05:35We were like,
05:36even like the label responding,
05:38we're like,
05:38we think so too.
05:39That's perfect.
05:40I love this.
05:41What is the song on the album
05:42that has like the craziest story
05:44that's been around the longest,
05:46barely made it up?
05:46Like there's always,
05:47I feel like at least one like that.
05:49I'm trying to think.
05:50Um,
05:51well the one that's been around
05:52the longest is probably
05:53Man of the Song.
05:54We actually wrote that
05:55and recorded it.
05:56Well,
05:57we recorded it
05:58on the same session
05:58that we recorded coming home.
06:00So it,
06:01and you know,
06:02that,
06:02that song was for the collection
06:04that we put out of
06:05a lot of our hits and stuff.
06:07Um,
06:07but we knew that
06:08that song was really important to us.
06:10And so we didn't put it on there
06:11because we wanted to,
06:12we just felt like it would get lost.
06:13So we saved it.
06:14And lots of times,
06:15um,
06:16as songwriters,
06:17we just move on to the next thing
06:19pretty quickly.
06:19And we don't look back too,
06:21too much,
06:21but that one stuck around.
06:23And for a couple,
06:24for like a year and a half,
06:25two years,
06:26that song was just never,
06:28it never,
06:29there was no burn to it.
06:30We just loved it.
06:31So we knew that that one
06:32was definitely going to make it on.
06:34There's something about it.
06:35And I know the subject matter
06:36isn't like really similar,
06:37but there's something about it
06:38that reminds me of one man band.
06:40Oh,
06:40for sure.
06:41Yeah.
06:41Like they're,
06:42they're cousins or they're related.
06:44Somehow they're in the same sphere,
06:46era,
06:46whatever that is.
06:47When I listened to it,
06:48it gives me the same type of feeling.
06:50There's definitely a musical thread there.
06:52The emotional ride,
06:54whatever's built into those chords
06:55and everything.
06:56I mean,
06:56I also,
06:57you know,
06:58based on a,
06:59you know,
06:59a band.
07:01Exactly.
07:02A musician.
07:04Which speaking of one man band,
07:06I was there when you guys got presented a plaque
07:08that that is now nine times platinum.
07:09That's crazy.
07:10That's wild.
07:11Isn't that wild?
07:12It has been really fun to watch like everybody
07:13graduate into this class of all these new
07:15diamond certified songs.
07:16And when I saw that come out,
07:17I was like,
07:17I'm so excited that that's going to happen
07:18to you guys here in not so long.
07:20And then it's going to be that song.
07:22That's pretty crazy.
07:23So special.
07:23Yeah.
07:24That song is just the gift
07:25to keep song giving man.
07:27It's really a beautiful,
07:28a beautiful thing that has happened to us.
07:31You can't predict that kind of thing.
07:32And we're grateful for that song
07:34every single night.
07:35Yeah.
07:35You guys have been out on this incredible tour.
07:37I got to see a stop of it
07:38at windy city smoke out
07:39where you guys actually made my childhood
07:41SNL dreams come true.
07:42When you brought out the blues brothers
07:44getting to meet Belushi backstage.
07:46I was like,
07:47what is happening?
07:48I'm glad you enjoyed that.
07:49Yeah.
07:50There was some,
07:51what happened?
07:51There's a demographic there.
07:53I think,
07:54you know,
07:54it was a really fun for us
07:56and for some of the people in the crowd,
07:58the Chicago natives.
07:59And,
08:00but some of the younger audience
08:01was kind of like,
08:02who,
08:02what's happening right now?
08:04Can you play snapback,
08:05please?
08:06I told Trevor this last week
08:09when I saw you guys,
08:09but I was like walking through the crowd
08:11and these girls ran by
08:12and they were like,
08:13excuse me,
08:13ma'am.
08:14And I was like,
08:14oh,
08:15is there like an away
08:15and I was like,
08:18oh my,
08:19I like stopped for a second.
08:20And I like,
08:20I know the way that I looked at them
08:21was like so evil
08:22and they probably thought,
08:23oh,
08:23we bumped into her.
08:24I was like,
08:24ma'am.
08:25Are you kidding me?
08:26Actually,
08:27speaking of like taking my kids to college,
08:30I got served so hard that day.
08:32Sir,
08:32excuse me,
08:33sir,
08:33sir,
08:34sir.
08:34And I was like,
08:35oh no.
08:36I know it's like my,
08:37my college age daughter,
08:39she's senior in college
08:39and it's like her friends.
08:41I see them at,
08:42you know,
08:42college older,
08:42they're about to graduate adults.
08:44And then it's like,
08:44when one of them calls me Mr. Rosa
08:46and I'm like,
08:46oh my God,
08:47I feel like ancient.
08:48You're like,
08:49please don't do that.
08:50Like you're so polite,
08:52but please don't.
08:52What have been some of the other highlights
08:54from tour that you guys have really enjoyed?
08:57You know,
08:57we just really love seeing all the signs
09:00that people bring.
09:01You know,
09:01there's people get super creative.
