The Rich Redmond Show

Unknown: Mike coming to you from
crash studios in Music City,

USA, Nashville. This is the rich
Redmond show on

this episode, Legacy Nashville
drummer Lonnie

Wilson and now rich Redmond.

What is up everyone? Rich
Redmond here. This is the rich

Redmond show. As always, I'm
joined by my co host and CO

producer Jim McCarthy, how are
you pal? Yes, still so hot here

in Nashville, it is. I'm ready
for it to cool off, of course,

by the time this airs, it'll
probably be pretty frigid. It

might be because at night, nice
fall, feel we're way ahead on

our podcasts, which is great. I
feel like an overachiever. We've

actually got 23 of these in the
can, and we did that in six

weeks. Yes, see what happens
when you set your mind to

something. I never knew that,
and I never set my mind anything

you're highly accomplished. For
those you guys that don't know

Jim McCarthy, Jim McCarthy
voiceovers calm. He has worked

at a million radio stations. He
does station ID, imaging, call

waiting, what's like? Press one
for That's right. That's right.

Press one to speak to a real
person. I've done over 200

million appearances. Mike,

well, who is my guest? My guest
today is an award winning

musician. Mr. Lonnie Wilson, how
are you? My friend? It is just

wonderful to have you here.
Thank you so much at my studio.

And the idea if I had known this
24 years ago, when I moved to

Nashville, that that you and I
would become friends that hardly

ever see each other, because
we're always so busy swatting

the drums in different parts of
the town or different parts of

the country, that you would be
here and we'd be sharing some

bubbly water together. Cheers.
This is so fantastic. Your

success. Thank you just it's
awesome. I mean, you're killing

it well, that absolutely thank
you knocking down, man. Well, it

is, it is. It's such a fun story
because, like, one of the last

times I saw you was, you know,
backstage at the Academy Country

Music Awards in Vegas. And then
before that, I said, Lonnie, I

take acting classes, like, right
next door to your studio. I'm

coming over. We're gonna break
bread. We're gonna do something.

So you made a pot of coffee. We
drank that entire pot of coffee.

Oh yeah. And we just, you just
told me stories of the old days

about the music business, when
it was like the red the velvet

rope studio, 54 era of the music
business, which you experienced.

It was fun firsthand. So thank
God he was fun. It is fun.

Absolutely, you printed out some
of your accomplishments. This is

incredible. I guess you got

bored one day. It's pretty
crude. Bored, and said, let me

print out all my
accomplishments.

As a drummer. You have recorded
drums and percussion on 118

number one songs so and then,
addition to that 282

top 10 singles, 345, top 20
singles, and 446

top 40 singles, all adding up to
over 200 million units sold. So

your heart, your soul, your
groove, your musicianship, help

the careers of countless people
that have been recording and

writing songs in Nashville for
over three decades. Thank you.

Pretty cool. Thank you, man,
thanks. It's been awesome. And

in working with so many
different singers and artists

and being on the ground floor,
yeah, I mean, that's, I mean, I

mean, with you, with Aldean. I
mean, that's in that a great

feeling. It's wonderful

because, you know, you see lives
changed, and families and just

the ripple effect of it is
crazy. Yeah, I tell people all

the time, you know, my purpose
in life is to affect people in a

positive way and change lives.
So if I can, so that gets me out

of bed every day. The drums are
fun. Playing music is fun, but

it's also ultimately in line
with that purpose. I'm in line

with my purpose. And you are.
You are such a multi talent

because you you're a singer, you
are a songwriter, you are a

producer, and you've done all
those things at the highest

level in this Music City, USA,
you're like some of your

drumming. You know your drumming
helped define a sound of modern

country. Of course, our friend
Eddie bears, both of you guys

amazing. So sweet to me when I
moved to town and two, two

different styles. Of course,
obviously, what you would have

in common is servitude of the
song, staying out of the way,

painting the picture, bringing
the song to life, and you had

almost like this,

kick butt loose. Hi Hat, more
crashes, aggressive style that

brought the rock to country.
Now, who are some of your

influences as drummer, because
you're, I feel like you're a

rock drummer.

Sure. Man, that's very
insightful. I mean, you know,

you're a teacher. And

I mean, I grew up in the 70s.
Finished high school in the mid

70s, 76 so the music was so
good. Yeah, so many great

players. I mean, gosh, so many
good drummers. Chris McCarthy,

no doubt. Yeah. I mean, who, who
hasn't been influenced by Sure?

And then there was, like, local.
My dad is a great drummer.

You're from Monroe, Louisiana,
yes. And I grew up watching him

play, listening to him play,
from the time I was, well, like

a baby. That's incredible. So it
was in your blood. They my

parents had her top 40 cover
band for years, and

my uncle played in Monroe,
Louisiana. So, yeah, I was, I

was going to rehearsals from the
time I can remember. Yeah, so

that, so dad's number one, no
doubt. Bill Wilson. Shout out to

Wild Bill Wilson, right? Wild
Bill, where's he in Monroe? He's

in Monroe, Louisiana. You ever
get back? Oh yeah, yeah. Great

singers. Are Nancy Wilson's her
name, and they're 84 and 81

years old. Still Have your
parents. I love Yeah, and

they've been playing. I mean, up
until about three or four years

ago, they were playing
regularly. But they're proud of

you. God bless them. They're
amazing parents. Did they ever

tell you to get a real job?

Well, kind of

probably because they realized
how difficult it was. Well,

yeah, my dad was a chemist in a
hospital and played on the

weekends, so it was good role
model, and they encouraged me to

go to college, which I did, and
I majored in marketing, of all

things. But I played in a great
top 40 cover band based out of

Natchez, Mississippi, which we
played all that area,

Mississippi, Louisiana, parts of
Texas, parts of Arkansas, and we

played all that fun. I mean,
Commodores, Bee Gees, just that

era. If you don't move to that
stuff, you're dead. Yeah, yeah.

It's just and then, of course,
all the, you know, the 60s and

50s rock and stuff, which, if
you go to parties now, you still

what people want to hear. Did
you like no, yeah. Did you like

Motown? I love Motown because
they're there you have for the

drummer nerds out there. You
have a vocabulary idea they use

a lot the six stroke, roll, get
out, boom, which is like, you

know, which is the start of
this. No, you want to leave me.

I just hear that is a
vocabulary. Now check this out.

Why used to be in the predators
house band, and we would go and

we would, we'd get a hot meal,
we'd have a chance to be on

ESPN, and we make 100 bucks, and
it was like Jay al Dean's band.

And we would, we would go play
for the predators, and we would

back up chick singers. Emily
West was one of them, and we

would do this song. I stole this
right from you, and I put it

right into my back pocket. You.

Okay, that track, I have to tell
you about this track. So

I had the flu that day, yes, I
mean, I was, I was literally in

the drum booth, laying in a
fetal position. I hate that, and

and trying to tough out the
session, you know. And Dan Huff

comes and opens the door to the
booth and slams it because he

sees me on the floor, is
sweating, and then he cracks it

back up. He says, Hey, man,
we're ready to track this song,

man, I gotta. And I just, I just
got up and that came out, yes,

and I was in one take, yeah, oh,
yeah. Oh, thank God, yeah. It

had to be, thank God. Now
Lonnie, that Phil, others gonna

Don Corleone.

It

was a desperate feel. It was
like, I've got to get this, you

know, desperate feel it was, it
was like, I've got to nail this,

because I got one take in me and
and I did, I love that you went

to the session, you know, that
you didn't send a sub. You just

like, I got this. I'm gonna go
do this well, man, you know,

you hate to cancel on people,
and Martina was so gracious and

loyal for years to me, and I'll
always be thankful for her for

that. Well, that's how you got
on my radar. Was a lot of those

Martina McBride records. But you
know, a lot of times when I

teach my crash concept for
success, one, you know, one of

the parts of the acronyms is
relationships. And you seems

like you have this career
defining track record with all

these people that you have made
music with, not on just one

single or one album, but all
their albums. So Brooks and Dunn

Tim McGraw, John and Michael
Montgomery, Tracy Lawrence,

faith, Hill, Martina McBride,
year.

After year, album after album,
hit after hit, they kept

inviting you back to the party,
yeah? And they eventually change

up, and that's cool. I mean,
that's part of the evolution,

yeah, and, but, but you're
right. I had many artists that

were incredibly loyal for a long
time. And of course, it's

reciprocal, yeah, you know, I'm
gonna bring it for those people.

We, we bring it for everybody,
right? I mean, that's, that's

our nature. We're it's such a
competitive business, and

there's so many great players.
You have to show up and be on

every time. Once you crack the
door and get in, you want to

stay in the party. You don't
want to get kicked out or be

like, No, this guy isn't very
funny. More fun. Let's get a

more funner guy. That's true,
right? You once you want to stay

there, you want to stay
relevant. You want to, you know,

once you taste the the blood of
the guys from drum paradise

coming up and setting up your
drums, and you go get a hot cup

of coffee and drink your water,
and you can catch up with

everybody in this session. Drum
paradise, yes, yes, yes. We

actually Harry and John Michael,
Harry and John Michael. We had

Harry on. Yeah? That was a great
the great episode. The man,

yeah, go check it out. You don't
have to go back to schlepping

your own drums. You don't want
to have to do that. Do, yeah, I

still do the

rich Redmond show. We'll be
right back.

Learn by Doing, I definitely
think resonates with what we're

about here at the School of
Rock.

I'm Angie McCarthy and I'm the
owner of the School of Rock in

Franklin and Nashville. I would
say that the majority of kids

that come in have either been
sitting in their bedrooms

watching YouTube, learning how
to play, or they've taken music

lessons at some point in their
life. We do have a lot of

beginners. It doesn't matter
what level you're at, you can

participate in our programs,
whether you're a beginner or

you're advanced. We don't teach
music to put on shows. We put on

shows to teach music. Connect
with School of Rock today.

Search School of Rock Franklin
or Nashville.

This is the rich Redmond show

we have the aging brain.

What was the guy saying last
night? You're old. What was his

name? Vance, right? What was
that Jim, he was talking about,

we were at the party last night,
and he was talking about how,

because he's been playing bass.
Oh, that's Vale Johnson. Vale,

bass player for Kenny G, Kenny G
for 30 years. And you know you

were talking about your cataract
in your eye. And he's like, you

know why that is rich, you're
old.

I mean, what did you think that
when, when I moved to Nashville

at 26 years old, I was this
young buck, I had a fire in my

eye, reached out to you and what
I would have a cataract? No, I

gotta get it lasered off. Man,
it happens. It looks like I'm

looking through milk. It went
from a fire in your eye to a

cloud in your That's horrible.

So yeah, the petty junkies is
one of the funnest bands. And

Mark hills, our band leader, and
we were doing a session a couple

of years ago, and he were
talking about petty and he

brought up doing a cover band,
and I sort of filed it away, and

I called him up one day, and
he's, I said, Hey, are you

serious about that? So anyway,
great band. Lot of fun. That

stuff, so much fun. It's fun to
get out and play live. And I

know that for you were telling
me for around 30 years, you just

went to the session every day.
Drum set up, air conditioning,

make magic for that artist. And
then in recent years, you

started doing a Vegas residency
with Reba and Brooks and Dunn,

and now you're playing for Mr.
George straight, King George

man, yeah, 60 number one songs.
Oh, god, yeah, it's amazing. I

mean, you can't play 60 songs in
a show. There's no way. There's

no way do all this hits, yeah,
but it's, it's a, it's a joy

working a great band, those
guys, they've been with him for

years.

And so Mike Kennedy, God, rest
his soul. Tragic. Was with with

George, a phenomenal drummer for
30 years, yes, and

about a year ago, lost his life
in a car accident. And I never

knew Mike. You probably, you
probably knew Mike. I met him

when I came to town right away,
because there was a jam session

down at this nightclub that is
now the Sixth Avenue Shoe

Warehouse on the roundabout, you
know, yes, and right there that

was a nightclub. And so Jim or
me, Jim Riley and Patrick Pat

McDonald and all these new guys
that had moved to Nashville

would go and do jam sessions
there. And Mike was the house

drummer. Oh yeah, yeah. Great
player, yeah. And so I got the

call Glen Whorf, bass player,
well known studio bass player,

yes, he's out with Mark Knopfler
right now. Okay, great. And he

called me up and and said, Hey,
man, you know.

This. This might be a good fit
for you. It's going to be tough,

you know, going into that
situation, but

if you, if you want to do it, I
think you have talked to George,

and so he sort of laid the
groundwork, and it's nice. So

it's worked out great. Yeah, I'm
enjoying it. Do you guys keep

the same set list for the entire
year? He changes it all the

time.

He changes it from gig. Big
George changes up the show quite

regularly. Keeps me on my toes.
A little, little chart book up

there, or, like, what do you
have it on? My little, little

stick man charts, you know, with
the drum talk on it, I do the

same thing. Nobody else could
read, yeah. Drum talk, yeah. So

it just and then you have it
alphabetized, and so you could

pull things up on the fly. Or,
No, I'm not that organized.

Well, if he gives you the set
list, you know, the day of, or

do you guys sound check? We do,
and we usually get a set list

three, four days ahead of time.
No, okay, so it's not bad.

That's really cool, yeah,
because we kind of usually, at

the beginning of the year, we
rehearse for about two a week or

two, and miss, set it and forget
it. And the only thing that

happens is, as a new single
comes out, we'll run that at a

sound check and stick that in
the show, right? And, and Aldean

just likes to have a nice,
tight, 8990 minute show leave

and wanting more. You know, yes,
it's crazy. Oh, you guys are

great, man. I love I am so
grateful, you guys. I am so

grateful because, you know, one
of the things that brought me to

Nashville, and I forget the
story super specifically, but in

addition to, like, playing
around Dallas, you know, I had

graduated with my master's
degree from North Texas, and I

had moved into Dallas, and I was
playing smooth jazz and big band

music and top 40 stuff in Super
churches, and I would teach drum

lessons. And I taught this kid
that was good friends of yours

that knew your brother, yes, yes
in Dallas, right, right, yeah.

And then he goes, Well, I know
Lonnie Wilson. I said, Who's

that? And he goes, what? How
dare you? You don't know, where

is your head under a rock and so
then I look up your discography.

I was like, Oh my God, this guy
is making the sound of modern,

modern music in Nashville. He
goes, you want to meet him? Give

him a call. And I called you,
yes, and you answered the phone,

and you said, Hey kid, it's
almost like you had a cigar.

We'll see you when you come to
Nashville and you and Eddie

listen to my demo tape, and you
were like, it's okay, man,

you'll do okay. You might have
to work some day jobs for a

while, which I did well, but, I
mean, I remember your package

being very impressive. Oh, man.
I mean, I put it on like, wow,

this guy's I always like when
girls tell me my package is

impressive. I knew that.

Yes, thank you. Sorry,

but, but then I ran with it, you
know, and then it's so crazy. I

was probably,

I was probably, you were
probably around my age right

when I moved here. I'm, well,
maybe younger. I'm 49 see, when

you would have been younger. I
moved here 23 years ago. So

maybe you were, maybe you were

60 now, okay, yeah, you were 40
years old killing it, or you

were like 3030, or something
like that, yeah, oh, my god,

yeah, yeah, you know what? I
can't remember anything. I can't

remember my band members. I
can't

but you know what, look at this.
I put a little just so people

can get a sense, and I'll just
take play little snippets of

this. But it's like this, Brook
since I got a chance to play a

television show with Brooks and
Dunn and these iconic voices, I

mean, looks to this.

And fire in your church and the
flame in your

eyes, I'm born. That's gorgeous.
And then you got,

yes, that's you

okay now, but this is how you
got on my radar, right here.

Martina, the beginning of the
Sean Hannity show.

Now is

now,

feta, yeah, hey baby, let's

go to Vegas.

I really like this one.

Yeah,

such good songs. I mean, this
define an era. Mr. Cries out

now, Jason is such a huge fan of
Tracy Lawrence. We do an

acoustic show before the like
the VIPs come to and we play an

acoustic version of time. Let's
go like a Jim Bay. And then, as

a songwriter, I believe if wiki
is correct, you wrote this.

You wrote this.

Has co wrote

it, my clothes thrown

everywhere. I think it's Paul
Ryan. What about this? You wrote

this now, Holly Dunn, lot of
records. Holly Dunn, like a

decade and a half of being a
recording artist.

Go

that's beautiful. And then I saw
I did the Earl Thomas thing

yesterday, we did the Earl we
did like an Earl Thomas

Connelly, benefits, slash
tribute, slash funeral. Event

yesterday at the Country Music
Hall of Fame, and I got this, I

saw Joe Diffie. And then how
about,

is this you? Or is

this Paul? Yeah, check sugar
tree now. Now, Pam, tell us that

was my first job in Nashville,
right? So I got to play, forget

that track. It was, it was the
last song on a demo session in

tree at the old tree studio,
Sony tree for Chapin Hartford.

She wrote it, and it was just
this wacky little song, and she

threw it, she said, I don't
know. And Blair, Larry Paxton

was on it, yeah, I don't
remember who else was. I

remember Larry, and we just cut
it was like, one take, just like

running out of time, yeah. And
next thing I know,

Pam was cutting right? And then
I get word that they took the

demo and used it as the record.
So that's that's actually a

house kit at tree studio.

