Photo credit Harrison Hargrave
Tell us about your tour vehicle.
I tour out of my Toyota Tundra. It’s got a Leer cap on it and me and the band have been known to go out for a month and some change without having to tow a trailer. Just the essentials. Gotta love Toyota. I got it on a lease a few years ago since I couldn’t afford the financing for it at the time. I was only supposed to put 36K miles on it in 3 years and I’m at 140K. Something’s gotta pan out one of these days otherwise ya boi is gonna be screwed.
How do you eat cheaply and/or healthy while on tour?
CHIPOTLE. Some people think it’s funny to go to a new place and eat at a chain, but when you travel as much as we do you just want something familiar 99% of the time and chipotle keeps me healthy and in shape. Good in protein and I know what I’m getting every single time.
How many strings do you break in a typical year? How much does it cost to replace them?
No idea, but I play 14 gauge strings ‘cause I used to break strings every show. Now I change them once about every month and it works.
Where do you rehearse?
For a while with the band it was the actual stages we were playing. We would get a game plan before so we weren’t totally on the fly but I’m a firm believer that every room is different and that you have to tailor the show to it if you want a good outcome.
What was the title and a sample lyric from the first song that you wrote?
Hopefully, nobody will ever hear the first song I wrote. Wasn’t very good.
Describe your first gig.
I was 13 years old and I got booked to play my brother-in-law’s friend’s bar just up the road, “the Lucky Dill”. It was a bar gig where I played a bunch of covers for 3 hours. I was only supposed to get $50 but the general manager fucked up and paid me $180. I went home thinking I was rich, and delusionally stoked that I was gonna be rich – but it gave me all the juice I needed to get on with what I got on with.
What was your last day job? What was your favorite day job?
My last “real” job was at a tree company in Nashville. Honestly, I enjoyed it and wouldn’t mind doing it again but, if I’m being completely honest, I would’ve made a terrible arborist. Had fun playing with a chainsaw and climbing some trees though!
How has your music-related income changed over the past 5-10 years? What do you expect it to look like 5-10 years from now?
It’s never been about the money for me. As long as I can keep some gas in my tank and find the time to go fish, I’m good with whatever this path throws my way.
What one thing do you know now that you had wished you knew when you started your career in music?
I wish I waited a little longer to start releasing music. I definitely jumped the gun a bit starting at such a young age, but I don’t regret anything. I always envied the artists who put their first record out later in life, after they had the songs they knew they were gonna be proud of. Just gotta release enough records to cover up all the old shit!