175: Croy & The Boys
On Episode 175, I talk with lead vocalist Corey Baum of Austin country outfit Croy & The Boys. Baum and company released Of Course They Do, their latest EP, last month where they blend punk ethos with a lonesome country delivery and warm accents of pedal steel. During this one, we talk about the Quarantine recordings of Of Course They Do, Baum's Midwestern roots, move to Austin, becoming engulfed in Austin's organic country swell, and pull back the curtain on some of the industry's quirks and concerns.
This episode's presenting partner is Desert Door Texas Sotol and The Blue Light Live.
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
Hey y'all Welcome back to New slang. music journalist Thomas Mooney. This is Episode 175. And we're closing down the week with Corey Baum of Croy and the boys. Croy and the Boys just released a new EP on 420 called, of course they do. What they do is pretty cool on this one. It's a bunch of country covers of punk songs. It's amazing how so many of those old punk songs are still so relevant for today, and maybe a little bit more. So, after this past year. During this one, we really had a great conversation about writing about the common man migration patterns within the US, gentrification and abandonment. Cory has done such a stellar job at writing about these problems and these concerns without feeling whiny or preachy, you really don't lose that earnestness in his voice. And we really talked about that, how he channels a lot of that anger and the frustration into the songs. And it's actually kind of amazing how easily it was to transition from the conversation about that into the music industry and how those effects are in culture in the cities. I think our go to examples throughout are consistently Austin in Lubbock, of course, but you can probably relate those to any American city. It's all connected. To quote one of my favorite shows of all time, the wire, all the pieces matter. Today's presenting partner is our pals over at Desert door, Texas SoTL. If you've been listening to new slang for really any amount of time, you'll know that desert door is one of my all time favorite premium, high quality spirits. If you haven't, or aren't sure what exactly a sotol is. I'm going to let you in on a little secret that's going to up the game on your liquor cabinet. For starters, the best reference point that I can point you to is to think about a tequila or a Moscow. Do you feel that Western desert that text is ruggedness? Okay, Soto is like that, but a little bit more refined, smooth and fragrant. It intrigues the palate and offers these hints of vanilla and citrus, there's an earthiness that often sends me right back to my transpac isn't far west Texas roots. There's plenty to love about desert door. For me, it all starts right there. a close second is just how versatile desert door really is. You can go full highbrow and experiment with concocting a variety of cocktails that call for muddling fresh fruit sprigs of time sticks of cinnamon, it's perfect for that world. If you're a little bit more down home, if you've just rolled up sleeves up your denim Wrangler buttoned up, it's perfect for that as well. If you're just designing something that's short and sweet, it hits the mark every time does adore is genuine and authentically West Texan. It's inherently West Texan. They harvest Soto plants out in the wild and are knowledgeable conservationists at heart. That's obviously something incredibly important to me. They shine a light on what makes West Texas special and unique and worth preserving and keeping it safe from exploitation. Right now, you can find desert door all over Texas, Colorado, Tennessee, and there's budding numbers in places like New Mexico, Arizona, California and Georgia. Best thing you can do is to check out desert door.com to find where desert door is locally. Again, that's desert door.com. If this is your first time listening to new slang, be sure to hit that subscribe button. We are available on Apple podcast, Spotify, Google podcasts, amazon music, and wherever you listen to podcasts. Of course, leaving one of those five star reviews goes a long way. So take two seconds out of your day. And do that real quick. If you're wanting even more new slang stuff a great way to support this podcast. My 90s country podcast the neon Eon and journalism in general is to sign up for my Patreon. You can sign up for monthly merge packages, add free episodes, or be part of our postcard club for as little as three bucks a month. Obviously I just mentioned the neon neon that is the 90s country podcast that I do. It's interviews and conversations with and about songwriters, songs, artists, albums and trends of the era. Go and make a pit stop on over at the merch store as well. That would be Newsline podcast dot big cartel.com. Over there. There's plenty of T shirts, coffee mug shot glasses, stickers and so much more. And of course all of these links they will be in the show notes. But yeah, let's just stop the rambling and get on into it. Here's Corey bomb of Croix and the boys.
Yeah, I guess let's start off with just about You know, you guys just released this new EP just a couple. I guess it's about it's it's in the double digit days, but it's like less than two weeks old, I guess now. Yeah, yeah, it is. Yeah. It came on for 20 easy to remember. There you go. So it's coming up on a month, I guess. Yeah, I think like, I don't know, bands and artists probably always have to, like, be that. Thinking that far ahead, like, okay, 420 is on a Friday. We can we can do this record here. Yeah. Make sure you guys record coming. I don't even know if it was a
Corey Baum 5:43
Friday, it actually wasn't. But for me, that was extra. Like, you know, like, breaking all the rules with this release. Punk songs done country released on the wrong day of the week. On an illicit holiday. Yeah,
Thomas Mooney 5:59
yeah. Well, you know, it's kind of like a almost like a record store thing to store day thing where like, you'll have like a special releases of, you know, where it's not on a Friday necessarily.
Corey Baum 6:11
Totally. And it was Tuesday forever, right. I mean, when I was growing up, the new records came out on Tuesdays when when you when I actually went to record stores to buy new releases on CD.
Thomas Mooney 6:21
Yeah, that's what's weird, too, is like, it makes us so much more sense that records would come out on Friday. Right, right. Like we were doing it on Tuesday, and then whenever switched over, like people were like, pissed off about it. Like, some people were like, Tuesday's was like, the best thing. Like, I don't know why we're switching over. It's like, because it just makes so much more sense. Yeah. Yeah. People get paid on Friday. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. And like, I think like, Europe does it on Friday. And they had done it, like, at least the tide for interesting. So I mean, like, it's just one of those things. Yeah. Like, you know, we're still hanging on to, you know, the, the US system as far as inches and pounds and Yeah, totally. Totally, man. Yeah. But, yeah, going back to the the EP, I mean, this is been one of those things where, obviously, this past year, we've been in this quarantine, we've been in COVID. Year. How was it different? Obviously, cutting this EP? Did you guys come across any kind of like, obviously, like, I'm sure there's some things that you guys had to do differently?
Corey Baum 7:38
Oh, man, yeah, there's no comparison between this album and anything I've ever done before. Recording wise. Basically, this, this EP started. Also for during COVID, me and my band were like, completely separated from each other a couple members of the band, specifically live with elderly relatives and stuff. And so they were, you know, out of this, but, you know, some live out in the country and stuff. So they're just like, basically, we're like, I'm not coming into the city. And you only come out here. And so we really didn't see each other, you know, but I'm like a pretty active songwriter. And I just, I was just trying to figure out ways to keep things moving and wanted to stay active with them. And so I basically rented some, like real basic recording gear, you know, I bought a couple microphones, I think I had a gift certificate to Guitar Center. So I bought like an SM 58 or something. Yeah, I bought a 58 and 57. And then rented just real basic, like an audio interface stuff. And basically, everyone else in the band did the same. And so we decided that we're just going to kind of experiment with recording things on our own and sending tracks. So normally, we've gotten into the studio and our, our last two records or our other two records are very, you know, like the, the foundation of that was recorded live bass drums playing live together in the studio, and then you know, overdubbing, some guitar and vocals and other instruments and stuff, but very much like everyone in the studio together working together, captioned stuff live. And so this was a totally different experience. And so that's why Initially, the first thing we recorded was the song that's sort of the title track which is a cover by the band crass with a song called a DDoS living and basically I was just had been I had a fun time reworking that song on my own and then I wanted to work on the recording project with the band and see how it turned out and I didn't really want to waste any my my original songs on like this drawn out recording process if it didn't really work out, you know, so I didn't really have any intention of like releasing a crass cover. To be honest with you, I just thought it'd be a fun way for us to like, you know, just kind of stay creating with each other from afar. And so I recorded the guitar and vocals to a click track. And then I sent it to our drummer, and he recorded drums and then send it to our bass player. And she we call her analog Amy, so she has someone help her record her bass because she wasn't trying to deal with that. And then, yeah, and then, you know, Joe put his, uh, his accordion on it, and then had some other friends. A friend. Simon page plays pedal steel on it, and his solos amazing, his parts are great. He, he also plays with David Ramirez and Jonathan Terrell. And then my friend Doug wall, Seth, who plays with JD Clark here in town, most of the people will cope. So I was just kind of centered around it just for fun. And then it all came back. And I was like, Well, shit, this sounds great to me, unexpectedly. So I sent it to the dude who mixed our last record. And, you know, it was nice, because we had just been a, I spent a long time on our last record, howdy hi rise, partly because I had a kid, like right after we finished recording it. And so it just took me a long time to like, you know, I just was only able to work on it like, just sporadically throughout the course, like seven months, but so I spent like a ton of time with the mixer. This guy, Joel Hume down in South Austin. And I feel like we really got on the same page. So it was nice when it came to mix this, you know, I had him down there. And I already knew we were really on the same page about kind of what I like my stuff to sound like. So I didn't really have to, you know, so I just send it to him. And we were able to really get it dialed in just via email, which can be a pain in the ass if you're like starting from scratch with somebody, I think. Yeah. But, uh, but yeah, so that song just came back, I was like, well, this sounds good to me, you know, and I really enjoyed the kind of creative process of like, flipping what was, you know, such a kind of aggressive Kung punk song, and making it kind of more my vibe. And so I just, you know, kind of made a list of like, 10 or 15, other punk songs that I liked that kind of had, you know, I kind of wanted to keep it in the political realm. So I was just kind of choosing songs and made statements that I liked. And I was just trying to work out arrangements. And when I came up with an idea that I thought worked, I started the process over again, you know, and recorded myself with guitar to a click track, and then sent it off and just kind of did it track by track, one at a time. And at some point, I think I was just, you know, bored, bored of it ready to move on. So that was to that was done.
Thomas Mooney 12:40
Yeah, what I've kind of compared to recording right now, in this past year has been like, recording in space, you know, what I mean? Like, everyone's in their little pods, and, you know, you're, especially if you're, obviously, you've cut some records, and but that's obviously in the studio, and like, you've had other people being the the engineers, and, you know, all the stuff that you don't, I guess, like the average person doesn't really think about, and then, you know, you're essentially kind of making a bedroom record, but in like, four or five, six different bedrooms, and like, it's all like your, you know, I've heard like, someone a couple episodes back, explain, like, she was being explained how to set up mics over zoom over, like a FaceTime. And that's to me, like Mission Control, like, you know, calling back the Apollo mission trying to, like, explain, make what did like the Apollo 13 they needed, like an air filter or something like that?
Unknown Speaker 13:47
thing, right? And totally, totally, yeah, man,
Thomas Mooney 13:50
I find that to be really, really interesting, as far as, you know, not necessarily complicating the recording process, but doing it. And what I find really cool with this past EP that y'all put out is, is, is adding that element of taking those punk songs and making it something very unique and specific, where, you know, it's not necessarily all the songs that that are, you know, going to be on the next coin, the boys record fully making its own unique special thing. But in that totally on the parameters, if you will,
Corey Baum 14:31
Totally, yeah, that's definitely was the idea, I think, Yeah, that'll just be it's just gonna be its own little thing that, you know, it's like a weird year. So weird record, you know, makes sense to me. But yeah, I mean, totally. I was on YouTube, you know, YouTube being like, how to set mics on what you know, watching how they set mics on amplifiers and figuring out Yeah, figured out that kind of stuff. There's definitely a learning curve. You know, I basically had never, I mean, I have like a 12 year old laptop with GarageBand on it. So I was just You know, just did it all with that and just yeah, pretty basic. I mean, there's ups and downs to that, you know, I mean, obviously, I had some frustration. I'm not like a super tech savvy dude. So I was like, I had moments where I was like, This is why I pay somebody normally, cuz I don't feel like fucking doing this. But then there are other moments like, specifically, I'd say, Joe cornetti, who plays keys and accordion and stuff, I think he produced some really creative parts for a number of the songs. And it's stuff that I think when all of us are in the studio staring at him, and when there's like, kind of money on the line. I don't think he would have come up with that he wouldn't have given himself the time and space to come up with that stuff. And so I feel like he really especially kind of he, like kind of used the process to his advantage by kind of taking advantage of the Yeah, just being alone, having time to kind of experiment and do weird things.
Thomas Mooney 15:57
Yeah, well, I mean, Necessity is the mother of invention, right? Totally. So it's, it's weird how like, you can set up, like those parameters and the the limitations, but then like, it opens up other doors, where it's like, oh, well, there's all this free space over here that we can try other things. Oh, I didn't know we could do,
Corey Baum 16:17
right. I mean, I think anyone that works in a genre, like country music appreciates that kind of mentality. You know, to me, I mean, anytime you work in a genre like that, that's, you're embracing a number of kind of parameters already. Right. So,
Thomas Mooney 16:35
yeah, so one of the things that I've always been drawn to, when it comes to your writing is been your ability to really have like that, you know, your your finger on the pulse as far as writing about the gentrification of Austin. And obviously, like, that's anywhere, really, but specifically, I mean, like, Austin's kind of the epicenter of gentrification, and, like, you know, just driving out blue collar neighborhoods, and putting up high rises, and all that kind of stuff. I feel like you've probably done as bad as good a job as anyone these past, you know, 10 years or so five years. As far as is writing about those actual feelings of, you know, austinites, even though you you, you yourself, aren't a native, right. So, yeah, yeah, like, what, what's it been, like, I guess is like, you know, you kind of write about what you know, and you kind of write about, like, what is around you? How was it? I guess, like falling into not trying to pigeonhole you here, but like, as far as, you know, really? Finding like, finding that voice finding those stories.
Corey Baum 17:55
Yeah. Well, I mean, I think you said it's like, I really tried to, yeah, wrote about what I what I know what's all around me, and I guess what's, what seems like truth to me. And so yeah, like you said, I'm from Ohio. Originally, I moved to Austin, Texas. 13 years ago, I think, would be 13 years this summer. So you know, I've been out here a while. But I'm coming from the Midwest, you know, I kind of I grew up in like, kind of, once the effects of like deindustrialization of, of the Rust Belt really started to like, be filled kind of everywhere, you know, from Northwest Ohio, from a college town called Bowling Green, Ohio, right outside Toledo, which is near Detroit. And so, yeah, it was an area where, you know, had like this really robust working class, you know, we're working class people made really good had good jobs, they could be proud of where they made really good money. And, you know, they could own a boat, and they could own a lake house, and they could, you know, it's like, whatever that American Dream supposed to be. It's like, I feel like people were attained working class people were attaining that in the Midwest throughout like the beginning of the 20th century. And then by the time I came of age, all that have gone away those those good jobs had left. And there's a lot of, I think, anger and resentment. I mean, it's like, those, those parts of the, you know, those cities aren't attractive to look at lots of abandoned stuff. So I think I had all that inside of me. And it's funny because I kind of wanted to get away from all that, you know, and that's kind of one of the things that took me so far away from home all the way down to Texas. So it wasn't just being attracted to country music. It was like, trying to get to a place where things were a little bit better. But not knowing much about Texas and Texas identity and how proud people are down here. You know, I thought I just kind of slide in and be you know, it's like shit, I'll put on a cowboy hat and dia you know, be a Texan. country singer and very quickly learned that I was not going to be the case that no one was ever going to let me forget where I was from. But I wasn't from down here. But you know what, I'm so happy for that. Because I think that that ended up kind of directing. You know, what I ended up what I write about now, which is like, it kept basically what I'm saying is, it kept me honest, you know what I mean? Like, I was lucky enough to fall in with a lot of Texans, and texting musicians. And I think they've, they're some of the ones that really are responsible for keeping me honest, you know, not letting me try to write some things about some stuff that I don't really think about, you know, and try to, I guess, come across some not so. So, so yeah, I think kind of just paying attention to what's going on around me that that takes me back to my, you know, my whole life, there's weird things happening, change in the air in the Midwest growing up. And so, uh, you know, come down to Austin, Texas, and, uh, turns out the stuffs happening everywhere. So just watch the changes around here as well. Yeah, I guess. I get no, sorry. Go ahead. Well, I think I was just joking with actually, Casey, the drummer in my band, because he's, I think he's reading a book about art and creativity or about the artistic process or something. And he said, he got to this chapter about how to turn anger into art. And I was like, Yeah, man. I'm very, very familiar with that technique. I think, like, when I was a younger person, I think I was born inclined to write when I was sad, or upset about things. And I think as I've gotten older, I've been more inclined to write when I'm kind of angry about things. And I think I really appreciate how kind of the country music forum. I really appreciate country music because I think it's a it's a great way to for me, it's been a great way for me to vent my anger and frustration and things in a way that isn't aggressive and, and violent or anything like that, you know, it's like a country music is calming and soothing. And I like kind of walking that line of like, being able to express anger and feel angry, but uh, you know, throughout the course of like, one of my own songs, I kind of find myself relaxed by the end of it.
Thomas Mooney 22:05
Yeah, well, I mean, it's, it's kind of the thing that people always talk about, as far as you know, singer songwriters go from being a punk band, being in an alt country band just because, you know, you can't live like that forever. Yeah, you know, it's it's the whole thing like, you know, how many like 40 year old punk guys do you know that? You know, that you can ride but you still believe you know, right? Totally. That or I hate to use the term like washed up or like, you know, anything like that. But there's there's that aspect of it. This episode of new slang is brought to you by the blue light live here in Lubbock, Texas. Blue Light has long been the heart and soul of the Lubbock singer songwriter scene, and has been a home away from home for some of Texas Americana, country and rock and roll's finest over the years. Talk with 99.9% of the Songwriters who have come out of Lubbock and the panhandle at large over the past 20 years. And they'll point to just how integral and necessary the blue light is, with live music and touring slowly but surely coming back spots like the blue light or getting back to their usual ways as well. That means music every night of the week. Do you want to see that schedule? Well, I've got a few options for you. One, go to their socials and give them a follow that is at blue light live on Twitter, at the blue light live on Instagram. And of course, by just searching the blue black live on Facebook. They're consistently posting that week's lineup of shows as well as those heavy hitters that ought to be on your calendar that are coming up on the horizon. To check out blue light lubbock.com as well. There they have the full schedule, the cover charges, time, any of those specials that may be happening while they're go check out their merge page. They have a wide range of hats, koozies, hoodies, sweaters, beanies, jackets, and so much more. You can of course get all of your merchant age, when you go see your favorite band, take the stage at blue light, just ask the bartender and they will get you all set. Speaking of which, that's another great way of seeing who's playing there. Just go to the blue light. It's at 1806 Buddy Holly Avenue here in Lubbock, Texas. And of course, again, that is blue light, loving, calm. I'll throw a link into the show notes to maybe I'll see you there. Okay, let's get back to the show.
Okay, so I find is there is there any kind of and this is just, you know, I'm not like an expert by any stretch. But of course, like you know, we've seen plenty of stuff on the rust belt. The cities like Detroit And yeah, like St. Louis, and where they've just basically been abandoned in a lot of ways, right? Like there's been people moving away from cities like that. Do you think that like people around they're like, there, there isn't like the gentrification as much? I'm assuming there's not like a bunch of it's not, it's not necessarily cool to live in Detroit now. Right? Yeah, in the same way that like, maybe Austin, obviously, is where you're getting a bunch of people from California or just in other states in general. Do you think there is like this? You know, do you think that like, maybe some of that progress would be beneficial? The, the, in some of these cities, even though, like there's, in some of these Rust Belt cities, you think, like, Is there like I do? Yeah, let's see aspects of like, Well, you know, we would actually kind of take some of those Starbucks on every corner for the white washing place.
Corey Baum 26:07
No, I think I mean, I think, I think the important thing is, so I do think Detroit is experiencing some of that. I don't know if it's like, I mean, obviously, like, kind of the word got out, like, you know, six years ago, or seven years, or whatever the houses were selling for, like 10 grand in Detroit and stuff. So I think that attracted a lot of out of state, and that a city investment. I mean, Detroit, never, I don't think Detroit will ever be able to grow to what it was, you know, it was like the third biggest city in the country, I think at one point, and now it's got, like, I don't even know, a million people, half a million people or something. It's it's, its population has declined so much. I don't think it can ever, like whatever grow to that. But um, I think there's a difference between like growth, just kind of mindless development and growth, which is what I feel like Austin has going on, and what the ideal would be, which would be like, inclusive growth, you know, I mean, nobody got nobody wants to live in a high crime neighborhood. Nobody wants to live in a city that's like falling apart, that doesn't have services that doesn't have, you know, people want parks, people want people want the app, people want access to nice things and like a decent life anywhere. But uh, I think the way that Austin's growth is happening is that is taking those people that have been, you know, kind of left behind in specific neighborhoods around Austin, and just moving them fully out of the city. It's not elevating those people or making their lives better. It's, it's just saying, you know, we actually need that part of the town now, too. So y'all go, you know, so? I mean, I think, no, I would not wish what's happened in Austin on Detroit, I would love for Detroit to have some sort of rebound and Renaissance, but I would definitely want it to be an inclusive one that elevates the people that have lived in Detroit their whole lives, you know,
Thomas Mooney 27:52
right. Well, it's one of those things where obviously, like, both are bad, both both are like, right, great directions. But I wonder if, like, if there's even just like, a little if it's just slightly better. I don't even know. Like, I was just thinking about that. When you as you were talking about, you know, the Yeah. All these people going away. That's the same thing. I can't remember who it was. It may have been something as dumb as like a tick tock video talking about islands. But yeah, as far as like St. Louis, like, you would not recognize that skyline unless it was the with the arch there. Right. Like the you know, the arch was built whenever St. Louis was like, one of those top 10 populous America and the way to the worst. Yeah, like, that's the same kind of, it's probably it doesn't have like the same story as Detroit or like, any of these Michigan towns as far as, you know, the automotive business going out. But St. Louis was, you know, a place at one time. And of course, now it's the, it's dwindling in, in in numbers, I think like you can, this is maybe like, the easiest way to see where population is moving, is look at all like the professional teams that used to be in these cities and like, right, they all leave. Right? But you know, it's, it's, it's it's thing, I find like the whole, like, progress thing, like, you know, quote, unquote, for the sake of progress, sometimes such a, it's so weird because like here in Lubbock, clearly we're not getting the same thing that's happening in Austin, but right, you'll see like little pockets of neighborhoods, you know, kind of disappear. And then oh, there's some new, nice apartments right across from the campus or whatever the case. What's weird out here is like, obviously, there's just so much more land that's just used to be like cotton fields, or maybe are currently cotton fields and they're getting bought up for houses and everything outside of town just looks like a Dallas. You know It looks like Frisco basically. Yeah, man. Yeah. Yeah. Just every, you know, family that you need. And yeah, a new target and etc.
Corey Baum 30:12
Oh, yeah, man. I mean, well, the people that call that kind of stuff progress man, that's a specific. There's a specific type of person with a specific point of view, you know what I mean? So I feel like oftentimes, they try to push it to like, we're just talking about progress in some sort of objective. general sense. But that's not true. You know, that's like a, that's a very much perspective thing. So I don't share those people's perspective on calling that kind of stuff progress. You know, I mean, in front to bring it back to music, it's like you see it. I mean, one of the things I think about all the time when I'm on the road is like, would it have been like the tour, back in the day, before? Every single interstate looked exactly the same no matter where you're at? You know what I mean? It doesn't matter if you're in Brownsville, Texas, or if you're new, or in Portland, Maine, it's like, if you're on the highway crews, and you see the exact same, you know, 15 corporate businesses, and that's it, like you wouldn't know where you're at. And that's the type of progress they're talking about. It's like, Man, you know, I would have loved to have seen the country 50 years ago when it was a you know, everywhere. There's regional regional stuff happening everywhere, you know, and traveling really felt different. Felt like you're somewhere else. Yeah. Well,
Unknown Speaker 31:22
that's the
Thomas Mooney 31:24
a great way to like, look at that stuff is go look at old postcards. be totally like this is this sounds so strange, but like, you could buy postcards of whatever motel whatever, like unique motel was totally in town. And it was not necessarily unique. It was just like a mom and pops there. There's their motel. Yeah. And now like, no one's gonna buy like, you know, a motel six. Well, let me
Corey Baum 31:51
let me tell you, there's uh, so yeah, Bowling Green, Ohio, where I'm from, there's like a little general store downtown called Ben Franklin's. And remember, when the Walmart came in, they were really, really concerned that they had, you know, they launched this campaign. And it's, you know, it's a conservative Leone's you know, business, it's like not they're not liberal by any means. But they were very concerned with the Walmart, and I guess they had, you know, they put up they got stuff written in the paper about how Walmart, like, at that time, was literally, you know, would come in and see what they were selling and make sure that they were carrying it out at the Walmart for cheaper. And so the city kind of rallied behind Ben Franklin's and it's still there, you know, we still support that local business and we still have a Walmart at Walmart have since become a mega Walmart or whatever. But uh, Ben Franklin's is still there. But all that to say that Ben Franklin's has the last time I was up there few years ago. They have a little kiosk thing with Yeah, postcards, like you're saying there's like a, you know, like, there's this house that used to be a windmill. And so they have a picture of the windmill house, you know, we're the county seats, they got a picture of they got a postcard with the courthouse in it. And they got a picture. They got a postcard with like the fairgrounds, and I'm not joking with you. The last time I was up there, they had a postcard of our Panera Bread. Panera Bread moved in downtown like it used to be a local cafe deli. Now it's Panera and so they didn't even miss a beat. They just got postcards you can buy the bowling green Panera on a postcard so the inclination to celebrate you know it's a people still people still want something to feel special to them and they still want to celebrate that and it's sad that it's all been kind of just taken away and turned into the same will shoot everywhere. But yeah, next time I'll send you a postcard from the bowling Griffin era.
Thomas Mooney 33:47
That right there for a minute I was looking at old postcards and trying to get some bought but a fort Stockton have just like the old Yeah, the old different motels because like their signs were just so fucking cool. And it's totally man. Yeah, it's it's a different America as far as like that American dream, where it's like, you know, what I think is like all these people were probably going to the Grand Canyon. And yeah, have the SOP and Fort Stockton at the roadside motel with the the swimming pool and the air conditioning and totally whatever the case is, I guess cable TV was not around back then. But it was right. It's one of those things where you kind of got like shit I had do not remember grasping this screen in Fort Stockton. But I guess like, whatever the cases, whatever they had to do,
Corey Baum 34:41
right, man and you know that and that stuff has broader implications for where our economy's at today, because it's like every single one of those locally owned business that represents a person who is a business owner. That's been replaced by someone who's a manager, you know what I mean? And that's a lower pay scale. And then All those local business owners when they make money, they reinvest that money into their own communities, you know what I mean? And they pay for parks and they like pay for t ball leagues and all this stuff. And you basically centralize all those business owners in like, LA and New York or wherever, like a corporate headquarters is of like, motel six, something like that, you know what I mean? It's like, same with gas stations, all this stuff, like, these were all opportunities for local people to own businesses. And that helped them achieve, you know, the middle class American dream and benefits the whole benefit of the whole community. And one by one, it's like these industries of all, you know, that's just kind of a trend, I would say. But um,
Thomas Mooney 35:39
yeah, I think that you can, and I made this point early on during the last year, whenever, all of a sudden, you know, we're at a toilet paper, we're out of like, whatever, paper goods in general, all this kind of stuff. It's like, Oh, it's because everything's, you know, centralized as we're all going to Walmart or whatever, right, you know, corporate place. That's the super center. Right. And if, if there was a little bit more of an embrace of regionalism, I don't think those problems would have been nearly as as bad or as drastic, like, we wouldn't have had the shortages. Yeah, I agree with that. Yeah. And you can see that, and as far as you mentioned, the gas. You can see that in radio. And that's been one of the big things that with the other podcast, I do the neon Eon everyone's mentioned, like the the Telecommunications Act of like, 96. Because that made like, where corporate radio would become something where now it's like, top 40 radio is programmed by, you know, way less guys, way less people. And so that's why everything sounds the same now.
Corey Baum 36:50
No kidding. Yeah. Is that when they I know is that when they weekend, all the signals?
Thomas Mooney 36:56
I'm not sure about the weaker side of it. But it's like where basically it's where we get like I Heart Radio, like buying these radio and I there's obviously other right? names of places I don't even know. Because I know, I know, there was also the radio stations used to be a lot stronger. And that's why you could like, you know, like, people, whatever. There's
Corey Baum 37:15
like people in Chicago who were like, Texas Rangers fans, because they'd get like Texas Ranger, radio and stuff, you know, like, way back in the day. But yeah, at some point, basically, just to create more advertising markets, they advertise, you're able to lobby and get the radio stations to have weaker frequencies so that you have more radio stations, but just for more advertising, you know, I think it was pre that 1996 you're talking about?
Thomas Mooney 37:42
That's another thing. That's the thing, like as far as the radio, like the weakening of the stations. Yeah, there's obviously like there's if you ask your grandparents now like, obviously like mine, here in Texas forever, but they could pick up those stations in Chicago and then like, Guys like the Wolfman jack. Just just gonna say yeah, the Terry Allen song. Yeah, yeah. Like that. Obviously, like I was in. I'm blanking on the duck Del Rio. Yeah. Del Rio. Yeah. But yeah. Yeah. The, And that, to me, like that's, that shows like, people were seeking out those that music and, you know, that's a help create rock and roll, if you will, in a lot of ways, is like, exposed to music that was being played elsewhere. what's what's interesting about the Telecommunications Act thing, though, is I've heard it talked about, specifically with country the most. And probably like, two months ago, three months ago, I was on clubhouse. And I went into this room, they're talking about hip hop. And it was like, they were, I don't know, if they do it nearly as much. But like, basically, like, a couple times a week, they'd have like a subject about hip hop. And there'd be like, a bunch of people listening. And like five or six people talking. And two or three times, tell him the Telecommunications Act of 96 was was brought up. And it was like about hip hop, radio stations, becoming less diverse, and just sounding the same. Where now like, I guess, like, their whole point was like, how New York sounded like New York and Baltimore sounded like Baltimore and Atlanta, right? And if you think about it, it's like, oh, shit like that. It's, uh, it affected like, basically every kind of genre. I'm sure that's what happened. That's probably why we don't have nearly as many what I would consider like, rock and roll bands, like they're all like rock pop, rock. Pop. Yes. Yeah. or whatever the case. I don't know. It's a lot more. Totally effective than or affecting it affected. music in general, I guess you know, big time, man.
Corey Baum 39:59
I mean, that's, you know, the The internet has a big impact on that, too. I think I don't, I don't really know. You know, as a music fan, it's kind of pretty, like voracious music fan. Like, I really like to listen to a lot of stuff, a lot of new stuff. So it's, like, really appreciative to live in the internet age and have access to all this stuff. But certainly, I don't really always know. I mean, like, you have access to all of it. But like, at least on Spotify, so often, I always want to listen to the same stuff over and over and over again, cuz I can't think of what else to look up, you know, and like, I feel like the radio is a good way to just kind of have your mind blown on something you never would have thought to search, you know, right, Spotify, so I guess some like radio stuff, I still I'm still like, a bit of a Luddite when it comes to like, I just feel like there's got to be something like the human touch, you know, I mean, the human touch of a DJ, kind of picking what's going to become a next versus like, a Spotify algorithm that just like, is kind of quantify quantizing my interests into like, zeros and ones, you know what I mean? Like, just feels, there's got to be something different there.
Thomas Mooney 41:04
With our product. That's something interesting, right? There is. I think that people love Spotify, because they think it's, you have more freewill on what you're listening to. Right. I think like, that's not the case at all. Like, people act like Oh, man, like it's, you have access to all this music, and then you're able to play what you want. And you know, you're able to create your own playlists, and yada, yada, you can find playlists to follow, yada, yada, yada, all that kind of stuff. And I'm like, dude, I think like, just like the perception of freewill. Like, you can kind of like you're still listening to whatever genre you're wanting to or whatever. Yeah, what you're being thrown is like the stuff that they see as popular. Or you know what I mean? Oh, no, you know,
Corey Baum 41:55
so you know, that song. Um, I found someone of my own by Cal Smith. Ever heard this? So I, uh, yeah, basically, a friend of mine. messaged me is like, man, I just heard this song. I feel like you'd sound good singing it and send it to me. I listened to it as well. I loved the song. Yeah. And we cover it now. But in the course of like, a week and a half, like four or five people send me that song. And I was like, What a weird coincidence that all these people are just heard the song and thought of me. And then it just occurred to me, it's like, oh, Spotify, that just most of the popped into one algorithm on Spotify. Like, a whole bunch of people around me just wound up hearing it in the same week or whatever. You know what I mean? Yeah, to your point, it's like, yeah, someone made a decision on I think putting that stuff in, or system, whatever, some algorithm,
Thomas Mooney 42:47
you can see, like, you know, like the, what's, what's crazy is like, there used to, like, there's clearly still radio promoters out there in the world who are doing Sure. And sure Song pluggers in that capacity, but, you know, now like, there's that Spotify, or the playlist plugger basically, yeah, see? Where? So I kind of think like the radio plugger the radio. I think that's kind of like a made up job. Yeah. Even though like people like there's probably some. I don't know, whatever. I feel like it's, it's big here in Texas country. Totally. Yeah. You know, you I hate to say pay for play, but you're paying the radio plugger to promote whatever song and to me, it's like, that was the DJs job. I thought like, yeah, the DJ pick out.
Corey Baum 43:41
Yeah, someone without much money that sure feels like pay to play to me. I definitely. Yeah, I've never been able to afford a radio person.
Thomas Mooney 43:49
But like, that's basically happening on Spotify as well. Totally. Yeah. And yeah. I don't think like people think of it think that they're doing the exact same thing, but in a lot of ways is it is but you know, I don't know. Like I always felt like that was just kind of like the DJs job or the the journalists job or the whatever the case like the PR firm, like, we just created like a different kind of PR. Right? But I digress. I want to break one more time to talk about our pals over at Desert door and offer up a quick Thomas Mooney, cocktail minute, as I've said probably 100 times by now, by no means am I a seasoned mixologist or bartender, but these have been some of my desert door go twos. For starters, let's just go with the tried and true range water. pop the top off the topo Chico. Take a good swig. Now pour in some desert door and top it off by throwing in a few lime wedges never fails. This one. It's so simple. It probably doesn't even count. But again, pretty foolproof. do the exact same thing but get you a Mexican Coca Cola. I guess you can go with a regular one, but you're really cutting yourself short if you don't opt for the Mexican import variety. Alright, here's the change up you've been waiting for desert door sangria. This one is prime for when you have company coming over and you aren't wanting to just be over there making six different drinks at a time. What you'll need is some desert door. Obviously, a bottle of red wine, honey, boiling water, apple cider, apple cider vinegar, some cinnamon sticks, a couple of apples in some time sprigs. I know that may sound intimidating, but trust me, it's worth the prep. And honestly, it's pretty easy. For starters, get you a Punchbowl, add that honey, those cinnamon sticks and the boiling water together. Now you're going to want to stir that all up and let it cool down for about an hour. So remember, patience is a virtue. Once that's done at some desert door and stir vigorously. Now add the one the cider and the vinegar and continue stirring until it's equally mixed. Now slice those apples up and toss them in. Put in those time sprigs as well. Now you can pour that over some ice and you have a modified sangria chef's kiss. Anyway, those have been some of my favorite go twos as of late. And remember, desert door is as versatile as vodka and more refined, smooth, complex and intriguing than tequila. It's rich and balanced. And whether you decide to keep it simple or want to experiment. Desert door is that perfect Texas spirit. There's plenty more recipes over at Desert door.com as well check out the show notes for a link. Alright, let's get back to the episode.
Corey Baum 46:54
Yeah, well, that was those were? I mean, yeah, totally. Man, those are kind of those are, this is all like eye opening stuff for me, just in the last few years now to me, I've been doing music forever. But in a very amateur way, you know, when I was like just kind of home recording and releasing stuff online here and there under different aliases and names. And I kind of still had this idea. And I think I think the general public very much had this idea that, um, you know, you but things are still like kind of meritocratic, right? Like, stuff gets on the radio, because it's good enough and stuff gets written about because it's good enough. And like, there's this, whatever this web of like journalists and DJs who are passionately involved in playing what they like, and that stuff does exist, of course. And that's one place where I think the internet is proving to be a little, you know, return to some of that, you know, journalists being able to go on substack and stuff and, you know, give me country like, you know, is allowing DJs and journalists to kind of just, you know, are you doing a podcast, you know, getting, you know, you get to do your own thing. But I wrote my first album, hey, comeback was the first time I'd ever worked with a publicist. And it was like this really weird disillusioning. I actually thought that, um, I didn't think that the job was getting done correctly. Because basically the first few things we got. Were just like, the press release, basically, rewritten as a blog post, you know, the name Oh, no,
Thomas Mooney 48:24
that's my number one thing I hate right there.
Corey Baum 48:27
And so I was like, looking at like, my publicist, like, these have been real like, are you like scamming me like making me feel like I got pressed when they're just like report. And then I realize like, that's the game you know, like so much of this is just like hiring somebody that has the connections and then the you know, the quote unquote journalist is just like literally just kind of rephrasing whatever press release they got about it, you know, and I mean, it's just, it's Yeah, music is business. It's big business knows
Thomas Mooney 48:57
what the the just the copy paste of the press release is like the number one thing I hate as Internet journalism goes, totally. And the more you more you're around it, the more you can see it right away. Right? Yeah. Well, you know, that's one of the things that I always think that's just kind of like one of those. Okay, so hypothetically, you have a publicist, that publicist writes that press release, sends it and you get a write up in whatever place whatever website and it's they do the copy paste job? Well, it's like, they will share that post like it's, you know, the best thing since sliced bread, the invention, but it's like, dude, we all got that same press release, like, right? Like, what do you know? Well, you know, yeah, one of the things that they wanted, what a lot of press and obviously like a lot of PR people are, you know, I'm dealing with a lot of PR people and and There's a lot of great ones out there. But you know, like, what they kind of want you to do is they want you to copy paste, whatever that is into that spot. So then you can quote that website. And like you wrote your own quote, yeah. Where it's like Rolling Stone said this about Yeah, man. Yes. And it was like what was actually written by us? And yeah, just update the the press release. Yeah, I know. Yeah. Yeah, it's a funny, funny game did. Yeah, there was something else that you'd mentioned there that I was wanting to comment on. Now. It's, it's a, the the copy paste job thing. took it over. But it's, I don't know what it was gonna be about. Oh, well, I know what it was. I know what it was. Yeah. So one of my buddies. He often talks about, like, how, you know, we hear in Texas, we have our own little radio charts and all that stuff. And every one time there was a couple of them running around where, you know, the I guess like, the reason why you do the pay to play or the you get a radio promoter is so you can get as many like number one hits on the whatever, Texas chart. My one of my buddies always mentioned how in this is the same thing with like, billboard, you can only be on, I guess, like, technically on Billboard. Once the song hits number one, they're probably not really promoting that song anyways, anymore. But yeah, so like, you know, they're just putting it on to the next the next single, but on like the Texas charts, you could only be on for, like, the charts for like, 20 weeks or something like that. So, and then, and then they pull you off? Yeah, like, whatever recipe to like, that's what it was. And I was like, you can still be played, but like, right, right? You're not just gonna be on the chart. So like, his whole point was like, you know, okay, so they do the list, one through 100 or one through 75. Right, if they took that 20 song, or that 20 week limit off or whatever it is. 25 it'd be all George Strait. Well, yeah, that's the point. It's like, how do you like Pat green song? So just be charting forever, because I always played on Texas radio. Yeah. Robert. Earl Kane. Exactly. Yeah. And I it's funny, I didn't know that. Yeah. You know, like, you may not hit, you know, like, road goes on forever. may not be like the number one song for the last 30 years. But maybe charting in the 30s right now. Totally. Yeah, totally did. Yeah. No question. Yeah.
Corey Baum 52:38
That's really funny, man. That's interesting. Yeah. Yeah, this is the kind of stuff that I'm, I'm glad we're talking about this because I really I don't feel any need to like, I wish this stuff was more transparent for listeners and stuff. You know, I get why it's not because I think it's like a helpful marketing tool for people to be like, we did this and we got this and we're doing this but like, I'm all about transparency with my with my little audience, my little crowd. I like, I like keeping it real. You know what I mean? I like I post about albums. I'm like, I talk about real numbers, how much we're spending on stuff. You know what I mean? I don't like to keep any illusions by an entanglement. So I think it's important to understand what's exactly going on, you know, right now we're talking about this. I
Thomas Mooney 53:18
think it is too, and I think they're like there's, you know, a part of me thinks like some of this, if I was like focus focusing on this, like, all the time, it would just be exhausting. And like, I'm just like, let me just talk about like, the stuff I like, instead of, you know, the criticisms of everything in this scene. But you know, it every once in a while, it's fun to just kind of pull the curtain back and go. Why are we playing this game guys? Like?
Corey Baum 53:46
Well, for me, it was good to learn about it all because I decided that I'm not gonna play that game. Right? I don't care. It's like, I'll never have the money to compete on that level. Like, if that's what it comes down to, you know, I don't have any money. Like a just a working dad. So it's like, I can't compete on this level. So but that's freed me kind of creative. You know, that's where like, an album like how the high rise and especially this new one, hey, come I mean, of course they do come from this like well, if I'm not ever going to be able to compete in that anyways, I might as well really just do exactly what I want to do you know, and spend the money where I where I want to spend it you know, on a music video or on a fun photo shoot or something then on a radio person because whatever, I can't compete with some of these other people that have oil money in their family or whatever.
Thomas Mooney 54:37
bankroll on this stuff, you know, the rich uncle to help you get that first record out, you know, that. That was for the second and third, you know, that was a big thing, I think in the 80s and 90s. Especially, but, you know, I think like it's also helped create as far as like tapping out of the game or like just decided not to be in that room. As you mentioned. that's helped, like create a, you know, a little bit of an underbelly of a culture subculture, if you will, that may be not isn't, you know, ever going to be played on top 40 or that top layer of culture run Texas and I'm talking specifically about Texas or country now, but sure it's created, you know, these very, you know, diehard I think these fans a little bit more diehard in a lot of ways. Yeah. Man passionate, a little bit more invested in these little pockets of you know, Texas or country in general. Man, yeah, great until see the regionalism in those places. I think like, like, clearly there's still really great stuff happening down around Austin.
Corey Baum 55:45
Yeah, yeah, totally. Yeah, exactly. We have a I mean, I was not, you know, not being from Texas. It's like, when I moved down here, I had I was ignorant of Texas country, you know, or red dirt. I'd never heard those terms. I didn't understand that Texas country was genre. You know, and I knew like some Robert L. Keane. I knew some Pat green, like the hits and stuff. But I definitely didn't know about the culture and the whole, the whole world. And so I was making music in Austin, kind of doing what I consider to be talking about country music for a couple years before I really even started getting hip to that all that stuff. So, yeah, there's definitely it's another, like kind of countercultural thing happening. Right, some and people are really starting to grow out of it, you know, like, you know, I think this is Neil Emerson comes more from that world than from the Texas country scene, you know, and he's doing great or there's a dude Nick shoulders, you know, I feel like these are people that are really starting to amass you know, Charlie Crockett, of course, you know, like, those dudes are kind of tiptoe around the Texas country world without doing the straight up just like, you know, circuit.
Thomas Mooney 56:51
Yeah, well, it's this, like, Texas country is such a loaded word. Because there's been times there's plenty of times where I just want to say like a band is from Texas, and they play country and country and then go like, No, I can't do it that way. Man from Texas, or, like, whatever city it is later. Because, you know, people are just going to automatically think it's, you know, Pat green kind of Texas country. And of course, like, you know, I grew up on Pat green. And I think like, that's, there's something very, very specifically good about that kind of music. And that, like, there's plenty of stuff like you kind of go Okay, well, it's not as deep as the vincit. Neil Emerson's of the world, if you will. Yeah. I'm super excited to see what he's got coming up next. As far as his new record with i can't i can't wait for the riding crawl. Yeah. Because like, yeah, clearly, like the Rodney crowl producing. Yeah, that guy right there. Like, as far as like the, if you go back and look at those 80s guys, from Texas, the ronnie crowds and the Steve rolls and stuff like that. The Robber O'Kane, they were, you know, just considered country music. Even though they weren't, you know, they were kind of being pushed out of Nashville, because they didn't sound like radio. Country, right. You know, but I think that's like, still like the backbone of like, country music coming out of Texas, is people who grew up on that kind of music, or were influenced or inspired, and then are doing their own thing. Like, you know, you mentioned the it's like the mic in the moon pies. Those kind of guys. All kind of just the guarantee caps of the world. Yeah. Totally. Yeah, man. So, obviously, you know, you mentioned being down in Austin for a while now, a decade Plus, I always wonder about, do you do you know that like, you're in the middle of like, a, you know, a Renaissance, if you will, in music while it's happening? Or does it is it only later where you're like, oh, that was some good old days as far as I was coming out
Corey Baum 59:12
and speak for anyone else or anything else, but I feel like I've I feel like basically, once the whiteboard opened, it felt like some specials going on for me. You know, I was playing basically my intro into like, the, the country's, you know, this little country scene, we're talking about that, that exists in Austin. came from Leo rundu. You know, Leo rundu. And then remember that Yeah, so he had this Monday night residency at the hole in the wall, and that was kind of you know, I moved down to Austin with the intentions of you know, finding country music basically, you know, I was I grew up with you know, Bowling Green is like a college town, but there's a bunch of like rural stuff. So I grew up around like top 40 country but um, It's not the South so I feel like I'm like my parents. You know, we're from Midwestern cities. A lot of a lot of people it's like small town people were like, there's like University people in my town and stuff point is I wasn't really exposed to like classic country growing up I only knew contemporary on the radio tonight Twain and you know, Lone Star and stuff like that. And so in college is when I finally you know, I'd already gone through my Bob Dylan phase and I'd fallen in love with like Appalachian music and stuff. I was creeping south and then in college somebody finally gave me Willie Nelson Stardust and Honky Tonk heroes Waylon Jennings and those were that's basically within a year I'd moved to Texas and I moved to Austin without knowing a damn thing about Austin I didn't know UT was here I didn't know anything about this town. Seriously, it was like just had been come like so enamored with like these long haired hippie cowboys from the 70s that I like just literally just got dropped off by some friends on a road trip down here and that's how I moved down here and was kind of dismayed to find out that it was also a college town so I just left one and was you know it also find out like we're talking earlier about the regionalism thing but there was also a shit ton of electro indie rock stuff happening wasn't just like the dusty little cowboy town I dream But uh, anyways was Monday nights at the hole on the wall is when I finally like found that I was looking for which is like this kind of classic sounding country thing and that was Leo Rhonda was doing every Monday and I saw like the moon pies open for him. I saw Jonathan Terrell open for him. I saw Sam doors and pre deadlines and doors would come and open for him. I saw the corporate family which is like Melissa Carver, and you know, older for HANA subreddit, Lady stuff there. So this is like, that was the beginning. But it still was like kind of just relegated to like this Monday night thing. You know, this special little scene and I was just kind of, you know, holding up the wall in the back. I've never seen people to stuff I was just like, blown away. I was there and like some beat up resistol cowboy hat, I bought it like a pawn shop. Just trying to soak it all up, you know. And then basically, Leo, Rondo needed a bass player for a tour, and I played bass. And so I joined his band. And not long after that is when the white horse opened. And for me, I was still very much in my honeymoon phase of moving to a big city, you know, and chasing my little music dreams. So I felt like the white horse was just like, yeah, it felt very special to me. And it felt like a very unique, awesome thing. And then turian helped to reinforce that too. Because, you know, as the years went by, it was like, more and more when he left people. everywhere we went, people knew about the white horse and then all sudden bars started opening up around the country that were the owners were like, you know, kind of open about like, this was inspired by their trip to Austin to the white horse and stuff like that, you know. So they're definitely moments even on stage. I think with Leo Ronnie's band, especially when we're doing Thursday night residency is that the horse is just totally packed, we're looking around at each other, like, no matter what happens in our lives in our careers, this is going to be a really special time. You know? I think I mean, me, especially the Leo Rhonda band tried to be very appreciative, you know, in the moment about recognized that this was like, a very cool thing to be doing.
Thomas Mooney 1:03:31
Yeah, I think like, That's such a, I don't know, it's probably like, against human nature, to appreciate that the present without, like, you know, I'm assuming, you know, you guys weren't making eye contact and going, Oh, this is amazing. And then, you know, let me set up my phone real quick. So I can record all this. Right? Because I want to do is like, are they right? I think that's like the human nature to try and preserve something by offering it on our phone now. And it's like, dude, no one's watching those snapchats no one's watching. You're never gonna watch that video again. just appreciate that moment. Yeah, but I think that's like, what was really, really cool about that, that you're mentioning is all those people you mentioned. They've all gotten records out in the last two or three years and they're fucking great records, you know, and I'm assuming what you're when you're talking about is, you know, that's 10 years ago, at least. Yeah. Also, you know, those Pawn Shop cowboy hats. Those are like the best thrift store cowboy hats. You can find some gems out there.
Corey Baum 1:04:38
Dude, listen, I I one of my best friends who we made music together in his name was john salvage. She still makes music. He's based in Detroit actually. But uh, he did like this study. It was like a study abroad program, but it was a domestic thing. So he like went to a different university and he went to Albuquerque, New Mexico for a year. And he came back with cowboy boots and a cowboy hat. I was like, Like, what did you get? You know, like, like I said, it's like, I grew up, you know, it's a small town we had like drive your tractor to work and stuff in my high school. You know, the FFA was very big, but it was definitely like, farm culture. You know, it wasn't Western stuff. Yeah, Heartland. So do I wear belt buckles, but not a lot of cowboy hats, not as not as much. cowboy boots is more like work boots and trucker hats and stuff. So, um, man, he came back and he's like, you know, and he's like, well, I got Albuquerque, New Mexico. And then like, six months later, a friend of mine was taking a road trip to California to move out there. And I was like, Can I come with y'all? Can we stop in Albuquerque?
Unknown Speaker 1:05:39
So I was like, you know, it's
Corey Baum 1:05:41
like, well, should I go to Albuquerque did cowboy hat. So I literally took this road trip with these dudes. And we stopped in Albuquerque. That's where I bought this was install. And I was like, my old cowboy hat for like, years. And I remember I was working at a music venue that's no longer in Austin called momos. And one of the bartenders, there's super texting her. Her boyfriend, actually, at the time, was the tour manager for different like, I think he worked with reckless Kelly and stuff. So you know, they were the ones that kind of clued me into that whole scene. But he, anyway, she finally was like, that hat sucks. She took it from she's like, I'm gonna get this shape for you for Christmas. But that's not fixing it, you need to do you need to get a better hat. So it was like a long, slow. I had a long, slow education down here in Texas, from the kind Texans showing me the ropes about how to dress and how to act and what it's all supposed to look and sound like. So
Thomas Mooney 1:06:38
my favorite thing about a cowboy hat still is you put a cowboy hat on and automatically become like an authority figure. People automatically think like,
Corey Baum 1:06:51
myself too, because you know, they give you a couple inches. You kind of like naturally put your shoulders back when you're, like, just stand taller.
Thomas Mooney 1:06:59
Yeah, you can like literally walk into anywhere. Without being like asked,
Unknown Speaker 1:07:03
like, who you are. That's really funny.
Thomas Mooney 1:07:11
I'm talking like, even like, if you're wearing like a tracksuit and my cowboy boots and a cowboy. Oh, yeah, totally. That's that's the best way. Yeah, I'm always about like, just finding the the cowboy hats at the thrift store. The thing is, like, I've got a pretty big head. So like, you know, I'm like, everything at the thrift store is like a seven and an eight. Or Yeah, you know, seven. You're like shit, dude beat. We're just so much smaller back then. Yeah. All right. Well,
Corey Baum 1:07:47
luckily for me, Thomas, I were a seven. So Oh, man. So had me I know.
Thomas Mooney 1:07:54
Yeah. I'm like 387. And then like, if I have like, my like, my hair long, it's like a seven and a half. So. Yeah, you know, any listeners have like seven and a half's out in the garage? Your grandparents? center minor. That's right. Yeah. So I think Yeah. Anyway. Yeah, man. It's been a it's been great talking with you this afternoon. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I'd love to Yeah. Thanks so much for having me on. All right, that is it for this episode. Be sure to check out of course they do. The new EP by Koi and the boys just released last month goes up on over at our presetting partners desert door and the blue light live. Be sure to hit that subscribe button if you haven't just yet. And yeah, I'll see y'all next week for more episodes.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai