Jesse Williams – Blues & Soul Music From North Georgia
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Mountain Medicine: Inside the Soulful World of Jesse Williams
When Jesse Williams describes her music as "melody medicine," you get the sense she's not being poetic for the sake of it. There's a deliberate thoughtfulness in how this North Georgia singer-songwriter speaks about her craft — a recognition that songs, when done right, can heal something deeper than surface wounds. It's a philosophy that becomes instantly apparent when you spend time listening to her talk about where the music comes from, and it reveals far more about her artistry than any genre label ever could.
Williams is a mountain mama in the truest sense, her roots running deep through the Georgia soil where her parents eventually settled after her father, a musician himself, felt an inexplicable pull while driving up the driveway of a place locals call "the end of the trail." That instinct — the kind that moves a family to an unfamiliar place simply because something felt right — seems to be woven into Jesse's DNA. Her father works in masonry, her grandfather Papa Michael plays bass, and music wasn't something imposed on the household; it was simply the air everyone breathed. When you grow up around that kind of creative gravity, surrounded by what Jesse describes as "bikers and musicians and cowboys" who looked ten feet tall, you absorb something ineffable about authenticity.
I try to write music that reflects the themes of what it is to be a human being having a spiritual experience and a spiritual being having a human experience.
— Jesse Williams
What strikes you immediately about Jesse is her refusal to be boxed in. She calls her sound a blend of roots, southern rock, jazz, blues, and soul — genres that "feed each other," as she puts it. But beneath that musical eclecticism is something more fundamental: a commitment to what she calls "grounded truth." Her philosophy is disarmingly simple yet profound: she writes music that explores what it means to be a human being having a spiritual experience and a spiritual being having a human experience. It's the kind of statement that could sound pretentious in less sincere hands, but from Jesse, it lands like something earned through lived experience.
The podcast conversation captures moments that hint at her depth as an artist and a person. When asked to introduce herself in a single sentence, Jesse doesn't rattle off credentials or chart placements — she talks about melody medicine and truth-telling, about making music that's honest and hopefully medicinal. There's a humility there, but also an unshakeable confidence in what she's doing and why she's doing it. She didn't come to music through calculation; she came through osmosis and necessity, surrounded by creative people who showed her that art was simply another way of moving through the world.
I call it Melody medicine—a blend of roots, southern rock, jazz, blues and soul that all kind of blend into each other and feed each other.
— Jesse Williams
Growing up in that environment — what she describes as "feral energy but also heart, a lot of heart" — seems to have shaped not just her sonic palette but her entire approach to being a musician. She's not chasing trends or trying to fit into predetermined categories. Instead, she's drawing from everything around her: the landscape, the people, the stories, the spiritual undercurrents of Appalachia. Her sultry vocals and earthy lyrics explore life's winding paths with the kind of clarity that only comes from genuine introspection.
What makes Jesse Williams worth your attention is precisely that she's operating from a different premise than much of what passes for contemporary roots music. She's not interested in nostalgia or reproduction; she's interested in capturing "the raw essence of Spirit as it moves." That's ambitious language, certainly, but it's matched by an apparent willingness to do the internal work necessary to back it up.
For anyone seeking music that transcends genre boundaries while remaining rooted in real tradition, the full episode is essential listening. Jesse Williams represents something increasingly rare: an artist who understands that the most revolutionary thing you can do is simply tell the truth with conviction, surrounded by the people and sounds that shaped you. That's not just good music — that's medicine.
when you L and [Applause] Lear crash and [Music] bur Hearts get broke TBL turn you lose your Le this is the rugger Revival podcast the home of the UK's country Americana and Roots Music community of course you know me by now I'm rugged Ronnie and actually I'm going to introduce TJ differently time cuz normally he's very nasty to me I've got to say so I'm going to be nice Jesse you pulled out the nice side of me today so now buckle up because opposite me is a legend in the making whether he's making history or just making a mess it's our very own TJ with his face like a constipated coyote oh I that one oh you've led me into that one anyway um TJ uh thank you for joining again uh as my as my Joel co-host uh ladies and gentlemen boys and girls children of all shapes sizes and ages on today's show I have the absolute pleasure of introducing the very talented incredibly amazing Soulful and I've been asked to say this Mountain Mama uh Jesse Williams Jesse is a sicker and songwriter from the Jesse Williams band welcome to the show show Jesse uh please um introduce yourself describe who you are and what you do in one sentence in one sentence um uh well hello everyone I'm Jesse Williams I'm a singer songwriter guitar player from from the North Georgia Mountains Mountain Mama indeed I'm glad that you were forced to say that it's important um it's an important detail otherwise all a wash um I would say if I could even put my music in a box I call it Melody medicine it's a blend of roots uh southern rock Jazz blue Soul uh and it's they just all kind of blend into each other and and feed each other and I try to write music that reflects the themes of what it is to be a human being having a spiritual experience and spiritual being having a human experience and um yeah just try to ground down into the only thing I know which is my truth and a lot of the things I feel they're just a stone throw away from everyone else so I hope to make music that reflects that in a medicinal way and in a honest way and I'd say that's who at least a part of who I am if I were to introduce myself in one sentence Jesse that was incredible and better than we could have done at any point so incredible I love that ter Melody Melody medicine um I love that term that's epic so thank you very much and thank you for taking the time to join us on the rugged Revival podcast um now I've also got a little confession Jesse normally I'm dressed up in rugged Revival kit so I've got my top my t-shirt and everything now I left it in the wash so I've had to wear my my my go-to jumper so anyway it's no reflection on you it's just because uh I didn't was it in time so again thanks for thanks for joining us uh I'm going to ask you the question I love to ask a lot of our artists that come on uh and come and talk to us can you please tell us where did baby Jesse start uh where were your first steps and going on to your teenage years and where where you were growing up H great great place to start the very beginning um so my Foundation starts at the end of the trail and my parents you know my mother she's from North Carolina and my father grew up all over the place but I would say predominantly he spent the bulk of his youth in Alabama and then he moved to North Carolina to live with his dad um which is my papa Michael and he's the house I live in now that's a painting I did of him behind me oh wow um he's the baseman which that comes in um to this story and they met up in North Carolina um and you know coupled up and finally did the thing tied the knot and my dad he's in the masonry business he was spending a lot of time coming down to Georgia for work and and eventually you know they just decided to come down here and put the roots down and as they were looking for places they really weren't feeling pulled anywhere specifically until they got to Dela and then they drove up the driveway and my dad just knew he's like this is the this is it this is the end of the trail so um that's what I call it that's what everyone calls it and growing up here is like a totally different world I grew up around bikers and musicians and uh Cowboys and really beautiful big characters uh hard pills to swallow and um you know I it felt like there circus in some ways you know I to me everyone look 10 feet tall just actually who they were as people and um I was always really gravitated to be around them more than anybody else my age in my mind I was there you know like I was of equal standing and um they didn't make me feel any different too which had a lot to do with that but um yeah so growing up here I got to be around all of that uh I would say feral energy but also um heart a lot of heart heart by the pound and so they you know my dad being a musician and his father for him I should say as well too but they started a band called The in the trail band and my dad played guitar and Papa Michael's on base and um even my at Nikki joined in on like Congos and Bongos and they just it's a family affair you know they got a drummer and a keyboard player um which he was in a band called Sky dog in the 60s and 70s and they were amazing um so I got to watch them every weekend they'd work like 50 60 hour work weeks and still get in there every weekend like it was refuge and they would go in there I'd watch them look tired to the Bone and then watched them come out just born a new you know the lines kind of smoothed out on the face and um yeah no I was definitely Enchanted and I loved watching them play my dad he would play they covered Voodoo Child and um when I was little I guess the sound of like the strings being muted with wah wa sounded like a chicken and I would always tell him play The Chicken Song what and um but I loved it I loved it that turned into Stevie rayon was like my first love um I was so so hung up on his music and his sound and his grit and of course that made sense my mom when she was pregnant with me my dad was huge into Stevie rayon because my papa Michael would tape Austin City Limits and that's where he saw Stevie Ron for the first time yeah and he say he put the tape aside for dad you know and um then that was it for Dad he was probably didn't come up for air for while and he would jam listening to SRV like all the way to 10 and Mom loves to tell the story about I think it was Voodoo Child that they were listening to specifically and she said I was like kicking and going crazy so you know it starts it starts in the womb but there's also like a saying that I I think encapsulates it perfectly the acorn the oak tree sleeps in the acorn um so I come from a long line of musicians and um people who just it's zero or 100 and I got the privilege to watch them do it just for the sake of loving it and um not getting like not for the same reasons that I have pursued it for a long time and that's a long time to do something without the immediate gratification you know and just for the pure love of it so that was very um Paramount to me getting older hitting my teenage years um I lost before my Popa Michael passed he taught me how to play guitar on this little quarter guitar with nylon strings and um it was the timing was beautiful as it always is my dad had a job in Tupelo Mississippi and it was the summer of um sixth grade before I was going into seventh grade and that was when Papa Michael had given me that acoustic and he showed me how to play a de chord and that's that's the only Court I practice all the way from Georgia to Mississippi and I feel for my dad but he knew I mean dang he knew and um and that was a really great trip too because he like took us to graceand and we got to see um you know Elvis's Empire and to so just to be in that little pivotal moment of really like seeing myself and feeling this deep pull to do something at the very very beginning of a journey and then to see someone else's kind of like you know where they arrived their their legacy um it was wild it was really it was all kind of set it in stone for me and I got a few years learning from my paa before he passed and um which you know like turned into some time where it's like you lean into it even more because this space represents a person to you now not just the beautiful abstract realm of music but now it's a way to be close to someone and I think kind of incubating in that space for some time represented my teenage years for a while and then I got like you know eight I turned 18 and um then all I wanted to do was run the roads and meet people and learn kind of like Tri by fire learn from other people jam with other people break ceilings that way find people that were better than me um and like learn from them in that way and then also totally shy away from others who um I knew had something even deeper to offer more than just like licks but like maybe real experience you know it's like that funny little age where you're Immortal in a way and there are some things you're just some bubbles you're not ready to burst yet and you're like well it's there's no fires to put out except for the one you feel in your gut like you have to get into something so I spent a lot of years I feel like with varied seasons of focus and discipline and especially different reasons of my why what am I doing it for and um so it's been been a wild briide but I think music is the only thing I've done consistently other than breathing so here I am Jesse your I I've got I've got to say your passion your love and your connection with music is so inspiring um listening to you talking about where you've come from what you've done um one you've answered pretty much all of my questions I was going to ask you but more importantly I want to I'd like to ask you a couple of questions if possible and and just just to pick up on some of the things you said uh and when you said about um the fact that your dad um sort of at the end of the drive uh on the did you said it's the end of the trail yes um it's like I I find certain things of it's meant to be that's exactly what has led that person there that's there's a plan in life and this is where it's taking you and that's exactly what they found and that's so incredible to listen to um and so positive thank you for sharing that um and I just wanted to pick up on you said uh about your papa Michael um I'm going to call him the legend if that's right because he sounds an absolute Legend oh yeah so that painting behind you you said you've done that yourself yes I did when when did you do that how long did it take you that looks awesome I've got thank you so much um so that's a it's a gift I did for my father for Christmas and of of course I have it over here because well I live just across the driveway from them which that's what part of what was so special for me as a child is being right across the driveway from my Popa Michael because he stood out to me in so many different ways from others because he didn't coddle me he didn't protect me from like I would say larger truths or um even like religion like he was very open about the way he felt about it and you know and I grew up in a small town and people wanted to know where I went to church and like we didn't go to church and there are like generations of family here too you know that that's not where my roots are and I remember feeling like that was wrong that we didn't go to church without connecting that we were experiencing Church on the weekends by just total Devotion to the music and to the Bounty of community in our own way and um and he was really open about all of those just any of the questions that I saw a lot of adults struggle to answer because they didn't want to I guess affect me in any way yeah he it felt like he respected my ability to hold the truth and um I I sought him out for that I sought him out for that strength and honesty and so it's really special to live be living here now um since this is where I always wanted to be I would get home from school and make a be line for his house and so um um it's really special to that's why I have I say all that because that's why I have my dad's painting that I gifted to him in my house yeah um but that's a picture of him playing guitar because he was a guitar player too and they called him miles um and so it was there was a lot he was kind of a mystery he didn't offer up much about himself I never heard him say an ill word about anybody and so with these paintings I have a couple that I've done of other music musicians that I love and I call them musical portraits yeah CU it's my muse and I like to when I listen to music there are colors that are brought about for me whether that's their favorite color or not it's like kind of what is the word sinesia I probably butchered it but it's it's in that neighborhood yeah um and so those are the colors when I think of him and his bass playing and just how solid he was like a mountain even in presence when you're around him I I can remember being a kid and you know you don't pick up much of nuances as a kid you don't understand them like you do when you get older but I remember I could recognize when he spoke the room came down to Summer and listened and so U that painting I did it probably it I started it in November because I started it for uh I had the plan because my dad's birthday is no in November and I was like I think I'll do this and then I knew it needed more time than and I was trying to do a rush job so it yeah it took I guess about a month and a half but several months of planning getting the picture and um yeah so I'm I'm very excited about having it here when he lets me I kind of I create things and then I give them away and I feel really sad that they're gone I'm the worst in that way um but he entertains me he knows how I am so that's why over here but it says soul to soul and that's definitely how it is in my life soul to soul that's absolutely incredible and I'm sure uh I'm going to go back to him the legend is uh is incredibly proud of you and thank you so much for sharing that with us um because the connection you've got there is is incredible so um yeah thank you um I'm just going to um I'm going to ask you one last question before I hand over to um TJ because I've I've taken loads of your time up already I love it but no it's fabulous and I love hearing it I know you shared with us um quite a few memories uh fond memories that you have of your childhood and growing up um is there can you narrow it down into one personal memory that really sticks out in your mind about your childhood and the way you um flourished or sort of developed in your musical world is there something that you you would like to share with us if you can share with us a single memory I would say there's a lot there's a lot of them kind of yelling at me like pick me pick me yeah but but if I don't overthink it and I just roll with it um I'd say it was the first gig that I ever did it was in eighth grade and it was at BB Kings Blues Club in Nashville and you know I was I 14 just freshly 14 and I had only done a couple of open mics up to that point and um really shaking in my boots kind of experiencing fomo or not fomo but imposture syndrome like you know what am I doing on this stage but my whole family came out for that I mean they drove the miles booked the which now that I'm older I really do see what a investment that is you know to not only drive that way but to get hotel rooms and to like be there for the experience and the weekend and um and even like my guitar cable stopped working and my uncle Tommy went and got me one and you know at the time you don't I wasn't I was so in the kind of tunnel vision of my experience that it I was just fighting for my life but um when I think about it now like they came out they fully came out and supported that and um and that I don't know they they knew I deserved it that's why they came out in that way even if I didn't couldn't translate it or interpret it like that at the time like I know that's the case now and um after that like I wanted to feel like I the person whose respect and I guess acceptance I wanted most was my own and so that's like after that after seeing like I'm in no shortage of of support uh made me kind of realize like oh I want it for myself now and that definitely I've been working at that for the longest yeah and I'm lucky that that's who I'm working on earning it from and it's not a external Focus wishing I had it around me thank you that's great thank you so much TJ uh I'm I'm eating inch your time sorry to you no I said before I like sitting back and listening and sometimes I forget I'm on the show which is uh good cuz it means I'm interested it's great and I love your paintings too and I've seen a lot of what you do on on the socials and did you know rugged Ronnie's somewhat of an artist himself he's a finger painter oh really he does coloring in at the weekend finger painting and yeah you don't want to see any of his artwork though trust me it's it's horrendous yeah but um no thanks you know we've said a million times thanks for coming on Jesse and uh I think we thank you and I think we first connected on on Tik Tok of all places uh you've liked a few of our stuff and we liked some back and you know I went on a kind of a deep dive and and down the rabbit ho hold of of the Jesse Williams band and absolutely loved it I I've not I'm genuinely you know I put on the DMs I have not stopped listening to it it's my morning routine I wake up I put some of music on it just puts a smile in my face it's there kind of Soulful Groove and it might be miserable outside and raining and horrible but uh yeah it it feels like the sun is shining in my house anyway so so s I've got away with got me beaming yeah so it's great to connect you on all of the socials and I see you doing a lot of the insta lives the Facebook lives we dropped in on a few just to say kind of hello and and watch it because uh it's like a free gig it was great you know just uh kick back cup of tea and and watch some of of what you're going on do you have any plans on going live on Tik to have you done anything on Tik Tok yet I haven't oh you know I was just thinking about that last weekend because I was going to go live and then I was I don't know didn't have a lot in the reserves and I didn't want to think about how I looked on live stream which is like just total honesty sometimes it's uncomfortable being perceived um you know like but I I thought about how Tik Tok is just like a completely different audience you know like and I feel like it's you have such a broader net that you can cast on Tik Tok and people are really generous with their support and like they're excited to connect versus like Instagram and Facebook to me kind of feel like it's more of like how long you've had somebody in your Hemisphere and been following it's a little it feels a little harder like you have to kind of maintain it and earn it but Tik Tok just feels I don't know feels a lot more loving in that way and I definitely I I should go live because I you're my sign I was just thinking about it and you brought it up so there you go it's got the wheels rolling but no it's it's true what you're saying I think I found with Tik Tok and certainly gone on other people's lives it's like they have little families and people that just drop by say hello and it's not that kind of uh I would call it stale on Instagram and Facebook although I just did um but yeah you're right and I think I think You' do really really well so I was just curious as to if you had plans to go in there and it's great that you're you're thinking of it and uh so yeah I've enjoyed looking through all of your your socials and I love the fact that you've got your Gibson SG and it's almost become synonymous with you and um you know it looks really cool you've got this really cool kind of look going on and I I heard straight away you know the stuff that I love um before the country that I kind of rolled into uh more recently it was back with the Almond Brothers Band L skard um even like teshi trucks and I could hear that straight away in what you were playing when I saw you with your Gibson SG I thought yeah that sounds like a bit of us for sure um so that you was talking about that that was kind of the music you were listening to as well is that is that right with the alond Brothers Band and and that sort of er absolutely yeah I mean I grew up listening to Leonard skinnard I'd say um well that's absolutely who my dad loves so much um and the older I get the more I appreciate um oh my gosh is the absolute musicianship and how tight their live shows were like we wa we were watching live at Whistle Stop not too long ago and just have just jaw on the floor you know um so it was Linder skinnard the Almond Brothers um Stevie rayon of course Bonnie rate you know I got I was exposed to Bonnie rate through my mom she had like these DJ CDs and so it was like a mix of so many things and she'd pick us up from elementary school and I had started to be able to anticipate when Bonnie was coming on because I knew I memor the song that was before the song and so whenever i' hear that I'm like oh that song's coming on and it was going wild for you baby off of her album called the glow and I was like five years old I didn't know anything about longing but I would look out the window see the trees passing by and I feel my heart bleed I knew what that woman was talking about like I convinced myself I was like in my own little music video and um my music influences are definitely they they range in a lot of 60s 7s bands um and then Susan teski entered my awareness and absolutely you know like very much was a student still am and then when her and Derek Trucks formed forces and created the most gorgeous Union ever um yeah I very much was in a Chokehold over their music especially Revelator and then madeup mind that's my favorite album they put out and um yeah I I'm a purist I get hung up on artists for a long time and it takes me a while to kind of break away and let somebody else woo me um so it you know in that way I'm kind of stubborn but um that's that's definitely my influences in a nutshell I I think we're all in that kind of space sometimes and it's hard to break away from what you like and what you used to and I think that's the beauty of what we do we we're constantly talking to new artists because the platform is about that it's it's about emerging artists or you know artists that deserve the platform and it was great kind of delving into your music and and you know seeing seeing those kind of signs from what I love and it's like just great to discover and I thought that's a good place to kind of start with your own music so off the vine the EP um kind of going for your your track list and the kind of History to it that was 2020 I believe and yes every song on that is a banger it it it really is you know we've been listening to the car at home I make my kids listen to it in the car so uh you know they they they having to love it so talk talk us how that came about um so 2019 I started playing with these guys and is like videlia Statesboro which is like about five hours south of me it wasn't convenient at all but that's definitely the kind of head space I was in it's just like like what I I pretty dead set on what I wanted and um would make it happen regardless and I was playing with them and you know this guy Carrie Phillips he had gotten me on a couple of shows and we started building a relationship and um I really like working with him and him and my buddy Jose would come up and I was showing them these songs that I was working on and I remember Carrie telling me very lovingly he's like your your songs sound the same and there's a difference between criticism and constructive criticism by the way that it hits your ears when it's honest loving constructive criticism it's like a light bulb moment it's Aha and all you feel is like gracious because you've been looking for that peace you know I mean we're all out here and just trying to get to whatever your dream realized is in your mind and when he said that you know I didn't I how could you you know even though my ego was trying to whisper that tired [ __ ] in my ear I'm like get out of here you need to hear this and that changed everything I feel like that's when I actually started seeing myself as an artist and because I was able to bounce ideas off of them within the context of a band versus again incubating as a solo person um I was able to to start developing those ideas and um kind of exploring tempos and textures and soundscapes and the way that music or lyrics are supported and worked with or against in that way and um we had gotten some good Headway made and I was really determined to release some music and we got I got this stuff together I didn't ultimately go into the studio with those people I went with Studio musicians for that who were you know very talented and easy to work with um in the short window of time we had of getting the songs fleshed out and everything and that's part of why it sounds so organic because you know it was just in the moment right there run through it and uh synip pate and get together on that same wavelength and then hit it and um so I would say that's like when I first started getting a little audacity and there's a help that it's healthy to have a bit of that in the mix you know because if you don't believe it nobody will you don't like it what is it going to matter if anyone else does you know you can never feel that void no one could ever like it enough if you don't love it and so I would say and that energy I think is pretty interwoven throughout that EP there's there's I would say the impetuous nature of Youth in that you know just the just the I don't even know the Moxy of being that age and the kind of fearlessness that comes with it and so it's a good introduction and a lot of uh Lessons Learned and important I guess stepping out moment for me on that EP yeah and and what a first EP you know I love the fact you've got the horns playing you've got you on similar tracks it's just a fall in your face kind of EP and and not not in that kind of way but in in the fact that it's it is so varied you know you've got soul tracks on it R&B tracks you've got this uh just different Vibes Jazzy Vibes and I I'm really into that really into that and uh even with the the um what's the right word to say completely I wish I could articulate myself as best as good as you can Jesse I'm going to say you've got some way of words I tell you I'm like what is that word yeah bles that's what I wanted to say bloody how no BL come on yeah I need to go back to school honestly um so yeah it's it's my favorite EP and I'm so glad I I came across it recently and then it took you to your your next EP take my place in 20124 uh and my favorite track on it has got me dreaming again it kind of that same Cool vibe I I love it so so how did you get from you know the off the vine EP to take my place backwards so I recorded that EP in 2018 and I let too much time go by um again in that weird space of trying to earn my own respect as an artist and being incredibly critical of every step along the way versus seeing it as like necessary and being grateful and and kind of like encouraging myself through the proc process um and because I was in that mindset and so eager to put miles between me and the rear view I let too much time pass between when that EP was recorded and then i' felt I was like I rejected the music because I didn't think that's where I was at anymore and I didn't think that my vocals were good enough and so I just let it collect dust and sit on the shelf for a long time even though in that EP you can hear the earnestness and that that point in my life and the tenderness and kind of as I was figuring out it's more rootsy a little more folky Americana um I it's such a tender sweet little EP when I look back at it now and last year you know I was just I guess in some sort of nostalgic way as I was thinking about the record upcoming record that I'm doing and I was showing my husband the songs and he was like what do you mean you never release these and I was like no and he's like let's just do it he's like you don't even have to share it with anybody just do it honor the music honor that part of your life and the process and that age and um and he's like and it's great music it's great music and then when I actually listen to it I think it's important when you're creating anything don't corrupt the music or the art whatever it is give it a fair Shake listen to it as if it's not you and watch how much more you appreciate it and so when I took a step back and actually listened to it as if it wasn't me oh my gosh you know I could actually there were so many things I was not allowing myself to hear about the record because all I could focus on is what I didn't like when that was minuscule compared to how much um was happening and you know the guys that I had do the record with me were great musicians and and the guy that I recorded it with was you know Allstar very professional and it was a great experience so really that's my first EP ever and uh for in the name of honoring that and how far I've come and honoring the fact that that was some damn good music I released it and so that's you you know heal that little Rift between myself and my timelines well we're glad you did release it it's Just sh we we waited so long for you to to do that but uh we understand the process yeah it's uh we're not musicians but it's interesting to go get an Insight how how you guys think and how how you think about your own music uh so it's it's great to see that and um we're doing a playlist you know on the rugged Revival so we've started a new one because now we've had quite a few guests and I think it's interesting to put two tracks of every guest that we've had on so far just so people can jump on and kind of get a Vibe of of who you are and you know I've added two tracks so far and it's uh coming home and time has gone because they're my favorites but uh if if you were to choose what what two would you add on to kind of explain to people or showcase yourself on that particular [Music] playlist that's that's a great question I love coming home too because that's that message that's true till you take the journey home you'll keep coming home to yourself and I love major sevens I love Jazzy sweet cozy feelings um oh you've stumped me G you oh you got me got me dreaming is another great song too I really like that one I co-wrote that with chance Adams who was playing guitar with me at the time and um I really love that one too I think it's a nice sweet almost like kind of reminds me of like nick of time Bonnie rate just a little like it's like rootsy bluesy Poppy I don't know that that's tough I don't even know it's also I guess tough because I feel like those album those EPS that music is a far cry from me now um which again see how I'm dealing with that mindset um I don't know I yeah I coming home for sure I also love see it through I don't think that gets a lot of love but I love that one off of off the vine just the the message my dad always would tell me especially at that time of my life don't sleep on your life and um I conveniently was very alert about certain things in my life and definitely sleeping on others and that was some Sage advice so you got me you got me on that one TJ well we'll keep those two I I'm going to start asking this question yeah to see if if you're happy with my pics basically but uh I am for sure good job I could have done better and then I was going for your your socials more recently because we try and do a bit of research um in the buildup to to seeing you coming on like any guest and um I I saw you put some Snippets out there about a new album that is dropping so I want to squeeze the gossip out of you what's going on what's Happening tell us I'm very excited you asked so this is my first fulllength record um I quit I I bit off quite the bite true to my passion and it's 10 songs I am so excited about this record it's going to be called keep steady because that's you know that's every bit of what this has been and um it's a mix of Originals throughout the years I tried to encapsulate the years that have passed since me releasing off the vine and the themes of life that have gone through and even um not just capturing the evolution of that like of the the journey internally but also um musically and the ways that I've embraced other parts of sounds and influences that I may be pigeon hold myself into over here and trying to like you know evolve and so I I think it's a great collection of that and you know I've got my dad playing bass on one of the tracks which just like awesome oh it um makes me very emotional I'm so glad that we have of course we have a lot of music that um we have done together because he he was always in the studio growing up when I was growing up but um that this will be our first officially out in the world and I'm so glad that we'll have something that's you know I'm gonna stay in the test of time and it's the last song on the record which is even more um special to me and I've got my buddy Kevin on that uh playing drums on that one with me and um it it's just it's the perfect sendoff for the last song it's called No finer company and um yeah it's been a major labor of love I went into the studio in November I booked it for the week of my birthday because I thought that would be so much fun oh my [Laughter] god um yeah it was it was a lot but they treated me really well I came into the studio that morning and um my husband took the day off so that he could be there with me and see the process you know he he's been dreaming with me c-d dreaming and and you know being an artist is kind of inherently a selfish act because like you know I get to keep the late hours and make money doing what I love um of course at the support of someone getting up and doing The Daily Grind and um so it really meant a lot that he was there for that because he's been you know we take these walks Down To The River by our house seasonally and we talk about the seeds we're planting and like how things kind of check in how are things looking so he's been truly like walking and talking in time with me about this record for for a couple years so it meant a lot for him to come that day of my birthday and U the fellas they they all dressed up in suits and Christopher the producer um he cooked me a big old breakfast steak and eggs and um they just treated me so good it was so it really was great um it was just a lot that's five days of driving to Atlanta at leaving my house at like 7:45 and it being like a hour drive to get there and uh but it made it worth it you know like the harder you work the sweeter the fruit and we're just a few days shy now of getting everything done and um oh my God I can't wait can't wait for y'all to hear it yeah we we're really looking forward to it it's um yeah because we're fans and I know your husband's putting in a Daily Grind like you say now but when you're rich and famous it'll be your house husband is that dream know you say that literally his I think it's still there the caption in his Instagram Instagram bio is like something something the way of the house husband or that's what he one of the posts when we got engaged no he's fully aware he's ready he knows what he's been investing in we've been together since eth grade and that's as long as I've been doing this basically so he's seen how long I've been at it and um to be at this point you know we both see the important importance of that and yeah this record is I I just feel like it's um it's got a nice collection of sounds you know and grooves and also like Acoustics and I didn't prioritize that I feel like I had a lot to prove always when I was younger and in this there are more you know there's like keep steady the namesake it'll be stripped down to acoustic and stand up bass and piano and feel like it's just going to it's a nice selection of emotional journey and um and use of spareness and and then also use of energy and action with horns and uh Oregon and yeah I'm I'm tickled paint awesome and when can we we kind of expect that to come out is there any idea of or you still contemplating oh yes so I want my the date is June 20th and that'll be the summer solstice so you know nothing like aligning with Mother Nature and the changing of the seasons that feels especially auspicious and I'm also going to release My First Single it's set to release March 20th which is the Spring Equinox and that'll be really cool um the single will be quick quiet and I'm super stoked about this song really very important we will keep an eye on and we'll absolutely share the hell out of it when when it does drop and I just love the fact you're using such big words I'm I'm looking at Ronnie's face when he used these big words and he's just completely blank like you're talking a foreign language honestly I I just I I have to say it now cuz I'm going to leave it to the end but um you've just got such uh one you've got such a way of words two you've just got what an Incredible family uh to be doing that together and and the way you're uh the way you're walking through life together with your husband and and your family is just uh epic it's amazing um I've got to say you're single did you say March 20th your single is going to be yes so my birthday is on the 13th of March just a little hint reminder well birthday I'll be waiting for that single to come out and I'll make sure drinking a lot when I listen to that and as a Pisces D absolutely yes abely absolutely anyway that joke went sideways for you TJ didn't it so well I like most of them to be honest it's fine by me but uh well I've I I've been talking a long time but I've just had so many questions about the music itself so I've got a few more until we back to Ronnie so he'll have to just wait and listen wait his turn there you go um so again we were doing some research earlier and going through your Spotify bio and and things like that again to see if there's anything we missed and there was a couple of things actually we missed and I don't know how I did that and uh it was a collabs that you've done before with Josiah sain and the Color Blind Pilots and yes um with ctle wheeler it's interesting because they're two very different kind of genres so oh yeah stuff with jaai was very kind of in keeping with the Soulful Jazzy that was a bit spaced out one of them um yeah great song really really love you and that's a I've never heard of the original Rene guy yeah I've not heard of them so uh yeah talk us through that how did that kind of come about that was really cool so that was um sometime after the EP had been released and he reached out to me because of it so there's you know the Under the Umbrella of many benefits of releasing music you know people get to kind of hear you and be like well wait a minute I want her to come cook on this Feast right here so um he reached out to me and we had a couple of mutual friends too so it was nice they could kind of vet me um and he initially reached out wanting me to cover that song and I looked it up and she's incredible by the way um believe Australian and what a Powerhouse vocalist and so I you know upon hearing the song I didn't take it a few seconds I was like yeah this is absolutely my jam right here and I was really stuck to be a part of it and so that was I believe 2020 still or 2021 still in The Mask era so that was interesting to be in the studio and you know be contained and and do it the right of way where you know everyone can feel comfortable and um that was gian's my husband's first experience in the studio and he had no idea that it was long days of just getting he's like iPad kid you know he like just finds himself on spot and he just chills and um so that was it was a really great experience and it went so well that Josiah was like well I have this other song um right now it's an instrumental but you know I've got another guy I've given the chance to write lyrics to it and it's called long way from home he's like so you know I'd like to extend you the same opportunity and and so you know I gave it a shot and he really liked what I did and so we cut that too and I love that I mean that's super cool kind of reminds me of like hi Hiatus coyote and um yeah that was that was awesome and he ran a tight ship that was also really cool because it was so so different compared to how I did things with my EP of course I didn't know anything you know and you learn as you go but to watch him and like see the dry race board like all the parts and the days scheduled to the tea I'm like oh my God this guy is the real deal and so I had a lot I gained a lot of great um information and knowledge that time around and and he had like All-Star players on that record so that was also really cool to be you know I I was looking at who he had on I'm like oh my God I get to join that list that's pretty cool you know like I believe it Marcus White was the keyboard player who was Marcus King keyboard player at the time which was absolutely very cool um yeah that was that was a really sweet experience oh well yeah I could I could I could yeah hear you doing more collabs of that nature and uh we we had a band called still saddle on not too long ago I don't know if you're familiar with them a Canadian band again this kind of full sful funky thing going on with the horns and they're incredible so if you get a chance to listen to still settle great guy great band along that kind of vibe and and then moving on to another collab that you did with ctly wheeler and that that F me off completely because that was like straight down country Vibes and yeah gravel roads basically so yeah how did that come about because I'm really interested in that particular song and because it's very different to what you you've kind of put out so far yeah you know that's so that was such a cool experience so he was my little cousin a us fifth grade teacher fourth and fifth grade I think um which is my Aunt Nikki my dad's sister that's her one of her daughters and so they you know he's a musician and they would listen to off the vine like the EP in class when she was um and when he was her teacher which was just like last year the year before I can't even keep up they it's so flying by so fast but because of that connection which is just so cool you know that again it's a family Connection in that way he reached out to me and you know he sent me the songs and I definitely automatically clocked that like this is not what I do but um I loved the songw writing he's such a powerful poignant songwriter and the music is just gorgeous the music has done so so well and um I really enjoyed just the process of him kind of like almost setting the scene of how he wanted the vocals to come across and he just he has a he has a great way of pulling it out of you in a really comfortable fashion and he uh he was just so accommodating and I was you know I think for myself why part of why I was really interested in doing it too was um often times we're not thinking big enough about what we're capable of doing typically because you only have your SES on what you know exists and so you don't reach for much more much more than that you know and in that way I I just kind of wanted to see what what would my my place be in that how could I support another artist more than just what I think I like the most you know can I blend with somebody else and be a part of that sacred support that takes the back and helps lift and um and and I really yeah I just felt really called to do it and and then he just he treated me so well throughout the whole process and um he was just over the moon with the my contribution and it just kind of showed me more of um the potentiality you know like I I definitely find my little niche that I I love and I nurture um but it's I think it's very informative to step outside of what you consider yourself to be because that is in fact just a creation it's just a character that I've worked on tirelessly and I could expand that person's abilities at any time if I wanted to and that kind of showed me that that there's a lot more that I could do if I didn't specify all the time yeah and is good to do yeah no that's really interesting to hear that side of things and I know when we we talk to other artists that come on about collaboration and some of them in the beginning were a bit hesitant because it's like giving a upper degree of creative control and having to work as a team and and with with other artists and it can be difficult but uh everyone that say when they've eventually done it you know they they've absolutely loved it and it's some some of their favorite work that they've done and I don't know if I'm going to credit list to Jonathan pton I'm just going to pretend he said it anyway and you know he I'm sure Jonathan said I think he's over your way isn't he Jonathan pton North Georgia he he's incredible so I don't know if he's within your circles and so in England everything is quite in close proximity we think it's massive here but it's not you know and we just assume it's the same in America so if we're talking like North Georgia or somewhere it's probably a lot bigger than we we we imagin um it could be two hours away yeah exactly yeah two hours away is like in the same state yeah exactly me and Ronnie don't see each other very much because we live two hours apart and that's way too long we don't like each other as I said last time oh so no Inc right no there's no nothing po gold at the end of that rainbow I tell you um I will ask one more question and then I will let Ronnie speak if if we may um so so Eddie's Attic and it stood out to me because I've heard the name of Eddie's Attic and we're following them and we we see all of the songwriters and all the people that have come through that um in the past winners and and things like that so you had John Mayor Tyler children I'm a massive John Mayor fan so that kind of stuck up for me I'm sad enough to have John Mayor on my arm in fact uh that's how sad I am at my age um but that must be an incredible Accolade to be one of the winners at Eddie's Attic So tell people you know who who are not familiar with Eddie's Attic what it's all about and kind of how important that that kind of thing is oh um that is definitely a huge Accolade to have um when I think back to last year I have to kind of remind myself that that happened um because it's you know the goalpost forever moves and it's like you get one thing done and you kind of savor it for a little bit and then you're like who gotta keep going there's another mountain to climb and um you know the songwriters shootout that they have there is beautiful I mean I recommend it to any artist like because whether you win or not you walk away winning from just the experience alone of playing to such an intimate room where everyone is just dead quiet and so engaged it's actually terrifying because especially if you're like a weekend warrior and you're doing the three-hour gigs playing at wineries breweries being Sonic wallpaper you know um to have a whole room of people just beaming their eyes and their Consciousness at you it's like a a circuit you know and if you're not grounded that energy just runs through you and it's really I mean your heart races and um you have to I did it several times um that was I think my third or fourth attempt and I you know in the previous times I did so the year before last year so 2024 wait that was last year 2023 I I made it to because they do it by annually and I made it to the summer shootout and I think the fact of or just the fact alone of Music being a competition is strange because you know how do you compare such an abstract thing um but that's part of what's so great about it is because you do get to see what people are looking for in terms of presence on stage and songwriting like you know I I tend to love songwriting that evolves and have a lot of moving Parts but there are people who are strictly looking for that magic formula you know and of like verse course verse course Bridge resolve like they're looking for this just very concise which there's a lot of power in that if you can deliver something concisely in a short amount of time and it's executed full circle I mean that is the mark of craftsmanship versus taking the scenic way and like I like to do being like let me take you all around and point out this and this because if I if if we only get one ride together let's enjoy it you know but there's there's so many different ways um you know that you can get it right in my mind and in that you know you spend a lot of time doing things and not really knowing if it's if you're hitting on something but in that experience you do see what hits you do get the experience of interacting with an Engaged crowd and of course the judges and everything but the anyways back to when I made it to the some the first shootout in 2023 I in my mind I was like I'm gonna win this like I I was like trying to manifest it and be that girl and I'm not a competitive person I don't think I am I'm I mean I'm in competition with myself all the time that's exhausting um but healthy you know in order to like keep chasing that that little fuzzy feeling you you want but um I I got knocked out in the first round and I was gutted because I may not have envisioned I envisioned winning and I envisioned making it far I never considered not making it past the first round and what I realized in that moment that I was most upset about was that I didn't get to play to that room anymore for the night it wasn't even that I didn't win that's when it like you know I sobered up and realized no the real prize is this whole experience is getting to finally be at the Forefront of people's attention and getting to if anything I'm not here to gain anything from these people I'm here to give to someone who actually wants it and that's what we're all looking for because we all have something we we love so much and that we want to give it and we nothing feels better when you give something than the feeling of knowing it was fully received I give every weekend but I don't know for sure if it's being fully received by these people I mean I choose to assume that they are because I mean I'm GNA assume anyways might as well assume that they love it but instead of assuming they're too busy listening and drinking with their friends I choose I choose happy delusion um but no I it was I walked away um learning that that was a pivotal moment and then when I went back for the second uh shootout of 2023 the fall one um I had a totally different presence because the the prize changed the prize was I want to be on this stage for as long as I can tonight I want to play to these people as long as I can and I made it to the final round and I was it was me and Brennan Edwards which I've seen that you've had him times love yeah he and what a beautiful human he's just a dude he's and like there's so many people that are amazing musicians and then you like I don't know they're almost personas different to what their music casts um and to meet him it's like oh there's no separation this is this is you flawlessly and um to witness him and to see him play and just even who he is as a human being which I don't know him like that but just to even feel it organically was really um I I was was a winner to lose the him you know and I walked away from that night literally unfaced and but I but I did know I was like I'm gonna keep coming back to this thing until they give it to me they're gonna get sick of me I'm determined and so um you know and they had the open mic like every Monday night and uh so of course I went back and um I couldn't do the summer shootout last year because I had a gig at somei Soul bar and it was just too tight I am crazy enough I was gonna try to make it but it was too tight and so I deferred to the fall shootout and what do you know um and I and I was getting all serious on the drive there I was like you know because it's hard not to have expectations or for hopes to turn into expectations such a fine line and um so I'm like trying to like mentally prepare myself like oh it's okay whatever happens blah blah blah while secretly really wanting it you know it's like hard you one foot is on the train one's on the platform and you're doing a split and it's uncomfortable and so um Donny my husband he was like damn you're getting really serious clocking immediately and you know I'm like and then he starts putting on Susan teski he starts putting on Bonnie R and he's like listen to all these song writers and they didn't win this shootout like he just started you know helping me kind of break out of no wait I love this I love this there's no reason to spoil it you know know just because I was trying to emotionally prepare myself for a phantom fear or for like a future disappointment and there is no coping with something that hasn't happened yet but I was trying to in order to not feel disappointed and I was kind of Che I was realizing and then I just had this little moment I was like again I'm not here to gain anything and it's easy to think that it's easy to think I want to win this I want to walk away with the recognition with the external validation that these things about me true but then I remembered no they're the lucky ones I'm here to give and to just kind of honestly to make myself a small part of the forces at work you know like I believe truly that I'm the vessel and that the songs I write like I can feel really territorial of them and feel like they're my babies but they were gifted to me I just happened to be pick up the phone at the time of whatever's happening up here and listen for a minute that's all that's that was always there and it was just for a second I silenced the chattering enough to hear something other than the mental noise and picked up on um I've Source in my heart it's source and to channel it and kind of take it from the intangible to the real so when I was thinking about how bad I wanted it I also just kind of had this moment like I've already got it I already got it I got this far I get to play to these people I also get to hear other amazing musicians who went through the same thing as me and get to hear their music medicine and um I I highly recommend that experience for anybody because even if you lose you're a winner and you can do it however many times you want to and if you can get up on that stage and ground down and not let your heart beat louder than your ability to honestly translate what you have to give to these people because they're hungry they want what you have to give versus thinking I want what they have to give me you know you're the you're the prize in that way I don't know it's a really really great experience it's terrifying that's why you should do it yeah that's that's such a deep introspect kind of uh look into your side of things because obviously we we see it from the other perspective and yeah it's so interesting to see the emotional roller coaster that you you go through and uh the main point I got from that was that you beat Brennan Edwards so I'm going to write that down I lost to him I lost okay but because I lost to him I knew I had to beat whoever oh sorry you lost to Bron oh I did yeah he won and then I decided that's when I was like well heck yeah I'm going to do it again this was fun this was so good and then yeah um last November I won it and uh I kind of just yeah that was that was amazing everything and that was also like post the first week in the studio so I was also kind of taking um direction from what I'd learned in the studio too about you know because I I take these songs very much in the raw and I'm getting um opinions and and other ideas from other people who don't have any emotional ties to my songs and maybe have a specific idea of what hits are or whatever this and I don't write hits I write songs I've never written them for that ever it never even crossed my mind I forgot that people do that and um so to kind of take everything so quickly and then it's right on the heels of the shootout it was just it was really special timing and it confirmed it yeah so so great I I will say one more thing and I promise Ronnie I will hand over to you no no I've uh actually for the second time I've just completely lost where I am because I just I feel like I should be that's well I'll show you my last thing then and uh but no when we put the promo out on Tik Tok and Instagram and everything I always like to see the comments that get back because they're so warm and friendly most of the time and the ones for you certainly were you had a lot of positive comments come back and even DMS through to us and there was one uh message that stuck out and it someone mentioned I can't remember who and it was on Tik Tok one of the comments to say that you're not just incredible as a musician but you're someone that's made a huge impact on the scene so I thought that was such a nice thing to to say it might have been your husband I'm not sure but you go get me weepy but I it was a nice thing to say and a nice thing to share while while we're here together but uh so that that's my last thing Ronnie I will I will to you TJ honestly no it was it was great I I just wanted to add into that because it was a another quote that I found and I know I've I've identified some some of the quotes with some of the artists we've we've um we've spoken to but one of them that I picked up on a lot um following on from the from them comments was um Jesse's performances are characterized by tender voal serenades and heartfelt power inviting listeners to immerse themselves in the medicine of Music her performances are powerful Soulful Vibe authentic and heartfelt and that just describes you completely I think uh so incredible well done thank you both so I just wanted to ask you a couple more questions I'm G to go back into the personal stuff um if possible so um out of interest do you drink alcohol do you drink I I do I'm h a six well so I'm on a Hiatus right now of sweet Mary Jane and any other vices this is my fourth year in a row that I do this where I take the first six months and I just completely dry out air out um I just because at that point it's not even I don't even appreciate it anymore you know just um and it's it's never better than I left it it's always exactly the way it was when I left it so but I'm not when I actually take the time to step away and kind of like rejoin with my child um I don't know a lot more is revealed to me and I feel like I'm just more present so right now I'm yeah no I I honestly so many people have said that and uh and and actually there's there's quite a few people very very close to me that are uh that are doing exactly the same they haven't touched a drop of alcohol for the last uh sort of six months and actually they said they they felt better than they ever have uh with no anxiety no uh no you know less stress less uh feeling rough and all that stuff but on another side of things I want to know what is your favorite cocktail so when I do when I'm off the wagon what do I pr um you know that's a great question I typically go for beer um I like apple cider Al um or anything any sour alses I'm not really a cocktail person but I will take a sip out of my mom's Mojitos so moos original the original Gangsta of Mojitos yeah thank you um so just just on for that um what's the best album or single you've listened to in the last 10 years and what makes it stand out to you okay um I don't know about 10 years but I will say in the last year early James in the latest uh he just released a record last month actually it's called medium raw okay and he is he's so far left for what I typically listen to and every time I think I have figured out where he's going to go with the song um I'm wrong and I and I feel like that's part of why I really love is music you know when you're watching a movie and you're already assuming where the plot's gonna go and you're like oh yeah that's that's gonna go um I typically listen to the music that I know that that's going to happen for me because again I I like what I like and it's pretty much been the same thing for 10 years so to discover him he has really beautiful songwriting in the sense that it's like ugly feels like a harsh word but what I mean is that he doesn't spoon feed you like the typical pleasantries and I like I like that I like that he talks about that other side of the human experience and his music is kind of Haunting and he has this really raspy almost Lion's Roar of a voice while also having like a Billy Holiday esque warble and his music is just it's interesting it's very very interesting and I feel like he's criminally slept on and I I highly recommend him to anybody uh even his album before that I think it's called a strange time to be alive he has a song it the first one that like really got me which is a heaven If Heaven is a hotel and it's just a great Line If Heaven is a hotel with no checkout time and hell is just a motel with smoking rooms can I get an estimation When to book my destination I'm so sick of waiting for my skin to prune I just think that's so good oh and Ali Sant that's another great artist the last name is s n DT she's an amazing guitar player and singer and her music is beautifully composed that's another person you should look into she just released a single called Ace oh okay so the single that being released from the last one medium raw and then what name this did you say so that's the name of the album he put out um and this and the name of the single that she put out is called Ace Ice so those are two artists I highly recommend diving into because they're really they're the real deal they're original refreshing um and it's not like performative uh trying to be different it just is and it's it's great great stuff brilliant thank you for sharing that with us I really appreciate course um so I know that throughout the time that we've we've been talking um you have given what I find you've given so much advice to people about loving themselves and giving themselves goals about you know not not arguing that inner child if you like um really you know really support yourself go forward and and really p yourself out there um I wanted to know if you could give any advice to any emerging artist any emerging Talent um that you see if you could give any advice to them what would it be um there's one that comes to mind I don't want to butcher it I'd love to say it verbatim but um every piece of work is a self-portrait so autograph it with Excellence wow well you can't really top that that was that was incredible thank you um so on on the the subject of emerging artists and emerging Talent is there anybody that I know we talked about albums and and people going forward but is there anybody that you see at the moment you think yeah I I can see them going forward and apart from yourself obviously but see them coming up and going forward and and see them developing um let's see off the top of my head the Bernie sisters they are an incredible sister Duo um they just located to Alabama and they're young they're like 14 and 16 and wow U they've got incredible harmonies I just saw them last year for the first time and I mean I was in tears the whole time just because to see such Mastery already at work and deeply rooted and to be so young and tender and innocent like I don't know it's just it kind of you're talk you mentioned the inner child and that is the inner artist so to see two flourishing in that and and what they write about are I think great messages um I mean that's the kind of stuff I love I love listening to music that is authentically supporting messages that really reach the heart of what it is to be here and I think they're doing a great job at that and they also just won the muscle or SCH City Showdown um which is huge huge um they got like to go to muscle Show Muscle show studio in Alabama which is awesome um there's so many artists but that definitely seeing them you know I know like I got to see the pause before like the huge Ascent um I'm trying to think of any other artists that I can I definitely just jump out at me like that there's so many there's so many deserving hardworking artists but I definitely think of them that me medely and they they're working hard yeah especially their ages I mean from what you saying from your the way you've come up um and so young as well you know there's there's um there's there's so much you've done at such a young age and and fair place of you know if they're getting into that and and dedicate themselves to it so we'll definitely give them a listen um yes please and back to you again I I've asked some artists before because it's a question I love uh and I always find it fascinating um what people have got in their heads and what their minds are um and I wanted to ask you what are your top three goals that you want to get to um can be any time scale could be immediately could be in the next five years 10 years but what are your top three goals my top three goals is to have a community of musicians that I get to grow old with that in that Community I mean it's the rest of time whether we're helping each other whether for a gig going on tour recording whatever I I want to be someone that someone can call on and we interchange each other's gifts and skills and Learn by proxy grow by proxy by being around the best um yeah so that's one of my goals another goal two out of three would be to to have a very healthy prolific recording career behind me I feel like that would be the mark of success has been a changing definition for me but recently it has it's become out of all the fleeing things that kind of stuff is forever forever it'll outlive me so if I can record music the rest of my life with that community and be a part not just things my own records but other people's stuff that's a huge goal I recording is such an amazing experience time stops um and you get to do you get to make the slightest idea happen it really is like magic and you don't even know it but nine hours have gone by and you haven't eaten so it's like uh it's really something else and I would say my third goal to simplify and to simplify the noise no matter how tempting the rabbit holes that my brain wants to go down quit being a servant to the mind and instead somehow get the flip get on the other side of it um and be able to experience nothingness more often I feel like whenever I've had space in my life I immediately tried to fill it so it's definitely a goal to be able to hold space and to want to do nothing with it and just be that's fabulous uh and I'm hoping that the Ruger Revival was part of that community that you were talking about in your second call and we want to be there we want to see support you so don't forget to give us a shout out to the rugal I will be with you every step of the way let me oh we're family now you're not get me we're already old though so we can't grow old with you because we are old oh whatever we'll grow in tandem okay that's what tandem growing that's what I want oh yeah and then the last one for me Jesse uh if possible so outside of Music uh could you tell us something that you a hobby or something that you're interested in or you like doing that people wouldn't expect they wouldn't say oh yeah that's what you do so can you sh something that they wouldn't expect um I've worked out before for almost seven months straight last year uh I do enjoy it I enjoy the Mind Body Connection I've um worked on cars with my dad doing body work and sanding and prepping for paint [Music] um I'm trying to think I feel like I'm I wear my heart on my sleeve everything that I like you can kind of tell right off the rip but um I also I enjoy hunting and and um actually understanding what it is to uh even get the privilege to take the life of an animal and understand like being in a tree stand and I don't know it's seeing the world come alive when you're busy sleeping in bed you know and seeing nature and all the Stillness and um it's pretty it's very amazing and though I've never killed anything I love to go with my dad and get in the tree stand and you know just like wait excitedly hey Gypsy joined us hello hi meet Ronnie and TJ does she talk he said hell no get me off um but yeah oh I love frogs I love catching frogs frogs okay yeah because I was a kid I I will catch some frogs now yeah I was just talking about that last night that must be on the brain still I love them than but yeah I don't know I hope that that's interesting enough it's I that those those are some things no that's brilliant knows yeah thank you as a first on the rugy Revival um TJ over to you i' I fixed the uh background noise now it's my time to talk so shock horror convenient I know yeah it's uh well we're not polished on the rugged Revival so um you know what you see is what you get it's it's our nature we have to this exactly or semi semi-professional at least um so yeah I've got a few more questions if if you don't mind Jesse so we we talked about your your upcoming new album and some of the collabs that you've done is is there any for the rest of the year that's exciting anything You' got planned what what's kind of going on that you want to plug you know I've honestly just been so consumed with the record that for the rest of the year I decided compare differently to last year I was going to be more selective with the band gigs I do because you know I gig solo almost every weekend it's like how I make my bread and then I also you know get to refine and work on my craft and get better but band gigs that's like a completely different um cup filling experience and so this year I wanted to be more selective because it's really easy to get in this mindset that if I say no to something then I've suddenly shut the door to a bunch of other experiences so um being more Discerning with that you know I've and that because of that I've got some really cool bangs that I'm looking forward to like in September we'll be playing Gaba Fest in mon which is the Georgia Almond Brothers Band Association and uh yeah it's like a whole weekend dedicated to ABB baby and it's really fun you know they've got the big house there in mon where they made they lived and breathed the music together and it certainly feels like Hallowed Ground you can feel it there and uh so I'm really looking forward to that and they're they such a great great Network down there um I used to play there a lot like right out of high school so like 2016 17 18 and the fans and brands that I've made down there I mean like that's those are some really strong bonds and they they just have a different heart for the music and especially the kind of music I love and that I want to do that I am doing uh that that's a place for it there so I'm I'm looking forward to that and in March I'm going to Colorado for the first time uh for an artist Showcase in Denver and that'll be really cool U my best friend she's uh she's in a management company now which is really really cool because what about that and we're in dynamic duo okay like we I mean since we were kids you know she's seen me as well play guitar fiddling around and come the come up and uh so she actually you know she's been coordinating this whole event with her man management company and that's huge it's going to be really really exciting so I guess you know this year I'm kind of like I said very focused on the record and putting that out um this summer and and in the meantime taking bang gigs that really call to me and then I I really feel that the record will make waves in the places that we're supposed to um magnetize to if and that so that's really that's as far as I've gotten no know it's a it's going to be a busy year for you I can see it it will be good and um have you have you ever been to the UK do you have any plans or any desire to come over here I know we've not biged it up too much of the weather and stuff like that but uh actually that's what sold me I love to feel sad I think it's a good little thing to romanticize the gray skies and wear a jumper as you say um I love sweaters I have so many 70 sweaters and I love them so that's all the excuse I need I've never been and I would I've got to say if you if you look at TJ's face that will make you sad don't have to you don't have to worry about the sky anyway sorry that was nasty no I've never been and I would love to I would absolutely I saw that Lance Rogers is there um we connected a couple years ago I think during it was 2020 and I was doing this um live stream event it was you know kind of like in L live performances and I would get booked to do it and I'm pretty sure that's where we cross path and he's been a wonderful supporter ever since and to see that I was like yes L is great uh it was Lance I met in Sunday I think in a in a miserable gray back end of nowhere it was Lance Rogers Daniel Kane my dude I'm repping his T-shirt tonight we did a merch swap on a night and Hunter Flynn so I got to see these guys in a very intimate setting say hello do a bit of an interview at the end we haven't released that yet uh by because I haven't had time but uh but yeah they they've they've really enjoyed their appalache on so jealous I was so jealous that's what I mentioned it you always you always get to go and do the face to face Jesse when you come over I'll come and see you okay I can I'll be in the middle of y'all's two hour yeah thing I'll be here yeah there go but uh it was great meeting those guys like you say really really interesting to see more and more artists come to the UK and long may that continue as we keep saying and I think if you ever have any desire or any want Even after this interview by any chance to to want to come to the UK then get in touch we'll we'll make stuff happen we'll meet up we'll beer and stuff like that you know it's be oh great there you go it'll be good it'll be good break of Champions take your WEA spoons yeah but we'll treat you treat you well cool so um and we we talk often to artists about how we can support you beyond streaming so obviously doing podcasts we'll share your content we'll stream music we'll wear your merch you know is there anything particular we can do what do you have merch to sell cuz we always love merch yeah I do have merch to sell um I just recently did redid my website which was quite the task but I'm really excited that I did it and um I've got merch but I just need to get like nice pictures of it taken to put online but I got these really great t-shirts made um they're really soft and I've got Koozies with keep steady on the back which is probably a problematic message to send to drinkers but um it is what it is Jesse have you got any hats because we're obsessed with Hats you like hats I will work on that just for you right perfect as soon as you've got them we'll be ordering them'll model make sure wear them with Fri yeah I'll send you too you can wear it like have your bills this way you know we'll be there so we can do that uh is there anything else that you would love to kind of plug while we're here anything you want to kind of get a message out for listeners and so forth we have had a very thorough juicy conversation um I'd say everything that I wanted to share um I've gotten the ample chance to and I I appreciate it so much y'all's time and listening ears and your great great questions it's uh I mean I'm just I'm gonna be beaming after this just perran yeah people don't to talk to us afterwards he's such a liar he really is he never he never does it justice there's been so many messages coming through he's been inundated especially when we advertise people like yourselves coming on so uh it really is you know it's it's a really good time so thank you superb the best time we're so please thank you thank you for coming on again and uh I I will leave Ronnie with the final message then over to you man thank you very much Jesse have you got a soft drink anywhere that you can hold up for us cuz normally we do a toast at the end but if you haven't it's okay hold your C I've got a glass I've got a couple words go on this is from Arby's it's 1976 Arby's they did like a zodiac collection and here's my Scorpio glass 1976 wow wow that's amazing that I've got a Highland Spring bottle of water so someone brought the China it's rubbish but I've got a couple of words just to end uh because it's been an absolute pleasure it really has uh so here's to your love your passion Andrew energy here's to the legend Papa Michael behind you um and you'll have to excuse my accent on this but I'm gonna say to the Mountain Mama y and all your incredible performances thank you so much for joining us tonight thank you so much uh please do um come and listen to to more of you um and uh and we'll get on that merch shop so here's we're going to raise a toast to the grit the grind and to the Revival cheers for everyone for listening thanks
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