WEBVTT 00:00:49.799 --> 00:00:51.939 Welcome to Overeducated and Underemployed. This 00:00:51.939 --> 00:00:55.780 is the first episode that we taped live, and 00:00:55.780 --> 00:01:00.340 it was accompanied by a concert. We did the interview, 00:01:00.399 --> 00:01:03.280 and then he played a show. This is Cody Shade 00:01:03.280 --> 00:01:06.159 Harrell, somebody who I grew up with his brother. 00:01:06.879 --> 00:01:10.739 His brother and I turned each other on to a ton 00:01:10.739 --> 00:01:14.640 of music. Kane Harrell, who was quite the player 00:01:14.640 --> 00:01:20.140 himself in his own right, to be honest. He's 00:01:20.140 --> 00:01:22.219 made a path for himself to do it professionally 00:01:22.219 --> 00:01:26.239 now. He is the bass player for Cedric Burnside. 00:01:26.579 --> 00:01:30.500 He works at Luther Dickinson's studio as an assistant 00:01:30.500 --> 00:01:33.799 producer. It was a real pleasure talking to him. 00:01:33.840 --> 00:01:35.620 It's a little bit of a shorter interview because 00:01:35.620 --> 00:01:39.620 we were doing it before concert. We wanted to 00:01:39.620 --> 00:01:43.500 get to the show, let him play the show. About 00:01:43.500 --> 00:01:47.239 35 minutes. We had a great talk. He put on an 00:01:47.239 --> 00:01:50.810 amazing show. Definitely catch Cedric Burnside's 00:01:50.810 --> 00:01:53.709 band this summer. They're on tour. And definitely 00:01:53.709 --> 00:01:56.250 check out the North Mississippi Hill Country 00:01:56.250 --> 00:02:01.349 Picnic this weekend in North Mississippi. I'll 00:02:01.349 --> 00:02:05.269 have linked all the details in the description 00:02:05.269 --> 00:02:11.270 here. I'll also link the Herald Brothers CD or 00:02:11.270 --> 00:02:13.729 EP or whatever you want to call it. It's about 00:02:13.729 --> 00:02:16.770 eight songs. It's really great. Cody and Kane 00:02:16.770 --> 00:02:20.219 playing together. And I'll link Cedric Burnside's 00:02:20.219 --> 00:02:24.479 Grammy -nominated album that Cody worked on and 00:02:24.479 --> 00:02:27.460 is touring behind with Cedric right now. Without 00:02:27.460 --> 00:02:30.000 further ado, here's the live episode. Thanks 00:02:30.000 --> 00:02:32.319 for listening to Overeducated and Underemployed. 00:02:32.500 --> 00:02:34.500 We're going to be taping a live episode of the 00:02:34.500 --> 00:02:37.120 podcast Overeducated and Underemployed right 00:02:37.120 --> 00:02:39.740 now. Thank y 'all for coming out. This is Cody 00:02:39.740 --> 00:02:41.319 Shade Harrell. Everybody give it up for him. 00:02:41.680 --> 00:02:44.639 How y 'all doing this evening? What's the first 00:02:44.639 --> 00:02:48.180 song that you ever remember loving? Man, off 00:02:48.180 --> 00:02:51.740 the top of my head is I'm Your Captain, Closer 00:02:51.740 --> 00:02:56.500 to Home, Grand Funk Railroad. That was one of 00:02:56.500 --> 00:02:58.939 our dad's favorite songs. That was one of the 00:02:58.939 --> 00:03:02.500 ones the classic rock radio was always on, but 00:03:02.500 --> 00:03:04.319 if that one came on, everything got turned up 00:03:04.319 --> 00:03:07.099 a little louder for that nine minutes and something 00:03:07.099 --> 00:03:10.060 of that song. So yeah, that's probably the earliest 00:03:10.060 --> 00:03:13.099 that I can think of that I really enjoyed and 00:03:13.099 --> 00:03:15.379 didn't know why as a kid, but it sounded cool. 00:03:15.479 --> 00:03:18.199 It was like two songs in one. or something, and 00:03:18.199 --> 00:03:22.319 yeah. So what age were you, do you remember? 00:03:22.479 --> 00:03:24.780 Like the first time you kind of were like conscious 00:03:24.780 --> 00:03:30.699 of the song? My best memory that I can remember, 00:03:30.860 --> 00:03:35.479 it was like a Halloween, and we were at the house, 00:03:35.500 --> 00:03:42.699 and I was probably seven, six or seven, seven, 00:03:42.759 --> 00:03:43.960 eight, something like that, somewhere around 00:03:43.960 --> 00:03:46.699 seven, I would assume. And when was the first 00:03:46.699 --> 00:03:50.620 time you picked up guitar? Whenever I was a kid. 00:03:50.740 --> 00:03:53.120 Kane played guitar whenever I was a kid. And 00:03:53.120 --> 00:03:56.599 so he had like a Harmony, I guess it was like 00:03:56.599 --> 00:03:58.360 a Strat copy or something. But it was like a 00:03:58.360 --> 00:04:01.199 Harmony Sunburst guitar that I messed with and 00:04:01.199 --> 00:04:04.840 tried to learn. And it was around that time because 00:04:04.840 --> 00:04:08.939 I was in elementary school. And the talent show, 00:04:09.120 --> 00:04:11.520 I decided to try to play guitar for the talent 00:04:11.520 --> 00:04:14.520 show in my elementary school and played Voodoo 00:04:14.520 --> 00:04:17.779 Child. Jimi Hendrix, and I played that beginning, 00:04:17.980 --> 00:04:20.740 and just played that on repeat for like two minutes 00:04:20.740 --> 00:04:24.480 until everybody was like telling me to get off 00:04:24.480 --> 00:04:27.100 stage so that the girl could do gymnastics next. 00:04:27.500 --> 00:04:30.699 But yeah, I was, I don't know, sometime in elementary 00:04:30.699 --> 00:04:32.879 school, like third grade or something maybe. 00:04:33.439 --> 00:04:35.959 But I didn't stick with it. I dropped it not 00:04:35.959 --> 00:04:37.759 long after that, and I've played a ton of other, 00:04:37.860 --> 00:04:40.959 attempted to play other instruments over the 00:04:40.959 --> 00:04:43.120 years after that, and then I picked guitar back 00:04:43.120 --> 00:04:45.850 up. high school, little, and then really in college. 00:04:46.209 --> 00:04:50.509 So like 18, 19 timeframe. And you're how old 00:04:50.509 --> 00:04:55.329 now? 33. You're 33. So you've been playing, I 00:04:55.329 --> 00:04:58.350 guess, for about 15 years, if that sounds. Yeah, 00:04:58.410 --> 00:05:04.189 I guess so. My first live gig was in, man, when 00:05:04.189 --> 00:05:06.589 was that? Was that 2015 or something? Whenever 00:05:06.589 --> 00:05:09.980 I went with the Burnside's. But before that, 00:05:10.060 --> 00:05:11.939 I'd been playing for several years just trying 00:05:11.939 --> 00:05:15.740 to learn and stuff. So yeah, playing guitar in 00:05:15.740 --> 00:05:18.300 my bedroom and stuff, yeah, 15 or something, 00:05:18.439 --> 00:05:21.259 15 years or something. About 15 years ago. So 00:05:21.259 --> 00:05:23.000 full disclosure, I grew up with your brother. 00:05:23.100 --> 00:05:26.000 I've known your brother for 25 years probably 00:05:26.000 --> 00:05:30.980 at this point. And I have a memory of him and 00:05:30.980 --> 00:05:35.839 I in like 2005. hanging out in my bedroom, just 00:05:35.839 --> 00:05:37.560 listening to the North Mississippi All -Stars 00:05:37.560 --> 00:05:40.379 Hill Country Review, the Live at Bonnaroo record. 00:05:40.600 --> 00:05:42.959 And he's playing guitar and I'm singing along. 00:05:43.819 --> 00:05:46.339 And I mean, and they were our heroes, you know 00:05:46.339 --> 00:05:50.000 what I mean? And now, like, you've shared the 00:05:50.000 --> 00:05:52.819 stage with them. You work with Luther on a regular 00:05:52.819 --> 00:05:57.040 basis. You are, you know, you're a part of the 00:05:57.040 --> 00:06:01.379 insider now. What is it like to go from being... 00:06:01.930 --> 00:06:04.670 like a fan like that because I mean I know you 00:06:04.670 --> 00:06:07.310 know we loved their music growing up yeah and 00:06:07.310 --> 00:06:09.730 then now you get to play it with them what is 00:06:09.730 --> 00:06:13.389 that like for you is um I don't know I mean I 00:06:13.389 --> 00:06:16.149 could use any cliche word like surreal or whatever 00:06:16.149 --> 00:06:21.089 but it is it is really interesting to go from 00:06:21.089 --> 00:06:24.069 yeah from once from the front of the stage to 00:06:24.069 --> 00:06:27.250 being on the stage or being side stage or something 00:06:27.250 --> 00:06:30.540 and I wouldn't have expected it because you know, 00:06:30.540 --> 00:06:32.480 it's the North Mississippi All -Stars, and they're 00:06:32.480 --> 00:06:33.819 all over the world all the time, and they've 00:06:33.819 --> 00:06:37.100 been hitting it since the 90s, and they do their 00:06:37.100 --> 00:06:38.800 thing, and I'm a fan, and that's just the way 00:06:38.800 --> 00:06:41.339 that it is, but I kind of weaseled my way in 00:06:41.339 --> 00:06:44.480 and made friends with Luther and Cody, and it 00:06:44.480 --> 00:06:47.500 is wild to think about that a handful of years 00:06:47.500 --> 00:06:49.980 ago, I was just like watching them on YouTube 00:06:49.980 --> 00:06:52.839 and trying to learn their licks and stuff, and 00:06:52.839 --> 00:06:57.459 now I have like... time with Luther whenever 00:06:57.459 --> 00:06:59.959 I help on shows or when we're traveling or something 00:06:59.959 --> 00:07:04.480 to sit and him play guitar with me or have me 00:07:04.480 --> 00:07:06.139 play guitar and then point at me and be like, 00:07:06.199 --> 00:07:08.620 nope, no, that wasn't it. He let me show you 00:07:08.620 --> 00:07:11.920 and set me straight. But especially at this point 00:07:11.920 --> 00:07:14.199 as a musician, that is such a dream come true 00:07:14.199 --> 00:07:17.519 to me to have that opportunity because it's super 00:07:17.519 --> 00:07:22.240 special that not everybody gets. I'm just like 00:07:22.240 --> 00:07:24.339 super appreciative because people talk about 00:07:24.339 --> 00:07:26.339 don't meet your heroes because you may not like 00:07:26.339 --> 00:07:29.600 them or whatever that that phrase is. But I'm 00:07:29.600 --> 00:07:31.939 glad that I met my heroes there because they 00:07:31.939 --> 00:07:35.000 have been super awesome dudes and took, you know, 00:07:35.000 --> 00:07:38.079 taking me under their wing and, you know, help 00:07:38.079 --> 00:07:40.279 me out. And it's a partnership because like I 00:07:40.279 --> 00:07:44.220 do help for them. And they help me out. They're 00:07:44.220 --> 00:07:47.220 not doing charity work. Exactly. Yeah. I mean, 00:07:47.220 --> 00:07:49.500 not when it comes to their recording sessions, 00:07:49.579 --> 00:07:51.319 at least. I mean, I know they actually do do 00:07:51.319 --> 00:07:54.480 a lot of charity work. So let's zoom back a little 00:07:54.480 --> 00:07:58.600 bit in kind of like a similar fashion. What was 00:07:58.600 --> 00:08:02.040 the catalyst for you to switch from being just 00:08:02.040 --> 00:08:06.000 a music fan as a kid? And dabbling in guitar 00:08:06.000 --> 00:08:09.379 growing up to really committing it, like 18, 00:08:09.500 --> 00:08:13.720 19, to taking it seriously, starting to play 00:08:13.720 --> 00:08:16.660 live, and that sort of thing. What was kind of 00:08:16.660 --> 00:08:19.600 the thing that switched in your head? I'm trying 00:08:19.600 --> 00:08:22.660 to think, because it's kind of a long -ish timeline 00:08:22.660 --> 00:08:27.699 that goes over several years. I liked guitar 00:08:27.699 --> 00:08:30.730 music. And I liked all the guitar that's on classic 00:08:30.730 --> 00:08:33.450 rock radio. And then as I learned about like 00:08:33.450 --> 00:08:35.330 North Mississippi Hill Country music and how 00:08:35.330 --> 00:08:38.669 guitar riff driven the music is and how you feel 00:08:38.669 --> 00:08:41.350 it, like all of that, you feel it. That really 00:08:41.350 --> 00:08:45.370 pulled me into the music itself. But I was kind 00:08:45.370 --> 00:08:48.409 of trying to learn guitar just as the hobby. 00:08:48.470 --> 00:08:50.950 And like maybe one day like I'll play with some 00:08:50.950 --> 00:08:53.250 folks and like piddle around and make some music. 00:08:53.370 --> 00:08:56.430 But I was on like a trajectory like. college 00:08:56.430 --> 00:08:59.470 and career and like corporate world and stuff 00:08:59.470 --> 00:09:01.870 so I thought that like well I gotta have a life 00:09:01.870 --> 00:09:04.129 outside of that and I love music and I love guitar 00:09:04.129 --> 00:09:07.409 and I like to play guitar so like I'll work during 00:09:07.409 --> 00:09:09.809 the day and then I'll like play a little music 00:09:09.809 --> 00:09:13.250 in the evening and that'll be fine but um so 00:09:13.250 --> 00:09:14.950 that's the kind of way that I went for a while 00:09:15.480 --> 00:09:19.399 But then once I got out of college and got into 00:09:19.399 --> 00:09:21.220 the working world, I worked in manufacturing 00:09:21.220 --> 00:09:23.960 plants and stuff doing like improvement work 00:09:23.960 --> 00:09:27.080 and got into that and quickly realized like, 00:09:27.139 --> 00:09:31.919 man, this is the next 40 years. Cool. This is 00:09:31.919 --> 00:09:34.960 all right. This is it then. And felt that way 00:09:34.960 --> 00:09:38.039 for a while and started to realize it more and 00:09:38.039 --> 00:09:40.379 more like, you know, I'm working and it's just 00:09:40.379 --> 00:09:43.220 work and I'm good at it and it's good and cool 00:09:43.220 --> 00:09:45.740 and I'm making money and all that stuff. Whenever 00:09:45.740 --> 00:09:49.320 I got home and played the guitar, I was like, 00:09:49.360 --> 00:09:51.559 man, but this is fun. This is good, and this 00:09:51.559 --> 00:09:55.500 is fun, and this is what I love. The music that 00:09:55.500 --> 00:09:57.440 I love, the people making the music make it work. 00:09:57.580 --> 00:10:00.480 They do it professionally for a living, just 00:10:00.480 --> 00:10:02.419 like I'm working in these factories for a living. 00:10:03.240 --> 00:10:06.379 Maybe, just maybe, if I set myself right, I can 00:10:06.379 --> 00:10:11.820 try and save as much money from my job as possible 00:10:11.820 --> 00:10:15.000 and build up some type of nest egg that I can, 00:10:15.399 --> 00:10:17.960 end up leaving that and like jumping into music 00:10:17.960 --> 00:10:19.980 full -time if the opportunity ever presented 00:10:19.980 --> 00:10:22.360 itself or if i ever got good enough to actually 00:10:22.360 --> 00:10:27.419 do it so this was i don't know before the pandemic 00:10:27.419 --> 00:10:30.019 i was feeling that way um and i'd been playing 00:10:30.019 --> 00:10:32.700 stuff around that time i'd been getting stage 00:10:32.700 --> 00:10:35.139 time and playing with like all all my heroes 00:10:35.139 --> 00:10:37.000 and all the burn sites and kimbros and everybody 00:10:37.000 --> 00:10:39.460 in that north mississippi community so i already 00:10:39.460 --> 00:10:42.409 have like my toe in the water and was pretty 00:10:42.409 --> 00:10:44.929 hooked on it. And then during the pandemic, you 00:10:44.929 --> 00:10:46.909 know, everything that happened there happened. 00:10:47.009 --> 00:10:51.029 And I ended up thinking like, man, maybe now 00:10:51.029 --> 00:10:53.330 is the time. Maybe now is the time to just jump 00:10:53.330 --> 00:10:56.470 and try it. So that's what I did. It was like 00:10:56.470 --> 00:11:00.009 on a whim a little bit. At that point, it was 00:11:00.009 --> 00:11:02.169 part of my plan, but I didn't know when to pull 00:11:02.169 --> 00:11:05.149 the trigger. And that was when I did. which is 00:11:05.149 --> 00:11:07.370 a weird time to do it in the middle of a pandemic 00:11:07.370 --> 00:11:10.750 when nobody's talking without a mask on and everybody's 00:11:10.750 --> 00:11:12.490 washing hands and nobody's wanting to go out 00:11:12.490 --> 00:11:14.490 in public and stuff. What a time to try to jump 00:11:14.490 --> 00:11:17.269 into live music. I don't know. I'm rambling about 00:11:17.269 --> 00:11:19.009 it because it's hard to piece it all together, 00:11:19.129 --> 00:11:22.409 but that's kind of the flow of how that happened. 00:11:22.789 --> 00:11:26.549 Yeah. So you've played with your brother for... 00:11:26.990 --> 00:11:28.830 a long time, like since you were, you know, obviously 00:11:28.830 --> 00:11:31.309 since you were kids, but I mean out in the world, 00:11:31.350 --> 00:11:34.250 like y 'all play together as a band and in bands 00:11:34.250 --> 00:11:38.690 together. How did that start as being like something 00:11:38.690 --> 00:11:40.350 that you were going to be like, okay, we're going 00:11:40.350 --> 00:11:42.889 to let like, let's do this outside of our living 00:11:42.889 --> 00:11:46.549 room and maybe even in somebody else's. Yeah. 00:11:47.029 --> 00:11:51.230 Kane and I never really played a lot together 00:11:51.230 --> 00:11:54.649 until recent years. Kind of like piddle and stuff. 00:11:54.730 --> 00:11:56.330 Like whenever I was a kid, I think you tried 00:11:56.330 --> 00:11:58.269 to show me some stuff. You showed me Voodoo Child 00:11:58.269 --> 00:12:01.409 and stuff like that. But in recent years, whenever 00:12:01.409 --> 00:12:03.730 I've been in bands or played with folks and stuff, 00:12:03.909 --> 00:12:07.330 I knew that I wanted to have a band. So I got 00:12:07.330 --> 00:12:09.929 with a buddy of mine, Connor. We were already 00:12:09.929 --> 00:12:13.049 playing together, and we started a band called 00:12:13.049 --> 00:12:16.990 Proud Hound. And we were going to do it as like 00:12:16.990 --> 00:12:20.289 a... trio, like two guitars and drums with this 00:12:20.289 --> 00:12:22.269 bass thing that I have set up that I use tonight. 00:12:22.750 --> 00:12:26.590 But Kane was living down here in Florida and 00:12:26.590 --> 00:12:28.590 then up in Wisconsin, and then he moved back 00:12:28.590 --> 00:12:30.610 to Mississippi. And I don't remember if it was 00:12:30.610 --> 00:12:32.649 around the time of starting Proudhound or if 00:12:32.649 --> 00:12:34.429 it was like just before or something, but it 00:12:34.429 --> 00:12:36.090 just worked out to where we were like, man, you 00:12:36.090 --> 00:12:39.769 know, Kane plays. Kane's good. We could use a 00:12:39.769 --> 00:12:42.269 bass player. That would be really cool. And he 00:12:42.269 --> 00:12:44.870 wants to play and he's in the area. So let's 00:12:44.870 --> 00:12:48.610 do it. And so we did. He just, like, jumped in, 00:12:48.669 --> 00:12:51.990 and we all started playing. And I don't know. 00:12:52.070 --> 00:12:54.870 It's fun playing with them and having, obviously, 00:12:54.970 --> 00:12:57.710 like, the familial connection and stuff, like 00:12:57.710 --> 00:13:03.090 the brother thing is fun. And beyond Proudhound, 00:13:03.169 --> 00:13:05.190 we did, like, the Harrell Brothers, and we do 00:13:05.190 --> 00:13:07.509 that, which I've got. We've got some CDs over 00:13:07.509 --> 00:13:09.309 there, Harrell Brothers things that Kane and 00:13:09.309 --> 00:13:13.049 I cut. So we've done that, and we do that here 00:13:13.049 --> 00:13:15.509 and there. And it just, I don't know, we have 00:13:15.509 --> 00:13:19.049 like similar tastes in music. We've got some 00:13:19.049 --> 00:13:21.149 differences in taste, but we have so many similarities 00:13:21.149 --> 00:13:23.990 that it's easy to fall in and like play together 00:13:23.990 --> 00:13:26.850 and stuff. So it just kind of makes sense to 00:13:26.850 --> 00:13:30.970 do at this point. What was some of the music 00:13:30.970 --> 00:13:34.909 you, I mean, obviously like you love the blues, 00:13:34.990 --> 00:13:37.769 but growing up, was it always just like blues 00:13:37.769 --> 00:13:40.289 music for you? Or did, what was the, what was 00:13:40.289 --> 00:13:43.059 kind of the pathway there? Oh man, I was a big 00:13:43.059 --> 00:13:46.419 Britney Spears fan. No, it was classic rock radio. 00:13:46.659 --> 00:13:49.460 Like my parents always had a stereo on or in 00:13:49.460 --> 00:13:51.860 the car. It was always playing, you know, 96 00:13:51.860 --> 00:13:56.500 .1 The Rocket and later Z95 .3 and stuff. But 00:13:56.500 --> 00:13:59.179 it was always classic rock stuff. And that's 00:13:59.179 --> 00:14:01.299 what I liked. And that's really all that I listened 00:14:01.299 --> 00:14:03.700 to because that's all that I had to listen to 00:14:03.700 --> 00:14:06.279 on the stereo. But then Kane, as he got older, 00:14:06.340 --> 00:14:08.779 was getting CDs and had his stereo and we shared 00:14:08.779 --> 00:14:11.710 a room. And so he was playing stuff. through 00:14:11.710 --> 00:14:14.509 the 90s and like early 2000s and stuff that was 00:14:14.509 --> 00:14:18.129 all rock, rock realm of stuff. And I really didn't 00:14:18.129 --> 00:14:20.769 get into the blues until outside of, you know, 00:14:20.789 --> 00:14:22.610 like Stevie Ray Vaughan and stuff like that. 00:14:22.870 --> 00:14:25.490 I didn't get into like blues, blues or country 00:14:25.490 --> 00:14:28.090 blues or anything until I guess it was high school 00:14:28.090 --> 00:14:33.039 time frame. Had a teacher, a... mythology teacher 00:14:33.039 --> 00:14:35.480 he is he taught several things but I took mythology 00:14:35.480 --> 00:14:37.879 from him and we got to talking about Robert Johnson 00:14:37.879 --> 00:14:40.519 and the crossroads and stuff and he had the whole 00:14:40.519 --> 00:14:43.480 Robert Johnson discography on CD and I don't 00:14:43.480 --> 00:14:45.840 remember how I like expressed interest but he 00:14:45.840 --> 00:14:48.120 said that you know I'll send these CDs home with 00:14:48.120 --> 00:14:49.340 you and you can listen through them and bring 00:14:49.340 --> 00:14:52.179 him back so that I did and like man listening 00:14:52.179 --> 00:14:56.120 to those Robert Johnson tracks and hearing that 00:14:56.120 --> 00:14:58.659 style of music versus all the classic rock stuff 00:14:58.659 --> 00:15:01.779 that I heard That really piqued my interest. 00:15:02.100 --> 00:15:03.919 So I really started out trying to play Delta 00:15:03.919 --> 00:15:05.840 Blues, trying to play, like, Robert Johnson stuff. 00:15:06.120 --> 00:15:10.159 And then from that, it morphed more towards the 00:15:10.159 --> 00:15:12.700 Hill Country. And honestly, like, that was high 00:15:12.700 --> 00:15:14.840 school time frame, the Robert Johnson stuff and 00:15:14.840 --> 00:15:17.220 all those country blues pickers. And then I went 00:15:17.220 --> 00:15:20.279 to Oxford, Mississippi for college, and Oxford 00:15:20.279 --> 00:15:23.460 is, like, the epicenter of Hill Country. Proud 00:15:23.460 --> 00:15:25.980 Larry's is there, and it's an institution for 00:15:25.980 --> 00:15:30.389 the Burnside's and everybody. Got up there and 00:15:30.389 --> 00:15:32.809 would see, like, you know, Cedric Burnside at 00:15:32.809 --> 00:15:36.309 Proud Larry's or Dwayne Burnside here, Gary Burnside 00:15:36.309 --> 00:15:37.990 there, and then the North Mississippi All -Stars 00:15:37.990 --> 00:15:40.570 at Proud Larry's or at the Lyric. And, like, 00:15:40.610 --> 00:15:43.750 this whole community of music is up there. And 00:15:43.750 --> 00:15:45.330 I knew about the North Mississippi All -Stars 00:15:45.330 --> 00:15:48.830 because my dad, our dad used to take us to Pensacola 00:15:48.830 --> 00:15:52.110 Springfest, and we saw the All -Stars there one 00:15:52.110 --> 00:15:54.700 year. And I'm honestly, I was too young to really 00:15:54.700 --> 00:15:56.600 remember. I remember seeing them, but I honestly 00:15:56.600 --> 00:15:58.360 don't remember a lot about the music or anything. 00:15:58.779 --> 00:16:00.879 But I guess, Cain, you may have got a CD there 00:16:00.879 --> 00:16:03.679 or afterwards got a CD. So I heard that at the 00:16:03.679 --> 00:16:06.460 house. So once I got to Oxford and saw that name, 00:16:06.519 --> 00:16:08.960 I was like, oh, yeah, I remember that, you know, 00:16:08.960 --> 00:16:12.059 that group from my childhood. So I'll go see 00:16:12.059 --> 00:16:14.500 them. And then going down that rabbit hole and 00:16:14.500 --> 00:16:16.899 learning about the Burnside family tree and the 00:16:16.899 --> 00:16:18.820 Kimbrough family tree and how they were all in 00:16:18.820 --> 00:16:20.820 Holly Springs and stuff not far from Oxford, 00:16:20.960 --> 00:16:24.549 that just wrapped me up. And that's kind of the 00:16:24.549 --> 00:16:28.309 progression. Do you remember the first concert 00:16:28.309 --> 00:16:31.830 that you went to as a kid? First ever concert? 00:16:32.509 --> 00:16:35.250 The first one that really stuck with you. It 00:16:35.250 --> 00:16:37.870 would be Springfest. It would be Pensacola Springfest. 00:16:38.129 --> 00:16:41.649 And I guess that would have been around 2001 00:16:41.649 --> 00:16:45.809 or something like that, 2002 or something. Because 00:16:45.809 --> 00:16:49.889 I remember one year they put it in the Coliseum 00:16:49.889 --> 00:16:52.210 or something. And then the next year it was like 00:16:52.210 --> 00:16:54.850 taking it back to the streets. But it was the 00:16:54.850 --> 00:16:56.889 year or two before it went to the Coliseum. So 00:16:56.889 --> 00:17:00.429 it was 2002 or something. And I remember seeing 00:17:00.429 --> 00:17:02.450 like Willie Nelson. We went up to the front. 00:17:02.789 --> 00:17:04.630 Daddy and Kane like pushed us up to the very 00:17:04.630 --> 00:17:08.450 front. And I got right up on the rail and Willie 00:17:08.450 --> 00:17:11.329 Nelson like winked and waved. And then we saw 00:17:11.329 --> 00:17:14.369 like the Black Crows and Foreigner and Eddie 00:17:14.369 --> 00:17:17.250 Money. And like all these people that I heard 00:17:17.250 --> 00:17:20.930 on the radio. So that's probably my most standout 00:17:20.930 --> 00:17:24.710 initial first concert experience was that seeing 00:17:24.710 --> 00:17:26.329 all the people that I heard on the radio. It 00:17:26.329 --> 00:17:29.549 was kind of weird as a kid. They looked different 00:17:29.549 --> 00:17:34.089 than they sounded. Do you want to tell me about 00:17:34.089 --> 00:17:36.910 the North Mississippi Hill Country Picnic and 00:17:36.910 --> 00:17:40.869 how that led to some of the connections that 00:17:40.869 --> 00:17:45.470 you have and just all about what it is to the 00:17:45.470 --> 00:17:49.299 listeners? Yeah. So every year, the last weekend 00:17:49.299 --> 00:17:51.980 in June in North Mississippi, there's an event 00:17:51.980 --> 00:17:53.839 called the North Mississippi Hill Country Picnic. 00:17:53.980 --> 00:17:56.880 And it's put on by Kenny and Sarah Brown. And 00:17:56.880 --> 00:17:59.599 Kenny Brown was a guitar player for R .L. Burnside 00:17:59.599 --> 00:18:03.460 since way back. So they throw the festival and 00:18:03.460 --> 00:18:06.019 it's obviously Hill Country focused. So like 00:18:06.019 --> 00:18:10.160 it's kind of like a community or family reunion 00:18:10.160 --> 00:18:14.160 for that music. You'll catch all the Burnside 00:18:14.160 --> 00:18:17.450 family, the Kimbros. North Mississippi All -Stars, 00:18:17.529 --> 00:18:23.049 Kenny Brown, and all of their, like, fringe musicians 00:18:23.049 --> 00:18:25.450 in the scene, including, like, Alvin Youngblood 00:18:25.450 --> 00:18:28.170 Hart, Jimbo Mathis, folks like that. But it's, 00:18:28.170 --> 00:18:30.430 like, the showcase for North Mississippi Hill 00:18:30.430 --> 00:18:32.650 Country Blues, in my opinion. And it happens 00:18:32.650 --> 00:18:35.549 every June, the last weekend. And it takes place 00:18:35.549 --> 00:18:38.400 out... literally in the hill country. It's out 00:18:38.400 --> 00:18:40.880 between Oxford and Holly Springs, Mississippi 00:18:40.880 --> 00:18:43.720 in kind of like a dead zone where like phones 00:18:43.720 --> 00:18:47.859 don't work well. And if you don't have like a 00:18:47.859 --> 00:18:51.140 front wheel drive car or like a four wheel drive 00:18:51.140 --> 00:18:53.420 and it rains, you may have to get pulled out 00:18:53.420 --> 00:18:57.559 with a tractor. And it's awesome. It's all home 00:18:57.559 --> 00:19:00.460 done. There's sponsors and stuff, but it's like 00:19:00.460 --> 00:19:03.440 all done by hand. It's all like grassroots and 00:19:03.440 --> 00:19:06.420 they've been going since I think 2006. But it's 00:19:06.420 --> 00:19:09.319 a Friday and it's a Saturday festival with camping 00:19:09.319 --> 00:19:11.200 and everything. I think this year they have like 00:19:11.200 --> 00:19:14.940 two stages. But it is like the who's who of that 00:19:14.940 --> 00:19:18.140 style of blues. And anybody around that community, 00:19:18.279 --> 00:19:21.259 it's like that is the thing to go to. It is hot. 00:19:21.500 --> 00:19:24.200 It is very hot. It is Mississippi Hill Country 00:19:24.200 --> 00:19:27.759 in summertime. So it's like you need an umbrella 00:19:27.759 --> 00:19:31.819 or even an umbrella hat or a tent. You can take 00:19:31.819 --> 00:19:34.640 one of those canopy tents and people... The trick 00:19:34.640 --> 00:19:36.680 is like to take Pedialyte. A lot of people take 00:19:36.680 --> 00:19:39.299 Pedialyte and drink it in that heat. Keeps them 00:19:39.299 --> 00:19:42.319 going. But yeah, it's just, it's super awesome. 00:19:42.599 --> 00:19:47.099 It is a super awesome festival. I can't recommend 00:19:47.099 --> 00:19:49.319 it enough for blues lovers to go and make that 00:19:49.319 --> 00:19:50.920 pilgrimage to North Mississippi and experience 00:19:50.920 --> 00:19:54.299 that. It is something like, it may not be for 00:19:54.299 --> 00:19:55.920 everybody because of the environment, but it 00:19:55.920 --> 00:19:58.720 is so Hill Country Blues. Like the entire experience 00:19:58.720 --> 00:20:01.680 is the music. And I mean that in every way, from 00:20:01.680 --> 00:20:05.220 the weather to everything. So yeah, there's that. 00:20:05.380 --> 00:20:07.880 And I went for a couple years, but I knew that 00:20:07.880 --> 00:20:10.140 I wanted to get into the community and I wanted 00:20:10.140 --> 00:20:11.880 to play the music and I wanted to be part of 00:20:11.880 --> 00:20:15.240 it. It was kind of pulled to it. So I weaseled 00:20:15.240 --> 00:20:18.059 my way in with the picnic and tried to help just 00:20:18.059 --> 00:20:20.440 as a volunteer, just as a hand to do whatever 00:20:20.440 --> 00:20:22.980 was needed. And one year I helped with the raffle. 00:20:23.119 --> 00:20:26.019 They do a raffle every year with some really 00:20:26.019 --> 00:20:29.400 awesome pieces from local artists and artists 00:20:29.400 --> 00:20:31.059 all over the country, sometimes all over the 00:20:31.059 --> 00:20:33.299 world, people send donations in for their raffle. 00:20:34.140 --> 00:20:36.500 So I helped with that one year and then I managed 00:20:36.500 --> 00:20:40.200 that one year and just tried to get in and get 00:20:40.200 --> 00:20:42.019 to know people and let them know that I'm a good, 00:20:42.079 --> 00:20:44.759 helpful person in the community. I care about 00:20:44.759 --> 00:20:47.819 the music and I care about making things be what 00:20:47.819 --> 00:20:52.119 they're supposed to be. And just met everybody 00:20:52.119 --> 00:20:54.839 in the community through that and would hang 00:20:54.839 --> 00:20:57.039 out with them because the backstage area is kind 00:20:57.039 --> 00:20:59.579 of like a big party for everybody to like... 00:21:00.170 --> 00:21:02.009 because they may not have seen each other in 00:21:02.009 --> 00:21:03.809 a year because everybody's on the road or whatever. 00:21:04.109 --> 00:21:07.009 So it's great to be able to just sit back at 00:21:07.009 --> 00:21:10.910 a picnic table in the back and hear Kenny Brown 00:21:10.910 --> 00:21:14.789 and R .L. Boyce talking about who knows what 00:21:14.789 --> 00:21:17.730 kind of moonshine they had or something. It's 00:21:17.730 --> 00:21:20.609 just a very cool place to soak that in. And then 00:21:20.609 --> 00:21:23.349 also meet the folks one -on -one and let them 00:21:23.349 --> 00:21:27.400 know who I am and stuff. like I said earlier, 00:21:27.480 --> 00:21:30.259 like weasel my way in. I mean, like I said earlier, 00:21:30.339 --> 00:21:33.900 I don't think that they're out there like just, 00:21:33.960 --> 00:21:37.119 you're not like a make a wish case or anything. 00:21:37.279 --> 00:21:38.940 You know what I mean? I would definitely say 00:21:38.940 --> 00:21:42.400 that there's like, in a way there's like a, I 00:21:42.400 --> 00:21:43.859 guess a cutting floor or whatever you'd call 00:21:43.859 --> 00:21:46.539 it. Like there, people will play in the community, 00:21:46.599 --> 00:21:49.619 but people do filter in and out because it's 00:21:49.619 --> 00:21:53.220 not like, it's not everybody's thing, but I. 00:21:53.839 --> 00:21:56.420 felt and definitely am validated in it at this 00:21:56.420 --> 00:21:59.559 point that, like, it is my thing. Like, I love 00:21:59.559 --> 00:22:03.259 it. And part of, you know, I know this might 00:22:03.259 --> 00:22:06.180 be a little bit, like, bittersweet because you're 00:22:06.180 --> 00:22:08.119 going to be missing the picnic this year. Yeah. 00:22:08.240 --> 00:22:11.259 Because you'll be on the road with Cedric Burnside. 00:22:11.680 --> 00:22:15.819 Yeah. And so what was that, you know, that process 00:22:15.819 --> 00:22:19.240 like, joining his band? And did it just start 00:22:19.240 --> 00:22:20.740 with, like, a few gigs here and there? Or did 00:22:20.740 --> 00:22:25.609 he approach you? Man, you know, it came through 00:22:25.609 --> 00:22:28.609 playing some gigs with him. I was in his uncle, 00:22:28.910 --> 00:22:30.750 well, both of his uncles, two of his uncles, 00:22:30.789 --> 00:22:32.869 Dwayne Burnside and Gary Burnside's bands. I 00:22:32.869 --> 00:22:36.069 played with them off and on. Those were some 00:22:36.069 --> 00:22:38.730 of my first gigs was with them on stage. And 00:22:38.730 --> 00:22:41.470 I just played, you know, second guitar with them 00:22:41.470 --> 00:22:45.150 and tried to hang in there with them and did. 00:22:46.079 --> 00:22:48.980 And then met Luther Dickinson from the All -Stars 00:22:48.980 --> 00:22:51.940 later on and was communal with these guys. But 00:22:51.940 --> 00:22:54.019 these gigs, sometimes Cedric would be on drums 00:22:54.019 --> 00:22:56.759 for Gary. We played at Proud Larry's one night, 00:22:56.859 --> 00:22:59.759 and I just knew that I was coming to play a Gary 00:22:59.759 --> 00:23:02.339 Burnside show. And you never really know who 00:23:02.339 --> 00:23:04.279 will be on stage or how many people will be on 00:23:04.279 --> 00:23:06.140 stage or anything. But we got up there, and then 00:23:06.140 --> 00:23:09.519 in walked Cedric in a nice shirt and stuff. And 00:23:09.519 --> 00:23:11.400 he's like, hey, man, how's it going? And hops 00:23:11.400 --> 00:23:14.730 behind the drums. man, goes at it, beats the 00:23:14.730 --> 00:23:17.029 fire out of them. And we just had some like run 00:23:17.029 --> 00:23:19.170 -ins like that. We never really like sat down 00:23:19.170 --> 00:23:20.910 one -on -one and chatted or anything, but we 00:23:20.910 --> 00:23:23.210 would talk on the stage and like, man, that was 00:23:23.210 --> 00:23:25.049 awesome. Like, hey, good guitar playing. Like, 00:23:25.089 --> 00:23:27.250 man, those feels, you know, that kind of stuff. 00:23:27.630 --> 00:23:29.349 But just hanging around the scene and seeing 00:23:29.349 --> 00:23:31.730 him more and more, we got more and more familiar 00:23:31.730 --> 00:23:33.809 with each other. And then he was cutting the 00:23:33.809 --> 00:23:36.769 album that came out last year, Hill Country Love, 00:23:36.869 --> 00:23:40.500 which was nominated for the Grammy. He was cutting 00:23:40.500 --> 00:23:41.980 that at a place that was going to be his juke 00:23:41.980 --> 00:23:44.440 joint in Ripley, Mississippi. And Luther Dickinson 00:23:44.440 --> 00:23:46.440 was producing it and played bass on it and stuff. 00:23:46.640 --> 00:23:48.859 And Luther called me like the day before and 00:23:48.859 --> 00:23:50.380 was like, hey, man, I'm going to be in Ripley 00:23:50.380 --> 00:23:52.819 with Cedric doing some stuff. You want to ride 00:23:52.819 --> 00:23:55.619 over and hang? I was like, yeah, sure. Yeah, 00:23:55.700 --> 00:23:58.140 I'll come over and hang. What's up? And he's 00:23:58.140 --> 00:23:59.660 like, oh, just a recording session, no big deal. 00:23:59.900 --> 00:24:01.920 And show up, and Cedric's like, yeah, man, this 00:24:01.920 --> 00:24:03.259 is going to be my new album. I'm going to be 00:24:03.259 --> 00:24:05.799 putting it out in a couple years, or like next 00:24:05.799 --> 00:24:07.920 year. So we're just cutting all the tracks for 00:24:07.920 --> 00:24:10.140 it and stuff. So you're welcome to hang out. 00:24:10.299 --> 00:24:12.559 So I did and just like soaked in that experience 00:24:12.559 --> 00:24:16.240 of watching Cedric Burnside and Artemis LeShore, 00:24:16.400 --> 00:24:19.319 who played like a junior juke joint. He's been 00:24:19.319 --> 00:24:23.259 in the scene for a long time on drums and then 00:24:23.259 --> 00:24:25.519 Luther on bass and then sometimes some guitar 00:24:25.519 --> 00:24:27.579 stuff. But like just sitting back and watching 00:24:27.579 --> 00:24:30.059 that, I was like, man, this is awesome. And then 00:24:30.059 --> 00:24:32.559 they take a break and Luther and Cedric sit down. 00:24:32.579 --> 00:24:34.420 They're like, man, got to figure this out. You 00:24:34.420 --> 00:24:36.039 know, whenever this album comes out, I need to 00:24:36.039 --> 00:24:38.049 tour it. and I'm going to need a bass player 00:24:38.049 --> 00:24:39.670 because this is my first album with a bass on 00:24:39.670 --> 00:24:43.150 it. And Luther's like, hey, man, Cody Harrell 00:24:43.150 --> 00:24:45.369 over here, he plays bass. He plays with Eric 00:24:45.369 --> 00:24:49.150 Deaton. He plays with us. There's your guy. And 00:24:49.150 --> 00:24:53.009 I was like, oh, no, man. I appreciate you sticking 00:24:53.009 --> 00:24:56.230 your neck out like that, but whatever. It's cool. 00:24:56.329 --> 00:24:58.509 I appreciate that. Thank you. But Cedric was 00:24:58.509 --> 00:25:00.289 like, yeah, man, I know you can play because 00:25:00.289 --> 00:25:02.269 we've played, and I've seen what you do on guitar. 00:25:02.329 --> 00:25:04.849 I know what you can do on bass. And when this 00:25:04.849 --> 00:25:09.150 comes out, let's talk. And that's kind of how 00:25:09.150 --> 00:25:11.410 it happened. And then, you know, time went by 00:25:11.410 --> 00:25:14.210 where the album was being mixed and mastered 00:25:14.210 --> 00:25:17.190 and ready to go and everything and release. And 00:25:17.190 --> 00:25:19.650 Cedric called me at the beginning of 2024 and 00:25:19.650 --> 00:25:21.809 was like, hey, man, it's time to go. Are you 00:25:21.809 --> 00:25:24.369 ready? And I was like, let me get some stuff 00:25:24.369 --> 00:25:26.549 in line. But yeah, I'm ready. And I called him 00:25:26.549 --> 00:25:27.809 like the next day and I was like, all right, 00:25:27.829 --> 00:25:29.789 let's rehearse. Like, I'm ready to go whenever. 00:25:29.990 --> 00:25:31.730 Send me the music. And it was off to the races 00:25:31.730 --> 00:25:34.960 from there. And we did. I'll go past your question 00:25:34.960 --> 00:25:38.180 a little bit, but we did three rehearsals in 00:25:38.180 --> 00:25:40.440 his back room at his house up in Ashland, Mississippi. 00:25:41.000 --> 00:25:43.299 And after the very first one, he was like, oh, 00:25:43.319 --> 00:25:46.160 yeah, this is going to be good. And we did three 00:25:46.160 --> 00:25:49.319 rehearsals and then hit the road on April 17th 00:25:49.319 --> 00:25:54.480 and was out. More than home like from April 17th 00:25:54.480 --> 00:25:56.500 to the end of July I think that I counted that 00:25:56.500 --> 00:26:00.200 I was home for like a total of 11 days So three 00:26:00.200 --> 00:26:02.660 rehearsals and then bam just hit it hard We open 00:26:02.660 --> 00:26:06.140 for JJ Gray and mo fro in like amphitheaters 00:26:06.140 --> 00:26:07.859 and I went from playing at Proud Larry's for 00:26:07.859 --> 00:26:10.660 like upwards of a hundred to two hundred people 00:26:10.660 --> 00:26:12.920 to playing these amphitheaters opening for JJ 00:26:12.920 --> 00:26:16.309 Gray with like thousands of people, like a sea 00:26:16.309 --> 00:26:18.750 of people. I was like, is this real? Well, and 00:26:18.750 --> 00:26:21.710 not only that, but touring that intensely was 00:26:21.710 --> 00:26:23.589 new to you too, right? Absolutely. I'd never 00:26:23.589 --> 00:26:26.849 done more than like, I toured with Cody Dickinson 00:26:26.849 --> 00:26:30.190 back in 2019 and Todd Nance from Widespread Panic, 00:26:30.190 --> 00:26:33.349 and we did like, I don't know, two weeks of... 00:26:33.609 --> 00:26:35.950 of a tour we had like a nine or ten show run 00:26:35.950 --> 00:26:37.970 so that was the longest that i'd ever been on 00:26:37.970 --> 00:26:40.390 the road outside of like weekend runs with all 00:26:40.390 --> 00:26:42.230 -stars and helping the all -stars and stuff like 00:26:42.230 --> 00:26:45.910 that so yeah we were out uh for like i don't 00:26:45.910 --> 00:26:47.990 know three weeks the very first time and then 00:26:47.990 --> 00:26:49.769 i came home for like two days and then went back 00:26:49.769 --> 00:26:52.569 out for an entire month from may to may we left 00:26:52.569 --> 00:26:54.910 north mississippi and went down through texas 00:26:54.910 --> 00:26:58.569 up through california up into california through 00:26:58.569 --> 00:27:01.960 the midwest and came back home Yeah, it was crazy 00:27:01.960 --> 00:27:04.980 to go from being a homebody to not being home 00:27:04.980 --> 00:27:08.539 at all. So when I had J. Roddy Walston on here, 00:27:08.680 --> 00:27:13.059 he and I talked about how the road kills people. 00:27:13.319 --> 00:27:15.740 And he said sometimes it's a week, sometimes 00:27:15.740 --> 00:27:19.380 it's years. How have you made a conscious effort 00:27:19.380 --> 00:27:22.259 to stay healthy and keep your head in a good 00:27:22.259 --> 00:27:24.960 space when you go on the road? Man, it's really 00:27:24.960 --> 00:27:27.220 easy with Cedric because he's such a positive 00:27:27.220 --> 00:27:30.819 guy. He's always about uplifting and positivity 00:27:30.819 --> 00:27:34.960 and staying away from negatives. Even if there 00:27:34.960 --> 00:27:36.720 is a negative thing that happens in the day, 00:27:36.859 --> 00:27:39.519 you can acknowledge it, but then move on from 00:27:39.519 --> 00:27:42.539 it or find the silver lining and continue. It's 00:27:42.539 --> 00:27:44.839 really easy traveling with him because of his 00:27:44.839 --> 00:27:47.420 spirit and his energy and everything is so positive 00:27:47.420 --> 00:27:52.759 that the bad days aren't really that bad. Health 00:27:52.759 --> 00:27:54.640 -wise, as far as food, I haven't figured that 00:27:54.640 --> 00:27:58.319 out yet. Like, man, when venues, you know, when 00:27:58.319 --> 00:28:00.579 venues offer catering and there's, like, this 00:28:00.579 --> 00:28:03.460 awesome food and stuff, like, I could have the 00:28:03.460 --> 00:28:06.900 salad. I could, but I don't want to. I want to 00:28:06.900 --> 00:28:09.039 have the big, you know, meat and three and then 00:28:09.039 --> 00:28:10.660 the dessert and the cake and everything else. 00:28:10.660 --> 00:28:13.299 Like, that's good. That's good stuff. So I try 00:28:13.299 --> 00:28:16.099 to rationalize it by walking. Every day, like 00:28:16.099 --> 00:28:18.000 between soundcheck and the show, I get out and 00:28:18.000 --> 00:28:19.900 walk a whole bunch. I know that that doesn't 00:28:19.900 --> 00:28:22.559 work off the bowl of ice cream, but to me it 00:28:22.559 --> 00:28:25.319 does. What are some of your favorite places that 00:28:25.319 --> 00:28:28.819 you've gotten to see on tour? Man, one place 00:28:28.819 --> 00:28:31.019 domestically and internationally, I've got a 00:28:31.019 --> 00:28:34.160 couple. But one of them is the Fillmore West 00:28:34.160 --> 00:28:37.359 out in California. We got to play there in December, 00:28:37.619 --> 00:28:40.039 opening for Samantha Fish. And that was awesome 00:28:40.039 --> 00:28:42.640 just to know the musicians that passed through 00:28:42.640 --> 00:28:45.569 there. back in the day over the over the decades 00:28:45.569 --> 00:28:48.269 and stuff like the the history of that room and 00:28:48.269 --> 00:28:50.210 the history of music that has gone through that 00:28:50.210 --> 00:28:52.849 room that was really awesome I got to leave the 00:28:52.849 --> 00:28:55.509 country for the first time with Cedric we hopped 00:28:55.509 --> 00:28:59.190 up into Canada to Victoria Canada I think that 00:28:59.190 --> 00:29:01.410 that's the one that's out like kind of on an 00:29:01.410 --> 00:29:03.210 island or something and we had to take a ferry 00:29:03.210 --> 00:29:05.809 to get there through a bunch of straits and that 00:29:05.809 --> 00:29:08.450 was super cool to see so there was that but then 00:29:08.450 --> 00:29:11.400 we went and Went through Europe last year. I 00:29:11.400 --> 00:29:14.119 never, like I said, Canada was my first time 00:29:14.119 --> 00:29:16.339 out of the country. But we went to Europe for 00:29:16.339 --> 00:29:20.579 like three weeks. And I mean, I can't even pick 00:29:20.579 --> 00:29:22.740 any one thing over there because everything was 00:29:22.740 --> 00:29:25.759 so awesome. Like the first place that we landed 00:29:25.759 --> 00:29:29.839 and played was like a promenade from, I don't 00:29:29.839 --> 00:29:32.880 know what it was, the 1100s or something. There 00:29:32.880 --> 00:29:35.140 was a big statue of the Sun King out in the middle 00:29:35.140 --> 00:29:37.819 of the promenade. And I was like, man, everything 00:29:37.819 --> 00:29:40.569 over here. is so much older than anything that 00:29:40.569 --> 00:29:43.890 I can ever see back home, ever. And even in Mississippi, 00:29:44.069 --> 00:29:46.789 there were civilizations and stuff, but they 00:29:46.789 --> 00:29:48.589 didn't build stuff out of stone. It was all sticks 00:29:48.589 --> 00:29:51.390 and stuff, like mud and sticks and earthly things 00:29:51.390 --> 00:29:54.329 that didn't stand the test of time. So even though 00:29:54.329 --> 00:29:57.529 there were people in Mississippi forever, they 00:29:57.529 --> 00:30:00.569 didn't have any monuments left in Europe with 00:30:00.569 --> 00:30:05.009 the castles and all of that. All that history, 00:30:05.109 --> 00:30:07.130 all the cities that were built so many hundreds 00:30:07.130 --> 00:30:10.420 of years ago. that never imagined that they would 00:30:10.420 --> 00:30:12.759 have vehicles or any kind of wide traffic. So 00:30:12.759 --> 00:30:15.259 the streets are like super tiny and everything, 00:30:15.420 --> 00:30:18.180 like just seeing all that and no grids. It was 00:30:18.180 --> 00:30:20.779 like buildings and streets are just like wherever 00:30:20.779 --> 00:30:22.940 they are because that's just where they put them, 00:30:22.960 --> 00:30:24.640 where they have the room. And that's, I don't 00:30:24.640 --> 00:30:27.079 know, all that was really, really cool to me. 00:30:27.079 --> 00:30:29.859 Welcome to Tallahassee. Yeah, Tallahassee, I 00:30:29.859 --> 00:30:32.500 feel like they never widened the roads. It's 00:30:32.500 --> 00:30:35.259 definitely not on a grid. So, you know, maybe 00:30:35.259 --> 00:30:37.220 this will make you, you are actually, you're 00:30:37.220 --> 00:30:39.079 about to be going back to Europe. You're going 00:30:39.079 --> 00:30:43.299 to be in London at least for the, which blues 00:30:43.299 --> 00:30:45.319 festival was it, remind me? I think it's the 00:30:45.319 --> 00:30:48.619 Ealing Blues Festival is around London. Yeah, 00:30:48.819 --> 00:30:52.259 at the end of July. We've got a Midwest run, 00:30:52.500 --> 00:30:55.839 a Midwest tour in like mid -July and then have 00:30:55.839 --> 00:30:57.299 a few days off and then we go over to London. 00:30:58.019 --> 00:31:02.059 Are you, did you go to London last time? No, 00:31:02.079 --> 00:31:06.019 we stayed. East of there, we were in France for 00:31:06.019 --> 00:31:09.000 a couple shows, Spain for several shows, Italy, 00:31:09.299 --> 00:31:14.299 Netherlands, Austria, Belgium. Oh, that is one 00:31:14.299 --> 00:31:17.200 that I will name cool places to have been. We 00:31:17.200 --> 00:31:20.559 went to a place called Dixmude in Belgium, and 00:31:20.559 --> 00:31:24.329 it was like a World War. like where tanks and 00:31:24.329 --> 00:31:26.190 stuff rolled down the cities and buildings were 00:31:26.190 --> 00:31:28.190 destroyed and like half destroyed. So I went 00:31:28.190 --> 00:31:29.910 through an archive of photos on my phone while 00:31:29.910 --> 00:31:31.690 I was there and found a bunch of pictures of 00:31:31.690 --> 00:31:33.609 buildings from the World War with like tanks 00:31:33.609 --> 00:31:35.049 in front of them. And I went and found the exact 00:31:35.049 --> 00:31:37.410 same buildings and took the same pictures from 00:31:37.410 --> 00:31:40.289 the exact same perspective of those pictures 00:31:40.289 --> 00:31:42.170 with a tank in front of it. And now there's like 00:31:42.170 --> 00:31:44.289 a Volkswagen in front of it or whatever. And 00:31:44.289 --> 00:31:48.289 that was really, really cool to me. You obviously... 00:31:48.920 --> 00:31:52.220 Not just in music then, but have a strong interest 00:31:52.220 --> 00:31:56.819 in history and preserving things from cultural 00:31:56.819 --> 00:32:02.839 importance from the past. What do you think, 00:32:03.079 --> 00:32:07.920 or how does your brain kind of approach playing 00:32:07.920 --> 00:32:12.299 a more traditional blues song versus when you're 00:32:12.299 --> 00:32:16.240 writing your own music? Let me see. So writing 00:32:16.240 --> 00:32:19.720 my own music. I will very quickly say it is always 00:32:19.720 --> 00:32:23.200 difficult for me to write a song that I feel 00:32:23.200 --> 00:32:26.839 like if I have tried in the past to write in 00:32:26.839 --> 00:32:29.700 like the hill country genre, I guess if you would 00:32:29.700 --> 00:32:33.019 say, and try to force it that way. And I found 00:32:33.019 --> 00:32:35.319 that is not the way to go because it just doesn't 00:32:35.319 --> 00:32:37.819 work out for me. And then whenever I do write 00:32:37.819 --> 00:32:41.500 stuff that I think that, you know, that I want 00:32:41.500 --> 00:32:43.019 to write and I want to put out, by the time that 00:32:43.019 --> 00:32:44.660 it's done, it doesn't necessarily sound hill 00:32:44.660 --> 00:32:47.890 country. Like tonight you'll hear. Some of my 00:32:47.890 --> 00:32:50.170 originals are very pretty and that's the thing 00:32:50.170 --> 00:32:53.250 like I love gritty blues like that RL Bernstein 00:32:53.250 --> 00:32:57.170 stuff was so Just like raw and gritty and like 00:32:57.170 --> 00:33:00.109 in your face, and then I write music that's like 00:33:00.109 --> 00:33:04.349 pretty And melodic and stuff so I found like 00:33:04.349 --> 00:33:07.809 trying to write in a specific way obviously is 00:33:07.809 --> 00:33:10.930 not the right way to do it. And I've struggled 00:33:10.930 --> 00:33:13.650 writing music because I can like learn and play 00:33:13.650 --> 00:33:15.670 any of the Hill Country songs. I love those. 00:33:15.829 --> 00:33:18.470 And I would love to write some to like provide 00:33:18.470 --> 00:33:21.730 to the repertoire of the community. But here 00:33:21.730 --> 00:33:23.789 more recently, I've been just trying to write 00:33:23.789 --> 00:33:26.130 just purely right and just like whatever comes 00:33:26.130 --> 00:33:28.869 out. And that actually, as I've been doing that, 00:33:29.029 --> 00:33:31.990 I think has resulted in more Hill Country sounding 00:33:31.990 --> 00:33:35.029 songs. And I'm wondering if it's just the natural 00:33:35.029 --> 00:33:37.900 like... not trying to force it and not trying 00:33:37.900 --> 00:33:39.680 to push it, but just letting it come out naturally 00:33:39.680 --> 00:33:41.859 and let the influences and the inspirations and 00:33:41.859 --> 00:33:45.259 stuff kind of flow through it and have no preconceived 00:33:45.259 --> 00:33:47.579 notions of what it should sound like until it's 00:33:47.579 --> 00:33:51.940 written. And then it kind of, you know, it piques 00:33:51.940 --> 00:33:54.460 my interests better, but it feels like it fits 00:33:54.460 --> 00:33:57.839 what I'm trying to do better without being just 00:33:57.839 --> 00:34:01.539 a pretty song. It's my spin on what the community 00:34:01.539 --> 00:34:06.759 does in a way, you know. And I think everybody 00:34:06.759 --> 00:34:08.380 here is getting anxious to hear some of these 00:34:08.380 --> 00:34:09.900 songs. So we're going to wrap this up here in 00:34:09.900 --> 00:34:12.840 just a couple of minutes. But I want to know, 00:34:12.960 --> 00:34:16.519 how much of yourself do you put into your songs 00:34:16.519 --> 00:34:20.500 lyrically? And how much of it is more just observational 00:34:20.500 --> 00:34:23.420 or something like that? You know, it's definitely 00:34:23.420 --> 00:34:27.179 not 100 % me. Some of the songs that I've written 00:34:27.179 --> 00:34:30.280 have been things that are more observational 00:34:30.280 --> 00:34:35.809 or more... of what i would want to hear whether 00:34:35.809 --> 00:34:38.750 or not it's it's true to me or not it like makes 00:34:38.750 --> 00:34:40.670 me feel like it's something i would like to hear 00:34:40.670 --> 00:34:45.190 somebody do but um oh man i'm losing my answer 00:34:45.190 --> 00:34:48.070 here like refresh me on what that question was 00:34:48.070 --> 00:34:51.030 well i'm just curious how much how much lyrically 00:34:51.030 --> 00:34:53.489 do you put like personal stuff into your songs 00:34:53.489 --> 00:34:57.210 versus more just thoughts and observations i 00:34:57.210 --> 00:34:59.210 mean are they okay if you're writing a love song 00:34:59.210 --> 00:35:01.730 is it is it something that's you're really like 00:35:01.730 --> 00:35:03.610 resonating, you know, that you're feeling or 00:35:03.610 --> 00:35:05.389 that's resonating with you or how much, how much 00:35:05.389 --> 00:35:07.050 of yourself are you putting into that versus? 00:35:07.690 --> 00:35:11.489 I am pretty reserved. I'm more and more chatty 00:35:11.489 --> 00:35:13.110 as I get older, but I've always said that I'm 00:35:13.110 --> 00:35:15.070 introverted and I definitely feel like in music, 00:35:15.090 --> 00:35:18.130 in writing, I'm introverted. Like I don't want 00:35:18.130 --> 00:35:21.349 to lay too much out there for people to see, 00:35:21.409 --> 00:35:23.230 but that is something that I've been working 00:35:23.230 --> 00:35:25.690 on more in the past couple of years because that's 00:35:25.690 --> 00:35:28.489 what resonates with people. Like the real shit 00:35:28.489 --> 00:35:31.610 is what people feel because they go through the 00:35:31.610 --> 00:35:36.030 real stuff too, you know? So trying to force 00:35:36.030 --> 00:35:38.449 something to write, write something like, yeah, 00:35:38.530 --> 00:35:40.489 they'll really like that. Like, yeah, maybe some 00:35:40.489 --> 00:35:42.130 people will get off on it and be like, yeah, 00:35:42.130 --> 00:35:44.110 that's a cool song. But the people that really 00:35:44.110 --> 00:35:47.510 soak it in and connect with it and like it are, 00:35:47.650 --> 00:35:50.090 you know, they feel the same things that are 00:35:50.090 --> 00:35:51.630 written in it. So I'm trying to work on that 00:35:51.630 --> 00:35:53.730 and put more of myself in it without showing 00:35:53.730 --> 00:35:57.599 too much. Cedric. really helps with that because 00:35:57.599 --> 00:35:59.780 if you listen to Cedric Burnside's music, every 00:35:59.780 --> 00:36:01.659 one of his songs, none of them are forced. None 00:36:01.659 --> 00:36:03.280 of them are what he thinks people want to hear. 00:36:03.420 --> 00:36:05.480 Every one of them is so true and authentically 00:36:05.480 --> 00:36:09.599 him. And so many of his songs are from real experiences 00:36:09.599 --> 00:36:13.659 that he had. Like the song We Made It is all 00:36:13.659 --> 00:36:15.480 about like didn't have a toilet, didn't have 00:36:15.480 --> 00:36:17.860 a bathtub, walked three miles every day to have 00:36:17.860 --> 00:36:19.440 water in the house for another day. Like he really 00:36:19.440 --> 00:36:22.039 did carry buckets up and down the road with water 00:36:22.039 --> 00:36:25.000 to take to and from his house and like took baths 00:36:25.000 --> 00:36:28.000 in a wash pot. in his house, like in his yard 00:36:28.000 --> 00:36:30.260 and stuff. And he puts that in his songs because 00:36:30.260 --> 00:36:33.019 that is the real, that is the real Hill Country. 00:36:33.239 --> 00:36:34.980 Like he is Hill Country to the bone and that's 00:36:34.980 --> 00:36:36.719 the real stuff. And that's why people love his 00:36:36.719 --> 00:36:39.940 music because it's so real and they do connect 00:36:39.940 --> 00:36:41.840 to it. And it's not forced and it's not like 00:36:41.840 --> 00:36:44.139 what people want to hear. So I'm really trying 00:36:44.139 --> 00:36:46.400 to, you know, take notes from his playbook and 00:36:46.400 --> 00:36:49.199 write more like that. But it's so hard to open 00:36:49.199 --> 00:36:51.860 up. You know, it's a work in progress. Well, 00:36:51.860 --> 00:36:53.860 it sounds like you've been starting to recognize 00:36:53.860 --> 00:36:56.780 the benefits of doing that in your own songwriting. 00:36:56.900 --> 00:36:59.940 And I just really appreciate you opening up to 00:36:59.940 --> 00:37:03.719 all of us today, tonight. And we're excited to 00:37:03.719 --> 00:37:06.360 hear your music. Is there anything that you want 00:37:06.360 --> 00:37:09.840 to make sure people check out that you've got 00:37:09.840 --> 00:37:11.460 going on? I know you're on tour with Cedric right 00:37:11.460 --> 00:37:15.960 now. His record is still doing really well. What 00:37:15.960 --> 00:37:18.489 else you got going on? So yeah, playing with 00:37:18.489 --> 00:37:20.650 Cedric out and about. You can see all of his 00:37:20.650 --> 00:37:24.710 dates on his website. I do a lot of, like, tonight, 00:37:24.909 --> 00:37:29.489 playing solo, doing solo shows in between. So 00:37:29.489 --> 00:37:31.969 I've got a lot of shows with that coming up. 00:37:32.090 --> 00:37:35.489 And I've also got a buddy who's a drummer, and 00:37:35.489 --> 00:37:37.309 we've played in the past with the Harrell Brothers, 00:37:37.510 --> 00:37:39.889 but we're going to kick things up a little bit 00:37:39.889 --> 00:37:42.570 more from solo and have a band set and try to 00:37:42.570 --> 00:37:44.510 get out into clubs and stuff. So there will be... 00:37:44.809 --> 00:37:47.429 More of that coming down the pipeline. Some of 00:37:47.429 --> 00:37:50.150 those more energetic club shows. And, like, that 00:37:50.150 --> 00:37:52.750 should be a lot of fun. So those are kind of, 00:37:52.769 --> 00:37:55.929 like, my primaries for me personally. So, yeah, 00:37:55.969 --> 00:37:58.449 keep an eye out for that stuff. And to find that 00:37:58.449 --> 00:38:00.550 stuff, I'm on, you know, I'm on all the social 00:38:00.550 --> 00:38:03.130 medias and bands in town and stuff like that. 00:38:03.230 --> 00:38:05.789 But I have a link tree where, like, all of my 00:38:05.789 --> 00:38:07.650 links are found. So if you want to stream or 00:38:07.650 --> 00:38:09.289 if you want to look at dates or if you want to 00:38:09.289 --> 00:38:12.050 look at whatever is going on, I think it's linktree 00:38:12.050 --> 00:38:15.469 slash Cody Shade Harrell. And you can see all 00:38:15.469 --> 00:38:17.449 my dates and stuff there. I'll make sure there's 00:38:17.449 --> 00:38:19.650 links to all that in the description of the episode, 00:38:19.750 --> 00:38:21.909 too. Well, thanks a lot for being here, Cody. 00:38:22.170 --> 00:38:24.809 I'm excited to hear you play. Let's get this 00:38:24.809 --> 00:38:26.730 show on the road, y 'all. Let's give it up for 00:38:26.730 --> 00:38:29.150 Cody one more time, y 'all. Yeah, thank y 'all. 00:38:29.849 --> 00:38:32.190 And thank y 'all for being here for the first 00:38:32.190 --> 00:38:35.269 live taping of Overeducated and Underemployed. 00:38:35.510 --> 00:38:38.429 Well, that was the first episode that we taped 00:38:38.429 --> 00:38:41.929 live of Overeducated and Underemployed. I will 00:38:41.929 --> 00:38:47.130 have all the... available links to catch cody's 00:38:47.130 --> 00:38:49.869 music in the description as well as information 00:38:49.869 --> 00:38:52.010 about the north mississippi hill country picnic 00:38:52.010 --> 00:38:55.190 that if you're listening to this as it the week 00:38:55.190 --> 00:38:58.750 it came out is this weekend and happens every 00:38:58.750 --> 00:39:02.170 year check it out i hope you enjoyed this episode 00:39:02.170 --> 00:39:05.750 click that subscribe button and if you feel so 00:39:05.750 --> 00:39:08.409 inclined there's a donate button on most platforms 00:39:08.409 --> 00:39:11.809 and on our website It's what funds some of the 00:39:11.809 --> 00:39:15.650 expenses for these interviews and the travel 00:39:15.650 --> 00:39:17.650 that I do to make some of the interviews happen, 00:39:17.789 --> 00:39:20.389 especially Athens, Georgia. You've got some great 00:39:20.389 --> 00:39:24.570 episodes coming your way. I sat down with Valor 00:39:24.570 --> 00:39:28.409 Trucks, who actually taught Cody guitar at one 00:39:28.409 --> 00:39:32.090 point, Jonathan Spencer, Laura Slade Wiggins, 00:39:32.409 --> 00:39:37.369 Kane Stanley, Francis Thrasher, Jen Bryant, and 00:39:37.369 --> 00:39:41.360 Mike White. So... Some really cool stories coming 00:39:41.360 --> 00:39:44.480 your way. Click the subscribe button. Donate 00:39:44.480 --> 00:39:47.460 if you're in a position to. So I can keep these 00:39:47.460 --> 00:39:50.019 stories coming. Thank you so much for listening.