Nathan Bess – West Virginia Americana Songwriter

This is the Rugg Revival podcast, the home of the UK's country, Americana, and roots music community. With me again is our very own homegrown TJ, lover of country music, master of the painfully predictable punchline, and a face like a fart in a spacesuit. If there's an awkward silence to be had, he'll fill it with a [ __ ] dad joke. So, welcome back, TJ, and it's so nice to see you again. Welcome back. I've never gone anywhere, mate. No, that was me. Yeah, I might I might mess that one up, but it's so lovely to be back, anyway. It's so lovely to be back, and thank you for Unfortunately, I've had to disappear for the last couple of episodes for personal reasons, but I'm back. So, there we are. On today's show, we have the awesome, the talented, and the drop-dead incredible Nathan Bess, a singer-songwriter based from West Virginia, our very first guest from that state, actually. Um So, Nathan, I'm going to hand over to you. Welcome to Rugg Revival podcast. Can you introduce yourself and tell our listeners how you describe your style of music in one sentence? Yeah. Uh great to be here. Uh it's finally talking with you guys. Uh Nathan Bess from Charleston, West Virginia. Uh If I had to describe it in one sentence, I guess just like Appalachian country. I don't even know. Sometimes it's so tough to like classify what you are. You know what I mean? Like it's it's hard to put like a label on whatever it is, cuz I don't sit down and think, "Okay, I need to write a country song or a folk song or Americana." You know what I mean? You just kind of go with what comes out, and people kind of decide for you, I guess, you know. Absolutely, and Nathan, it's it's wonderful to have you on, and thank you for taking the time to come and speak to us. Yeah. I am going to jump into the questions, if that's all right. We've got loads here to go to cover today. So, I'm going to talk about a bit about your personal life and where you've come from and what you're doing. So, Nathan, can you tell us where did baby Nathan start? Uh where were your first steps, and take us up to your teenage years? Yeah. So, I was actually born in Charleston, so I was born at the hospital there. When I was a children, we lived about 30 minutes um on the edge of Kanawha County, a place called Cannelton. Um that's where like most of my family's from. It's like Smithers, Montgomery area. Um but then in fifth grade, moved across lanes, which is a little closer to Charleston, and started kind of making friends there and growing more as a person, cuz there's a lot more opportunity around that area. You know what I mean? Compared to where most of my family and stuff's from. But yeah, and then just kind of grew up right around Charleston. I just always say Charleston, cuz like it it's such a small area that, you know, it's that's the that's the city you can select, and everybody's like, "Okay, I think I've heard of that." Or like that's the capital, so they know. But yeah. Brilliant. Thank you. Thanks for sharing that. Uh and and just going on to the next one, really, around what's your earliest memory of music? Who or what influenced you? When did you know that you could play all the instruments in the world and sing, and tell us about that? Yeah. Uh family's big in music. Uh a lot of like grew up in church, so a lot of choir stuff, a lot of gospel. I'm sure you guys hear that from a lot of Americans. So, you know what I mean? It always starts with like church, it feels like, when you're younger, especially around here. Uh my mom can sing, my dad can sing. Um grandparents, my mama. That's probably my earliest memory is like my mama singing it to me like on the front porch and stuff. Um just old gospel songs and hymns. Um I was always drawn to guitar. There's pictures of me at like two or three years old just holding like this plastic guitar by a string, you know, not even knowing how to hold it. Carrying it around, so I was drawn to it early. Um my grandpa played guitar. I didn't get to see him play as much as I would like to have, but maybe that's what it was. I just knew enough to where it was I was drawn to it. Um got super into like AC/DC when I was young. Like my dad I remember my dad like playing Pink Floyd and AC/DC for me, and I was like, "Oh my god." Cuz everything else to that point was just like gospel. You know what I mean? Like and hymns, and then I heard like "Highway to Hell" or something, and I'm just "Oh my god." This whole of the world just opened up, and that's when I was like, "All right, I want to take lessons." And so, I was in fifth grade, and uh my mom was cool enough to sign me up for some lessons, and he was basically like, "So, what is your plans? You want to read music or whatever?" I was like, "No, dude, just show me every AC/DC song that you know. Like I just want to play songs on it." You know what I mean? And so, that's kind of how it started, and then from there, just gravitated towards sports and stuff, kind of left music for a little bit. Um but I knew enough from those AC/DC songs that like when I tried to start playing again, I remembered some chords, just the basic stuff, and then I started learning other music and got more interested, and friends pushed me hard enough once I started writing my own stuff, and now I'm playing in front of people and talking to you guys, so it's kind of weird how it just snowballs like that. And everything's gone so quick from the age of two and three. Yeah, it's super fast. Yeah. Absolutely. Yeah. And what you're saying is that every bit of talent in your gene pool has come together, and this is what made you the way you are. Brilliant. Amazing. Yeah. Perfect match. Yeah. Yeah, I wish I wish I had I had one gene in my pool that would give me any sort of talent whatsoever, but there we are. So, you've got a special gene pool, you have, Ronnie. Yes. Yeah, very special. Um Okay, brilliant. That's amazing. So, just off uh off the on a side note, how many instruments can you play? Is it just the guitar, or can you play numerous different instruments? Yeah, pretty much just guitar. I hate even saying like I can play guitar, cuz like there's people that can play guitar, they know like all the back ends of like what keys, all this different stuff, the the Nashville numbering system. I don't know if you've ever heard of that. Like people that know all this different stuff, and I'm just like I know a few songs, I write, I play with what sounds good. Um I've tried to pick up fiddle. Fiddle's like my favorite instrument ever. I wish so bad I could play fiddle. I mean, it's just beautiful. Uh but yeah, just guitar. I mean, I can sit around and play a little bit on like a banjo or like a fiddle, but it's not like you don't want to hear it. You know what I mean? It's just fun to It's just fun to kind of do every now and then, challenge yourself a little. Do you know what? Funny enough, uh TJ picked up a fiddle once, and um and it sounded like he was torturing a cat. So, uh Yeah. Yeah, I I I said exactly the same about him. I said, "Oh, no, I don't Nobody wants to hear that." Um put it away. Like my guitar playing as well, to be And you singing? Singing. Yeah. Or anything musical. Yeah. Um Okay, thank you. That's that's great. Thank you. Thank you very much for sharing that. Um So, what what is it that sets you apart from everyone in your sort of music? What do you What do you think is different to you than everybody else? Hm. I don't know. That's a good question. Um I don't