00;00;00;00 - 00;00;17;29
Yeah, we're in holidays. Home studio here. It's beautiful. and so, yeah, you guys are playing press play coming up pretty soon in May. We're happy to have you. And I guess maybe I thought a good place to start would be. You know, obviously you guys are musical family. Can you tell me what your relationship was like to music growing up?

00;00;18;02 - 00;00;37;14
Yes. I, I grew up in the North Country above, cut Bank, Montana, and I went to a little country school. You know, where the, It wasn't the question wasn't, are you going …

00;00;00;00 - 00;00;17;29
Yeah, we're in holidays. Home studio here. It's beautiful. and so, yeah, you guys are playing press play coming up pretty soon in May. We're happy to have you. And I guess maybe I thought a good place to start would be. You know, obviously you guys are musical family. Can you tell me what your relationship was like to music growing up?

00;00;18;02 - 00;00;37;14
Yes. I, I grew up in the North Country above, cut Bank, Montana, and I went to a little country school. You know, where the, It wasn't the question wasn't, are you going to be in the orchestra? The question was, what are you going to play? And so I had the great experiences from that. My family also like to really sing in the car a lot.

00;00;37;16 - 00;00;56;25
And my mother, she commented about how, you know, the rest. The family would be singing the melody, but even as a little tiny kid, I'd be singing the harmony and she look at me like, what's up with this kid? And so, when I got to high school, I formed a quartet with some of my best friends, then got into an R&B group with some of the cut back kids.

00;00;56;28 - 00;01;20;00
But then when I got to University of Montana, I auditioned and made it into the University of Montana, of which you know, they was also a member. And that really jumpstarted my career. And that's where I met Steve Riddle, and we formed the Mission Mountain, where band toured nationally for, you know, for all those years and then I went to Nashville for, you know, to do a songwriter thing, and then came back to Montana because this is one of my heartland of sound.

00;01;20;00 - 00;01;41;04
I really wanted to write songs about the big Sky, country life. Yeah. So my story, my story kind of started somewhere in the middle there. dad is on tour in Montana. I think he'd already come back from Nashville before I was born, and, I was kind of born in the middle of a tour, so I think I was born.

00;01;41;04 - 00;02;03;16
And then a couple days later, I was on tour, so. Know baby, yeah, baby. And, I always felt at home on a bus. You know, there's just something about being on the road that I just have always loved. And, So I started playing music when I was pretty little. Me and dad started singing together from when I could sing, and he had me on stage.

00;02;03;16 - 00;02;23;29
It was about three years old then started me on. Yeah, and I was. I always enjoyed music because I always dad always had this really great way of making it something that we would do just for fun together. We were driving and just kind of singing along together, and it never felt like an obligation or something like I had to do it.

00;02;23;29 - 00;02;52;28
I always just came from a really joyful, loving place. And, so I continued to do music. I actually toured with my brother's band for ten years. He had a rock band for a long time, and we had some really great and wild experiences that, But pretty soon I decided I wanted to come back to Montana, and, I, I just grew up so spoiled with the clean and clean model that we had here.

00;02;52;28 - 00;03;21;21
That was kind of tough, honestly, living elsewhere. So, so right in front of music and playing a lot more banjo. Dad had a banjo laying around that wasn't getting any use. So start picking that up and released my first solo album in 2015 and, to the state pretty well in the years after that. And, then just kind of wanted to continue to branch out musically.

00;03;21;21 - 00;03;43;24
So, I've been in a big band recently, a lot of jazz. I was in a rock band for a couple of years. So you, picked up banjo first? Is that right now? Actually started with piano, like six. And, I only played it until I was about 13. And then I started playing guitar. Acoustic guitar at 15.

00;03;43;24 - 00;04;05;27
And then I started playing bass when I was 18. And banjo didn't happen until I was about 25. So that's probably one of the last instruments to add to the group. Do you have a preference, your favorite that you like to play on? it's tough. Well, I would have to say, playing stand up electric bass has really been fun for me.

00;04;05;27 - 00;04;25;09
I've been doing a lot of, just because my voice resonates from such a, like higher, softer place that to sing along to like a deep bass line is really it's really fun for me. So that's probably my favorite. That's cool. Do you feel that that resonance with those big basses? I always, like love the resonance you get from those.

