014: K Phillips

On Episode 14, I'm joined by singer-songwriter K. Phillips. During this conversation, we talk about Phillips' early San Angelo roots, recording with Adam Duritz of Counting Crows, covering the likes of Lubbock music, legends like Joe Ely and Robert Earl Keen, and his forthcoming album.

Interview Transcript

Note: Transcripts aren’t always accurate since they are computer automated and haven’t been edited for spelling, grammar, etc.

Thomas Mooney 0:21

Hey, welcome to Episode 14 of the new slang podcast. I'm Thomas Mooney, the editor in chief of newslink are in Lubbock. And On this episode, we this is one of our national episode that's with Kay Phillips who originally is from Texas. He's up there in Nashville right now he's about to be going on this, like 40 date tour opening for Counting Crows this summer, his new record, dirty wonders gonna be released this summer as well. We talk a whole lot about all of that kind of stuff in this interview. I guess on this episode, I was kind of an idiot, because I don't think I had my equipment all working properly. So it's not as loud as it probably should be. I don't think like our mics. were recording the right way. Anyways, it's still like a really great interview and everything. So of course, we're going to run it, it's a long interview. It's like two hours long. I thought about cutting it into two pieces, but then just decided, you know, whatever, let's just run it as one. And we'll get it out there and, you know, whatever. So yeah, that's what we were doing here. Like I was saying, This is our 14th episode. So thank you so much for subscribing and everything. If you haven't subscribed, go ahead and subscribe on iTunes. Now, go in and give us a rating and all that kind of good stuff. It really does help. On like the analytical side of things as far as getting art on the podcast like larger circles and stuff. This episode is brought to you by the blue light here in Lubbock. These next two weeks of shows are going to be I don't know pound for pound probably like the best week of music this summer. Wednesday is going to be Austin Mead. Thursday is going to be Josh Abbott and William Clark green. They're playing acoustic Tickets are available online if you go to the blue light live.com if you don't buy them now, you're probably going to be waiting in line for a long time and possibly not being able to go inside because it just may be a sold out show. Friday is going to be two of my favorite Amarillo bands strangetown and Comanche moon Comanche Moon's not really played up here yet. So I think this is going to be their first quote unquote, official Lubbock show. They're really gritty and dusty. It's a really great little Americana band. Saturday's gonna be Eric Willis. And on Sunday, one of our favorite songwriters is going to be playing at the blue light. Mr. Drew Kennedy. He's been on the podcast before just the one of our not just favorite songwriters, but favorite people, people in the songwriting community of Texas and then, you know, not to be outdone, the following week is possibly even better. It's, you know, songwriter night says, starts out the week for Monday, and then Tuesday. This kind of should be homework for everyone in Lubbock. It's gonna be Brandon Adams, Lubbock legends. He's been doing these like, he's only had one I guess, so far, but once a month, bringing these Lubbock legends in and they're playing their music and telling stories and kind of just like bridging that gap between and somebody cases like the late 70s 80s. But primarily like the 90s music of Lubbock and the Songwriters of the day. This Tuesday's two of my favorite songwriters period, they're both from Lubbock, they're, they've done such a incredible job of capturing what Lubbock music is, and that's Wade parks and Carrie Sweeney. Charlie stouts gonna be opening that show as well. So you'll want to be sure to attend next Tuesday, that's July 19. It's gonna be an Early Show. Doors are gonna be open like at seven o'clock with music starting at eight. So you want to make sure you get there early. Grab a seat, listen to these incredible songwriters. I know a lot of you probably have never heard of Carrie Sweeney, or Wade parks, but you know, they're two of the best songwriters in Lubbock. And then on Wednesday, Baden Todd Todd Lewis of the toadies is going to be playing an acoustic show.

You can buy presale tickets for that show as well. Again, that's at the blue live.com. Thursday is this band called Velcro fly. Friday is Kirk Thurmond. And then on Saturday is another big massive show. It's a street show out in front of the blue light. You may have heard about it already. If not, basically, it's Wade Bowen, Shawn McConnell, Grady Spencer in the work and hunter Hutchinson, so you can buy presale tickets for that as well. And then on Sunday to follow that up. It's going to be flatland cavalry. And Caitlin butts out on the back patio. So, so yeah, these next few weeks, pretty incredible. Just to recap, Austin mead Josh Abbott and William Clark green acoustic strangetown and Comanche moon, Eric Willis, Drew Kennedy Carrie Sweeney, Wade parks, Todd Lewis at the toadies Velcro fly Kirk Thurmond, a massive street show with Wade Bowen, Sean McConnell, Grady Spencer and Hunter Hunter Hudson. And then fly on Calvary and Caitlin butts. Yeah, lots of great music. So go to the blue light these next few weeks every night if you can, guys. Yeah, let's just go and get on to

K. Phillips 6:18

the loops for me. And he's like, What? What kind of, you know, what do you think of like a 70s? Plexi. Don't care or care to know. I just want something that sounds good. And cost less than $2,000? Yeah, you don't want to know how the sausage is made? Yeah, just make the sausage.

I like it when I like to leave here. You guys know like, who the pedal maker is and what the pedal maker did before he made pedals and why the transistors sound the way they do that just wants to hear that sounds like me. I'm going through all this trouble. I have stuff built and our our drummer wait bills, guitars and he's building all these like one pickup guitars. And it's just because like, I don't want to sound like anybody else. Yeah, like I'm not saying like look like anyone else is like, not looking like anyone else. Like, like the guitars. I'm playing like they won't pick up and they like my favorite players. Reduce that ended up buying their guitars came from Sears and Roebuck catalog. And they're just crap guitars. They're, you know, they're like, the airline guitars and the, you know, the silvertone guitars and the Thai scodelario guitars. But they're just not built like we're going after 10 weeks and they're not built to stay in tune outside. You know, in front of an amphitheater like yeah, sound system they they just fall apart. Yeah. So we're, we're building stuff that I'm trying to have stuff built in is like First of all, I can afford it but second of all, it's like being a little blast and it will sound like that old.

Unknown Speaker 8:26

That old crap. Yeah, yeah. But uh, actually,

Thomas Mooney 8:31

the whole thing about that is it's one of my criticisms of Lubbock is that it feels like there's only a handful of bass guys a handful, right? lead guitar players.

So what ends up happening is it's cool seeing guitar player a play with like four bands right then like that happens in bass player a plays with those same four bands and like those four bands, just sound start blending together and sound rustling without actually Yeah, for no reason. Yeah, right. Like they're like in Lubbock right now it's there's more way more songwriters than there are guitar players. bass players. Yeah, drummers. auxilary. Guys like there's how many people pointed out like two or three.

Unknown Speaker 9:27

Ryan like there's

Thomas Mooney 9:28

no nobody's playing mandolin. Nobody's playing piano? Yeah, when you got the keys Really? Except like Jerry. Jerry's around. Yeah, but that's one of those. I just thought I hope that doesn't become a problem.

K. Phillips 9:44

No, we can't have like five years. We need more songwriters thinks as they move here. And then. I mean, the best. The best players in the world live here. Yeah. Or they come here first and try to get work and try to put their skills up. against other great players and I mean, if you need a bass player, just come here on the come up to your white band, but you know,

we don't have enough great songwriters. The thing that happens in Ludwick is, is it's a good problem because

that's how the sound is made. That's That's why there is a love of sound because it's so isolated, but at the same time, like being from the panhandle, plains or close to West Texas, in West Texas, it was you had to do something, you know, you had to write about it. We'll get into drugs or playing football. There's too hot. Yeah.

Thomas Mooney 10:43

If you're, you know, like, if you look at anybody like Matt Davis, yeah. And it just really nice songwriter and musician. They're all little guys. A little dude. Well, and

Unknown Speaker 10:54

yeah, if you're

Unknown Speaker 10:56

right, yeah, you're probably in Yeah. But uh,

K. Phillips 11:03

you unique places like luck with songwriters, and with people who are coming up

with these these great songs and writing about this place that not everybody gets to experience because even though it's not, it's not like Nashville. It's, it's maybe the opposite of Nashville. Geographically, there's, there's nothing. Yeah, there's no I mean, it's real right now. Yeah, I know. Like it's rained a little rain. As much as Yeah, like it's obviously way wetter. Right? Yeah, it's, it's you need, you need luck, because those guys, you come up and you have this. You have this urge and you need to write about something you need to live there because there's nothing else to do. You know, maybe it's about crystal meth or making babies or Yeah, just know, like, go to work for your dad. But you got to you got to come up there. And then you got to move away. Terry Allen? Joey Leo, good. luck, buddy, Holly, buddy. Oh, yeah. And we don't have enough great songs record songwriters. guys come here. And I feel like they're, they're at a disadvantage because they didn't have to. Like, they weren't concerned with being like, some of the guys playing my band. They're like, my drummer is better than most people at guitar than I've met, you know, he went to Berkeley, he, you know, he can play drums, he can play guitar, he played bass, he can sing harmonies. That's the world he came from. Like, he couldn't just be great at this one instrument, you had to be great at all.

But when you come from a songwriter, it's like you are that you're a killer when it comes time for song swaps. And you grow up like maybe at first getting your ass handed to you. And you're like, I don't

play after that. I play after.

You know, I don't play after gioielli or Lior unitario once you learn how to write, like, stuff that connects as opposed to

learning how to like, like, there's this guy. Patrick do one and he played, he played the black pros. And the black pros. He played piano in Oregon. And so now he plays in Chris Robinson brotherhood was the same singer as the Black Crowes. And what made him such a great genius player was now he goes to the Chris Robinson brotherhood. And he doesn't take the same route, like we're talking about luck. It's the same guy with the same rate in four bands. He takes that grant, he's like, at the top echelon of players that can have whatever gear he wants, probably. So instead of being a piano in Oregon, he says, I'm not getting his piano or it's like, he creates limitations for himself. So in the first round his brother that he plays, he plays roads like Fender Rhodes piano, which is a weird electric. Yeah, tiny piano. And then clavinet, which is like, you hear I feel like I have to explain this to people but anybody listening to the podcast, They probably know what a cloud is, you know, like, the funky, funky keyboard that kind of sounds like a guitar any synthesizer, which is like this 70s analog synth. Yeah, no piano, no organ. So all of a sudden this thing dies. Sounds like it sounds like a whole different band.

Thomas Mooney 15:22

This is the same band. So see, I think you honestly have to kind of explain because there's not as much of that stuff in Texas. Right? I mean, like, typically, right? Yeah. abandoned. It's like before peace. Yeah, that keys of any kind. Yeah. But like the keys, just keys. We don't need your players. Nobody like it feels the sound out. And there's makes a major difference, you know? Yeah. And I mean, I mean, when I first

K. Phillips 15:52

started playing keys, I was five years old. And I was like, forced to do and I was like, This is so down. I want to play guitar. So I started playing guitar. And for years, I didn't play keys, but then you hear your homeboys sit down at a piano and just just like, rip your insides out, you know, or you hear somebody like Terry Allen or get like, Terry stuff. It's just all on. Yeah. The keyboard, you know,

Thomas Mooney 16:23

I mean, obviously, that would mean just playing on the guitar. Right? Can he's playing bass on all that early stuff, but, you know, he's using the keys, right? He's never he's never played the guitar. on any of those records. Yeah. And to me, that's like, what defines him? Right as like, especially like in Lubbock, like, you can't name another lead singer who's just playing keys. Yeah. Like, in a way, like, I wonder, I've never really asked him this. But like, I wonder if that's what if he knew how to play guitar, or if that was just one of those things was like, This is what I'm doing. Yeah. And, you know, the more you asked me, hey, once you play some guitar, like a guitar song, right? Well, I'm going to say, I'm going out, like, back into the corner.

Unknown Speaker 17:11

On the fucking piano. Yeah. Man, it also, for me, I

K. Phillips 17:17

started playing piano, because I would do song swaps, and it just be one guy with an acoustic guitar, the nice guy with an acoustic guitar than the next guy. And if you were, I mean, like, I grew up playing music, and I like to, I like to sit in I feel like

I'm, I'm a player too. And. But there was always a way better guitar player. I mean, Texas has a good, good amount of great guitar players. So I was like, I'm gonna sit in with this guy, or like back this guy up.