09:02So some of them are,
09:05they've really put some time
09:06into putting their request out there.
09:08The one,
09:08there was a really cool one
09:09that was a beer can
09:10in the truck bed sign the other day.
09:12And it was really elaborate drawing
09:14of a truck bed,
09:15but then they had put a can
09:16that was hanging from it
09:18and it looked like it was rolling around
09:19in the bed.
09:20So that's always super cool.
09:22And people have been dressing up as Barbara.
09:25The Barbara has been wild.
09:27I was saying to Matt last week,
09:28I was like,
09:29it's funny to me that people don't,
09:30like Barbara could be a villain.
09:31Like we don't know anything about Barbara yet.
09:32It reminded me when Thomas Ratt
09:34put out that song,
09:35Marry Me,
09:35and everyone's like,
09:36I'm going to walk down the aisle to this.
09:37And he was like,
09:37it's not even out.
09:38You don't,
09:39you can't walk down the aisle to this song.
09:40You know what I mean?
09:42But it's been so fun.
09:43And didn't you guys do
09:44a Barbara lookalike contest?
09:45That's coming up.
09:46That's tomorrow,
09:46I think.
09:47That's coming up.
09:47Okay.
09:48Are you prepared to like,
09:49judge all of these women
09:50who think of Barbara?
09:51Or dudes.
09:51Actually,
09:52the last show we did,
09:54a couple came up
09:55and sat on the couch
09:56dressed as Barbara.
09:57And whenever I have a break in playing,
09:59I walk up and say hi to everybody.
10:01And I went to shake the first Barbara's hand
10:03and it was a dude hand.
10:05I just wasn't ready.
10:07I wasn't ready to like,
10:07hold the dude's hand and see Barbara.
10:09But he did,
10:10he did a great job.
10:11He did.
10:11Oh my gosh,
10:12this is going to be so much fun.
10:14Back to the signs
10:15when you were talking about that.
10:16One of the things for me,
10:17like I have a hard time talking
10:18and reading at the same time.
10:20So how hard is that for you
10:21when you're trying to read the signs,
10:23but also?
10:24It's actually very hard.
10:25Like when I'm playing
10:26and there are people
10:27are like calling up signs.
10:28It is like,
10:28I'm like looking at it,
10:30but it's not like computing
10:31in my brain.
10:32Can't quite read right now.
10:33Yeah.
10:33And sometimes they're like,
10:34they're very clever.
10:36And so they've incorporated
10:37the song title
10:38or just lyrics
10:38into the sign.
10:40And so you are kind of like
10:41reading a couple sentences
10:43and then trying to decode
10:44what song they want,
10:45which is not what you want to do
10:46when you're trying to entertain.
10:48The worst is like
10:49when they hold up their phone
10:50and they're like 15 rows back
10:52and the print is like
10:54kind of small.
10:55I'm like,
10:56I love the people
10:57that are holding up the phone
10:58but don't realize
10:59that the screen is turned off.
11:01I've got something on there
11:02really important.
11:03I always feel bad
11:04when I make eye contact
11:05with the signs.
11:06We'll be playing,
11:07I look around
11:08and I see signs
11:08and I feel like
11:09once I block eyes
11:11I have to be like,
11:12oh, that's a good one.
11:13I'm not really sure
11:13if we'll get to it
11:14but I feel like
11:15I have to address it.
11:16It's like when people
11:16call me for a question
11:17I'm like,
11:17that's coming right up, buddy.
11:19Yeah.
11:20I got you.
11:21Have you had any other signs yet
11:22where people are like,
11:23draw my tattoo?
11:24Like I feel like
11:24that's become a big thing.
11:25Oh yeah, we get that a lot.
11:26What do you draw?
11:27Nothing.
11:27I typically don't do that.
11:28I'm like,
11:29hey,
11:29I'm not going to be
11:31the source of your bad decision here.
11:33Which is kind of a bummer
11:35since you do have a degree
11:36in illustration.
11:37I do.
11:37But yeah,
11:38I'm a little busy.
11:39I do have a degree
11:40in illustration,
11:41I guess.
11:41Really?
11:42Oh my God.
11:43Do you draw a lot?
11:45Not a lot.
11:46But sometimes
11:47when we have some off time
11:48at home,
11:50which is never.
11:51You did some great work
11:53on the bus.
11:54Yeah,
11:54we did some great work
11:56on the bus.
11:56It was a collaborative
11:57illustration
12:00that's still hanging
12:01on our bus
12:02that we can't talk
12:02about on the radio.
12:03It's a little riff
12:03on Skull and Crossbows.
12:05Yes.
12:06Okay, got it.
12:07What were you planning
12:07on doing with that?
12:09Because this was obviously
12:09before the music
12:10did that.
12:10Yeah,
12:11with the degree
12:11in illustration.
12:12Well,
12:12I wasn't good
12:13at anything else.
12:15So I knew.
12:16That's how I ended
12:17up talking.
12:17Yeah,
12:18yeah.
12:18I wasn't a big school person
12:21and so I thought
12:23maybe I wasn't
12:23going to go to college
12:24and then I was like,
12:27well,
12:27I'll go to community college
12:28for a year
12:29and just kind of see
12:30and then I realized
12:31really quickly
12:32that I did not want
12:33to live at home anymore
12:34and I was pretty good
12:36at art
12:36and I loved art.
12:37I was very passionate
12:37about it.
12:39So that seemed like
12:40a path for me
12:41to maybe have a career
12:42in some way,
12:43shape or form
12:44and something
12:44that I'd love to do.
12:46So I went to VCU
12:48and studied illustration
12:49but the whole time
12:50was playing music
12:50and by the end of it
12:52I realized that
12:54I couldn't kind of
12:55halfway do both of them.
12:57If I wanted to be successful
12:58in something,
13:01I was going to have
13:01to dedicate all my energy
13:03to one or the other
13:04and music won out.
13:06That's so interesting though.
13:07Like how fun
13:07that you've like
13:08Yeah,
13:08it was really fun
13:09to study
13:10and I'm really glad
13:11I did it.
13:12That's awesome.
13:14We're obviously
13:15playing a bunch
13:15of your songs
13:16while you're on the show
13:16this week
13:17but I know that
13:17all of you guys
13:18you write a ton of music
13:19and I wanted to ask
13:20like what's your favorite
13:21song that you've written
13:22that the band hasn't cut
13:23that maybe like
13:23another artist has?
13:25It would be easy
13:26to pick one of the hits
13:26like Sangria
13:27was a big song.
13:29Oh my god,
13:29you wrote Sangria?
13:30Yes.
13:32I sure did.
13:33Wow,
13:34good for you, Joe.
13:36But there's one
13:37that Keith Urban cut
13:38that was not a single
13:39called Come Back to Me.
13:40That song's awesome.
13:41I love that song.
13:42Yeah,
13:43kind of in that thread too.
13:44Like he said,
13:46it's kind of easy
13:46to pick a hit.
13:48But there was a song
13:49that Luke Bryan recorded
13:50called Goodbye Girl
13:51of mine
13:52that I always loved
13:54that song so much
13:55and was so excited.
13:56It was the classic story
13:57of like,
13:57it's gonna be the single
13:58and then it wasn't
14:00at the last minute.
14:01Right.
14:01There's a Luke Bryan
14:02one of mine too
14:03called Just Over
14:04that I thought
14:05was pretty cool
14:05that was on record
14:07but never was a single
14:08or anything.
14:08I had a Luke too
14:09called Scarecrows
14:10which was a really cool song.
14:12It's gotta be so hard.
14:13Actually,
14:14Randy Houser
14:15cut a song of mine
14:15called Whiskey Sippy
14:16that I love.
14:17Whiskey Sippy?
14:17It's a jam.
14:18I thought it would be a single
14:19and it wasn't but
14:20It's gotta be so hard
14:20when you get that call
14:21like especially
14:22in the early days
14:22of the song, right?
14:23Like this is gonna be a single
14:24and then it doesn't happen.
14:25Well, it was funny
14:26at one point
14:26he and I,
14:27Trevor and I
14:28both had
14:28Ben Perry songs
14:30on the same album
14:31and they were both
14:31in the running
14:32for the first single
14:33of the album
14:34and like I'd get the call
14:35one day
14:36that it was gonna be me
14:37and then he would get the call
14:37that it was gonna be him
14:38and then finally
14:39he won out.
14:40Oh my gosh.
14:41That was a better dig too.
14:42That was my first number one.
14:43Really?
14:44Yeah.
14:44That's amazing.
14:45Good to know.
14:46We have Russell Dickerson
14:47on the show
14:48the week after you guys.
14:49I'm curious
14:49have you spent
14:50much time with him?
14:51Do you have any Russell stories?
14:53I've written with him
14:54a couple times.
14:54He actually
14:55he recorded a song
14:57that me, him
14:57and Ryan Hurd
14:58wrote together
14:59not too long ago.
15:02He's a nice guy.
15:03Yeah.
15:03Really silly.
15:04I haven't seen
15:05Ryan Hurd
15:05in forever either.
15:06He said that name
15:06and I'm like
15:07oh what's Ryan up to?
15:08He's just kind of
15:08floating around.
15:10I don't understand.
15:11Like he always does.
15:12Yeah.
15:12Yeah.
15:13Yeah.
15:13Russell's a great guy.
15:14We haven't gotten
15:15to play a lot of shows
15:16with him
15:17but whenever you
15:18cross paths
15:19he's got such good energy.
15:21He's just
15:21he's a happy guy
15:22man.
15:23He's a really
15:23positive person.
15:24Awesome.
15:25Well thank you guys
15:26for coming in
15:26to talk all about Barbara.
15:27I love the album
15:28and listen to it
15:28a couple times through
15:29and like always enjoy it.
15:31I'm a big fan of music
15:32that you guys make.
15:32So thank you
15:33for the time today.
15:33We appreciate it.
15:41You
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