Generation In-Between: A Xennial Podcast
Xennial co-hosts Dani and Katie talk about their analog childhoods, digital adulthoods and everything in between. If you love 1980's and 1990's pop culture content, this is the podcast for you!
Generation In-Between: A Xennial Podcast
Reba Forever: A Xennial Superfan Perspective
Did you ever sign up for a fan club newsletter that came to your mailbox quarterly? Did you have Whoever's In New England on cassette tape?
If you ever teased your hair or dyed it red for a concert or karaoke night in the 80s or 90s, you might a Xennial Reba McEntire fan. And our special guest is too!
Join listener and superfan Jen as she recounts her firsthand experiences seeing Reba in concert 42 times, meeting her in person, and creating a shrine to Reba in her teenage bedroom.
You DEFINITELY do not want to miss this episode!
And don't miss our bonus Reba content on Patreon!
This episode was made possible by the following sources:
Reba McEntire fandom
Reba.com (official)
Reba on IMDB
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Have you ever felt like you had one chance and didn't want to let anyone down? Did you ever perm your hair or diet red or both in the 1990s to match a certain country superstar? If you've ever asked yourself, is there life out there while standing over a sink full of dishes, you might be a Xenial country music fan, and we well, Katie and our special guest are two. Hi, I'm Katie. Hi, I'm Danny. And our special guest today is a woman who has seen the lovely the talented Reba McEntire in concert 42 times. She is a super fan. She is an official fan club member, and has been for decades, and it is one of our OG. Jennifer, yes, welcome to the program. Jen,
Unknown:yay. Thank you. I'm so happy to be here.
Dani Combs:Yes. Well, we love Jen. We're always talking to her about she's had a zillion circle backs, and that's I know, and her wife had one too. The other day, Tiff had one.
Unknown:I was so excited for her. I soon as I heard it, I was like, Oh my gosh, you got a call. You got a shout out in the Taco Bell episode.
Dani Combs:I'm so glad that people feel important. It's true, and I need to be kept in check with my star crunch situation. You know, there's everywhere you have totally got shamed a lot I did, of all things, it's like I couldn't find this thing. When I was
Unknown:at our Publix the other day, there was like 20 boxes, and I thought of you for sure. I
Dani Combs:found I found them now. I found them now. So anyway, I will never, I will never, not have star crunch. But Jen knows a lot about a lot about a lot of things because she's a zennial, so she like all the things we talk about. She's like, Yeah, I'm right there with you. Has a story about it, whatever. But I can't remember how we exactly connected on Reba, but we were talking about something, and maybe I was talking about Reba on the show or something, and Jen reached out to Danny and I and said, Oh gosh. Like, I'm a huge Reba fan. And like, we're like, we're like, yeah, okay, you like, rebound. Like, yeah, me too. But then she started telling us, like, what an actual super fan she was. Oh my gosh. I
Unknown:think you mentioned on one of the episodes that you went to Nashville to see her, and I had texted the both of you and said, Well, I've seen her in concert 42 times. That
Dani Combs:is amazing. Like, that is stuff love. That is love. So we're gonna be talking about Reva today. And if you're not, like, a huge country music fan, or maybe you don't know much about her, Danny's not a huge country music
Unknown:fan, you will know a lot about her by the end of this hour.
Dani Combs:I am pumped. And you know, she's one of those people that kind of transcends the topic, right? Like, there's a lot to be said. She's still touring. I mean, I saw her last year. She's still on TV shows, like she's definitely like a woman in power, and has been for a long time. So I feel like there's a lot of interesting things to talk about there, and I know Jen has brought us some of that today.
Jennifer Gregg:I will tell you too. It was really difficult for me to try to summarize her career, because there was a lot, yeah, Jen
Dani Combs:texted us and was like, I'm having so I'm having such a hard time narrowing it down. I was like, literally, us every episode, like, we get down these rabbit holes, like Karen said to me one day, How do y'all have time? And I'm like, I honestly don't know. Like, because we get lost for days in the interwebs. Yes. And then, like, if I know Danny's working on something, I'll be like, Well, what about this part? Or what about that part? And she like, oh, yeah, yeah. Or like, you know, vice versa. Or fans will tell us stuff. And eventually you just have to be like, This is what we're presenting today. And we can always circle back. We probably will on so many but so for Reba, let's just start at the beginning. When did you discover Reba McEntire in your life? Jen, and what's like your earliest memory of her?