You know, because I was like, in the New Braunfels scene I was in. I mean, that's really where I cut my teeth. But

there was always a better guitar player in the song swap, playing acoustic guitar. So I start playing piano again in Oregon to like, be able to also back whoever. And it's such a, it's just such a perfect instrument, the piano because there's bass, there's an organ, there's, there's you can with your left hand, you can play bass. Right, and you can call the play lead stuff. And it's it's unique need the guitar to write certain kinds of songs you need Trump's right, certain kinds of songs, but but you know, the balance and the you could never write a Randy Newman song. Yeah. on guitar. Yeah. To me, especially,

Thomas Mooney 18:54

I don't know if it's necessarily now but, you know, our grandparents. And they they grew up in a house that probably had a piano. Yeah. You know, the mean our parents, right. Like, it's, you always hear more about a family piano, right. I didn't a family guitar or something like that. Yeah. Like the guitar is more of a like, if you should go off to college, or, yeah, you know what I mean, like, or you're on a trip, it's obviously way easier to have. But like the I that's why I think that the piano kind of has that more. Those earthy tones whenever Yeah, you're in a way like, just by proxy, you're kind of thinking about your family, you know, and the isolation away from it's

K. Phillips 19:40

always in the, you know, the middle of the house somewhere. Everyone can hear. You could take your guitar in your room. Yeah, you could take it to your dorm room. Okay, so you grew up in San Angelo. Why don't you move with like how

so

I self identify Does the sand alone but

in the

seventh grade we were dropping acid at the lunch table and two girls as me my friend, Blake Ogletree and my buddy, Michael Doyle. I've never seen these guys again. Living in a small, small town and not really feeling shit about sports and loving music, like, like you wanted to get away like, so we all got into drugs pretty early. And we're like skateboarding, listening to records, since CDs and like smoking pot and just trying whatever we could to get out of San Angelo, in a way. And anyways, these girls kind of freaked out. And they went to the nurse. And they told on us. And so I went to,

I had to move.

They sent me away to go. I was raised by my grandparents. My grandfather was a judge in San Angelo.

But they just like, they didn't know what to do with me in India. So they sent me away and I went to high school

in Corpus, and I try not to talk about corpus, but it was actually where I heard

Robert King, you know, for the first time and I started hearing a great narrator could do

what a great storyteller to do

in the confines of Italy, lyric, you know. Robert Earl was not only a great singer, songwriter, but he was a great

he is a great music historian. He's great at playing songs and putting songs on his record that that people need to hear you know, that maybe you know what a 13 year old kid would have heard that cowboy song like snores death row, or or Townsend incense stone over time. Yeah, yeah. And that, I just remember that you fishing with my dad and being drunk for the first time and listening to Robert opions live number two dinner and his his banter between songs and his stories are just so, so good and so captivating in it. And, you know, growing up with my uncle, Todd Phillips was a tech and he played guitar and he wrote some songs and he's just a great singer. And every time he would come down and visit my dad, there would be little like you pull out the guitar plug the talk I mean, like he would play sinners death row or he would play like always ended up with like cowboy songs. It was it was that or it was one Garth Brooks song. Strawberry Brown.

Unknown Speaker 23:33

I think that song is actually called just like the capitalism the other cowboy saw. Yeah. Like, you know, I grew up every Sunday we would go

K. Phillips 23:43

you know, we would take off our our church clothes, and we would go and feed the ugliest cows you've ever seen. In a place called moss, Texas 30 miles outside of snakes. rhymes with my grandfather in this 70s Chevy love and he you know, he had a good job and he could have bought whatever four wheel drive. But he drove this 70 Chevy love, which is like a little utility for the first tiny truck. You know, like SDN before the SDN and we'd get stuck and the next door next door, we have to pull us down and see some kid I knew from school. Why don't you

guys have for? I don't know. I don't know why we don't know. But uh, you know, that it feels a little hokey now, like when when I hear

people do that, you know, on the radio, we're talking about growing up in the race, but somehow like those cowboy songs were more authentic to me even though you know, Garth Brooks didn't. He didn't grow up in the painting Congress or whatever. routine and never been in like a traveling group of thieves. Yeah. Those those songs just, they made me want to, you know, I saw they affected my dad and they, and they in the same you know, I can see that from sitting a foot away from him. And they affect my uncle where he had to learn it, you know. And so I wanted to start playing guitar and writing songs. I love the idea of this, this guy in front of his bar full of people just drinking beer and like just telling stories and it reminded me that those campfire days my dad I think it's a very Texas thing now now living in Nashville.

Being away from it for a while. We we have a good thing. And then the songwriter

the too many songwriters, not enough musicians thing is a good problem to have. Yeah. Because you'll always have news from Berkeley. And you'll always have students

who they just want to be players, but we need more people to write about where we're from, to explain. And to get to connect with people who are from rural Kansas, or, you know, maybe they're from, yeah, like in the middle of nowhere.

Or maybe, you know, maybe

they're from

Brooklyn, or maybe they're from somewhere. overseas, like in China, maybe they're like, from Mexico City, you know, but it's like, the only way to connect with is by telling a true, a true story. Or,

like, there's this Robert graves poem about a bird catcher. It's called love without hope. I might talk to you about this before, I don't think so. But, uh,

so in for lions, graves. And ESM compare Robert graves to our protein. He explains that, uh, you know, he, with this poem, he kind of like, changed the way I thought about, about writing. And anyways, so in four lines, it's like, he talks about a bird Catcher in industrial England. And what a bird guesser does is they go to the park, and they pick up birds and put them in their hat. And, and they fill up their baby hat and they they go to the goodwill Baker and trade them the blackberries and for a piece of bread and maybe a piece of coal. And so that night he won't be he won't freeze to death and he will have something in his stomach. So it's a full day's work with fucking catching birds.

Yeah. And

this bird catcher lolium birth is finished his day's work and it's, it's it's nude, he's going on, he's going to get a piece of piece of coal and he's not gonna freeze and he's not gonna go hungry. Just as he's leaving, he sees this, this wire in the squatters daughter in this in this beautiful white cares, drawn by two beautiful white horses and, and this woman is age who he never has a chance with, not his whole life. And there's no way this girl will ever have anything to do with him. He sees her and she sees him. He tips his cat, to these birds fly out and fly around her head and into the heavens. And she looks at him and he looks at her and he's made an impression on this girl, he would never have a chance. And now he's about to go home and probably starve and probably freeze to death. But he's, he's escaped his his confidence for just one second. And it was worth it. You know, maybe. And that's that's what I read when I read those four lines of love without hope. Or Robert rice. And so after, after reading that I realized like I don't have to tell them my story, that everything has to be what Christopher Phillips is doing, it doesn't have to be it also doesn't have to be palatable to whatever the the trends are. Doesn't have to be great solo cup. It doesn't have to be you know, driving down to the to the river was one of this. Yeah, yeah. Girl. It has to be good. It has to be is the narrator has to be truthful to himself or herself. You know, it has to be exactly the way that character would do it. You know? And like, it's the North death row. We get this guy who's like, so drunk, he thinks somebody has brought him you know, and his group of men and when you hang out like I'm sure you felt Friends, hopefully you still don't have friends like this, but I've had friends where sometimes I'm like hanging out with them.

And growing up it was like to do. Yeah, you know, like, and yeah, I'm glad they're on my side. But

at any given moment,

you know, I halfway don't trust them.

Thomas Mooney 30:19

Yeah. Well, it's, it's like sometimes you go to like a an after party. And it's like, typically you go to the same after party like the same house or right, but then everyone's father's like, Hey, we're actually going to my buddy's house, we maybe met a few times, and you just don't know the situation, right? But then like, you go there, and it's a totally different vibe, right? It could be the same people, but it has a different vibe. And you're just like, man, I don't know about this, right.

K. Phillips 30:47

And so you can relate to this North death row, or even though you've never been, you know, banded, you know, in the Old West. And that's the greatest problem taught me and that's what I try to use. Still this day is I want to connect with people and want to

make that record that somebody puts on. Like, a friend of mine just called me and he's like,

he was a musician. He played great people. And now he's, he's a psychiatrist. And he's, he's an amazing dude. He's, he's then he's just probably one of the most brilliant people I've ever met. But you know, he's like, going through some more times with his, his lady and he, I mean, he makes so much money in a given time he could he could just disappear. You know, he does, he'll go three months and go to Vietnam or Cambodia or wherever, like, he'll just travel. Yeah, in some ways, I cannot relate to that guy. But when he was telling me what was going on with this lady, I was like, Well, shit, I'm gonna do something right now. And, and it just reminds me that even though not everybody's in your situation, we still have these like basic things that we want to have in our life. And sometimes they slip through your fingers. And I'm sorry. I know you're busy. moraine is like yeah,

Nashville, I

moved here. I need the sun. I didn't know I needed the sun. Because I had the sun. My whole life moves here in the wintertime. And it was just I realized, like, oh, if I don't get enough sun, I get you know, I get depressed and which is kind of hard when you work at night. Yeah. And you're not out and you're not out or when the sun doesn't come out for fucking months. Yeah, you know, and I moved here and they're like, Oh, yeah, it rains here. As much as it rains in Seattle. I was like, Oh, really? Seattle. There's a suicide capital but I ain't never

Thomas Mooney 33:11

but I really about winter is not too cold. Not it'd be wet or anything like that. What I hate is like the sun goes down like that.

Unknown Speaker 33:22

Yeah, and like

Thomas Mooney 33:24

that's what I hated in high school and being basketball practice. And that's what practice would be right after school and you get out and it'd be dark already. Yeah. Like shit, man. Like I went to school when it was dark. Yeah, I got out of school and it's dark. And like, you know what, why do we have this like what? Why have we not figured out a way to utilize the sunlight better? We should. I can tweet Ilan musk. Yeah, he follows me on Twitter. Okay, who? Okay. On Twitter though? I'm sure you've picked up some followers. They just go with Ilan musk. Have you direct messages messages? Anybody? No. No,

K. Phillips 34:11

I've always felt like I always feel like I'm already creepy. So yeah. I try not to do anything to get positively unfollowed Yeah. See? Maybe you've never had a direct message. Yeah, but we kind of kind of knew of each other.

Thomas Mooney 34:29

Yeah, I don't I don't ever find anybody Oh shit. Like, why somebody during messaging. But the one person I wanted to was I was like, was like Chris Stapleton was following me for a while Nice play is before all the awards and number one traveler. And it was I guess he ended up unfollowing me not. I don't think he was running. Like I think it's just as PR and stuff but I guess like maybe a month after Trapper traveler dropped. I don't like dropping, but it was released. Like he just unfollowed his account and followed like everybody except for like, right people and it was just like, Damn, there was my chance to just directly message him. So yeah. I've direct messaged Jason Isbell, one time to ask a very specific question. But he got back to me, which was nice, but he's just kind of it's like, yeah, I feel like doing it on Twitter is by a little bit more intimidating than just emailing. Yeah.

Unknown Speaker 35:36

Yeah. Have you blindly emailed anybody? musician wise about anything?

K. Phillips 35:43

So, when I was in college, I kind of I was writing. My thesis was, I was writing the creative book about the creative process and singer songwriter, in the Americans genre, kind of like what you're doing. But nobody reads books anymore. And this is before podcasts, like really took off. And I love podcasts, by the way, and I do love this podcast. Well, thank you. And thank you for doing this. I was in the middle. Hopefully the podcast but yeah, I'm emailed Joey Lee. I emailed under Escobedo. Yeah, people like that, like these old, the older guard and like the Badger release, just like I have not actually other met Gemini. She's like, we just interviewed. Yeah, and you should keep doing this interview God like, I know, I'm gonna at some some point I'm going to I mean, you want to be ready. When Joey Lee steps the party microphone, because? Yeah, stories and just.

Thomas Mooney 37:03

Yeah, I've seen him play a few times. But yeah, it's all the open for bingum one time Yeah. Like a calf. Right. That's all play acoustic at the cactus in Lubbock. Like that shows amazing. Just like, guitar is fucking cool. What I want to see though, is, I guess, I don't know how old Jim is now. 75 I don't know if he's that old. I think he's like, early 70s regardless. Like of the flatliner guys. He was definitely the most rock and roll.

Unknown Speaker 37:37

Rock and Roll guy. He

Unknown Speaker 37:39

was the old guy.

Thomas Mooney 37:41

And Jimmy was kind of like the cosmic cowboy. Yeah. But have you ever listened to live shots by Jovi or like, okay, yeah, it's it's just it's sweaty. It's alive. Yeah, it's energetic, raw. And like, I don't think he does anything remotely like that anymore. And I would love to see him like in some kind of dive bar. Yeah, just doing that show again. I've seen him rock though. Just him and a drummer. Like at Sam's burger joint in San Antonio. He He's a rocker. Yeah, you're right. Like I would love to see like that should really like a blue light or something like that. Or, you know, a small little dive bar right? Where you can only fit. Maybe he still

K. Phillips 38:28

rocks like, he just you know, he knows how to play the green when you play the cactus cafe. You got to be a storytelling songwriter. Yeah.

Thomas Mooney 38:39

I think like, therefore, while he? It feels weird. I think like, just look at any rock star. It's kind of weird. If they just stay they think it's still like seven like 75 or something like that. Right? A lot of them. Especially like the 80s. Guys. Like if you I'm not even saying they're good, but like if you look at wood, Guns and Roses, right? You look at data like man pass the prime. You didn't pivot and finding your path, which I think I think therefore a minute. It wasn't that he was bad. But like he didn't find the right kind of guitar tones right to mix and like his last record like that panhandle

Unknown Speaker 39:23

Rambler.

Thomas Mooney 39:26

Like that. He found all the right guitar. Yeah. Pieces throughout the entire record for the like, in my opinion, like for the first time in like 10 years at least. Oh, yeah. And it's very like spaghetti western but like paint handle and like just all the guitar work on their brass fucking cool. You know? And I think like, that's what like, a lot of old guys need to do instead of like, trying to

K. Phillips 39:51

Yeah, well, you know, like, I feel like I have some insight on that. So I think can't record that at home in logic. He has a little home studio. And he was like one of the first guys to record a record at home. You know that. That record didn't even come out until I mean, it's just been re released again started

Thomas Mooney 40:15

before he for Yes, Yes, it was. Back in two hours. You Yeah, basically. Yeah. It's like that's like it was on. It'd be like

K. Phillips 40:24

him going to the moon because he wanted to then but yeah before it for I mean, he's been doing recordings for a long time. Yeah.

And he's he's just such an artist in every way like he's a great painter. He's He's a great writer, just Yeah. Like he's just cool. He's, like one of those dudes. He has books out. Yeah, yeah.

Thomas Mooney 40:48

He just released another one called like, reverb just a couple years. Oh, man. I read his first one, which is bond blocks, right? Yeah. Read that, but not really reverb yet. So

K. Phillips 41:00

you know, Joey Lee, actually, in a way, like my love for his music, and you know, just who he was as,

as like this. Just cool. Last Texas icon in West Texas, you know, it pretty much started my career. So this guy john Pettit called me and I was woodshedding in the practice rooms playing

those bosendorfer grand piano, like, just really getting into it. And he would call me to comment, like, every, every week, he's like, Hey, man, he knew my goal needs to go on some stuff. And Michael, would, you know, like, entertain the people. They would have like the birdhouse and then at the end of the night, there would be a campfire and play songs and free. john was a hunting guide, and you know, ended up doing a little little, you know, it's one of those guys like, Who's, you know, they've done well, because they don't really, what do you do?

Unknown Speaker 42:08

Yeah, I don't really do anything. Yeah.

K. Phillips 42:13

But at the time, he was like, I'm starting a studio. I was like, camera and great. I'm gonna go back to practicing. And then finally, he was like, you know, let's, let's make a record. And I said, All right, well, I need $5,000 for me to make, like, I was, like, insane. Like, it might as well have been like, $50,000 because it's like, records on my Mac, and it's just never sounded great. You know, I couldn't get the drums oiled. It's like, Okay, give me your Give me your, you know, broke college kid. budget and do your Rolling Stones budget. And so I picked, you know, the guys who I thought would have just like my rock and roll drink team, you know. And I brought it back to him, in one hand was my band and cultural pearls. Who, there weren't studio guys, you know? And the other was to go guys, and it was Jamie Pettit from the flatlanders. Who, who, originally Chilean the bass player. I was just thought was the coolest dude. And, you know, Bobby keys from the lumber guys and Rick writers who, you know, I heard on snake farm. Yes. Like they want to Hubbard stuff. Yeah, just so in the pocket and just he plays with Joe Walsh now, too. And yeah, and then Bukka Allen. Come on, as he was Terry on the sun. And I just always grew up thinking like, so cool is to play the v3 and and then this guy, Kevin McKinney, who, who played with, like, Bruce Robinson, and

he also had a band called. I mean, he's a great songwriter. I forgot. What is the band?

Anyways, I remember like, just like the dude who I thought were the best dudes to make helped me make a record. And to represent where I was coming from sorry. In West Texas, and it turned out that Jimmy Pettit is john pet, it's

uncle

and they had grown up together in the valley, and john had grown up seeing CGV come back from playing with alien Europe and playing with clash and and, and to me, it was just the record wouldn't have just every, you know, when somebody steps in a room and they're just like, everybody's just happy to see him like, that's what yeah, this bass player, dude is like and you know, I only wanted to play because He was just like, my favorite West Texas bass player. And so we made that record and that became the record American girls.

And from there

I started I got to play like blue light I got to know you actually do really came in with a and and Bobby he's a driven in that they got him like a first class plane ticket from Nashville to freakin springs to Austin. Yeah. He decided he missed his flight and drove because he wanted to bring his we walked in, and he looked like pubescent Justin Bieber. And just like, ah. Like he had this whoop hair. Yeah, but then he was wearing like, kind of like hip hoppy. Kind of like clothes. It was weird. And he was like, what's the song? Sounds like rain, literally, you know? And he's like, oh, man, I could kill the song right now.

Aren't you here yesterday or the day before? Like he showed up three days late. I wanted to get paid the same, but it was Bobby key. You know, he he had been kicked out of the Rolling Stones for partying. Yeah, there

was nothing he could do better in a to that day. Job really. Our job was coming in people's up to this old Ranch House. They're the place we recorded in Dripping Springs and he's in this

long garish James Bond looking BMW or something. I don't know just some luxury car and he comes out he's got a scarf on and cowboy boots. And I was gonna ask like, was he in jeans and like a denim shirt or something? No, he was not. He was.

Yeah, it was like a

fugi like, white linen jacket and but then like cowboy boots, and it somehow looked West Texas rock and roll in a ministry. It was my record.

Unknown Speaker 47:22

I could have been like,

K. Phillips 47:23

Hey, this is my fuckin record when it comes down or some shit but I just wanted to meet you. I heard Bobby keys was here. And he walked in he was like,

like, oh, Joey or something like that. And then they like, you know that I think we were done recording for the day so they can like hang out. Yeah.

Thomas Mooney 47:46

It was Bobby cases on a lot of that. There's photos of them playing different places. A story I heard that was a fucking This is a really great story is I think that's a great way to intro it. This is a good is a funny joke is a funny bear button. Right? Is it funny? Yeah. Yes, sir. Like, okay, so this is uh i think Bobby keys was there at this thing. Tornado Jen was this like, Music Festival thing in Lubbock. And one year, it was like eally, Terry Allen, Linda Ronstadt and a few other local bands or West Texas bands. And they get there the day before, they're all just hanging out. And we'll, let's go decent. So, one of the men heard that loving hi was having like a senior party out at the Cotton Club. And like, they go in crushes. Already. They go and like, get up on stage and start singing. Like Terry Allen songs and show me these songs and Linda Ronstadt songs and they're all up there and like, playing and the dude at the cactus club was like, Alright, well, I was only play. I was only paid to be here till midnight. Everyone has to get the fuck out and like, turn the power off. And like they were just up on stage playing still no power, but just like that's the most fucking loving thing is like

you have something so fucking cool. Yeah. And then you like, for the power off? Yeah, I didn't get paid for this. It's, it's this static evaluation.

K. Phillips 49:35

Jesus was never a prophet in his hometown. It's funny now, but I saw so much of that and he Braunfels, just for so long. It just enraged me. Like,

I would go see. Brian being lay in front of five people at St. Paul. And everyone was talking Yeah. You know, he goes, he goes to LA like people like this guy. And then you come back and then it comes back. I was like, Oh, he's from here. We love him.

I remember I was going to see the center ball just hanging off there was like

this. You fucked up you. Yeah. You know riding a river all day. Yeah.

And it was just like, like him or not, whatever you think I mean, he.

People

real realize what a great talent he was. But you motherfuckers and you just shout him because you knew he he lived here and he's sleeping on people's couches.

Thomas Mooney 50:47

Look at like, Buddy Holly. You leave a place and that's whenever you want to become some a big person somewhere else. That's when like, you can move like you're a big person, right? Back in your hometown. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. And, or not, I sort of like to say is one of the one of my here. BJ bar one time at blue light. He's playing an acoustic show in john Boyle and opened up for him. And of course, like, they're not from Lubbock, but like, they go in there and morlan is playing. And people were talking and stuff. And it's like, Fuck, man, just shut the fuck out. Of course, they're

Unknown Speaker 51:29

talking like,

Thomas Mooney 51:30

you needed to be quiet for 30 minutes. And like 40 minutes, Max. And you just you couldn't do it. Like we're talking about, like, arguably the best songwriter going right. Right. Right. So like when bomb gets out there and he's talking. He's like, you guys just missed one of the best songwriters right now. Like my personal favorite. So you're going to be lying to your grandkids one day that you saw john Moreland. Right, like, yeah, that he started playing. And he didn't have like, very minimal interaction with the band, or with the audience the rest of the way through because he was just kind of like, he didn't pay enough respect to him.

K. Phillips 52:07

Right. Well, that I mean, that's the blue light. And it's just like the hockey talk as Mario. Yeah, it's my favorite place to play. in, in, in maybe in almost Texas. But you know, like, you can't it's funny because you see people love it is cultivating it has a very special thing that's built around the song around great great songwriters great influences. And it's it's wholly there. But at the same time playing the blue light for a songwriter can be can be crushing.

Thomas Mooney 52:56

Yeah. I think like anybody from loving has come out of that place those that to Emily, right? Like that. It can be a place that you know, at one respect on one hand, it's like, it hardens you if you can play Ludwig. Right. You can play like in your kind of thing, right? But then at the same time, like, it's, there's days that you just go fuck, man, why am I doing this? Right? Yeah. So

K. Phillips 53:23

you drive eight hours to Lubbock. And you actually don't know how far is here from Nashville. You know, I went, you know, I'm so excited to play. I always try to get into the blue eye. And which is funny, cuz I do want to say will remind me in a second, but like, about the next time we play. The game we're playing before is red rocks. Oh, yeah, we're playing Red Rocks, and it's sold out. And I'm going from red rocks in the blue light. And I think almost every time I try, I've tried to fight somebody in the audience like a frat boy,

Thomas Mooney 54:07

where are they like, every time we've been there? I can remember at least like one thing going like that was that's

Unknown Speaker 54:14

fucking weirdest thing that just happened. Yeah. One time. You don't take our clothes off. The girl getting naked in the bag and like stripping. I don't remember that.

Thomas Mooney 54:25

I remember one where it was around Christmas. I think you're playing and what's the song that you have like the story about the guy? like Europe like in I think like the North, right? Yeah. Lincoln city. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. So yeah, but like that little story beforehand. And like you were sitting there with your guitar, and kind of struggling and telling the story. Before going into the song. It's a funny story. And then like, this is a good story. I was gonna do guys talking to him and like you're like, you shut the fuck up before I stick this guitar. If you're asked, yeah, and like, which I would never say to anybody, and I was like, yeah. And like, you just got like, stranded hard, and then got the story. They went into a song. Yeah. But he was like talking. I don't necessarily know what he was saying.

K. Phillips 55:15

Now he was like, Yeah, he was, he was like, trying to, like, in between the beats of the story like, say, like, cuz you're gay,

or something of that. Okay? Because he's gay. like looking at his friends. Like, because you're both gay. Just like? Yeah, because I mean, the blue light is as Sonra I mean, it's in a town full of great songwriters. And when you go, you want to say it's like it be like, skateboarding in front of the guys from Dogtown in their own home pool. You know, like, it's, there's already I'm already like, pumped up because I'm playing like there's songwriters there. Yeah. You know, that just came out to like, pay respects to the craft or people I respect are there, you're there. You know, Ben Leachman. Is there maybe usually? It's just like briston Phillips Yeah, like great artists, or there's just like, let's just, you know, in a way, it's like that it makes me play better. And I'm on fire. Like, when I get to play in front of other artists, you know, yeah. But when people disrespect the craft, yeah. It enrages me. And I'm not like that. Gosh, now, it's not like somebody was like that, but I have never been happier. or, or, more more angry than I have been. Like, yeah. But because it's, it's one of those like, there's, there's a line in

Thomas Mooney 57:07

the crowd, right? You can just like, ruin the entire experience, right? Because like that one, asshole is gonna be louder than, like, 200 people who are there watching the show, you know, whatever the case is, right? In like baking. I think a lot of ways. Places like places that are hubs for music, or like these signature venues. Yeah, they become like a chic thing. Right? It's so much of our culture now, too. Make sure all your friends and buddies no problem and blah, blah, I'm gonna see go I'm gonna go see blah, blah, and I'm here, I can prove it. Here's my Instagram, post, Snapchat. And so then like they came, they're really just do that. Right? To make sure like their friends know that they're doing stuff, or hanging out with their friends, whatever. And then, you know, by proxy, like they might that one friend who's not really into music, right? just wants to be there to get fucked up. Right? You can go get fucked up at your house.

Unknown Speaker 58:19

Oh, yeah. I mean,

Unknown Speaker 58:20

yeah, one of my whole things

Thomas Mooney 58:21

is like, there's nothing wrong with you getting like fucked up at a bar or drinking at a bar. But like, if it's music Maher music videos, I'm sorry. Like, that can't be like the number one thing on that list. Right? It'd be like number like six or seven? Yeah, if as long as like, six or seven or like to, like watch music or have like some kind of right, but like,

K. Phillips 58:43

well, I've actually been really lucky in that regard. Is that in in that I have so little things. And there's that when we played the blue I think there were like five people there. It's almost like they know not to go which is good. I mean, I want I would rather have you there have been there then then it just be like a sea of frat dudes. He was in a frat? I'm not trying to like not Fridays.

Unknown Speaker 59:17

Yeah, but

K. Phillips 59:19

I know who I want my audience to be. And when I look back on my life, I don't give a shit if I was I would rather be theory out on the green you know, like anchoring is probably monetize way better. Who knows but it had, he could go somewhere and have 5000 people show up. But I would much rather play theater and have two people be there and be there to listen. And those people be able to give a shit about art. You hour. They want to like take this trip with me. But I guess you don't i don't know if you get to choose your pants, but I've been like really lucky in repelling almost anybody that could come see me.

Thomas Mooney 1:00:16

Yeah. So which is in my opinion really weird because like American girls is a very go on. Like it's a record that like what I'm compared to in a ways it's like the same kind of record that the Tom Petty record as far as like you can put something on like that and you know, nobody's gonna be fuck Tom Petty take that shit on. You know what I mean? Like? I don't know anyone that doesn't know. Who doesn't like at least five Tom Petty song?

Unknown Speaker 1:00:52

Yeah, the same way. Yeah, but he's a writer.

Thomas Mooney 1:00:56

Yeah. You know what I'm saying? That is like, it has that same kind of thing to it Where? Like, I guess in the same way, like anytime Bruce Springsteen has tried to be like born in the USA springs are like Bob Seger Knight who's kind of stuff words like that heartland rock, but it's, it's very, it's very easy to listen to, regardless, if you're paying attention to the right. American groups has that. And then like, it's, I would think that a lot of people would attach on to at least the sound.

K. Phillips 1:01:31

Yeah. Well, it did. It did do some things. But like, I'm not sure I put on airs like I was.

I couldn't afford it tour behind it. Like, we made a record. And we just be our stuff in junk. But I mean, we put a lot of money into the front end, like into the record itself. And making a record in the studio is not cheap. And I could have asked him for more money, a lot more money, but something I've come to terms with is it's okay, because people won't help you. But I didn't want to ask for more like pay back. Yeah. And, but in doing so I kind of screwed everybody out of seeing what that could have really done. Because we made the record did some PR. And it just seemed like so much money. It's like it's coming to go. Like he's living up like he's brand Jenkins. And like, he's was set chains. And that was actually my first gig. And I think that was my first like, pro level gig. Like he's with this guy, Seth James, who I think is a great blues man and songwriter that happens to be from Texas. And yeah, he was like, us the other dude in the department. Yeah. He's such a badass. You know, we would be in the band. And he played like, here's a song I wrote, or he played Chris Stapleton song. He's like, this guy is doing demos in Nashville. This was like 10 years ago. If this guy's doing demos in Nashville. He used to deliver pizzas, but he doesn't have to do that anymore. Yeah. He writes like this. And he seems like this season.

Yeah, that's Chris Stapleton. Yeah. And now look, I mean, we're gonna stick with tennis, but it's crazy. Just how many cuts he's had. Yeah. For the track before Trapper came out.

Yeah. So yeah, I think at the time he had written some for Josh Turner, like that song just to be your manner.

This is cool. This is This reminds me the music I grew up on to good country music, but it's doing something else, you know. And

when I

mean, I think about Stapleton every day living now that I live in Nashville, it's like, you know, he, to me, he like really did the hardware like I wrote. I've been kind of writing songs with people for their records. Like this week, I did two different rides with two different people. And I guess I've written three songs this week, but I mean, that's just a 10am. Every day I can get up I can go ride with another person who sold a million records. Yeah. And it's, and they're excited about my ideas. And it's just fun. It's like a different instrument. And Chris Stapleton did that for years. And everybody knew he was the best just you know, you can they feel that dude in their hearts, you know, like he's, he can Bobby's there. This country thing that's not his, his country, but it's not. It's not second hand. You know? It's not It's it's him, you know. And he did the hard work. And he got up every day. And he wrote with people and now and I was like, I can't believe he had so many hits. But that was decades of him getting up and doing the work of me. Yeah, three songs a week. Every week for 10 years, maybe? Yeah. Yeah. Where are you at? Now? We like what are you? As far as like, whatever your next record coming? Like, what is your process? What's its should be out? It will be out. In July, late July. It's called dirty wonder. And I signed with it. I did. I can't really talk about it. But it's been a long time coming because I made a record. And then some people had illegal had it. And they weren't releasing it and then just got really messy. But with this out, we're putting out ourselves. And I have had some executive producers, like avender ones come in from Canon pros and kind of help me make a record. It's the greatest breakup record ever written. I really happy I got to do that. I can't really to make. I'm ready to tour. Yeah. You worked with both right?

Both effort. Yeah. Who Paul coffin worked with. So I was reporting in some of this stuff was reported at a nurse's house in the village in New York City, or the Bowery.

Unknown Speaker 1:07:06

And

K. Phillips 1:07:09

we were recording and there's a song on there that I wrote called Hadrian. Is that like I tried to like get him to produce you know, a little bit yeah, producer so for requests from van heathens produce it even on the road, and I needed I wanted to get it out, you know, or he's a busy guy and he's a great producer, but he understood that it was time to get it out. And I was in New York and I was trying to get out and terrorists and sing on this one song because like First of all, he's my favorite one of the greatest lyricist of all time one of the boys from the whole time and I in that first every record is

Unknown Speaker 1:08:02

he could have

K. Phillips 1:08:03

like checked out a long time ago but he still makes he still like a song on his new record. Palisades Park is just like it's one of the greatest songs ever written. And it's so him it's so love everything about it but he still makes great music and but it was it's just like a it's almost like using it's almost like over the top to have advertsing or something because like what are the songs you can think of that you sing like

Fifth Avenue party by the wallflowers Yeah, and then answering bell on on it was just like these like totally iconic over the top like

monster hits to me and like any anybody who gives a shit about songwriting, like maybe grew up on I did like so I was like, I want to sing on this song. And it was halfway like, I'm in his house. I'm sitting at this, like 30 foot long glass table looking out on New York City. They're

in this like,

like, No, I think Norah Jones, like, lived upstairs. And this like, it's a whole floor. I mean, it's it's just an amazing place. And it's just we're recording it and we're using like, I was like, I need electric guitar. He's like, how about this guitar? I was like, is that the guitar from the Mr. Jones video? You know, like, like, you hear?

It's actually on that song. But uh, so he comes in and he's like, I want you to, you know, I don't know anything about Pro Tools. I just knew enough like I have a little rig. So I can record parts that I want to record. You No one Michael, two mics. He's like we need we need to extend this part. And I was like, Okay. I was like, I don't know. And I'm like googling, like how to, like, extend apart and like the drums have already been laid down, you know? So there's an edit in the song and I don't know how to do. And I tried for like two hours. And once I get on Instagram, like I'm like, Who can I send this to? Like? There's some engineers and awesome, like, Can you do this right now? Because Adam was saying and he's like, like, kind of like I could tell he's, he wants to sing that they can do the Edit. In both Bedford Martin electric sound recorders and Dallas, which is now just like, it's my favorite studio in the world. He's one of the greatest minds I've ever been around and he just happens to be a producer interesting. He might be the you know what, what has happened in love a key to make He's like, masterminding this Dallas, Texas gentlemen thing. And I didn't know anything about Bo. I just knew he was an engineer. ish. And then he was a producer and he was in. He was happy to be in New York. As we you come over. I'm at Adams house. Not trying to like I assumed he knew, but I wasn't trying to name drop, but just like, he's like, where are you? I was like, I don't know. I'm at Adams house. And here's the address. So but it's it's like a real deal, New York building and he's so bold, it takes it takes a cab. And he's there. It takes him an hour to get there. And he's downstairs and the doorman won't let him up. You know, and I'm like, up there looks furiously trying to figure out how to do this edit thing. And he finally comes up and Adam opens the door to this, you know, palatial New York apartment and there's it's just, it's like, have you ever seen big? Yeah, you know, there's like a, like, a game room and there's like, yeah, big or he like has his own place. And it's amazing stuff. But it's just when he opens the door, you think he's think it's gonna be a tiny New York apartment? It turns out to be like whole floor and just giant windows. Like the piano, he writes on, like a game room and all the coolest like sports memorabilia at Yeah, all the comic books, all the like. I feel like I'm like saying too much about this guy's house. It's, you know, you're, you've just stepped in this Oh, and just amazing artwork. And, like, you've stepped in somewhere. And he he walks in, and he's like, his cake here. And I'm like, like, from like, two football fields where I'm like, Hey, hey, Bo, nice to meet you. You know, like, and I run over and I shake his hand. I'm like, Can you do this edit and he does the Edit. And he's just, you want to work with people who are calming and, and, like, basically the opposite of me. He's, he's a Zen master. And he just sat down and he started doing the Edit did in five minutes. And he was like, I got a guitar idea. I was like, Oh, this motherfucker has a guitar. We have added costs. And then he picks up the guitar from the Mr. Jones video in place. The what is now the hook to the song called patron. You haven't heard it yet. But it was just like, oh,

that just that was the hook that made the song. And it sounds like Counting Crows. Like it reminds me like that. You know, this great

guitar sounds like right. It really cuts through and it's just just a hook. You know, everything they do is Yeah, hooks and

I was like, Okay,

that was good. And then Adam comes comes in. And I've got like, let Adam

I like have to release Adam under the arms. This dude he's never worked with. And it's very, you can be very vulnerable when you when you have to sing harmonies on somebody's record, somebody else is gonna record it. I'm just like praying to God, that bow is quick and he is cool and doesn't kill the vibe. And he's just a stack Lex. He did like seven different harmony parts in the stack. And I was like, Alright, that's great. And they did it in five minutes. And then that night, it was like Movie Night is theater, like all his friends came over and he was like, Hey everybody, and we like come to this back room and listen to the song and like we sat there and like, listened to the song we just recorded in that house. Yeah. And then we went watch this movie of boys from Brazil, the boys from Brazil. Anyways, it was, it was a really neat experience and Bo passed the test. And I think a lot of dudes would have buckled. And so I went to both studio in Dallas, just to kind of return the favor and like books in time, give him some money. And because he did all this free,

he showed me a studio and it was like something out madmen, you know, like, all the best gear

or in the space was built. It was an old commercial, like they made jingles there. And just 40 foot ceilings, old school kind of space, like this place. So we did all the overdubs there. And Bill ended up being one of the two producers, which I've never done, just like one producer, but, you know, now he listened to like, any song on

stream radio, there's like to

introduce a song. Yeah, this was to Britishness I didn't think was bad deal.

But Bose is a Zen master, and he's one of the greatest producers a lot. And I hope people get to realize that he played. So also, what made me realize he needed to be a part of this, he played Paul's record similar calls for me. And I know Paul says, sons of

fathers, we'd come down to Lubbock a few times. Yeah, one time together, do a song swap. And I've always just post on follows. Yeah, when I

saw sons and fathers, you know, you see it do to songwriters, and be like, Who's the motherfucker here? Who's the one I like? You know? I like most. But coming from where I came from, in West Texas, and coming from like, my

grandmother was big in the church, and my great grandmother, my great grandfather was a pastor, and the Baptist Church and it was just like, no, there was no,

there was a lot of notes. Yeah, but there was there was the organ and there was there were the great songs of Paul came from church of Christ.

who's who's got this gospel influence, and for a long time, I just figured it was David because David's dad played for pain. And now we kind of see like, I will, they're both they're both great. But uh,

well,

Paul is my dude. Like, like if I had to pick on this guy is bringing things like new starting to play is what has turned into the record of this come out call my gospel.

I think we had a

we had eight that we'd like to handle jack and we drove he picked me up in Dallas, somebody's darling house and we drove to Lubbock. And I think that night Paul almost made it through three songs in the song swap. Or you had to go lie down in the van. But I mean, he. He tore the roof off the place before we did. It was I think it was me, Charlie shafter Daniel Morgan and Paul coffin, who are all just juggernauts? Yeah. And in recognize is so in love. Like, it was like, that was another time where it's like, shall I say after this dude? Yeah, that was a after he does flatlands. Remember that show?

Thomas Mooney 1:18:57

That was like the last night the girl stripped in the back because she was mad at her boyfriend. Oh, really? Is that is it like? I don't remember that at all. Because she was mad at her boyfriend. I couldn't believe that. But yeah, or guy. But not when I first heard of Bo was through Jordan and Brandon. Like, Oh, yeah. Rise and shine. Yeah. And yeah, he lives with Brandon Turner.

They would, Jonathan would come to lower grade and play. And we go back to like the castles house for like after party stuff. And Jordan and Brandon would always like I don't know, I guess it's maybe like four or five years back. Maybe like to go but either way. He's gonna be like, he's that guy who's bringing down sneezing back? Yeah. Like he's the guy like we're all and like, in a way like he Especially Jordan, like, in a way it kind of felt like, if you were just jumped in on, on in on the conversation. It felt like man, he's talking about like a cult leader. Because he is that way a little bit. He is the guy. And then like, you know, now you're looking at all this stuff. He's all the people he's worked with. Right? Like, it's like Jonathan and Tyler,

Unknown Speaker 1:20:19

right? You

Thomas Mooney 1:20:22

he did like the room sounds record, right. Curry brown Quaker? Quaker thing. He did a Leon record of Leon blew up like all of these deeds. Yeah. in Dallas. And it's like,

like he did part of the rise and shine record some of that stuff. And, you know, like Larry G to Larry King. Yeah, it's like, I think like, whatever he's doing is the keys. Pushing the I guess like the sound in that in his direction. Right.

Unknown Speaker 1:21:00

In

Unknown Speaker 1:21:01

some of that. That's, it's been needed. Right?

Unknown Speaker 1:21:05

Yeah. Like,

Thomas Mooney 1:21:06

if you think about like, Lubbock, we not love it with Texas. producers. Like there's never there's not really been like dude in Texas in a while. Right? It's like Lloyd mains. Yep. He's been like that guy. Like, a lot of these Texas guys come to Nashville. Right. To record records. Which, you know, a lot of them are still do that. But yeah, he's, he's been a good

Oh, yeah. pusher?

K. Phillips 1:21:31

Yeah. Yeah. in a way that's like benevolent. Like, if he'd asked for $100 to come to after his house and report I would have had, I could have

been like, I mean, he understands also that, like, it's more about the music, but he he's willing to put

your money where his mouth is, and, and, and to put the hard work in before, like, a lot of people shoot themselves in the foot by going like, I need to be paid first. Yeah. And that's not the way it works. You know, like, people get paid. When there's money there, you know, like, sometimes you got to put put in elbow grease, and not be so short sighted. Like he you know, like a lot of this, I wouldn't have been able to make this record if he hadn't helped me and like, done stuff for free. Like, I mean, he.

I don't, I

really hope nobody's like, gonna listen, listen, go. Oh, we you went to his house and did that thing. Like, that was just a freak occurrence. And since then, I mean, that was over a year and a half ago. I think he's, you know, his prices has gone up because the balls were always about to come out, like, Rise and shine. Quaker city.

Thomas Mooney 1:23:04

Like also though, it's not like he's, he's, you know, just taking every every guy. Yeah, he doesn't do you know, he's not he's not doing like, he only does what he wants to do. Right. So

K. Phillips 1:23:21

there's that but also like his cultivation of this of the Texas gentleman, which is his, you know, like, the Wrecking Crew or the swampers? Yeah, but it's a it's a collective of just the best musicians you've ever seen. And they all look like they stepped out in 1970 they, I think they all kind of, but they all they're all like Dallas boys. Like they kind of grew up from the people I've met. Like I grew up with the church influence and they're still Southern, like a lot of them that are married or have been married. And I kind of hate it that a lot of them are moving here. But you have to you have to get away Yeah, to bring it back or

you have to go out into the world

but but his creation or what I think is his his like cultivation of this this group of Texas gentlemen it's such a special thing and you just you never see that like like with the Songwriters. dovetail to didn't go deep. So dovetail those guys grew up in the church. Two brothers, Philip Kramer who lives here. And Phil, he's one of the greatest singers I've ever heard. I don't know he was up here. Yeah, he lives here. And his brother. Dana Bremer is one of the greatest musicians I've ever seen edit any instrument. And yeah, like I just said In this band is blues man in Dallas called the trophy wives. And Daniel's gonna play keys and I was gonna play these. I was like, I'm not playing piano piano player, but he can play piano. And he he's one of the greatest I've ever seen. And he's so young and so good. Everybody's keeping their, their nose clean in their head down. I can't wait to see what's going to happen, what future what the future holds for these people? Because they're still

they're not like, the beautiful loser like they're well adjusted. They love great music, and they're willing to work for it. Yeah. But upto record is like one of the one of the best worlds sounding record. Yeah. Yeah. Like the harmonies on that. Yeah.

Thomas Mooney 1:25:53

They played Apple quite a few times. And it's like, he listened to the record and you're like, well, there's no way they can make

me cry. Yeah, they do it and they do. And it just like, How the hell are they doing that? Like, yeah, it's that fucking, like, the harmonies are just perfect. And that's it.

K. Phillips 1:26:10

I guess. It's a little part. And Matt MacDonald. who also plays in the trophy wives. Because he's an amazing, he's so filled with the older brother. And then Daniels is the younger brother has a band with MacDonald. And it's called the mysteries and they're kind of like, psychedelic vehicles.

Thomas Mooney 1:26:33

I've heard some of that stuff. So good. Yeah. I would never recommend that. I wouldn't. Had the blue light thing. They opened for Jonathan so. Okay, that'd be good. Yeah. I kind of don't watch the blue light on all my artistic friends. Yeah. Like they open up for. For Jonathan one time, that'd be good. Or I guess like, I don't know, maybe they did Botox.

K. Phillips 1:27:03

I'm not sure. I know what at least one was for Jonathan. He was. Yeah, like Rise and shine is great. The blue light. Rather dovetail play. You know, like a theater or Wild West. You know, like, open for Kyle Park. And yeah, it's just, it's for. It's more cerebral. It's more just belongs somewhere else, you know? Yeah. I think a lot of people liked it, though. Yeah. Well, it's no joke when you see it live? Like, it's undeniable.

Thomas Mooney 1:27:45

Yeah. But you sometimes do see that where, like a band will open or for someone who is established and it's like,

people would enjoy that. And then like, I think sometimes you it's kind of a little bit of a fool's gold. Yeah.

Because maybe the next time they just want to like, Oh, well, we'd love this, like, let's do

Unknown Speaker 1:28:09

a Friday

Unknown Speaker 1:28:10

ourselves, you know, and then nobody. We're not as many people come as anticipated. Ryan.

Thomas Mooney 1:28:19

I think sometimes, like, bands like that. They need to be support for like, yeah, maybe more than you would think. Like, right, let's open up for whoever 10 times, you know, yeah, we'll kill it before actually doing that. Yeah. Which is weird, because, you know, sons of fathers. Here's an example of sons of fathers. When when they were right before they broke up, they play blue light on like, a Wednesday or Tuesday, or Thursday and sell out. People would come and it'd be fucking amazing. just sell out the room. Right. And, hopefully, I guess it was like a month back now. And it was a Friday and nobody came

out podcast. Yeah. And Daniel creamer was Yeah, he's like, oh, what's up? Yeah. But like that show, like there was. There's less than 25 people there. Yeah, and it's just one of those like, you guys don't fucking know.

K. Phillips 1:29:23

Like, the reason why and nobody's liking this because you already love the followers and you love the songs like he'll probably play a few of them.

Thomas Mooney 1:29:32

Yeah. Yeah. But they're just like you would either the photos that would be like, Paul, formerly the sons of fathers or like getting a bill or something now, but it might I mean, whatever gets people to the door first, but I think you have to just do that like on the radio or something.

Unknown Speaker 1:29:51

Yeah. You know, any kind of

Unknown Speaker 1:29:55

social media.

Unknown Speaker 1:29:58

All coffee is plain and simple. Like, you know, you know you love him because he was in sons of fathers. Right. And like, you know,

Thomas Mooney 1:30:07

or maybe, like, I hope it's not this way. I hope it's not that, you know, like, love is a college town. And so there's turnover. Your graduation, you hope to have like those people who are just already graduated out. Yeah. Like sons and fathers now well Yeah,

Unknown Speaker 1:30:23

exactly.

Thomas Mooney 1:30:26

Which does happen. Yeah. Sometimes with bands that I always that's one of those things where everyone's year man he should have saw blah blah blah yeah sounds polished like four years ago after them and blue like

K. Phillips 1:30:47

yeah and I was I was upset when I heard they were breaking up and like it's gonna be a hard road

Thomas Mooney 1:30:57

they were the day they broke up they were like playing for like, two days from that announcement they play. No. Yeah, it was one of those like, she had there probably was.

It was like, I think they broke up like they an or at least announced it on Monday. And they were playing white that Wednesday. And my first thought was like, Fuck, man. Like this, one of my favorite bands is just broke. My second thought was, I hope they like finished out like these next three dates or something. Because and then my next thought was, was a flexcut. What are they going to do the music that is not been put out yet? Yeah. Is it like I think? Yeah, they ended up putting it out. Like, what are you gonna do your thing?

Unknown Speaker 1:31:45

Yeah,

Thomas Mooney 1:31:46

I'm sure like, somebody is not as big. definitely wasn't as big as like those first two records. Yeah. And obviously, there's no tours. Yeah, there's

Unknown Speaker 1:31:55

nothing.

Unknown Speaker 1:31:57

You know, it's I think it's like 18 seconds long. Yeah. So it's probably it's way longer than Yeah. Anything like it's all all songs that you've learned other than all

Unknown Speaker 1:32:08

songs that you put it on them? Yeah. Yeah.

Thomas Mooney 1:32:10

Because if you listen to those two weeks of the father's records, they're short, especially Yeah. burden Laden, they know how to burn days was like, I love that. I love a record, like 3335,

K. Phillips 1:32:19

anything like that? On a vinyl, it's got to be 39 minutes or 40 minutes, or you start to degrade.

And I love that shit. I love.

I love a great three minute song.

Thomas Mooney 1:32:37

Hey, guys, we took like a little, I don't know, 30 minute break right here. So there's not really a good way to put these two conversations back together without sounding weird. So I thought I'll just go and say something here instead of running it straight through. So yeah, here we go. Wrong anybody under the bus?

K. Phillips 1:33:03

I want to give props to Texas for it. I mean, it's truthful like they don't you don't move here to fuck around like you move here because you believe in yourself and you believe in you believe in. In the the magic. That is his music, you know, songwriting? Yeah. So I think it's

Thomas Mooney 1:33:26

like if I was moving up here, I would, for some reason, I don't feel like I would move up here to stay. Yeah, that's not the goal, either. Like it would be to move up here to move up here. And I really love my chicken. Yeah. Yeah, I really like I feel like at some point, I'd have to go back to Texas.

K. Phillips 1:33:48

You know, yeah. Yeah. I want those comfort foods and all those dark haired girls around me. And I want I want to see the Alamo and I want to see, you know, hotel Havana, San Antonio. And just these. Like, we have culture like I want to see, I want to see the panhandle plains. I want to be able to go to a hole in the wall Mexican food restaurant in the middle of the night and eat, you know, yeah. You just don't get that here. And it's fine. Like I had to move here because at 10am every day, I could get up and go right with somebody, some other artists that sold a million records and I could write with a great another great songwriter, and it means you have to give some things up but there's no place in the world like Nashville. Yeah. For you know, honing your craft and for for like I moved here, and within six months, we were on a major To where we were, we're now on a major booking agency. We're putting out a record.

Thomas Mooney 1:35:07

Yeah. And it's because like the industry is here, you know, the industry or the structure,

K. Phillips 1:35:14

right? But every week I'm writing with people that they live in nice houses. And all they do is play music. And all they do is put out records. And they need songs and I want to help them. Write those songs. And it's, it's inspiring to go to somebody like horse ranch and be like, how did you pay for this? Yeah, by playing music by singing songs that people like me wrote, you know?

Thomas Mooney 1:35:42

Yeah. Okay, so next time, you're playing blue light. That's in September, right? Yeah. Playing Red Rocks the day before the day before we played it really the day before? That's what you said, I think yeah. I said, like, we're 19th we play red rocks. Yeah, the day after you're playing blue light. What's, uh, and what is this tour? Like? How long are you out for we're out and for

K. Phillips 1:36:06

40 days, 40 dates. It's 10 weeks. And we're playing with the Counting Crows.

And

it's all all my dream. places to play like, Red Rocks. The Greek theatre. I've always wanted to play in Toronto. You know, we're playing the Molson Centre in Toronto. We're playing in the brand new Coney Island amphitheater that read like, stupid architectural magazines. And like it like everybody's raving about this new amphitheater. And it's just so great. And we get to go out with a band who's who, like a guitar player, me when he plays in California, where he's from, he'll play the Greek theater. And I heard this from the band that opened last year, he'll play the Greek theater will be sold out. And then that night, he's going to play his regular weekly gig in Laurel Canyon, you know,

yeah. Or maybe not Laurel Canyon, maybe it was? Yes. One of the, I don't know. But

these people and Adam is always writing Adam is always creating, he's always absorbing. He's always watching movies and reading and listening to new bands and helping new bands. And he's he's always been great, but in a lot of ways, like, he's still getting greater, you know, and just seeing that guy live is so inspiring. And just being around people who

believe

in the healing powers of a great song of a great record and I watched people I followed them through all their Texas shows last year and just people come out and they know every word and he every night is a totally different setlist. Yeah. And he writes it right beforehand. And, you know, we played, they played in the night before they Allen, Texas was right outside of Dallas. And they played they played Cynthia woods, Mitchell pavilion, the woodlands that I before that, and the woodland show was just like, all the hits, he had him right in the middle of, you know, the palm of his hand. And it was the next night. It was more like beside stuff and newer stuff. And everybody knew every word in it. Like, it didn't matter what he played. He didn't have to play. Mr. Jones. Yeah. People were like, just so into it. I love that generation in the generation where people were still buying CDs and yeah, and people needed me because like, really like the last time like mid 90s, late 90s was when people were still buying CDs. Like your mom and dad would go buy a CD, right? Like my mom. The last interview was me to the Counting Crows. And I remember being in middle school and like listening to August and everything after and just being like, like not even being a teenager yet. But like, so identifying with that. That wasteland you know that that lonely, lonely land that he was like, singing of, you know,

Thomas Mooney 1:39:40

the first time I heard Counting Crows was at summer camp. Yeah, I was at summer camp. And on my counselor, she was playing it. Yeah. And I don't know. I think it was like 9696 or 97. So I was like eight or nine. And I remember him playing that. We were going to bed And he played Counting Crows. And he played Dave Matthews, which like, not the biggest Dave Mathewson. I think like crash into me. Don't worry, I've had enough fans. Yeah, I remember him playing crash into me or crash is a crash is the name of the album crash or crash into me? The one that has yes on crash? I can't I don't know if it's I know this crash and crash. Yeah, I think it was called crap. I'm not sure if the song is called crash or crash into me maybe crash vice versa, parentheses into me. Regardless, that's the record he played and like that has like, what is it? Two Step and I think or something like that? I don't know. I've not listened to this record in a while. But he would I remember those two records specifically him playing as like an eight year old and being like, dude, that's what like, that's what college kids listened to. I know what exactly and yeah, my mom was in college. Yeah. That's what are those? That's the first experience like the first time I really heard stuff like that was not my parents music. Right. You know what I mean? My mom was always like, in it, like a nice metal kind of stuff. And my dad was really into just country music. Yeah, but

K. Phillips 1:41:12

it's almost like when your parents, I think at first when your parents are in assembling is not cool. You know, because that's like the end. You want your own stuff. Yeah. To be your music.

Yeah. But I the characters were like one of the first bands where I was like, well, this is undeniable. Yeah, I think I was like listening to sublime.

Thomas Mooney 1:41:31

Yeah, that was like my favorite band. sublime. Yeah, I think like everyone, everyone listens to sublime at one point and things like they're like, wow, this is how fucking me I'm supposed to be. It's just some Santeria.

K. Phillips 1:41:43

This sexuality in like, the, like the reggae and the punk rock. And this, I don't know, the guy was a holy terror. He was like, just such a special special thing. And I mean, he still has those records. And that record is so great. And it's in imitable.

Thomas Mooney 1:42:05

Yeah, at the same time, like you listen to it, and you go. This is this, this music right here could have only been done. Yeah, from 90 Yeah. 99 when you were like cargo shores, and no way that he's like, made in the 80s, the 70s or any other, you know? Yeah. Like it was it's undeniably 90s is that, you know, it's it's kind of funny, but stuff like that.

K. Phillips 1:42:30

Yeah. And I think you know, that, obviously, everything after or recovering the cetera satellites is like, is the same way, you know? And, but now, if you played August and everything after, and you branded it as like Americana, like, yeah, it'd be the best Americana album. Yeah. You know?

Thomas Mooney 1:42:51

Yeah. It's t bone Burnett. Okay, so 1010 weeks, 10 weeks? Like, what's what?

K. Phillips 1:43:00

Okay, 38 dates with them. And then we're doing our own shows around it like, Well, yeah, Red Rocks with him. And then we want to come play the blue light.

Thomas Mooney 1:43:08

You can convince Adam to have a loving date. I'm kidding. I don't know. He.

K. Phillips 1:43:14

You know, we talked about it. And he loves the blue light. At night know. He's never heard of it. Maybe as

Thomas Mooney 1:43:22

well. Okay. What's like the longest you've been out?

K. Phillips 1:43:26

on a tour? 10 weeks? Well, at my level, it's like, there's no point like my wife. I'm my life. I'm always on tour, in a way, but there's no reason for me to be out for more than three weeks ever. Yeah, because there's no reason to play a Tuesday night. Or a Monday night in Memphis, you know, like to make the best out of it. It's better to just especially living in Nashville. It's like in the middle of the country. It's better to just do John's for Yeah, maybe a week or two other than that. I'm just wasting money. Yeah, but yeah, because all I do is music. There's no reason to come back. And I mean, I've been out for from month before, but it was never. It was never like, Oh, it was more like, Oh, well. I'm gonna go play a few shows. And then I'm gonna fuck off for a while. And Santa Barbara. Yeah, I've never gone out for more than three weeks. Yeah. Because there's no reason and if you just hemorrhage money if you do,

Thomas Mooney 1:44:34

yeah, well, there's a lot of you know, Texas guys who you know, Texas is primarily just like weekend warrior kind of stuff. Right? And I'm sure like there's a lot of those guys make the place or in a weekend. Yeah. Then normal rock bands make their whole tour. Yeah. But then there's also guys who And typically, you know, they're playing solo by themselves and Sometimes they're out like just forever, and it doesn't feel like they ever are not touring. Right, you want to make sure they're out every weekend, not just every weekend. And I'm talking about just like guys who were just playing and you like, you look at their tour schedule, and it's just like, never ending never ending. Like guys that like a slaid cleaves, maybe like, Okay, well like the one guy I'm thinking of as my buddy, a Christian Lee Hudson. Okay. I think he lives here too. Or he was there for a while. I don't know if he's living here. Now. I take that back. Yeah, I know. He was in here, here for a while.

K. Phillips 1:45:36

And drew Kennedy. Drew, does he do that is out a lot. Yeah. But he always comes back because I know like, he's mainly

Thomas Mooney 1:45:45

Yeah, but like, I know, Chris Krishna was just kind of like, Chris. Chris was just out for like, yeah, I'm just booking as I Oh, booking as was not like he would have at least like three weeks or something like that in advance. But then like, he was always kind of while he was on the road. He could still Yeah, he was working on getting that fourth week done that fifth week. Yeah. You know what I mean?

K. Phillips 1:46:09

Yeah, I just I could do buddy love that. Yeah, you know, I could do that. But I I noticed that when we did that with American girls, and we were out like we I needed to come back to write because it's hard for me to write on the road. And I want to keep writing and there's just there's songs I haven't written yet. And like, I feel like I need to write these songs before I die. And I want to put them out and on the road. It's almost like running away from it. And it's you're not doing the smart work. I use some guys are doing this maybe like Townes. Van Zandt did exactly what are you supposed to do? But for me? When I'm on the road, I get distracted, and I don't I don't write Yes, hang on. I and I was Orban. It's great. But it's it feels like there's not enough time. It feels like I'm running away from what I need to be doing.

Thomas Mooney 1:47:02

Yeah. I think like people they don't realize, you know, when you're on the road, like there's not enough time like, you don't account for the time where it's like, oh, load in? Yeah, soundcheck just waiting, checking like into your motel checking out, like, all finding a place to eat like that takes time. Yeah, driving in places that you've never been before. Yeah, you know, it takes time to do all of that shit. And there's never really enough time to just actually work on a craft.

K. Phillips 1:47:33

Yeah. Yeah. And I mean, obviously distracting, you know, the other way could also be like, not touring could be running away to or hiding from it. You got to do both. At this point. Yeah.

Thomas Mooney 1:47:48

Okay, so like earlier, we're talking about, you know, you're talking to this guy about making you working on your guitars and shit like that, right? Like, what? Okay, and this is all just meat. Not primarily for this tour, but like, you're trying to get all this shit Really?

K. Phillips 1:48:05

Yeah, for this tour, like I want you know, and I've always wanted but until I got to a certain place I I couldn't have it like I wanted a guitar that was my guitar and didn't sound like anybody else's guitar. That was my favorite players and my heroes. Were the people that didn't have they didn't have means like they couldn't buy like the brand new strat or they couldn't buy the brand new amp. They just had to play whatever crap they had. And then the tone was in their fingers and like and those people even inspired like the people who are my heroes like rye, cooter, like right under his his mate is like cooter caster has two pickups in it. One is is like a vallco Hawaiian lap, lap steel guitar pickup in the bridge and then in the neck is like his guitar pickup called a silvertone. I mean, called a gold foil which was in guitars like tie Scotto raise which and silver tones which you bought with food stamps and like the Chicago blues man that was that was their pickup and yeah, you know, he wasn't having like he wasn't getting like the brand new Fender Strat from a company and like having it like, like just tweaked to be like the perfect thing it was it had it had vibe and so that's what I'm searching for. I'm searching I'm gamble guitar works is making a guitar for me. They I found out about them from from the band heathens, Gordy quist those guys, they play almost exclusively Gamble's guitars, and, and then Wade Wade our drummer is building guitars. Now, for me and in the ideas like let's make something that almost doesn't even look like it works like one pick up one knob. Because when you pick up a guitar and play it live If you're not going to be doing like, you want to be there like as a front man that plays guitar, I want to be I want to have as little to fuck with as possible. Yeah. And I just want to put it on it sound great. And I don't want options I don't want knobs because as like an add kid like I'm gonna be fucking with it the whole time. I just one guitar one pickup and and then so Wade Wade's building guitars for people, including me and some other people in Nashville. And they and they look I mean, like he's like, it just looks like some old Chicago blues blues musician, guitar or like this, this like alternate reality space. Like if the Fender Strat had never come out, but it had come out with like, like one pickup instead of three. And it had like, like almost this like, reverse, future futuristic thing and but it looks beat up and like, it's a guitar you could take to a gig. You don't have to worry about but at the same time people every time somebody sees one of ways, guitars, or Gamble's guitars, like what is that? Is that a 50? Do Telly like? Tell me about and I almost hate like going like, no, my buddy builds them. Yeah, you know, but they're just like showstoppers at the same time. They're just players. And if I lost one, I'd be out. Not that much money, you know. And I could ever make another one. Yeah. And so I like that. And I like things that are just simple. And so my other friend Chad Beck is building an AMP for me. And I like I like bass amps. I like 15 Bass amps that have tubes in them. And I can one time there was like, like Fender was making, like your amp was like your PA, and it was your accordion app or something. Like there were inputs for the accordion on there. And like, they were very, like bacey and round and and not bright. But they were just warm and like, stuff doesn't have to cost 1000 bucks for an ampere. Yeah. $2,000 for guitar. How about a guitar that, you know, has like $400 in part, like, or less? Like, how about a guitar that costs 200 bucks to make? Let's just make that. See, we could do with that. You know, because it's the player. It's not. It's not the gear, but maybe. Let's see what we can do with almost nothing. Yeah, and that's what I like. And I feel like people here with their eyes too. So Chad's like, building something that kind of looks like old Hi, fi gear. I don't know. That's just me like, yeah, getting getting into weird shit, but also like trying to make it more about about the player and less about having the money. You know, like, why can't a $200 dollar guitar would be fucking cool, like something that people would play now.

I still play flat rounds. And I play pretty clean. And I play with my fingers. So it's more of a muted percussive sound. Being a piano player keys player. I'm pretty limited. Like, I can't be like a build me a piano. Yeah, you know, I can like build me an organ. Because those things were built and they're perfect already. And you can't really hold them around that much. But uh, so with the guitar, you know, it's nice to you can put stuff together, play and make your own sound. And I love that. I think that all comes from like being broke. And being, you know, like, wanting something.

Thomas Mooney 1:53:53

Yeah. It's the it's a Trisha Trisha song. Jamie Lynn Wilson. Yeah. Like the invention is the mother of necessity. You know, that kind of thing?

K. Phillips 1:54:07

Yeah. Yeah. When you have five kids, you probably got to do that. Yeah, you got to do. And I love her music. Yeah, we do a song swap once a year in Columbus, Texas, in this 100 year old dance hall. And it's just for people come in and sit down and shut up and listen to songwriters. And it's I feel like I get my ass handed to me every time because it's Jamie Lynn Wilson. Drew Kennedy, who's one of the greatest storyteller, singer songwriter, one man band. I mean, not one man band, but like, you give him a good acoustic guitar. Yeah, he's gonna make everybody be quiet and like you're just in in the throes with whatever he he's speaking about. An Oakland temple, who's one of my favorite songwriters and just the same way but So funny, has a great grasp of heartbreaking and humorous you know? Yeah. So, okay, new record, new record is dirty word wonder I. So the cultural pearls was a band and my girlfriend was my bass player. And so if you want to, like, lose your band and your girlfriend, you should put your girlfriend in your band. So, the record was a long time coming, but it was, it was about like, dealing with that at first. And I'd made this record called fall down house that didn't come out and that was mostly that. And then it was like, and then the record is about like, like, Oh, I'm not gonna die. My life is not over. It's pretty okay to be like,

yeah, let's single dude in the world. And also, while I'm like, I'm like a filthy dude. And it's just like, kind of a meditation

in in like, being being being a dirtbag, I guess. But Bo Bedford and Gordy quist produce it and Rick Richards play drums again. But Ricky Ray Jackson, who played with phosphorus and played with Nikki lane a little bit, came in and play guitar and pedal steel. And Scott Davis, from the band he was was based on the record. And I love sly guitar and my buddy, Keegan Reed from the reed brothers, you gotta check them out. plays like guitar, and bow played some guitar. The girls who sing with the Texas gentlemen, they sing on my record, Hannah cook and Taylor lumbee and they're coming out this summer with us, including one girl from Nashville. So we're gonna have three beautiful dark haired girls sing and backup.

It's just

it's a great, great record. And then I'm I can't wait for people. I don't know. I can't remember who they are. But it's done. It's open a lot of doors like just the few people who have who've heard it in private. SoundCloud links here in Nashville, and yeah. I'm ready to make another record.

Thomas Mooney 1:57:28

Did you did you say like July you're thinking,

K. Phillips 1:57:30

July, late July, it'll come out we go into her. The first date is July 22 31. Or should come out right after that. It's gonna be out on vinyl. And so the live band, we all live together. And I met them after. I'd always known them but it's my band is like the they're called somebody darling. And they're, they play in somebody darling. But they're also we all live together and they're backing me up to so it's David Potter on guitar. We'd cover on drums and Michael Talia bass and Michael and I grew up together in San Angelo. Oh, really. And so when Stephanie and I like parted ways he came in start playing bass with us when he could, but somebody darling is taking time off to write a record. So I am we're on the front woman, you know, writes more songs. They're coming out this summer with me and I think we're gonna work it out where we both they can still exist as somebody darling and and I can, they could still back me up. And I mean, we are a band now we rehearse every day and it's just, it's like the best thing I've ever been a part of. And it's so nice to play with. Like real motherfuckers who like as much as I believe in songwriting, they believe in their, in their craft, like David is is practicing everyday listening to her ikuta listening the right records, working on slide playing, working on his tone, way the same way with his drum drumming. And Michael was his bass playing like these guys who don't like waiting went to Berkeley, these guys went to u and T. Like, they are real dudes who have the right influences and I just can't wait to bring this band around and show people and I'm really like 30 wonders. I was glad to keep doing me. You know, like you've heard songs like Rambler.

This is

just nice when you can make a record without getting a label involved. You know, if somebody picks it up, who knows? But I made this record with with the help of people, and it was never nobody told me what to do. I got to do exactly what I wanted to do. And when People get involved and they want to return. A lot of times they fuck with your art. Yeah. And on this, I got to do exactly what I want to do. And I'm in the way. And also like, because nobody still we're so like, unknown. Like, I don't have to like make another American girls or something like I can do whatever I want. I can. I'm not beholden to anyone money wise or Fan Fan wise, but it's just is you're going to need it. People will need it in their record collection. Yeah. So I'm gonna have it in mind. Yeah, I'm gonna I'll give you a vinyl. All you have to pay for it. Yeah, just kidding.

Thomas Mooney 2:00:47

Yeah, what, uh, what's, what's the cover gonna be? Hmm. So I always find it weird. Okay. Like, I typically don't care about album covers. Yeah, those are like really fucking cool. But whenever I talk about a record with somebody that's not it's not been out yet. Yeah,

K. Phillips 2:01:03

I'm like, wondering what it is. The cover was shot by one of my favorite photographers, this New York photographer, Mark Abernathy. And he now lives in the outside of Austin. And I went to go like, I just in the last six months, I've been getting the film photography, and he's kind of like, been my mentor and like, helped me with my own film photography. As as somebody who's in into our in a craft. Like, I feel like it's important that you not only do your craft, like you learn other crafts, and it's always good to be a beginner and especially songwriters. Like there's not enough. Like being a songwriters is much about being a beginner and other artistic endeavors. Is is working on your rhymes working on your voice and your playing. Yeah, and what you're reading and what you're listening to. So a renaissance man. Yeah, I mean, and it felt like a perfect example. Is somebody like Joey Lee, I had to bring it back to West Texas. Or Terry Allen. Yeah, exactly. Or guy Clark, who built guitars, you know? Yeah, like a lot of what we do is, is meditation and it's getting like, like, it's driving to Lubbock, or it's getting like shutting your mind off from actually writing. It's, it's thinking about writing a lot. And then like walking away from it, and doing something else. So when I'm developing film, or when I'm shooting, I'm, I'm using another skill, another part of my brain maybe in a when I'm like, mixing chemistry, like, I'm not thinking about internal rhymes, or, you know, I'm not getting stuck on myself.

But, uh,

yeah, so it's informed my writing also, but so mark is like, helping me with my art and photography, and he's showing me what to do and what not to do. And it's been really cool, but he was like, let's shoot some stuff. And I was like, maybe, you know, we issue my the cover of my record and also Joshua black Wilkins shot some stuff for for us for the, for the cover. But it came down to marks was just better because, I don't know, it was just it was rainy that day, and I was like, I was, you know, being from West Texas. And hearing stories like Joey Lee has a story about his uncle that that had, you know, he was like an oil man. And he he was like this wildcatter and West Texas kinda good old boy. But he had like, become a millionaire many times over on accident like he he had driving down the property line to his his, his house, you would see all these wrecked Cadillacs. And what he would do is like, yeah, on the way to and from Saturday night party and then Sunday at church, sometimes he would wreck his Cadillac. And then instead of doing something about it, he would just leave it there on his property and then go buy another Cadillac the next Monday, you know, and so you drive down this line and there was just busted Cadillacs on the way up to his house and and I was kind of telling mark that story and I was like, just this idea this there's something very West Texas about being like, maybe like not old money, not like Rockefeller money or not like Kennedy money but like this. Like if this person was at a yacht club, everybody would be embarrassed by them. Yeah. You know, kind of like I love that like john Pettit is kind of like that. I mean, no people would love john Pettit wherever, wherever he's around but you know, he wears the before the the tiny Stetson high open road. Yes. Cool. And, you know, he's just, he's got long hair anyways, sometimes he wears like custom made boots with sometimes worse flip flops. But you know, he can, he can shoot a shotgun. Yeah, basketball minute, but he you know, he can also tell you what the best wine is with, with whatever fancy dish you're having, you know. And so it's kind of explained all that to mark and he's like, Alright, maybe at this location. We were in town for South by and I go to his house, and it's just like, on Lake Travis. And this is dude who had gotten in Mark marks and Mormon and he goes to church. So this guy is this dude who is done really well for himself and got into like, some calm thing before. I don't want to give it away. But yeah, you probably know the guy anyways. He puts me in. He puts me in those like $10,000 chair. and is like, like overstuff kind of like green leather and like, handmade here's me like this $40,000 watch. And then the only reason those numbers is because the guy was like this one not saying his name.

Anyways, he was like, like, like walking around his house, like pointing his stuff like yeah, telling me how much everything

costs, like, show me his Ferrari. But it was it was so nice of him to he's a cool dude. And it was nice of his friends show us this stuff and like let us use it as props and just it looks like it looks like that dude who has crashed 15 Cadillacs. Yeah, you know, but maybe the church on Sunday. And we did we did somewhere. I was like holding this repeater rifle. And like smoking a fucking Cuban cigar. But we decided that that was maybe not great for the liberals who were Yeah, maybe buying the record.

So

Thomas Mooney 2:07:12

I find this Cadillac story like the story. Joey Lee is it's it's incredible in the because part of it is it's too unbelievable. But then right. It's very believable at the same time where it's like, yeah, it's like you you a fan of the king of the hill. Yes. What like Hanks boss name. Oh, yeah. Like who owns the Yeah, exactly. The watch. We call it. propane stores all that shit. I can't think of what his name is. But that's who that is. Right? Exactly. The guy who's crashing Cadillac.

K. Phillips 2:07:57

Yeah. And like getting divorces and like doing like yanking with his day consider Stricklin. Yeah, Strickland probably. Yeah, there you go. That show embodies West Texas. Yeah, you know.

Thomas Mooney 2:08:16

But yes, exactly. And one of my favorite thing, not sketching my favorite things on King of the Hill. I think it's like first episode, maybe like it's in the first five within the first five. Bobby and Hank go out of town. I don't know what they're doing. But Peggy, like goes to buy shoes. She has to drive to Lubbock. She bought like she they're such big shoes. Yeah, like women like big shoes for women. But that was the big town. Yeah. But like she she had to go to Lubbock Galloway to Lubbock to get these like big. Like, that was like the next big town. Yeah. It's due to good.

K. Phillips 2:08:51

Oh, I do want to say also, there's a on the back cover is when you see it, you'll get it. But there's like a pretty evocative thing on the back cover and it relates to the front cover. And and then when you see it, you get it and you realize what the record is called dirty wonder. And the dirty wonder is just like that. To reiterate, like, at first, I was like, Oh, my legs blown apart. What did I do? That was like later on is like, Oh, I did that to myself because of my dirty wonder. And it's like this. Yeah, I can't help that. I'm a guy and I mean, I can't help it. But fuck it. Yeah. If I'm in a situation. I'm not saying I wouldn't meet somebody in my life and be like, faithful to them, but the shit that got me in trouble. And the reason I get myself in it, or I got myself in trouble. It's that dirty wonder, you know, like, it's just, I felt like, fuck it. I'm gonna write about that, you know? Because, like one of the songs is called 18 year old girls. And yeah, so there's shit like that. But I mean, it was just the idea like, tell the honest story is Yeah, back to the Robert graves poem, like, just be that character and like, that character is unrepentant and, and he does like bad things but also that character realizes when they screw up screwed up like the song. What I can't have cat song. Yeah, it's, it's the guy never says he did anything wrong in the song you know? Like an asshole is really good at a true asshole is really good at making people feel sorry for them. Yeah so yeah I'm excited about his new record is going to change people's lives and they're going to be embolden in their dirty endeavors so and I mean, what's more like, like, you can write about love and you can write about, like, what's better, like what would make you feel more alive than writing about, like, doing bad things. Like, like, I feel like it's a it was hard. It was scary to like, write about like to write a song called 18 old girls. And like, put that out and like, Oh, God, everyone's gonna think I'm a creep. But that's real fucking writing. That's like, making yourself it's like, opening yourself up to people and like saying, like, this is the real shit. Yeah, and that's what I love. I love like, that, that edge of like, scaring myself and like, being embarrassed to almost say it, you know? And hoping it always does that it connects, you know? Because if I'm afraid to say it, maybe I should say, you know,

so. Yes, yeah.

The next record is gonna be a party record.

Thomas Mooney 2:12:21

Party record. Yeah. Liquid kind of party. I don't know. Like, like, have fun party record. Like, like a, I can't say what the next record is gonna be. You know, I'm trying to get like party records in my head. That are like, good party records. So the first thing I thought of actually was LCD sound system. That's what I thought. Okay.

K. Phillips 2:12:47

Yeah, I was gonna say that. I was like, gosh, that kind of goes without saying, but yeah. I what is that cover? Like? I know what the cover is. But I

Thomas Mooney 2:12:59

don't like the disco ball. No worries. Like turn. He's turned his head and it's like drunk girls is on there. Oh, is that the new one? Or the new the newest one? The latest? Yeah, last one. I guess it's technically the last one. Yeah. Oh, what is it called? I'll just look it up real quick. LCD soundsystem I think maybe LCD soundsystem I think people I think a lot of people don't get that band. Yeah. Because it's it's not exactly like the the easiest thing for anybody to listen to even though it's kind of dancey it's Yeah, it's electronic. It's but I don't know if anyone listening to this right. This is happening. Yeah, this is happening. That's what it is. I don't know if I bet it's like probably under 10% of people are going to listen to this who go fuck yeah. LCD sounds so they should

K. Phillips 2:14:03

I mean songwriters should be listening to everything. Yeah. All kinds of music and they should be delving into making music making EDM on their laptop cuz you can you know, or I love I really love Cuban music and I love I love like the buenavista Yeah, I love love or tiny back to right. Margaret ribo Margarito who played with Tom Waits. He's like a pretty famed guitar player has some great like keyword records that you can kind of find on, on Spotify, but also I love like, any of that Ennio Morricone kind of stuff and, man, it reminds me in a way of like West Texas, even though it's not like any like Spain is nowhere near West. Yeah, or Italy or what and then like he was nowhere near West Texas, but it's like on the cusp of it's not I don't know it's just like this pastiche of music that yeah great or like your, your Fats Domino or your Clifton shinier, kind of kind of zydeco music that it's blues really. It's like, do hoppy and bluesy but there's there's accordions, you know, like Yeah. Yeah. I love. I love that stuff as much as I love. I probably listen to that stuff more than I listen to my lyricist. You know, like, because I, for so many years. That's all I listened to was lyricist like. And I was really raised on that stuff. I was named after Kris Kristofferson, who's a straight up lyricist. Yeah, and one of the greatest writers ever. But I need music and I need a I need music to help me. Great. My own. My own my own music, you know, because if all I did was listen to lyricist that wouldn't give me any foundation for other kinds of music to put my lyrics over. Yeah, yeah. So and there is some kind of like, on the new record, there will be some kind of Latin influences that I love, like when you listen to the stones. And they bring they bring the Latin vibe sometimes really, you also brought blackrose they bring the Latin percussion and it's just, it just takes it to this whole nother whole other place. Yeah. You know, or when you get people like the Texas tornadoes like that's, that's when you create your own sound. Or duck song.

Thomas Mooney 2:16:55

Yeah, Texas tornadoes. That's Yeah, even. I don't know, sometimes you. You listen to those records. And like, you can remember that you can remember you're the first time you listen to him. And I remember the first time I saw that, that album, you know, it's like the fourth like the self title one. I think they did it. Like there's a Spanish version and an English version. Yeah. And it's the same album cover but it's like Texas tornadoes. And they're all standing out there. And it's like I don't know who this band is. Yeah, like I want to the first time you put it on it just it sounds so fucking Yeah, it sounds like Texas. Yeah. It sounds like San Antonio Dogg song. So underrated as like a songwriter? Yeah, like you know, hand player. Yeah. Yeah, I love that record. That first record a lot.

K. Phillips 2:17:50

Man being in Nashville. I really miss the Mexican influence on everything. I mean, they just make everything better. And like every everything's just more decadent. Everything's more colorful. Everything's a party. Everything's about family. Everything's about life, you know? And in love and like I miss Oh, God, one time I was like, I feel like growing up in West Texas, like, I feel like I identify with like, skin sounds so fucking white. But like living in Nashville, I start to realize shit about myself like, identify with like, my Mexican friends and like the Mexican influence growing up in my life like like, I need I need tortillas I need I need tamales. I need it. I need to move though. And I need like these things when I'm hung over when I'm happy. I want to be around people. I want to I want to go to my girlfriend's family's house on the weekends or I want to Yeah, it's just like and then musically like every every like Texas influence that. That is that is great to me. Like, like people who are bringing it like Roger Prager brings it a little bit and like, like Joey Lee's got it. And I thought Joe really was Mexican. Really, for the longest time. Actually, anybody with dark hair I just assumed was Mexican. Like until I went to Texas Lutheran University. But like, yeah, like I told, I told the dirty river boys one night like drunkenly like I'm pretty much Mexican. Yeah. Which is so sad to anybody. Like Like you're where you're from, like even dictates like what kind of person you're going to be but like it'd be like growing up in New York and like really loving New York style pizza and like the whole like big Italian family thing and like, like this like I don't know I'm not in there just like moving to Nashville and not being able to have that I'll be able to have like great bagels or like falafel. Yeah, or Hillel or something. You know, like I moved away from there and like it. I was like, fuck this is such a big part of my life like I miss I miss the Mexican food I miss the dark haired girls I miss the vibrant colors like I moved here from I moved to San Antonio because there's no place on earth like San Antonio and it's like I've tried to incorporate you know that shit into my like, like the vibrant colors and the and like the horns and the accordion and and the rhythms and the my music like since day one. But moving here, I realized like how much that that influenced me just as much as

is as the is the rock and roll and the songwriters, you know?

Yeah, I went to more like in high school. I went to more Kingston yetta is that I went to old you got like birthdays or

Thomas Mooney 2:21:18

sweet 16? Yeah. Yeah, exactly. I think we can call sweet 16 crap. Yeah. Especially like, You ever seen like the MTV show? Oh, it's horrible. Is that still going on? I don't know. suddenlink doesn't have HBO anymore mean, MTV anymore? You don't have HBO Go. No, I didn't mean I said HBO. But I met in TV. Like MTV, scrapped off there. So I don't know what they have on MTV anymore. But I'm pretty sure they probably still have sweet 16 shit. And anytime you watch that you're just like, a those are the worst people in the world, raising the worst people to Yeah, be like, this is why the rest of the world hates American. Yeah. And like, see, like, I hope that those people grow up and they realize, man, I was such a fucking shithead Yeah, because, I mean, I didn't have like, I didn't have anything remotely like that growing up. But I still look at me at 16. And God, you're a shithead. Which I think like anyone who's like, well balanced as an adult. Probably does that. Alright, I think Yeah, he should do that. But like, yeah, those people are just the worst people.

K. Phillips 2:22:40

Yeah. Yeah, I don't like every kinston that I went to. It was like, like, I the people in the thing like pay like, I paid like 180 bucks to run a purple tux. Yeah. You know, and like, you had to learn. You know how to how to dance it, like, come home and do music.

Thomas Mooney 2:23:01

Yeah, but like that's, you know, that's based off of tradition and family. Right? Like a sweet 16 is like

K. Phillips 2:23:08

family is there? Yeah. And like the girls, maybe friends are there. But the whole family does it together. And it's never, I'm sure there's little monsters like, yeah, some people spoil their kids. Like, I heard like the cavinder. Like when I was living in San Antonio, one of the cavinder A Kevin or daughter, like Kevin has a key owns the Cadillac. And Kevin or Cadillac. You know, like everybody. When you have means like, sometimes you're going to spoil your kids. Yeah. And that happens. And I mean, it doesn't mean these people are bad. But MTV is like, really good at like, cultivating and finding finding those people who look the worst. You know? It's great television. But yeah, like when I was dating Stephanie, I realized like, Oh, my family does not really hang out that much. Is it every weekend we were with her family and and we were hanging out and it was like being in the moment spending time with people and like, like, I come from, like, the classic. I think white people family was like, we see you during Christmas. And yeah, he's or maybe Thanksgiving. Yeah. And that's okay, too. But when you move to Nashville, you realize like, or you move somewhere else. You realize what influenced you and what you liked about the place you were? And then you start I think it helps you kind of find who you are more, you know,

Thomas Mooney 2:24:40

yeah. It's kind of like you're not in the middle. You're not in the in the middle of it anymore. You're looking from the outside, right. You You realize like the stuff you you took for granted is that you know, this, this and I don't know. It's weird like Ryan Cole. Well, he made this record called flatland. And it came out last year and probably like the best record at capturing what living in the panhandle is. Yeah. And he wrote it in here. Yeah, he wrote it and recorded it here. And is because he realized, like all the shit he missed. Yeah, that live in the panhandle and like the people and the way it is, until you get away from it. Yeah, really? You'd like to see the full picture? Yeah, yeah. It's weird. But,

K. Phillips 2:25:31

yeah, when I listened to, like, the newer Counting Crows records, I still it's still I I don't know identify with that whole California thing. And that Berkeley thing. Yeah. Even though he's been living in New York, I think for like a decade or two. But still feels very California. California Kill Kill fornia.

Thomas Mooney 2:25:57

It has he done one of those. California commercials, the ads. Oh, no, no, no, I

K. Phillips 2:26:03

think he received those. He's not super stoked on California. And I think he loves New York. Okay. Yeah, it was funny. Like, with Arnold. Schwarzenegger in California.

Thomas Mooney 2:26:15

Yeah. Going to kill him. Yeah. But in general, like, they're basically saying, like, all the there's, like all these little puns about California. Like people just think we are no yeah. I don't know what I can't even think of anything off the top of my head. But like, we're just a bunch of movie stars. Obviously, like, a big movie star doing it. And like

K. Phillips 2:26:37

I love that place, too. I would live there. I live in West Hollywood. Just I could still get Mexican food.

Thomas Mooney 2:26:43

Yeah, the culture is still there. It's weird. Like there's a little hub of like little bit guys in LA. Really? Yeah. You see a couple of guys or I don't know how many people I know at least like four or five people that moved out there. And they all kind of moved out there at the same time. So I don't know if that's like the there's going to be an exodus towards LA.

K. Phillips 2:27:07

Maybe. I mean, if it becomes cheap enough where you can Yeah, keep your overhead low and still tour. I'd love to live there. I need I need the sunshine. I can't Nashville in the wintertime. Yeah, it's gonna be hard.

Thomas Mooney 2:27:25

You need this fireplace over here. Yeah. Is this is a real one. Oh, yeah, that's real. Okay. I don't know if it was just there's one downstairs too. That's cool. Yeah. Well, yeah. You good?

K. Phillips 2:27:40

I'm good. Thank you for having me. Keep doing I mean, this. I loved. I loved your blog. And I thought you were doing God's work then. But I think this is. Yeah, so we're still doing that. Stop reading. I think this is really good.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai