099: Daniel Fluitt of Thrift Store Cowboys
On Episode 099, I'm joined by Lubbock singer-songwriter Daniel Fluitt. As lead vocalist of Thrift Store Cowboys, Fluitt and company played a vital role in shaping the way music from Lubbock and West Texas sounded and felt like. Here, Fluitt and I discuss that role in The New Lubbock Sound, meeting contemporaries like Rodney Parker, "lost" studio sessions with the Legendary Tommy Allsup, how recording in Tuscon, Arizona played a key role in finding their sound, playing three-hour gigs in Lubbock, and surprise Christmas shows with Jason Isbell.
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 0:01
everyone welcome back to New slang. I hope all of your weeks have started off right? I am music journalist Thomas Mooney and you're listening to Episode 99, where I'm joined by Daniel Fluitt, lead vocalist and de facto leader of one of the greatest bands that come out of Lubbock, Texas, the thrift store cowboys. If you've been following me or my writing for a while, you'll know how pivotal I believe three short cowboys are for the modern Lubbock sound, which I consider the new Lubbock sound era, if you will, as everything that's happened since 2000. I'd interviewed a handful of bands before but really Daniel winter short cowboys were that first quote unquote Lubbock band that I had ever really had any interaction with. There's always been this bit of mysticism to thrift store Cowboys, it was partly the traditional all country sound of that era. Think like whiskey town, old 97, sunbow. Wilco, that type of alt country, but there was always this other atmospheric post rock element that was happening, where it also felt like explosions in the sky, or this will destroy you. And they were never as heavy as those bands. But there was always an atmospheric edge two that was like a sepia tone desert theme that was felt just a little bit left to center for your traditional alt country, as if they were like an art rock band doing all country. Their albums also captured that dry desert air just a little bit more so than a lot of the other artists that have come out of Lubbock. Like I don't really think of the desert when I hear Joe elior A Waylon song. I just think of Lubbock. When I think of those guys, they're sort of though, they they just always felt a little bit more from the desert. And I'm only thinking about this now. But I think that that's probably because most of the bands aren't specifically from Lubbock itself. Like in Daniels case, he's from post Texas, which I know a lot of y'all are thinking, well, that's just the same thing as the South Plains. But in reality, that's where you drop off the cap rock a little bit more Canyon II out there. It's not just rolling plains. To get a great sense of that go and look up a photo from space of like the Yano S. tocado. I feel like that upbringing has to have played a major aspect into what this why this band sounds the way they do. I could definitely ramble on about thirst or cowboys and their music for forever, but we'll go on and keep it a little bit short. If you've never heard her store, I would encourage you to go and start with lay low while crawling or creeping that record just sounds like everything you'd ever want from a record about and for West Texas. Before we get started though, go ahead and hit that subscribe button wherever you may be listening Spotify, iTunes, Google podcast, Stitcher, radio etc and so on. Go follow me on Twitter and Instagram at underscore new slang. Go give new slang a like on Facebook as well. They're all great places to further the music conversation and keep up with what I have coming out both writing and podcast wise. All right here is Daniel fluid.
About
I guess I've been sorting all of these out with a little bit of the how you've handled the pandemic the quarantine and obviously with you. You're not only an artist, but you're you've been your throughout the years have been working with sugarlands distilling.
Unknown Speaker 3:21
Right have been
Thomas Mooney 3:23
like going to all these festivals and Avi riotous knocks out like basically all live music. What Have y'all. Yeah, have you handled this? What's the, I guess the game plan? What did you guys change to what have you been doing?
Daniel Fluitt 3:37
So for sugar lands, we are still employed? Thankfully, I guess but yeah, so everything that we've had that we had on the books for 2020, all the festivals and events have either been postponed to the fall, or have been anything that's coming up or you know, that has already happened or is coming up in like June or July, basically everything is getting canceled and the way the way it's looking, I don't see that they're gonna be able to have any kind of large gathering or festival or event or anything like that in 2020 period, so I, I would totally I think in probably by the, there's already been some festivals that have canceled like in the last like week or so, I think you're gonna start seeing a lot more and I think once we get into like July that's gonna be the telltale sign because then once you know basically once a Bonnaroo or Coachella, any of those, you know the big ones, Austin City Limits any of those cancel, then I'm pretty sure you're gonna see almost everything cancel after that. So for us, we've just been just kind of doing a lot of a lot of bullshit. You know, just kind of today we were building fat packs that we're sending out to, to our distributors in for Christmas. So they're like these candy cane backpacks. And they suck putting together. So it's basically like doing assembly line stuff. We've been doing a lot of lot of cleaning, organizing, doing some inventory on our stuff. But yeah, we're slowly running out of things to do for sure. So we're just kind of just kind of wait and see right now to you know, see what what what's going on, we have a, an event that we put on, called the roaming man elevated evening that we did last year, and we're still have it scheduled for October, but I have a it's still up in the air again, we're just kind of waiting to see what our, you know, what everybody else is doing. And also, you know, if we think it's going to be safe by then to put it on. So yeah, it's just kind of a lot of just work that I it's not really my job, but you know, they're paying me money. So I guess I better do something, right.
Thomas Mooney 6:10
Yeah, yeah, the all the stuff that you don't want to do is probably being done now. You know, like you said, counting inventory and stuff like that?
Daniel Fluitt 6:19
Oh, yeah, it's it, none of this stuff is is very fun at all, you know, it's like, it makes me miss working festivals and events. So bad, you know, it's just like, but I mean that, but that's like, every one of my friends and everything like that, because a lot of a lot of the folks that live in Knoxville, there's a pretty big contingent of people that, you know, that, you know, events and festivals directly impacts, you know, from crew members to tour managing to, you know, people that are actually, you know, putting on festivals and events. So, I mean, there's just a lot of people that, you know, just are trying to have to think outside the box at this point to, you know, try and get something done. So,
Thomas Mooney 7:04
yeah, like, we think about this all affects the artists. And of course, with when you do that you think of the front man or the front woman of all the right. Like, there's so much behind them that, that is affected too. It's, it's not just like the the lead singer, it's the band, it's the, the sound engineers, it's the all the, like, the thing that we had done Monday night lights, you know, it was about right, everyone else, you know, it's, there's just so many people that, that are affected by this, that you maybe didn't necessarily think of when when all these festivals and the shows and
Daniel Fluitt 7:45
exactly I mean, you know, in with with, like, you know, the musicians and stuff. The one good thing, you know, at least there's an outlet for some of that stuff. So, you know, you can still put out music you can still do like, you know, a live stream to try to get a little bit of money but, you know, for your folks that are behind the scenes, your crew folks your you know, your festival organizers, you know, your your sound guys, all that stuff, you know, there's just, they're just without a job right now, there's nothing they can really do. You know, other than just kind of sit and wait.
Thomas Mooney 8:20
This episode is sponsored by wickard mesquite 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 with 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, workers 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, thought on a batch of hot wings, use it on some pork ribs, some pork chops, really whatever you can think of it on biscuits, corn, bread, bagels or toast, throw it on the 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. Wiccans is currently stocked at a handful of places in Lubbock and on the South Plains, as well as in Fort Worth, and DFW locations. But the easiest way to get your hands on a jar is to head over to wickers tx.com. That's w i c k, e r s t x.com Auto 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 kick in your bite. You can order anything from one jar to a case of 12 whatever fits your needs. Again, that's workers tx.com. Okay, back to the show.
Unknown Speaker 9:56
The
Thomas Mooney 9:57
UBI obviously, you've had your ear to the ground on a lot of great music that has been coming out simply because you know, you've been working these festivals you obviously used to work at Rouse records here in Lubbock, right in a band, you've been all over the place. What I guess like what has been like the, the thing that like, you look back and you kind of go, Oh, I saw insert name here before they became, you know, rock star or you know, like, a household name. And the, I guess,
Daniel Fluitt 10:30
yeah, I mean, the one that just kind of jumped off, jumped in my brain, right, right now is just, like the time when, you know, Jason has boys to come through Lubbock and play the blue light, you know. I mean, that just isn't gonna happen anymore. You know. And there's lots of bands that I didn't, I didn't get to see but a lot of, you know, huge bands that have come through Knoxville that are. I mean, you know, Chris Stapleton played preservation pub, you know, like, the Avett Brothers played the pub. And it's just like, it's, it's weird to me to even think about having a band like that, you know, actually playing and such a small, you know, venue. But yeah, I mean, another one that I feel particularly proud about is when I basically I booked and it was the first show that ever actually booked in had to promote and it was when we brought the vodka to Jake's and, and we open forum. And it was kind of terrifying, because, you know, I have, I have to pay a certain amount to the band that's guaranteed anyways. And so just, you know, the week before just kind of like, sitting on pins and needles waiting, you know, hoping that people would, you know, come in and get tickets. And sure enough, like the day of the show, all these people from you know, people drove from Austin and Dallas to come and watch them show, watch that show and ended up selling out. So it actually worked out really well. But like, they're one of those bands too. You know, they, they don't they don't play that often. In the US, and you know, most of the venues they play are all, you know, large theaters and stuff like that.
Thomas Mooney 12:19
Yeah, for some reason, Lubbock has always been a like, day of buy tickets.
Daniel Fluitt 12:26
I think that's everywhere. To be honest, you know? Yeah, I mean, it's the same thing here as well. I mean, unless it's just like a huge ban, you know, just, you know, playing, you know, Thompson bowling or the spirit arena or something like that. You know, there's there's some pretty, pretty big decent venues here that are run by Live Nation and a lot of those shows, you know, some of those shows a sell out, you know, in like 30 minutes or something like that. But for a lot of those Yeah, it's a lot of day of tickets here as well. Yeah,
Thomas Mooney 12:59
you mentioned Jason, and I think like, this is going to be like the, the, I don't know, like the the mythical show of Lubbock is when he played. You used to do those, uh, used to have like, a Sunday night thing at schooners. And yeah, it was during Christmas and he played an Amana play it and you guys had like an impromptu thrift store show. I think that's gonna be the show that everyone was there, you know, though, but
Daniel Fluitt 13:29
right, you're there. You weren't there. But if you weren't there, then you'll you'll say that you were you know what I mean? Yeah. Yeah, that was that was that was pretty awesome. I miss doing those shows. It's, there's a lot to you because, you know, it's just got there. It we always play it on, you know, Sunday or Monday night. And there's, you know, there's there's not very many venues that you know, are going to book bands on a Sunday or Monday night. So we used to get, you know, great touring bands that just needed a you know, some somewhere to play on a Sunday, like a slow Sunday or Monday, and some of those shows turned out to be really, really great. So
Thomas Mooney 14:08
I missed those a lot. You know, the thing on that Jason show, I remember the game was it was either like Christmas or, like the it was either Christmas Eve Christmas day or the day after Christmas. Something. Yeah. And, you know, the one thing that surprises me most is like, I don't have any fucking photos of that show. I didn't take like one photo on my phone.
Daniel Fluitt 14:31
So it was still kind of in the Yeah, I guess it was, I mean, I guess I guess phones back then it still had photos on it. But it was, it wasn't so prevalent, like it is now. where, you know, everybody takes like, that's a huge thing. You know, festivals, you'll see, you know, 1000s of photos of, you know, certain bands or different things like that. But yeah, I think everybody was just so like, into the music that I think everybody forgot to take photos. I know I didn't take any either. So Though,
Thomas Mooney 15:00
like, this may have been like when I had a blackberry still like
Unknown Speaker 15:04
that. Yeah. Because Yeah,
Thomas Mooney 15:06
it was definitely before social media. And I remember you had just text me that afternoon or that evening or something like that saying, hey, come to the show, Jason is gonna be playing yada, yada. And so then like me, and one of my friends went, and it was just one of those shows, like, you know, for free. Yeah, I sent his will, acoustic, mandolin fiddle and like, just, you know, it was just a special thing. Like I one of the things I remember specifically about that show two was that, like, Jason played a few covers in there. And like, that's something that he just really doesn't do.
Daniel Fluitt 15:43
Exactly, yeah. But he was just, you know, for him, it was just fun, you know, and, like, and that's why I mean, he's still, you know, they're, they're two of my favorite people in the world, because, you know, they're just, they haven't changed at all they have, you know, they're huge rock stars now, and they're, you know, they're, but they're still down to earth. And he's always treats everybody, you know, the same as he always has. So, you know, for him, it was just, you know, he likes to play music, and it was fun. So, I was super stoked that he, you know, even wanted to do it. So,
Thomas Mooney 16:14
yeah, like, I've, I guess, the only times I've seen Jason have been here in Lubbock. And it's that schooner show and a few times at blue light. And like that last time we played was around southeastern. And, like, it was like, a Wednesday or something like that. So it was a an older crowd. And it was like, you could drop the proverbial pin in blue light and hear it, you know, and it was just a, like, there was that moment where you just knew like, Oh, this is like, the last time he's gonna be in here.
Daniel Fluitt 16:49
For sure. I mean, like he, you know, he comes through Knoxville, now quite a, you know, usually about once a year. And he'll do two shows at the Tennessee theater. And Tennessee theater holds about 1600. And I mean, he sells out both shows, and, you know, 30 minutes. And I mean, and he could have easily, you know, one of those guys, he could probably play a whole week of shows anywhere and probably still sell them out, you know, he did that at the Ryman last year, you did seven shows in a row and sold all of them out. So, you know, talk to him about it. And, you know, just kind of asking him, you know, where, you know, because at a certain point, it's just like, you know, you, you need to start playing like arenas, you know, and he's done a few arenas and stuff like that, but he really enjoys just kind of doing the, you know, the theater Show More, more so than, you know, an arena just sounds better. It's more intimate. So I don't, I think he's, he's just fine and happy, just, you know, doing two or three shows in a certain place and just stay in there. You know, so,
Thomas Mooney 18:00
yeah, I think, you know, in a lot of ways, like you wind up saving some some money anyway, simply because you're not having to buy gas for like, those two days or whatever, you know,
Daniel Fluitt 18:11
right. Yeah, you're not having to travel, you're not having to, you know, you're not having to unload and load, you know, all of your, you know, because now he I think he travels and like three buses, and they have like a semi trailer and all that stuff. So it's just less, less overhead, just overhead and less having to, you know, time and, you know, setting up and driving and doing all that stuff. So,
Thomas Mooney 18:36
yeah, you did remind me of like, one of my favorite questions. It's the what band, like could play in the same town like the same? Like, the longest, like the most consecutive, like sellout streak, you know what I mean? Like, could how many days would Jason is we'll be able to upsell out blue light in a row?
Daniel Fluitt 19:01
Oh, I mean, basically, you know what I mean? Exactly. It's like, I think he could probably do like, easily a two to three week residency. And I mean, the problem is, you'd have some people that would buy, buy that ticket for every day, you know, the same people would go and watch that show. So I would say, you know, yeah, there and then here if the Avett Brothers played like the pub. I mean, they could do a month straight easy, you know, no problem. Yeah,
Thomas Mooney 19:35
I think that would be that would be the that will never happen, obviously. But I love the idea of some band just kind of playing the same thing. every damn day. I've tried to have Yeah, I've tried to get like blue light to I think blue light would do it is like let's just try and do like a, a week where it's the same artist but like in different capacities like you would see, yeah, Monday night doing songwriter night, but they would host it. And then that next night would be like a song swap with buddies, you know, and then like, the next night would be like a stripped down version. And you know what I mean? Like,
Daniel Fluitt 20:14
right. And then, like, all culminate on like a Friday, like the main, like full band show or something like that. Yeah.
Thomas Mooney 20:21
I think that would be a really cool thing.
Daniel Fluitt 20:24
Oh, yeah. I mean, that's what I love the blue. I mean, like, that, when we did that live and breathing week, it was, I mean, they they were, they went ahead over hills for all of those bands. And were just so great to work with. That's why I've just, no matter what, whenever we, you know, come back to Lubbock. We always want to play the blue. I don't care. Like people are like, well, maybe you should move to a bigger venue. I was like, now I don't care who's gonna play here? Yeah,
Thomas Mooney 20:51
that's another thing but live and breathing. If you guys were on shaky graves.
Daniel Fluitt 20:57
Yeah, I had no idea who he was. It's funny, because so we had whiskey shivers are one of our really good friends. And they're a great band. So they were playing and we had, there was some guy that ended up having to drop out. And I guess they were talking to Jess and they were like, Whoa, you know, my buddy. He's his band's called shakey graves. And they just asked him if he could just, you know, jump on the bill. And I'd never heard of him. I was like, Yeah, sure. I mean, if you if you guys think he's good, and I'm sure that he's fine. And then of course, he like, completely stole all of the shit. You know, every show that we had he his show is by far the best, you know. And of course with a live and breathing the videos that they put out he's, he's his has been played almost as much as then. I think he's up there with almost, you know, the Avery brothers for like, the top one or two for all the live and breathing shows total. So yeah, it was very, very lucky because we had, again, no idea who he was at the time. Yeah, funny, funny story about that is so he had a really good time when he was here. And so that was like the last night of the shows because it was Rodney and shakey graves and whiskey shivers and Chris Hudson, which pretty awesome to have all four of those people on one night of, you know, one show. Anyways, so of course, everybody's having a good time. Well, we ended up settling up at the end of the night and go out and I parked right in front of my car was like a merge bin. And I look in it and it's all a shaky, final and T shirts. So I grabbed that and he's back at the house. They're party in or whatever. And then, so the next day, they leave to go back to Austin. And I get this call from from baja Alejandro, and he's just freaking out because he left all of his guitars at the blue light. And those are I mean, and these are like, you know, you know, $1,000 guitars. And so we're just trying to figure out how to get them back. And then my buddy he used to play in this band down 1450 he was actually living in Austin, and he was working for George Strait. He basically was he built out George straights like traveling museum that goes around with all of his shows. Well, Joe Schmidt was playing I guess on that Tuesday or whatever. And so we ended up just getting him and pack packing it up with all these, you know, priceless George Strait items in this like traveling museum. And he ended up taking it back and given them back to shaky but it was just it was funny because I ran into him. I think it was, I think it was a pilgrimage festival a couple of years ago in Franklin, Tennessee, and he had just played anywhere backstage and I walked up to him. And I was just like, I bet you don't remember me. And he's like, yeah, you look familiar. I was like, you remember that time when you played Lubbock and you left your guitars there and he was like, holy shit, dude, you know, just like, thank you so much for giving getting those back to me and everything completely remember right off the bat, but it's really funny. Just like Yeah,
Thomas Mooney 24:32
yeah, I remember like when he cuz obviously you guys invited me to watch the sessions be recorded and right when he got on stage in that barn. And was kind of just, you know, soundcheck and getting ready. There was like, you know, 10 people in that room, and it was just kind of like, Oh shit, this is gonna be fucking special when he started playing, you know, and you didn't even know he never even heard the songs before. But you're just kind of like, you know, your the hair on your arm started raising up. Exactly. Yeah, he was like in January and it was freezing cold.
Daniel Fluitt 25:09
Yeah, no, it was it. Yeah, you could tell like once he started playing and it just sound it's, it's on. It's so good. It was just like okay, yeah, this is gonna be great.
Thomas Mooney 25:21
Yeah. You mentioned Rodney Parker, one of our favorite people.
Daniel Fluitt 25:25
Oh, yeah, same is his uh, he's definitely one of my best friends. And it's, it's really cool for me because I've, I've, we actually the first show Ronnie Parker ever played was with us. Brooks was actually booking a venue in our Santa Fe called the paramount. And so it was our first time to play there. It was really awesome room. And it was the vodka. And then us. Our I mean, it was the Roscoe is headlining, we're the metal band, and Rodney was opening acoustic. And as first time ever met Rodney, and he played and, and then so I've seen him just kind of grow from, you know, him just doing so low to his first band show, which was really bad. But then, you know, just like, kept getting better and better. And then, you know, once they put, you know, the brother said out is a great album. And it sounds amazing. And I was just like, wow, that I mean, you know, that albums is fantastic for your, you know, your first album, but when he put out the lonesome verge, it just blew me away, just like holy shit, dude, you're about to be famous. And of course, you know, saying the same thing. He said the same thing, you know, after hearing way, Lord lelo calling, you're creeping. And, of course, neither one of us are famous. But you know, just that's just kind of the way that it goes, I guess.
Thomas Mooney 26:52
Yeah. I think like the lonesome dirge is like one of the most important and influential records in in Texas music.
Daniel Fluitt 27:02
Oh, yeah, I would totally agree. Because, I mean, it's just, to me, you know, you know, everybody talks about Turnpike and Turnpike's was they were a great, great band. But I think that, you know, they, they probably wouldn't be Turnpike if they hadn't, you know, had listened to the ones on verge. There's a lot of bands, I think, in Texas that, you know, kind of took because it did it sounded different than anything that came out at that time. You know, it was still Texas country, I guess. But it just had so many layers and, and, you know, just different elements of of other types of music involved in it, that it and I mean, in the songwriting alone is just fantastic. I mean, some of those songs like brother, I mean, that song kills me when I listened to it.
Thomas Mooney 27:50
Yeah, the Yeah, I've talked with like Evan NRC, about the about how, like, I guess, influential and paramount. Ronnie's songwriting was for them as songwriters, because you can definitely see them as like that next. Wave that next. Exactly, you know, that next version of what Rodney was doing, as far as the the storytelling and like the, that you mentioned, like the the layers, like there's so many, like, they're almost like you said, like, Are they a Texas country band? I don't know. I mean, like, they play Yeah, country and rock and roll in Texas. So I guess by proxy, by definition, maybe, I don't know. But they, they always felt like a, like an indie rock band. Like they always felt like they had listened to, like, indie rock stuff that was popular in the early 2000s, like, the strokes and Interpol and like the national and like took the right kind of guitars and apply them to like country music.
Daniel Fluitt 28:59
I totally agree. I mean, I think that they, you know, yeah, cuz when it came out, you know, and I know that what they were like, really trying to push it in Texas and I and I'm, I still tell them to this day, every time I talked to him, I was just like, Man, you guys need to come out to Tennessee sometime, you know, do like an East Coast tour. Because I think they you know, they would go go really, really well here. You know, I mean, they would, they would do great anywhere they played basically, you know, it's just a matter of, you know, give them a little kick in the butt and get on the road. Yeah, which I understand that too. Because, I mean, here we are, you know, haven't toured in many, many years. And, you know, and that's okay. I mean, everybody gets older and things happen, and I understand that, but it's just kind of, but you still though they're one of my favorite bands. So it's just like, I want to hear them play all the time. Of course.
Thomas Mooney 29:50
Yeah. The one of the things I was we were, I guess like one of the one of the things that I've always been taught or told was you know, the the that tour that you and Rodney and one wolf went? Yeah, that was like, you know, like the very what I've heard is I don't know if it's been romanticized simply because it's in the past. But obviously that bill would have been incredible to see. What do you remember most about that
Daniel Fluitt 30:21
those times? Oh, I mean, it was, it was wild and crazy, just like you could imagine. I mean, because we, basically we, Ronnie had his van and trailer, and then us in one wolf took our van. And so we, I remember, just when we were about to leave, we, we had to wake up and drive, literally from Lubbock straight to Tucson, which is a good 15, you know, 1415 hour drive. And, and so we had packed a lot of our, you know, musical equipment and stuff in Robbie's trailer. But, of course, we weren't thinking about bags and everything. So Rodney had left the night before. And so we wake up to, you know, load everybody into the van. And there's like, literally no room to put any of the bags. So just like stacks of bags in between people, you couldn't even see the person sitting next to you. It's just like, but people are having to hold bags in their laps and stuff. So it's ridiculous. And then, I mean, but it was great, because, you know, we we had some really great shows, we had some really terrible shows as well. But I mean, that's just kind of how, how it goes with, you know, being on the road. And I you know, I think back to it now, it's just like, I feel sorry for all the people that we ended up crashing on their floors, because it's not like, you know, it's one thing to have a band of, you know, four or five people, you know, crash with you but it's a totally different thing when you're getting like 14 or 15 people you know, sleep in like sardines on the floor and everything so but it was great. I mean, we we all had a good time we didn't die. We didn't you know starve to death. I think we ended up maybe breaking even so that's about the best case scenario you can come up with on a you know, a three band tour. So definitely one of those those tours I'll always look back on fondly and glad that we did it and glad that everybody all three bands. Were those three bands that got to go, you know, so.
Thomas Mooney 32:29
Yeah, did a was on that tour. Was he part of
Daniel Fluitt 32:34
Yeah, I am. Iron Man. He was definitely on the tour. He was our merch guy. So you know, but he was definitely, you know, be an Iron Man as well. You know, kicking ass and taking names. Yeah. Well,
Thomas Mooney 32:50
he's there. His name is Iron Man. I mean,
Daniel Fluitt 32:53
exactly. There's a reason why it's called Iron Man. For sure. Yeah. Yeah, I love Iron Man. best story ever have about Iron Man is you want to hear it. It's It's great. I was playing at schooners one time. And there was a crowd of people like so. At Skinner's, there's this big round table up at the top right next to the stage, where they're all of these just assholes. They're just yelling out Freebird and you know, doing the same old shit and telling us to play something that they know. And I'm you know, I'm just playing off. He's like, Yeah, I don't know that one. But here's one of the sounds just like it. And then I just play whatever. Well, Iron Man, you know, is, you know, pretty sheets to the wind having a good time. And so he he gets up. And I was playing a slow song and he gets up to dance with with a young young lady. And I don't know, if you don't know. I mean, if anytime ironmans really drunk and he tries to dance, it's it's almost guaranteed that he's gonna spin her and probably fall down, or slip and fall or something like that. But sure enough, he's dancing with this girl. And he goes to spinner and he falls and falls into one of the tables that was holding one of the speakers on the right side, and he just crumbles like a ball on the floor and the speaker flies up in the air, but ends up landing on the ground straight up so I just kept playing an iron man looks up at me with the craziest look I've ever seen in his face. And I'm just like, Oh shit, what is arming gonna do and he gets up, turns and runs full speed at this table and dive bombs the whole table. Everybody's drink just flies off in their laps. just dive bombs. And of course they ended up kicking Iron Man out banning him for like six months but everybody who sat at that table end up getting up and leaving so I was just like, way to go on man. You did it. You know. Get those assholes out of here. So one of the one of the best Ironman stories
Thomas Mooney 35:05
that's like the I'm sure you're familiar with Lord of the Rings, you know when they're oh yeah Helm's Deep and there's like the the one little, the one. Weakness at Helm's Deep is like that whole, and so right and they send an orc to like bomb it or whatever. And like none of them can shoot him with an arrow like legless doesn't can't hit them. And he just like dives in there and it blows up. And then of course, that's what that sounds like just the price right there.
Daniel Fluitt 35:33
It was the ultimate sacrifice by air man, I will always hold him up highly. And my book because I mean, for many, many things, but that was probably one of the coolest things I've ever seen when I was playing live ever. So
Thomas Mooney 35:49
yeah. What was what were those early cowboy days? Like? What was the like those very, at the beginning? What were those days like?
Daniel Fluitt 36:00
So certainly first kind of started with Amanda and everybody. We were all still going to Texas Tech. So a lot of it was, you know, we would end up booking shows on like, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. So we would kind of is everybody kind of had to schedule, you know, their classes and everything. So we could get out early on Thursday, and, you know, try to leave around noon so we could get there. But there's a lot of fun. I mean, we were just we didn't know what we were doing at all. So you know, just traveling around playing as many places as we possibly could. Lots of honky tonks, lots of opening for Texas country bands that never listened to any of our songs ever. So I'm not gonna name any names. But yeah, so it was it was a lot of fun. I mean, lots of lots of drinking beer. Lots of punching each other in the face when we get drunk. Yeah, I mean, there's, there's lots of really good stories that I probably could tell, but I probably shouldn't. Yeah, like me, and Jeff would always just go and we get drunk, and we just walk out to like, the backyard or something. And we just kind of trade shots in the face just to make feel alive, you know, and I will look back at it and was just like, well, that's stupid. I mean, but also, I mean, I was an idiot, then too, because I, for one, I didn't I you know, I didn't play guitar. So I wasn't tethered by anything. So used to just go completely apeshit on stage. You know, we're sitting there. You know, Now, of course, our music is a lot more like indie rock and different, you know, things like that. But back then it was way more, you know, just country. And so it's just like playing country music and I'm just running around like an idiot on stage, just screaming in the mic and jumping off of speakers and all sorts of crazy shit. That's, that's how I ended up tearing my ACL was a, we played a game at CU Joe's, which horrible, horrible game one of the worst games we've ever had to play. And damn dogs. So we were. So yeah, I was so sorry, cut some of that stuff out. But so we were playing at CU Joe's. And you know, it's just a lot of Friday's there, and nobody was listening. No one cared. And we were playing and I was just getting hammered drunk. Because I, you know, whatever, I was just gonna get drunk and have fun. And I just was yelling at people and screaming in the mic and pointing at people when I was sitting in and we ended up driving most of the people out of the venue. So at the end, the night, I'd already jumped off of the stage there, there's like a bar like so the stage is about, I say three feet off the ground, but then there's a bar on top of it. And I'd already jumped off of that. For me, just because I'm an idiot, and then we took a break and it was like our last set. And I ended up getting a gin and tonic and just drinking all of it. And I was so drunk and I remember getting on to the thing to jump off. But I was I was drunk. So I was you know, kind of I was either gonna fall back onto the stage where I was just gonna have to jump. And so I ended up just jumping and I jumped away too high and came down and landed on my awkwardly on one leg and it just completely tore my ACL and NCL and I had to play the rest of the set on my back with my leg elevated up on to a chair. So
Thomas Mooney 39:56
not to laugh at your expense. But yeah, the the lead And down. What it was a was that a full band show? Oh, yeah. Okay, so like, what were what was everyone else doing? Were they just kind of like?
Daniel Fluitt 40:10
Well, Daniel fucked up so we just kept playing. Yeah, it was, it was pretty bad. And then I ended up doing it again at Green Hall and screwing my knee up. There's like the one time we played green Hall and they told us that we were banned from playing green Hall ever again after that, so I can at least say we got banned from green Hall, I guess.
Thomas Mooney 40:35
Yeah. See, you guys missed a merge opportunity right there. You guys could have had like, banned from green Hall t shirts.
Daniel Fluitt 40:44
No, we should have but we were you know, we were young didn't. We didn't know anything. So we're just kind of like a band. It's fun. Let's play music. You know, and you think about like, merchandise or anything like that. So we're definitely pretty green at that time.
Thomas Mooney 41:01
On this episode is sponsored by Smith, iron InDesign. 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 that design everything from welcome signs to family crests, flags and Texas cutouts. They have a series of these metal reads that are perfect for your 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. We should really do though, is head over to Smith art and design calm to get a look at their best portfolio, that Smith, iron and design calm. 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, where it looked too bland or cheaply made, or to be perfectly honest, too expensive. So I went to talking with a room. And about a week later, I was able to pick up this custom shelving unit that's just been amazing. It's incredibly sturdy, has a bit of a rustic fill. 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.
I don't know if you want to talk about this or not. But Jeff was telling me one time like you guys, kind of you guys had hired Tommy allsup to produce a record and then just kind of never happened.
Daniel Fluitt 43:29
Yes. Yeah. So I'll go ahead.
Thomas Mooney 43:34
I said no, like, just what was that story? What was how did that
Daniel Fluitt 43:39
so we so we were friends with Tommy.
We
I mean, he so he, I guess he ended up moving to Snyder or kind of in between flew van and Snyder. And he he knew Amanda really well from you know, the bob wills thing and and also just like he had there was like a fiddle camp that she used to go teach at. And he would go and teach guitar and stuff. So she knew him and we ended up befriending him because, you know, he's, I mean, Tommy was like probably the coolest 72 year old man I've ever met in my entire life. You know, he's one of those guys that is great at everything he does. You know, he's one of the best guitar players I've ever seen in my life and you know, but he's 72 going on 26 so you know, he loves to get drunk with us and smoke cigars and sit there and play music with us and everything. So we ended up he had a studio in aizawl, Texas, which is around the Fort Worth area and we ended up going in we're gonna record the songs there and for some reason, it just went in and we did about we did like one or two sets I think and it just, it didn't have, it just didn't have what we were looking for, I guess the guy who was running, running the or doing the engineering, it just, it just didn't work out. It's just, it wasn't anybody's fault or anything, it was just kind of one of those things where it's just like, not quite the sound we were wanting to go after it was definitely more kind of thin sounding and that we've definitely wanted like big guitars and big drums and all of that. So we ended up not, you know, doing it, but Tommy was always really great friend with us. I've got a good story about the time that I that Tommy also nearly died or got killed at my show. You want to hear that story?
Thomas Mooney 45:46
Yeah, of course. Let's go.
Daniel Fluitt 45:48
Alright, so we were playing this festival in Dallas. And it was like it was it was in multiple different venues, kind of like a smaller version of like South by Southwest or something like that. And so we were playing and played a great show. There's tons of people and Tommy son, Austin also. I don't know if you've, you know him. He's a good musician as well. And he's a good guy, but him and his buddy. And then our buddy Chris writes, and our buddy Guitar Man who used to play drums for us. Yeah, Guitar Man used to play drums course. But they were all in there. And they were getting drunk and having a good time. Well, they ended up taking their shirts off there and are set in the bar. And I guess they had bumped into some some like rough looking dudes and kind of almost gotten in the fistfight in the bar. And I guess they ended up breaking it up or whatever. But I didn't know this. We are, you know, we were playing. So we get off of off stage and, you know, go to the merch stand and you know, get a beer and then they want to go in the back and you know, back to the van and smoke a bowl. And I'm like, okay, so we ended up leaving to go out to the van, which was parked behind the venue. And Chris writes my buddy, an old roommate, he like slams the door on his way out. Well, I guess these guys thought that he did that towards them again, and I had no idea anything was going on. So we're sitting in the van, and all of a sudden, I see probably five or six just huge dudes walking out towards our van. And I'm like, Ah, shit. So I just tell the DS Hey, guys, you know, I'll handle this. You know, they don't they don't have a problem with me. I'll get out and I'll talk to him. Some outside the fan talking to these dudes and basically have them you know, talked off, you know, and the guy was really cool with me. He's like, Man, you guys sound great. I don't have an issue with you. It's just your boys being ridiculous. I was like, Yeah, no, they're just drunk. You know? Let's go back in the bar. I'll buy all you guys a beer, we'll just you know, no problem. Well, right then when they were about to turn around, Austin, so I guess a couple of nights before we had stolen one of those coordinates a salt and pepper shaker bottles from some restaurant. Well, Austin dumps all the salt and pepper out and jumps out of the van and start swinging these corny two bottles at this dude's head and this guy ducks and just thought and just lays one into Austin punches in the face. And then it was on just like a huge brawl. Everyone's punching or trying to break all these people up the bartender and the bouncer and come back out there and and in doing all this melee and everything. Tommy comes out there. And he's arguing with this guy who punched Austin and I'm trying to hold Austin back. And Tommy, which a lot of the old old school musicians they always carried a gun in their booth will tell me how to 38 and it's been so he's arguing and pushing on this guy in the scars arguing back and pushing on Tommy and so Tommy reaches down and do his boot and pulls out this 38 well this guy reaches back behind him and pulls out a nine millimeter and I'm just sitting there like great. So the what the guys who flipped the coin was Richie Valens to get on an airplane dies at a thrift store cowboys show you know what I mean? Like I would never be able to live that down. It was the most insane thing and so eventually we got to put their guns away and they went one way and we went the other way but we were just like that nightmare situation. You know it could have it could have ended up a lot worse than it did for sure.
Thomas Mooney 49:51
Oh, definitely. Yeah, the goes to routes Yeah, he dies at first shore show or he becomes
Daniel Fluitt 50:00
Buddy. Yeah, you know, either one. It's
Thomas Mooney 50:01
just out, you know?
Daniel Fluitt 50:03
Yeah. So,
Thomas Mooney 50:07
man, I was gonna bring something up and I completely blanked. Oh, I was gonna ask on these, what a record would that would have been? would that have been? Had he had y'all gone that route of him pretty,
Daniel Fluitt 50:20
it would have been the great American desert. Okay. Yeah. So all those songs on there. There was, I think, one or two songs that we didn't end up recording. And then there was like one or two or three songs that we ended up recording that weren't going to be on that album. So
Thomas Mooney 50:41
yeah. Now you guys like really found your sound? And you guys went out to Arizona? And started Yeah, out there. Did you guys feel like that was a turning point? Or was that always just something like in hindsight?
Daniel Fluitt 50:56
Well, it's just kind of one of those things where, like, for us anyways, like, our first two albums, we did both in Lubbock, you know, and they sound, they sound fine and everything, but it was just kind of the whole, taking a whole year to record an album where you're just, you know, because a lot of things change. And so you're basically just, you know, saving up money to get some more recording time, and then somebody going in there, so it ends up taking way longer than you think it does. And so we were actually is when we're on tour with the vodka, or we played a show with him. It was before our tour, but we played a one of their shows in Denver with him. And what we were eating, I guess eating lunch with them, or brunch or something. And they'd mentioned that, that were because we were talking about recording and they were like, Oh, you should check out wave law. That's where we just did our last one. And it sounds amazing. And, you know, told us like, you know, Calexico records there. And so we were like, okay, so we looked into it, and Craig Schumacher, he's, he's the guy runs wavelab. Great, great, dude, great engineer, great producer. And, I mean, it was way more affordable than it was to do it in Lubbock, to be honest with you. Because he charged by the day instead of the hour. So we ended up just going out there. And luckily, we had a guy who was a guy named Jason Delve, who lived in LA, and he was kind of managing us at the time. So his parents actually lived in Tucson. So we actually ended up getting to stay with him for the whole, you know, nine days that were out there. So we didn't have to, you know, pay for hotel rooms or anything like that. So ended up working out great. But I mean, his studio is just very open concept. He had, I mean, any kind of instrument, you can imagine, he had it there, you know, he had probably five or six different drum kits, I mean, tons of guitars, tons of bass, I mean, everything analog. So you know, there was nothing in there really, that was digital at all. So that was one of the things that we really wanted to do is just like, try and get like an old school sound. So basically, everything you hear on lelo is completely analog, it was recorded analog. I mean, he mixed it by hand, and nobody does that anymore. So it was it was a pretty amazing process. Because, you know, once you get everything recorded and and also with, you know, doing and doing it to tape, you only have 16 tracks, you can't go over 16 tracks, it just doesn't work. So you had to be very picky and choosey about, you know, what all needed to be on there. So it kind of made us you know, sit there and kind of almost simplify things too, in a way. And plus he was really great about recording drums and using very minimal, you know, mics, but I always you know, flexco is one of my favorite bands. And one thing that always stood out to me with Calexico is just like, their drum sounds so great on those records. And I always wondered how they, you know, got those that drum sound. And it turns out, it was just the room, he would just mic the room, you know, and it sounds great. So but yeah, it was we did it all We recorded and mixed it all in nine days. So it's just kind of, you know, we were there. We're doing 13 hours a day, you know, a lot of times getting going in at like 10 o'clock and you know, leaving it, you know, 11 sometimes midnight, you know, so it really, you know, got us in there and made us concentrate and really, you know, work on it. So yeah, I mean, it's one it's it definitely changed the way that first for definitely our recorded sound and I definitely kind of changed the way that we went about, like when we're going to record how we can kind of figure out exactly what needs to be in there and what needs to be left out.
Thomas Mooney 55:09
Yeah, the that record is just so sonically tight, like It is, yeah, cohesive record. And I've always kind of thought of it as like, you could almost listen to it in two ways. You could listen to it as a singer, songwriter, or country record. Or, really, like, it's almost like a post rock record and a lot of ways.
Daniel Fluitt 55:32
Yeah, yeah, for sure. Cuz I mean, he, you know, just the guitar sounds and tones, and then, you know, having to pedal steel. But, you know, there's, you know, we put like an E bow on his pedal steel on a couple of songs. He, there was a, there's a song where he's playing pedal steel, and he ran it, he's ran his pedal still through a lezlie, Oregon. And so part of the song, you know, when it's just, when it's not spinning, it sounds like a pedal steel. And then he would just hit the switch, Craig would hit the switch whenever he wanted it to start spinning. And it almost sounded like a, you know, like, keys, or an Oregon. And so it's just like, there's a lot of different things that he brought to the table that kind of expanded it sonically, for sure.
Thomas Mooney 56:18
Was that one of those things where, you know, for, like, the first time or maybe not even necessarily the first time, but like, where it was, the record sounded like what you thought the band sounded like, like, in your
Daniel Fluitt 56:30
Yes. Yeah. And it's also the first time when, you know, because, you know, before we went out there, because we knew, you know, we're only paying for this certain amount of time, and we only had this, you know, a certain amount of money. So, we definitely, it was the first time when we like sit, sat down, and rehearsed all of those songs ahead of time. So, you know, we we probably worked on those songs for a good two to three weeks before we even went out there, you know, just running through them over and over. And then once we got in there, some of that still ended up changing while we were there, but, but it definitely made everything a lot tighter. And, and it definitely came out the way that you know, it's it's it's something that I'm still proud of, and I you know, it still sounds great. So it definitely sounds more like their store cowboys to me then. Definitely our first two albums that came out.
Thomas Mooney 57:31
Yeah, I've always thought that, like Layla was the, I need to actually put this out sometime. The, like, probably the the best or like, in the at least the top three records of Lubbock in the last 25 years or so. It's just Well, thank you for peace, you know. And speaking of like Lubbock, obviously, Lubbock has always been such a when it comes to like the art scene, the music scene, you have all these different kinds of bands, these different sounding bands, but like they all kind of it's a tight knit community in a lot of ways, right? Like what's been like what can you tell go into some, some old stories of these old lovey guys?
Daniel Fluitt 58:17
Well, when we first started out we would, there was a couple of bands that we used to play with quite a bit. One was watermelon Fastpass. I met those dudes out at South Plains, and they were doing some really, really creative interesting things, especially for you know, talking about the early 2000s definitely influenced by like Wayne and Weezer, the old school Weezer stuff, but they were great and they were just, you know, it's kind of like our you know, brother band for a while. There's another band, more bluegrass called cutting the grass that played out there as well. And we used to play at Einsteins, you know, that was kind of the place to play. Back in the day before, you know, the blue light became the blue light that we all man and
Thomas Mooney 59:12
also to like, not to cut you off. But to set the table, I guess is that back in the early 2000s. And especially like more so in the 90s Lubbock was more of a rock and roll band or rock and roll town than a Texas country.
Daniel Fluitt 59:32
Oh, for sure.
Thomas Mooney 59:33
So like that, yeah, it felt like there was a little bit more. Like it's it's definitely progressed that way. But back then there was a little bit more like there's more rock bands.
Daniel Fluitt 59:42
Definitely. I mean, there most of the bands that, you know, I knew or played with, you know, in the early 2000s were all pretty much you know, rock brands, you know, there wasn't, wasn't really a whole lot of country bands. I mean, the only one I could think of that. We actually you know, played some shows with back in the back in the day was the Ben Atkins bands. And they were great too. I mean, yeah, Jet he is playing guitar with him. You can't go wrong there. So
Thomas Mooney 1:00:13
it feels like Ben Atkins is one of the Forgotten early. I guess it's not technically early. I always say early, but one of those early like, Texas country bands that was Yeah, I mean, he had it and stuff and kind of just I don't know, like, lost some momentum there in the
Daniel Fluitt 1:00:33
Yeah.
I mean, they had, you know, they that controversial Angel song, they were playing that all over the state. And it was kind of one of those first, you know, just like that, that was a big hit. And then, you know, he got more into more into Americana stuff. And so his second album, you know, the one with mayo and all of that. And that was actually out he put out on rounder records. And I think buddy, buddy Miller produced that album, but it's, it's great. It's a great album. But I you know, Ben, he, he's, he is interesting cat. He's one of the smartest guys I've ever met. You know. So he, he went to law school, he wanted to be a firefighter, and he wanted to learn German. And he's just one of those guys that he when he wants to do something, he just sits down and does it. So it's just like, I think he got kind of burned out on playing music for a while. And I think now he's trying to, you know, start starting to maybe, you know, play out a little bit more, but nothing. I don't think he you know, definitely doesn't want to tour or anything like that.
Thomas Mooney 1:01:38
But yeah, I know, he put out a few singles last year.
Yeah. And I know
he was doing a lot of like riding with Eric Willis. Yeah, cuz I think like I get it. He's been kind of like from the Wichita Falls area, I think. Yeah.
Daniel Fluitt 1:01:53
So yeah, he's, I can't remember. around town. But yeah, yeah. But it's it's it's a small he's from a small town, which of Wichita Falls, and I think he lives in Wichita Falls now.
Thomas Mooney 1:02:07
Yeah, I remember talking with Eric about, I guess they were not the last record. But the record before that Eric was working on, they had done a whole bunch of CO writing on that record. And I think, yeah,
Daniel Fluitt 1:02:18
he's a good I mean, he's a great writer. And, you know, he's, he's a really good guitar player now to I mean, he's, he's playing pedal steel and everything. So I mean, he's, he's definitely learned a lot. You know, when he first started playing, it was, you know, just a lot of GC indie on, you know, acoustic guitar. And now, I mean, he's a picker, so,
Thomas Mooney 1:02:39
yeah, absolutely. Going back to early Lubbock or early 2000s what was uh, what were some of those, those bands that you think that were kind of been lost the time simply because it was such a, it was still like, in a time where it was hard to put out your own record.
Daniel Fluitt 1:02:57
Yeah, I mean, there's, there's some bands that were playing and got some notoriety. Even a little bit before we started playing, there's a band called spilling poetry. That was they were great. Just a really good rock bands. Kind of like your late 90s alternative rock bands.
Thomas Mooney 1:03:17
Yeah, I know, Jeff. Sent me those records. And yeah, it's one of those like, Oh, shit, I didn't know. We could do this in Lubbock.
Daniel Fluitt 1:03:24
Yeah, yeah. I mean, they were, they were very talented. I mean, there's just, you know, of course, you know, one wolf. And in Daniel Markham doing everything that he's doing, and he's so prolific and has put out all you know, albums that completely sound different. And just because he wants them to, you know, he, he, he wants them to sound the way he does. And I totally respect that. And I think it's awesome. I mean, he's one of my favorite songwriters and guitar players. I mean, he's, he's definitely, you know, filled in on guitar and bass for us on tours and different things like that. And he's one of my best friends. So I would definitely, you know, throw them out there for sure. Yeah, I mean, it's, and then in then you have guys like, you know, we'll, we'll call it green, who, you know, everybody remembers him when he was just, you know, this smile and Goofy dude, who was, you know, hosting the songwriter jam at the blue light and now, you know, he's, he's big, big rock star on a tour bus. You know, it's pretty awesome to see that, you know,
Thomas Mooney 1:04:30
yeah. It's, uh, in all of this stuff. I felt that, I guess, over time, being a journalist, everything I think, I think you realize that it takes talent and hard work and more than anything else, it just takes persevere. And like, luck. Like,
Unknown Speaker 1:04:53
yeah, you know, yeah, and definitely, I
Thomas Mooney 1:04:55
mean, that's the the margins are so small, like one band You know, just really successful in another band kind of just being, you know, marginally successful, or you I mean, they happen to insert name here, you know?
Daniel Fluitt 1:05:12
Exactly, you know, and like, that's the thing about, you know, with any band, you know, it's, it's, it's more luck than anything, you know, you just think about how many great bands are out there. And, you know, and I, I do this or me and just do this all the time, where it's just like, Man, this band is so good, why aren't they you know, more popular or more famous, or, you know, playing bigger venues or, you know, there you go and watch the band, you know, on stage, and, you know, there's like, 10 people in the crowd, and you're just like, this is bullshit, you know, there should be way more people for this band than that. But I mean, it is, it's, you know, it's a lot of luck. You know, it's a lot of, it's, it's a lot of networking, too, you know, it's, it's finding the right people that know how to, you know, when you want to put out an album and you, you want to, you know, you have, there's a lot of steps and a lot of money, and there's a lot of things that go on, that go into it, in order for it to be successful. I mean, you have to, you know, you have to spend money to make money, basically, you know, and it's, that's what, that that's one of the hardest parts for, you know, smaller bands that are just trying to do everything on their own. It's just like, you know, there comes a point when, you know, for us, it's like, well, do we, do we spend money on radio promotion? Or do we spend money on publicity, because we can't do both, you know, we don't have enough money to, to, you know, put this album out the exact right way. So you just kind of have to be picky and, and choose the way that you think will work best for you. But, you know, definitely luck has a lot to do with it. And then, you know, just just playing, you know, I mean, that's the thing, you look at a band like American and Graham who's, you know, played, they played, you know, they're from North Carolina, and I've known BJ for a long time. And, you know, they, they play out here forever, and they were just kind of spinning their wheels for a while, but they just kept at it and kept at it. And, you know, once they hit Texas and blew up there, it's kind of just, they're on an upward arc for sure. You know, so I mean, you just kind of have to just keep working at it, no matter no matter what, you know, no matter if you are losing money, and you've got to, like, you know, try to figure it out, but it's definitely worth it. I'd say, you know, just to keep playing and doing it, I would, I would say,
Thomas Mooney 1:07:32
Yeah. Like, there's the you have to, in anything, like, there there is the being available, is like the best, it's like, the easiest skill you can have is
Daniel Fluitt 1:07:45
Oh, yeah.
Thomas Mooney 1:07:46
And obviously, that means playing a whole bunch and working on on that and just being in the moment and
Daniel Fluitt 1:07:53
playing free shows playing, you know, playing festivals, for no money playing, you know, anything that you can do, you know, opening up for bigger bands, you know, a lot of times, you know, the, when the, you know, your everybody wants to open for a big band, you know, so you can play in front of a, you know, huge crowd, but, you know, half the time, you know, you're only getting like 100 $225 a show you're not you know, you're not making a lot of money doing that, but you're hoping that you can you know, at least sell a few $100 worth of March as well. So,
Thomas Mooney 1:08:26
yeah, a to go back to the Lubbock thing, obviously, when you guys moved out to Knoxville, you know, you know, I guess very soon after there, Ross Cooper moved to Nashville, and he had already he was already living in. Yeah, so he was living in, in Nashville. Probably,
Daniel Fluitt 1:08:50
I'd say a year, maybe two years before we we moved out here.
Thomas Mooney 1:08:57
Yeah, long story short. Like you guys became like, really good friends over there in Tennessee, simply because, you know, not necessarily simply because but you know, a lot to do with both being from West Texas. Right? I guess like what, what's the what's it been? Like, I guess, being out there with another Texan that you just kind of like always just go, Oh, you know what I'm talking about? Because there's something right. There's like, I think like you there's always something to just not even having to talk. Yeah, but like, just knowing like, oh, you're from the same place as I am. There's some familiarity there.
Daniel Fluitt 1:09:39
Oh, for sure. I mean, like the thing about Ross is, you know, so when Ross lived in and Lubbock I I mean, I knew of them and I you know, but mainly it was just like you would come into Ralph's and we chat about music occasionally. But it wasn't like we weren't like really good friends or anything like that. And then once you moved out here We've just slept, you know, because he was in Asheville and I live in Knoxville, and we, we do so many events in Nashville, we just always hang with them. I mean, most of the time when we, you know, if we're going through Nashville or you know, flying out of Nashville, we usually just crash it at Ross's place. And then vice versa, you know, we've gotten him out. So you know, play some shows out Knoxville played some shows at the distillery before. And so, you know, he's just a great dude. And, I mean, his music is, I mean, it's his last couple albums are just fantastic. So I mean, I'm hoping that, you know, he can just keep playing and keep touring and, and keep it up. And I mean, I wish nothing but the best for that guy, because he's, he's definitely one of my really good friends out here now. But yeah, you know, talking to him about love, like, it's just like, basically, all we do is just, you know, have fun drinks and beers and talk about, like, tons of stories and ridiculous times, and all the people that we used to hang out with, and all that stuff back in the day. So it's always a it's always a crazy time and a good time as well. So
Thomas Mooney 1:11:18
yeah, I've always I, I told Ross this he got so much better once he moved to Nashville. And I think it's because he had such, you know, just a magnified focus on becoming a songwriter and becoming that 24 that was on his mind, not school, not having to take classes and, you know, obviously, got the rodeo background. So he was doing that for a while, you know, just trying to juggle all these different things at once. And then we moved to Nashville, it was like such a, this is what I'm, I came here
Daniel Fluitt 1:11:55
for. Yeah, and I mean, that's the thing about there. You know, there's a lot of really great music in Nashville, there's a lot of really terrible music in Nashville as well, but it's just like you have to, but living there, it's it's almost like a rite of passage for a lot of people. And so it takes time, you know, when he moved there, it's just like, yeah, you want to do that. But you have to you have to network, you have to go out to shows and meet people, you know. And he did that, you know, he, he he worked on it and ended up you know, you know, going in and writing, you know, doing song rights with folks. And you know, you know, some of them he really enjoyed and they got some really good material out of, and some of it, he was just like, I don't even want my name on that song. You know? And so, it's like, but but, but at the same time, you know, at least it's like it's making you sit down and you know, it's like your job, you have to sit down and you're have to write and do your thing. And, you know, and through that and just through meeting people, you know, his band is they're all just like Ace players as well. So I mean, just just the thing about Nashville is you know, the Nashville people hate Knoxville, people, it's really weird. Because they, they think that we have it easy because if you're a musician from Knoxville, you you haven't put in your work and your time in Nashville. And just like to me I'm like, well, it's kind of the same as like living in Lubbock or living in Austin. It's just like, well, I can't afford to live in Austin and B, it's so oversaturated with people that I really don't want to live there. So I don't care what they say about it. I mean, I love Knoxville, and there's no way I would trade it for Nashville any any day, but I'm glad to see that like Ross has totally embraced it and is just kicking ass out there.
Thomas Mooney 1:13:54
Yeah, speaking of Rodney Cooper, or Ronnie Parker, Ross Cooper is like, in a lot of ways very similar to Rodney. You know, like, in especially like sonically. Yeah, the they're like, because you mentioned his band, like they're so damn good. And it's, it's almost like a lot of the songs are obviously about, you know, cowboy stuff. Radio stuff. West Texas. country, but like, it's also kind of like a garage rock band.
Daniel Fluitt 1:14:25
Yeah. And, and I love that because it's just, it's like, you know, writing about something that you've, you know, that you live in your surroundings and how you grew up and, and all of that, but, you know, just because you think oh, it's uh, you know, I was this is a rodeo song. It needs to be just straight country that, you know, I love the fact that they're like, no, I can write a radio song and make it sound like an indie rock song and it still has the same, you know, still that same vibe and that same Feel and I think that that's kind of something that we tried to pride ourselves on to just like, when we were recording, you know, it's like, we want everything to be open, you know, so like, so I, you know, one of the, one of my favorite things that people have said to me, you know, the past is just like, they'll text me and say, I'm driving through West Texas and I put on, you know, lelo, while cars are creeping in, it's like, the perfect background music to this, you know, to this driving out here for the landscape. And so like, that's kind of what why I think that it's like, to me, instead of it being like, Oh, you have to do this, you have to do that. Or it has to be certain sounds like the world, you know, the world's your canvas, and you have the paintbrush, you can paint whatever you want. And so that, like with Rodney and with, with Ross, it's just, you know, they can, you can still get that vibe, and that feeling of what they're wanting to portray in their songs. But it but it doesn't have to, you know, it doesn't sound like contrary or the way it's supposed to, or how some people think that it should sound and so it just comes across as like this. Just completely different sounding, you know, music, which is great.
Thomas Mooney 1:16:21
Yeah, the, I guess like the one thing that people maybe can get wrong about West Texas is that they think of they think that West Texas only sounds like one thing. And there's a lot of different ways to sound like West Texas. Like when I think it was tested. I think of y'all. And I think of like, the same thing for like, explosions in the sky. Yeah, we're, like, another side of West Texas you think of like,
Daniel Fluitt 1:16:52
yeah, or and then like, and then like, Terry, ow, and yeah, buddy, Holly, you know, it's just like, john Williams. I mean, it's just you know, it can be you know, but yeah, you're right, like explosions sky at the drive in Mars. volta. I mean, it's all West Texas, for sure.
Thomas Mooney 1:17:09
Yeah. Even like, I feel like my I think like the perfect Lubbock record, quote, unquote, perfect Lubbock record is tillers by Wade parks. To me. Oh, yeah. Sounds like what specifically what Lubbock sounds like, in my opinion, like the first year I mean, Lubbock songwriter record.
Daniel Fluitt 1:17:30
Yeah, to me, it's like that one. Or of course, Lubbock on everything. Or the dustbowl ballads by Butch Hancock, those three, like, if, like, if I was going to, you know, come to some, you know, somebody from Knoxville is like, Hey, what's the Lubbock? Like, slide here? Listen to those three albums. And that's Lubbock right there, you know? Right?
Thomas Mooney 1:17:53
Yeah. Loving stuff. You've not made one of them yet, but hopefully the next 1806 songwriter stuff. That's, that's Yeah. Hopefully we get one done this year. Yeah, no kidding. Hopefully, in the fall, something like that. Um, there's time, I don't know if there will be time simply because of all if, I don't know, I'm not gonna go on the sidetrack there, but, but if it's gonna fit, because of vessels being moved and everything, but
Daniel Fluitt 1:18:23
right.
Thomas Mooney 1:18:24
When it comes to writing, like, what have you, what have you been doing lately? What have you been? Have you been able to take some time and work on some stuff?
Daniel Fluitt 1:18:34
Yeah, a little bit. Um, so I've just been kind of nothing's can, like, there's a couple of songs that I've finished. And then just kind of coming up with ideas, trying to think of writing in like a bigger picture. So almost like, almost in a, you know, a concept type way, I guess, you know, like having a central theme. And then trying to write a group of songs around that central theme, but still not basically, where you can take all those songs individually and listen to them. And you can come up, you can have your own idea about what the songs are about. But in my mind, this is what you know, this is the theme of the whole thing. So yeah, I've just been trying to, like, come up with some stuff like I've been trying to write about some of my, some of my ancestors, that all you know, kind of grew up in north eastern New Mexico. Just trying to take some of those, like, good stories and everything and trying to turn those into some songs and it's been difficult, but you know, it's just like anything else. You just got to sit down and keep working at it eventually, you know, you'll come up with some stuff too. So I'm excited. I think maybe we can try to record some stuff to go does actually Been working on home recording studio at his place. You know, since he can't play any gigs right now, he's just trying to he's got a pretty sweet little setup. So he can, you know, folks who just need some drums on certain album or whatever can just basically, you know, send those over to him and he can record them in his house. So hopefully we can maybe, you know, sit down and actually get get get some stuff laid down this year, which would be great.
Thomas Mooney 1:20:28
Yeah, of course. Yeah, we need another another thrift store record, or,
Daniel Fluitt 1:20:33
I mean, it's only been 10 years, you know, it's only been seniors.
Thomas Mooney 1:20:37
Yeah. I know, if I just went out here in Lubbock. I could pick 100 people, and like, 100 people would say, Yeah, I need that. Next restore record. So yeah. Yeah, you got, I guess, plenty of time to, to get something done. If we're especially if we're shut down for a while.
Daniel Fluitt 1:20:59
Exactly. You know, so hopefully, we can, you know, get get everything you know, kind of recorded and hopefully, you know, get get some of the Lubbock folks to record on it from there and just kind of send it back and forth and kind of see what we can come up with for sure. So,
yeah, for sure. Hopefully, it
doesn't suck.
Thomas Mooney 1:21:23
Right. Thanks for listening to another episode of new slang, be sure to check out the thrift store cowboys catalog. Check out episode sponsor Smith iron and design and workers jalapeno jelly. We'll see you later this week.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai