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Backstage Pass Radio
S7: E8: Will Banister - Echoes of Nashville and New Mexico
Date: november 13, 2024
Name of podcast: Backstage Pass Radio
S7: E8: Will Banister - Echoes of Nashville and New Mexico
SHOW SUMMARY:
Ever wondered how a musician crafts a successful career while staying true to their roots in a small town? Join us for a fascinating conversation with singer-songwriter Will Banister from Portales, New Mexico. With a following of nearly a quarter of a million fans, Will shares his journey of balancing his deep hometown connections with a music career that draws him across state lines to Nashville and beyond. Discover how the close-knit support from Portales and the power of social media have influenced his decisions about potentially relocating to a larger music market.
Unravel the artistry of songwriting as Will takes us through his creative process, highlighting the pivotal moments of his career. His collaboration with renowned songwriter Roger Springer in 2018 marked a significant turning point, leading to the creation of his first co-written song, "Everything Burns." Will offers insights into the intricacies of songwriting, discussing the influence of legendary songwriters like Russ Ballard and the mentor-mentee dynamic that has shaped his artistic journey. The conversation also explores the spontaneous and serendipitous nature of songwriting, including details of his latest release, "It's Gonna Be Me."
Step into the heart of Nashville’s iconic music scene as we reflect on a memorable performance at the Bluebird Cafe. Will recounts the powerful connection between musicians and audiences in such intimate settings, offering his thoughts on the importance of attentive listening. We chat about meeting fellow New Mexican artist Brie Bagwell and how these encounters enrich the creative journey. Throughout this episode, listeners are treated to engaging stories and authentic reflections from Will Banister, highlighting the essence of music as a bridge between past, present, and future.
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Artist(s) Web Page
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Your Host,
Randy Hulsey
Hey everyone. Today I am joined by a super cool singer-songwriter out of Portales, new Mexico. It's Randy Hulsey, with Backstage Pass Radio, coming to you from Cypress, texas. Clicking around on Facebook a week or so ago, I stumbled upon an artist that was playing an original song called Everything Burns, and it didn't take long to understand what all the fuss was about. You guys sit tight and I'll introduce you to my new friend and fellow musician.
Speaker 2:Will Bannister right after this. This is Backstage Pass Radio, the podcast that's designed for the music junkie with a thirst for musical knowledge. Hi, this is Adam Gordon, and I want to thank you all for joining us today. Make sure you like, subscribe and turn alerts on for this and all upcoming podcasts. And now here's your host of Backstage Pass Radio, randy Halsey.
Speaker 1:Will. What is going on, man? Welcome to the show.
Speaker 3:Randy, thank you so much for having me. Man, I'm just hauling kids around to football practices and what have you, and trying to live the dream here, you know.
Speaker 1:Just being a dad. Right, just being a dad. Yes, sir, you got it. That's right, you got it. Well, it's nice to be here with you after, I guess, you know, a week or two of back and forth through Instagram and email and whatever else we were chatting back and forth on, but it's nice to be in your company here and get to know you and to kind of share your story with the listeners. So, welcome man.
Speaker 3:Yes, sir. Well, thanks for having me. It's an honor myself.
Speaker 1:So Portales, new Mexico. Tell the listeners a little bit about the town.
Speaker 3:Well, I'll start it off by saying it's home and I love it. Now, if I was to tell you that it's anything spectacular to look at, I'd probably be lying a little bit there. It's flat and brown and the wind blows most every day and it don't rain a whole lot, but it's home, but it's home, but it's home.
Speaker 1:Yeah's home. But it's home, yeah, it's home, isn't that funny. You know, I've thought about that over the years, will Like, I've traveled with work, I've traveled with the podcast and I've been to some pretty cool places and I, you know, living in the greater Houston area Cypress is like northwest Houston, you know greaterston area, texas. So, uh, you know, I've been to some places and I and I always say to myself, why am I still living where I live? This is beautiful here, like there's, there's scenery, there's undulation in the ground, there's all the things right, and I go back to this flat, you know, but I've been here pretty much all my life and you know, you, just, you never get away. You seem to never really get away from home too far. You know what I mean.
Speaker 3:I know, yes, sir, I do. I'm a sentimental guy. It'd be hard for me to just move off. Although I'm not home very often, I don't know I'm proud of my little hometown. They've been awful, supportive of me throughout. You know this journey.
Speaker 1:Yeah, for sure. Well, that's always important and that's a good feeling to have the support from home. There's no place like home, like Dorothy said in the Wizard of Oz, right?
Speaker 2:Yeah, sure.
Speaker 1:So you were born there in Portales, and you still live there, right? So you never really left the town. You never left the place.
Speaker 3:That's right. No, I've been here my whole life and, uh, like I say, I, uh, I'm on the road a lot, so I'm almost on the road more than I am home. But uh, you know, like I say, it's always nice to get home and relax for a few days.
Speaker 1:Yeah, of course. Well, you know, when you start seeing those social media followings bump up, you know, I think last I looked, which you know, I know a lot of people are hung up on all the social media and all the followers, but you know, I think I saw like a quarter, almost a quarter of a million followers on social media. You know, it kind of begs the question of at what point in time does an artist feel like they've outgrown their market? You know, Portales, great town, where home is right, but have you ever thought that that could restrict you at some point in time? Like you might have to move to a bigger market, like share with you, Like share your thoughts around the market itself, right, and ever having to move out of the smaller market, Right.
Speaker 3:Well, you know, it definitely has its limitations. I've found, you know, part of it is finding a lot of players. There's a lot of great players just 100 miles east of me in Texas. My whole band is in Lubbock, texas, which is 100 miles east of me. So of course my band, you know, I got the best musicians you could ask for. You know a great group of guys. But you know, just in the past we've had some leave, you know. So it's kind of hard in that respect because there's not just a huge pool of players, so it's hard to get them from Dallas or Austin or what have you, and of course we've got to drive a long way to play. I play all over Texas and, yeah, we travel all over the place, uh, and then I also get up to Nashville and stuff. So you know, I think it's doable. It's just it does make it a little more challenging. You have to be a little more, a little more creative right.
Speaker 3:Yeah, like I say, I spend a lot of time on the road and, uh, and, and I think that that part of social media, I think it's good for that, you know, because you can kind of be, you know, relating to people here and there, sure For sure.
Speaker 1:One hundred percent. Well, like I said in the intro, you know I stumbled across you I think it was on Facebook and I was like, yeah, yeah, I need to know this guy's story right, being a fellow musician, a local artist here in Cyprus I don't do it for a living, probably like you do but at one time, before the podcast, I was playing upwards to about 130 shows a year as a part-time professional musician and then I cut that back with the podcast. But you know I stumble across artists. I'm always looking and searching for artists that really resonate with me and I and I stumbled across and I said, yeah, yeah, I definitely I need to talk to Will right, because there's something about a great, a great original song, especially on an acoustic guitar, where it's just raw with the artist and the guitar.
Speaker 1:To me there's nothing better than that. So I wanted you to walk the listeners through maybe your musical upbringing as a kid. Did you come from a musical family? Did you really not? And just stumbled your way into it? Talk to us a little bit about the upbringing from a musician's standpoint.
Speaker 3:Well, musician-wise, none of my family played. My dad when I was a little kid he had got a guitar and I remember he could play a little bit of Ghost Riders, you know just dum-dum-da-doom-doom, you know no chords, no, nothing. But he had a stack of vinyl records, a bunch of Hank Williams Sr and Merle Haggard and then Charlie Pride. I remember there was a particular song and I'll tell you about this too. When I was four he'd play this Charlie Pride song, him and my grandpa and I'd just start bawling when I heard the music going. And my grandpa and I just start bawling when I heard the music going, you know, and uh, anyway, I got, I got to meet charlie pride and I told him that story and he started singing the song right there to me. So that was how cool that was pretty cool little off subject, but no that's great
Speaker 3:anyway. So, yeah, I just I grew up listening to all the old, uh all the old, classic country. You know Marty Robbins and my dad sang a lot in the pickup, of course, yeah, and you know I just, and he was a good singer, yeah, you know, I just fell in love with it. And my mom got me a guitar for Christmas when I was about 11 years old and a chord sheet and I had a Hank Williams CD with him and his guitar. That was it, and I kind of picked up on that rhythm that he was doing, learning the chord sheets and printing them off the internet and what have you. And yeah, I got to. That's just kind of how I got my start and what influenced me and stuff you know.
Speaker 1:Yeah, well, I, like you, you know, I grew up as a kid, you know, mom being a pianist. That's kind of where the first, I guess the first love came from. But I can still remember my dad driving an old Ford truck and it had a eight track player. You're a little too young for this right, but you'll, you'll get it right. An old eight track player and it was the, the Statler brothers greatest hits, and we wore that thing out and we sang every song on it nine million times and it was always, you know, my brother and my dad and I, it was always everybody had to take a part in the harmonies, right, and and some years later I start this podcast and I had one of the Statler brothers on my show, which was, which is, you know, they always say never meet your heroes, but it was.
Speaker 1:I talked to Jimmy Fortune for two and a half hours on my show, just like we had never, you know, like, like we knew each other from way back. It was amazing the conversation, so really cool stuff. Way back. It was amazing the conversation, so really cool stuff. Well, I noticed in the videos man, you're a mighty fine picker, you know you're not the cowboy chord guy, which is really cool. Did that playing style or did the I guess the playing come from more formal training, or are you all self-taught on the guitar?
Speaker 3:Yeah, I'm all self-taught. Uh, I think what it was and I, to be frank with you, I don't consider myself a guitar player. I feel like I got a lot of people fooled on that.
Speaker 3:You know, I do get a lot of compliments, but uh you know, I just uh, I think it started whenever I I started doing them videos on Facebook, just cover songs, and the more I did those, the more I was trying to incorporate little licks from the actual song. You know, and I think I just kind of I just kind of do my own thing on there, you know, Trying to make it sound like the record. And you know I feel at home on rhythm guitar, acoustic guitar, now Live with a band that I had to start playing, telly Okay, which has been a lot more of a challenge for me.
Speaker 1:So you're more of an acoustic player, then would you say that's where I'm at home at.
Speaker 3:Yes, myself, but I have worked hard on that telly and that's good. You know. Just, it's just one of them. Things like I say whenever we get a, whenever you, you know, I just don't. There's not a whole lot of guitar players around here where I'm at, so that's kind of why I had to pick up the little telly there.
Speaker 1:Yeah, well, I'm kind of with you there, will, because I've got. Well, you can see some of the guitars, of course, but you can't see all of them, and I've got a couple of tellies over here that are pretty nice tellies, and if you said, randy, play me something on that telly, I'd probably say, no, will, I'm not going to do that because I'm not at home on the telly, I'm not at home on the tail, I'm not an electric player Like. I have them, right, I love them, but I don't play them. Uh, I play in a duo here in in Cyprus and all around South Texas, and it's, uh, chris. Chris is my lead guitarist and he, he plays a couple of different things, but I'm always on the, the SJ 200, there on the, the Taylor eight, 14. So that's where I'm comfortable with the acoustic myself.
Speaker 3:Well, I feel you for sure.
Speaker 1:Well, how about the writing, and how long have you been writing?
Speaker 3:Well, I started writing when I was probably 18, 19, something like that. So I had been out here writing for a long time, just kind of by myself. I'd never done no co-writing. Well, 2018 rolled around and I got a message from Roger Springer. He wrote it's a little too late for Mark Chestnut and had tons of chestnut cuts, george Straight and what have you. He reached out to me on Facebook and found me doing either a Keith Whitley or a Brooks and Dunn cover. I can't remember, but he invited me out October of 2018 to write, and that was kind of my first dabbling in pole writing. And so just since then, I've been working with him and I couldn't have found a better mentor.
Speaker 2:Wow, that's awesome.
Speaker 3:Not only writing but a lot of other ways too, of course, you know. But anyway, that's kind of been the, and then of course he's introduced me to a lot of other Nashville songwriters out there.
Speaker 4:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And what have you? How huge was Mark Chestnut back in the 90s. Man, old Beaumont boy right? Oh yeah, sure, wow, he had some great songs and you cover them well too. Yeah, you cover them well too Well, thank you.
Speaker 3:It's kind of funny. My mom had the Mark Chestnut Greatest Hits album and my favorite dang songwriter was Let it Rain.
Speaker 1:I loved it, and then dang lo and behold.
Speaker 3:Roger wrote that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I felt that.
Speaker 3:It was pretty cool. But yeah, chestnut was huge back then and you know Roger had a lot of them Chestnut cuts.
Speaker 1:It's amazing to me like the songwriters really blow my mind, because you sing songs on the radio and you automatically gravitate to oh, I love those songs that Garth Brooks writes. I love those songs that George Strait writes right, no-transcript.
Speaker 3:I absolutely know what you mean. I've got so much respect for songwriters, uh, especially since I've been doing the co-writing thing, you know, and and uh, yeah, it's a heck of a craft and I'm nowhere near where I want to be in that regard and I don't know that I ever will be, but it's an amazing talent and me as an artist, the song is the most important thing, you know. So, 100%, if it's a well-written song, that's the stuff I want to cut. I know that's the stuff I want to sing.
Speaker 1:I know Stuff, I want to sing, I totally get it. And I had a gentleman he's probably in his mid-70s now. His name is Russ Ballard. You can probably look him up at some time if you wanted to. But I had him on my show and I knew that he had written a hit song for the band rock band, rainbow back in in the day, called Since You've Been Gone. And when I had him on the show I guess I didn't realize all of the hit songs that this guy wrote. And he wrote hit songs for Santana America, frida Ligstad, from ABBA, like all these 70s and 80s bands. And I had this, I don't know this giddy schoolgirl moment on my show where I'm like sitting in front of royalty.
Speaker 1:This guy is just, he's the writer's writer, right. Like everything he writes turns into some kind of hit song and I'm like, gee, these are the songs that formed me as a musician, right. And it's amazing, like the feeling that you get yeah, I get excited just talking about it. But the writing part is definitely an art and you can either you're either a lyricist or a lyrical airhead. There's no, there's no happy medium. It seems like you're either really good at it or you're really bad at it, right. So well, I love the song. There's no happy medium. It seems like You're either really good at it or you're really bad at it, right, absolutely Well, I love the song. We talked about it earlier. I love the song Everything Burns, which is your song that I stumbled across on Facebook, and I believe that was the self-titled song from the album called Everything Burns, back from 2020? Is my date right there?
Speaker 3:That's right, yeah, 2020. Funny enough, that's the very first song that I had written with Roger.
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 3:You know, just blew me away, you know, took the songs I'd been recording, you know, and I mean that was a real eye-opener. Sure sure Glad you liked it. I love the song still.
Speaker 1:Well, you know, it's funny. Like I told you earlier, it's funny how those original songs like I can really get wrapped around the spokes on them. Well, you have a. I guess there's a new song that came out on November 1st called it's Gonna Be Me, and I wanted to share a quick clip with the listeners and then when we come back after the clip, we'll chat about the song. Fair enough, that sounds great. I appreciate it, Randy. Here we go, Stand by.
Speaker 4:I know just what you're thinking To keep your heart from breaking, that you gotta run away. Run away to keep it safe. But, girl, this time it's different, cause everything you're missing's waiting in these open arms. If heaven's what you're looking for, it's going to be me and you, together forever and ever. Just when you think it's great, it's going to get a little better. If someone's going to hold you and show you what true love means, it's going to be me.
Speaker 1:That was the latest release called it's Going Gonna Be Me from Will Bannister. Will, great song man, I love it. I know that was just a clip and we teased everybody with that, but great song man, I appreciate you sending over the full song to me and letting me enjoy it. You know good stuff, Good stuff, man.
Speaker 3:Well, I appreciate it so much. You know that was a fun song to write. It was me and Roger and Robert Arthur wrote that thing and I think I had come in there with a little groove and we sat there and finished that thing probably two and a half hours probably, you know and then I hadn't thought about it in a while and we went, we got ready to go do uh, you know, record some I say demos. They were souped up demos, you know and we had four songs we were real high on. We were going to try and get a fifth one in there. So I went to listen and come across that one again and it almost turned out to be one of my favorites on the album. It wasn't an afterthought, of course, I hadn't thought about it in a while, but it was really fun hearing that thing come to life in the studio, sure.
Speaker 1:Well, where did? The idea come from for the song.
Speaker 3:Well, like I say it kind of just. It started with just that kind of I think I kind of had that little melody on my voice memo and then we got to playing with that and started humming out a melody and you know the lyrics.
Speaker 2:just kind of it just kind of wrote itself.
Speaker 3:you know it didn't necessarily come from an idea per se, but I think it's a real matter there for sure. It's real life, Of course. It just kind of fell out.
Speaker 1:Well, I think you would concur with my thought here, but it's amazing that some of the greatest songs that we hear on the radio these days and in the past are songs that are written in 10 or 15 minutes, right. I remember, I remember an interview with Daryl Hall from Hall and Oates, and he said Rich Girl, which was a huge hit from them for them back in the 70s. He's like, yes, about 10 minutes, man, nine or 10 minutes, like what Number one hit you know? It's like, oh my God, like how do you come up with this? And then there's some like I said earlier, there's some songwriters that try to write forever and never wind up with anything, right? So it's a real neat thing when you can come up with something that's so potent like a hit song from just 10 minutes of thought. From a songwriter perspective, though, are you more of a melody guy first, or you more of a lyrics guy first, or is it a hybrid of the two for you?
Speaker 3:I would say, for me personally it's more of a it seems to me more of a hybrid thing. For me personally, now, I have I've done it both ways Now, when I'm co-writing with Roger, for instance, he is a melody guy, you know so. It kind of all drives from a melody, but he's a like a brilliant lyricist. You know so. It kind of all drives from a melody, but he's a like a brilliant lyricist, you know. And so whenever I come in with a groove and and he jumps out of his chair, you know I know I've done good, you know, or a melody, or whatever. And then you better have a dang notebook handy because he'll start spitting out lines and just have your voice memo running.
Speaker 1:Yeah, exactly, you don't want to miss the good stuff, right?
Speaker 3:Yeah, and it's quite an experience. But yeah, for me personally it's almost like I have to have an idea to start with, when I'm just kind of doing it myself or starting something by myself that I can write to. So that's just kind of how I write on my own. It's different when I'm in a writing room, of course of course.
Speaker 1:Well, I just thought of something because I was listening to you and I happened to look up and I, of course, see my guitars in the background and this guitar right here. You probably can't see it from far away, but it's a signed guitar from an artist named Brie Bagwell, who was on my show. Right, and I'm sure, being a New Mexico guy, she's from New Mexico as well, right? So probably 11 or 12 number one hits in Texas country. So I'm sure you've heard of Brie along the journey there, right?
Speaker 3:You know what? I barely met Brie earlier this year. I got, I went to, I got to go on that Texas Country Music Cruise, oh yeah, and she was a guest on there too and that's the first time I had met her. Okay, and it's funny because we're both New Mexicans, mm-hmm and you know, been hearing of each other for a long time and just barely got connected. So she was a really sweet gal and I sure am. She's talented and it was a real pleasure getting to meet her.
Speaker 1:She's a wonderful person. I did one of my episodes with an artist named Season Ammons out of New Braunfels, texas, and Bree lives in the New Braunfels Green area, and I said, man, I need a place to record this podcast. Brie's like come on, use my kitchen table. So I set up shop on Brie's kitchen table and that's where her and Paul Eason live. Paul Eason is the lead guitarist for the Wilder Blue and I think he played with Kevin Fowler for probably 11 or 12 years, something like that. But I believe the Wilder Blue is out on the road with Luke Combs right now, so they've been making a little bit of a splash on the scene. So kudos to those guys. But listen, I love the originals, man. That's good stuff. Great job on that. Kudos to you for the new one here. And then everything else that I've listened to, and I was a little surprised when I went back and looked at the discography that you go back a little ways. Right, you're not a brand-new guy out there on the scene.
Speaker 3:No, I'm not. You know that stuff. I had started, like I said, I started writing when I was 19, and I had worked with a guy here, a local named Johnny Mola here, who had a lot of success. He had some success back there in the mid to late 90s. He had a hand in recording Leanne Rimes' Blue album there at the famous Norman Petty Studios in Clovis. That's where Buddy Holly recorded all of his stuff and everything and so me and him worked together for you know, 10, about 10 years and I had a great, great time and I learned a lot from him as well. Uh, but we recorded three albums just local, you know, uh, in his studio, his home studio at that time.
Speaker 3:Uh, then 2020 rolled around and I just felt it was time to make a change, and just change in directions. And you know, I got a whole new band. Me and him played in a band together, as well as my lead guitar player. But it wasn't an easy transition, for sure. You know it was real hard to do that, but business, wise you know it was real hard to do that, but business-wise, I felt like it was the right decision and the right direction.
Speaker 3:Yeah and yeah, got a new band and put that album out, and I've put several things out since then as well.
Speaker 1:Yeah, Well, I love the stuff you know we talked about. Uh, you know me latching on to the originals, but let's not, uh, discount the fact that you play some pretty mean covers too, and I was wondering if your, if your shows are mostly originals, or or is there a mixture of covers in there for you as well? Talk to the listeners a little bit about a live Will Bannister show. What would they expect if they came to see you?
Speaker 3:Well, the big change I made there in 2020 is, you know, for all them years I was doing that up to 2020, I was playing four-hour dances just mostly covers multiple times a week. Starting in 2020, when I switched things around, I started doing 90-minute original shows and, of course, there's a handful of covers in there as well, because a lot of the stuff I'm doing not a lot, I mean, some of it is not. You know, it's brand-new stuff that nobody's ever heard. I hadn't put it out. So, you know, you kind of got to have them covers in there as well, for, you know, keeping the some familiarity in the show, the nostalgia, the nostalgia part Right yeah, right on.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and they, and they fit within the the. They fit within the show. You know it's all country music, which is all I know, and Mm-hmm and yeah, but you'll hear a bunch of originals, stuff that I wrote, stuff that I plan on cutting here pretty quick and some country covers.
Speaker 1:Well, you cover Keith Whitley very nicely, one of my absolute favorite singer-songwriters in the world, right? I don't know who could dispute that too much, right? But a huge Keith Whitley fan and my wife and I were talking about that on the way home. You know how a person could bring it looked like. You know there's so much joy in the songs that he sings and that he writes u Uber talented, silky voice, but just so damaged on the inside by demons. You know what I'm saying? It's this facade and it's really sad that one of the greatest. It's like Billy Joel said years ago, only the good die young, right, and I think there's a lot of truth to that. You look at all the musicians that have died so early. You know Jimi Hendrix, janis Joplin, you know, the list goes on and on and on, right? But Keith Whitley, what a, what a silky voice that guy had Unreal.
Speaker 3:Yeah, one of the best in my opinion. You know I've spent a lot of time listening to them. Old Keith Whitley records Sure.
Speaker 1:Yeah, well, you did an amazing job on the Paint Me a Birmingham by Tracy Lawrence. That's always been one of my favorites and you know, I have to admit that I was never a country guy growing up and it wasn't until about 2015 when I said you know, I think I'm going to grab the acoustic guitar and start playing some shows again, right, either solo or I'll come up with this duo thing. And I said, but you know, I can't be a one trick rock and roll pony. Right, I've got to. I've really got to expand. I've got to learn some Americana, I've got to learn some old classic country Like. You got to mix it up. Right, you get it. And you know that was one of the songs. You know, paint me a birmingham was one of the first ones that when I started just queuing country songs up to see what would stick, that was like one of the first ones that came up for me of all things. So great song and a great cover that you do, uh, by tracy. Well, thank you, yeah that's a tough one.
Speaker 1:Yeah, well, there's. So there's so many little runs in that right with the vocal runs. So, yeah, Good stuff. Though, Well, tell the listeners a little bit. I think recently and correct me if I'm wrong recently you played a show at the famous Bluebird Cafe in Nashville, did you not? I sure did. Let's talk about that man, Right, yeah.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it was a blast man, right. Yeah, yeah, it was a blast man. There again, you know, o'rodgers, he's opened a lot of doors for me, been my biggest supporter, and I think I'd have quit music a long time ago if I hadn't hooked up with him. To be totally honest with you. But him well, it was one of his co-writers. Irene Kelly actually was putting on the show. It was her, roger Bobby Tomerlin, who wrote One More Day for Diamond Rio. Yeah, incredible song.
Speaker 4:Mm-hmm.
Speaker 3:And myself. So Irene, bobby, roger and me doing a little round there. So we wound up getting to do about five songs doing a little round there. So we got wound up getting to do about five songs. And uh, you know, typically new places and well-known places, like most of the times, seemed like those would spook me. But uh, I felt real relaxed and it's always uh, but when the crowd is very receptive it makes it a whole lot easier for me to open up and be myself and not be nervous.
Speaker 1:Well, I think the listening rooms always help that right, because really those people are there to hear the three and a half minute story. They're not there to talk, they're not there to be on their phones. And for guys like me I won't speak for you because I don't know you well, but I think I can speak for you, just being a musician that there's nothing that agitates us as musicians more than to be trying. You know you're delivering a song and somebody's on their phone or doing, you know, like there's no attention to the detail, like you're literally telling a three and a half minute story and you're missing the whole story.
Speaker 3:So it's, it's wonderful to be in a place like the bluebird, uh, or or some of the any listening room for that matter where the people that come through those doors are there for the song at the end of the day, absolutely you know what I I you, you spoke perfectly for me there and uh, it goes a little bit beyond that for me when we're in the car driving down the road and I said listen to this song right quick, and then halfway through the first verse they start talking that's like you didn't listen. Yeah, you know, it drives me nuts. It's a buzzkill.
Speaker 1:It is a buzzkill man, it drives me, it drives me insane and I'll do the same thing. It is a buzzkill man, it drives me, it drives me insane and I'll do the same thing. I joke a little bit about my wife, terry, but I'll find something on YouTube, because I go down these rabbit holes with YouTube and I'm like, oh my gosh, come listen to this. She's like do I have to come in there to listen? I was like you got to see the video too, man, you got to, you got to put the two together. You can't separate the two because there's so much more meaning, right, you can see the emotion in the face, it's all the things, and maybe it's a musician thing, I don't know, but maybe the non-musician, just those things aren't important to them. But I think I speak for you and I and all the musicians out there that when we listen to music, we listen to it differently than 99 of the population out there oh, I, I agree with that 100 percent.
Speaker 3:Uh, it's crazy because it, I mean it gets down in your soul, it does it, you know it. Really I feel that stuff yeah you're absolutely right.
Speaker 1:It's amazing, like the the blue bird. You know, I think the first time I went to the blue bird in Nashville I was so hyped about it, like so excited. And I get there to the place and I'm like this is it? Like it's like this little hole in the wall, right, and? But I mean, you think of the, the talent that got discovered in this place Garth Brooks, taylor Swift Like it's a 90, what can they house 90 people in this place? Like it's not even 100 people, literally right, and some of the biggest artists in the world have been discovered in this little hole in the wall in Nashville. It's amazing.
Speaker 3:It is absolutely amazing. I mean, I think that was the first time I had ever walked in that place. I was thinking, dang, this ain't what I expected at all, you know. But you know, being in that seat and doing a round there at the legendary Bluebird, that's an experience that I won't forget ever?
Speaker 1:I bet not. That's kind of from a listening room perspective, I would have to say that's probably one of the summits there. I mean that's one of the pinnacle places to play, right, I would guess. I mean everybody wants to play the Ryman, everybody wants to play the Opry, right? But from just a listening room perspective, that's probably one of the most famous ones out there for sure. Yes, sir.
Speaker 3:Yes, sir, it was an honor, for sure.
Speaker 1:You know you talked a little bit about Marty Robbins. You talked about some of the old school stuff that you came up on right, all great stuff. Who does Will Bannister vibe on today? Who does it for you these days? Are you listening to anything or do you not really turn it on? Like, talk to the listeners a little bit about that man.
Speaker 3:It's funny, I don't listen to as much music as I used to. I don't know if that's, and when I do I'm listening to the work tapes or uh demos I've cut, or songs that have been pitched to me from some of my uh writing circles. You know that's mostly what I listened to, if it ain't a podcast or something Um, but I still got to turn on some Haggard uh occasionally. You know, and, and I'll go through little kicks, I, you know, I, I Haggard's probably my piece tops in my book and I'll tell you here lately it's Charlie pride. I've been listening to quite a bit of Charlie pride.
Speaker 1:Yeah, the great great artist, yeah, great artist.
Speaker 3:I grew up on a lot of charlie pratt stuff. Yeah, yeah, me too, you know, I, and it makes me think of my childhood too, you know, it makes me think of being a little kid, my grandpa still alive and and uh, just just a happy home life, you know? Yeah, just, it just kind of puts him warm fuzzy feelings in me, you know I don't know, I just I gotta, I gotta hear that stuff yeah, well it's.
Speaker 1:There's something about that nostalgia that takes you back to a place in time, and you know it's. It's almost like I can't remember what I ate for lunch yesterday, but I can tell you what I heard on in an elevator in 1978, banned on the run by paul mccartney and wings. And how do, how do you know that, randy? How does your dumb mind even remember that? I don't know. And it kind of reminds me about the last days of Glen Campbell.
Speaker 1:Right, I'm sure you did your share of listening to Glen Campbell and a lot of people don't realize what an amazing guitarist this guy was. But you know, in the fourth stages of dementia his family was saying that he had to read teleprompters to remember his own lyrics. But they said one thing that we can say is that night after night, that guy never missed a note on that guitar ever, even in stage four dementia. And how do you do it? I don't know, but there's something that the brain connects musically, like you know, we could, we could get into the go down this whole rabbit hole thing, but you get it Like it's this nostalgic thing and we listen to it and it just brings us back to a place in time. I don't know how it works, but it works.
Speaker 3:I don't either. You know I watched that documentary and that was very fascinating. I'm a pretty big Glen Campbell fan too. I like all that old stuff. I loved his singing and playing and them old songs, but that documentary was almost too sad to watch. Yeah, pretty powerful, but it was very. I mean, that blew my mind that he could do that and I've seen them videos on Facebook of them elderly women or something get a piano in front of them and, boy, they just tear it up.
Speaker 1:The mind's amazing. It's awesome 100%. Well, talk to the listeners real quick about other music, maybe projects that the listeners can look forward to from Will Bannister.
Speaker 3:Well, I can't say a whole lot right now, but I've got some things in the works and I'm hoping early next year I'll have a little project. I'm hoping I'll get started cutting on a little project here. I can't 100% guarantee that, but I feel great about things and I'm anxious to get some new music out on everywhere you can listen to music instead of just at my shows.
Speaker 1:Yeah, right on. Well, let's do this. Let's make me a promise that when you come out with it, you'll give me a ring and you'll tell me let me come back on your show and tell the listeners about it and we'll send it around the world. How's that?
Speaker 3:Hey, you have my word on that.
Speaker 1:I'd be honored to get back on here, yeah so I know that you have traveled overseas to tour on multiple occasions. Share from a live show or a tour perspective. Is there anything that you can share with the listeners on, maybe something coming up from a live show perspective?
Speaker 3:Right now it's my year is starting to kind of to wind down. So far, Okay, you know, a lot of my shows have just been kind of in Texas and Oklahoma, New Mexico, this part of the country, you know, but there again I think I have some things in the works and I think that may be changing for sure.
Speaker 3:I don't know about anything overseas per se. It's been since 2019 since I did that and the old boy that used to bring me out there sadly passed away. Fairly young, he was in his 50s, but you know, you never know I could be getting back over there for sure.
Speaker 1:Only time will tell. Right, that's right, yes, sir. Well, listen, will? I really do appreciate you taking the time to share your stories with all the wonderful followers of Backstage Pass Radio. It was super cool to finally get to meet you, and if you ever find yourself passing through Houston, specifically, or the great state of Texas, let's hook up and pick a little guitar and have a beer or something like that man, what do you say?
Speaker 3:I'd love that and I get down to the woodlands. I've done the Dosey dough. Yeah, dosey dough.
Speaker 1:Dosey dough, the small place, 30 minutes from me, man. I haven't had a big one yet, yep, 30, 30 minutes from me and there's loads of choppers, yep.
Speaker 3:Not too far, so I keep an eye out on the tour.
Speaker 1:Any tours, any live shows coming up. I guess that the new music releases will be there as well, will, right? When you drop that, that good information will be there. And then I guess there's a merch site there too. So you guys support the artist and it helps them to put a little gas in the tank and to get an extra cheeseburger from time to time, right? So check out that merch site willbanistercom.
Speaker 1:I also ask the listeners to like, share and subscribe to the podcast on Facebook at Backstage Pass Radio Podcast, on Instagram at Backstage Pass Radio and on the website at backstagepassradiocom. You guys, remember to take care of yourselves and each other and we'll see you right back here on the next episode of Backstage Pass Radio.
Speaker 2:Thanks so much for joining us. We hope you enjoyed today's episode of Backstage Pass Radio. Thanks so much for joining us. We hope you enjoyed today's episode of Backstage Pass Radio. Make sure to follow Randy on Facebook and Instagram at RandyHulseyMusic, and on Twitter at RHulseyMusic. Also, make sure to like, subscribe and turn on alerts for upcoming podcasts. If you enjoyed the podcast, make sure to share the link with a friend and tell them backstage pass radio is the best show on the web for everything Music. We'll see you next time right here on backstage pass radio.