know, man. There's a lot of great stuff out there. Like I'm just like so appreciative to even be in the world of it. You know what I mean? Like just even having the opportunity to play shows and record music, and just to just to be a part of it is cool. I don't know if there's like I don't know. I've never I don't like listening to my own stuff, either. I know there's probably I bet everybody says that. I don't know, but I don't like sitting around listening to my stuff, so Um yeah, I don't know, man. I'm I'm just just glad to be in the world of it. I don't know if I'm even trying to set myself apart. You know, I'm just kind of enjoying and going with what feels good, and it's working out so far, you know. So, I'm just kind of riding that. Yeah, absolutely. And and I mean, from TJ and I were were talking before about, you know, this this exact question, really, about what sets you apart. We we definitely know what. And you know, we've we've thoroughly enjoyed all your all your stuff that you've released. I mean, I've been listening to to a lot of your music on YouTube and and looking at the videos as well, and it's it's really good. So, probably just another bit of a side step, really, about your music. So, from what you were saying in your sort of growing up and and your childhood, do you think that's influenced your music um a lot? Do you think it's influenced your your sort of songwriting? Yeah. Um yeah, I think for sure. Um I always joke around, cuz I always say I holler when I sing, cuz it's it feels like most of the time I'm just screaming the whole time. Um and I'll take back like maybe like I really did love Bon Scott that much that like I was just You know what I mean? Like So, yeah, there might be like underlying influence there with just kind of being more aggressive about how the vocals are. I'm not sure. I love Led Zeppelin and stuff, and um that was probably what got me interested in folk without me even knowing I was in You know what I mean? Like there there are influences that they drew from with like the blues and all that stuff. That was probably laid some foundation there for me to get into more stuff later on down the road without me even realizing it at the time. Um But yeah, I would say yeah. That early stuff definitely influenced how I how I like to listen to music and stuff. Like I'm a car listener big time. You know what I mean? I think it's cuz like early on, that's when I was introduced to music. Just going somewhere was when I got to hear it, so Uh yeah, that early stuff for sure It to bleed into what I'm doing. I was I was going to ask you a question about um one of your songs, but actually I'm not going to steal it away from from TJ. So, I'll ask you that when TJ starts asking you the questions. But, there's one song in particular I loved um with that you were performing with someone else, but I'll ask you that in a minute. Um so, a bit of a a side question before I then hand over to TJ cuz I know he's busting to ask some questions. Um so, what's your favorite ice cream, Nathan? Favorite ice cream? Um my favorite I I'll even give you like brand specific where to find it. Perfect. Kro- Kroger their um caramel and praline or whatever. Oh my god, so good. So good. Perfect. We're We're talking about ice cream. We were talking about favorite ice creams earlier and we said Magnum. I don't know if you get Magnums in the US, but um Uh I think I have. Yeah. They're like the posh ice cream, but not really posh. You know, if you're if you're going to spend a bit of money, get a Magnum. But, anyway. Yeah. Okay. Nathan, thank you very much. I'm going to hand over to TJ. Really appreciate it. Yeah, there's going to be some random questions on this show, mate. And uh yeah, it's uh Uh yeah, your favorite ice cream's going to be the least of your concerns when they're asking you questions. But, uh but no, honestly guys, make sure you're subscribing to nation uh Nathan's socials uh just for a start. You know, you've got some great content on Instagram. And funny enough, that that's where I initially found you. You know, I think you're running an ad uh for your your song "Something About the Smell". And funny enough, I don't see that many artists actually running ads. Um I see the odd kind of guy here and there do it. But, it it doesn't seem widespread. And I I remember when it popped up last year and I just clicked on it just randomly. And I was amazed. I thought this is the sound sound of Appalachia to me. And that's easy for me to say, not not so much for Ronnie. He can't say Appalachia. That's one word he can't say. He can't say Yeah. We'll We'll get him to say that in a minute. But, uh but yeah, that that was it was really great to kind of find you through through that kind of medium. Yeah. Um because we we connect with a lot of artists on Instagram. And yeah, to find you from from the ad, man. That That's great. So, is that where you're kind of most active or are you kind of spread across socials? Yeah, that's definitely Instagram's like the main one that I try to I just I found it the easiest to use and it feels the most like I can get on there, do what I need to do, and get off, and not feel like I have to be I'm not big on the social media stuff. That's definitely where I struggle the most. Um is trying to get myself in the mood to like get on there and post content, and make content, all that stuff. Um but yeah, the ads have been super sweet as far as just getting it in front of people, you know what I mean? Um Luckily, my friend uh Bryce, he's like my main guy. He's helped me with all the marketing and everything, stuff like that. So, uh he he kills it with those. And that's that's really what we try to do is um TikTok, I I didn't really get super into it. Um I post on there, but it's usually just whatever I'm posting on Instagram and Facebook, too. I just kind of put it all in there. I definitely need to be more active, though. Yeah, everyone says that, mate. I think everyone kind of battles with this demon that is social media. Um we've had some really interesting takes, you know. We've had a lot of people that try and steer clear of it, but they know they've got to use this kind of free marketing tool at their disposal. And you've got some people that are [ __ ] fantastic at it and are on there constantly. They know how to kind of leverage it to the kind of best possibilities. We're not one of those. We'd love to learn where people get the time. I honestly do not know where people get the time. I mean, so if you can pass Bryce's details on to me when you're finished cuz it sounds like he knows what he's talking about. I'm more than happy to get him involved in my We'll set you up, man. Nice one, dude. But, I I just thought it was an interesting steer. So, would you would you recommend I suppose in your own experience it's worked well. Um but, I like I said, I just haven't seen a lot of people do it. So, maybe that's something to take take stock of and and kind of watch what Nathan's doing. But, um but yeah, again, thanks for coming on, man. Um we were talking on DMs recently and and just, you know, shooting the breeze um on on on there before you obviously coming on the show. And um I can't I don't know too much about your background. So, I think now's a good time to kind of delve into your your kind of day job cuz I I believe you're a firefighter, aren't you? Is Is that correct? Yes, sir. Yeah. Yeah, I I kind of saw some early videos and I thought you, you know, they kind of give it away. You know, you didn't need to be Yeah. you know, an Inspector Clouseau to see. But, uh Yeah. Yeah. So, do you want to do you want to talk about it? You know, how long you've been in in the fire service for? What do you do? Yes. Um so, over here we have like uh volunteer fire service as well. So, that's how I actually got started in it. Um so, I did it a year at my local community. And then I was like, you know what? I'm going to try to get hired on and like make this my job. Like, I loved it immediately. Just glued to it. Couldn't get enough of it. Wanted to train, do all other thing. Um and I got fortunate and got hired on with South Boston uh fire department. So, I've been there for 3 years now. Actually, my third uh my 3-year anniversary was March 28th. So, it literally just passed through. But, I've been on there for 3 years and super fortunate. Absolutely love what I do. If you ever talk to a fireman, they're going to tell you that. Like, we're all addicted to it, man. We're We're about it. You don't want that stuff to happen to people, obviously. But, when you train on it all the time, you're looking for for opportunities to practice what you've trained and get in there and do your thing. I don't know. It was It was a good step for me. I'm so glad I did it. Um and I enjoy it. It's It's a perfect for music, too, cuz our schedule is um we work 24 hours on, and then we'll have 48 hours off. So, you'll have those 2 days. Um and it's kind of easy to schedule vacation days or get trades. A lot of guys will work for you if you work for them later. Uh so, it's easy to have those 5-day stretches that I need to like go out of town for a couple days, play a show or something, and then come back. So, it's it's been nice. Uh it's worked out perfect, honestly. So. I I think it's like the UK. Me and Ronnie were talking just before because I I said I think you're a firefighter. We'll We'll talk about that on the show. And um I think the kind of scheduling or the work shift patterns are pretty similar in the UK. And a lot of the guys go on to do something else in in that time that they have. So, Yeah. we we have a lot of guys over here that are builders in their spare time. So, for you, you've you've found music and it it's a it's a great kind of outlet for you. So, as cheesy as it sounds, mate, saving lives through music and your lyrics and literally hauling people's asses out burning buildings. So, you're you're a hero, dude. Yeah. We take our hats off to you. Yeah. You and all the brothers and sisters in the fire service. So, well done. Absolutely, mate. So, I'm guessing you can lift quite a lot being, you know, doing what you do in your profession. I think Ronnie's about 300 lb in American kind of weight terms. Do you think you can lift Ronnie out of a burning building? Ronnie. Yeah. Ronnie's the man, dude. I got you, Ronnie. Yeah, I got a message here from Bryce. TJ might want me leaving you in there or something. Yeah. It's been a long day, isn't it? Yeah, you can you can haul him. I just wondered if you could literally haul Oh, no. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, you're a good man, man. But, um I suppose working on a fire station, mate, you you must be involved or hear a lot of banter in in your working day. What What's the funniest or rudest joke that you've even told or or someone else has told? Oh, you'll have to ask him now, mate. Yeah. Uh Uh it's mainly it's like situational, you know? Like, the way we like in the banter throughout the day is just like depending on what's happening. Like, we have enough characters at the fire department that we'll we'll call it that. Uh it keeps it entertaining all day cuz there's always somebody doing something dumb. And you can kind of like comment on it. And the guys will pile in. And then it's your turn later. You're going to do something stupid. They're going to pile in on you. But, as far as a joke, I have no idea, man. It's all just situational. We're just talking [ __ ] to each other and I I've got to say, We get on each other's nerves. All right, mate. My My friend has just joined us as reserve firefighter over in the UK. Okay. I absolutely hats off to to all of you who do that role. Um and they they've told me some uh interesting stories from when they've been training with with the teams. And I I get what you're saying there. So, Yeah. Yeah. It's Yeah. Yeah, we it's it's a whole it's a funny environment to work in. We're all comedians, I'll tell you. But, yeah, not all of it can be recorded and We go at each other pretty hard on the jokes. And sometimes it can be a little much, but Uh mate, it's a intense jobs, you know, demand dark humor at times. And you know, we're all up for that. But, nothing that will get us canceled, mind. So, we're all good. Be careful in that sense. Not that we got to cancel for anything, but there you go. Um awesome, man. Let's get back to being professional anyway for a second, maybe. Um So, back back to the music, man. Um so, obviously you you talked about, you know, your early days in finding music, you know, through family, through church. And like you say, you know, everyone we speak to mainly is is finding it through church, you know, the gospel choirs. And it's incredible. It's something that we don't really have here in the UK. So, we have to find things through different mediums, but so you kind of lived through all of that and then you obviously found AC/DC and all these awesome bands that I absolutely love. And I can I think I can now hear like you say some Bon Scott and and some of that in in in what you're doing. But getting to live shows, you know, getting to kind of playing out to other people, what was that like in the early days? How did that look for you? Um man, I was so scared to do it. Took a lot of convincing. The first time I played in front of people that weren't friends and family was June 20th of last year. So, like all this is just so fresh. Um but it was an open mic in Trousdale at my favorite music spot, Folklore Music Exchange. Check them out, they're great. Um but they had an open mic and showed up and there was a lot of people there and I was like, oh my god, like I do not want to do this. I should not have came here. Um but I played three songs and Something About the Smell ended up being one of them. And I got off and everybody was like, holy crap, dude, like where can I find your stuff? And like I didn't even have like an Instagram at this time. I didn't even have anything, any kind of plan to do it. I was just like, all right, whatever. My buddy pushed me enough to where I was like, I'll just do it. Um let me see. Sorry, my phone is messing up here. Um and so uh it was crazy. Getting off stage like obviously feels good, but every time I'm nervous. I mean, those early days of whether it's five people or 20, however it is and um it's it's just nerve-racking every time. But then once you start playing, I mean, you get into it and you kind of forget and you realize they're there to listen, hopefully. Most of the time, sometimes bars you feel like you're not really the main entertainment. You just happen to be there the same night as them, but um yeah, it's it's nerve-racking and stuff. I've definitely gotten better with handling it. Um but yeah, the first few times it was a lot. I can't imagine. Yeah, it's it's it's something I'd be [ __ ] scared of doing personally, but you've got the talent and I haven't mate. So, good on you. And yeah, Something About the Smell, I mean, that that song just hits you straight between the eyes. Like I said, the first time I heard that through that Instagram ad. And in fact, I I put that on one of our videos at the back end by by Christmas or New Year because we we picked about five or six songs that we thought This is the the song that we listened to the most that particular year and the song that we want to share and and that was on there because we we loved it so much and we thought that there's nothing I mean, there's Appalachian music out there, don't get me wrong. And I think the thing that sets you apart is is that holler like you say. You've got the Appalachian music, the sound, the style, but it's your voice that kind of it creates that full package. And I I think for me that's what sets you apart from a lot of the other guys and girls that are that are out there, man. So, you know, congratulations as always, man. Thank you. You know, we we messaged recently about the listeners on Spotify. That that has gone through the roof, man. I'm I'm absolutely pleased for you. It's it's incredible because I remember Yeah. I'm a geek like this. I like to see how how people progress, you know, how they start and how they kind of go throughout the year and some people don't move too much, but you know, I I looked at you and I one second it was like, you know, I I didn't put a number on it. And then, you know, you put it out yourself and you're like over 100,000 monthly listeners. So, you must be really proud man of that. It's crazy deserved. Yeah, it's crazy. I appreciate it. Thank you. Yeah, no worries. a lot of people talk about like Spotify being obviously you want artists to be paid, you know, I mean, it's crazy the the small amount that you get per stream. But honestly thankful that Spotify does what they do cuz that's how that's grown is there's those metrics they look at and for whatever reason how people are liking it and it was just driving those up and then they started putting me on so many playlists and stuff like really spreading. They've helped a bunch with that. So, that's how I was able to even keep growing, you know what I mean? So, it definitely has a positive and negative to it with I know a lot of people looking at streaming service and how wild it is. Obviously something needs to be done. It is a little crazy, but I'm still thankful it's in place because I mean, that's how I was able to be where I'm at right now, you know what I mean? The 100,000 followers or 100,000 monthly listeners is crazy. I had never thought that would have happened. So, just crazy that they have that platform in place where you can get on those playlists and just people just growing and growing and growing there. So, super I just had to say that in there cuz I know there's a lot of negative talk towards it, but I think sometimes it's good to look at negative and positives on it and see hey, we definitely need to improve, but also like take advantage of that part of it right now because it's it's easy to get to I mean, you guys are in the UK like and you've heard my stuff. So, it's it's cool to have that medium there to where you can you can access it. Yeah, I love that take on it, mate. It's like, you know, there's negatives and positives with people discussing social media and Spotify is a contentious subject, too. And I love that take, you know, it's great if you can pay your bills with exposure, but it's it's one of them. But like you say, you know, for us over here being able to listen to your music and being able to find you is is awesome. And to get on to some of these playlists, you know, it's um sometimes worth its weight in gold still. It it kind of sticks in a lot of people's throat, I know. I think Nick Jameson put some posts out today and I think other artists are looking at other mediums to kind of release their songs in a way that they feel is more beneficial to them like through Patreon and you know, these other services. So, it's a minefield, man, to to find out what what kind of works for you, what what is most beneficial and ultimately you want people to listen to your music. That's that's kind of you know, in in in a fair way. But yeah, no, it's great to hear your your your kind of yeah, your your turn on that. So, let's talk about your EPs, mate. So, that that's obviously the important part. That's what you've put out and you know, you started last year. It's incredible to think, you know, it's kind of mid to late last year that you put EPs one and two out. So, do you want to talk us through that? How how that kind of those songs came about, how you recorded them? Yeah. Um so, I initially recorded in Lexington, Kentucky. Um those came out good. They just weren't exactly the sound I was going for. So, we took some time and did some research and thought that Ocean Way in Nashville, which is where the two EPs and Way She Goes were cut. Um we decided to go for there. Ended up getting a sweet engineer. Tate is the man. I got super lucky with that. And everything just kind of came together that day. I recorded eight songs that day. So, part one and part two were done the same day. Um I didn't plan on getting that many done. The way we scheduled it was just hey, we're going to go in here and get four done and hope that something comes out. Maybe we'll get one song out of the four. Um I ended up just kind of flying through cuz I one take like how I do it. I can't I don't play guitar, track that and then track vocals. I just do it all the same time. And then we'll track like the fiddles obviously later on and stuff. Um but ended up being able to just kind of fly through. We got eight done and I loved all eight of them. So, I was like, that's this is cool. This is crazy. What am I going to do with them? Um I didn't want it to be an album just cuz I felt like they were not like connected to each other in a way. I mean, some of them draw from similar themes, I guess, but um so, I was like, I'm just going to put these out in two chunks. I'll do the first part. And literally just kept it part one. I didn't really think it was going to do anything, honestly. I was just putting it on there because every time I played a show, people were like, hey, where can we listen to your music? So, I was just doing it to get it on there. And then it worked out so well, I ended up dropping part two pretty quick cuz I think part one was November September 6th. And then part two was October 25th or something like that. So, uh it ended up part one just started looking pretty good, trending up and I was like, well, all right, I'll just go ahead and do part two, I guess. I don't know. There was no plan beforehand is what I'm getting at. I said a lot of words to say that I had zero plan for it. Well, it sounded awesome, mate. And I I was one of those people begging for EP two, man. So, I was one of the people pestering you to to kind of put some some more out because it was so good, you know, people just want to hear more. So, that's fantastic. So, I mean, you're you're in the real early stages of your music career. And I know it's impolite to ask a lady their age, but I'm guessing cuz you're a dude. I'm interested though, how old are you, Nathan? 29. 29. Cool, man. So, you've got the whole kind of world in front of you and you're doing absolutely incredible so far. The industry I mean, we we speak to a lot of artists and it's it's so interesting to hear their takes. You know, we've we've got artists from all over the US, you know, from Kentucky, West Virginia, now Virginia a lot, Georgia recently and other places in Texas, but um you know, they all have their takes on the industry itself and how competitive it is and how complex it is to kind of navigate. So, just wanted about your kind of spin on things. How how have you kind of entered the scene? Have you had anyone kind of helping support you kind of settle and find your way through things because it I suppose it can be be beast if you've never really done it before. What what's your take on it, mate? Um I've not seen much of the competitiveness of it. I'm sure it's out there, especially once you start getting to bigger levels, but I've actually been super fortunate that um maybe it's just where I'm fresh, but people have been very nice, very supportive, especially where I'm from. Um the Folk Lore Music Exchange, they were huge on that, hosting that open mic, getting me on shows early on, which were recorded through like uh West Virginia Department of Commerce and stuff like that. So, kind of getting me more exposure, giving me that stage time. Um they've even hooked me up with like different venues around town. Um when they're needing someone, they'll send them my way uh to get me in the door there. Um and then there's been other bands like Dawchord is great. They're from where I'm from. Charleston, West Virginia has a good scene. Uh you guys are going to start seeing a lot more artists coming out of this area cuz I mean West Virginia as a whole, for sure, but Charleston's got a lot of cool stuff going on. Um but yeah, like Dawchord, Wood Bin, a lot of those people just very supportive. And then it got to a point to where like people like uh Cody Christian uh has hit me up trying to help me get shows there. Me and him are playing Twisted Cork in Lexington uh June 5th. Lexington folks, come on out. Uh and then um just people like that is it's it's been very positive, overwhelmingly positive, you know? I mean, I thought that there might be some competitiveness there, but seems like everybody wants to help each other. So, I've connected with so many great people. I mean, Trey Hedrick, Luke Borchelt. Um just from them hitting me up on Instagram like, "Hey, man, I like your stuff. Would you ever want to play a show sometime?" And then it just works out and um yeah, I've I've I've found more support and and positivity than I have competitiveness or or any kind of negative aspects of it. So, Good on you, mate. Good on you. Twisted Cork, shout outs to those guys, man. It's uh Greg Adams. Um is that the guy you've been speaking to over over that way? He's uh Cody set it up, yeah. Oh, okay. set it up, so I don't know. Yeah, it's a great uh the only reason I said it, Greg and Lance um Rogers and a few guys from Kentucky were over in the UK recently. Uh so, we met up, had a few beers, and uh did a bit of a dodgy I I don't know if I'd call it a podcast, a pissed-up interview uh for a few beers. And me and Greg got talking, and he talked about his bar over in Lexington. So, uh yeah, it's incredible. And they have so many great artists there. Um so, you're you're fitting fantastically, mate. So, pleased to hear that. And I'll hand it over over back to Ronnie now because I know we we talked about artists and you know, your musical circles and things like that. So, I will hand back to Ronnie, and he'll go through some things with you. Um actually, I just wanted to go back on some of the things that you said there, Nathan. I think one of them um we've we've obviously we've we've interviewed is it nearly 20 artists now? We've had we've had on uh and then over we've got little Brit bonus sort of episodes and that stuff. But there's been a whole mix of um I think the one one of the main words that stuck out to me was around the community that you were just saying, you know, you're you're quite fresh. You've done I mean, you've you've done a lot in in a very short space of time. Um and just, you know, really proves how incredible you really are um for for doing that. So, so absolutely well done. But you you knocked the nail on the head there. It's very much about community and and everybody's willing to help each other. Um there's only been like a couple of negative points, but I think that's in like the sort of mainstream country feel like your your sort of mainstream Nashville and and what have you. Um and it's and it's really interesting to hear that from yourself, you know, knowing that people are still trying to do it. And we're trying to do it over here in the UK. You know, anybody that we can we can help over here, we will. And you'll know that when you when you go through some of the podcasts. But um yeah, and then the second one I was going to mention was um I can't remember. I can't remember my question. I got a question. It's not just me that finds this hard. Oh my god, that's ages ago. And I'm not cutting this out. Uh no. Um But yeah, I'll come back to that when I can remember. Uh so, what a embarrassing. One of my next questions uh Nathan is around the fact that we started a playlist. Uh and we've spoken to a couple of the other artists about um the playlist that's exclusive for our podcast guests and artists we meet on the road. So, what two songs should we add to this that reflects your work so everyone can check you out? I think one of the questions I was going to go back to was around the song that I wanted to ask you about about the lyrics. And the song that stuck out to me was Freight Train. Um and you performed it with Kevin I'll my pronunciation this, but is it Arbogast? Arbogast? Yeah, Arbogast. Um on the steel guitar. I mean, both of you incredible. Yeah, he's sucks you in. Um and one of them on the steel guitar too. I love listening to you singing and it was amazing. So, just tell us a bit about that if you don't mind. Yeah, um I'm super into the whole like old blues myth thing, like Robert Johnson and Tommy Johnson with like selling your soul to the devil to like get good at music, you know? I've always loved that. Like that idea is just so cool to kind of like I don't know, put out there and people like, "Who knows did he actually do it or not?" So, I was like, "I want to just write one kind of like off the same, you know what I mean? Same vibe there." And that's really what it's what Freight Train is is I'm trying to tie in like my town like if I did do it that way, like how would that look? You know what I mean? So, Yeah. um trying to tie in like the Appalachian aspects to it, you know, having the train and kind of talking about the town like not having much opportunity and you're finding your way out and stuff. But um yeah, I just wanted a fun like I sold my soul to the devil song. Just wrote that one. And then uh Kevin, once again, Instagram coming in uh handing out friends. Uh he messaged me and was like, "Hey, man, I'm uh a lap steel player here in the in the area. If you ever want to jam, let me know." And so, we jammed one time before that. Uh then the next time he was like, "I'm setting the camera up and we're going to record." I was like, "Cool, man." And so, we recorded that one. And um we played a few shows together, too. Uh he's part of a band called the String Chiefs. And so, uh sometimes they'll back me. I think we've done that twice. So, yeah, they're good group of guys. Yeah, and it and it was as I said to you, it was awesome. And and people would need to go and have a listen to it. Um and especially say the YouTube video as well. Uh cuz it is fascinating. It's brilliant. So, um thank you. Thank you for that. Um I have just remembered the question I was going to say to you. Okay. Um actually, so, TJ sitting there taking a piss or laughing on his big stool. Um I I was going to go back to the you you mentioned about the bars. Um and I don't know if it's um whether it's the American thing or in a in the UK, we when you've got a sort of artists on them when I've been attending the country music um cuz it's few and far between, to be honest, country music events. In fact, I I met with um someone who played as support act uh Mr. Paul Adams. Um we uh anyway, listening to him playing uh and the and the band Blue Collar. Um it was you couldn't you could hear a pin drop cuz everybody was quiet. Yeah. Um everybody was having a good time, don't get me wrong. Um but then there's been quite a few artists that have said, "Oh, you know, sometimes you feel like you're singing to yourself in the bars." And and it's no reflection on the artist, but it's just people are just Is that a thing? Is that people just going off and getting pissed and you know, being loud? Yeah, it's kind of yeah, it's kind of situational as far as like what the venue is and what the I don't know if it's like the vibe of it, but a lot of bars in America um from what especially where I'm from, when you're when you're at the bar, like most people just want to drink and like listen to stuff that they know. So, a lot of the bar artists, like people cut their teeth playing other people's songs, you know what I mean? That's what a lot of people like That's you getting stage time by doing covers. Um I just don't like doing a whole bunch of covers. So, to me, I just still play my own stuff, which people are into, but I mean, I get it. Like why am I so sad and stuff, too? So, they're just playing pool, doing their thing sometimes. And it just feels like you're there singing to nobody, you know? Which they're hearing you, but they're not in the in the mood for that cuz music has the reason music's so beautiful is like every bit of it should have a place, and it does have a place. It's just I prefer to be at a spot where people are there to listen um for the lyrics and for just like the composition of it and that side of things. But I mean, there's sometimes where you just have to play to a bar of people that feel like you don't matter. But I mean, it doesn't mean that you're not good or anything, you know? Everybody's going to go through that. So, Well, can I jump in here quickly? It's all right. I had Zach Wilkerson on the last show, and he mentioned playing a few listening room type environments. So, I just wondered if if you'd considered or have played any of those types of venues. Yeah. Oh, yeah, for sure. Um I got lucky. I think that's why I feel the way I do so early is I got spoiled lucky. Um the Folk Lore place, they had a big show at a theater that they allowed me to be on the bill. And so, I was there. Everybody was, you know what I mean? They're there to listen. All the Folk Lore shows, they're there to listen. Um the I played a show in Annapolis, Maryland with Luke Borchelt. Like that was a smaller room type thing, packed it out, sold it out. And people were there listening. There wasn't a bunch of talking, you know? So, I have played those. That's why I'm spoiled cuz now I'm like, "Man, I want that. I want people to be there to listen, not feel like I'm just there to kind of help them pass the time while they're at the bar." Which is, like I said, still has its place. And if I had a band, I think I'd enjoy that more. But I'm I'm trying to find a band right now, trying to piece that together. And so maybe once I have that it will be more fun to go and play some more covers and stuff but when you're by yourself it just kind of feels a more I'd rather have that listening room difficult man I get you sorry Ronnie I'll I know I was just about to say Nathan actually you know what I was going I was saying earlier if you're struggling to find anybody for the fiddle playing don't ask AJ and if you want to find anybody with talent to play any instruments don't ask us let me find somebody to we'll find we'll find someone for you fiddle playing I'm seeing a a friend tomorrow called Josh Mitcham from Kentucky you might have heard of him so we play he's got a venue called Rand Ramble at the Randall I always struggle to say that over in Webster Kentucky so he's in the UK this week playing some venues and I'm going to meet up with him tomorrow just for a chat and a few things but he's good friends with people like Anna Blanton so I'm guessing you might have heard of Anna on the scene so I think she does some stuff with the Creekers and but she's an incredible fiddle player so that might be a a name to kind of you know get in touch with and if you're looking for a fiddle person fiddle lady then there you go there you go and for the appetizer on the ragged revival there you go yeah we're all about promotion man so it's got to be done okay so um next question for me really is about what's the best album or single you've listened to in the last 5 years and what makes it stand out to you album or single um the last 5 years trying to think I'm so torn with so many uh I will say that the one that keeps popping in my head right now just because it's so new I think is Jason Isbell's new Foxes in the Snow Out that album is so good I've been playing it a bunch Ryder Roberts uh just the guitar the lyrics every bit of storytelling like throughout the whole album it's just so good um I'll just use that as my answer then cuz that's the one that like popped in immediately and I was like wait dude you know I was kind of fighting it at first cuz it might just be where it's newer uh but that's what I've been listening to a bunch here lately is that so that's brilliant that's really that's really good thank you and for for emerging artists or emerging talent I know you've you know you you keep saying that you you're you're sort of new and you're you know you've done so much in in a very short space of time but is there any advice that you would give anybody who wants to try and do what you've done is there anything that you look back on and go oh actually I I shouldn't have done that or or yeah definitely you need to go down this route and and it will really help you out is there anything that you would give advice to people out and about um I'll do like two advice two pieces of advice the first one's going to be cliche so it feels real weird but just like stay in true to like who you are you know um I early on I had some people be like hey man you should like get a cowboy hat and stuff like your your songs sound crazy good like people would love that if you looked you know what I mean if you're more country looking which to for me I already struggle with like putting the content out and stuff because it feels disingenuous and so if I was playing a part it would feel way worse and there's no way I could ever get get it done so I would say sticking true staying who you are now if you if you have a character you thought up and you want to play it that's fine too but like just make sure it's something you're going to want to do when you're having those days where you're not feeling up to it and now you got to put on some kind of fake face of somebody else um and then the other one is run the ads dude run the get yourself out there with with the exposure as far as you want to put your stuff in front of people and it's it's sucks paying into the the target of the the machine that is kind of allowing certain people to get more exposure I know that sucks but if you believe in your stuff like don't bankrupt yourself but put a little bit in there try to run some ads get your stuff out because people don't know I mean it's not that people wouldn't like your stuff and that's why it's not working maybe they just don't see it maybe they just haven't heard it you know so just get it in front of people and play as many shows as you can just just get it in front of people's faces and stuff so I think it's probably the best advice that's that is that is great advice and and talking about any sort of emerging artists or talent that you've seen recently is there anybody that you would like to shout out cuz it this is all about promoting you this is your this is about you and your show but you know we want to give people the opportunity as well that maybe you know we could reach out or they want to reach out to us to come on and do you know if it's not being too painful come out and reach out come and come and have a chat with us so is there anybody that you would say you know have a listen to check it check these people out yeah I would check out I would definitely shout out Cody Christian on that one um have him come on he's a super funny guy too that's another reason I want him on here cuz he's going to be hilarious cuz he does like little skits and stuff like a news anchor guy on his check his Instagram out he's the man he's got great music too though I mean that's that's what's cool is like so last year there's a a festival in West Virginia that now it's in Kentucky this upcoming year um it's called Healing Appalachia and Cody played it last year and I remember like at the campsite telling my buddies like dude we got to go right now like I got to see Cody Christian and I hadn't started music yet you know what I mean and now I talk to this guy like I'm playing a show with him like it's cool how like music will get you certain places but check out Cody he's the man listen to his music get him on the show he'll be great absolutely TJ you know what to do yeah I'd love to we we should definitely do that if he comes with his skits we should definitely do a bit cuz we we like to do a bit of um nonsense videos once in a while on our on our on social media we haven't done one for a while actually but uh I think we just got to be professional lately I don't know why but yeah we need to mix it up a bit but anyway we'll we'll get him on and we'll we'll have a chat with him so Nathan I want some gossip we love a bit of gossip all right um so it's a couple of random uh random questions so what's your favorite thing to do after playing a gig favorite thing to do after playing a gig probably smoke a blunt man probably just go smoke and chill out haven't got any of those we got a beer it's medical here in West Virginia so absolutely yeah uh and then outside of music what's something you're passionate about that people might not expect give us something random um well I'm super passionate about like my job I know that might not be no no no it's good yeah I love I mean fire services is great so I love what I do love all my all my brothers that I work with and and cheers to them cheers to them absolutely someone mentioned that you're a sock model or something I don't know where that maybe that was maybe that was a sock model someone say that um so Nathan I asked this question to uh a number of artists around their their goals and what they want to do going forward it could be goals throughout the rest of your career throughout the rest of your life or it could be goals within the next 3 6 9 months but I'd love to know what are your top three goals uh top three goals definitely get some type of legitimate tour going I would like to go see some some cool stuff so I'd like to get some shows maybe out west Texas area stuff like that you know just try to get out of where I've been playing which I love where I play but it'd be cool to like let this be my way to see everything um I want to get an album ready I do have some stuff prepared I just want to get it where I feel like I I want it you know uh so that way I can put that out third goal I don't know man write that one song that's going to change everything man I guess I'm going to get it all going I don't know it's been fun so far I'm just enjoying the ride so whatever happens happens and Nathan I have absolutely no doubt that you'll achieve every one of them by you know in such a short time as well so you better start thinking of of a few more goals to go towards because from what you've done now you've achieved three goals of them so but yeah well well done and thank you for that I'm I'm going to hand over to TJ I think actually that was the first time I've done a [ __ ] joke um that I saw you giggling in the corner you giggling in the corner over there yeah I thought you meant your first no no no only my first one don't put me in the same barrel as you let me tell anyway over to you TJ we need Cody Christian on here next you know to to enjoy the [ __ ] jokes that we dish out well I'll start off by saying you know Ronnie forgot to answer the rest of the question at the start of his last segment which was about our playlist and what to say on it I knew he just kind of drifted into the ether so I thought I was busy asking other questions all right pretty busy, man. So, yeah, going back to that, mate. Um I think it's a great playlist to to let artists decide what two songs that you would put on there that kind of represents you that if people want to kind of discover who the Rugged Revival are and who the people and and the guests that we have on and and have a proper listen, you know, what what two songs would you suggest that we put on there for you, mate? And it is of my songs, correct? Yeah, yeah, of your songs, mate. Uh Appalachia and probably Smell, just cuz uh Appalachia just kind of gives you a glimpse of how I feel about where I'm from and, you know, like the stuff that goes on and that I'm proud of it, but also realize that, hey, there's some stuff we can fix. So, I think there's um room to grow anywhere, but especially in Appalachia when you kind of look, a lot of people just have this like, oh man, that's so sad or like all they're impoverished, all this stuff, but we have a lot of great stuff, too, so. Yeah. I take pride in that. So, Appalachia for sure and then Smell's just I just love that song, man. I'm so glad that one is the one that has been the most popular and that people have really liked. Cuz that one's just when I when I played that one and then we once especially once we put the fiddle on there, oh my god, man. I was sitting in the studio just like oh my god. Brenna uh Wheeler, shout out to her. She's the best. She's in Trubador Blue, great band, but she's who does my fiddle parts on there. She's great and she was in there she was doing stuff and I was just looking over at my buddy like, dude, can you believe this is my song that she's putting this down on? Like, this is crazy. Awesome. Amazing. it's cool that Smell took off like that, so. Absolutely. And and what I found with the fiddle parts of your songs is that they're really haunting. So, was there any particular effects that she put on the uh the fiddle parts and it just sounds very different to other fiddle kind of playing I've heard. Um I think she's just magic, man. She just got in there and it just worked out. Uh she knew exactly like the vibe I was going for. It was perfect. And then Tate, of course, the engineer, uh he's awesome, man. I mean, he he got it sounding exactly the way I wanted to. When we first had a conversation about like, what are the goals for this? Like, how do you want this to sound and stuff? He he nailed it and he helped put that fiddle stuff together. I mean, he was telling her certain things. I'm like, dude, I don't know music stuff. You keep telling her whatever you're telling her cuz it's working. She's crushing it. Keep doing what you're doing. It's like a magic just magic. Sometimes it's just right and it that night it was right, so. Fair play, mate. Fair play. Um go on. to add into that, you were just saying that I don't forget Freight Train. I had the we had this whole conversation. Yeah. Don't forget Freight Train. Yeah, Freight Train. So, you can have three, Nathan. one in. See, I'll put that one in, but where it's not recorded yet, that's why I was like, okay, I'm not going to throw that one in. No one gets three. You can't break the system. Uh yeah, Freight Train is a good one. I need to get that one done. Oh, mate. Yeah. Uh we we'll have a proper listen to that when you do. Uh it was interesting when you were talking to Ronnie uh a second ago about perhaps putting together a full band. It'd be really interesting to hear you within a full band because everything so far has been pretty much you and a fiddle player and and steel guitar and quite quite stripped back, so. Mhm. If and when you get this kind of full band in place, how do you think your sound will evolve? What what sort of music do you think you'll be kind of pulling out with that that style of things? I See, that's a question that I have no answer to because I myself am curious about that. So, when I play with the string sheet, it obviously changes things, changes the sounds of the songs. Um so, it'll be interesting for me to kind of play around with like, what do I want to add? Like, I know for sure I want a fiddle, got to have bass. Um uh do I want to add another guitar? Do I want to put a steel guitar and have a steel guitar and a fiddle? Like, I don't know. I'm still playing around with everything right now, so. Uh we'll see. I just want something I do prefer the stripped back stuff. So, it will be tough for me to kind of hone in on trying to expand that sound, you know? Um because that is my favorite. It's just me and a guitar and a fiddle player, so. I'll be doing that forever, too, but I just want bands so that way I can um play some bigger shows and be able to have some more fun at festivals and stuff and not be such a sad get more lively so that way I can have a little more fun and cuz music should be fun, too. I'll just give you some sad stuff on top of it, but. Well, you you can live your dream of doing some AC/DC covers in these bars that, you know, everyone's playing pool. You can whip your top off and be Bon Scott for the night, mate, you know, that'll be pretty exciting to see. We'll leave We'll leave the listeners with that image for for later. Um We ask everyone because, you know, like like we say, the the UK scene is quite uh insular, is that the word? I'm not sure. But it it we certainly need more kind of roots artists and and actual artists coming over here. We get a lot of nights out where you can hear kind of cover bands and, you know, you might get the odd kind of original artists here, but nowhere near the kind of quality or the kind of vastness that you have in the States, so. Personally, I've I've Have you ever visited the UK? Do you have any plans? You know, we we've got beers waiting for you here, mate, if you ever want to come. Um but yeah, what what's been your experience of the UK so far apart from just people like us listening? That's pretty much been the extent of it. Uh I was just kind of like sending messages back and forth with a few people from over there and then just showing love. Um for sure, I'm coming over there. Now, when will that happen? I don't know, but I hopefully sooner than later. For sure, I'm coming over there. I've always wanted to go and this is the perfect way to go over there, so. Yeah, you guys will we'll be meeting in person before too long. I'm going to take you up on those beers. That'll be awesome. Yeah, there might be a few beers, mate. A few. It's never a quiet night with us. Nice. Awesome. So, we we talked about obviously Spotify streaming and and other things that you're finding um a degree of success with and we like to kind of ask everyone that comes on how as kind of fans ourselves and and people that you speak to and meet, how how can people um support you um and promote you beyond just streaming your music? What what kind of works for you? Uh really just come to shows if you can. I mean, if you if you get like in your all's case, you just keep streaming the music. Just follow along and I don't want to ask anything from anyone, you know, I want them to enjoy it. I want them to do it because they want to, you know. Um but yeah, come to shows. Um getting an online store ready for some merch, so I'll have that available if you if you like it, buy some merch. That's kind of the best way to support me if you stream music, come to shows, buy merch, just the typical stuff, I mean. Yeah, we love merch. We're merch hounds. We love a t-shirt. We love a hat. Even a koozie now and again. Um We don't use one. We don't drink. You love a koozie. I want a hat. I want hats and t-shirts. That's what we want. Well, I don't see the need for the koozies now. Yeah, my my beer doesn't stay undrinking long enough to warrant a koozie, so yeah, let's stick to the hats and t-shirts. use words like undrinking. I've only had one beer, by the way, tonight. It's just been a long day. Um but only only a couple more from me, mate, and then I'll hand back to to Ronnie, but um is there anything you want to plug particularly that perhaps we haven't covered or anything that you want kind of listeners to kind of watch out for this year and beyond? Um watch out for show dates cuz I think uh well, I got a lot coming up, so. Um just just pay attention to that. I do have it linked to my Spotify so that you can like look through and see my events coming up. Um keep an eye on that. I got some new music coming, too, so that's pretty much the only two I'll plug right now. Um I got a lot of exciting stuff in the works, though, so we're we're looking good. We're we're trying to make it happen over here, so. Fantastic, mate. You're a legend in the making and um we love everything that you're doing right now. I'll hand over to Ronnie uh for any final questions or closing remarks because he's good at that sort of thing, so. Over to you, mate. Ah, don't mention it, plus. Nathan Bess, uh I mean, just to just to say TJ's just knocked that on the head. Um you're you're so talented. Uh you've been so fun to talk to you tonight. Thank you for putting up with us. Uh thank you for joining us. Thank you for taking the time. You really are the shining star coming through all of the clouds um of of country and roots and Americana and I'm going to say that word, Appalachia. Well, I guess I got it right. I got it right. I got it right, yeah. Normally, I say Appalachia, but especially after a beer, but anyway, you've been incredible and I cannot thank you enough for for for joining us tonight. Um everyone, you have been listening to Nathan Bess uh at the Rugged Revival podcast. Um now, we normally do a little toast at the end, so Nathan, if you've got a drink, um please do raise a toast to the grit, the grind, and to the revival. Cheers for listening, everyone. Cheers.

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