093: Emily Scott Robinson

On Episode 93, I am joined by singer-songwriter Emily Scott Robinson. I spoke with Robinson back in mid-April and we hit a number of conversations ranging from how she's handling the Quarantine in the Arizona Desert, hipster cowboys, how she's morphed as a songwriter and storyteller, capturing the essence of small towns across America (including a small Friday Night Lights cameo), Spotify's Indigo Playlist, women songwriters in country music and the glass ceiling, and of course, the rich and vivid vignettes found on her 2019 album, the delicate, warm, comfortable, and sobering Traveling Mercies.

This episode's presenting partner is Smith Iron & Design and Wicker's Mesquite Smoked Jalapeno Jelly.

Interview Transcript

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

Thomas Mooney 0:02

Everyone, Welcome to New slang. I am music journalist Thomas Mooney, your host, and this is episode number 93. With singer songwriter Emily Scott Robinson, this episode with Emily runs about two hours. And so initially I thought about splitting it up into two parts, maybe running them back to back or something. But as you can tell, I obviously decided against that. So with that in mind, I'll try and keep this intro super short. You know, when I was talking with Emily, it just felt like the time really flew by, that always feels like a really great sign of a great conversation. And so when I was speaking with Emily, it just felt like anytime we had a time where our conversation would naturally end, we would stumble upon a bigger conversation piece or topic, and then just kind of fall right back in it. And so like it just, it felt like we never really ran out of things to talk about. So we recorded this back in April. And we were still in the midst of the, I guess what I would call like the real shutdown. And I was just out of having COVID. So there's some of that talk as well, which I really hope y'all aren't getting too tired of. I know, it can probably be feel like it's just the same thing over and over. But I don't know, it's just really been natural to talk with everyone about how they've handled this time in their lives. But our compensation doesn't just revolve around that. We really get into some great conversations about art and songwriting, novels and short stories. And we talk a lot about the aspects of our 2019 album traveling mercies, which I thought was just one of the best albums of 2019 of really like that, I guess, you know, the last 1015 years. One of my favorite subjects that we talked about, is how Emily and her husband had been living in a travel trailer for the last few years. I don't think like I think we say something or she says something about how she doesn't technically consider it tiny living because they don't have it sound like technically a tiny home. But you know, it's as close is a lot closer to tiny living than living in like the house that I live in. So that's a really interesting conversation. And then of course, like we also talk about, like Marfa hipsters at the end. So that is, of course something you'll want to hear the appropriation of West Texas. Anyway, I said I'd keep this short. If you haven't checked out traveling mercies by Emily Scott Robinson. Please do. So I'm a fan of always starting to record from the beginning. But if you really just need a sample, go ahead and go with the song ghost in every town. If you haven't subscribed to Newsline just yet, please do so on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Google podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. If you have an extra second, please leave a five star review on iTunes. They're all really appreciated, and they really do help get more listeners to the podcast. If you haven't followed me on Twitter or on Instagram, I am at underscore new slank go give newslink a like on Facebook while you're at it. All right here is Emily Scott Robinson. One of the things I guess, like the thing I want to start out with is obviously we're we're in such a strange time right now with the quarantine and you're touring musician, but you're also one who travels around in an RV. Like I guess like my my first question is like, Where did you guys just have to where you guys out on the road? When all of this started happening? Or were you guys already kind of like in a in a place that you were wanting to like kind of, I guess Park and settle a little bit.

Emily Scott Robinson 3:39

We were we were actually in a place that we wanted to park and settle a little bit. So we're pretty lucky. We've been in Flagstaff, Arizona for the past couple months. We found a nice little RV park and the pine trees that we have enjoyed that's been a nice like peaceful home base. Mainly because we've been traveling and living full time in our RV for over four years now. And so we'd sort of tired of of being on the go constantly in the RV. And as my touring was picking up and the RV became a less economical touring vehicle. It's just me and so in our RV is like a big, we've, you know, we live in it full time. So it's like a big land yacht.

Unknown Speaker 4:25

It's a 36 foot motorhome.

Emily Scott Robinson 4:27

So what we started to do is we live in the RV and these kind of cool and beautiful places that we love out west. And then I would just fly to a tour and do a sort of big circle and like a rental car. And so we had our RV parked in Flagstaff. And we'd actually just finished my husband was with me on tour, helping tour manage and merchant stuff. We just finished a three week tour and flew back on March night. Which was like just under The Wire was just as people were starting to become aware of, of the Coronavirus and, and even about halfway through the tour is when I stopped shaking hands at the merge table and we started to do kind of the elbow bump thing and because God, it's it's crazy to think about that. Before this, I was, you know, it was hugging people

shaking and there was so much. There was so much content.

And so we were very lucky to get a big tour in right under the wire and then got home. And so now we're just hanging out in the RV in Flagstaff, Arizona. And it's it's spring here kind of turning into summer. And it's actually it's been really nice to be home for this long. All my shows have been cancelled slash rescheduled up into the end of June. So I'm not sure yet kind of what's going to happen. I'm supposed to go on tour with American aquarium for their album release tour in June and July. So we'll see what happens.

Thomas Mooney 6:13

Yeah, it's, it's so weird. Like, you don't realize just how much contact you have with other people until they say Stop, stop shaking

Emily Scott Robinson 6:22

Oh my god.

Thomas Mooney 6:25

Like, I wear glasses, and I realized like, Oh my gosh, I touched my face all the time just adjusting my glasses or taking them off. Or you know what I mean? Like, there's just, there's just so much that you do that you if someone just tells you to stop, then you become hyper aware of how many times you actually do that. And it's it's hard, you know?

Emily Scott Robinson 6:47

Yeah, it's completely I mean, I'm pretty sure like my hobbies before this, were just like, going to coffee shops and touching my face, which I cannot do anymore.

Unknown Speaker 6:59

Oh, man. Yeah, I

Unknown Speaker 7:01

never, you know.

Emily Scott Robinson 7:04

I like, like, everyone never saw this sort of disruption coming in our industry and in our lives. And it has been really interesting. I there's been a whole big mixed bag of emotions that I've felt. Most days, I feel pretty positive and have tried to pivot to an am pivoting to a weekly online concert to really connecting with people online. And that's been great to be pushed in that direction. Because honestly, I wasn't comfortable with online concerts before this. I didn't like them. You know, I was like, oh, there's so much magic in a live show. And there is, but that's not an option right now. So it's up to me to find the magic in an Instagram Live Show. And it feels good to have some sort of purpose during this time. Yeah. And providing music for people and connecting with fans on the internet. It's been that's been my purpose right now and songwriting. And so I'm just kind of trying to use this time as best as I can, you know,

Thomas Mooney 8:12

right. Yeah. What I think like, when you're when you're touring, and you're out on these dates, like there's a structure to at all and like people are, even those people who aren't, you know, they, they clash with any kind of structure, like, you know, you get into the rhythm of that, in this, I feel, has just shaken everyone to realize, like, Oh my gosh, if you're not doing something, you you're gonna be like, really lost during this time. And, you know, even just having that weekly show that some kind of normalcy, it will give you purpose in what we're doing right now, you know,

Emily Scott Robinson 8:56

I could not agree with you more, I'm having. Finally, you know, I've been on the learning curve of working for myself now for the past almost five years. And since I quit my previous day jobs, and having to create your own structure is really challenging. And one reason why touring is really fun is because I wake up every day. And I know what my schedule for the day is. I know what the purpose is, you know, kind of what we're working towards all day and all night. And then at the end of the night, after the show was done, you have this feeling of like, accomplishment, um, and, and this also this direct feedback from fans almost every night, where they're, they're just they're giving you all this love, and they're so excited to see you and they've, you know, you've never actually come to they're down and you're playing there for the first time. And they're so thrilled to meet you at the merch table. And so there's this positive feedback on a nightly basis. And so I think what this Time home has really taught me is that providing structure for myself is so important because I just, I just sort of flounder. Without it, I feel very depressed if I have no purpose. And I think we thrive on structure. And so I'm doing the weekly concert has been this wonderful. I mean, I'm just I joke about this, but it does, it kind of gives me a reason to shower and put on makeup and do my hair. And it's amazing how much better I feel when I do that. And it also I'm in a in a small and intimate songwriting group where we're returning in one song a week, which is nothing crazy. We didn't want to set up, set ourselves up to fail, but we thought, okay, one song a week, that'll be good. So it's been, it's been this great learning, learning time for me of how do I give myself structure? How do I structure my day, because it's, it's completely up to me, and I'm, we grew up in this culture, I mean, from the age of five, when we went off to kindergarten all the way through college all the way through our sort of day jobs where somebody else gave us the structure for our day. So learning to do it on your own is, is, it can be really challenging.

Thomas Mooney 11:19

Yeah, it's, it's one of those things where it's so hard to create responsibility for yourself, it's so hard to create the, the any kind of like, deadline, you know, one of the things that I had said this a couple years back, because obviously, you know, the freelance journalism aspect is very slim, really similar in a lot of ways to, to being a musician. And at some point, I realized, and you're probably agree with this is like, the great thing about being a journalist or musician is that any night can be Friday night, the worst thing about being a journalist or musician is that any night can be Friday night. And, you know, I mean, like, we're, that can, you can, you can change your plans and everything and go off and do whatever you want. But then also at the same time, like, it can just totally mess up your entire week, you know,

Emily Scott Robinson 12:21

completely and also, I mean, I find that setting boundaries with my own work has been a real, a real challenge, like taking an actual full day off from checking my email, and just doing things that I enjoy that aren't music related. Is, is really good. For me, it is also really hard for me to do. You know, when we're living our dream of doing what it is that we want to I think that our identities very easily become in meshed with our work. And it's like, oh, you know, I gotta use every day and every waking moment, to kind of pour my heart and soul into this into this thing I've built, right. Which, you know, you also being a music journalist, probably relate to this. And so feeling comfortable with taking a vacation, feeling comfortable with taking a weekend giving yourself permission not to work all the time. It's, it's really good medicine for me, but it's also hard for me to take my own advice and

take my own medicine basically.

Thomas Mooney 13:30

Yeah, like, I like my father, he owned his own business. And that was one of those things, I guess, like with with him was never felt like he ever took a day off. And I feel like me and my father are really not a whole lot alike. But I feel like if there's one thing, it's it's that aspect of like, we never had a vacation where we weren't also doing like a slash business trip on his end, you know?

Emily Scott Robinson 13:55

Totally.

Thomas Mooney 13:56

Yeah. It's hard to just like, go and just turn that off and not be the, the whatever your job is, you know what I mean? Like, I guess maybe, for if you're working a 40 hour a week, a quote unquote, regular job, it can be easy or easier to, to not think about what you're doing for work, you know, but I'm always constantly kind of thinking about music or like what I need to do tomorrow.

Emily Scott Robinson 14:24

Right? Exactly. Like when I worked for somebody else. It was like, Oh, yeah, man, like, I'm not going to think about this job on the weekend. Like, this is my time, you know, and now I have this, this dream job, this life that I've built that I've created, that I absolutely love. And it's also really important for me to have some sort of boundary with that, where I can take a week. Go do something that's not constantly producing and I like going into reasons why I think this quarantine has been really challenging for people is that we have this notion in our culture that we've grown up with about productivity being deeply connected to our sense of self worth. Yeah. And, and I struggle a lot with that. And so I think that when people don't feel productive, they feel as if they're not worthy that they don't deserve a break, they don't deserve to slow down. And I think all none of us are immune from that feeling. Because that's just in the air we breathe as a culture. And it's been so interesting to see this kind of collective halt to the insane pace of the lives that we've, myself included when I go on tour, you know, and to be forced to stop and slow down and reckon with our, you know, with the things that we run from, to reckon with our own presence to reckon with quiet and silence. And, you know, there are days where I'm I because I meditate, because I've been practicing this kind of stuff for years now. I feel like I have tools to reckon with the quiet and to reckon with this slowdown and to, and not to panic, but there's definitely a lot of people collectively panicking, melting down, drinking their way through this numbing out. It's a, you know, this slowdown as a culture is really is really bringing up a lot of stuff.

Thomas Mooney 16:28

I think you hit the nail on the head right there, because I have like, I have a little brother, but he's 14 years younger than me. So yeah, a lot of ways. We're both like, we were both raised as like single children. And I've kind of jokingly said, you know, that my childhood has, like, it's made me perfect for a quarantine, like the isolation, being able to be busy on yourself. But the thing is, is like realizing just how many of your friends are completely not that way at all, and how they are just needing so much human interaction and needing that, that, like you said, like that aspect of, of work and purpose, it's been very eye opening to that part. And on my end, what that is meant is like, you know, more phone calls and more, you know, just talking with friends about, like, on the phone, you know, to not only just pass the time, but to also you know, just make something happen in the day, you know?

Emily Scott Robinson 17:40

Yes,

yes, completely.

And Thomas,

did you have Coronavirus?

Thomas Mooney 17:46

Yeah, I did. I did have,

Emily Scott Robinson 17:47

oh my gosh,

Thomas Mooney 17:49

it was absolutely horrible and everything like that. But you know, like, it's I have such a conflicted thought about like, the entire thing, because on some on some aspects, I feel like I'm complaining. Even though I don't feel like I was near I had it nearly as bad as, as I could have, you know what I mean? So like, I feel fortunate and feel like, my complaining is, is maybe, like, distracting from the actual problems of it. But at the same time, like, you know, I think that it has helped open the eyes of a lot of my, I guess my circle, because like, yeah, it's one of those things where anything like this, you go, Well, I don't know, anybody who has had this, you know, whatever they say, you know what I mean? And it does put like, I guess, like a name and kind of face to the, the virus, if you will?

Emily Scott Robinson 18:53

Absolutely. I think that when we know if you know somebody who's gotten it, it makes it that much more real. Whereas for me in Flagstaff, like I don't know anyone here locally, who's gotten it and our numbers are so pretty low. And so my sort of sense of personal danger is not incredibly high, even though I'm following all of the guidelines, and we're like, super staying at home and but I think that it feels so much more real when there's somebody who's gotten it and so I think that's, you know, yeah, that's, that's crazy. And you've fully recovered.

Thomas Mooney 19:31

Yeah, I mean, like, I've recovered to the extent that I like I still have a cough and I, I don't know if you can tell but every once in a while, I'll mute my mic and cough off. But like it's it's one of those things where like, they say like I could, you know, the the cough the lingering cough can stick for a couple months after this and yeah, it's one of those like, that is just me The most annoying part was like the actual like, the worst days were absolutely horrible. But the and I'm talking like the body aches and all that kind of stuff that was absolutely horrible. But the the part I feel like that is messed with my mind more has been just the there was like a week after that I just was so tired. so sleepy. So I felt like a zombie, you know what I mean? Where it just felt like I couldn't stay up. And and then the part where, like, when you like the lack of taste was very like at the very beginning. I could tell like, Oh, I don't I can't taste like that is so

Unknown Speaker 20:49

crazy. Yeah.

Thomas Mooney 20:50

And it's not like where you're like nothing tastes like nothing, but it's just like, the most bland version of whatever that is. And you're just like, oh, what is you know, what is going on here? But then also, you know, it was like, it wasn't until like that second week that I realized I couldn't smell anything either. And unless it was like a ride up on you, you know what I mean? So like, those kinds of things are kind of like the, you know, oh, you thought this was bad? Well, here, here's like an extra kick while you're getting back up to injury.

Emily Scott Robinson 21:24

god that's so weird when I was first hearing about the like, lack of taste and like, Wow, what a crazy symptom. And I know that they're still they're still learning so much about how this virus affects different parts of your body. And But yeah, I remember when you post it on Twitter, you're like so yeah, I had Coronavirus, and it was awful. Um,

Thomas Mooney 21:48

yeah, I had made a Facebook post earlier, like a week before that, or like, maybe two weeks before that, I guess, when I first started feeling bad. And I was just it was like a Don't be alarmed kind of thing. And I don't want to like scare anyone. But then, you know, I, I felt bad. And I couldn't get tested originally because I hadn't I didn't meet the the right. I guess requirements, because I hadn't been out of the country hadn't been right contact with anyone right out of the country. And this was like, right when they started really testing and there was like no testing here really in Lubbock, you know, at the time. Right. And so it wasn't until like, a couple of weeks later when I guess we could like really connect the dots to, to like, some patients or some other positive tests here in Lubbock. And at that point, though, it was already like, I've what I've kind of described is like, the, I don't know, like the participation trophy or like a ribbon.

Unknown Speaker 22:55

Yeah, but

Thomas Mooney 22:56

then also you're kind of like, Oh, Okay, thanks. But I there's also I guess, an aspect of, like, an ease of mind, like, you know, a little bit of like a closing of the chapter, if you will, you know, like you, you get a little bit of like, ah, because there was a little bit of me Who was that was thinking like, what if this isn't? What if this is just something else? And now, like, it's weakened your immune system, to the point where you are going to get it?

Emily Scott Robinson 23:25

Right, you

Thomas Mooney 23:26

know, but like you said, like, there is so much we are learning. I know, like on Sunday, I was reading an article about how like people in their 30s and 40s are having strokes due to Yeah, the duty COVID and it is that is like another

Emily Scott Robinson 23:46

Oh my god, that is some scary, scary shit. Yeah, it is crazy. It's like, causing these big blood clots in people's bodies, and they're having these massive strokes. It's, um, yeah, it's really, it's, it's very weird. It's very disturbing. It's definitely really good motivation, fear for me for staying home and being really careful. Yeah, it's not. So I'm glad that you were able to get a test and have that validated for you. And it feels sort of like the Wild West in general, this whole experience of like, every man for themselves. In terms of testing, it's just yeah, it's crazy.

Thomas Mooney 24:34

Yeah, it really is. It's, it's very, because it's one of those things where, you know, right, I was like, right, whenever I guess we started having these like, Oh, you know, this is going to hit in two weeks, three weeks here in the US and we need to be prepared and all that kind of stuff. You know, I was very much on the phone. We need to like, not necessarily, not the need to, like stock up on toilet paper, but like, we need to get like prepared in real wise. And so, you know, I was telling, like my grandmother lives here in Lubbock and my mother lives here. And it was like, you know, I'll go out shopping for y'all yada, yada. And then of course, like, it's me who gets it? And my grandmother got it. And it was where her She's fine. Like, she's, like way milder than me. And yeah, but what it how it comes out is like, there's some irony in this where I actually got it from her. And despite, oh, my God, we try and do it the other way around, you know? And it's because she, she has her. She has a CNA business here in Lubbock. Yeah, for. So she was in a nursing home setting, I guess, like that first week of March. And then I got it from her at the end of that week or so. And, or maybe the second week made it to the first week, I can't remember exactly how we put it back as far as time but it's either the first week or the second week. And then that next week, after three or four days of having no symptoms is when it first started. Hitting so it's

Emily Scott Robinson 26:30

Oh my god. Wow, that is wild. Um, I'm so glad your grandma's okay.

Thomas Mooney 26:36

Yeah, I that's, that's one of those things where I was like, how did you have like a milder case? I'm glad you did. But like, Yeah, what was going on here? You know? And that's where like, that's where one of those things where, yeah, we don't know anything about us. And I guess like, we, it's probably naive and ignorant on my part. But I guess it's one of those things where I always just thought the quote unquote professionals knew about stuff, even in in advance of when have this kind of thing happening, you know what I mean? But then it's scary. And it's eye opening to go, Oh, you know, what, like, they're learning as this is happening in real time to

Emily Scott Robinson 27:26

completely Yeah, it's really like, the fact that there was so much community transmission going on before, you know, before we even really knew that that was happening. And I just hope and pray that when I was on tour, that I wasn't somebody who was unwittingly transmitting the virus because I have lots of I also have lots of people in my fan base who are older and are in like, the risk category, and I was actually on keyamo, the crews with six man. And I was, we were on that in the beginning, or the second week of February, or the practices the first week of February. And I'm I'm sitting here thinking like, Oh my god, did I just go on like the last cruise for

for a while.

And that we don't think there was any Coronavirus on that cruise. But, um, you know, a lot of most of the people, the majority of the people on that cruise are at least over the age of 50, many over the age of 60. So, that's just a really, yeah, it's been really crazy. And I also think in terms of like reopening things that because our business is not essential, you know, live music, that it's probably going to be one of the last things that comes back, you know, right. And, and coming to terms with that, accepting that I'm trying to kind of figure out ways in which I will work with that. It's just been it's been interesting.

Thomas Mooney 29:11

Yeah, the cruise thing is like, that's, that's scary, too, just because of the they have had the, the the cruise ships that are have been just like, at Port and no one's allowed off. And

Emily Scott Robinson 29:28

these poor people stuck in like a purgatory of cruising.

Thomas Mooney 29:34

The, I can't remember who it was. There's some doctor doing an interview about that. And he was like, the first thing they should have taken everyone off the ship and put them in the hotel or something because there's a lot of shared air. You know what I mean? There's a lot. Yeah, things like that, that are obviously everything's a little bit smaller, a little bit more compact, and It's that's like the breeding ground, you know, like, in a hotel where you're able to like at least it's probably a little bit more comfortable as well, you know, just yeah. And I don't know like there that's that is frightening in my opinion like,

Emily Scott Robinson 30:17

oh my gosh terrifying.

Although,

and this is kind of a side note away from Coronavirus when, you know speaking of like small cabins and stuff, you know, people were like oh, you know I was on camera was my first time we of course get kind of like the most basic cabin because I was I want to contest I was like on the bottom of the lineup. But of course this is on a really nice cruise line. And people were like, oh, get ready you know these cruise ships cabins are really small. I've been living in an RV for four years. So we get into the cruise ship cabin. We're like, Oh my god, this is like Yes, a tiny bathroom where only one person can fit we're super use. So yes, like a shower like you would have on a boat. Yeah, that's like that's what we shower. So we felt very much at home cruise ship. It was so it was so funny. Um, yeah, so I feel for the people who are stuck in cruise ship cabin. So

Thomas Mooney 31:28

this episode is sponsored by Smith, iron in design. It's owned and operated by one of my good friends Aaron Smith and his dad sonny. As the name implies, Smith iron and design specializes in creating custom metal and woodwork. The vast array of metal signs that are perfect wall decor that will tie our room together. They design everything from welcome signs, the family crests, flags in Texas cutouts. They have a series of these metal reads that are perfect for the front door, and you're able to change them out depending on the season. Are you a sports fan? Well, there's nothing better than having a giant logo of your team on the wall of your dinner office. When it comes to signage. The possibilities are really endless. What you should really do though, is head over to Smith art and design comm to get a look at their vast portfolio. That Smith, iron and design comm I'll throw a link into the show notes as well. They don't just do science either. Some of the smaller items are custom bottle openers, and key chains. Then they also have bookshelves, TV stands, nightstands and fire pits. You know, it was about a year ago, Aaron built me a custom shelf, I needed something new to store some of my vinyl and everything I'd come across. Either the shelves weren't big enough for LPs or it looked too bland or cheaply made or to be perfectly honest, too expensive. So I wound up talking with Erin, and about a week later I was able to pick up this custom shelf unit that's just been amazing. It's incredibly sturdy, has a bit of a rustic feel. In my opinion, one of the best parts was just having so much control in the process. You can get them as tall as you want with the shelves at the perfect depth and length. Again for me this was for storing vinyl so they had to be a certain height and depth. I've been thinking about getting a custom bookshelf companion piece soon as well. Now for the most part they primarily serve the Lubbock area and the South Plains but for some of their smaller pieces they're able to ship nationwide as well. Again Smith iron and design calm now back to the show tiny living if you will I'm always interested in that kind of stuff like the Tiny Homes and like the you know the RV living in all of the the I guess like there's obviously a lot of benefits and there's a lot of downsides to like if just depending on what kind of person you are totally

Emily Scott Robinson 34:05

absolutely love it. Yeah finish your question.

Thomas Mooney 34:07

Like what is like the the best parts and like the worst parts that like maybe are like the the advertised parts let you know what I mean? If you're just watching like a YouTube video or something like that,

Emily Scott Robinson 34:18

totally, um, well so we chose an RV so that we could be mobile, which I would say Tiny Homes have become really popular and really trendy. But Tiny Homes You know, a lot of people are sort of engineering them from scratch or from you know, now there's companies making them but it's great because living in an RV or living in a trailer is basically like living in a tiny home but they've been designing these things for years and years. So you're not necessarily working. You're not necessarily like Tiny Homes are more expensive than trailers and RVs and I I am really partial to RV living because because you can move it easily Because you can, you know, Tiny Homes, you have to put on a trailer and tow them somewhere. And they're not really built for moving. Whereas RVs and trailers are. So that's my little plug for, for RV living and trailer living. Because I think that they're a little bit better suited, and you can hook them up really easily. And you can go lots of different places. But tiny living in general, we love because it's really simplified. It has really simplified our possessions. And so everything that we have in the RV, will we just really love we everything has its space, it's really easy to keep clean and organized. Because we don't really have a choice. If stuff is out and about it's in the way, you know. So it's really made me like a much cleaner and more organized person. And we just, we tend to sort through our clutter. If we were I mean, we like anybody will accumulate things we don't need and we have a couple drawers where like, random odds and ends end up going. And then every couple months, we go through them and go, Oh, yeah, why don't we have this? Okay, let's get rid of this. It's really, it has really simplified our life and made us very, very happy. And I think now that we've done it for four years, we are we're looking to move into an actual home again, you know, a house that's not on wheels, because we've been doing it for a while. And it's been an amazing adventure. But I don't want more stuff. Just like I don't want a whole lot more stuff. And I definitely don't want clutter. And so I think something that's really gotten clear to me is that I like the simplicity of just having a smaller amount of things. Where I opened my closet, it's very Marie Kondo. Yeah, I guess. And I love everything that I have in there, I love. I have this one coffee mug that I drink out of every day. And it makes me so happy. It's this beautiful piece of pottery that I got years ago when I was in living in El Salvador. And it makes me so happy. And I'm like, why do I need more than one coffee mug? I just simply do not, you know. And so I mean, you know, I have more than one. But,

um,

I would say that, that simplicity of living, has really has really been wonderful. It's just brought us a lot of joy, and clarity. Um, but I would say there's also some like, there's also some downsides. I mean, I think people really romanticize our viewing. And it takes a lot of energy to constantly be packing up and moving around, which is why from the get go, we were like, Okay, well, we're going to spend at least a couple of weeks at a time, in most places, because it takes Yeah, it just takes a lot of energy to drive and move and, and like, pack everything up. And then like, get settled back in again. And we've done it a lot. We've done it for four years. But whenever I see like an RV polenta, it's clearly a couple who's just out for the weekend doing it. And I watched them try and do all the things that you have to do to set it up and get it leveled and set up your, your sewer and like everything, and I just look at it, and I go, oh my god. It's so exhausting. exhausting. It's so not romantic. The worst fights husband I've ever had is what we were setting up after a long day of travel, you know, we're just like, just fighting bitterly over whether it's level enough in the front or the back. And so it's I think, you know, it can be easy to romanticize, there's also a lot of maintenance, and I have to put in a plug for my husband, who does all the maintenance himself, because he does not, he does not want to pay anyone else to do it. He doesn't trust anybody. He's just that kind of person. And so he's taught himself through the myriad of YouTube videos, like how to reseal the roof and deal with leaks and how to change the oil and a V 10. Engine and, and how to like keep the generator you know, primed and, and all these little things. And he's totally a perfectionist about these things. And, and it's become his his job, basically, since I'm the one working on the road, and I'm the one touring and so there's a lot of work that goes into keeping them up because it's like, I mean, can you imagine what would happen to your own roof on your house if you were just like constantly moving your house around?

Thomas Mooney 39:53

Right? Yeah.

Emily Scott Robinson 39:54

So he's sort of in this like, epic battle with the force. Because of nature and water and leaks, yeah, it's not, it's not super easy, it takes its own kind of maintenance. Um, but it's been so much fun. Really, I'm really attached to it. And the I realize I have, I have like lots to say about this. But, um, the other nice thing is that since we're a married couple, and we wanted to do it for a long period of time, we didn't move into a van because we're like, oh my god, we can't live in a van forever. I mean, we just have too much gear, I have too many guitars, and we have vinyl and CDs, and like all this stuff. And so it was important for us to get a big enough rig that we could comfortably live in it and have space from each other. And so we have, it's a 36 foot Class A, it's got two slide outs, it's got tons of storage, we tow our car behind it. And, and probably most importantly, for our marriage, we have a door that we can close in between the bedroom and the main room of the RV. And so that's how we get space. Right? Like, I close the door when I'm writing and meditating and doing my online concerts. And you know, Russell put his headphones on and Russa's my husband and, and cook dinner and the main room and so, but people I mean, we cook more than we ever have, in an actual house. We cook so much for ourselves. And we just I do think we've we've really enjoyed the simplicity of tiny living.

Spend good?

Thomas Mooney 41:44

Yeah. You talking about the, I guess like the setting up and like the leveling of stuff that's going to bring back some childhood trauma?

Unknown Speaker 41:54

I am sure.

Thomas Mooney 41:56

Actually, you know, what's what's I guess like the last I don't know, about four or five years, I've been the quote unquote, the person who's like in charge of any kind of family vacation stuff, and yeah, organizing that kind of stuff. Like I I'll actually super nerdy, but I kind of like doing that kind of dumb stuff. But then getting out on the road like I have never felt I guess like closer to my dad in those ways in those moments where it's like, Oh, you know what? No wonder dad was always pissed off and in a bad mood on vacation. Like, it's everyone else is on vacation. And you're the one doing saying?

Emily Scott Robinson 42:40

Oh my god.

Thomas Mooney 42:44

That's the situation you know, it's

Emily Scott Robinson 42:47

Yes. Oh my god. That's so funny. Yeah. The,

Thomas Mooney 42:52

I guess like one of the bigger benefits of I'm gonna we're gonna I think we're gonna move off the salt swallowing here in a second. But I guess like, you know, one of the bigger Well, I just want to get into songwriting with YouTube because obviously, you're a songwriter. But I guess like one of those benefits that is, is talked about a whole lot for the small living is that it pushes you outdoors. Yeah, I saw you post yesterday about riding. cycling. Yeah, how much more of that do Do you have you wound up doing, just getting out in nature and, and, and being out in the elements.

Emily Scott Robinson 43:35

So, so much and I think my husband and I would both agree on this that we are happiest in the RV when we are at kind of out camping like on national forest or public lands. We're hooked up right now in an RV park. Because I need internet for what I'm doing. And we kind of wanted to be close into town the nights are still cold. It's a little it's a little too much work to just be camping with no hookups right now. But we just there's like there's nothing kind of more blissful than just being like parked in the trees or in the mountains. And, and having all the windows open and feeling like you're basically sort of living outside. But with the shelter and the amenities that you would want in a home. And I just, it's like, it's so nice to sit outside in the morning and a chair and do my journaling or do my meditation. My husband goes outside every morning to do his meditating. I'm sitting outside right now I go bike riding a lot who Oh my god, especially now during quarantine, I have so many hours to fill. I'm just like, okay,

where should I explore today?

It's it does really put you out in nature. If you choose that. Now there are plenty of our beers or sort of like what I call like the classic American RV or who have like, giant TVs and these like, huge, expensive RVs. And they just pick an RV park and they set up and they turn on their air conditioning, they just sit there and watch TV like, that is definitely a thing. That is not our thing. No, we're not into that. But, um, yeah, right now we're in this RV park that's just got like lots of pine trees, and it's peaceful. And there's trails around that are pretty accessible. So it's got just kind of enough of nature for us to feel to feel good, but it's awesome. I, I spend so much time out walking out hiking out riding my bike. And it's, it's also because we only have one car. It's also that kind of forces us which I like it kind of forces us to, to explore on foot and explore on bike more. So that's really nice. That's another thing I'm like, will we ever need more than one car again? Like, I mean, neither of us have nine to five. So so getting down to that kind of simplicity of just having one vehicle that we tow behind and, and managing our days around. Okay, do you need the car? Do I need the car, me choosing to take my bike to go to the post office or take my bike to the go to the grocery store? It's, um, it keeps me a little more active, which I just I just like, you know, and it's greener.

Thomas Mooney 46:31

Right? Does like I guess like those, those moments when you're you're out biking in the traveling aspect of going from point A to point B? How much does has that affected? I guess your songwriting? How does that help it? Does it make it more? for lack of a better term? Is that like a different version of the shower thoughts where you're just like thinking stuff?

Emily Scott Robinson 47:02

Oh my god, yes, completely. When you're doing something else that doesn't require a whole lot of your mental energy. And you're sort of in a flow state with it, like riding a bike, or showering or even washing dishes or just wandering around for a walk. That's when I get most of my song ideas. Honestly, I got a song idea was washing dishes this morning, right before you called me. And I, I have found that if I say I'm going to sound right today, I'm going to write a song today. And I sit down to a blank page. And I'm just sitting there that I have a hard time creating and generating ideas. And I also, um, if I do generate something, it's usually not brilliant.

Most of my

sort of most emotional or inspiring songs and creative ideas come to me while I'm doing something else. And then then I do need to go sit down with a notebook and get those ideas down. But I my you know, my voice memos app is full of all kinds of all kinds of ideas that I've gotten while I was hiking or while I was just out doing other things. And I really believe in that, like, Oh, do I want to write a song today? Okay, I really, I really want to sit down and write today. Okay, well, I'm going to start my day with a cup of coffee and a nice long walk. Because that's like the best way for me to start getting ideas going as if I'm moving, doing something just like moving my body or even just like doing stuff with my hands. Right?

Thomas Mooney 48:39

Yeah, the I guess like the the sitting down without like, any preparation and just starting to do do the writing. That's like an entirely separate tool set. You know what I mean? Like, that's a different kind of toolkit. Because I always compare it to what I do that is absolutely hard to do is just like, stare at a blank page and start writing an article without

Emily Scott Robinson 49:08

Oh my god, it's so hard.

Thomas Mooney 49:12

Yeah, I can imagine it being the exact same thing. Being a songwriter, you know, just having that initial spark to set whatever off, you know.

Emily Scott Robinson 49:26

Yeah, I think it's like, it's the kind of thing where, like, you have to come at it a little bit sideways. Um, and I think I don't know if you've ever done this, but like, sometimes if you're looking at like, if you want to see a star and the night sky, if you're staring straight at it, you can't it kind of like disappears, or it's like hard to see clearly if you're staring straight at it, but if you look a little to the left or right or a little to the side, you can see it better. And and I sort of Think of songs that way is that it's hard sometimes to look at them head on and say, I'm gonna conquer you and get you down on paper. And it's more like, I sort of, it's almost like a wild animal, I can't look, I can't look at straight in the eye, I need to, like, approach it from. And I mean, songs do feel like, like, they have their own lives and kind of their own ideas in general, writing ideas feel like they have their own sort of energetic sold to them in a way, their own kind of life and their own sort of purpose. And I, I think it helps me a little bit to think of them that way. Because then I'm not sort of necessarily putting all this pressure on myself to generate, and to birth something, it's more like, Oh, look, this song idea exists. Um, let me sort of let it you know, let me sort of like, hone it and see if I can see what what it might want to say, you know, maybe I can kind of sculpt this out of the raw elements that are coming to me, you know. And I think that that, that works a little bit better for me thinking about it that way, because I mean, ultimately, we're not none of us are writing anything new. We're writing it in new ways. We're telling our stories often. But like, you know, love, grief, the human experience, you know, satire? None, there's like, there's nothing new under the sun, where we're writing all of these things that have already been written in different ways. And so in some ways, I do think we're sort of sculptors of that which exists in our natural world already. And we're like, observers, in a way.

Thomas Mooney 52:00

Yeah, I absolutely. I think like, in a lot of ways you can, you can boil it down to like, the Shakespearean aspect of comedies and tragedies, tragedies, right of what something is, I think, like, I can't remember exactly what he said, there's a podcast I did with radney, Foster. And he, he says, he was absolutely brilliant the entire time. But he had said about how like, there's only like, four or five different songs. And maybe it was two, and it was, I can't remember what it was. I know, like, two of them were, like, love songs, like about love in general. Like just, you either love something right? Or like you're falling out of love with somebody or something, or whatever that case is. And then like, spiritual songs about like, finding God or like needing God or like, I think that is what he had said. something to that effect. Maybe there was something else I don't I can't remember. But yeah, I do think like there is this. No one is telling you a story that is is completely new. It's about how you tell the story. There's that aspect of like, that's what makes a songwriter a songwriter is the storytelling part of you being able to put your, your impression on it, you know, I just think that's what, what I guess what makes, I guess, like the analogy one of my buddies always talks about is like, how, you know, the, the guy working in the coal mine has all these stories, but he's not able to, like, he just can't like pick up the guitar and tell you these stories in song form. So it takes like somebody else to hear those stories, and then be able to put them into a way that you go, Oh, my God, you know, like, what? That is amazing. You know what I mean? That aspect? There's something about about that, you know what I mean?

Emily Scott Robinson 54:07

Yeah, there's something really powerful about it. And I think, you know, we've always had this, this role in society of the, of the artist, the storyteller, the you know, the person who the troubadour like the person who tells our stories back to us, the person who witnesses what's happening and I see it as it as a role of great privilege for me, and I feel like I have a responsibility with it actually. And I was listening to one of the things that's been getting me through the quarantine with like, lots of joy is that I really love the writer Cheryl straight she's, she's sort of this like, I self proclaimed for me, like teacher for me. And I love Her writing. And I also just love the way she exists in the world. She started this podcast called sugar calling. She used to she used to do advice column. But now she's sort of doing the reverse. And under quarantine, she is calling these, these writers, and all of them are over the age of 60. So she's calling these older writers and she's asking them about what they're doing and how they're handling this experience, and asking them to share their wisdom. And she had, the very first one is with George Saunders. And it's wonderful. It just makes you feel, if you're a writer or creative, you know, I really recommend you listen to it. But he's, he's telling the story of a Russian poet, who was waiting in line to see her husband in prison during the like, Russian Civil War, or the Russian Revolution. And this woman is a poet and an another woman turns to her and and says, poet, can you write this? Can you write this? And she says, yes. And it's like everyone is collectively recognizing that what they're in is an absolute. They're in this like, pivotal moment in history, where many people's rights are in stories are being erased. And they need somebody to witness it, and they need somebody to put that down. And I, I think that that's our job. I think it's our job. And I i understand if people don't feel creative during quarantine, I am not the person to tell you what you should do with your time in quarantine. But I've been finding that when I read the accounts of other writers who lived through World War Two who lived through tremendous traumas. I'm inspired by them. And I'm inspired by I love Eudora Welty, and she's an incredible Southern writer who I think was kind of underrated compared to Faulkner. But I've been reading her biography slowly over the past year or two. I have it on my bedside table. But she's, you know, all the men that she loved and was close to in her life, went off to Europe and fought during World War Two. And she had months at a time where she did not know what was happening to them, whether they were alive or dead. And she was just back at home. And she and her mom were were, like making things that they could for the troops, sewing things, making socks, I

Unknown Speaker 57:36

don't know,

Emily Scott Robinson 57:37

and volunteering at the Red Cross. And then she was just doing everything she could end writing. And she was writing through that time. And in her letter, she expressed desperation and she expresses her fear and her anxiety. And yet she's also just trying to plug along and do her work. And I was like, Oh my God, if Eudora Welty could write through World War Two I can write through you know, I can do this this is this is my job I feel called to write about this I feel called to do this you know?

Thomas Mooney 58:12

Yeah, there is something about the I there was a lot of people who were kind of talking about oh, well, at least good art will happen. Post Donald Trump being elected and I thought that was like a you know, like, Oh, come on guys. Really, this is probably not the time to say that but there is something to you know, like the the the culture The the what's written out of tragedy is always it captures the the human emotion so much better than when we're quote unquote happy with everything. You know, we like even like the like the southern writers have always just been really great at capturing how bad we feel about our

Emily Scott Robinson 59:11

our dark and sordid history

Thomas Mooney 59:15

I guess like the two people I've been kind of turned on lately have been Larry Brown and Tim O'Brien and they are like Southern writers who I guess like come out of the Vietnam era kind of way and they just capture the the raw emotions of of of the human element the human condition and like the what I I feel like more than anything else, like the best kind of riders, pull the the conflicting emotions of of a timeout, you know, the, the, how you can feel guilty for, for your own actions, even though they may be justifiable in some ways.

Emily Scott Robinson 1:00:03

Yeah. I think I think the songs that have been the hardest to write for me, but also the most powerful, where I sort of understood the threat of truth that needed to be told, all of those contain conflicting emotions they contain, like, sometimes things just happen to us in our human experience that we just, they're not fair. And we just have to learn to live with them. And we have to learn to carry them. However we can. And, you know, traumatic things, terrible things. And I think that just sharing the truth of that the truth of the fact that our world is often a very scary, and just difficult place to live in that being a human is that being a human and experiencing the entire human experience is something that like, is maybe like, feels to many of us often, like a raw deal that we didn't realize we were signing up for when we were born. But it was like, what, really, this is part of it. This is part of it. This isn't fair, I don't want this, you know. And so yeah, I think those songs written out of, I think there also probably be a lot of really crappy songs during the Trump era, and really crappy songs are written during the quarantine, because a lot of times like crappy songs just help us process our own crap. That's okay. I'm like laughing because I, I've been writing a song a week, and you know, I'm just coming. The longer that I write songs, the less I actually feel I know about songwriting, I feel as if the deeper I go, the more I feel like a beginner, which is actually like, a really beautiful place to be in, because it's kind of scary to have to live up to the idea that you that you're an expert at anything. So I think the more I explore the world of creation, and songwriting, the more I feel like kind of a newborn in it. And, and that's kind of this nice feeling, I feel like I let go of my expectations about output. The other day, I was meditating. And I was like, I got this message in my heart that said, like, you just need to trust your output. Like, if you write 20 songs during quarantine, and one of them is good, just trust that, like, the rest of them. They were just, they needed to come to, but they may not be worth

making it an on an album, and that's okay.

That's totally okay. Because I think in some ways, I need to have this healthy boundary between, I need to protect my creative space where I don't put the pressure of selling records and being a fully produced song on to every fledgling song that wants to be born. Because if I said to a newborn song idea, okay, so one day, I want to play you at the rhyme and and you're going to be my new single, and you're going to sell this many copies and maybe this much money. Well, that's not that's not a weight that that baby song can bear yet, you know, it's like, and then, you know, and then it just kind of runs away scared, and I never ended up finishing it, and oh, my God, that's happened to him so many by saw. So it's like, kind of having a healthy boundary between, like, the business side and the creative side.

Thomas Mooney 1:03:46

Yeah, the, you know, like, it's the, it's the whole, I guess, the old saying of about how, like, the more you know, the less you are, like, the more you learn, the more you realize, like the less you know, kind of thing, just because you there's just no way to know everything right? And yeah, another thing though, is that the whole, you know, you talking about how songs not every song is gonna get made into on the record kind of thing. And one of my buddies the other day had said, you know, like, they they can't all be, you know, paunchy, Pancho and lefty, they can't all be, you know, they all can't, like, just rip your heart out, you know? Can't do like it. I guess you can but it's, you know, it's, uh, you don't have to do that.

Emily Scott Robinson 1:04:38

Yeah, I like, for me, when I put this song on my new record the Python. It's like, right in the middle of the record. And, you know, my husband, you know, generally gives me what I would consider like I don't take feedback songwriting feedback from many people and I don't invite it. For many people, I just really take it from people I trust in my husband who's not a songwriter is often my best measure of like, whether a song makes sense to a standard audience member, you know. And so, and whether my story is clear, and whether it has emotional strength, and so when I finally play a song for him, so I value his feedback. And he was like, Yeah, I like the pie song. It's pretty good. You know, I don't know why you play it every night. I mean, it's a good song, it's fine. But it's not like, you know, the dress, or it's not like overalls. It's not like your bigger songs. And he said, I know, that's why I have to play it. It's my little song. It's like a little phone. It just goes right in the middle. And it's about baking pine broken heart, and it's pretty country and, and it it serves exactly the purpose it needs to fill, which is it's not this epic song about love or death, or, you know, the human experience. It's just this like, little vignette of life. And it's exactly it's right size, and it's exactly in the right place. And I think some of my songs, you know, they take up more space, they're a little bit bigger than some of my other songs. And that's okay. That's correct. That's right.

Thomas Mooney 1:06:23

You know, right. Yeah, there is an aspect of having, especially like, on a record, or in a show having a, in a way, like a palate cleanser, like a like, we have to break the, the I don't want to say mood, but like you have to like kind of like okay, like that was a very serious moment. Let's break these serious moments up into pieces where Oh, my god, yes.

Emily Scott Robinson 1:06:54

Yes, yes. Yeah.

Obviously room to breathe.

Thomas Mooney 1:06:56

Yeah, well, it's that and then it's also the sometimes, like, you can, I think like attention spans are obviously like, shorter than like we ever realize. And, you know, you don't want to just hit them all with these heavy hitter moments. And I guess, like, maybe, where they all run into the same thing. You know what I mean?

Emily Scott Robinson 1:07:25

Oh, yeah. Um, I. So this is something that I care so much about in my live show. Now, on my Instagram show, I tend to kind of take requests, as people asked for them, you know, but when I'm crafting a setlist, and I'm, I'm somebody who has always been, like very much a people person. And I can sort of sense how people are feeling. I'm really sensitive to the way in which others are feeling. And I think that's what made me that's one thing that makes me good performer, because I pay really close attention to the audience's experience. Because this is a this is an act of service, really, and this show, yeah, I'm the one on stage. But it's not about me, it's about the audience's experience. And so I pay so much attention to crafting a setlist and crafting moments of laughter and moments of release, and breathing. And I tell funny stories, sometimes in between sad songs. And I just make sure that I'm not hitting them too hard. Because my songs are pretty, a lot of my songs are really potent, and really powerful, and bring up a lot of tears, and they're intense. And I don't avoid those things. But I do make sure like, I don't play my song about sexual assault and my song about domestic violence. In the same show. I usually just pick one. Because Good god. I don't want to like flay people open and leave them bleeding on the floor. And so I just really, I paid so much attention to that in the live show. And when I've written a setlist, but I sense that it's, it's become too heavy in the room. I will go Oh, okay, you know what I'm gonna throw on this one. Now, this lighter song. So we have some room to breathe, because I just sense that it's just too heavy. And I may have thought back in the greenroom, like, Oh, I should play these two songs back to back. And then I'm on stage and I can feel it. It's not right. And so I'll switch it up a little bit. Um, I think, you know, sometimes I see performers, and they maybe have been performing for many, many years, and they're burned out. And they're doing this for reasons that are different than my reasons for performing live. But I will often see performers, not often actually, once in a while, I'll watch a show where I feel like the performers being very selfish, and they're kind of up there, just like going through their motions and they're just kind of thinking about themselves and they're not thinking about the audience. And for me audience engagement and sensitivity to an audience's experiences is my priority. When I play live show,

Thomas Mooney 1:10:21

yeah. There's, there's moments that you have to kind of like break that tension. You know, have a have a room and, and make it you like, like you said, you don't want you want them to also walk away like we didn't know that they had had fun too at the same time. These moments are can be incredibly, you know, I can say this episode is sponsored by wickers musky smoked jalapeno jelly. It's owned and operated by my buddy West Booker, who makes the jelly in small batches for the best quality and freshness. He smokes the peppers for mesquite, and uses pure cane sugar to make the jelly. What you get is this great blend of smoky sweet and spicy. It's addictively savory. For those uninitiated, wickers is a great addition to any chef's kitchen. Part of what makes wicker so great is just how versatile It really is. For starters, it makes a great meat glaze, throw it on a batch of hot wings, use it on some pork ribs, some pork chops, really whatever you can think of it on biscuits, cornbread, bagels or toast, throw it on a ham or turkey sandwich. Another super simple but effective way is to get some cream cheese, throw some workers on top and then grab your favorite cracker. wickers is currently stocked at a handful of places in Lubbock and on the South Plains, as well as some Fort Worth and DFW locations. But the easiest way to get your hands on a jar is to head over to wickers t x.com. That's w i c k. e r s. t x.com. Also have link into the show notes for good measure. They currently come in two varieties original and now hot. If you need just a little bit more kicking your butt. You can order anything from one jar to a case a 12. whatever fits your needs. Again, that's wickers tx.com. Okay, back to the show. I guess like that just really jumped out in your songwriting, that I felt was like these songs just really live or feel really lived in, they feel like there's the, like, they, you know, that you took a whole lot of time that these weren't just, you know, five minute writes are not even necessarily that but like or anything like that. But if they feel like they've been around in your head or like, on on the paper for a while, and that you've been working, doing that, you know what I mean? They feel just very lived in. Hmm,

Emily Scott Robinson 1:13:03

thank you. I appreciate that. And they really, they really are I wrote them all myself. I didn't have any co writers on this album. And so yeah, and they came from several years worth of writing.

Um,

yeah, they really are. They're very loved and they're fully embodied. And yeah, thank you. I appreciate that.

Thomas Mooney 1:13:31

Yeah, I just, I don't know, like the like the, for example, like just even, like westward, westward bound, like, from that top of, you can just feel the you going westward, and it feels like you, it wasn't like you were sitting somewhere else and going, how does one go westward? And start, you know, map or something? Yeah. Right. It's like, these are signs on the on the, you've seen out the window, and like, you've been in these places, you know what I mean? Like, that's what they feel like, specifically, where was like, Where were you kind of driving from?

Emily Scott Robinson 1:14:08

Yeah, I mean, so that song is like one of my favorite songs to perform. It was just like, it's probably honestly my favorite song on the album. And when I wrote it, I was sitting in Telluride, Colorado, and that's where I used to live. And we've been going back here every summer ever since. That's where my husband and I met and got married. But um, so I was really just thinking about that fresh feeling of traveling less and just the energy that that holds has always helped for me because I've, I've moved out west in my life, three different times, from back east, in North Carolina, to Colorado or to the west, and kind of through my 20s and so it's just It was like it held this kind of fresh energy and this freshness of a new start. And, and then I like writing the lyrics was pretty easy, ultimately, because I have done all those things I that feeling of like letting go of the weight of your past and just leaving it behind. I sold everything and I packed up my car and I just went and driving through. I mean, God so I took snippets of those lyrics from different points from different journeys of mine like they're not all one trip that I made but the the West Texas the second verse about stopping for breakfast. It was it was funny because my dad, my dad was helping them move out to Colorado the second time that I moved out there. And I he was helping me with the drive and we stayed in Amarillo for New Year's Eve. So funny, we ate at a Texas Roadhouse for it was an amazing, like, just moment in time where I was like, I'm always gonna remember that weird Year's Eve that we had. But then the next day we we It was a Sunday and we got up to finish the drive. And we were looking for a place to have breakfast and my dad is always somebody who has kind of a skewed skewed I think that's how you say it are issued a skewed GPS, he hates GPS. So we just use we use roadmaps and his whole thing is he loves to get on the, on the old us highways, the old route outwest. And so we tried to do like a bit of that. And we're looking for a place to have breakfast and he goes, Okay, well, let's just get off on on the US Highway and get off by 40 and start driving. And it's a Sunday morning. So let's just go wherever all the cars are. And I was like, oh, and he goes, Yeah, Sunday morning crowd like, that's where we want to eat. We were somewhere. I'm not even sure where we were, we were somewhere in the panhandle and stopped for breakfast at this little diner. And we opened the door and heads turned it was like a record scratch. People were like, Who are these people? How did they get here? It was great. It was such a wonderful moment. And I thought about, um, you know, I think I finished Okay, let me think. I think I finished that song around the same time that my husband and I spent some time in New Mexico in our RV. And I'd seen we'd been in a little market because this town fort some Fort sumners New Mexico doesn't really have an actual big grocery store. It just has a little market. And I saw this old man come in, in his car hurts. And he's got like, he's clearly been like a farmer or rancher for 50 years. And I thought about how car herds are so cool now. And, and I looked at his cards, and I was like, This is like the last man who's wearing car hearts, this generation of men who's wearing cards, because they're good working clothes, you

know. Now granted, I

know, there's still people who wear cards all the time for good working clothes, but I just, you know, he's not wearing them for style or fashion. And I just I looked at him and his big coke bottle glasses. And I try not to stare but I just loved him so much. I love that man so much. And I was thinking about the life that he had lived. I mean, strated straight up came in dusty like to this market. And, and that's really like who I was putting down at that at the diner, you know, the old men who are getting together still every morning and having their coffee. You know, maybe they're retired. And that's like, that's their, that's their group. And the waitress knows them all.

So I just,

I just feel so much fondness in love for these pieces that have been forgotten or left behind. they've not been forgotten or left behind by everybody. But by sort of the mainstream. The fast pace of our more modern world like these places that the interstate is left behind like, I just I think there's so much there. Yeah, there's so much there.

Thomas Mooney 1:19:35

Yeah, the, the Carhart, like I still have jackets from high school that are like in perfect condition. Yeah, you know what I mean? Like, yeah, there's something I always remember. Like my parents buying me stuff and just being kind of like, Oh, this isn't cool at all, you know? And then yeah, like 15 years later. You know you looking on Twitter and Instagram and whatnot and you're like I had that like, but for like practical reasons.

Unknown Speaker 1:20:10

Yes, exactly.

Emily Scott Robinson 1:20:12

Well, it's just it just kills me when I see these like la cowboys. I just hate them so much, Thomas, I have so much judgment in my heart. And I hate them so much when I see these like, I think I too had like, just gotten back from Americana fest which I love in Nashville, which is wonderful. I have lots of friends in Nashville and Americana is great. But there's always this like, freaking contingent of like la cowboys. And I watched somebody get up on stage and, and I heard them they talked to me at the merge table, because they were like going on after me. And I heard this performer get up on stage and put on this accident that they did not have when they talked to me and I was like, go back to where you came from LA cowboy like get out of here like with your freaking Levi's and your super expensive embroidered jacket, your hat that you paid $500 for like this appropriation of cowboy culture. I know. I don't have to preach to you about this because you live in Lubbock, but it's just it's so it's so I just hate it so much. I just hate it so much.

Thomas Mooney 1:21:22

I so like I'm originally from Fort Stockton. That's further.

Emily Scott Robinson 1:21:27

Yeah, you're from Georgia. Dude, I have spent so many nights in the RV in Fort Stockton that's like one of our stopover places.

I am not kidding.

Thomas Mooney 1:21:34

It is a very what makes fort Stockton such a place that like literally everyone knows is that a it's on the interstate. And it's like, halfway between El Paso and San Antonio. You know, so like, a lot of people have been there. But you know, obviously growing up there, and I'm sure like every I talk about it all the damn time. And I feel like I'm like, why am I getting back on this soapbox? But obviously, that's very close to Marfa. And the, the people who live in Marfa, are like from there are just so drastically different than the people who go and take photos in front of the product. Yeah, I've always had a problem to where that's technically not even Marfa. It's closer to Valentine. But that's something where the funniest part about the whole Marfa thing is the people who, like live in Marfa, like, quote unquote, live in Marfa. But they split their time between Marfa and LA or like Marfa and New York.

Emily Scott Robinson 1:22:41

Yeah,

Thomas Mooney 1:22:41

you're not what are you know, that's the

Emily Scott Robinson 1:22:45

no rule at all. Let me tell you, I hate it so much. Um, I have I have a dear friend who lives out in Alpine who's from Texas, and it's a beautiful, beautiful country. And she complains about it all the time. But when we were driving once to visit her, we were like crossing through Texas. And I was like, Listen, we got some time I said to my husband like, let's, let's go drive the RV and go stay with our friend and Alpine. So we drove through Marfa. Now my husband is Bulgarian. I'm born and raised in Bulgaria. And he there's sometimes like cultural things in united states that he doesn't get right off the bat. They don't make a ton of sense to him. And so I was like, oh, we're about to drive through Marfa. Like,

oh my God, let

me tell you about Marfa. It's just like super hip place where like, all these people come and it's really hipster and we drive through it. And he just looks at me deadpan and goes, this is it. Yeah, this place is cool. And I was like, Well, yeah, I mean, like Beyonce posted this picture of Instagram of this product. And he goes, wait, no, this can't be it. This can't be it right? And I was like, No, this is it and he goes no, he just like did not did not believe me. So um, so um, so anyways, um, it was just such an interesting thing but yeah, Marfa to LA

Thomas Mooney 1:24:20

I always just love the you know, I can clear my head when I'm out here kind of thing. And likely, I come out here to decompress. And there is something to that there is like going to Big Bend and going out and like getting away like the kind of like we were talking about earlier. Like just taking a weekend for yourself or whatever, you know, there is and I don't want to like I guess, you know, put down people who go out tomorrow and do that kind of thing or like just get out wherever or people who go and visit the Big Bend area. But also like, it is the the part of the culture. I guess what I'm saying is like all of this has been amplified by the Instagram post. like Snapchat, you know what I mean? The, the the photo of it to not post the photo of of, I want a photo of that, but the Hey guys, look what I'm doing.

Emily Scott Robinson 1:25:13

Right? Yeah, doing it all for the Insta. It's it's a real thing. It's Yeah.

Yeah,

Thomas Mooney 1:25:26

it's craziness. It's so weird though cuz it's like I don't know. Like there is a I'm trying to think of like how my buddy put it one time. He was talking about how I guess like the high the highbrow culture of Marfa, right. Like the, these people coming in and like, thinking they're doing like, really great service for trying to teach like the, I don't know, it's like this weird aspect of like, these people coming in to try and teach highbrow culture to for lack of a better term, like people who just don't give a shit because like they're living poor. You know what I mean? Like,

Emily Scott Robinson 1:26:07

right,

Thomas Mooney 1:26:07

what you're showing me here, it has nothing like, Yeah. Like this. This jazz album is not really helping me. Working on this ranch, like, I don't care. Yeah, to me. Like, there is something about like, I guess like people. It makes you feel better. Trying to show them then like what they're feeling better. You know what I mean? I don't know how it's like, it's just this weird thing. I don't know.

Emily Scott Robinson 1:26:34

It is. It's a super weird. Yeah, it's super weird. And also like the way Yeah, we could talk about them for forever.

Unknown Speaker 1:26:46

leave it at that. Yeah.

Thomas Mooney 1:26:48

I want to go back to like you talking about the old man, though. Likely, like those old men who go to coffee shops and they get there. You know, four or five o'clock in the morning. I've seen like that kind of like old guy who gets there like so damn early.

Unknown Speaker 1:27:03

Yeah,

Thomas Mooney 1:27:04

I always love the like the place in Fort Stockton was at this truck stop called the Comanche springs truck stop and like, it got balls bulldoze down a couple years back, but like the, the tile on the ceiling had, like, it felt like they had never been changed. And like the cigarette smoke was there from like 1970 years, you know, 60 or whatever year and how he's like, what I loved about that place was these old men who, you know, they're getting out and they're gonna talk business, but tell stories about stuff and complain about, you know, small town politics. My favorite part of that is like, how, obviously, we romanticize that but also at the same time, it's like, man, the gossip of those circles.

Emily Scott Robinson 1:28:01

Yeah, like nobler than we are. But yeah.

Thomas Mooney 1:28:08

That's that's exactly the whole thing is like, they're they probably, you know, complaining about their wives go into the beauty parlor. And yeah, but like, it's like, No, you guys are doing the exact same gossip. Like,

Emily Scott Robinson 1:28:21

Yes, exactly.

Oh, yeah, completely. Um, yeah, it just, it's, yeah, we can't, we cannot romant we can't romanticize that, you know, they're just as petty everyone's as petty and as human as, as our own as our own experience. Um, yeah, I am. I just, it's traveling so much. I've had the chance to see like, yes, on my Instagram, do I post beautiful pictures of the Rocky Mountains? Yeah, for the most part, I do. But I've spent lots of time in places that are forgotten by the mainstream and really small towns around America. And my, my husband and I, when we've been on these kind of longer drives, like oh, Eastern Washington or through Idaho or through like, Central Oregon, or, you know, coming down through like, the interior of California. It's will sometimes stop over for a night and literally like, we will spend the night in a gas station parking lot or grocery store parking lot. Because those are the places were least likely to get kicked out of. And, and when we're looking for something to do, we'll just drive over it's if the Friday night, we'll just drive over to the high school and go walk around because that's where everybody is, is that the football game? And it's the same everywhere in America. It's like, so you know, and we'll just wait walk around and get some PVR from the gas station hang out. And it's so I've spent a lot of time in places like that, you know, and there's just as much life going on there. And there's just as much. There's so many stories. And I mean, I was a history major in college. So I would say I'm partial to, to stories and to history into the past. And you can really see the ways in which time is Mark markets passing in small towns around America that are not beautiful places where people from LA would never go, or never stop. And I think those are the places with the most interesting stories. Now, I I've never been a city girl are really attracted to cities, and there are just as many stories there, of course, but for me, it's like finding the story is kind of out in the wild and, and seeing these places that have been forgotten or overlooked in many ways by the rest of the world.

Thomas Mooney 1:31:04

Right. like one of those one of the things about that, is that Yeah, population, small town population, you know, 3000 football game going on? That is the most important thing happening in that little universe. Yeah, you know, there's something really incredibly beautiful about that about the, the, I don't want to I don't know, like the bubble aspect of that, you know, like the, that that's the important parts of those people's lives. And, you know, they're by proxy in a way important to you, you know, yeah,

Emily Scott Robinson 1:31:41

yeah, exactly. Yeah, it's, it's so it's so interesting. And I tend to watch, because I'm a woman, I tend to, I tend to pay more attention to girls and women in settings like that, where I'm people watching. And I'm sitting there watching the cheerleaders and thinking back to high school, and I'm sort of imagining in my mind, and in some ways, these are just like, this is just me projecting, but I'm like, Okay, what percentage of these girls are going to be moms in five years? What percentage of these girls because I know there's a girl in here, who is all her life wanted something bigger and wanted to get out who's getting away? And who's going to and so I'm like, looking at these girls trying to figure out, you know, like, okay, like, what are your futures gonna look like? Like, which one of you is going to get out which one of you is like, you know, which one of us is going to stay here and be incredibly happy? Because that is just as valid as the story of Keating out. And I just, yeah, I just kind of sit there and let my mind wash. That's really like the honestly, that's kind of where I get a lot of my characters or my, or my stories is just going through places and imagining the stories that are there. And yeah,

Thomas Mooney 1:33:03

yeah, that's, uh, that's why like, it's really never brought up as far as like, one of the the all time classic TV shows, but that's why I love Friday Night Lights so much. Yeah, I don't know if you if you

Emily Scott Robinson 1:33:17

Yeah, I have not watched the whole thing. But I did watch the first season.

Thomas Mooney 1:33:23

Yeah, Southern just very familiar about all of that, you know?

Emily Scott Robinson 1:33:29

Yeah. Yeah.

Thomas Mooney 1:33:31

Somebody wanted to get out the being comfortable. The all the the quote unquote, rolls that these people play?

Emily Scott Robinson 1:33:39

Yeah, yeah. Um, and, yeah, I think like, that show, one of the reasons that shows so powerful is because it is telling these stories back to us. And there's so much truth in in many of those stories, and, and why it's powerful. And as like, as much as you know, creators in Hollywood are trying to write innovative stories and as important as I think those are, it's also, I think, just as important to tell the stories of, of people that are not as cool, necessarily glamorous.

And that are

this sort of common rural American experience.

Thomas Mooney 1:34:29

Yeah. Yeah, I agree. Yeah, the one other thing I wanted to bring up with with traveling mercies is how much has been I guess, informed by your traveling right. Like there's a lot of songs that have the it all relates to what we've been talking about, but like the the the unglamorous aspects of, of being a touring musician, you do talk about the about the Kinda like living in other people's homes for like, these little brief moments or like, being in the green room where the, the, the, whatever venue it is, and just kind of feeling that, obviously, like just even pulling it from the song like those borrowed rooms? Well, I guess like, what, where did you first I guess, start wanting to shape that part of not just this record and the songs but like wanting to tell those kind of moments.

Emily Scott Robinson 1:35:33

You know, it's funny, the songs really each came to me in their own way, and not presenting to me collectively as like a record. And so as I kept gathering the songs that I was writing, eventually, at some point I wrote, well, in 2017, I finished the song traveling mercies. Um, and then over the course, the next year, I thought, Oh, this could be a great title track for the album, because I've been traveling, and because all these songs were written while I was on the road, and, and that all sort of that sort of made sense to me, once I saw the overarching theme of what I was writing, it was sort of like, I was looking at the puzzle pieces, and I didn't see the big picture until I was almost done. And then I was like, Oh, my God, oh, this is great. Like, this all kind of ties in and traveling mercies can be the last song in the record. And I think the main, you know, I really was just writing the songs organically, as they were coming to me, without thinking about them in terms of a larger project. And God, I hope I can do the same thing. My next record, because writing with a sense of consciousness towards like, will this make it? Or will this not is, um, I think, maybe not very good for me. But so, but, you know, once I realized like, that traveling mercies would be the last song, you know, it'd be sort of like the closing hymn because it was like, it is sort of like a hymn in a way. Like, I grew up going to church, I'm not a Christian anymore. But I was growing up. And we always saying, you know, we always saying, at the very end, right, before we left, and a lot of times, I feel like I'm, I'm going to church, or we're going to church, in a way when I'm performing. And so, not a lot of times, I very much feel that way. And if if your listeners have had a bad experience with church or been burned by church, I totally get that. But um, I just in terms of the fact that every time I perform, for the most part, I feel like it's this special, unique and sacred experience, where there's something bigger going on than what I am doing, you know, I feel I feel spirit and I feel connected to, to this spirit that we all share as humans and so anyways, traveling mercies as soon as I knew it could be like the last song in the record, I started thinking about the fact that like, we've received so much grace and mercy on the road, like people have shown us nothing but kindness as we've traveled around the country. And so I feel like, you know, when you when you wish, somebody traveling mercies on your way, you hope that the people that they meet on the road will meet them with kindness and with generosity. And I wanted to sort of wrap the record up in that bow of like, yes, this is what has happened to us, like, kindness is alive and well, in the world, kindness and mercy are. And in these times, like living in these times. These are really super, super divided super contentious political times, which, as a history, as somebody who studied history, I'm not convinced it's never not been this way. Because in general, like people always feel like they're living in Super contentious, super dangerous divided times. But I think it's our job to find the kindness in the world and the practice the kindness and the mercy that we would hope that we will meet and that our loved ones with me when we send them out in the world. And so it's sort of this call to action, like, let us be the people that we, you know, if we send our kid out into the world on a journey, let's be the person that we hope they would meet on the way, you know. And so, but it didn't, yeah, the record didn't present itself to me as a traveling record at all until I saw If zoomed out and looked at all the songs and go, Oh, this is a traveling record.

Thomas Mooney 1:40:07

Yeah, the because I guess like one of those things about most of the time when when somebody thinks of a of the, I guess, like traveling or torian record, that kind of thing, it's, it's the, we'll just use the example of who you were going to be you were going to be opening for American aquarium, you know, they've made really great. Like that touring, that, like the, the grungier side of like, playing dive bars, and like, all the, the, the drinking songs and the fun side of of that, you know, like, most people think of those kind of records as being a traveling record, you know,

Unknown Speaker 1:40:46

right, exactly.

Thomas Mooney 1:40:49

This has been like a, I guess, like the, I don't want to necessarily necessarily say like, flip of the coin, but just a different light of of what, what traveling can be, you know?

Emily Scott Robinson 1:41:00

Yeah. Yeah. Um, and I, I also like, like to speak to, you know, the transition that BJ and American crewmen have gone through of becoming sober. And, and still making music and just deeply profound and touching music. And playing in those are still, you know, and, and kind of turning that on its head. I do think it's been, it's cool to turn these things on their heads. Right. And that's, yeah, and that traditionally, the kind of the traveling song, or the traveling record is like,

is

often told from a male perspective and gundry music, right, yeah. And sort of the, I was like, telling my husband, the history, you know, of the height, the high women and the story. This, we were listening to the original highwayman song. And then we were listening to the new one, you know, by the high women. And he was so so pumped, I was too but it was cool to watch how excited he was to hear that song turned on its head, through the stories of women and how women were capturing their experiences of traveling for completely different, and let's just be real, slightly more noble. than in the new, right. I'm not to dismiss the older version, because it's, it's great for all of its own reasons, and it is what it is. But I think we're living in this like, amazing time where voices are becoming diversified, right. And so, BJ is a voice for sobriety in country music, and the high women are the voice of four different women coming through as songwriters. And there's a there is a diversification and a lot of energy and excitement around turning the old paradigms on their heads. And I think it's, it's fantastic. I think it's a great time to be a fan of country music.

Thomas Mooney 1:43:17

Absolutely. A couple of points on that. Yeah, with BJ, I think like what's so important about I guess, like, for me, personally, my connection with American aquarium has been, like, and I think this is important for people to do to have is the, for me, for them. They are a band that I have grown up with becoming like an adult, you know, the, because when I first came across them, you know, I'm 18 and I guess like, it's been nice that also all all too often, like you You end up leaving bands behind because they just, they're that's what they do. And it's been incredibly it's been just incredible to see them kind of, like grow with me, you know what I mean? Not that I necessarily. Like I obviously I'm not sober or anything like that, but like it, it's nice to have been able to see a transition into being for lack of a better term, just like more mature subject stuff, you know, I'm glad like there's bands like that, that we've been able to find. And the other thing was like My only problem with the high women is that I always call them the highway women and I can't so hard to like, go highly women, and then you're like, I don't mean that.

Well, am I

Emily Scott Robinson 1:44:49

so funny. It's so funny because I feel like they probably could have successfully gone either way like the high women or the high women. Like that would have worked to you know,

Thomas Mooney 1:44:59

the one thing I I would say though, is I've always wondered this on, you know, you mentioned the the original with the highway man that song. I do wonder, like, if when that was song was presented because obviously like the final verse has the drive a starship, you know, like the that. Was there like a guy over like who got that? Because like that's obviously like the clear like, even though it's ridiculously, like kind of like comical in a way. That is the coolest verse and like that's the coolest Yeah. Like I wonder if there was like a just like, a little bit of an argument on who got to be there? Yeah.

Emily Scott Robinson 1:45:43

I mean, I definitely would have wanted to take that.

Yeah, totally. And also, like, I'm also somebody who studied history, I keep saying this, but like, I think about this, it's really important not to look back at songs and analyze them within our current cultural context. You know, and so like, we can't be anachronistic when we look back at country music, you know, 30 years ago, and, and sort of analyze it within our current framework. That's not really valid or fair. So

yeah, times are different.

Thomas Mooney 1:46:32

Well, that is something that like, it's very well, I guess, like with social media, and maybe it's been like this forever, I don't know. But like, conversations have nuance, you know what I mean? And it's very, very, very hard to just have a binary culture. It that's, that comes with so many, it's very problematic, as well say, talking about the, I guess, like the the diversity of the, I guess, the the growing diversity in America and country. The one thing that like I, it's obviously a great thing, I think, like you're you're learning so many more stories, and so many more opinions on on, you know, what the human condition is, like, the, the one thing I will have to say, a guy wants to, like, make sure people understand is that like, because there is like with any kind of change, there's people who try and like hold on to whatever tradition it is, or they'll use tradition in, in in that way, they'll claim tradition is that like, just because someone else is like, has more popularity now has a voice or like an outlet? That doesn't necessarily mean your voice is, is being stopped out?

Emily Scott Robinson 1:47:54

Completely. It's like, I saw this, this meme A while ago that was like, and this could be applied, I think, to country music, but in this way, they were talking about human rights. And they're like, human rights are not a pie. Just because somebody gets more doesn't mean you get less.

Unknown Speaker 1:48:15

It's Yeah,

Emily Scott Robinson 1:48:16

exactly. I think that with the diversification of voices in country, and Americana, which is happening. And I think, if we zoom out, I would say it's happening relatively quickly, it's obviously not happening quickly enough for everybody. And I get that as a woman in music. And also I get how much privilege I have as a white country singer. There are so many people who don't even believe that like that, like, black people can sing the country or that people of color are a part of country music and a huge part of the history of country music. They simply don't even know that and they don't believe it when it's told to them. But oh my god, I just gave you a really long run on sentence and I can't remember how I started. Um, but yeah, I think we're just country music to me is about telling stories of the real human experience. And like, if I could give a definition for country music, that's what it would be for me. And so I think now we're telling more stories than we used to be telling. And so we're bringing in more listeners, and we're telling more, and a broader version of the human experience for more people who didn't used to be part of the circle. And so I think we're widening the circle. And there are definitely people who, again, think that it's a pie because other people get more, they get less, or they're fearful of that change, or they're resentful of it. And I just think they need to grow the fuck up.

Thomas Mooney 1:49:54

There is, I think what like what it's rooted in is the in anything, there's There's a, at least a little bit of fear that goes with any thing as far as wanting change, or not wanting change. But with country music, I guess I've always, when talking about this, I've kind of compared country and hip hop. And where they are so drastically different is that hip hop has always been so progressive and on the forefront of change. And like, you can see so much change happened within a year in hip hop.

Emily Scott Robinson 1:50:31

Yes,

Thomas Mooney 1:50:32

but with country, it's so rooted in, quote, unquote, tradition, traditional sounds, or traditional kind of storytelling, or whatever the case is. And, you know, you want to hold on so white knuckle to those principles, or whatever the case is, and, you know, I want country music to have some of those principles too, but like, it's okay to, if we're if we've allowed bro country, why can't we include others?

Emily Scott Robinson 1:51:06

Exactly.

Yeah, well, it's, it's interesting, because it's like, I think you're, I think you're spot on with that analysis. Right. And that is often why there's some fear, with like, change in new voices and country music.

But

then it's like, you and I both know that country music doesn't seem to be afraid of new white male voices, who are basically saying the same thing over and over again. And so like, you know, so and then it becomes a question of like, Okay, well, so what is our establishment comfortable with? And who are the gatekeepers? And what are they keeping in and out? And what are they funding? And which new artists are they giving support to compared to, to who they're not supporting and giving voices to? And so then, then I think, also, it's pretty easy to track it back to money, it's pretty easy to say like, in some regards that like, in a in a tradition that historically has been conservative in a lot of ways. It sort of makes sense that radio programmers would just want to throw in their lot with the stuff that has worked before. Oh, my God, I hear another song that sounds like a regurgitated version of like, Girl slide on over in my pickup truck in your short shorts. Like, it's ultimately it's like, oh, my God, Dear God, songs like songwriters, you have got to raise your standards. And not just songwriters. Because it's also like, there are people who are writing to get cuts. And there are things that are getting cut and things that aren't getting cut. And it's this whole system that I am not a part of at all. I can't really speak as an insider, but judging by what makes it on to country radio stations around the country, which I frequently tune into, and then have to like, tell my husband like, Oh, my God, I can't do this anymore. You need to change the station.

Thomas Mooney 1:53:20

Yeah. Okay. Yeah.

Unknown Speaker 1:53:22

No, no.

Thomas Mooney 1:53:24

Well, you know, the thing is, is I'm obviously I'm not like a national insider or anything, either, but like, the there is, I think the easiest thing to do is dismiss the people who are writing those songs as like untalented, because, like, there are things that they do that you're like, oh, that was kind of clever. That's good. But what it what it is, is, you're absolutely right, on the every song. Somehow. It's like the if they, if somebody had like, created an algorithm that like this needs to be in the song, this needs to be in the song, this needs to be in the song and that's going to make it a hit. And I don't know if you You said you listened to the one with Haley. I don't know if you're this far into it. But I mentioned how like, country music used to be songs that were like about adult situations. And now we're like, in this what, there's something really strange to me. about like, there's a place for the songs about like, being young and like, I guess, you know, trying to hit on a woman and all that kind of stuff. But it's also like, super strange. When it's like 40 year old dudes singing it about like, being 20. Dude,

Emily Scott Robinson 1:54:44

totally.

Oh my god. It's so crazy.

Unknown Speaker 1:54:50

Yeah,

Emily Scott Robinson 1:54:50

yeah, it is. And like, again, a lot of a lot of people writing songs are just trying to make a living. They're just trying to make Delivering. And when there's sort of handed down, like, directives, maybe like, whether it's whether it's sorry, whether they're actually told like, Okay, well, this is kind of what we're looking for, or whether they're just reading room and seeing what's getting cut. Like, I understand that many people are just trying to put their kids through college and pay a mortgage in Nashville, which is, you know, not an easy thing. So, um, it's a, it's this whole system, but I think the system it's, it's really interesting. I think we're watching it break down, I think we're watching listeners bleed out into Americana into, I think we're watching the gates be torn down and have been watching that for the past few decades in music with the fact that with the advent of the Internet, and the ability for us to connect directly to our fans, and to be able to crowdfund our own albums, to be able to release things independently, it's, and then there are also new gatekeepers up, you know, playlist, and editorial people at Spotify and Apple, Amazon and Pandora who are who are sort of new gatekeepers basically directing, you know, listeners towards musicians for a variety of reasons. And I would say that those, those gatekeepers seem to be a little bit more diverse and a little bit more interested in promoting diverse voices. But in some regards, it's a little bit of the same, and it's just been, you know, like when the Indigo playlist on Spotify was started. Okay, all right. All right. Like I was like, Yeah, like,

um,

I will say, I think it's really important to take a stand for diverse voices in country, rather than just us all running to Americana, right? Because we are, like, in some ways, standing up for the history of the undervalued voice and the history of the marginalized people in country music. And I think that's really important. Although sometimes many days, it feels like a loss clause. And I do feel like I belong a lot more kind of in Americana. But the crazy thing is that I know if I were to a play to completely country music audience, you know, people who only listen to mainstream country, that they would love my music that they would leave so excited about my music and so, um, yeah, like, it's just, it's interesting to see the sort of dynamics at play. Music.

Thomas Mooney 1:57:44

Yeah. When the, when the Indigo playlist started, you know, I mean, I poked a few jokes, cuz I mean, it's kind of funny.

Emily Scott Robinson 1:57:53

Yeah, where did they get the name? Indigo? That's

Thomas Mooney 1:57:54

what I was gonna about to ask you. And the only thing I can think of, do you have any idea of where

Emily Scott Robinson 1:58:00

no, I have no idea.

Thomas Mooney 1:58:02

The only thing I can think of, and you're either gonna like think this is clever. You're gonna absolutely hate it. Because I feel like this is maybe what it is. Like Indigo being like a wash of denim. So like, Oh my god, I

Emily Scott Robinson 1:58:19

didn't even think about that. Yeah.

Thomas Mooney 1:58:22

And of course, like the dark was dark Indigo is kind of like a year. I guess like the more in vogue have a denim right now. Like the darker the jackets, the darker pants. That's the one. That's the only thing.

Emily Scott Robinson 1:58:37

Oh my god, they didn't even think about that. I think that makes total sense. And I think it was cool. I really like that they started that I yeah, I think in general, it'll probably still only be listened to by Americana listeners. But I liked that. They were like, these are the songs that should be getting Country radio play and art. So we're gonna put them on this playlist. Yeah, I think that that was, you know, a good thing to recognize a step in that direction. But okay, that kind of makes sense. Gosh, and they didn't explain why they call the Indigo So yeah, that's what I'm just gonna have to get.

Thomas Mooney 1:59:22

That's the where I was just like, I don't know what where did they get this name from? And then I was just kind of thinking about it. I was like, What is it? What does it have to do with like denim jackets? Because like, you know, I'm talking about wearing denim jacket. I mean, I loved it. Oh, yeah.

Unknown Speaker 1:59:44

Oh, yeah.

Thomas Mooney 1:59:49

All these artists who draw on the denim jacket, part of the

Emily Scott Robinson 1:59:53

Oh my God, I feel like to be completely honest, Thomas. I feel like the least cool person when it comes to Good country music fashion like,

Unknown Speaker 2:00:01

um,

Emily Scott Robinson 2:00:02

I just have, like this pair of white boots that I wear with everything. And when you said like, indigo is the wash that's in style right now. I was like searching my brain. Like I was like, I definitely don't have

anything. And

I was like, I've always I've always kind of hated wearing jeans at General. And so I was like, Oh my god, I am so far behind in what is in style in terms of jeans.

Oh, my stuff is like kind of a light medium.

Thomas Mooney 2:00:34

It's not like I'm like studying what's in vogue or anything like that? No.

Emily Scott Robinson 2:00:40

The Jean jackets? I've seen

Thomas Mooney 2:00:43

a bunch of press release. Yeah. I don't know. It's not Yeah, I do. I am interested in fashion kind of stuff. But it's not necessarily the most fashionable either. I'm just like, Wrangler shirts and stuff like that. So it's not Yeah.

Emily Scott Robinson 2:01:06

Which is surprisingly, you know, in fashion. And and when I, not surprisingly, but I mean, like, when we're talking about this kind of return to the, like the cowboy Look, I've been one of my favorite things to do when we're in these random small towns around America is going thrift stores. Because like, I can never find anything cool in thrift stores in big cities, because it's all picked over or it's priced like so high. But I was in southern Arizona and globe, Arizona, and walked into this really cool little consignment store that that nobody has told them yet that like Western wear is back in style. And so they had all this really awesome vintage Western wear and embroidered shirts and like, Cool pants and outfits and, and like jackets and and it was all priced really reasonably and I was like, Oh

my god, I

cannot let any of the LA cowboys know about this place. Cuz they're gonna come by all of it.

So yeah,

Thomas Mooney 2:02:14

there's a lot of stuff that like I've seen where like, I wish my of all the I guess like the the garage sells that my mom would have throughout my entire life if there was some way to have kept all those clothes and then opened a shop and right now my dad was just so it was like, you know, just wring their pants Wrangler jeans, Wrangler shirt, boots. But you know, it's basically what he wore from like, like 1975 now, you know, but and then my mom there's a lot and there's a lot of a bike jackets that like, I don't know, if we, if I looked in their closets in the coat closet kind of thing. I'm sure I could pull some out and make a killing. But there's, there's some jackets around like, Oh my god, I always remember my parents wearing that jacket, you know what I mean? And that are just kind of in style again now and it's like,

Unknown Speaker 2:03:19

oh my god,

Unknown Speaker 2:03:20

well, maybe you're always jackets.

Emily Scott Robinson 2:03:23

Um, we, my husband. And I spent quite a bit of time in Wyoming the past two years in central Wyoming. And there's this really awesome little like, kind of thrift store downtown lander, Wyoming. And every time we walked in there, I mean, jackets are like $2 $5. And every time and that that is a ranching town, and all around there, and every time we go in there, we've gotten three Carhartt jackets, all for like five or $6 apiece. And every time we go in there, we find like a cooler, better one. And they're all they're all they're from like the 80s but they're in good shape and one in like, blue and looks really cool. And one is like a black denim wash. It's kind of faded, and they all have the best pockets. The pockets are like right up kind of close to your like stomach because they're like short jackets, and they're so awesome. And there's a there's so great to wear. So we have like three of these awesome old school car jackets like I yeah, and they're so cool. But yeah, they're only like five bucks apiece.

Thomas Mooney 2:04:37

Yeah, there was this, uh, this feed store that I kind of worked at during high school. And it was like right next to my dad as a trailer shopping for Stockton. And so I worked kind of both those places and they sold a whole lot of clothing and stuff like that. And there's like the this is probably like the most boring story but there is like The one the one jacket that got away, you know, there's this like one why it's not like it was not like duster length kind of style, but it was it was a little bit longer jacket and it was kind of like a cream color Wrangler I got a different jacket that was just way more practical. It was a darker brown. And of course, like I was going to be using it for like a work jacket. And so I didn't get the other one. And you know, like, I always look back and think like, What am my life been different? Had I had the other jacket? Yeah. Because it was just like, way cooler of a jacket. And I'm gonna find that jacket ever again. So

Emily Scott Robinson 2:05:50

somewhere somewhere out there somebody is living your life. Yeah, they're the way cooler version.

Thomas Mooney 2:06:02

Yeah, I didn't know when I graduated. made it big. But had they they would have had that jacket.

Emily Scott Robinson 2:06:11

Definitely. Definitely. It's for sure the one that got away.

Thomas Mooney 2:06:16

So, yeah, anyways, uh, I guess we, you know, we're going on two hours here. Sure. You have other you have another 2020 mile bike ride.

Emily Scott Robinson 2:06:29

I do

have my sourdough bread that's waiting to be made. So yeah, yeah, I've been really really enjoying baking sourdough bread. So yummy. I love bread. So

Unknown Speaker 2:06:45

Oh my God, this has been such a time.

Thomas Mooney 2:06:55

Thanks for listening new slang again. Be sure to check out traveling mercies by Emily Scott Robinson. Check out episode sponsors Smith iron and design and wickers jalapeno jelly. All right, I'll see you all next week.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai