Rowdy Alternative: Gannon Fremin

Speaker 1 00:00:23 What's up everybody? This is Sam with Rowdy Alternative. Tonight. I'm here with Gannon Freeman of Gannon Freeman and CC Rev. How you doing, buddy? Speaker 2 00:00:33 Good. How are you, dude? Speaker 1 00:00:34 I'm doing great, man. You've been busy where you are down? No. Speaker 2 00:00:39 Yeah, we've been pretty busy, man. We've been busy putting out, we're fixing to put out this new tune. So we've been, after that, we've been, we've been playing about every weekend lately, so yeah, we've been, we've been gone. Speaker 1 00:00:49 Does it kick up a lot more during the summer? I'm sure Speaker 2 00:00:53 Sometimes it does. Uh, sometimes the lake slows you down a little bit, you know, everybody heads out to the lake. Uh, but, um, for the most part, yeah, it's kind of hit or miss, but yeah. Yeah, it comes on in the summer. Speaker 1 00:01:08 All right. Right on, man. Um, I guess let's jump right into it, dude. So, um, I guess, I guess with you, uh, so where are you from? Uh, how'd you get started with, uh, playing music and writing music and everything? Speaker 2 00:01:23 Well, I, uh, I'm, I'm from, uh, a town in south Oklahoma. It's called Walters. Uh, that's where I'm at. But I, I, uh, I started gonna Stillwater when I was real young. Uh, we're big Pokes fans, and so I kind of fell in love with music up there. But my whole family kind of plays and, uh, they all play and sing. So I got on, uh, kind of with them, playing little guitar here and there, and then went kind of, you know, was going up to Steelwater all the time and fell in love with the music scene up there. So I, uh, uh, got started through that. And then writing, uh, just listening to like, Cody Can and Mike MCC Clear and everybody write. That's, that's why I really, you know, kind of started playing was cause I wanted to write. And, uh, I don't really know how I got started writing. I guess I just did it, I guess, you know, everybody in my family played and everybody in my family played and sang, and they all kind of wrote and had bands and stuff. So I guess I just thought, thought it was kind of part of the deal if you were gonna do it, you know? Speaker 1 00:02:23 Yeah. So you said you've played, you started playing at Stillwater for the most part? Speaker 2 00:02:28 Yeah. Yeah, that's pretty much where I kind of started, uh, started getting into some open mics and stuff up there, uh, and, and getting started and, and started kind of meeting some people that that would start putting me in some spots I could play, you know? Speaker 1 00:02:42 Yeah. I lived in Stillwater around 20, I wanna say 2019, somewhere around there. Maybe 20, uh, 20 18, 20 19. Uh, when did you, like, start to really hit the ground running there? Speaker 2 00:02:57 Um, I don't know if I ever really hit the ground running, but, uh, <laugh>. But yeah, I was up there during that. Uh, they used to have, um, uh, you know, we played at the, the Union. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Um, they used to have, you know, they used to do full bands and stuff in there, and we played down there. Uh, and then there's, you know, Willie's open. Mic's been going on forever. Uh, so I've been there, um, yeah, it was right around that time. I was up there quite a bit playing, but like I said, I was just playing, you know, bars here, bars there, just doing whatever I could, uh, coming up whenever we could, so, Speaker 1 00:03:30 Right on. Yeah, that's a probably one of the best towns. You could do that in Stillwater. That was, Speaker 2 00:03:35 It is, man. Speaker 1 00:03:36 The music scene there is insane. Like, Speaker 2 00:03:40 It is. Yeah. Yeah. It, it went away for a second, but it's kind of coming back, so. Speaker 1 00:03:44 Oh, yeah. I mean, that's how I've said it on here before. I've sound like a broken record, but, uh, yeah, like, when I first started, I started like listening to like the Red Dirt stuff there. And like, my, my first concert, I guess with that genre was, uh, Reed South Hall at, uh, tumbleweed, which Speaker 2 00:04:04 Was Oh, yeah, tumbleweed. Speaker 1 00:04:05 Yeah, tumbleweed's. I, I miss it. That was such a cool venue, man. Speaker 2 00:04:09 Yeah, Tumbleweed's awesome. Tumbleweed's awesome. They got calf fry and everything there. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Speaker 1 00:04:15 Yeah. Cal Fry's nuts. <laugh> Speaker 2 00:04:18 For sure. Yeah, for sure. Yeah, we got, we got to play Calaf Fry. That was kind of cool, you know, kind of starting in the bars in town and then getting to come out and play Calaf Fry. So that was, that was cool. That was, uh, two, three years ago. Speaker 1 00:04:29 Okay, cool. Isn't it? When's it coming up? Ain't it in August? Like right around when students come back Speaker 2 00:04:34 Around? I think it's in, uh, it's in the, it's at the end of the year. Speaker 1 00:04:38 Oh, okay. Yeah. Speaker 2 00:04:40 Yeah. It's the end, like May, I think it just, just went on a few months ago. Speaker 1 00:04:44 Oh, okay. I'm way off that. Yeah, I went, uh, one year. It was, I believe Turnpike headlined one night and night, I think like Eli Young Band or something. It was definitely a, oh, yeah, I forget most of it. <laugh>. Speaker 2 00:04:58 Yeah, for sure. Speaker 1 00:04:59 Yeah. So, uh, yeah. So, uh, so what about you, you and your band? How, how'd you meet the guys? How'd that all go down? Speaker 2 00:05:08 Well, uh, me and my bass player, Wade, uh, we were in the same class in school. We both, we, me and Wade went to Walter's, uh, together since, I mean, I went, we went the whole time, both of us at Walter's. So I grew up with Wade, and one night, um, I'd been playing a little bit, and Wade had been kind of going with me, uh, to some shows and stuff, and they said, uh, we need a, uh, I was like, well, I need a bass player for the night. And we didn't, I didn't have a bass player at the time, and so I asked Wade, I'm like, Hey, you wanna play bass? And he was like, well, I, I don't know how to play bass. And I was like, well, that's okay. Uh, I'm like, we'll just teach you, teach you as you go. Speaker 2 00:05:47 And he jumped on the bass that night. We had like a, a piece of tape tape to the back of his bass with, uh, chords on it and stuff, and he played guitar. Okay. So he kinda knew what was going on, and, and, and, uh, and he'd mess with it, you know, a few times. And, and anyway, so we played that little show together. It was a benefit deal. And, um, we kind of took off like that. Me and him, and then Tyler, my drummer from Walters too. So we got him, and then Wade and Tyler were in a different band at the time, and they had, uh, another guitar player that they played with in that other band. And once us three got on the same page, we were like, yeah, we need a cool guitar player. So they called him and had him come up from the other band and play, and we've been together ever since. So, Speaker 1 00:06:36 Yeah. So you gotta explain to me what CC Rev means or stands for? Cause I can't see to figure it out. <laugh>. Speaker 2 00:06:42 Well, well, our, uh, our first show we didn't really know. Like I said, me and Wade kind of started, uh, more or less the band. We kind of started the band up. We didn't have, we had a different name, but, uh, we kind of started the thing, and, and our goal wasn't really to go out and play. It was just, uh, it was kind of more or less just play around town. Like, we just wanted to play and, and see where it went, you know? Speaker 1 00:07:09 Yeah. Speaker 2 00:07:09 So, so we started, um, once we got Tyler and Travis on Travis guitar player, once we got them on, um, we decided that we'd need a name. So we come up with, uh, we were at a show and they said, what's, what's y'all's name? And we were like, well, we don't have a name right now. Like, we just, we've been a band for like two weeks. Like, we haven't dug out a name. And so this guy that was there, he, uh, announced us as Cross County Revenue Speaker 1 00:07:38 <laugh>, Speaker 2 00:07:40 And we were like, okay, that's cool. We'll go with it. So we just said, okay, we'll be Cross County revenue. And we rolled with it. Um, we put out an EP under Cross County Revenue, and then we all decided, Hey, we might actually wanna do this instead of it be like a ragweed spinoff joke. Speaker 1 00:07:57 I was about to say, that's the first thing I thought of <laugh>. Speaker 2 00:08:00 Yeah. It's pretty much like a, he just, he just was like, you know, trying to, you just think of whatever, and that Yeah. That's what he said. So we, and we were like, yeah, whatever. So we decided, uh, we'd, we'd take it off there, but we didn't wanna lose, uh, the Cross county revenue part of it. Right. So we just CC Rev stands for Cross County Revenue, just Speaker 1 00:08:23 Okay. It's, Speaker 2 00:08:23 Yeah. It's more or less kind of, you know, it's just keeping it there, keeping it going, keeping the joke alive. Yeah. Because, I mean, cause I mean, it's school that you, you play your first show and you get, you get a name from somebody that just announces that, you know, Speaker 1 00:08:36 So Yeah. Like, just pulls it out of his ass like that. That's, I mean, you gotta, Speaker 2 00:08:40 Yeah. Just pulled it outta his ass. Right. Yeah. You can't just throw it away like it was nothing. So, yeah. That's, that's what it is. Speaker 1 00:08:47 So, uh, I guess, like, what are some, uh, when you guys first started, you mentioned, uh, Mike McClure and, uh, Cody Canada and everything, or who were some of your, I guess, inspirations or people that you kinda looked up to when you were making music? Speaker 2 00:09:02 When I first started, like I said, my whole family, um, they played insane. I got a cousin that's got some music out, his name's Bobby Dell, and he helped me get started a bunch. He helped me with anything I needed. This whole band, you know, they, they were kind of the first ones to kind of bring us out, um, down here where we had, you know, people that know us down here from the south, and then we were put trying to play up in Stillwater, um, so that they helped out a lot. And then, yeah, Cody, Canada, mc clear's always awesome. Uh, just all those, all those red dirt guys that, yeah. Been writing forever and playing forever. Uh, there's a million of 'em. But yeah, just, I, I would say like, our biggest, our biggest influence as a whole, um, would be like, just that steelwater sound. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, you know, like whatever's kind of going on in Stillwater. Uh, we make sure we try to be there and, and, and kind of stick, I wouldn't say close to that, but, but make sure that we're part of it. And, and, uh, no, justice, another big one growing up. No justice. Uh, yeah. All those guys that, that came up from there for sure. Big influence. Speaker 1 00:10:15 Any rock, guys, I know, like, I've been binging a lot of your stuff, and like, there's definitely a big rock influence there, Speaker 2 00:10:22 Man. I think, um, I, I think the Rock thing is Tyler Rod drummer. He's a, he, he's a rock. He's a rock man. Yeah. And, uh, Travis, he's a pretty big rock, pretty big rocker too. Me and Wade, we kind of ride in the middle. Uh, me and Wade are kind of a little bit more more punk rock Speaker 1 00:10:40 Type. Okay. Speaker 2 00:10:42 But, uh, I think a lot of that just comes from, from us, us kind of coming together and finding the sound that we all like, you know? Yeah. Not necessarily a, a big rock influence, um, for me, that I can think of. But I know that it's in there and I mean, it's cool. I like it, but I'm just saying, like, I think, I think it's like, as a whole, the whole thing's influenced by rock. You know what I mean? Speaker 1 00:11:05 Right. Yeah. So it's funny, you, you're talking about like the Stillwater Sound. I might as well call this podcast the Stillwater podcast, because I've had you, you're on now. I've had Matt Williams on, I've had some of, uh, some other guys. I'm having Trenton on tomorrow. And it's just like all, we all just end up talking about Stillwater <laugh>. But, um, yeah. Uh, so like, can you, how do you explain that like, to the best of your ability? Like the Stillwater sound, like the community. How would you explain that in your words? Speaker 2 00:11:38 Man, there's, when, so whenever I kind of first started going up to Stillwater, um, I really, like, I wanted to be a big part of the Stillwater thing. Like, I wanted to be in the Stillwater Music, wanted to, wanted to play it, wanted to do it. And it was there. And then, like I said, it, it left for just a second. And it felt like there was nobody up there, uh, for a minute or two. And then here comes, you know, you know, white Flores, uh, Matt Williams, Trenton Fle, Josh Malloy, Reed, us, you know, we were all kind of up there, there, there was a minute there, but there was a bunch of us up there, or running around up there. And, uh, you, it's, it's so much easier whenever you're not, not associated with something like that to where, like, me and Trenton, or me and Matt, or me and whoever else, you know, Avery, we can all trade shows, put each other on shows and try to help each other out. Speaker 2 00:12:35 And if you need something, you know, you can call those guys, or, Hey, come get on over here tonight, or over there tonight. And it's so much easier. It's such an easier fight when they're 60, you fighting for the same thing, and everybody's got each other's back than it is, uh, trying to fight for something by yourself. If you, if you weren't up there a part of it, you know, the Steelwater thing, that whole thing goes back, you know, I'm sure it goes back even further. But, uh, you know, like Cody Canada, whenever he'd go up there, you know, and, and it'd be him and Jason Bowen and Stone <inaudible> writing, you know, all and, and all putting out songs and doing stuff together. It's a, it's a cool place to be, man. If you wanna play music, it's a really cool place to be. There's a lot of, Speaker 1 00:13:14 So you Speaker 2 00:13:15 Go ahead. Speaker 1 00:13:16 Go ahead. No, you're good. Speaker 2 00:13:17 There's a lot of, uh, and there's a lot of people there too that, that see the music side of things, and they come out and they support, you know, it's, it's not a place where, where you got to, uh, where you gotta play for nobody because, uh, because you haven't played much. You know, people, people will come out and they'll check you out and they wanna listen to you. And it, and it really helps get some artists off the ground that it don't matter who you are, what you do, that the music, you know, the town's known for music. And, uh, and if, if there's some in town, people will come listen. Speaker 1 00:13:50 Yeah. So, yeah. You saying all that is, you'd say the comradery, like over, like, there's more comradery than like competition in a way? Or is it all friendly competition, I'm assuming? Speaker 2 00:14:03 Uh, there's a, most of it's, most of it's definitely comradery. I mean, everybody tries to help everybody. There's no real, I mean, competition, competition, not really, uh, maybe as a whole, um, against the world, you know what I mean? Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, like, like, as like, we're gonna, like stillwater's the best type thing. Yeah. As far as like, us against each other, anything like that. Like, no, nothing like that. But, but competition definitely in like, we wanna make sure that stillwater's the best music scene you can be a part of, you know? Speaker 1 00:14:38 For sure. Um, so with you, uh, what is, everyone has a different answer for this. What is your, uh, writing process like? And is it only you or is it a group effort, or does it like change Sometimes? Speaker 2 00:14:55 Um, sometimes there's been songs. Uh, back whenever we kind of first started out, there were songs that like, I could sit down and I would write 'em and it would take me 10 minutes to write 'em. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And as I got, as I went, I moved a little bit further on. Maybe it was cuz I could keep myself more for what it got harder and harder to write. But normally I write by myself. Speaker 1 00:15:21 Right. Speaker 2 00:15:21 Typically now, uh, no Justice's last song, uh, they released, I was a co-writer on it. I wrote it with Okay. Uh, yeah, I wrote it with Steve Rice. Oh. Um, I've done, I've done some co-write and stuff. I've been writing lately with, uh, Sam from Treaty Oak. Speaker 1 00:15:39 Oh, okay. Sweet. Speaker 2 00:15:40 Yeah, yeah. Yeah. So, uh, we just finished up one that's gonna go on their album and we're working on, uh, one that's fixing to go on ours. So I've been trading off with him some, but as of lately, as of lately, I've been kind of writing with a little bit of everybody, anybody I could write with, uh, my buddy Chance Anderson, um mm-hmm. <affirmative>, he lives here in town and, and he, he writes some of the best songs and, and me and him will sit down, you know, once a month or so and try to go through a few. But I do rap by myself a lot too. It's just kinda whatever. I mean, it's no, uh, no really set thing. It's just kind of whatever I'm feeling, whatever's going on. You know, if I go with the idea on my own, then I'll sit down and try to ride it by myself. Um, but most of the time, most of the time lately I've been kind of riding with other people. Speaker 1 00:16:27 Okay. Right on, man. That's, that's always an interesting thing to hear from artists on how they come up with their art and how that all comes around. So that's sweet. Yeah. Um, so let's, let's talk about, uh, the music you've had come out recently, I guess kind of recently. Uh, your last EP was Okie Thump and funny story, uh, when I listened to all your, I did this for everyone I interviewed, I listened to their stuff and I, like, I write notes, you know, like for each song, whatever. Yeah. And I mistakenly wrote Okie Pokey and Speaker 2 00:16:58 Okie Pokey <laugh>, which Speaker 1 00:17:00 Sounds pretty, you know, that would be an interesting title. But I had to go and double check that. Glad I did. But it was Okie thump that came out in 2020. And then your, uh, newest one, and correct me if I'm wrong, is, uh, me and her from, um, 2022, right? January. Yeah. Speaker 2 00:17:17 Yep. Speaker 1 00:17:17 Okay. So there's, in the, whether you're Talking Red Dirt or Texas, especially nowadays, there's a lot, uh, like the Rock thing for instance. There's a lot of people progressing to a more alternative or rock sound. Um, so there's a lot of differences between the releases. Are there any that you could think of, or were there any intentional, like changes between your EP and your last single that like, Hey, I want to sound like this now? Or is it like a natural, like, evolution kind of thing? Speaker 2 00:17:52 Um, good question. Well, ep, um, Okie hum. I'd had them songs, kinda, we were gonna do a full album, uh, OK. Was kind of, was kind of the plan with Okie thump. Cause I come up with that name Okie Thump. And I loved it. I was like, dude, I, this is, this is the coolest album name. I love this shit. And I would've put as many songs as I could behind it. And, and, uh, anyway, we recorded that in Oklahoma City with, uh, Dwight Hamlin. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> and, uh, Dwight had a, a Dwight's got a style that, you know, a bunch of Oklahoma artists are, uh, a bunch of Oklahoma artists court at the White mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And he's got a super, it's awesome. Big guitar tones, big guitars, big drums, you know, it's a Right. It's, it's a, it's a big thing. Um, and we, we recorded that album there, and we love, we, we loved working at, uh, Dwight Studio during that album. Speaker 2 00:18:54 Um, and working with Dwight, I was just over there last week. Trent Fletcher was recording over there last week, and I dropped in and talked to them for a little bit. But, uh, I'm trying to think if anything, like, if I, I don't think, I don't think intentionally anything really changed. Um, so we went down on me and her, uh, we had met. So, so in between Okie thump, this is something that happened in between Okie Thump and a single, we had met Cody Canada. Okay. And, and me and Cody Canada, you know, kind of became Buds. And he's got a recording studio down in New Braunfels. And so I told him, I'm like, Hey, I really want, like, the next stuff that we released to be like, ragweed old school Stillwater. Like, I want the whole album to be like traditional Red Dirt. I'm like, it's, it's not around anymore. Speaker 2 00:19:45 Like the, the old, you know, the old kind of red dirt sound, um, isn't necessarily there anymore. So we went down there and, uh, we stayed with Tim for three or four days and put together four or five songs that we had planned to, to put out. And me and her really stuck out to us. And there's a guy that lives, uh, that lives here in South Oklahoma. He has a studio, his name's Jar Nicks, and Okay. He mixes for like days. And, uh, anyway, he does a bunch of stuff. Anyway, he's in town here mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And we kind of thought we kinda loved some of the stuff we done at, at Cody's studio. And some of it, not, not like Cody Wise, but some of the stuff that we had done, we just didn't, we, we weren't there anymore. So we started, so we, uh, we went over to Jar's and asked him if we could, uh, try to put that song together and see what we thought. Speaker 2 00:20:42 And we put it together over there. And Jar's got a little bit more rock, uh, to him for sure. And so it kind of came out like that. But, uh, but yeah, Cody produced that, produced that song. He put it all together and he brought it down here and just kind of, just kind of jerked the tones up and, and played it. So, but I don't think there's anything really that stuck out that made it seem, uh, you know what I mean, that made, it made us have to do that or anything like that. It was just kind of where, where things went, I guess. So yeah, I'd say it's like an evolution. Speaker 1 00:21:13 All right. So, and it's obvious that Cody can is a big influence on you. So how, like, meeting him and being able to like, talk with him and bounce ideas off of what did, what did that like mean to you that had, that had to have been kind of surreal? Speaker 2 00:21:28 Yeah, it's cool. You know, we all, um, of course everybody grew up on ragweed, uh Speaker 1 00:21:34 Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Speaker 2 00:21:35 But whenever I got to talk to Cody, see my, like I said, my whole family had kind of played and, and sang, but nobody, nobody I'd ever met played in sang, um, as happy as Cody Canada did. You know, like whenever I met him, that was, that was the thing that, that really stuck out to me. The, the music's great. Um, some of his music, I mean, even the newer stuff, you know, it's, it's some of the best. But the way that he, he was just like such a, such a good dude and so nice to be around and such a fun hanging stuff, uh, really made us all, I think, look at music, um, a little bit different. I was like, this doesn't have to be all, you know, you don't have to be so serious when you play. You don't have, you don't have to come in every day and, and, you know, days on the road are not this or not that. Speaker 2 00:22:20 They're, you know, every day you get to do this is awesome. And, uh, that really helped us. I think that really helped us all kind of find our sound and kind of settle into what we were doing and everything. Cuz he's just, you know, he's, he's one of the coolest dudes. Not only one of the best, but he is one of the coolest dudes to be around, you know. So it was, it was awesome meeting him and it helped us out. And, uh, you know, he pushed us, he pushed us whenever we went down there and recorded, you know, to do this or do that. And, um, yeah, he's been a, he is been a big influence from the start and still is so Speaker 1 00:22:56 Good. So, uh, I guess we were talking about like Tumbleweed Calf r and everything. What are some venues, cuz there are some sick ass venues out there in Oklahoma, Texas, wherever, uh, what are some venues to you that you're like, holy crap, I'm playing at this? Or like, are there any that you wanna play coming up that you're really looking forward to? Or any bucket list venues you like? Speaker 2 00:23:19 Uh, I'd say on the, on the ones that we played, that, that kind of blew my mind, Kari, you know, whenever we got the call for Kari, that was awesome. Um, let's see, blue, how does, Speaker 1 00:23:31 By the way, real quick, how, how does that work? You just like get a call from 'em or how does that all pan Speaker 2 00:23:36 Out? Yeah, yeah. They, they, um, um, the manager, they have tumbleweed. He well, sent me an email and he said, Hey, are you available for a call tomorrow? And I said, yeah, um, lemme know what time. So he let me know what time and I answered and he was like, Hey man. He was like, uh, wanna invite you guys to play Caf Fry, you know, and, and we talked details and all that and, and kind of went from there. So, but yeah, it was, uh, yeah, they just give you a call. Come on. Speaker 1 00:24:04 Damn. We don't have, well, it's a hell of a call to get, well, we Speaker 2 00:24:06 Don't have any, uh, we don't have any management or anything like that, so I'm just mm-hmm. <affirmative>, I, I'm our booking agent, our manager, anything, anything you need, you normally just talk to me <laugh>. Uh, yeah. So that, uh, but bucket list, uh, venues that we have played, I'd say Blue Light, um, and Lubbock the first time we played it, that was pretty cool. Uh, first time we played, yeah, first time we played in Nashville was cool. Um, uh, let's think playing the Tumbleweed before Dry, you know, that was, uh, that was a cool one. Um, man, there's been a ton of places we played that I never thought we'd, we'd, you know, we use a lot of way into that. We did, we played last weekend with Shane Smith and the Saints at, uh, over here at the Okie Noodling Fest in Paul's Valley. It was us and Shane Smith. And it's a big deal. It was cool. It was awesome, man. Yeah, I mean, we're, we're thankful that we get to play. We get to play some pretty cool places. Uh, silver Saloon awesome. But, oh, we played in Houston actually last weekend. That was two weeks ago. Last weekend we played in Houston with, uh, treaty Oak at White Oak Music Hall. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And it was awesome, man. That place is big as shit. They're cool to ya. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Um, yeah, so that was the bucket list. I'd like to play Green Hall. We haven't done Green Hall yet. Uh, Speaker 1 00:25:38 That seems to be with, uh, Oak Oakley, Oakies and Texans. That seems to be one of the hoy grails to get to is Green Hall. Yeah. You got I've come to find out. Yeah, Speaker 2 00:25:47 You gotta get to Green Hall. Everybody wants to go to Green Hall. Uh, let's see, green Hall, uh, uh, John T Floors. Speaker 1 00:25:57 Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Speaker 2 00:25:59 Um, Speaker 1 00:26:01 What about Red Rocks? Oh, Speaker 2 00:26:02 Yeah, Speaker 1 00:26:04 Yeah, yeah. Dude. Speaker 2 00:26:05 <laugh>. Yeah. Red Rocks would be sick. Uh, yeah. I'm trying to think of some more than Texas places. I know there's a million of them down there, but, uh, yeah, green Hall, red Rocks. I like to play. Uh, L J T. Speaker 1 00:26:23 Yeah. Speaker 2 00:26:24 Yeah, that'd be cool. Speaker 1 00:26:25 The festival, Speaker 2 00:26:25 Right? Yeah. Yeah. Larry, Joe Taylor. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. That'd be cool to get on Billy Bob's. Of course. You don't wanna go there. Speaker 1 00:26:31 Yeah, sure. Yeah. So what about, you said you were in Nashville, Ray's Rowdy's based out in Nashville. I'm personally not. I'm, I'm from Cincinnati. Right. But, um, so like, what'd you do? Who were you playing with? Were you just go going out there to write? Or how was that for you playing out there? Uh, we Speaker 2 00:26:48 Played there twice now and we played, uh, whiskey Jam. Speaker 1 00:26:52 Oh, okay. Yeah, Speaker 2 00:26:53 It's a little, uh, it's a little deal that's at Loser's Bar, uh, that you play like three songs mm-hmm. <affirmative>, everything's set up for you and you jump up there and play like three songs. Um, and they invited us to play it a while back and we played it. And then here, probably two or three months ago, we, uh, we went out that way, um, playing some dates and, uh, stayed Sunday night and played it Monday. So yeah, we've been out there twice. That's Speaker 1 00:27:18 Awesome. Speaker 2 00:27:19 It's always fun there. <affirmative>. Speaker 1 00:27:22 What's the, is there a different, like, I hate to use this word, but different vibe or anything with the Nashville artists or scene than there is with where were you're, uh, coming from? Speaker 2 00:27:36 I don't know if it's a different vibe. Uh, um, man, some of the, uh, I don't know. I think it's, I think it's pretty similar. Um, Speaker 2 00:27:50 I think it's, I think it's fairly similar. I think that, uh, the, the thing, the thing that Nashville has, uh, that especially that we don't have down here is so many people, so mm-hmm. <affirmative>. So, you know, you can have somebody, you can have six bands jump up and play three songs, uh, and, and it be packed out. You know, the whole bar's packed out all night, where you can't necessarily, you could do that in Steelwater, but it wouldn't be near as packed as it would be in Nashville. So that allows for people to be able to do a little bit more of what they were going for. You know what I mean, kind of opens up the spectrum because, because they're gonna play things with a pat crowd, you know, every night. But I don't think any of the vibes with the, the artists man, everybody we've met, um, from Nashville or stuff like that, all the, all the artists have been cool. The venues have been awesome. Uh, whenever we, whenever we run around down there or up there, there's people everywhere and it's always a good time. So I will say, Speaker 1 00:28:57 Yeah. Was it intimidating at all? Speaker 2 00:28:59 I wouldn't say the first time we played it was a little bit, um, this last time we played, we've, I felt like maybe we were a little bit, we were definitely stuck between, you know, like three country artists and three country artists behind us. And we were kind of like real loud right in the middle of them. Uh, people liked it, but Right. I felt like, I felt like, uh, I felt like that that is kind of, you know, people kind of come to Nashville to hear, you know, the, the country music that they like or whatever, and we play, uh, we kind of, we kind of got right in their face and I don't know if they loved it, but Speaker 3 00:29:38 <laugh> I think they do Speaker 1 00:29:40 It. It's, it's hilarious. I love seeing, cuz I love seeing the lineup every week for Whiskey Jam. And like, there's always like one Texas or Oklahoma guy on there. Yeah. Like, it'd see like these like, you know, Nashville guys in Boom, like Mitchell Ferguson or like someone like, like you guys Yeah. It's like they, they're gonna kick the, they're dicks in. Yeah. Like, I would love to see that <laugh>. Speaker 2 00:30:02 Yeah, man. It's, and it's really fun to do that. And it's really fun to be there. Whiskey Jam's awesome, man. It's put together. Awesome. It's, it's, it's packed out. I mean, I don't think both times we played it, I don't think they were letting the people in anymore. Uh, I think it was fully packed out, uh, both times, shit. And it's, uh, dude, it's awesome. Them, them guys, they put it on over there and it's every week. I think they do it twice a week. I think they do it Mondays and they do, uh, maybe a, some Saturday jam or Friday jam or something, but yeah. Speaker 1 00:30:35 Hell yeah, man. Well, let's talk about, uh, your new single coming out White Girl coming out on July 7th, right? Yes, that's right. Uh, well, I'll tell you what, man, you, you sent me that or I got the email. I'm sorry. You sent the raise Rowdy an email with it on it, and I was, I, I've heard of you guys before, but I've never, like, you know, I just never like listened yet. Right. And I heard that one and I'm like, I'm, I'm sold <laugh>, like this shit. Like, uh, so Nick, Nick who runs Ray's Rowdy in the email and everything Yeah. He forwarded it to me because like, my niche is like the Oklahoma, Texas guys. Yeah. And I saw Gannon Freeman and then the, the, uh, Dropbox link, and then all he says was, this fucks <laugh> Speaker 2 00:31:21 <laugh>. Speaker 1 00:31:22 So I'm like, all right. Gotta listen to it. But, uh, yeah, I love it. But, uh, let's hear about it from You, man. Is what's the, what's the story behind it? Cuz you look at the title, you're like, okay, what am I about to listen to? Well, so can you tell us like, what, what the story is Speaker 2 00:31:35 There? I can, I can, uh, so actually I didn't write, I did not write White Girl. Um, Speaker 1 00:31:42 Okay. Speaker 2 00:31:43 So, uh, I don't know, I don't know if you know him or not, but Joey Green from Texas, if you don't know Joey Green, Speaker 1 00:31:49 I've heard the name. Speaker 2 00:31:51 And he writes some of the best songs and, uh, he, he, he was on The Voice for a little bit, but dude, he writes some of the best shit. Um, well, we had a song of his that I text him like, you know, probably five years ago. And there was this song here, it's called Torino and mm-hmm. And we love this song, and the whole band did. So we're like, dude, can we please, like, we're gonna put Torino on the live set, like, let us know if you're ever around, man. Like, we'd love to hang out with you or whatever. She's like, all right, whatever. So we put Torino on the live set, and we, it just didn't, we, we tried to playing it three or four times and we just didn't like it. And, uh, anyway, I, I'd always been a big Joey Green fan, uh, but we, we, it just wasn't working live wasn't doing good. Speaker 2 00:32:42 So we kind of gave up on it. Well, about a year down the road, I, uh, meet Joey Green and we're talking, and we, I talked telling him about, like, I was the one that was, you know, talking about Trino and I was that guy and stuff. Well, me and him kind of became buddies and, and we started, I was writing some stuff. I'd send it to him, send it back and forth, do whatever. So a little bit later on, I hear this song by him from his old, it's like in his old stuff, white Girl. I'm like, dude, I'm like, this song fucking is good. And he's like, oh man. He's like, that's, you know, I'm, I didn't plan on doing nothing with that. That's just an old one. I'm like, no, dude. I'm like, let us, like, let me try to try to make something out of it. Speaker 2 00:33:26 Uh, you know, and, and see what you think. And he's like, okay. All right. So that was like, probably four years ago, we started playing White Girl at the first song of our set. Every show we opened up with White Girl. And dude, we've been doing it forever. And so finally we got this album recording it, and, um, I'd sent, you know, I'd sent the video to Joey a bunch of times about, you know, here's us playing white girl, here's this. And people are always like, who sings that? Like, what song is that? You know? And I was like, that's the old Joey Green tune. So finally we got in the studio and, and we needed one more song. We're putting together a full album, uh, is what we're doing. And, um, I was like, man, we need, I wanna like do another song. I'm up like some upbeat and let's, let's kind of think on what we wanna do. Speaker 2 00:34:16 So we went through a few songs that we kind of had down, and uh, I was like, um, no, none of them are really working. And I was like, let's, let's just play White Girl. You know, like, let's just, let's just chill out for a minute and play White Girl. We played it and uh, we were all like, man, we gotta put it on there. We gotta put it on the damn album. Right? So we played it and, um, it was a, uh, it was a good time to play it in the studio, and we've been playing it for so long that it just came, you know what I mean? It was all, everybody knew their part right there. It wasn't like, you know, we didn't have to come up with nothing. It was just like, okay, record this, record that, record this, record that. And, um, and we knocked it out and we got done with it. And I was like, dude, I was like, let's just put it as a single instead of put it on the album. And they were like, well, you know, like I, I I think it's a good album too. And I'm like, dude, I think let's just go, let's just put it out. So that's how, right, that's how we came about White Girl. Speaker 1 00:35:14 Yeah. Man, I tell you, uh, I'm a big, I already jammed to it quite a bit since you sent that, but, uh, yeah. So, uh, uh, with, uh, the personnel, not really only on this song, but like on in general in the studio, is it the same like as your like live band? Yeah. You guys do the studio work and live? Yeah. Okay. I wasn't sure how that whole process was. Yeah, we're, Speaker 2 00:35:37 We're kinda a weird thing. Um, you know, most bands and I, I ain't saying, uh, I say this in a bad way. A lot of bands, they, uh mm-hmm. They get together. We've been playing music for, uh, I think this year was our seventh year together. And me and Wade. Okay. Me and Wade, my bass player. Like I said, we kind of started the whole thing. Uh, we've been playing together like 10. Speaker 2 00:36:02 So, uh, we don't do and, and we don't do, no, not, not for any reason. It's just where we're at. We don't do no outta house management. We do all our booking, all our recording. We do, we do all of our, this is the first song we've released, um, that I've even, that I've even had like a co-write on, like I've wrote, you know, every other, every other song we've done, uh, uh, myself, um, chance helped me a little Bit Iron a few out on that acoustic album. But, but most of the songs, um, yeah, there's been stuff I wrote and stuff we come up with. And, uh, actually no, me and Wade wrote Rose Tattoo together. I lied. Sorry. Sorry. Speaker 1 00:36:43 Okay. That was another banger. I liked that one. Speaker 2 00:36:45 Yeah. Wade had the chorus for that. Yeah. And a few other things. And, uh, and me and him sitting down and put that together in the studio, uh, yeah, man. And, and it's, it's really cool getting to play with the same, same guys. You play with them every weekend, you play with them in the studio. Um, but they're, you know, before, uh, before music, before any of that stuff. Um, my cousin, he's our tm, he runs around with us, um, all the time. But, but we're, we're more like a, uh, like we're all, we're all real good buddies first, you know, we're, we're kinda like a gang. Everybody knows if you find one of us out somewhere, you see one of us out somewhere, the other ones are sure to pop up. You know, like we're always, if somebody's going to a concert, we're all going, we always roll together, whether we're playing or not playing or, or whatever we're doing. Speaker 2 00:37:31 You know, we're always, we're always rolling around together. And that, that's a big help. Uh, I feel like in the studios getting in there, you don't have to, you don't have to kind of, you know, cause like I said, we've been playing together, me and William playing together so long, if I have an idea on a song, and he's, he's got it too at that same time, you know what I mean? So it's like the studio just, everything works out good because everybody's on the same page. We practice together, you know, sleep together half the damn time. So everybody knows everybody's on the same page. Speaker 1 00:37:59 Right. Yeah. So you go by the way I wanted to mention, I, I looked you up on the podcast to see like if someone else interviewed you before. Cuz I like to try and kind of make my questions a little different. Yeah. And, uh, I came across your podcast. Speaker 2 00:38:17 Yeah, I got one, Speaker 1 00:38:19 Which, which holy shit, dude. I, it, I listened to, I think it was the one with you and Trenton. Oh yeah. And I was listening to that on the way to work the other day, and it was too early to be laughing that god damn hard <laugh>. I was fucking, I tell you what, I did not know what I was walking into. It sounded like y'all were, y'all were booing or something. It was hilarious. Speaker 2 00:38:40 Yeah, man. Yeah. This is, uh, uh, I love doing that podcast. I, I got out of it for a minute. Um, I fixing to get back at it, but yeah, man, we had a, uh, I had a blast in that podcast. We were doing it. Um, I got kind of too, um, I got kind of too caught up in it and I was trying to do it once a week, like, like every week. And it got to where it was just like, shit, I gotta go do it, you know, instead of it being fun. And, uh, I I yeahs hard to do, like, whenever I started the podcast, I'm like, I'm gonna start it and it's gonna be fun. And the minute I think it's not fun, I'm gonna take a break from it and then I'll come back to it. And, um, I did with my mom the other day, uh, on Mother's Day. Speaker 2 00:39:21 Uh, me and mom in there. But yeah, I mean back, uh, Trenton and, uh, his drummer Jordan, they're gonna come over here, uh, probably next week. Uh, I'm out in my little studio here where I'm at, but, uh, that's where we, that's where we recorded at. Nice. But yeah, do we have a, uh, we have a good time out here. We, we for sure do we just sit back and, uh, normally when, when the guests come over, the podcast guests or whatever, I'll try to cook something and then we'll start drinking and, and drink for, you know, a little bit and then, and then sit down and go to Cast and Speaker 1 00:39:54 <laugh> a little bit. <laugh>. Yeah, man. Yeah, keep up on that. That, that's funny, man. Shit to listen to. But, um, yeah. But what about, what can you tell us about any, uh, aside from White Girl? What, what's your plans coming up for, uh, some more music or anything coming up that you'd like to share? Yeah, I think, Speaker 2 00:40:14 Um, I think that we're gonna do, uh, white Girl and then we got another single that we're working on, and then I think it's probably gonna be time to, it's gonna be just a little bit of a weight. Uh, we're fixing, well, we got four tracks done. We're fixing to go back and do four more. Um, but I'm not so sure I wanna put out an eight song, uh, Allen. So we're gonna wait just a minute and see what kind of comes about. And if nothing does, uh, we'll kinda shoot from the hip there. But, uh, me and Sam from Treaty Oak, we've been, I mean, uh, he lives like five miles from here, so, so me and him, uh, we've been writing pretty hard and, and I'm really excited, uh, to get some of the songs that me and him been coming up without. So I'm hoping that we got plenty of content and can kind of kind, kind of come through it all. But yeah, we're gonna do this one, we're gonna do another single here probably in two months, and then it'll probably be time to drop a full album, so I'm ready. Speaker 1 00:41:12 It's exciting, man. Um, yeah. What, uh, what about, uh, oh, here's a, here's a question for you. Um, so, uh, when it comes to releasing singles versus that's kind of a conversation nowadays, is single, like releasing just those, or like album, you know what I'm talking about, about what do you, what's your stance on that? Like, the best way to do it? Speaker 2 00:41:38 Man, I seen a, uh, uh, host the other day from Muscadine Bloodline. Um, and it kind of, they kind of summed this thing up. They told, uh, in their post, they had wrote, uh, Speaker 2 00:41:54 You know, we didn't know we'd be here. We didn't know we'd be doing this. But, uh, like their, their advice to some young artists was, uh, to keep putting out music and keep swinging the bat. And, um, I think that's, yeah. Uh, I think that's the name of the game, um, for sure. And I think the, personally, I think there's different avenues. Like I think I, I mean, I think there's different people that are in different spots. So like, this band may need a single, this band may need that, this band may need, but we've been together for six years or seven years, like I said earlier, and we got like six songs out. Like, it's time we put out an album, like everybody's tired of hearing one song every two years. Right. You know what I mean? It's like <laugh>. Sure. So it's time for definitely for us to put out an album. Speaker 2 00:42:37 And also, um, my thing, uh, my thing with the album is I think whenever, whenever that single thing kind of first came about, whenever everybody was doing that, everybody says nobody listens to full albums anymore, which could be true, but I still think they listen to three or four on every album, you know? So the more songs you have that I think the more chance that you got for, for something to catch on, for somebody to listen to, and, uh, and there something you want. But also, I don't think that there's a, um, there's, um, there's not a spot for if you don't have enough songs to make an album and, uh, so you're gonna write three shitty songs just so you can put out a album. I also don't think that's a cool idea. Like, if you have enough songs to put out a album, that's what you wanna do, then do it. If you, you know what I mean? If you write one song in two years and, and, and you like it, and that's what you think, um, may not be real easy to market or real easy to do the things you're gonna do, but if that's what you wanna do, then, then yeah, absolutely. Go ahead. You know? Speaker 1 00:43:36 Yeah. So at the end of the day, it's Speaker 2 00:43:38 Personal preference thinks so, uh, yeah. For each band, you know, each band can kind of kind do, do whatever they think on that. It's kinda weird. I, Speaker 1 00:43:47 Yeah. So, uh, yeah, no, Speaker 2 00:43:50 Think it's time for us to get out music. Um, and we record. So I haven't told anybody this yet. This is be, this would be a decent, this would be a decent thing to announce here. Uh, yeah. Breaking news, breaking Speaker 1 00:44:03 News. Speaker 2 00:44:04 So we, um, uh, so the guitar player for Crossing and Ragweed, Grady Cross, he owns a bar in Yukon called Grady's. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Speaker 2 00:44:15 He, we got in good with him, um, over there at Grady's, and we decided that we would do a live album at Grady's. And dude, I, I think that like our, um, our live shows, man, they're so fun. We had covers on there. Uh, we had, uh, Todd Snyder cover, we had, uh, Callahan Divide cover, no Justice Cover. Um, dude, we had a bunch of really fun stuff on there and, and all of our, so whenever we were Cross County revenue, we released an an EP and we wanna move all that stuff over to gain Freeman and CC Rev. So we done the slide show, we were gonna move everything over, uh, and kind of go from there. Well, halfway through the show, the Power, um, it's kind of a stormy night and the power surge in the building and be lost the first half. Speaker 2 00:45:08 So everybody's waiting on this live from Grady's, uh, album to come out. And, um, it's not going to, but we are going, we are going to, um, do that again, uh, probably without adding any of our new songs in. So here, just here in just a few months, we're gonna do another, uh, live from Grady's album. Uh, just that same set list. You recorded that, that night. Even if we have, you know, uh, a new songs released, we're gonna stick with that. And, uh, and we, we are gonna put that album out. But I really think, um, those bands that, uh, tie this in here, put out, put out the, uh, singles and stuff, like, I really think that a live album is a super killer way. Yeah. Uh, where if you don't, you know what I mean, you don't necessarily have this or that, um, even if you have to play a couple covers and talk to them or, or you know, do whatever you have to do for licensing or whatever, then um, you can go from there. But that's also a cool way to get an album out. And I think people, uh, really like to listen to the live albums, especially if you can, you know what I mean? If you can shit out two a year, I think people will stream 'em, you know, I mean, you don't gotta do it every weekend, but Speaker 1 00:46:19 Oh, absolutely. But Speaker 2 00:46:20 If you can get'em out rolling. Speaker 1 00:46:22 Yeah. I mean, like, Speaker 2 00:46:23 Sorry, go ahead. Speaker 1 00:46:27 No, I was just saying that, um, yeah, like live albums, like personally I wasn't a fan of them growing up. I was like, I'd rather just listen to the studio version. But that's like, you get more of a, like, it feels like you're in the moment. I guess it sounds really cheesy to say, but it feels like you're in the moment, right? When you're listening to like, the live Speaker 2 00:46:46 Version. Well, the thing one, the thing that gets it, I think the thing that sells the live album, I think, um, uh, is like you're getting to listen to something that, that is, is only right there. You know what I mean? So you don't get to hear, um mm-hmm. <affirmative>, you know, it's not just kind of a robotic studio type thing. It's here, here's these songs and they're right here. Um, and this is how we play 'em live too. Which I really think, uh, if, if you go listen to a band's live album, you're like, Hey, I really like this show. Like, I'm missing out by not going, you know, like, it sounded like, I mean, that, that live grads we had, yeah. Uh, album we had, man, I was excited about it. I really thought, like, man, I, I, I'm sure, uh, I'm sure the guys were too because we had worked up, you know, we, we practiced every night for like two weeks. Uh, we'd meet here every night and just drink and play all night and just, you know, get ready. Just not necessarily, um, for like worrying about the live album, but just, just coming up with little viles and little weird things that we could put on the air or didn't want on there or whatever. Just fun stuff to play, you know? Speaker 2 00:47:54 And, uh, Speaker 1 00:47:55 Yeah, for sure. I think that's the, that's the right move. Speaker 2 00:47:58 Definitely. I think, yeah, think I'd love to go back to that. So there's probably gonna be a, uh, a flood of music from us here in just a few months, cuz that our, our studio album's gonna hit, our live album's gonna hit, the rest of these singles are gonna hit, everything's gonna kind of, everything's fixing to start kind of hitting everywhere, so Speaker 1 00:48:19 Hell yeah, man. Uh, but man, thanks for hopping on. I appreciate talking to you. Well, thanks man, big fan. I appreciate it. Uh, it's, um, of course, uh, if you wanna throw out your socials, any plugs, anything, go ahead. Speaker 2 00:48:34 We'll be at, um, beer City Music Hall in Oklahoma City this weekend. Then we'll be down with the Treaty Oak at Lava Cantina in Dallas here in a few weekends. So, uh, jump on and get your tickets at, uh, www.gfccrev.com. Um, it's g Freeman and cc Rev on everything. Facebook, Instagram. Um, follow me on TikTok personally, just Freeman, all the, uh, that's about all there is. I think so. I'm on Twitter too. I'm a dumb ass on there, but you can go get it if you want. <laugh>, Speaker 1 00:49:08 <laugh>, how's your TikTok? How's your TikTok game? Yeah, I Speaker 2 00:49:11 Don't really, TikTok. I mean, I do a little bit, but, uh, try to, try to get on there and post like some, uh, some stuff like, you know, the guys and things like that. But I, I get, I, I forget about it forever. But yeah, Speaker 1 00:49:29 I think that's, that's like the generation under us as much as we try to like get with it. I don't think we ever will. I don't think, Speaker 2 00:49:37 When I wake up in the morning, I just don't think about TikTok. I just think about coffee and moving around. I don't, it don't, it just don't come to mind. So yeah. <laugh> Yeah, Speaker 1 00:49:47 I hear you on that. Yeah. <laugh>. But, uh, but GaN and stick around after I sign off here. Make sure everything here gets uploaded and stuff, but, uh, yeah. So, uh, cool. So, uh, see you everyone. Thanks for listening. This is Dana Freeman. I'm Sam and I'll see y'all later, Speaker 4 00:50:15 Bitch.