Last song or a demo session,
just kind of everybody just

winging it. Well, a lot of great
drum parts and musical parts

happen in those last minute
slots as demo sessions where

you're not overthinking things.
Oh, bingo, right. And then

sometimes the guys that are
playing on the masters have a

hard time beating the demo
because the general guys were

under the clock, absolutely
right? Yes, yes. I've seen that

happen a lot of times. Yeah. Now
that demo industry that we that

we thrived on for years, I mean,
I had like, a, maybe, like a

eight year window where I was
sometimes doing two demo

sessions a day with two
different drum sets set up in

different parts of Nashville.
Was, like, awesome. It's not

happening anymore, because all
the kids are using virtual

instruments and loops and
trigger pads and all that kind

of stuff. It's a treat for them
to book a rhythm section like it

used to be, yeah, but
occasionally you'd probably

doing some my son's a songwriter
in Dallas, Dallas, and he's

there's a group of them that'll
they'll book they'll book

sections and but it was it,
typically it might be one or two

songs, because you're right most
of the time they're building

tracks. Yeah, and a lot of our
tracks sound great, but it's

nothing like real players. Man,
yeah, you know. And I've been to

your you've got, like, a nice
commercial studio. I love my

place. Your drums are all set up
again. Nice Pro Tools, Rick,

great microphones. You got
isolation, cozy and fun. Nice

coffee. Gotta have a coffee.
Yes, nothing special, but yeah.

So what's that process for you?
Like for somebody who's doing

four different things, you know
what? You started out as always

playing drums, but you were the
lead singer of a group called

bandana from 1981 to 1986 right?
I was, and that was awesome to

to have that situation come up
and have a record deal, and

because I was torn

on being a singer when I moved
here, but I had a lot of

encouragement to do that, yeah,
and accidentally wound up with a

record deal so long, too long a
story to tell you, but it worked

out, and it was a great way to
meet tons of people, writers,

producers that I would have
never met that quickly had I not

been a singer, because I had
great songwriters pitching me

songs, so I got to know them.
You're front man, so you're

going to attract the people that
are like, oh, right, this way,

Mr. Wilson.

But it was, it was we had enough
success to where I really got to

feel like what it would be like
to go to that next level. And

for me, it was like, Man, I miss
playing drums. I just, and I

think, you know, I was looking
at session players, and you

know, we'd be tracking that
certain studios, you know,

soundstage being one of them,
you know, Eddie bears and Larry

London and those guys, you know,
having a ball down the hall,

tracking and like, man, that's,
I kind of want to do that,

right? It's so it just kind of
eventually worked out. What

happened

I was, I mean, your music isn't
on Spotify bandana. Like, how

can people find that? Is it
vinyl somewhere? Like.

It's, yeah, I don't know. I
don't know where it is. You

don't want in the bargain bins
at Walmart, because that was

like 81 to 86 and you guys had
10 singles on the hot country

charts. Yeah, that's pretty
cool. Yeah, yeah. We, we had

enough. We had we never cracked
the top 10, but we'd like to

1317,

you know, right in that era of
where we could, we could open

shows for bigger acts like
Millsap and experience that

whole thing. So it served its
purpose. Who was in your band?

Who was your drummer? Jerry Ray
Johnston, okay, great drummer.

He's from my hometown, yeah.
Great singer. His son is Jaren

Johnston, you know Jerry,
songwriter, yeah, and singer in

front man with Cadillac three,
oh, yes, yes, great. And he

produced some rock band, yes,
yeah. And I think he's doing

some country acts too. Now, it's
great, but yes, see, we had a

Tim Menzies, phenomenal singer
songwriter, Joe Van Dyke on

keyboards, Jerry Ray on drums,
and Jerry Fox played bass. Wow.

And are you in touch with all
these guys till this day? Keep

in touch with them pretty well.
But you were the guy that went

to like, mega success. Well, you
know, all the guys went on to do

good things. I mean, Joe Van
Dyke played keyboards for Randy

Travis for years, and understand
he's moved back to town. He

moved away for a while,

and and every guy has gone on to
play and do other things music

related.

I see who? Oh, Tim, phenomenal.
Tim Menzies, one of the best

country singers I've ever heard
in my life. I'm just amazing

tone, great, great songwriter
has written quite a few hit

songs.

Check him out sometimes. Sure
he's, he's doing gospel now,

wow, yeah, I've done it's so
funny. Nashville is like, a

steady diet of, like, obviously,
it's the home of country music.

All of contemporary Christian
music is produced here, and

there's southern gospel. It's
funny how there's these little,

like, cliques of people. And
it's like, I always joke about,

like, well, where all the
contemporary can Christian

folks? Because I never run into
them. You never, like, see them

at a watering hole. And, you
know, at the red door, I don't

know if they get out, you know,
I don't know if they get out. I

don't know if you find the
Christian folk at the red, yeah.

Why not? You know, Jesus drank
wine. It was his first recorded

miracle. What's that? Turning
water into wine? Yeah, wedding,

a Cana. I'm looking through, and
I literally, if you watch the

video of the show, I had a
spent, I think the last like, 15

minutes, thumbing through the

never a list of stuff that
you've played on, and it just

keeps on going. It's like, I'm
like page after what comes to

mind memory wise. Because
really, if you look at an era,

these are the sounds that define
that era. So Brooks and Dunn

brand new man. Tim McGraw,
Indian outlaw John. Michael

Montgomery, I swear. Tracy
Lawrence, time marches on Faith

Hill. This kiss that
Independence Day, huge. Martina,

and you were the ACM drummer of
the year in 2002 and 2004

amazing. Thank you. So what is
that? What is for somebody that

does wears four hats like I know
that you'll produce records,

you'll go in and you'll co
writes songs with people. You're

doing the session drumming
thing. What is a typical day

that you're not booked on a
recording session playing for

somebody else to make their
dreams come true? Is that the

days that you decide to write,
do you have hobbies? What? What

is, yeah, I love the lake. Yeah,

golf a little bit. Okay, he
listens to the radio and goes,

That's me,

that's me,

and that's me.

That's cool. No, it's, it's.
What else do I do?

I'm a homebody. Yeah, big time
homebody. But you know what? I

love my kids love I'm having a
ball with with them, you know.

And my son, Dallas is doing
well, has a publishing deal and

has a very successful
videography company. They do

weddings, two weddings. And my
daughter's working full time

with him. She's doing all the
editing, doing phenomenal job.

Family business, yeah,

singer, too. They probably need
some voiceovers. Oh yes, yeah,

yeah. Connected Jim mccarthy.com

where someone's getting married,

yeah, man, this day is the last
day of your single life. All

right, Dallas, okay, I can bring
it. I'll bring the thunder.

Bring it thunder. But my
daughter's a great little

singer. I use her own background
vocals all the time, and so we,

you know, music's always
running. Yeah,

I'm looking at all the Tim
McGraw

cuts here, and I'm thinking of
all the songs that I've played

on the drums that unbeknownst to
me, I know, you know, you.

Were the one who, you're the one
who forged the fabric.

Yeah, I was there, and, you
know, all the songs, like even

the rascal flat stuff, harkens
back to when my wife and I

couldn't agree on music, until
we went on vacation to Florida,

Tampa, and we started listening
to country music, because moving

to Nashville, at the time,
became a prospect for us. And we

were coming from Las Vegas. I
was going to be working for mix

92 nine and Jack FM here before
Jack FM kicked off. And so in oh

five, we went on vacation to
Tampa, and because it's

Nashville, we started listening
to country station down there.

And all the hits at the time
were like, bless the broken

Road, fast cars and freedom. A
lot of that kind of stuff was

out, you know, obviously having
no idea that it's the same guy

playing on all these things. So
I thank you for that. We

actually have Music Week at a
ground. I love rascal flats,

man. Those those records are so
much fun. Yeah? I mean, really

dynamic. Yeah. Those guys very
talented. So if somebody is

producing a record in this town,

you were in the room on some of
that stuff. So we're talking,

who are these producers for
those eras? Dan Huff who else?

Don cook. Don cook? Scott
Hendrix, yeah. James Stroud,

Mark. Bright Mark Wright, yeah.
Gosh, we had so much fun. Oh, my

God. I love the Brooks and Dunn
stuff, and then so much and then

little, you know, our buddy Trey
gray goes out there. Trey ball

of fun, yes, man, you know, he's
killing it, you know. And he was

one of the first live drummers
in Nashville that really brought

that youth oriented rock energy.
It wasn't really happening in

live band. Yes, yes. And you
know, then he's playing with

Aaron tip, and he's playing with
Faith Hill. Is like, Who is that

guy? He's having a ball back
there. And it really kind of

changed things. Yes, absolutely.
Well, you asked me earlier about

other influences.

Gosh, man, look, of course,
Larry London. I mean, when, when

I got here in 1980 Yeah, I was
21 I was just like, listening to

country radio and trying to,
trying to learn how to play the

current songs. And because I was
really, I was a rocker, you

said, I mean, I was grew up on
funk and rock and roll and

Louisiana and soul music and
country stuff I played would be

more like Merle Hackard Mama
Tried you like stuff we do as a

cover band, you'd have to do
some country, but it was

primarily rock and soul, right?
So when I moved here, I really

had to dig deep and listen to
country drummers like that

could, because it's an art
that's amazing to hear that. You

say that because I did this. I
went out and I bought Merle

Haggard's Greatest Hits, and,
you know, all the stuff, yes.

