So I Made an Album

I'm just gonna be straight up with you from the beginning. We're not gonna talk about any politics on this we're gonna talk about music and of course the

Musical tracks I've written in the album that I have coming out Tomorrow tomorrow is the launch.

So this is what are we doing this Friday night, right? So it's it's the end of January February 1st

Tomorrow is the launch of the album and with me to listen to some tracks and talk about it is the producer

Tim Bush on Produces all kinds of things at t .bush studios in Syracuse, Indiana He is also the pastor of Syracuse Baptist Church, and you can follow him on X.

What's your ex handle t .bush? 1689 so we're talking about my album and stuff obviously, but you know, you have some experience

So I'll just say I the reason I wanted to do it with you is because I figured you know

You you already do the intro track if people don't know people actually someone just asked me two days ago John who does your intro?

Tracks put me in contact with them because yeah, yeah that You know, you you heard me do it on an acoustic guitar

Yeah, and said let me let me do a better version sent it to me and it's been the track on my podcast ever since so I Knew you from obviously that but I've come out to the

Jesus and politics conference at least three times seeing your studio set up and You're you know, you were big into Christian music at one time and obviously you still do

Christian albums and so forth but you used to be touring and so forth and You know, you know what you're doing.

So So anyways, I had a good time I came out there and we spent what two days just yeah day and a half laying down some acoustic guitar and some tracks and You know, how did you get into this whole thing of recording because you do all sorts of genres?

Yeah Well, I've always been interested in in audio my dad had a reel -to -reel recorder when

I was a kid and so You know, it's just fun to experiment. Of course. He's recording albums and then playing them back.

Okay, that's fine But then when you have a microphone and you can speed up and slow down so I would do these long big, you know

Kelly's Heroes explosions that would just go on and on but when you when you slow it down it sounds great big and everything

Well, then in high school, you know, I'm gonna be a rock star So I'm playing guitar and you just learn to record yourself.

And so whatever technology you've got available Whether it's a cassette deck with a mixing board or a couple mics in the room

You just figure out how to do it and it becomes kind of enjoyable. So at the end of my touring career that you mentioned

I Decided you know, I've got to prepare for the future I'm not going to travel my kids are getting too old for me to be on the road

And so I put together this recording studio a lot of the gear that I've had for 25

You over 25 years now is still excellent. It's not like all technology gets made obsolete so I saw

I hung my shingle out 2000 early 2000 and Learned I had to kind of learn how to work work a computer better to get into the music software right off the bat

That was a bit of a learning curve, but I had a guy come from from Sweetwater He was a guy who worked there back when they were just a little place.

I Said hey, I'll just I'll just hire you You know directly walk me through some of this help me set up some templates and get used to you know

Going through it because you know, you want you want to be future -proof technologically speaking So anyway,

I've been doing this now for over 25 years All kinds of different styles did

I play you some of the like the early hardcore and heavy bands that used to come through here and And it was it was because they wanted to sound great big and aggressive and you know, everything's on 11

We're just angry young people, you know and then everything from that to hip -hop to country and then around the time of that I Was kind of a recession in the late 2000s 2008, you know too big to fail

I started picking up less bands and more singer -songwriters and that's that's you you're a singer -songwriter

You've got a bunch of songs. You've already written. They're arranged and maybe you play guitar

Maybe you don't and I would have them come in and I would help them kind of realize and in flesh

Their musical ideas and make them sound like a record, you know, whether it's like one guy was more more of that Oh Pop pop rock little loops here and there with a rock band or full -on

Country, I got to send you the link to the hankin it up Jones in it down song man This is it's just kind of fun fun to see people's response to hey check this out that I recorded this 22 years ago

You know So I really enjoyed doing the country stuff though to be honest

Yeah, so I was going I was going back man this goes back to 0809 where I did two full -length country albums and then then in 2001

I did like this kind of gospel quartet Album with a guy where I was singing bass and all that.

Did you did you say daddy's saying bass? Did you mama's saying dinner? Yeah, I got the the hee -haw honeys in the back there

But Anyway, so that that now is what

I primarily do although I do have a kind of a Celtic punk band Coming in next month.

They're just oh dude there if you remember the song I'm a sailor peg and I lost my leg.

I'm enough the top sale. It's the It's a Boston, but these guys are kind of like that where they're they have penny whistle and flute and mandolin and Marshall stacks and rock band and it's all put these guys are so fun to work with But the majority of my work is doing stuff like we just did with you guy comes in.

Here's my idea Okay Sometimes I'm just working with pure scratch tracks and I I do everything

What's nice about your record and well, here's some of this Is that you were able to play an awful lot almost all the acoustic guitar parts?

In fact on the record are you and you were able to play along with a click track? Well that way

I've got a reference point. So later on when I add bass guitar Drums, you know, maybe some electric some background vocals.

There's this reference point that we can all play together with right? So that's that's primarily, you know,

I I passed her full -time. I also still tune pianos on the side But I really do enjoy

Making music and producing music and it's probably you know, to be honest.

It's it's my bailiwick my wheelhouse Yeah, well you were in obviously you talked about like some of the

Influences and so forth like hard rock punk rock or I had metal I guess

Yeah, yes, we're in love war you were in the channel surfers, yeah, I think you can still find that if you're looking for it

Yeah, we're we're we're on Spotify people on Spotify But you know, you live in the middle of a cornfield.

I'm just gonna point that out. So forget the woods Yeah, I don't people sensitive from Indiana. I don't want to Yeah You ignorant

Hoosiers your hairs too long you're lazy and your music stinks and we're like hey don't be knocking my music now

Yeah, well anyone from outside the Midwest though, you know that we think the whole Midwest is one big cornfield,

I suppose Yeah, yeah, there's obviously a lot of country influence in that area I'm sure that you know, if you walk into a grocery store or oh, yeah

There's gonna be a lot of country music and so forth I just went down to the Walmart and what do you think was playing outside?

It was off the country station, so, you know, I and I know you understood that kind of thing and I grew up on my parents

I I think would say that they're eclectic but Reality the the their eclectic

Ness is anything from like, you know 70s pop to like, you know 80s 90s

Christian contemporary, right? Classic country, right? That's that eclectic. That's the span.

I think of course, you know, they both enjoyed classical music to some extent yeah, but But you know my mom, you know where they had point of agreements

I found this with my wife too Like that's what your kids end up knowing right is what what mom and dad will both allow themselves to play cars

Yeah, like so that was that was like John Denver Glen Campbell, you know, my dad had some like really old like Sons of the

Pioneer stuff and oh, I love those guys. Yes And I think what else like what was the act they did they they they would bring out a

Horse skull that was duct -taped and he goes and he's like ladies and gentlemen

I present you with two of the most famous horses in the Western film tradition the top half is trigger and the bottom half is

None other than the Lone Rangers horse from this, you know Oh Hilarious wagon shows or something

Yeah, you know like yeah, there's a whole tradition there, which I guess we don't have time to talk about with You know like cowboy poetry and rodeo clowns.

They have there's this comedic feature even to their poetry and yes, it comes to like even the newer kind of Western bands like trying to think of Who is the one that did like those

Toy Story movies? There was like that that they they sound like the Sons of the Pioneers Yeah, yeah whole comedy routine that they do as well.

Yeah, it's a it's a little tongue -in -cheek And I was just literally thinking about this the difference between Love war and the channel surfers is that love where we were more serious

Apologetic minded CS Lewis and Schaefer and the music was kind of like progressive metal

The channel surfers was much more playful Little a little more tongue -in -cheek even though we're dealing with some serious subject matter.

It was genuinely like hey, you know We're all in on this. So let's enjoy the ride and you know that kind of thing

Yeah, but it was there's definitely a difference between the two. Well, one of the things that I think we were able to do

We because you do have such a broad Taste and I mean you're able to be very versatile with your guitar as well with different styles but I could tell you things that I knew only someone in in your

Of your generation would be able to understand like I have one of the songs. Well, we'll play it in a moment But yeah, it was like gentle on my mind guitar or drum brushes, you know

Yeah, yeah, exactly gamble gentle on my but I was like, you know, uh, yeah, then we'll know then we'll know anyway

All right. Let's uh, let's talk about or you want to do your video first and then we'll I just want

I want people to see that we have we have evidence of Me recording.

Okay. Yeah, and this is actually tracking. I ain't apologizing.

Oh Yeah. Yeah, that's the first song on the so you can see the little At the at the right of the cursor there.

We're being we're recording literally. Oh It just picked up a sample rate

Dude or DNA do daring this beheaded. Yeah, that's how it is. Yeah, it's just yeah

That's how the whole thing starts, which there's not a whole band there. It's just me and a guitar, right?

all right, I have had I've been in bands like I had garage band days with buddies and I do

Music ministry at my church and so forth. Yeah, but to get everyone to Indiana into the right location

Everyone that I want. I mean that you're talking a lot of money and yeah, yeah I mean, I was already going there for the conference so I just said hey could we lay down this acoustic guitar and voice track and then

Bring in the other stuff from a distance and I was impressed with that because my brother plays on this There's a flute player from my church.