00;04;25;09 - 00;04;47;11
Oh yeah, definitely. And you can just like bounce up around and just have some, I have to kind of change it up every once in a while because I get creatively kind of weird, I guess usually. and I miss playing jazz. His dad was in the Jubilee is and he was in college, so he encouraged me to join the Jubilee's when I was in college.

00;04;47;11 - 00;05;13;02
So it was like eight voices singing and jazz together. And I just really missed that, kind of the harmonies that we could hit together. And so, it just kind of came together with the second story. And when I, when central, my friend Meredith Patterson started her own production company called Mary Productions. And so putting together shows there, and we left the farm together and yeah.

00;05;13;04 - 00;05;51;20
So this is the Natural Alliance and, yeah, from there, like, I guess probably the biggest transition was when things got so wild in 2020, I had probably one of the biggest tours of my life set up, and I just had to like what? Watch it fall apart. and, totally fell apart and I ended up teaching elementary school at Deer Park that year, which was kind of like my backup plan, I guess you could say, like, if music wasn't going to move forward, then I would always I could always be a teacher.

00;05;51;22 - 00;06;16;23
And, while I loved teaching and I absolutely loved Deer Park Elementary, it was one of the sweetest country schools I've ever worked with. my heart was kind of broken a little bit, just in the sense that I was, like, putting my dream down. And, so I kind of got fired back up. I taught elementary for two years and then got fired back up to kind of get back out there and and go for it.

00;06;16;23 - 00;06;44;01
So yeah. And I think that's, a lot of the reason we started the trio because, you know, full bands really weren't working during that time frame. But, you know, singles, duos and trios were also so it's, I think that's really what jumpstarted our trio idea. Yeah. Was that the first time you guys, I mean, at least professionally and played together in a group like that now, I been back in a dad on bass for a long time.

00;06;44;01 - 00;07;06;13
Probably started playing with your group probably way, way back in like 2009. Maybe. But it's tough for me to remember. Exactly. Yeah. 2010, somewhere around there, we, we started, playing together because, you know, bass players are sometimes tough to come by. I think he just needed a bass player for the weekend. I was like, sure, I'll give it a go.

00;07;06;13 - 00;07;30;21
And you know. Yeah, yeah. Plus it's great having that high voice. You know, I've always felt in Halladay as a world class voice, you know. So it was really great to have for as part of my group. And then as this is evolved into our situation, you know, she's my favorite person to tour with. Yeah. Tell me a little bit about you told me earlier that sometimes people notice that you're just looking over at her and you're just proud.

00;07;30;23 - 00;07;53;14
Well, I am, I'm just, I'm just so proud of who she has become as a musician and as a singer. I really feel like she has a world class voice. And I love being on stage there because not only because of our relationship together, but because, you know, who's going to be looking at me when she's on stage?

00;07;53;17 - 00;08;13;24
yeah. So I guess I wanted to ask what draws you guys to country music just in general? Well, I feel that, you know, if you're going to call it country music, it has to be music about country. And, and so that's, that's the way I approach it. And, you know, there's, there's a lot of controversy, I think, about about what is country and what is not.

00;08;13;24 - 00;08;32;27
But I've actually taken to call our music Mountain Standard music, because it's sort of an amalgam of a lot of different styles from the a little bit of country western, some blues sound and a little bit of jazz, as Halladay was talking about some bluegrass, you know. So I just come to call it my own standard music. I like that.

00;08;32;27 - 00;08;53;08
I do think it's a little different from, you know, like the country coming out of Nashville and like bluegrass and Appalachia. Yeah. And it's got that little bit of a Western swing to it. Yeah, yeah. hello. I wanted to ask, so you're do you write your own music mostly, or have you taken a break from that since 2018?

00;08;53;12 - 00;09;25;09
Yeah. You know, I've been on a little bit of a dry spell, like, ever since 2020. when? I guess my heart was broken. Yeah. So music. I really haven't written a lot. I've. I've done some very, incredible songs. There was a couple songs that I wrote for a friend of mine that was going through a really tough time, and, I did another couple songwriting series for, breast cancer, and, and it all kind of came.

00;09;25;10 - 00;09;51;18
I'm really good at writing what I know. So that outcome kind of came from that place of being a little bit, just like emotional around certain events and stuff. I feel like I'm, I'm on the brink of a renaissance in the sense that I have so many. I still am writing idea. I'm always writing ideas down, like melody lines or if a lion catches me and it feels really powerful, I'm always like doodling and recording and stuff like that.

00;09;51;18 - 00;10;13;01
But I haven't necessarily put together songs for my next, I think that phase will come in the next year or so. One little project of Haldane and I were involved with that. we received a grant from the state to write seven songs based on native American oral traditions and children's stories. And so that was really a fun project.

00;10;13;01 - 00;10;33;10
And it was such a great honor for us, because we realize that the tribes just don't let anyone tell their stories. But I think they recognized how they and I have a really a heart for native culture. And so, so we take this into school programs, you know, and as part of the Indian education for all. So that's that's been one little writing project that has come to fruition.

00;10;33;15 - 00;11;01;15
Oh that's awesome. Yeah. I read that you've worked previously with Jack Gladstone. Yes. Yeah. Favorite people. He's great. Jack and I have, my two major productions together. First, Western Harmony, which was, you know, to celebrate the statehood of Montana, which we toured with, from 88, 89 and even 90. And then, we went our separate ways, and then we came back together for a Lewis and Clark oriented show called Odyssey West.

00;11;01;15 - 00;11;24;01
You know, so Jack and I still perform together, you know, usually up in the park during the summer, so. Oh, yeah. Yeah. America's peaks. Yes. And Jack's still one of my greatest friends. Yes. So are you working on any other kind of writing projects? Any other kind of musical projects outside of that? You know, we are we're putting together a new, songs in the West, program, which we hope to debut sometime this fall.

00;11;24;03 - 00;11;43;24
And so, we're very excited about that. And so it'll be a multimedia type of a show with images of the West and, and, of course, our and my wife Bonnie, who is such a great photographer, she's got such a great eye. And so she's going to help us put together this multimedia piece. And so I'm very excited about that.

00;11;43;26 - 00;12;15;24
Cool. That's neat. Yeah. We had the waffle House in September I believe in September 21st, 21st. Okay. And it's called Some Songs and Stories from the West, A Love Letter to Montana. And it's just like there's so many beautiful songs that dad has written over the years about Montana, and it really felt like a great time to kind of put them together and showcase just some of the poetry that he's written about the state and yeah.

00;12;15;26 - 00;12;37;23
What inspires you about Montana? You know, Montana is my muse. I guess the the pivotal moment for me was, well, when I was in New York City with my mom, with band, and we were staying with Steve Riddle's older brother, Dick riddle, and he was just writing a musical about Charlie Russell. And so it was Dick that kind of gave me the idea that it was cool to write songs about Montana.

00;12;37;25 - 00;12;57;20
And then when I was in Nashville, I had some success down there. I had quite a few cats by Michael Martin Murphy and even won by Loretta Lynn. But, I remember I was sitting in a group with, some songwriters, and we were doing the normal Nashville songwriters thing where you take a cliche and make it into a love song.

00;12;57;22 - 00;13;18;07
And I thought, you know, this is so boring. These are disposable songs. And so I decided then I'm just going to go back to Montana and write about the history of this country and the wide open spaces and just the awesome, you know, scenery that we have here and the people that live here, too. And so that's that's been my journey since then.

00;13;18;12 - 00;13;39;06
we got back here in 1990, and it's been such a great reward for me. Yeah. I think that this beautiful place just inspires all sorts of creative people. So this is for sure. This is where my muse lives, for sure. Yeah. So another exciting event coming up at the walk holds this fall. I saw that you're going to be involved with the Montana's Got Talent.

00;13;39;12 - 00;14;00;22
Can you tell me the evidence? Yes. Well, that was kind of a little bit of a result of, I've been teaching more and I've got a lot of students, and I just kept hearing from the parents, like, we really need a showcase. That's like some of the incredible talent that's coming up in Montana, and I. I just said, thinking about it, I was like, what a wonderful idea.

00;14;00;22 - 00;14;24;29
That would be the best time ever. And also a reason, I think, for Montanans to come together and like, cheer each other on. I really feel like we kind of need that our, our state in a way. So, yeah, I sat down with the washcloths and they were really excited about it, the idea and possibility and, some using the the talent show.

00;14;24;29 - 00;14;50;26
Montana's got Talent to kind of jump start a couple of projects. we've just been seeing a lot of arts and music funding getting cut in Montana, and it is troubling, you know, I think that that music education affects all of us in such a beautiful way. And it studies show it helps to social, you know, emotional connections.

00;14;50;26 - 00;15;16;28
It helps you in mathematics. It helps you in like, all these other subjects. And so it really is an important part of a rounded, full, rounded education. And so we're actually just starting in the last few weeks, Quiz Foundation. And our goal is to enhance music education in the state and making sure that everybody gets an education in music if they want it.

00;15;16;28 - 00;15;41;13
And, and also helping distribute instruments and that sort of thing. So, Montana's Got Talent, it's like the first show to kind of jumpstart this idea of how do we how do we support music education in Montana? Oh, that's so exciting, you guys. Yeah. So beyond, you know, donating instruments and that kind of a thing. Do you have an idea of what that foundation will look like?

00;15;41;13 - 00;16;08;28
Like what you'll be doing? Yeah. Well, the main branch of what we'll be doing is we're having had 2 or 3 yearly events that help, you know, fundraise for our in school programs. And our in-school programs will be a lot of like, we'll do like songwriting, workshops for anti-bullying or or sometimes we just go in and do some writing workshops based on what the children want to write about.

00;16;08;28 - 00;16;39;11
And actually what they want to write about is usually the most beautiful, pure, like loving topics like being in nature and being with family. And, so just a lot of in-school, creative kind of educational content, you know, not only the Indian reading series, but, I was actually just online the other day, and I was curious, to see how many schools in Montana didn't have a music teacher.

00;16;39;13 - 00;17;05;21
And I think currently right now it's around like 50 to 60 schools that don't even have one. And so if we can somehow create a program where we're in touch with them all year, but then we come visit for like a week and put on a show with them. You know, it really does kind of give children an idea of what it's like to be in the arts, what a profession the arts may look like, and just show them that that is an option if they are creative.

00;17;05;24 - 00;17;31;16
And I think that's one of the reasons we wanted to create this center, too, because we can do virtual shows and then, schools would be able to tap into that, you know, and, and show those, you know, throughout their their time here as well. I was a member of the Montana Arts Council for 11 years. And so, of course, you know, coming from a rural school, you know, I realize that a lot of their schools lose their funding halfway through the year.

00;17;31;16 - 00;17;50;00
So this was the main thing that I really became passionate about while I was with the Arts Council. Gotcha. Well, and then you recently, you've gotten an honor bestowed upon you. It's, the Hall of Fame, the Montana songwriter Hall of Fame. It's it's a Montana musician's Hall of Fame. And that was such a great honor for me.

00;17;50;02 - 00;18;06;21
And, of course, I owe this so much to, some of the incredible musicians that I've gotten to play with over the years. And, and it was such a great honor for me. of course I was, Jack Gladstone was also in the same class, too. So, so, yeah, this was that was just such a humbling honor for me.

00;18;06;28 - 00;18;26;13
So you've got another exciting project coming up pretty soon, and you're dipping your toes into the acting world. Is that right? Well, I was contacted by a gentleman who himself was my videographer while I was running for the U.S. House of Representatives. He was just a great filmmaker, and he asked me if I would be interested in playing the Lincoln County Sheriff in his latest film.

00;18;26;15 - 00;18;46;08
And I said, but, you know, the only time I've ever done any acting was, in a musical in high school. He said, well, I think you'd be right for this part. So I agreed to it, and it was such a great experience and that I didn't realize how addicting it could be. And the saddest moment for me was when my last scene wrapped and there was no more scenes to shoot.

00;18;46;10 - 00;19;10;20
So that's, it's going to premiere in the. It's going to debut in Paris, France, on May 17th. But I think the Montana debut is going to be later that month or probably in year and sometime, so that should be fine. Are you going to Paris for the premiere? I don't think I can, I'm still recovering from my heart surgery, so I'm just going to I'm going to play it cool until the Montana debut.

00;19;10;25 - 00;19;34;00
Right? Right. Well, if you don't mind just sharing a little bit about that. You recently had a pretty serious medical issue. Can you explain what that was and how you been recovering? Well, you know, it was a surprise to me and I think to the whole family, but, yeah, I just had quadruple bypass surgery. But, you know, I had a great doctor, doctor Maxwell, and, he was very passionate about what he does.

00;19;34;07 - 00;19;55;26
He actually told me that he that he got his first book on heart surgery when he was in the fifth grade. So I said, this is the guy I want working with for a long time. And so, so the care I received at Logan Health was just first rate. And my recovery has been going very well. So, we're going to start our full touring schedule in the first part of June.

00;19;55;26 - 00;20;13;19
So I'm anxious to get back on stage and get on the horse again. Yeah, you're just doing it right back at it. That's that's great to hear. Holiday. I actually read an Instagram post you made right after that happened, and you said something to the effect of, you know, this is changed. It changes things. Right? It's a scary.

00;20;13;19 - 00;20;46;13
And today, can you tell me about how going through that kind of affected you? Yeah. Yeah. Well, I think, The voice is a very interesting instrument because it's tied to your experiences as a as a human. And, just it's something really, you know, changes your heart, you know, and, and to just, like, the muscles that are connected, like your tongue is actually connected to a long muscle that goes down and wraps around your heart as well.

00;20;46;13 - 00;21;13;10
So it's like it is very, personal. I think that's why sometimes you can actually reach someone's heart by singing, because it's just it's a very personal vibration, especially if you're tapped into that. That energy. so I guess. Yeah. With dad, with dad's, surgery, it was really, I guess it's kind of a wake up call as far as, like what?

00;21;13;13 - 00;21;35;09
How precious life is. And you know how, you know, we only get so many moments to really show who we are and, you know, share our times on stage and and spend time with the people that we love. And it it feels like it did change my voice in that sense of like, this won't last forever. You know, it is.

00;21;35;09 - 00;21;54;27
It is something that, is just a brief moment in time and something that is special. So, yeah, I have to share this little incident that happened. I was having a very bad, adverse reaction to opioids. And so I was stuck in this loop where I called up Halladay and I said, how do you got to come in?

00;21;54;27 - 00;22;10;16
You have to bring your guitar and you have to hear an F minor chord because, you know, it has to resolve, you know, that that's the only way that I can kind of get out of this. And so she realized I was having this adverse reaction and she said, you know, dad, you know, it's just, you know, you're going to get through this, you know.

00;22;10;16 - 00;22;31;04
So she had her guitar with me and, she and her husband Matt kind of talk me through this. And so. Did you did you eventually play it? Did you? We never found the exact chord. Was looking for it. We play like every chord, like that's what that's about. But I think it was just, you know, a moment to realize.

00;22;31;04 - 00;23;00;26
Yeah. Like, we haven't found the right frequencies. And so in state. But yeah that's funny. So now do you, do you really savor those moments when you guys get to perform with each other? Absolutely. It's just the best moments. You know, to me, that's what musicians live for, for that moment when when everything comes together and the audience is into it, you know, and and you get that energy where it's a give and take with the audience, and all of a sudden everybody just leaves and leaves the earth.

00;23;00;26 - 00;23;17;23
And that's the moment silence for. Yeah. so. Great. So you're hitting the road in June. Are you hitting the road with him, or is this is that a separate. Yeah, we we do actually have a couple of tours in Montana this year, which I'm really excited to get out into eastern Montana again and play some shows up there.

00;23;17;23 - 00;23;38;21
It's actually been a little minute since I've been out there. and we love We Love is in like Great Falls and Butte. And I think we stand and shout out a little bit, and they know how to have a good time out there. This is like such great folks. And, some of our best shows we've ever done have been out there, so that'll be fun, too, right?

00;23;38;21 - 00;24;10;01
Is it cool? What else have you guys got going on this year? Kim and I will be playing, with, Second Story Band and One on one central. That'll be going on every Wednesday and Thursday. And, mostly just promoting Montana's Got Talent and thinking, I need to head out into Montana and maybe hold a couple live auditions and shake some hands and visit from theaters and just really look for the next shining star that's waiting to be flight one show tonight.

00;24;10;02 - 00;24;33;04
I, I'm really, I'm doing a residency with a Road Scholars program that's spelled ROA D, and it's people that come from all over the world to experience Glacier Park. And then at the end of the week, I'll do, two programs for separate groups at Lake McDonald Lodge Auditorium and are sharing my songs about Montana and, and of course, our public lands, which I'm really passionate about.

00;24;33;07 - 00;25;02;17
And they're such great audiences and that really appreciative too. So that's that's what I'm doing every Friday throughout the summer. Oh, nice. Yeah. So you'll be in the park quite a bit. What a great place to commute to, right? Right. Yes, definitely LA. So Starlight Academy is an online music academy with many, many instructors. I'm going to have instructors that are licensed music teachers, and they have a mix of instructors that are professional touring musicians.

00;25;02;20 - 00;25;22;17
And so it'll be a really kind of fun, eclectic mix of like, if you want to learn an instrument like, this is where you go, like you just need to sign up here. We'll have every instrument that you want to learn. If you need to learn music theory, you can learn that. To learn sight reading, you can learn how to build a business and music industry.

00;25;22;17 - 00;25;48;25
And, I'm really excited about it just because I feel like I had a couple lessons when I was younger that were teachers, music teachers that maybe weren't so stoked about music anymore. Like, they, they, they were the people that maybe went for it and didn't didn't make their, their goal or their dream. And so there's some bitterness.

00;25;48;25 - 00;26;14;09
And I had, you know, a lot of lessons where, you know, I felt crunchy because they were crunchy and I would leave crying, you know, just like a lot of weird energy around it. And. But what's exciting about Starlight is that it's all people that love music that have that have done it as a successful venture and, I think one of my, well, one of my first instructors is with, banjo.

00;26;14;12 - 00;26;41;19
That's a he and I also know banjo jokes. Please. I also have, DeSean Bailey of the Trans-Siberian orchestra signed on, and, Meredith Patterson, she's been on Broadway for 20 years. She's going to help with stage presence and dancing. And so it'll just be a place where, like, if you live in the middle of nowhere, Montana, and you want to learn music, like, you can log in and learn about it.

00;26;41;19 - 00;27;15;12
So that's so cool. I mean, I can imagine as a young kid learning music to just get you so fired up, if your teacher was like a performing musician and like, I can see myself doing that, that's really cool. definitely. Yeah. And it's got to be a mix, too. And, that's also why I loved, kind of going into the school system and just seeing, you know, on a day to day what students are learning about music and how how we teach them affects how they view and and how they see it as a possibility for their future and stuff.

00;27;15;12 - 00;27;35;03
So it'll be fun. So in regards to the educational stuff, Rob, what gets you excited about being involved with some of these new initiatives? Well, I think the thing that gets me most excited is that, I think part of Starlight Academy's goal is to help students, you know, break down that barrier about getting on stage and performing.

00;27;35;06 - 00;28;02;16
That's a tough one because, you know, we've we've been involved with, Share Your Voice Foundation, which they they've really their goal. Well, they were in operation was to get kids to, to perform. And the director, JJ, Jennifer and her, point was, is that the number one fear that people have is to get up in front of people and either speak or perform.

00;28;02;18 - 00;28;25;12
To put that in perspective, the number two fear is death. So, you know, so we just want to to help students kind of break down that barrier and learn that that you can take that nervousness, that shyness. And if you actually, you know, turn it around, it actually makes you perform better than you would if you were just all by yourself in a room playing for yourself.

00;28;25;19 - 00;28;45;08
And so that adrenaline just really helps you to attain heights you couldn't ordinarily do without that. Yeah. Use some of that energy, put it towards performing, and maybe not like get so recluse and nervous. Yeah. You know. Yeah, definitely. So I was wondering if you guys could give us a little bit of a preview of what you're going to play for us at Press Play.

00;28;45;08 - 00;29;13;23
If you can just tell me a little bit about some of the music, you're going to get. well, it'll be an eclectic mix of, music that we've played together over the years, probably mostly acoustic. So, some of the songs from my first solo album and, I love to play Little Johnny Cash, although I don't think we can do covers for this show, so probably just, music that's been written about Montana.

00;29;13;26 - 00;29;32;01
I do crazy Montana folk. Well, we're so excited to have you guys. You guys are just immensely talented. So we're super excited for you to come play press play with us. So that's going to be taking place May 3rd. So thank you guys for having me. Thank you. Thank you for going out to Starlight. So fun.