And I went down to this place
that's no longer there. It's

called two beat two boots pizza
now, but it used to be called

The Great Escape, and they had
used cassettes, yes. And I went

and bought Tammy wine. It's
Greatest Hits and everyone's

Greatest Hits. And I kind of
studied that buddy Harmon stick

and brush things. I was like, if
I ever end up playing the Grand

Ole Opry, I wouldn't be able to
speak this language, you know,

no. So when I got the job with
Tillis and Pam and I got to back

up, you know, Vince Gill and
stuff, was like, I could speak

that language, and we could
break the rules. And you broke

the rules. You're like, All
right, we're gonna use a piccolo

snare drum. Yeah, I'm gonna have
20 inch crashes, big block to

block. The fills, big six stroke
rules, huge gated second, no

double bass riffs,

right? That'd be this guy.

Before I came to town, I saw,
you know, hick town on video,

and I was like, opposite of you
guys, like coming into being

humble and learning the
language. I was all like, Oh, I

could totally do this, yeah, and
that's why I wanted the radio.

Yes, you know. But Jim is a, he
is a hobbyist drummer. I say

he's actually a wonderful feel.
He actually, we shot a video of

him playing the song kick down
from memory. He did a great job.

Yeah, I'm sure you did. You
know, if I say, okay, great. Do

you want to vote devote 20 years
of your life to go out and

riding a tour bus and bringing
that to life every night? He

goes, No, no, no, yes. Was that
different for you going out from

being a session drummer for 30
years and then going out with

Now George Strait

living out of a suitcase? Well,
that the the

first gig I took was Reba and
Brooks and Dunn in two in 2016

Yeah. And

literally, what happened I was,
I was barbecue joint, next sound

Emporium,

the one, yeah, yeah, I'm eating
barbecue. And I heard old Brooks

and Dunn record. And I'm like,
oh man. I texted Roddy. I said,

Man, I just heard one of the
records. It's so cool. Just wow.

Where's time going? And he
called me, yeah, and he said,

Man, I can't believe

you called, because I was with
Reba last night and we were

talking about.

Uh,

we need a drummer. And in your
name, came up and thought, you

might want to go to Vegas. And
that's not, I thought, sure. Why

not? Man, why not? Let's do it.
I mean, that is the way the

universe works. Yes, that law of
attraction, where you think

about someone and the next thing
you know that you got a text. It

was pretty wild, yeah. And of
course, you know, it was

perfect, and it was, it was
like, riding a bike. It's like,

oh man, okay, this is fun. Let's
get back out here. Do it? Was

there anything that you really
wanted to do that you haven't

done?

Like, you know? Yeah, a lot, a
lot of guys that want to be you

wanted to aspire to be you. But
I mean, sometimes that are you

guys that are you like, did you
ever just want to be a welder?

I would be terrible anything
with my hands so bad,

Rich. Just gave me the look of
like, Why? Why do I have you on

this show? I picked this up and
I was gonna, I was like,

tightening up this thing, right?
And Jim looked at me like, I

always wanted to ask somebody
like Keith Urban, you know, and

somebody of, like, you know, a
list status, yeah, like, Dude,

you ever just want to be the guy
that just gets to do his his

thing at night and stocking the
shelves at Home Depot? You know,

it's just anonymous, wow. You

ever want to not, you know, not
be recognized? I can tell you

this. I wish Uber would have
been around when I moved to

town. Yeah, I think about that
every time I could you be an

Uber driver? I would, man, yeah,
that's a great way, a great

little funny video series. You
were starving, bro. Oh yeah, I

was a kid because, you know, I
parked cars. I didn't know

anybody. I was like, I waited
tables, yeah, and I was a

substitute teacher. And I felt
so bad at myself. I said to

myself, Oh, my God, I worked on
my craft so much, and now I was

a big fish in Dallas, and now I
move here, and I got to start

all the way at the bottom,

like you humble, yeah? And I've
never forgotten that feeling,

man, I don't know about you, but
for me, it's like, Man,

I never I'm sorry. Man, it's
cocky is not allowed in our

business. Yeah, there's too much
talent. That's why I didn't make

it. You know, no, it's not that.
It's to know that someone as

successful as you had to kick
and claw, and it didn't land in

your lap. And most successful
people don't make it through

that nice separatism.

I couldn't read music, man. I
just never got into it. You

don't do a lot of that. I just
had a funny video idea, like,

having, like, would you, would
you drive for Uber? I mean, is

that kind of something that you
would do back then? No doubt.

Yeah, of course, right. That's a
perfect gift. But the funny

thing is, what if he didn't you,
like, had, like, you know, maybe

your son sets up, you know,
incognito cameras, and you just

have nothing but country radio
on and, like, for everybody that

gets on the in the car, that's
me, Hey, do

you like country music? Yeah,
you ever heard of my team

McCarthy played on this? You
hear the song, that's me, but

you pick them up in something
like a gremlin from the 70s. Oh

yeah. It's got, like, rust. It's
got rust. It's all that's

kind of what I had.

That's a great little viral
video. It is the new barista

waiting tables. I tell
everybody, try for try for Uber,

because you're going to learn
the city, and you're going to

set your own hours. It's pretty
good money, and you're going to

meet people. And people are the
key to anything. Yes, you know.

I mean, who knows if I hadn't
had you and Eddie give me that

little letter of recommendation
and listen to my tape and pump

me up and tell a few people
about me. You recommended me.

You got me a job

with a girl named Amy Dally.
That was my first Amy, she's so

good. She got you. She was
signed to curb records. Who's

about to be signed a curb
records. Now, Amy is married to

our guitar player, Jack
Sizemore. They've been married

for like, a decade. You're
kidding, and that crazy. Okay,

so I can refresh my memory,
because I remember getting your

package, okay? And I remember
being very impressed. Oh,

thanks. And then we talked,
right? Did you call me? Think I

called you? And you're like,
yeah, man, come to town. You

know, this is how it works. I
recommend you to Amy, because I

can't remember, yeah, and then
I, and then I, then I reached

out to I was like, Hey, there's
this girl named Mila Mason Dark

Horse. She just re recorded the
Amanda Marshall hit called Dark

Horse, and she's looking for a
drummer. Can you get me? I don't

know what happened. It never
happened. But guess what? Years

later, I ended up meeting Mila
Mason, because I got a

publishing deal writing songs
for magic Mustang publishing for

five years. But the very first
writing session I ever booked

was through Myla Mason, because
she became a publisher, and she

connected me with one of her
right and I did a right for one

of her artists. And so, like all
these years later, I was able

to, like, give her a hug. It was
like crazy, but that was a you

thing. And then Eddie got me
something, like you got me my

first job. Wow, that's so cool.
And that's the thing that I'm

noticing about both of you guys.
And I wrote this down early in

the show,

you guys are so, you know, based
on the stories that you've been

telling, so warm and
accommodating, you know is that

something you always practiced
in.

With

anybody who came to town.

But just just as far as is
dialog and hanging with you mean

helping people, yeah, yeah, man,
I think, you know, I think

musicians and writers are the
are the

lifeblood of this town, of
course. I mean and real estate.

Most giving and most humble
people are the musicians and the

writers, because I truly believe
that and and we're just, we help

each other.

We're we're friendly
competition, but we still help

each other. We look out for each
other, and I think it's a big

part of what makes our town
really cool. You see that in the

voiceover business, too? Yeah, a
lot of people just help each

other out. It's not so
backstabbing, like acting and

stuff like that. You know? It's
they just write. They're just

it's a good community because
they're not based on their

looks. They're based on their
their vocal performances, yeah,

and they understand what parts
will be good for somebody else,

maybe not necessarily them, and
they'll champion somebody else.

Well, you know, with this being
the songwriting capital of the

world, you know, the the the
writers, without the writers,

the musicians have no jobs. Oh,
yeah, you know, it's like, we're

hired to bring those things to
life. That's right. So for

someone like you, you're you're
a muse, you're a song writers,

drummer, you recognize the power
of the song and the storytelling

and staying out of the way and
knowing what's going to work on

the radio when you're actually
writing songs. What's your

process? Do you write in guitar,
keyboards? You've melodies,

lyric. I'm like more. I'm like,
a lyric guy, big picture guy,

it's all of the above, yeah,
depending on what you got, yeah,

sometimes it's a track, yeah,
sometimes it's a title, yeah,

and, but usually I mean,

I love it when somebody has a
great idea. So a title or an

idea that just lends itself to
writing itself. You know, just I

remember I had a co wrote a song
with Ronnie Dunn and Kim

Williams, who was we lost him a
few years ago, amazing writer.

And so I will give away the
title, because here's, here's

how we found the title. We've
started writing a drinking song

with Ronnie, always works a
couple days, you know, prior,

and I was kind of questioning
even writing a drinking song at

the time, you know, for the
radio at that time, so like, mid

90s, and because she should
never question a drinking song,

because she music. But I was
that night on the phone with

Kim. And Kim's reply to me was,
yeah, but you know what, man,

that's that's the honky tonk
truth. And when he said, write

that down, he said, Kim said,
Honky Tonk truth. That's a great

title, and that's a great title.
And then Kim goes, ooh, you know

what the honky tonk truth is?
It's a lie.

It's a crazy town full of neon
dreams. Should we crank a little

bit of Honky Tonk? Oh, yeah,
man, that was a good one. That

was fun. I

I'm

the life of the party, baby.
Since you said goodbye,

just ask Oh Joe, he knows I'm
here every night, I said, don't

tell a piccolo you

every

night,

so much I put my

right hand

are. You can go into any Honky
Tonk in the world

change,

and then if they slow it down
and people want to get cozy,

real cross stick or a sample.
That was a sample actually good

call, yeah. That was back when
we were still using

samples, yeah. And it was a
little error that we we all did

that, yeah? Well, I remember
with with Pam, I had a trigger

bed, and I would have a nice
from the Elise's nice sample,

super clean. That way the front
of house guy could affect the

way he wanted, keep the snare
drum the way he wanted. And I

said, You know what? If I'm
going to do this, I'm going to

make a show out of it. So I put
that pad.

I.

Of course, you are

really, really high, you know,
I'm gonna do that with straight,

yeah, I need to do that. You
need to hanging bass drums

behind you where it says,
advertise here,

slaughter. You know, in light of
the angel right before we

started

touring with Aldean the,
basically the Aldean band,

backed up a girl named Amber
Dotson, and they were, they were

trying to make her the next
Leanne Womack. And we did the

straight tour, and we got to do
four songs in front of straight

for months. And it was so cool.
And I got to play on Mike

Kennedy's drums and and just a
really, really fun time. It was,

also was Amber Dawson, Dirks and
George Trey. This was 2000

Wow, yeah, man, I bet that was
fun. Lot of fun. Can I tell you

my kicks Brooks story? Yeah. So
we went to a Vandy game one

time, long time ago, and he was
walking around the perimeter. I

recognized him when I walked up
to him. And, you know, I'm an

idiot, so I'll tap him on the
shoulder and say hello, and he,

you know, he turns around and he
kind of looks at me

like, I love your wine. He's
like, Thanks. It was, like, so

refreshing to it, man, yeah,
have you been out there? I

haven't been out there. You
gotta go. It's all right, buddy,

my friend Mike, goes out there
all the time, does meetings out

there. Yeah, amazing. Let's go.
Let's we'll get an Uber out

there, perfect. And can we call
him right now, make him a

sponsor of the show? I think we
need to. Yeah, I got his number.

We'll call him. Yeah, we can
actually do it for the board, if

you want to do that. I don't
think so.

You know, my experience like,
like, backing up celebrities.

You know, it's like, I got to
back up Keith Urban on

television show. I got to back
up Brooks and down on a

television show. And you see all
these people backstage year

after year. And you know, after
being here for 20 years, they'll

give you the, you know, Reba
will always like, or, how are

you nice to see you? Or like, I
don't think she they know my

name. It's like, it's nice to be
in the same building with these

celebrities, and they give you a
head nod. Like, year after year,

this guy keeps showing up, so he
must be someone. But you never

got gurmy with people. I know
that. You know the limit. I'm

not that person. I'm not gonna
be like, nah. You're not gonna

go up and tell them about your
latest business venture in

Haiti. You know, I love this
guy's passion, man, yeah, I

just, I just get the biggest
kick out of you. Man, it's so

cool. Ronnie, what do you want
to find out about rich

interview? Rich? I know a lot
about rich interview. Rich.

Hey, rich has got it going on.
I'll tell you what. I tell you

what? There's no secrets. I
share everything.

You know when I, when I meet
people that are like, hey, my

I'm, you know, I'm a private
person. I don't and I don't do

social media. I'm like, that's
amazing. I want to be you. That

would be so great. You just find
it exhausting sometimes. Well,

just keeping social media
happening, keeping all the balls

in the air, and doing all the
different things that I do,

yeah, it does get a little time.
Does get a little time. You

cover a lot of ground, bro,
yeah. Now you when I went to go

drink that entire pot of coffee
with you, and when we were

hanging out, we were checking
out your Tama drums, all miked

up and everything you said, you
might get into doing some

teaching. I have done that.
Yeah, I've got, I've got my

camera, yeah, above it, I'm
getting there. Yeah, I'm kind of

slow. You mean, like doing Skype
lessons and stuff like that,

yeah, but I'm gonna count on you
when I just can't imagine

something. I'm calling this guy
right here when I'm ready to

Skype lesson. This is the guy I
just can't imagine some kids

sitting in their bedroom in
Fargo, North Dakota with a drum

set, looking at it and going, oh
my god, I can get on Skype. I

can connect with a guy that's
played on 118 number one songs.

I could pick his brain. I can
ask him about what piccolo snare

drum he used on, Hey, baby,
we're going to Vegas. Crazy. No,

I love that, you know, I just
got to do it. That's the world

we're living in. And it's funny
that you're, you're, you're

endorsing tama, which is like,
you know, the heavy metal you're

with a Yamaha drums for a long
time. And I remember having,

when I moved to Nashville with
that same drum set. It was a

Yamaha maple custom with the
gold lugs. Yes, I had the smokey

black one with the gold looks.
You had a green emerald green is

nice. Yes, still have it I do.
Yeah, absolutely. And then what?

And what happened with Tama was
that Aaron vishrio, or one of

the guys that asked you, it was
that at a Nam show, or, Yes, it

was Aaron and yes, it drum
paradise guys got me hooked up

with that, Harry and John, yeah,
John, Michael, so they took care

of me.

Oh, man, they're my guys. Now,
have you been able to get a Tama

vintage Bell brass out of them?
Not yet, yeah,

$5,000

I'd have to pay a little bit for
that one. Yeah, the bubinga, is

that? What it is? The bubinga, I
don't have a bubinga, maple,

maple, yeah, I was used to
Maple, so I didn't want to

change too much.

Yeah, did you do you mingle with
some of the other town artists

on occasion? Yeah, I was just
down visiting the guys at forks

drum closet. They were here a
couple of weeks ago. Was down,

great guys, and

so there weren't many other
drummers that particular day.

They were there for three or
four days. So it was great

hanging. I love the new drum
shop too. Yeah, Steve Maxwell,

acquired it from hair Gary, and
we just had Gary on the show. So

we had Harry and Gary on the
cons, and Franz, yeah, it was

like Sean paddock is the drummer
for he plays. And then our buddy

Jeff Marino with

one of my hoodie, who's Hootie?
One of my favorite all time?

Tama Hootie in the blowfish, no,
Harry's Rucker, sugar,

favorite all time. Tama artists
has been Charlie Benante, yeah,

from anthrax. Loved his play.
Did you great? Oh, he's a great

player, you know, yes, not crazy
about that music, but you know,

it's colorful music, you know,
and he writes a lot of it.

You're colorful.

I'm wearing all black. I'm
wearing from my unstylish jMv,

ocean. Now, we just had us, we
just had a stylist, a custom

tailor. I don't know if you know
McGill. He runs only one

tailoring down on Wedgwood and
eighth. And

very stylish man sitting next to
these two. He's very stylish,

stylish. And I come in looking
like, you know, Mr. Dad Bod over

here, with my collared shirt and
my jeans and, you know,

whatever, right? You know, I
mean, it's, you're more stylish

than I am. I mean, my codico
shirt on this, you know, at the

end of that show, I felt like I
had to crawl into my ashtray.

Are you tequila guy? George
Drake gave us these shirts

because he is part our owner in
this company. Oh, really, yeah,

all these celebrities are buying
up vodka companies and tequila

companies and wine you need to
start your own cigar company.

Rich. That'd be great. You know,
I don't know if you're a cigar

guy. The red moon, not

it's not a good habit you want
to pick up, but think of the red

moon. It'd be great. And it's
like a drumstick. I don't know,

but

I'm gonna, I'm gonna make that's
a, that's a great idea.

I have a lot of great ideas.
Couple other names. James

Stroud, James Brown, James
Stroud, great drummer. Played on

rock and roll, right? Didn't he
think he did? Yeah, and he also

played on, remember Eddie
rabbit, those? Eddie rabbit, I

love a rainy night. He played on
that, yes, he produced,

oh gosh, he played on Paul Davis
records. I'll go crazy. Remember

that? Yes, I'll go crazy, man. I
go crazy. I go crazy. Let me

pull that up. Paul Davis, check
out. I mean, James man, so who

played on a lot of like Willie
Nelson and Eddie rabbit stuff.

It was it like Larry London and
Larry

some of that, probably. But
James was the cool thing about

James, he he wound up being
producing a lot of records, and

I wound up working with him,
which was a thrill, yeah, and

it's fun working with a drummer
producer, because he's, you

know, it's like, we're, you
know, we're on the same plane,

but, yeah, I'll go crazy. It
says that record was cut to a

Lin drum, and then James, and
then went back and replaced real

drums. But that particular
record,

I remember being in college when
that record was out, and it was

like, man, it just freaking
didn't move. It was like, this

is when this list on you put on
you want to score. No doubt.

Yeah, there's the chorus.
Chicken.

Why don't we light some candles?

I mean, man, want to sit down
Paul Davis's voice. Forget about

Yeah. Now, when I moved to town,
also, another gig I picked up

pretty early on was a group on
giant records called Regina.

Regina. Oh, yeah, and James
strat produced him. Did you

play? I did. It was like, a lot
of back, yes, boom, yes,

student of all that stuff. And I
would, I would play along to

your recordings, and I would
transcribe the recordings, and I

would steal the, you know, they
say the good composers borrow,

but great composers steal. So as
a drummer, I would steal from

you and Eddie and Paul and
everyone you put it in. And you

know, I remember also when, you
know, Jim Riley and I moved here

the same week in the same year,
1997 and we were listening,

watching CMT and the Dixie
Chicks had their first single

out. We were like, is that
Eddie? Is that Lonnie? He goes,

No, it sounds a little
different. We looked up awesome

guy named Greg Moore, another
great player, you know, yes,

yes, you guys are responsible
for so much Sonic identity on

the radio. For the last 30
years, it was, it's been great.

So much fun, man and Eddie, man,
yeah, man, Eddie bears. Gosh, we

had so much.

Fun. Well, Larry took him under
his wing. Yeah, you mentioned

Larry, yes. And he said there
was this big, burly guy that

came and he was wearing a
Hawaiian shirt, and he said,

you're my guy. Yes, you know. So
he mentored him absolutely, I'm

going blank guy who played on
all the James Taylor hits back

in the Oh Russ Kunkel, Russ,
dude, yeah, I've been trying to

I love see it's, I need more
coffee. I'm not awake.

Sorry, Russ, you're one of my
biggest influences. Yeah,

seriously. Russ Kunkel, come on,
man. Big surfer, oh my gosh, big

surfer. And I met him the first
George Strait gig I did in

Vegas. Yeah, I love it. And

I hadn't seen Russ in a long
time, but he's cool. He's got

the shaved head now, and yep,
and he was kind of sitting his

drums up. And I went and
introduced myself. I didn't know

who he was, and I just like I
was, became like a drum germ

immediately, because James
Taylor and big Linda Ronstadt,

yes. And who else?

Jackson Brown. Jackson Brown,
running on empty. Out, yeah,

running on Russ. Force gun on
me. Good job. I mean, big, big

influence. Good job. Russ. And
I, you know, he's asked people

what their hobbies are, what
their interests are. He's always

been a big surfer. And I asked
him, I said, you ever worry

about the sharks? And he goes.
They're always there. They'll

always be there. Like I'm in the
music business, yeah, you need

your arms, you need your legs.
But some people love it so much.

They love surfing so much. They
will risk life in limb sky,

doing it. Look at skydiving.
Yeah, I don't know very many

drummers. I dive.

Well, you look at I have, I have
a guy that cuts my lawn. I make,

I make phone calls, I don't
change my oil.

Check for that check that makes
the people do my things.

So what is what what is on the
horizon for you. What are you

excited about?

Well, what am I excited about?
You got a good pension, right

from the union all those, not
bad, yeah. I mean,

I still got to work, bro. Yeah.
Still have to Yeah. Gotta show

up. Gotta show up. Coming off
those 200 million spins you got.

You got $1 recharge. I wish. Are
you married to the same woman?

Yes, my sweet wife, Donna.
That's beautiful. I remembered

her name. So yeah, you better
not forget that one. I need to

write down all this stuff.
What's the anniversary coming

up? 28th of September. Get out
around the corner, sir. 22nd for

us, it'll be Yeah, good. And how
many years was that? Let's see

man, amen. You guys will see
that 50th. Easy man, I hope so.

My parents are celebrating this
month their 51st wedding.

Congratulations. And I need to
get them something big, because

for the 50th that's a big party.
I'm the first born that is a big

party, so I set up this amazing
party. All my relatives were

coming in. Al Dean. We had a
show that got rained out, and

the makeup date was on the night
of the party. I had to scrap the

whole party. So I got to do
something epic for my parents.

Brick of sticks, signed drum
head, signed photo and a 30

minute coaching session with
you. So silly. No,

my parents are gonna kill by
that. I need to send them on a

on a cruise. I need to buy them
diamond encrusted something.

Yes, you do to send them a car.
Definitely do. I love hard. I

love you. No, that's not good.
What's going on with you, man? I

mean, the Aldine thing is just
kicking obviously. What else

we're on our ninth record. So
that's a body of work there. I'm

super grateful. You know, talk
about a team of people that keep

champion. You heard the new
single? We back? I have not

heard it. Oh my here. It's a
great tune. And Jim and I just

we have a contest where we are
getting the kids to play their

own version of the fill in this
song. There's like, a part of

the song where there's, like,
one of those sexy films

gotta loop on everything, right?
Oh, yeah, I love loops.

Where's a guy in steel toes
covered in dirt, just back in

black, getting blasted into
bleachers.

It's probably true what my mama
said. I do it just like my daddy

did. We back, we

back, we back in

a saddle back on stage, making
the whole place rail back

with the A train on the track.
Thought we were gone, but you

wrong. Where's the fill? You got
that coming up?

Yeah, it's coming up. Everything
good comes.

Back around to stretch the two
bars.

We're asking the kids to, like,
what would you do during those

two measures? Right? And then we
pick a winner, and then they'll

get, like, some fun stuff. Yes,
a brick of sticks, a signed drum

head, a signed picture and a 30
minute coaching session never

gets it doesn't get old hearing
yourself in the supermarket or

in an elevator or in somebody's
car. It's so cool, man, because

we worked our whole lives. It
was fun. We went camping last

weekend, and my Jim's thing, you
like camping. My kids come that

we went to a potluck at the
campground with a group of

people that we went with, and
the kids went into their camper.

They had the TV there, so they
were watching TV, and they come

running out. We're going, dad,
yeah, we just heard you on TV.

Your voice, yeah, for a
commercial, commercial that came

on. That's a big deal. You were
talking about mesothelioma. And

I'm going, I said Bart Durham.
They go, yeah. I'm going, Yeah,

that's right. I got a great
story about Bart Durham. So you

know, you see here around
Nashville, you see Bart Durham's

face on park benches, on the
side of busses, on the side of

billboards. So here I am, one of
my favorite places on Earth, my

favorite little eatery in
Malibu, California, right? So

I'm getting something that's
green. There's greens on top of

greens. And I go to the bathroom
to wash my hands. And peeing

next to me is bar Durham.

And I said, mistaken from the
camp mannequin. He goes, he

goes, he gives me one of these
things. And I go, Hey, Bart, I

recognize you man from all over
Nashville. I live in Nashville.

I said, What do you live in
Malibu? Yeah, you know, my son

took over the business and I
moved here. So he's just, like,

just wiping his hands with $100

pretty much. That's a small
world. And, yeah, it's just, you

know, it's, it's, whenever my
kids hear me, it's a little bit

of ambulance chasing, ambulance
chaser disclaimers that I do

totally. Jim actually inspired
me, like a couple, like, 11

years ago, I met him on MySpace,
and I said, I want to kind of

see if there's anything to this
voiceover thing. So I took some

lessons with a another guy,
because I don't know if I think

I could take him seriously as a
teacher. It's like a parent

trying to teach their kid. So I
went to someone else, and I took

a voiceover lessons, and I have
a reel, and it's me doing

disclaimers and financials and
car commercials in a faux

McDonald's commercial and a faux
target commercial. Yeah, it's

pretty fun. I need to put a best
of Jim McCarthy video together,

like we Oh, Lonnie, has you have
a great video on on YouTube of

all your your baby boy did?
That,

man, I sat there, I think you
sent us to me because you wanted

a video similar to that, and you
wanted me to check this out.

Yeah, and I go, I watched it,
and I was going, Oh my gosh. It

just kept on going. I know
that's Thank you, Dallas, you

guys out there in in radio land.
Listen to look up on YouTube,

Lonnie Wilson drums hits 2016
it's got four and a half 1000

views. And there's also another
one that's got 10,000 views,

that's called Lonnie Wilson
session drummer radio singles.

Yeah, that's one you sent them.
And you can get a real sense of

every all the Martina, all the
faith, all the Joe Diffie all

the rascal flats, wow. Let's
just put in the description that

was my baby boy. Dallas did that
for me. It's a little gift. And

I would have, you know, never
done anything. So Dallas writes

songs, and he's in the
videography business. And your

daughters, he was in college in
at the time, yeah, doing

projects. And so he might have
done it for a class project or

something. So

do you know who my dad is, type
of project? Yeah, he's, it's

fun, you know, it's fun having
kids that.

I mean, the music business is
tough as y'all know, yes, tough

man. But you know, he's with a
good bunch of guys, his own

business. Mitchell 10 Penny.
Want to give him a shout out.

Mitchell was has a very he was
basically the connection for

Dallas and his publishing deal.
And Mitchell's coming off a

number one single, drunk me,
phenomenal record, fantastic.

And I've played on a couple of
Mitchell's new tracks on his new

record, right? So, so Dallas is
also writing songs. Oh, yeah,

yeah, yeah. He's actually
pretty, pretty much full time

music. You guys write together.
We do a little bit. I need to

jump in there. He's getting hot,
man. I got to get in there, in

the room with him. Yeah. You say
hey, you know, I raised you

writing session. He keeps trying
to, he's like, Dad, come on, you

got to show up. I said, I know,
I know. I've written songs so

long, yeah, it's just I've taken
quite a hiatus, probably pretty

much for the last 10 years.
Yeah, I haven't written near as

much. And just trying to, you
know, enjoy, slow down, get out

and play live.

And what Lake Do you like to go
down on?

Well, center Hill was our lake
for a long time, but we're at

temps forward now. That's a
popular destination. Yeah, it's

great. It's deep. Yeah, it is.
It's similar center Hill, but

yeah, a little closer to where
we live now. So you have a

Stingray, or we have, we're
members of the boat club. So,

right, okay, a member of a
country club. I'm a member

these.

Speaking of songwriting, I ran
this by this idea, by the guys

in Parma Lee, and they thought
it was a bad idea for a song,

a song about writing a song, I
think it's too inside.

Oh, that

was

trash.

I'm guessing.

Steve Turner,

another great player. Great
player. Played with Dolly for a

long time, played on all of
Travis's records back then, just

great. Turner kills it. We're
friends on Facebook, but like,

sometimes it's like, you know,
Facebook is a wonderful tool to

like, open the door to
relationships, but it takes the

effort to like, meet in real
time. But, you know, always wish

him a happy birthday on his
birthday. And I know that he

would love to get together
sometime, but we just are all so

busy running around. You know,
you definitely should introduce

him. Great drummer. Yeah, killer
harder and Tommy wells, God rest

his soul. Tommy. Well, sweet to
me absolutely. I took a drumming

class with Tommy wells and Jerry
croon. And I thought about

another great player, Jerry crew
man, had a big influence on me,

on

the Vern Gostin records and all
the Earl Thomas, yeah. So I

thought about him yesterday,
funeral, yes. And I was

wondering if he was out there in
the audience when. And I haven't

heard from Jerry in a long time,
you know? I hope he's okay. He's

doing okay. Yeah, yeah. Saw him
in a union meeting recently.

He's looking good, man, still,
you got a lot of energy. Because

I remember when I met him 23
years ago, he said, I'm gonna

retire. And that was 23 years
ago. He's not gonna retire.

Yeah,

well, I mean, who's? None of us.
What creative person. What are

we gonna do? We love what we do.
I mean, you know, hey, you have

your you have your day in the
sun in this business, if you're

fortunate, you know. And you
just, you know, eventually

you're, you're gonna wind up
here or wind up there, and

you're not, maybe the guy that
you were at one time. But man,

if you, if you even come close
to being

a first call on anything in this
business. Enjoy it and and be

grateful for it, you know, and
be humble about it. Gratitude

and humility are something that
Jim and I talk about a lot with

nearly every guest. You're one
of the product ideas you had was

gratitude rocks, a gratitude
rock, like gratitude rocks,

potential rocks, it's a rock,
and you put it in your in your

in your pocket, and when you go
to grab your change or your

keys, you feel that rock, and it
reminds you to be grateful for

everything you have. That's
right? Like this other idea I

have for a song, right? I brand
this by the guys at Parma, Lee

again, yes, bearish, rich again,
yeah. But what if you were to

make a song about the most
mundane of things, like ironing?

I think it'd be good for like a
children's show, but I don't

think people, like soccer moms
are gonna want to listen to

that. They want us. They want to
listen to see that shirt over

there. It's really wrinkled.

You got to get the iron. You
should get right jingles. You're

a jingle right? Jingles? Yeah,
you cannot get this mind out of

marketing and advertising.
You're a marketing and

advertising jingle stuff. Oh, my
God. Well, this is so fun, dude.

I could sit here all day. You
know, I'm leaving out so many

people. That's the thing. I
mean, I've tried, I've got a

million names, you know, like,
Russ cockle, like, I sat here,

like, who's one of my big but
you know when, when you're

sitting there with you guys, you
know you're on the spot. I need

my cheat sheet. Is Neil one of
the influences? Oh yeah. Well,

definitely. I mean, gotta say I,
you know,

I like guys. I'm a fan of of

of guys like Russ and James and
and Picard, who was to me that

John Robinson, maybe, oh,
studio, great player. Love Jr,

yeah. I mean, those kind of guys
that just freaking lock it down,

yeah, that's, that's what,
that's what moves me, you know,

and makes gets me excited. And,
I mean, I love guys. I could sit

there and watch guys who, you
know, can burn and Lister and,

you know, like this guy, I mean,
it's just like, like, Virgil

Donati, yeah, there's guys that
play was way denser than, I

mean, like, the years go by.
Thomas Lang play less and less.

Oh, who are some other greats
that come to mind that are just

like, level Well, you know, for
tutor missions, yeah. I mean,

when I think of Thomas.

Lying. You know, I taught one of
his camps. There's those

kind of guys. These guys can do
anything with their Steve Smith

with their feet. Yes, yeah,

a castron ovo. And it's funny,
this is a very unpopular I put

this out on Facebook one time,
and it just disturbed the pot. I

said, you know, I got to say it,
guys, I know Smith is the

defining drummer of journey, but
Castronovo blows him out of the

water

well, and I'll say that you
guys, he brought it like a

visceral, sweaty, oh my gosh, he
too, yeah, he brought energy to

that band, and then, like, it's
Carmen efficacy. I love Carmine.

I saw him when I was a freshman
in high school. He came to our

local

music store, and it was just
like a freshman in high school.

Oh, Tommy Aldrich, yeah. Oh
yeah. Black Oak, Arkansas, yeah.

Let me

ask

you this, yeah. Do you listen to
Jason Bonham stuff he's playing

with Hagar? Yeah? He's great. Or
Hagar

son, oh, Zach Starkey with the
who, yeah, yeah. And my bum, one

of my buddies from college, is
playing bass with the who right

now. It's like everybody went
out. I was in college with Keith

Carlock. I mean, imagine filling
in

place. I watch him play, and
let's go. I mean, it's amazing.

It's mind boggling. Business.
Dad, I love Greg the other, the

other one that comes to mind
that blew my mind. Never heard

of the guy before? Tony
verderosa, you was the

triggering guy? Yeah, he did
amazing. Disappeared off the

face of the there's a guy that
played on he did a Twix

commercial.

What's his name for your love I
got back in the 70s. Gino

Vannelli. Gino Vanilli. That was
That dude, Mark Craney. That

dude, Mark crane big influence
of, you know, that era. Here we

go to Stevie Dan records. You
know, I really come to

appreciate since I I've been
able to sit down and talk with

him quite a bit. I did a podcast
with him as well. Sandy Gennaro

last night, seen him on
Facebook. He's living here.

Yeah, just old Italian guy
crashed in that room right over

there, living in Long Island and
teaching at the drummer's

collective. I said, You gotta
move here, man. He crashed in

the bedroom for a week, and he's
like, yeah, here's President

brother.

Yeah, see, that's what I was.
What kind of style would you

love to be able to pull off?
Like, I mean, I love that stuff,

yeah. I mean, I'd have to, I'd
have to wit shit. Oh yeah, I'd

have to, I'd have to pick it up
to play that stuff. Play it

right, you know? But I love that
town and power dude, Tower of

garibaldi. Garibaldi come off.
You know what's really funny,

Steve Ferroni,

I and who was the guy, who was
the first guy on average wife

passed away. He was, he was
amazing, too. Average white fan.

Those were, I used to know all
this stuff, like most people

know football teams. Yeah, I
used to be able to call up. I

mean, I could see the the images
in the magazine. I could tell

you what drummer played, what

symbols, sticks, everything,
whoever played, who the dude who

played with three dog night.

Man was a great player still,
probably still is,

anyway, that guy I got to meet,
what's

going around? Yeah, yeah, this
is normal guy I saw Carmine my

freshman year of high school,
too, with a band called King

Cobra. Was like it was the
height of heavy metal. Yeah, it

was his own little side project.
But speaking of drummers that

write songs, Carmine wrote the
bridge on this song.

No way. If you think I'm sexy,
no way. God Stewart, so let's

see if we can find the bridge.
He's probably played on that

right. Carmine, yes, Carmen,

here we go. He came up with this

melody.

He did

that melody. Wow. What a hook.
That was a big old hit.

This reminds me of the movie.

So I Married an ax murderer
where Mike Myers is the Scottish

father. He's like, if you like
my body, and it's like the guy

playing the bagpipes along with
it, we got a Piper down. We got

a Piper down. Yeah, so you guys
remember, okay, Grand Funk,

railroad drummer, oh, Don
Brewer,

there's another one of my
biggest influence. I met him in

Vegas. Phenomenal player, real
nice guy, thank you, yeah. See,

I should have made my list. You
guys are bringing up great

names.

One of the things that you know,
one of the most underrated

drummers that we think in the
longest time doesn't get us due

is Alex Van Halen. Oh yeah,
gosh, great

drummer.

How could that not be a saying?
So good. Oh, great singer. And

then this is what got me really,
really stomping music, making

play foot stomping music, okay,
grandfather, let me say here,

Van Halen, 1984 this right here.
What is that one? This, Van

Halen. Are they gonna play fat
Gilly? Are they on Spotify?

Who's here should be Van Halen

and this really, I mean, say
what you want, but that just got

me I want to play music for my
life. I agree, iconic. It's a

great record. Now, what do you

want? What was it?

Fat Killy was stopping music?
Yeah, fit something music.

Grandfather, that was my radio
name fat Kelly. Oh, my God, foot

stomping music, yes,

shuffle. We don't hear shuffles
a lot anymore. That was

van halens. Got one like that
too.

Well, there's nothing new in
music. It's all been done.

Everybody. Done. Carl Palmer,

for those of you listening, you
got to watch this part of the

video, because they're just
grooving to this right now. It's

hilarious. They're really loving
this beautiful Oh, but that's,

that's center swing from Van
Halen to Doom, Doom to doom to

doom to doom to do. It's the
same groove. Yeah, yeah. All

right, gotta find some, some
rust. Kunkel, here. Wow. Okay,

here we go. Let's say, let's
see.

Let's do running on empty. I
love running. I think of the

forest, Gump, everything every
time.

Running On Empty, this is a song
I just got the front cell on i

you just come on and be like,
it's another little 40 minute

long set of i 95 rock coming up
here. We're gonna get the

weather coming up next, and I'm
gonna hit the post on this song

eventually, when he starts
coming in with the vocals you're

listening to, 95.1 the home
rocket roll.

Oh man, I missed it,
miscalculated. That's an eight

bar intro. So good.

Love it. It makes me think of
Forrest Gump every time when

he's running across the country,
Yes, yep, and then he did this.

Oh, good one, yeah. Doug Dan,
Doug, more on steel.

When's he come in. Here we go.
You? Bye

syndrome,

syndromes, pre Simmons.

I have a Dan dugmore story. So
for those out there that don't

know, right, we usually keep
this show at about one hour.

We're having so much fun with
this encyclopedia of musical

history. Lonnie Wilson, Dan
dugmore is saying, well, because

he was a side man with Jackson
Brown,

James Taylor and Linda Ron said,
yes, all three, yeah, some of

the best music ever made
incredible, yeah. And one time

he said he was in the studio and
they were having cocktails

during the session during the
day. No, like, like, it happened

all the time in the 70s. It was
just a thing. And it just like,

his wife called, and the wife's
like, Are you drinking? And he

said, Of course, I'm drinking.
I'm working. It wasn't

frowned upon. It was just part
of the music making process. You

know, Doug Moore's treasure man.
You know, great when we listen

to this, to the old faces music,
when I listen to early Rod

Stewart, and I think about these
guys that went to the pub,

right? And they it's like they
went to the pub and then they

went and made the record, and
there's flams everywhere, but

they kept it. It was so, yo,
yeah, cool. Every picture tells

a story. Here we go. So when
this happened, when the band

comes in, it is a flam

of all flams, and they just keep
it. It

doesn't happen anymore.

I'm sure they just came back
from the

pub, right?

That would never happen. But
dude, for.

Voice

comes in, it's over. Yeah, yeah.
I mean, there's a level of

forgiveness for that. Golly, I
love me some rods too. Well.

This could go on and on forever.
Jim, let's play our new game.

What did we learn today? What
did we learn? What did you

learn? Rich? I learned that I
have a deeper love and

appreciation for my friend
Lonnie Wilson, and much like

having

a cold martini with Eddie bears.
I've got to do something fun

with you. Yes, I don't know
what's gonna be, but maybe we'll

it. Yeah, it's gonna be, say,
win man, I'm there. I'm coming

on the boat. Yeah, let's get
Eddie. Just get him to come. Get

the whole yeah, let's get them
all. Get all these drummers. You

know them all. We'll do a
podcast on a boat. What did you

learn? Drummer? Round Table on a
boat.

I learned that, and I appreciate
this about Lonnie. He's not

above driving an Uber to make
things happen. I drive I drive

over tomorrow. I might have to,
I think, talk to you.

I don't know. The thing is, I
have a lot of really good ideas.

Trouble is most of them suck. So
what we got to do is actually do

that idea of the hidden cameras,
and as you does, you know, put

on song after song after song,
and that's me.

What do you mean? That's me and
drunk. Oh, yeah, you you

deepened. I also learned that,
you know, you deepen that notion

that the show must go on. And I
think there's a lot of people

out there that have pride in
their job well done, and they

want to keep their job, and they
want to stay relevant, they want

to keep getting asked back. So
when you have the flu or you're

jet lagged or you're dehydrated,
or you have diarrhea or

explosive diarrhea, the show
must go on. The latter one might

be that's hard, a good excuse to
go home. Yeah, I've done I've

done it. Man, you put a bucket
next to the drums and you just

got, oh yes, you're right,
though, show up, man, pop a

modem like chicklets. Yes,
that's what I learned. I just,

for some reason, I still think I
see Don Corleone coming through

the door and going, dear man.

Little bit, yeah, yeah. Dan, no
one. Dan, it was more. Paul

early was producing, yeah, it
was kind of like, Hey, dude,

come on, man, we need you.

Ed. C was engineering, yeah, we
lie. We still laugh about that.

I'll get a call from Ed every
now and then, dude, I heard wild

angels every time I know, man, I
was sick over at starstruck Ed's

over there a lot, right? Yes,
man, yeah, boy, what a great

engineer, producer. Are we gonna
let Lonnie play the game? What

did you learn? What did I learn?
Yeah, man, I learned that I'm

gonna start coming over here and
hanging with you guys, because

this sure, like a cool place.
It's like a drummer. Can I say

this? Sure, yeah, drummers live
in this house. Yeah, nothing,

but drummers, yeah, no. You guys
are kind. Thank you for having

me. I appreciate it fun and help
me remember names. Where can

people find it calm or anything?
Or Lonnie Wilson, musician,

calm, beautiful. Yeah, think
that's what it is. Yeah,

it's easy to find. Are you

on the Instagram and Facebook?
Instagram? Think it's Lonnie

Wilson, 01, okay, on Instagram,
right? Um, I'm gonna look you up

and follow you. Follow me.
Follow me back. Yes, sir. Jim

McCarthy, voiceovers, Lonnie
Wilson,

calm. Believe it's what it is.

I've had an idea for a video.
There it is. Lonnie Wilson,

musician.com, fantastic. What's
your idea, Jim, I go around

narrating people's lives.

Oh, that could be something,
but, yeah, we should do that

with you one day. Okay, let's do
it. All of a sudden, you know,

rich enters the coffee shop and
walks up to the barista and

places his order, and

then you place your order, and I
go. Now, rich walked over and

patiently waited for his order.
Huh? I don't know, buddy, a lot

of good ideas. Most of them
suck. Nine out of 10. Yeah,

blueberry, I see the picture
there. And the other game that I

always I've been playing for
some reason, late. Oh,

doppelganger game. Yeah, the
doppelganger game. I have a an

odd propensity to pick out
people that look like other

people, so and sometimes it may
not be flattering. So there was

one time it's gonna be flat.
This guy helped me out years

ago. Come on, man, Throw me a
bone. Over here, there's a guy I

worked with you almost look you
guys look like you could be

brothers. And I can't remember
his name, but he's amused. He

used to be a musician here in
town, but moved to Austin, but

he looked like Russell Crowe,
and that's great. Yeah, he'll

take her, right? Yeah, I need to
get a kilt. Gladiator. Yeah,

Gladiator. I love that. I'm into
it shadows and dust span. Yet

this was so fun, guys, we'll
have to keep this drum party

going. Thank you, man. Learn so
much today, guys. Lonnie Wilson,

who was a real treat today, we
appreciate you stopping by. Keep

coming back for the good stuff.
Be sure to subscribe, share,

rate and review, and we'll see
you next time this has been the

rich Redmond shine, subscribe.
We're.

Eight and follow along at rich
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podcasts you.