Yeah, the there's a pianist from my church Liz and I just you know with my computer

Recorded their parts sent it to you and it just all flowed I'll tell you what that the the advances in technology

I mean we just take it for granted that you're gonna upload Upload the track to a drive account and I'll grab it and put it where it needs to be

Well back in the I remember in the late 90s being amazed that the Steve Miller band was recording across The different coasts with each other by FedExing a dat tapes to each other literally physical, you know property

But it would take a day to get there and they're paying, you know exorbitant fee to overnight it But it's still cheaper than flying everybody out to a big expensive studio.

So even then even then with With the oh the da88 machines and all that stuff

It still made sense to have some kind of little home studio that you could do a lot of work in and that's where you

Guys you guys did great. I mean David's track your brother David background vocals

Mandolin Your extra stuff the flute the piano we got we we got that all to fit in and sound really nice Within the parameter plus then we had the violin player come one afternoon he just nailed it nailed it

Oh view that's just Beautiful stuff. It was it was kind of the missing piece actually in a way.

It really brought in I mean, I like pedal steel guitar too, but who played So, you know if you can't they're they're not the same but there's similarities obviously between a fiddle and a pedal steel and And he just kind of filled it in.

But alright, so let's get into it But if people just really if people want to record with you, I want to give you the plug.

How should they contact you? First deposit

Let's see, no in my PayPal account and then I'll respond to you No, you can you can find me on X find me on Facebook Tim Bush on Tim Bush on music is a

Facebook So I'm easy to get a hold of you know, all right Sounds good.

All right. Well, like I got several things queued up here. All right, so the first track

I Ain't apologize and obviously did a music video And that was because of William Wolfe who said you need to release this before Trump For the election before the election and so we put a rush on it and you did it in like I mean

I literally went in there with my acoustic guitar on like Friday and Monday. I think we had a version

Yeah, yeah, and I did a music video which you can find online, but there's just a lyric video

And I'll play How about I play your solo part? Maybe that's a good, you know, were you if I can't that was it?

That was a that's kind of a bangin country Country solo I will just don't go along So they want to take our children and teach them how to hate

The families they grew up in and how to love the state

Where could it be heading when doctors can't do their jobs?

Monuments keep falling police surrender to the mob And parents can't trust teachers and teachers can't trust kids

And kids can't tell their parents what bathroom they went in.

I ain't Apologizing But what I didn't do wrong

The Bible on my dashboard Blackout on my lawn and you can bet

I'll take my boots in cuz my daddy didn't raise no son Disrespect his country

Right right there that's your solo there

You know that that doesn't sound like a metal guy doesn't sound like metal does it?

No No, that sounds like, you know, like a Brad Paisley or oh, thank you

Yeah, or I mean Brad Paisley probably would put actually more notes. He's like busy on when he does Well, you know with with Brad he's such a tasty player and such a good

Overall musician, you know, it's there's the old adage of serve the song and You know any studio musician if you're doing a session, you're not there for you

You're there for the producer and the songwriter and I've had I've had the great Privilege of playing on some on some big productions that were recorded in big studios along with you know, the the a a list

Nashville guys and Everybody understands you're you are a band you've never you've never met that guy

You've never met the drummer and look right next to you is Bonnie rates guitarist and he's a big rock star and he's just a goofball

But you both you could both got to play off each other So it's not the Tim show or the the

George Marinelli show, you know, so But but back to your back to your thing.

I grew up in I was born in 60 So lots of musical influences and you know,

I didn't cut my teeth on Black Sabbath or whatever I cut my teeth to hee -haw and watching

George Jones and Buck Owens do their thing and Roy Roy Clark great musicians

Glen Campbell. Oh my stars. These guys are monsters One of the biggest monster players of the 70s was

Jerry Reed, you know He's all he's known for acting with Burt Reynolds in the you know, those fun

Firebird movies, you know So guys, huh? Smokey and the

Bandit Smokey and the Bandit. Yeah with with Jackie Gleason He is a killer player.

Oh, yeah way beyond his hit songs. He just Insanely good so that that would have been when

I was a kid and learn, you know going from bass guitar That's where I started to guitar. So I want to learn those licks

And in high school, you know, it's all a CDC and Montrose and rush and it's got to be heavy

But but you never you never lose that Affinity for the for the country licks and how much?

Cool skill is involved in playing that music. I don't like what you were playing there with the bends I love the bendy guitar and the chicken pics and stuff.

I mean, I remember yeah, I took guitar lessons from this older hippie guy and You know, he knew he had played with Pete Seeger Pete Seeger's big in my old lived in Beacon, New York Which is only like 25 minutes from me, you know

Pete Seeger's, you know big in the folk music. He's man Yeah, well Woodstock's only like, you know,

I know in 15 for me. I mean, it's it's all over this area and So he loved all these folk singers and he'd always give me when

I was beginning to learn all these folk songs that I was supposed to learn and I just wanted to play what you know, kind of what you just played and right

Do I have to go through the the long slog of of Pete?

Whatever it's funny though his concept of country because I was like, I just I want to learn to play some some country music and And he sort of like you had in the 70s,

I guess you know that phase or he says oh, you know real men play electric rock and roll guitar and so So he was giving me like, you know,

George Harris and stuff and and I was like, I want to play country guitar So he's given me, you know for country guitar

I can't even remember what the artist but you know, I keep thinking his mind Bob Dylan was like country guitar

Right. All right. This isn't what I was thinking You're thinking you were like,

I want to play like those honky -tonk guys The the outlaw country guys that you know that really really attacked the music with a little more

Manly aggression and he's like, oh no, we need to go back to Greenwich Village with all the folk artists.

Yeah, I mean, I like But I mean I like obviously, you know, John Denver was part of how

I grew up and Glen Campbell and stuff But I I did like I did like Lynyrd Skynyrd. I did kind of like Some of the more modern country guys

I liked entered man, obviously like Brad Paisley's guitar work. I thought he was amazing monster and Yeah, I mean trying to think like, you know

Garth Brooks stuff George I love George straight stuff and they would have little solos kind of like what you just played.

Yeah Anyway, is that called chicken pick? What's that called? Well, okay, so about 75 % of the way in where I go

There where it's real kind of staccato Yeah, that's that's more chicken pick, but I'm just doing it with a pick

Usually the really good guys will hold the pick in you know between there. Well, let's have a pick.

I have a couple here for chicken picking the hold the pick but they'll also use their other three fingers and That's a that's a whole nother art.

So I kind of fake my way into chicken picking with just a pick Yeah So Yeah, I actually if we had more time,

I think There was you know a few solos I would have wanted to do on these but you nailed it

I was like that's that's pretty I couldn't change that if it even if I wanted to that's how I want it to sound Well that right there.

That's That's worth the humongous investment you made in your record

Yeah, well, no, but that's what you want. You went. Okay. I'm hearing this in my head I think it's like this and if the guy can see

I've heard trust me as a working with singer -songwriters More than a couple guys have come from big

Studios saying this cost me a thousand bucks and I'm I never was happy with the guitar work

But and I'll play it and I'm like, what was he thinking? It's all weird phase II distorted and I'll just pick up a guitar and you mean you want more like this

Well, it's cuz the other guy was trying to put his stamp on it Really referencing.

Okay, who is this guy? What is he about? Right? What's he saying and Let that be the communicating device rather than yeah.

Oh, I've got this new piece of gear over here They'll love it and and the point it let's play another verse here.

Yeah flavor What are founding fathers would think if they could see us here

Fighting wars a world away while our own borders disappear Well, I bet they'd have opinions and I bet they'd state their case

Which would likely get them canceled in today's United States Oh All right, so basically

I this might be the only song in the album where it's you and me and that's it Yeah, that's just my voice

That's my acoustic guitar and then you you put in a little the electric the bass the drums or the percussion

And don't don't forget Matt Borish did play on that the end. There's a now. Yep.

Now, here's the thing We were on such a limited time, right? And so we

I just wanted that bedrock of piano Okay, just having piano in the song with chords.

So he was kind of playing a do -do -do -do -do -do -do -do -do -do -do -do -do -do -do -do -do whatever I went in and added some of that that run that goes between the the last that the second to the last course last

Going ding ding ding ding ding. I'm just like I want to hear that and so I'm a producer. I can do whatever

I want So I just put that in there. I've done that tons of times, you know where you want that Conference and literally we're in your kitchen and I you know,

I said Matt's coming early or you said that and I said Yeah, he plays piano and you looked at me and I'm like, oh so we got him in the studio to work as soon as he showed up and He played for this one and one other song, but you know the point of this song and I think the style

I Love it when the words and the style flow together and I think this is an example of that like perfectly because the whole point of the song is

That we're we've lost our way in the United States where we don't remember who we are We're ripping down elements of our heritage.

We're canceling people who are just telling the truth about things and You know, we lived through this in 2020.

I don't need to expand on that I have friends who were hurt by that. But yeah, yeah, but the point is to get back to this traditional kind of patriotic pro regional pro -american pro -local

Pro -christian spirit and yeah, yeah, and I mean country music says that best

I think that's what you know, it's heartland It's it's the kind of thing that you know, all members of the family can kind of gather around Anyway, you have a video here of Matt or well, it's just it's just a picture of Matt I mean this poor guy

I gave him a you know, a cheaper Casio doesn't even have weighted keys plop the cords in front of him and My goodness, why didn't he execute you know under under extreme pressure here?

I'm trying to get him to play, you know, New Orleans style jelly rolls and he's like No Sergeant shooting a bullets above his head and he still played he still played.

Hey, you know kudos to Matt by goodness All right. Yeah. All right next song

All right. So this is the title song. I actually changed it I think I originally told you it's gonna be Oh grace how great your story and then

I do Because you know, I was thinking originally of doing like a whole worship music kind of and I just I Write as many songs as I wanted to write in the time frame

I realized you know what it's fine I'm gonna this is basically who I am. There's a little sample of all these different experiences and feelings and so forth and and so I thought the the thing that really brings the whole album together if you wanted to make one theme is you know this this is

This is getting back to it's a recovery of the things that made Christian and specifically

Christian American civilization what it was I think every song just about has an element of that whether in the music or in the lyrics or both

I want to communicate that there's something in the past that's worth retaining and not giving up and whether that's the wisdom of Proverbs for your children or whether that's the fidelity between a man and his wife or whether that's country

These are all things that I think used to mark us that don't anymore as much and and it's it's good to remember and Recover those.

Yeah So anyway this song I I just thought this really is the theme song and it's called driving down a mountain road

I'll say this briefly. I don't know if I told you this Tim. I wrote this right after Driving around the

Catskill Mountains. I was a furniture repairman and yeah, some days they put me in Westchester County Some days

I'd be in Connecticut some days I'd be like in Yonkers some days I'd be in I just you know I in these more urban or suburban settings

But I loved it when I could be in a rural area in the Catskill Mountains Going to someone's home and their driveway is about a mile long and you get to and and it's just a family that loves their country dad's probably a vet from Iraq or Afghanistan and You know you go inside and and they're they're usually very practical about their furniture, you know

People in Westchester County just I don't like the light when it looks on at that, you know, right, right.

They're very practical They're like the frame of my couch is broken and I can't sit on it Right But I need a need rather than a want, you know more it's more practical it's more efficient and I don't know

Tangible they're into not the appearance, but it's for their family. That's why they have furniture

Anyway, I was just thinking about you know, these beautiful areas Where there's mountain creatures the turkey obviously, you know their turkey crossed in front of me

I'm sure I'm more than one occasion They hunt fish, you know And these guys just seem to be friendlier and happier and have a love for their family that I don't see as reflected in urban Areas, you know about that in Indiana where you are.

So So I wrote that's what the songs about and I don't think

I changed much but I wrote that like 15 years ago So here's a little Sam Wow. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah, some of these songs. I read a long time ago down the mountain road lock of turkeys in front of I'm cleansed air on a weary soul best thing

God made to breathe Suddenly it occurs to me the truth.

I see today the things I'm truly grateful

Husbands and wives take together Smiling children each other

Recipes come from the kitchen. It's a life. That's worth Ever since I can remember

The apple tree you haven't seen this yet, have you no so all the footage from this was one day a few weeks ago

I went deep into the Catskill Mountains for a winter hike. Oh, yeah, and so my phone you know filming the road and Put a little effect on it and I thought well this would make a great lyric video because this is the area that I wrote

It about sure. Yeah, I mean you can see how stunning it is. And I mean, I think it's beautiful. Maybe oh it is

Dude, this is a you know, Washington Irving country here. Oh, yeah ankle stuff

Yes, this is from the Western Catskills actually and 17 corridor, but you know,

I Yeah, this was a little more complicated. There's a key change in it and a bridge later on but well

Let's let's tell everybody that go for the technical hurdle, we had was that we spent about 45 minutes getting that initial guitar track

Because it there's a lot to it. Oh, we're doing finger picking and all that. Well come to find out

It was about three half steps too high for the key change vocal And you were just I'm like, oh boy, that's not working.

So I put a pitch shifter on it. It worked. Okay, but it's never quite perfect and So you ended up retracking your acoustic guitar where you are

In the right key. I said just play along with it and I was able to you know There's little idiosyncrasies here and there with guitar playing and I was able to get it all worked in there

And at first I put them both together. I'm like, well, that's kind of cool big stereo Nah, didn't need that and I had added some left right acoustic Capo it up so it wasn't stepping on any of your you know chord voicings for the choruses

You know when it comes in it kind of blossoms a little bit like that So we were able to use the re -recorded guitar track that you sent me from your house

Well, I think that's kind of cool that all you used. I actually don't know this was or did you still keep the old?

No, no, no good got rid of that. So all all that is is is the the re -recorded

Sitting. Yeah. All right in front of the it's a look these

These microphones, you know that everyone has the road and and other ones.

Those are just the same Capsule as any other

Studio mic like like this, you know, this one plugs through my system and I sing through it and blah blah

But these are the it's the same technology only it's connecting via just straight USB.

So Yeah, it's good stuff. Yeah. Yeah Well, maybe I can find that area where there's the key change, let's see

And if I asked the Lord above to tell me about the way a

Man can live a happy life. I bet that he would say

Families that pray When he's down Sunset sky is grandpa singing on the front porch as we're swinging when a sinner

Starts believing in the Lord. It's not all gone

We carry on Since I was young Driving down a mountain road flock of turkeys in front of me

Well, I made up new lyrics driving down a mountain road Stupid deer ran into me

We're enough you could have the other grandma got run over by Yeah, once your song has parodies of it that's when you know, you've made it you've made it that's right

People gonna call from weird out man. Take it He's the key to success.

He's the key yeah, I forgot what I was gonna say, but it's beautiful scenery and I I Yeah, I wrote this.

I actually did this at my church years ago. It's like 15 years ago or more And I remember

I remember thinking after I did it. I was like, I'm not gonna do that again because You know, I was stepping out on a limb a little bit

We you know at church You're so used to worship songs and so forth And so I wrote two songs one of them is not on the album, maybe a future project if right

Yeah, I did this whole thing on Psalm 1 I think it was and you know And and so, you know people came up to me

I love that Psalm 1 I love that Psalm 1 thing you did and and this one like, you know, just crickets and you know,

I I think it's because It's I don't know like you're just not used to hearing it's it's not a

Christian song. Like it's not a worship song It's not as congregational song It's it definitely flows though from a

Christian ethos. That's right Well the same the same principle would be like, oh

I I painted this lovely Landscape I'd better tack a Bible verse down in the corner or people won't think it's

Christian, right? That's just goofy. Come on. Yeah, and that's the thing Like I don't want any of the songs and and I I don't purposely have to think about it

I just write what I feel who I am. I don't force Stuff into it.

That is a natural that That's just you know, I had this experience.

I'm gonna write about it and yeah Anyway, but that's see that's what that's what most people can relate to.

Yeah And and this is this is all part of Folk music country music you were talking about country as being this

American thing. Well, yeah most folk music that came over from You know

Scott's Irish background even the even the German Volk music gets, you know filtered and reprocessed as Country music and and our kind of folk music, you know

American and and it's generally intentionally not too

Challenging intellectually. It's just talking about things. Okay. I went to work and my boss I bout killed him, you know

And so there's a funny song in there somewhere called Hey, I ain't working here no more.

Oh, yeah, Johnny paycheck, right? Dig this job And and so everyone goes been there

Yeah, that that guy couldn't manage his way out of what paper bag and he's gonna tell us how to run the assembly line

You know, what a jerk very populous music There's you know, they're a music stations by far than any other genre in the

United. Oh, yeah I can't believe how even around here, you know, they say Northern Indiana is a little bit like the

South It it is in some especially this this North Northeastern Corridor But if I'm driving around and it's the radio,

I don't I don't want to hear modern country I don't really care for it. But there it is, you know and all of its splendor

Yeah, I like these real country stations that you'll hear when you're driving. So I don't know if it's like a one like Genre or brand or subsidiary, but it's it's called real real country and you'll have some modern stuff

I love old stuff, but it's all it sounds country. It's not pop and I right can't stay right.

Well that whole trap Yeah, yeah, and putting it that's not country.

Well, I want is okay. Nothing will be as cool as Conway Twitty in a faux leather suit

Hello, darling Nice to see you. I mean, that's that song like that only my wife's hearing it bingo cuz you know

The effect that it has on grandma We're a little we're a little concerned now

All right. This is real life, right? It is and that's what you know, what are the things about country music?

I've said and I some Christians give me the side eye on this but I I Like country music, yeah, they talk about drinking and I think lately it's veered more into a pop direction some of it where they

Really are glorifying those things But traditionally right the kind of want music and I feel like an old man now when

I was young But when I was in the 90s, you know country music when they talked about drinking and this goes all the way back to the 30s

You got your comeuppance the next day. It wasn't just we're gonna have a good old time It's we're gonna have a good old time and it ain't gonna the car is gonna be consequences.

There will be consequences There will be blood, you know, or they made, you know humorous, you know,

I'm gonna make a wino, you know Are you for right? We're gonna turn the home into a bar

So, you know and it's like it's making a point Those songs times are very good because they actually and we're gonna get into this a moment on the song

I wrote about the Proverbs seven woman, but These songs I think it's if they're not glorifying evil all the right time

They're they're actually telling you they're warning you about the consequences, you know, Brad Paisley song alcohol

That song is about how you make a fool of yourself when you drink. That's the whole of it

And yeah, you have a great time. But guess what? You don't remember it, you know, it's And that's so I want to be real to life.

I think country music is strong in that there It is very real to how life is it reflects how we actually live our lives

But it does so accurately not with this veneer of You're not gonna wake up the next morning with a hangover because guess what you are and your wife might not be there

Oh, right, right. Well, what's the old joke you play country music backwards? Yeah, you sober up your wife comes back your dog raises from the dead, you know.

Yeah. Anyway, all right What's the next one? It's a wonderful day so this one is wonderful day

If I can find the beginning beginning here, so All right.

Here's how this one sounds. This is this is something that I was hoping I haven't done it yet But you could do is congregational singing at church.

It's a wonderful day. Bless the Lord He has made us glad in the land of the living

Let his favor rain down. Let it cover the ground

As we sing our song of Thanksgiving You plan the light of the

Sun the rays that greet us each morning And you know every bird of the hills while they wait to sing you glory

Who am I that you should care Your love for me is

Everywhere and it's a wonderful day. Bless the Lord. He has made us glad in the land of the living

Let his favor rain down. Let it cover the ground

As we sing our song of Thanksgiving And the earth to spring forth water

Your hand carries rivers along and they feed our sons and daughters

Who am I Me is everywhere and it's a wonderful day

All these images from the lyric video are West Virginia because we we talked about this and I said give it kind of I think

This is the one I was like, you know kind of a John Denver Yeah feel to it and and and that's what you have

You have fiddle you have banjo and it's a story So so each of these song even the worship songs has there's a story connected to it

It's a guy getting up in the morning and he's greeting the day and he and you think everyone has a choice at the beginning

Of the day what kind of a day is this going to be? I'm a sinner. I'm you know,

I'm a Calvinist, right? So I mean that's the tradition I come from so I know about Lord, I'm a worm watch me squirm kind of stuff.

Yeah. Yeah. This is an antidote to that in my mind Is that like yeah, like who am I that you should care but your love for me is everywhere

Like I I don't have to know why you just love me and and here's all the evidence of it Yeah, and that's so I don't know you any production thoughts or whatever.

Yeah, so this was this was And it ended up being one of my favorite songs It was one of the the later ones that I was putting all the other parts on It's just right believe it or not.

Here's metalhead Tim Busch on this is right up my alley with the gentle on my mind brush drums

The bass line I just love playing that stuff because it's so simple you're gonna be in the pocket

David's banjo just took it to the next level the fiddle Which by the way?

that guy Why can I never remember his name, oh you probably remember his name no

The Travis gal Travis brother He just comes in it's like easy.

Oh, this is this is my this is what I do, you know, and So I got it all done and I'm like, you know,

I just want that. I want the chorus to open up a little that's part of you know Pop country music you hit the chorus and it kind of goes like it

Well, you don't want to put in some kind of fake orchestral strings to carry it or you know, there's no there's no real

Other than piano. There's no fake keyboards on this record. I thought hey, why not some nice ooze a

Nice three -part stereo so I would you know, each part is tracked twice put left and right left and right that way

It sounds like there's six people going And you do all the different harmonies and just tuck them up in there and oh my goodness warms the cockles of your heart

Yeah, and I know a lot of people need their cockles in their heart warmed. Yes problem old cockles

I'm telling you and that's part of the frozen chosen. Like you said Worm watch me squirm.

I need my cockles warmed, you know And I used to write songs like that and I mean there's obviously scripture that talks about how depraved we are and can be and So forth, but sure that used to be such a focus during my like I was very cage stage kind of you know,

Paul. Let's let's just listen to that shocking youth message for the fifth time Yeah, really feel beat up and you know,

I'm talking about you Yeah, but I realized what I was doing like I'm literally focusing on myself every time and I need that high

I need that feeling of guilt to feel like I've really paid for it, you know Like Christ hasn't paid for it.

I need to feel guilt. Right, right No, and that was so unhelpful and like like the monks in Monty Python with the books.

Boom, you know It's not the first reference I thought but I you know, I'm a boomer.

Thank you. Yeah, I can't understand it But yeah, so that I wrote this song is sort of an antidote but it just you know

Hey that I felt this way. I'm trying to remember what I wrote it. I wrote it I don't even remember what particular day but that was what

I kept thinking was like I'm a sinner But you know what God still loves me. Isn't that great? Well when true when

Travis was here I was talking about You know this song in particular

I just kind of kind of telling him said oh, yeah, this is this is all just part of you know

What walking in faith and you know letting letting

God Be God in your life and all that. So it's always I always love having those those opportunities, you know with With the folks

I'm working with. Yeah Some non -christian notes in the song.

I'm I'm saying that exact thing Yeah, here he is

Travis gal ladies and gentlemen Yeah in this same room just a really really fine musician and I love working with him.

He's got his beard reminds me of William Lee Holden from the Oak Ridge Boys a little bit He'll take that as a high compliment and he's gonna be play.

He'll be playing on the next battle hymns to he played on battle hymns Hail to Jesus.

And so this next one he's gonna be on to if it gets a little longer. He's in ZZ top range Anyway, alright, let's uh, let's go to the next one.

So this one is a near and dear to me song I wrote this actually originally about I thought I was gonna have a son

We didn't we never specify we didn't we didn't want to know right? But I write have three brothers are two brothers and my dad is one of three and my cousins are three and they're all it's

Only three boys Wow His cousins are three. So I thought to myself We're gonna have a boy clearly and and then surprised the day that my daughter was born

She didn't happen to be a boy and I'm not I'm not into that whole, you know, let's let them choose their gender thing

I don't know but yeah old -fashioned. Yeah, so I it's like commitment to natural law

I think I have a commitment to God and in his rule So I decided I would change some lyric rather than change my daughter's gender or you know

Which I can't do anyway, I would just change a few lyrics to my song I thought that would be a little easier. So that's what there you go

That's always the best route. It's a wiser move and So the song is

Brussels sprouts, I'll play a little this is kind of a ragtime, you know Toy Story Yeah friend in me type of feel.

Yeah Brussels sprouts are good for you. Trust me when

I say They'll help you live to see a rifle day

And whining doesn't solve that much it only adds pain

Say you're crying for another day When you're riding bikes and flying kites, it might not seem like much to you

But these days only last so long So take your time and run outside and play with all your toys

And know the difference between right and wrong Do your best to pass the test and if you don't succeed

You did your best and that's what counts to me Find a friend you can depend on don't bully on the weak

Treat the boys, you know with courtesy It won't take much time to realize the freedom that you have

Both hands on the wheel Respectable don't just follow

Dude Did you pay folding money for that stock footage?

Oh, I spent a long time looking for stuff that At least potentially could look like my daughter.

I mean, it's it's different It's not not my daughter's not in this but correct. My wife would not allow that.

I don't think Weirdos out there, but I I found a lot of stock footage and oh, it works.

It works great So yeah with that with that song We were doing fiddle and I don't think we're gonna have now we could have had violin on that song

It would have worked. I wanted to keep it more honky -tonk and then after the fact he'd already gone home

I'm like, no, wait a minute you idiot That would have worked but here we are. We got we got the no,

I think it's it's a kind of that electric guitar part that's just just doing the nice kind of ninth and six chords over top of everything little licks in between lyric lines and then

Matt's piano is Right there along with your guitar and the cool little shuffle

You know part guitar did you use I know you'd use the Telecaster for like the honky -tonk sounding stuff

I'm pretty sure I used I used the Les Paul on that Probably because of the you put it in between the two humbuckers and you get that kind of you can do that jazzy flavor

It's a warm reverb type. Yeah, that was probably a soft a software amp to be honest

So I've been for those kind of tones It is just so much easier to plug directly into my like a tube preamp

And then I've got a huge palette of things I can I can mess with Now if we play some some of quit

Okay, we're gonna go old -school and when I'm doing heavy guitars And we're plugging into real amps turning them real loud and putting real microphones in front of real cabinets

Not software Well, the the point of the song the way reason I wrote it was lessons for my child and a lot of them heard, you know boy or girl, but some of them

I did change as a girl and what I would expect them to be like behave like In the main theme or the point that I end the song with and I begin the song with is that Brussels sprouts are good

For you, you might not like them. Yeah. Yeah, it's kind of a metaphor for I know This is unpleasant at the time, but trust me it pays if off great dividends in the future

Yeah, don't don't just give into your vices throughout life Yeah, delayed gratification is a

Christian virtue and there I don't know if you saw it So I didn't see this at first Tim. Let me see if I can go back to it

There's a she's working. There's a scene here. I don't know if it'll let me hold on where there were she's she's in a car right, yeah, and Mm -hmm.

Yeah. Well, I can't now. Yeah, I'm having a hard time skipping around. Oh, there's the there's the future where she

She's getting married. Yes, sir, right? Yeah And then he catches you with just a smile

And sometimes you might look back on the house that you had and Think about us

Who has given two daughters in marriage all my kids are mad three children and but I can tell you right now that if you and maybe maybe this is a

Way to encourage young parents. I'm actually doing a podcast next week with Alex Kochman about Covenantal Baptist parenting.

I think it's going to be good You you Create a household an environment that is that is home

That's a sanctuary from the world out there and let me tell you your kids will think about you

Not just once in a while, but they they continue in that. Of course, they're married

It's a whole nother household different covenantal arrangement But mom and dad are spoken of and referred to with great affection great love

There's nothing that gives me more Pleasure or satisfaction than when

I when I hear over here or somebody said, oh you're yeah You're your kids were mentioning you or whatever

I'm like Okay. Thank you. God. Thank you. That was great

And it still is Only Seven and almost seven and a half months, but Oh Dumplin, oh my gosh.

Yeah, I miss her right now. But anyway Yeah, it's it's I've just a mush now.

It's just pathetic but it's also wonderful at the same time, right? Oh my goodness Yeah, I mean you you know, it's

Doug Wilson. So I'm so Calvinist my back teeth hurt, but I mean people

Yeah, you know, it's it's one of those are You'll make the other point of yes, but it's okay to cry when

Boromir is The daughter this is a good song Uh, I was gonna wonderful Matt Matt did the keys on this?

Yeah. Yeah, man. Yeah for a boorish again We had him do that that leg.

I said we'll try this. We had him try it 1 ,500 times poor guy Yeah, so, all right.

Well the next one. Okay, so this one is fun this I I like this. Oh, yeah yeah,

I'm gonna go going out west somewhere and That's Timber Shanks whistle as well

And I'll make my stand

On a road that's leading town keeping my feet on the ground till all is love

Face ends my path Sounds like a wind chime.

I hear voice sounds like a wind chime Each note that I hear one two storms coming near beauty mixed with power

I see her eyes Flash like the lightning.

I see her eyes Flash like lightning Each class that I see is a deep memory

Burning with desire my way back

I'll make my stand On a road that's leaving town keeping my feet on the ground

Till all is love Face ends my path

Sensor touch Feels like a cool rain. I sense her touch Feels like a cool rain each drop that I sense is a feeling too intense softness and a smile

Shine in the darkness. I feel her smile shine in the darkness

Each glow that springs forth is a powerful force Overcoming the dark

Even making my way back to you

In the evening, I'll make my stand On a road that's leaving town keeping my feet on the ground

Till all is love at last When your face ends my path

In my way back to you

Evening, I'll make my stand On a road that's leaving town keeping my feet on the ground

Till all is love at last When your face ends my path

Let me let me find my pack of Marlboro's here

John I Mean how how evocative is all of that together?

I mean, just are you I mean, are you impressed? I mean, I'm impressed with the mix that you did but the images I got like well,

I'll be honest We were conversing over the mix and whether you know, which way to go and I finally said

I've got to mix this Like like I hear it in my head. So we put that harmonica part

Way back in the You know the spaghetti Western land, you know, lots of lots of old tape echo sounds on it

So you're like Clint Eastwood. Yeah, I play the harmonica for those who don't know. Yeah, I sent those to you and the

The the little Telecaster part that buttresses the dirt on every day or day or day or day or do you got it?

You know that had to be there Have the tremolo guitar way over on I think it's on the left on the mix the other guitars on the right and Then all that fiddle stuff was just what did you catch that right before it goes back into the fast part?

I said you got to do one of those And there was I pulled it off, you know

It was perfect. Oh happy Do an acoustic one for my wish so my wife only knows me playing it on my guitar which right not

I do the riff and everything and and You know with all the embellishments in the

Western stuff, it doesn't it. I think it sounds awesome But she's like, well, it's you know, it's the that stripped -down personal song that you wrote me.

Where's that? But we just had to Clint Eastwood it up a little bit, you know, yeah

Yeah, I mean if there's definitely a masculinity to the sound of it There's no doubt and I wanted that because I wrote this when

I was in seminary and my wife now wife She wasn't I wasn't married to her at the time. We were dating but she was eight hours for me at least 10 hour

Jump in my truck at like 10 p .m. And drive all night on a weekend to see her for just a weekend sometimes

Yeah, I was I don't know why I did that now. I'm like, I would never oh, I I know why

I Know why you did that? It's it's the it's the the sweet sting of young love.

I mean, let's face it man. I would not even sleep I just like Now that you've been married to why you're like, well was

I thinking I'll tell you what you were I'll tell you what you were thinking. You were a young man in love Yes, I think

I was and that's what came out of me So I wrote that song and I was thinking about you know Cowboys like on on the range and not seeing though.

Oh, yeah, or whatever or you know military families and And so, you know once you get in that car or whatever, you know horse whatever you're going to see the one you love

And you know at the end of that ride, there's a reward Yeah, and so that's what

I wrote about and that's there's nothing else to it. That's what it is. That's it. That's it.

I Three things I don't understand, you know the eagle in the sky snake on the rock and the me, you know

Man's way with a maiden. I don't I don't get it. How does that work? I Know people try to make that some ethical thing.

I'm like, I don't think that's what he's saying I don't honestly he said he's saying it's just beyond me.

It's a there's yeah, and there's incredible Godly, I mean intelligence behind these things beyond us.

Yes. Yes. I agree. We cannot put our finger on it Yeah, anyway, yeah, that was that's let me just say from from a purely production musician standpoint, you know that was a lot of fun to put together and then mix and try to try to Evoke those kinds of big landscape images.

Well, you just did it you put real landscape. That's exactly what it is yeah, it's a lot of shots from Monument Valley in Arizona and then from Joshua Tree Park in California.

Yeah. Yeah, that's what I said. My son is why I've actually visited there They were have you have them very taken.

Yep. Yeah, Joshua Tree People do a lot it used to not be a national park

So my grandpa was a kid or not a kid, but like in his maybe 30s They would camp there and it was you know

That was a time in California where you just plop down and camp anywhere you want. No one's gonna tell you. Yeah No one cares and then this was before the hippies, right?

Yeah, and you know now it's a park and you got to have permits and There's restricted areas and so forth

You ever see the king of the hill where they go to that to that parking space near their town and then the hippies come

In and ruin everything Personally didn't it didn't you have hippies in your backyard that were oh, yeah.

I told you about that. Yes Yes in my woods right over there. Oh This was this would have been in 74 man

What it's not alive what a nightmare, you know, that's one of the things not to get too off -track

But one of the things that killed a lot of the Christian leftist stuff like because like, you know

Like what's -his -name at sojourners with Jim Wallace. Yeah Basically communes

I mean they yeah Every so many people were Calvary Chapel even came out of some of that right and but the problem is when when people actually became

Christians they get married have kids grow up get jobs cut their hair. Yeah sure and It just it kind of killed it like they weren't progressives anymore

Dude, I remember one one cornerstone festival One of the one of the speakers was you know, getting a little worked up over it

You know what happened to all those? Yeah, all all those little Bibles to all the people that profess

Christ. Where are they now and Even back then this is like 25 years ago or 30

I was like I'll tell you where they're at. They're living in the suburbs working a job married and got four kids That's what happens to people voting

Republican real life, right? Especially if they're business owners so this one's really short this is just this is kind of like a

Actually, the arrangement is great because it introduces another worship song in the sequence But yeah, this is something you could do in church as just a reflective melody or whatever but it's

Isaiah 26 verses 3 & 4 I believe and It's just a musical

Interpretation of that so and and of course I got castles in the background because it sounds kind of medieval It's just me and my guitar

The steadfast of mind you will keep in perfect.

Peace because he Trust in you

For in God the Lord we have and that's it straightforward.

There you go. There you go Verse I don't know if you found this but I can memorize a verse when it's put set to music so much better So, oh, yeah that I did that.

I want to remember it and I just when I have a tune I remember it So, oh how many how many old like old scripture songs you start reading the passage and instead of reading the passage?

You're singing the song in your head. Yeah, you know, I used to do that with all my I wanna verses I would make

Sometimes they made no sense to anyone else, but I'm like, no, that's how I memorize it. Yeah. Yeah So yeah, that was that was cool.

And if you recall we did five takes of the vocals Did we really we did and so that very typical though?

I'm telling you there's nothing to be ashamed of that vocal pass is Combining all five into one good take

I have different knees for the metaverse all yeah right, right

John so I do you know, come on We're gonna we're not gonna not use technology if it's there and everybody hates that fake autotune sound, you know

It's just it's not real Yeah, you can you can use it judiciously to help sing and I've been doing it for 25 years

Using the same kind of software. No big deal You know you still it still counts to have a great vocal performance to start with Well, here's the next one.

This is what is this? What oh I oh this is Oh grace how great your story So I wrote this next song after I returned from Colorado and New Mexico seeing some beautiful landscapes and I wrote it in about 20 minutes

You know There's that old. I mean I've referenced John Denver I don't James White's gonna love this podcast because I've referenced

John Denver like five times. Yeah. Yeah There's the story of Annie's song which is one of his hits. He wrote it on a ski lift he literally got on the ski lift by the time they dropped him off you had written

Annie's song and This one's kind of like that like I just it just flowed And we've done this at my church a few times and the congregation seems to like it

So, yeah If you want the music Matt Bora should actually put the actual notes

With the chords together for this song and the Thanksgiving song. Oh, awesome

Yep, John Harris tunes calm you can download it do it at your church Wonderful. I'm the I wrote it and I don't care.

You don't have to pay me anything. Just do it I mean, it'd be nice if you downloaded my album and gave it a good review

But that's right. Yeah, no one's discounting that so here it is.

Oh Grace, how great your story? Oh Light how bright you shine?

Extend the father's glory over this short life of mine

I Was gone in prison for a time -waiting

Judgment for a life of crime then the doors they broke and Opened wide.

I'm alive I'm allowed Rachel's story you shine

Extend the father's glory Over this short life of mine.

I was slaved to sins I can So basically this song progresses through if you listen to all the verses all the way a lot of gospel songs used to be like this from the point of salvation and Being lost to being found and you and that's right modern songs and you know, you're found but this also at the end

I'll show you I Try to like illustrate the whole thing with like mountains that are bigger and bigger

Uh -huh climbing up the heights but eventually, you know, you're in Alaska and you're seeing

Right you're in glorific, you know, you're with God in heaven Then you're in outer space and you see the first human settlement on Mars and there's first Baptist of Mars Man, I don't know

Rod Martin call your office. Maybe my daughter. Maybe my daughter Anna Part of that so what's it what's interesting on this is that when when you first played it and we were talking about you know

Cuz you're gonna you know Saturday's the the conference and then you'll be you know heading home and stuff

So we got to figure out. Okay, what kind of treatment do we want to give this song? I was like, well, obviously this needs the full band treatment and he's all the stuff all the instruments

Hammond b3 Whatever else we can put in there and when

I did the drum part So I'm not a drummer I I can play drums like I'm a bass player guitar player

I can sing I can do keyboards but You know, let's face it. I didn't spend all of my formative years playing drums

I play guitar. So I did I did what I heard in my head to do but you could buy Dude, but you could buy the

Bob boom and in the end it was just like that's too busy Mm -hmm that's taking up too much sonic real estate

And so I ended up re -recording the entire drum kit because it was like I think the drums are too loud

I'm like, well that they're not even even loud. They were too busy. So when I re -recorded it

I said, let's keep it simple stupid Do do a couple fills that are just right in the low pocket

Keep that snare on the backbeat kick on one two, three four and it worked great.

I love it now It sounds good for congregational singing. It's yeah Yeah, I actually had a lady.

Well a young woman from my church who plays flute. She's played with me on stage Let me see if I can find the verse where she contributes here

Oh And then

Liz who's the pianist at my church also did Some work for this. So it is kind of like it does sound like me on Sunday morning with A scheme that we have this is kind of what it sounds like Yeah Yes, I think it came out pretty good.

And I love these lyric videos. I really started to get into that I was like, oh, yeah, I'm gonna get all this stock footage and make a whole theme

But it's supposed to be like a guy's hiking and it's like an illustration of the Christian life kind of like pilgrims progress

You know, yeah It is flat and you're in this dry area and then but you keep ascending higher and higher and higher and then

You know to this beautiful majestic place so And then the next one.

Oh, this is this is are we gonna have we're gonna probably play this whole thing Aren't we which one is it?

You know, which one it is She's having all the stolen bread is sweet.

She took before Wondering this world. She's just a modern -day gypsy

Girl her smile is to see house leads to the pit

But can you really blame her cuz they follow her like bulls to market when she says

I love you It's a figure of speech Some have thought they've had her but she's never in there

I know her game. I know her style This walking heartache drives man, why it won't take long for you to know

You'll have your fun and then she'll go She's a wild tornado a dust storm from a western sun

An avalanche that races by Leaves her victims on the run

I Mean it's supposed to be a warning like this is how your life's gonna wind.

Yeah quit before you start Don't put your feet in those waters, man. Yeah, maybe

I will not end Well, you got your guitar out. Did you wanna well, I wanted to just show everybody this is

This is actually the second guitar that I ever purchased It's a 1959

Gibson melody maker actually that that was a result of it getting caught in a ceiling fan in a in a bar and so I've had this since high school and I actually still have the first guitar ever bought but it's gonna get it frets replaced and stuff

Anyway, so this this was my my main axe for many years

And so for one side of the guitar tracks the two electrics I Said let's go completely old -school.

I did that Facebook post on it plug this guitar straight into a Marshall 50 watt combo put a mic in the front front of the speaker and then another mic behind and You put those two mics out of phase so that the air movement is congruous then you mix in that back mic just enough to give it that kind of throaty coolness and Then the other side

I track with the Telecaster right above my finger into the tube preamp with software amp and I mix the two together and There's just something about that that kind of I Call it just a plain old rock and roll guitar.

It's not metal It's not hard rock, but it's it's got that kind of cool edge to it where stuff is breaking up Just right not overly distorted, but not a country clean either

And so you mix those two together and put the acoustic right up the middle with the vocal the acoustics providing all of that down Up jangly, you know where the tambourine and the shaker would usually be that's acoustic guitar

And then over top of all of that is the slide guitar little haunting Riff that kind of brings you into the song.

That's more of a rock sensibility. And of course the The tempo the drum part the the bass playing

That's all that's all right in my alley, you know I played for years and cover bands too.

And so you you end up playing music Maybe it's not your personal favorite, but it'll get the dance floor popping.

No, I like that I so when I heard it I was like, oh Because you turned around with this like it was perfect the first time

It took you just I was like Tim's in his element. This is yeah, that's true. That's very true if I could pull it up here a

So this is from my like garage band days and see if I can pull it up here So, I mean that was one of those things.

I mean, you know how it goes, right? It's like yeah, check this out Look at this all sounds awesome. We're gonna be so famous.

This is No one's ever thought of this. Oh Trust me man,

I Remember that, you know, you you were mentioning skinnered way back and I'm like, that's the very first song

I ever learned To sing and play guitar at the same time with sweet home, Alabama And I remember discovering how you could kind of separate your what you're doing here with what you're doing here

And all of a sudden the world opened up and I'm gonna be a rock star Yeah, you know and then you then you go in in your friend's house or your practice garage and you're listening to rush and Queen And all the all the rock bands.

You're like, that's what we're gonna do My friend who wrote it at the time. I mean he he was influenced by a lot of different things

I mean, we obviously it was early 2000s so yeah, I think he listened to like seether and I mean he listened to some old stuff too, though.

He had like Metallica and stuff like that I remember, you know, but he would I drive with him a lot of places. So he had his

CDs in the car. Mm -hmm Evanescence I say have an essence What was the the big switch foot the big the

Christian rock band, you know, so he listened to those those were some of his big influences and He started this thing and you could hear is, you know, heavy distortion and the problem was that we never did anything with it

It was it our garage band sessions were talking about how great we were gonna be Yeah, jamming words, but never really doing much with it

Yeah, we did like one gig towards the end and you know right before we all had to go to college and so forth

And that's actually after that gig we were asked to open for some bigger bands. And yeah, I started going to college, but I You know, it was

I remembered in the back of my mind that chord progression and I was probably 19 20

I don't know. I when I actually put some lyrics to it and it was all about, you know Women who would break your heart and here come here

Heidi. We talk about women. That'll break your heart Everyone. This is my wife of 41 years the beautiful the talented

Heidi and she's a music freak. She knows all this stuff. Hi, John. How's it going?

Good to see you Yeah, he said hi, how's it going and you can tell him just awful no, it's going great

They're coming to look at my bathroom for a remodel. Oh Tim's making big bucks. Oh, yeah, you can afford a bathroom remodel in a mobile home pounds on his teeth bathroom remodels

Crowns, oh, please Anyway old was I guess oh, so I took it and I wrote this whole thing about these, you know girls that'll break your heart and You know, they don't care about you really, you know, everyone goes through that But I had some particularly some experiences with friends of mine seeing like, you know

You know when you're outside the situation and you can see it more clearly. Oh, yeah, absolutely You just don't even and so I remember thinking like oh that girl's gonna

Yeah, yeah, but Later on before we recorded because that was like, you know, it was a while ago.

I'm 35, you know So we're talking now in years ago. I I rewrote the whole thing

I left a few lyrics, but I thought Proverbs six woman Proverbs seven woman a warning.

Yeah about this and You know, I've seen that obviously years of pastor. We've seen that affect men in your own congregation

I'm sure where it's like it literally says I think it's in Proverbs 7 That you know her way is the way of death and she'll she'll reduce you to a loaf of bread

Which is one of the lyrics I used. Yeah, I I thought I thought it was a great There's a there's kind of a principle in in songwriting and music that You want the the lyrics and the music to work together?

So that you communicate your idea well And not all music works with all lyrics.

So in this case, it's a little bit of it You know, it has that kind of foreboding rock riff.

It's a little minor Watch it, dude

Hmm. Yeah, and it works the heart rush you get sort of it builds on itself So it's like even the initial let me see if I can play it at the end here

Bam bam. Oh, I'm playing the my garage man thing. Let me find You guys did it did it justice, you know, yeah, right

All right, so here it is Yeah, that works great

It's supposed to be a dissonance. So like something's wrong. It's a warning in it and I wanted it to be that way

So in the background as your heart starts rushing as you know, it's gonna be fast

Time this is gonna be action -packed, you know but in the background underneath all of that is this little voice this little like Right warning something's wrong.

Something's wrong. Something's wrong And then I mean, that's how it works, right? So like you get swept away like what is

James says lust conceives it was so like Birth to death you just ignore that and then it's the it's all the excitement, right?

but then at the end of the whole thing the excitement wears off and what are you left with and that's the point so The part of the voice of conscience will be played by the guitar arpeggios

Yeah, that's what it's what it is and it was important that that was acoustic to me too because that's it sounds more real in a way like it's just yeah, there's no

Modification there's no effect now you're getting there's there's There's timed delay that Like if you put four four and six eight together a decade to cut they could duck it that is triplets

But it's data to data the data data, you know One two, three four put that all together and it just kind of it tends to be able to take

Take each note and harmonize with itself as you're playing them If you notice as it fades out you get the effect of that and yet it's still acoustic.

So yeah I love doing stuff like that If if someone has an idea especially to bring to bring your your listener into the song rather than just starting

You know, that's way cooler, you know set the set the mood and then Take it.

Oh grandpa grandpa song. Yeah, this is the last two. So this one, you know, it's funny

The people who have listened to this and it's obviously not released until tomorrow, but yeah I've let some of the patrons patreon .com

forward slash. I think it's John Harris podcast anyway, they all have had access to this for about a week and Yeah, I think anyone would really care about this one as much because it's about my grandpa and not about theirs

So I was like, well, I mean this is for my family more or less I've gotten more comments about this song than any of them.

Awesome. I think I think they just they had a similar relationship with their grandpa So this is kind of cool.

Maybe I'll let this play through Unless I think of something but there's a lot of pictures here.

I mean, that's me when I'm little that's that's baby John right there. You know, that looks just like you it

Your your mom's like is that supposed to be you cuz I don't remember that baby Yeah, right

Yeah, it actually looks a little bit like my daughter too, but like, you know, all babies look the same, right?

Oh, what a cute little boy. It's a girl You know that you better get that one straight

I was a yeah, but that's my grandpa on the floor So anyway, we'll play awesome. I bet him for the first time over 30 years ago

And on his knees I would ride now. I wonder if he knows

That his silent ways and smiling face Beneath that old bed cap

We're a welcome sight after every flight I took to see him again

It ain't Those good old days no more

He used to make me presents and play with me on the floor and it's a shame

For those curious about what Gordon Sanchez aka my brother looked like as a kid Holding a snow cone, that's green.

Yeah. He was the blonde hair kid. I was the brown -haired kid Gordon Sanchez boy in Sanchez aka

David you got it. You gotta let him loose more often It's so good. I was at an air show.

We had it was a World War one air show not world so that was by planes and yeah,

I was a World War two vet he was in the Army Air Corps, but In the specific theater, but anyway, that was

I still remember that I remember this a vividly it's cool Yeah, he's where you I was probably how old do

I look like seven? Maybe I mean eight. Yeah So yeah, I I mean I remember that day.

I remember what I had for lunch. It's just Crazy like or they call that a core memory

It is a core memory, but I have a lot of those images. So I lived in New York And my grandpa was in California.

I was born in California, but we moved to New York when I was young so we would go back often to visit and I lived with them for about a year in 2011 and 2010 2011 and You know,

I had a special relationship with him people said I look like him and so forth you'll see as you know,

I show you some of the pictures when he was a young man, but I mean he's from Mississippi. So a lot of the southern, you know affinities

I have and so forth are very much from him Yeah, my love of fishing. There's just a lot of things.

Is this your your dad's dad or your dad's dad? Yeah, okay Yeah, he died last year. He was 101 when he died

And he was he was one. He's a hardcore guy, man He was one of those, you know worked on the cotton farm worked on the sawmill fixed motorcycles went to war

Just blue -collar all the way. You know, he just trucked no BS Oh my like his favorite thing to talk about was, you know, his supervisors who were idiots and how he was

Basically when they would do stupid things and how dumb they were that was there's a country song you just wrote itself

Phrase he used that my dad uses and that I use I mean there's some of those generational things to get passed down was

He always talked about educated fools He's like, you know that and he would say they think they're smart because they in his

Mississippi action they you know, I think they are smart because they went to Harvard and And They couldn't

I couldn't tell they couldn't skin a chicken. They couldn't do you know, like they couldn't do anything they didn't know what they were talking about and So, yeah, he was one of those like you could just but anyway

I could go on forever he's my grandpa obviously but He told me lots of stories about the things that he once did

Scraping by Farm as just a kid

And he worked hard at a sawmill and fixed motorcycles, too

Before the war he had a life for Mississippi through and through And it ain't those good old days no more

Vision Fun fact that catfish you just saw that 25 pound catfish

My uncle Charles was one of the first ones to have a catfish farm for commercial use and miss Oh, really?

So he had like a million dollar catfish farm and we would go there Anyway, that's that's where that was from people wonder what kind of fish that is.

It's a I think a blue catfish That's cool 30 pounds. I you know shows you how little Huge Till the war was done

Thought the West Coast was terrific So California here he comes

It was there that he met grandma at a church outside La Raised three sons and had his fun on a car vendors wage

It ain't Those good old days

Help me fix my truck Engine roar and it's a shame

Hey That he walked out the door

It ain't like those good old good old days. No Talk to him the last time

Christmas of 23 101 he felt fine 3 ,000 miles away from me

And I told him about his great -granddaughter that he wouldn't live to see

I wish he was there in that empty chair telling stories to me

It ain't like those good old days.

No to another Was I and you are born and it's a shame

He walked out the door It ain't like those good old good old days

Sometimes I lie awake at night and think about his life

But he went through for me and you Must have it been

It ain't like those good old days no more

But they're waiting there in heaven with the sound of inquires

Those good old good old days And I'll see those good old good old days one

Dang I must be the salt in my popcorn. My grandma doesn't like her picture being taken and now

I'm gonna People yeah Yeah, so So it'll be fine a couple a couple comments there

Of course, you've got your guitar the fiddle David's mandolin and And I added bass guitar up underneath, you know but I Also, I really like that that third high harmony.

I added to you and David, you know And then it was it was completely one of those. I think

I Don't know if that one was your idea or not. There was one one of the Let's cut the music.

There was yours that one I don't know if that was yours or not, but it was like well, that's perfect right there

Let's do that. And that was a great idea. That's one of those you're thinking like a producer

You're thinking oh less is more here because then it's gonna open back up Yeah, and at first I was like, ah, this is gonna be a little weird bringing it back in, you know

But no, no, you start building So as you do that little break and that was that was a great great instinct on your part to have that happen

I put a picture of him near that the house he grew up in it was falling apart at that point but that's the old homestead and Yeah, just yeah imagery.

I know for my family who knows the significance of some of these things. That's a powerful sound and with an image and Anyway, yeah

I mean I I had a hard time writing it in a way because I kept tearing up even just as I was Putting lyrics together and well you realize how what a blessing it was

That God gave you yeah that you would know your grandpa all the way into your young adulthood.

This is awesome. I know My son to this day. Um, see my dad died in 94

Aaron was born in 90. I Could show you pictures where they're they're just tightest the thickest thieves

He tells me to this day that he feels like there's this kind of That shouldn't not happened.

You know the void Yeah from his grandpa because they loved each other my dad would come through the woods on his old

Alice champ Chalmers Tractor just to see Aaron. He was because Aaron was the first grandkid and he's big old bald head

I'm not that now with my own parents like, you know, it's yeah Yeah, go do anything to go a chance to see the grandchild, you know, it's a tip we make this joke, but paraphrase master and commander when when

Maturin can't go to the Galapagos all plans are subject to the requirements of the grandkids

I've seen that movie but it was a long time ago. I don't remember that was it Our all plans are subject to the requirements of the service.

Ah, okay. We got to go chase the Acheron, you know Yeah. Yeah, that's that's just I love that and Remember as a kid

I would hear people say I'm moving I you know Basically across the country to be with the grandkids and I always thought that was a curious thing

I'm like, why would you do that? Yeah. No, I'm like, oh, yeah, totally. I don't totally understand why you would do that Yeah, the old house do whatever you got to do to be near the grandkids

But hey, don't don't you go veering into Ordo Amoris now John come on. No How dare you move across the country for your own people?

We are all Deracinated individuals that can be filled with whatever

Ideas are out there. There's nothing else to us right have just abstracted all into this amorphous biotistic blob yeah,

I mean you make a good point though by even bringing that up because you know What is my political philosophy like a lot of people separate these things like yeah political over here you don't bring that up at dinner and then you have your

Social or like who you are what you as a person as if these are different things I just played you a song about my politics, right and it's not about politics

I'm not right you but I'm just telling you like that's why I think the way I do About some issues.

It's because of you listen to that song You're gonna get a better window into who I am Then probably reading any of my books to be quite honest with you, you know

Oh all the podcasts you've done over the years. You're like, let me just summarize listen to this song and that's the takeaway

You know, yeah, I mean, it's all yeah, you love your you love your people you love your place It's all the it's those little things that you can't communicate well to someone else who doesn't understand them

But they're just specific and special make, you know, like the tractor you just you remember that model tractor.

That was dad Oh, yeah sound. Yeah He swapped out the 6 -volt system put in 12 volt to make it more, you know accommodatable to other

You know parts and stuff. Oh, yeah, I mean it was just I wish I'd have bought I just didn't have a place to store it.

I could have gotten it for a song It's life, all right last one is called

Bible bread and this one's this my tribute to hymns I'm a music director at my church. I I know you appreciate the hymns even on.

Yeah, you know, absolutely all hymns Doing rock songs, but you're doing you're retaining those old rich lyrics

Yeah, and I grew up on that. My dad was big on teaching us those lyrics I think I know more hymns than I do scripture

Just because again I can the lyrics and this matching the music helps me remember. Well, yeah, so very quick my two oldest

Married kids live in Fort Wayne with their families. They all both go to the same church Well, it's a it's a little more modern

II Church, but when they when they're ready to oh, let's let's do this him They're like we got this.

We know this one Yeah, I don't even need the hymn book I don't even do yeah, we got it

So I can nail it and I realized when we there that's a longer discussion. But when we dumped the hymns

Huge disservice And so it's it's all Calvary Chapel's fault, you know, it's ultimately

I early right now. Yeah This is a good time to plug the I've come up with a name

It's gonna be called the music and masculinity conference this September So it's it's happening and the featured speakers myself 80

Robles Tim Bush on we got some more. So I'll yeah, yeah, that's coming.

Stay tuned I'll tell you more about it. But this song wait, go ahead. Can't wait. I got I Got some stuff already

Getting prepared for that So I'm not gonna play this whole song It's a long one just like the last one and we're we're coming up on a long here like an hour minutes in but I'll play the end of it a little bit.

This the whole theme is that You know there's different hymns that I think mean more at different points in life and I Don't know like so on the other thing just folks

The you you wrote the verses and then you take lyrics to the old classic hymns that you're talking about and put them with this

Melody that that's the same in each chorus. You're like, oh, yeah, I know that I know that and yeah

I was lazy man half the song. I was already written. So what Travis was was doing the fizz.

Oh, yeah, I know this Oh, did he yeah, that was great. Yeah so yeah,

I'll play like kind of this is around the Let's see amazing grace.

Oh, I know we're gonna go we'll play around here So it starts with like salvation and the development of a

Christian Yeah a theme of two of the songs in this album, but you you know at the end you're then you're going in the glory

And and so each hymn is for like each step of the way saying, you know justification sanctification glorification and the hymns associated with these so Jesus Jesus Precious Jesus Oh for grace

Oh Then one day

When life is ended And the good

Calls me home, I will go

United With the saints of ages past The sky

Sky Traditional kind of country stuff.

Yeah, we hear your David's high harmony his voice He makes it break a little bit at certain times.

It's just how he sings Originally on that one I had on My harmony

I did I was like, oh, this would be cool. I'll do that Like a little

Linda Ronstadt song it didn't quite work So I just I was singing it straight or whatever, but I thought it came out really nice got the mandolin the banjo just nice slope and then the fiddle

Beautiful beautiful. Yeah, the fiddle helped a lot with that and you actually took my harmonica and made it

It sounded like a mosquito at first. I Said to fatten up the EQ for all you things but you fed kids and Yeah, I should probably show everyone

Let's see if I can find it my wife made a little Like she drew

I said, could you drive like driving down a mountain road? Could you make my little truck? I got this Ford Ranger you've seen it's got a little yeah

It's like, you know, I've had four trucks in my life. This is all I've ever owned Yeah, I've only had four trucks.

My grandpa only ever had four trucks Pretty sure. Yeah, my dad is Ford truck. Like we just do

Ford trucks and Going around growing up, you know, we zipped around my grandma had a

Ford Ranger and my first truck was a You know five shift or 88 Ford Ranger and then

I you know now I have I have actually it's a 2006 Ford Ranger Wow, I totaled my 2011

I was very mad about that in a in a nice storm But I when I was dating my wife, you know, I would there's this big mountain

I had to go over in the shot the Sean Gunk. It's actually pronounced Sean gum, but the Sean gum range and It's you know to get to her house she lives in the

Catskill Mountains. I was in the valley I was a valley boy dating a mountain girl. Thank you. How did that work out?

I don't know Tim It's no, it's maybe it's not No, it's it does and David actually joked once he said

John likes the Catskill Mountains so much. He married them It was it was incentive. I have to say the drive to her house.

I go over this hill and I said make my truck coming down down a mountain road.

So she drew this This is this little Sketch or whatever.

So let me see if I can pull it up. There it is. Yes. There's this little bitty sketch Driving There's the truck.

There it is. There's those Coniferous trees. There's there's pine.

Yeah, that's these are not the Catskills Drastic that looks like Maybe I don't know sort of like the

Matterhorn or something. Yeah, okay I'm a sucker for you know, just black and white simple album covers, you know

Well, there you go. That's beautiful So if you want the album, you can go to John Harris tunes comm buy it at any of the streaming services

I also have you can order a physical CD. I'm gonna have autographed CDs hopefully soon, but I can't guarantee

I'll get them to you before March because That that service that you told me about kunaki, yeah

Yeah, so I did everything and then they were like, well, you know, we'll get this to you by like, you know

February 25th or something. I was like really that seems like a long time. Oh I wouldn't believe them.

I did I did a project just in November and it was here in three days Okay, cuz they shipped yesterday and I was like that's kind of weird that it's gonna take that long

They shipped it yeah, I shipped it yesterday. Yeah. Well, you're good. All right. Well, all right I don't have it for you.

You want to know I think I'm just getting used to people will just Overextend what it may take and then all of a sudden there it is

You're like what in the world and you're happy. I know it's like you're happy, right? Right? Well, I hope what you know, let me know.

Hope everything turns out. Well with the with the hard copies So, let me just let me just say this, you know, it's it's always

It's it's always fun in the end because from from my Mixing and mastering

I tend to I'll quote loose sleep, you know the the meme where the guys laying over here and his wife's like I wonder what he's thinking about no for me.

It's always Gee, I wonder why I can't get the snare drum to sit right in that mix, you know something completely innocuous

Yeah, but when you know when you're when you're finally putting a project all together and you've got all the tracks

And you've got to make them all the vocals have to be at the same about the same level each song Even if it's a quiet song or a rock song

It's all it's always fun when you put a fork in it and you're like, alright, I've listened to it in my car.

We're done The car test the car test. That's right. No, I appreciate it

Thank you for helping me with this and making it honestly a dream I've had for years come true. I would love to Do more of this and if there's some

Nashville musician who wants someone to write some songs for him No, yeah, let

John know cheap I'll give it to you. I probably need a manager if that ever happens.

Yeah, you'd Definitely need a music attorney and all that stuff. Yeah, that's a thing, right?

That's it that's been a that's the weak link in my entire music career was publishing and copyright and yeah

I hate administration. So I need to You made this album, you know come alive and if anyone else wants to record and make their they're all their wildest dreams come true

Vote for Pedro. He bush steve bush studios in Syracuse, Indiana You can find on Facebook and that's probably the best way to reach him.

So yeah. Yeah with that. Thank you Tim yeah, thank you and Again, keep up the good work.

I'm a fan of the podcast and Your guests and in fact,

I just reached out to Chris Chris Wiley and said wow, that was interesting. Oh Yeah, hey,

I yeah great. Trust me Hey, I was trying to trying to get me to use their stuff to make my mixes better This whole conversation has been

AI This isn't really me. Oh, we just sampled my voice and typed it out.