Unknown:Okay, so my my dad, listened to a lot of country music, so it was kind of always on the radio at home. And I remember also watching as I as a child the Country Music Awards on TV. And so when her song, whoever is in New England, came out in like 1987 I think it was, I was about nine years old at that time, so she was getting pretty popular. That was one of her kind of breakthrough hits. And we have a thing called the eastern states exposition in New England, because it, you know, all know, I'm from New England, so I grew up in Connecticut, and that is, like, a big fair, right? So it's, it's kind of encompasses all of New England. It's a huge fair that lasts, like, it's like, it's like a giant State Fair, and it lasts like two months every year, right? Yeah, yeah, it's huge. And Reba played at the we call it the big E, the eastern states exposition. And she played at the Big E in 1987 and my dad took me to the concert. So that was my first like foray into seeing anyone live, seeing her live. We. Actually, I take that back. I had seen Kenny Rogers live before that. That was my first ever concert, but she was like, my second, and I kind of was mesmerized by her from that point on. And just every album that came out, I kept buying and listening to, I would learn, like, every word of every song on the new album within like a day of having it. And as time went on, you know where, where I lived was kind of unique, because I was about an hour from Hartford, Connecticut. I was about an hour from Providence, Rhode Island, Worcester, Massachusetts, and Boston, so and when Reba was doing her major tours, she would usually come and hit all of those places, like, kind of night after night, and I would just go to all of them. At the beginning, it was kind of hard, because I had to have, you know, I was trying to convince people to give me rides there, because I was not driving yet, but, but once I got my license that then, you know, all hell broke loose, kind of because I was just following her wherever she was within driving distance, right? That's
Dani Combs:amazing. And that was back when you could afford to do that shout back to Yes, and it was circle back. It
Unknown:was also back when you either had to go to the venue and wait in line for tickets, or you had to be on the phone, getting a busy signal and hanging up and dialing again, and hanging up and dialing again and hanging up and dialing again, trying to get through to get tickets, which I remember doing many, many, many, many times, and, you know, asking. Well, in my case, it was my grandmother if I could borrow her credit card to buy the ticket. Yeah, like,
Dani Combs:I'll pay you back, grandma. I gotta get it while I'm on the phone with 12. Yeah, please help. That's a circle. Back to our concert. Yeah. We talked about tickets, and how the process of getting tickets, not only like the logistics of you getting there, but like the cost of that in and the logistics of getting the ticket, like, it's hard to get to 40. I know some of them were later in life, but to get to that number of concert syllabi that goes into that is really different. And back then, they would mail you your hard copy of the ticket. So then checking the mail every day, like worrying, are they going to get lost, and when are my tickets going to come in? Like, making sure you had them? Yeah, it was,
Unknown:it was a lot it was a lot easier. Well, I mean, I will say it's a lot easier now, because, you know the whole Ticketmaster thing, and I don't think it's actually any easier to get tickets, but it's just different.
Dani Combs:It's different is, yeah, it's a different process. And if you do get them, it's easier. If you get the tickets, it's easier. And
Unknown:over the years, I have seen her many, many times, obviously, in the places that I that those cities that I did, the major kind of coliseums there, like Civic Center Centrum, which is now the DCU center in Worcester. But I also she got kind of into the later 90s, and especially into the early 2000s she started playing the casinos in Connecticut, so Foxwoods casino and Mohegan Sun casino, which I don't know if you've ever heard of, but they're very big and popular up there. And so I saw her there many, many, many times I went as far as Nassau Coliseum on Long Island. I saw her on Broadway when she did Annie Get Your Gun. I forgot she did Broadway. I saw her in Las Vegas with Brooks and Dunn when she had her resident tour out there. And I have seen her twice in Florida, at the Strawberry Festival in Polk County. So since I've moved here. So that's another
Dani Combs:90 shout out. PS, one of them is an alum of my college and spoke at my graduation. I can't remember or done. One of them was there because I'm not a country music fan. I don't know. I was like, Who's that guy? And they're like, that's so and so from works and done, and I don't remember which
Unknown:so and so shorter with a mustache or tall.
Dani Combs:That's how much I cared. I've just my paper. Man, you're like, hand it over. Terry Bradshaw. Terry Bradshaw, there you go. You want to remember it? Yeah, no, I was just gonna say that's, that's like, you know, when we talked about Brittany on my show, like me talking about how, like, that was kind of one of the very first concerts I had ever been to. And then you kind of follow these people through their careers, which obviously the Riba fandom goes even further back for you, and even more concerts.
Unknown:And I will say, I know you grew up in the South. Yeah, you grew up kind of in the Midwest. I don't know what the scene was in the Midwest, but I know I know what scene was in New England, being a country music fan in high school was not a thing like there was me and my best friend, and I can't even remember a single other person in my entire high school that listened to country music, and it was definitely a source of bullying for me. Wow. You know, I think looking back on it, the nickname Reba was meant mostly in good spirit, but there was definitely a handful or more of people that it was meant mean spirited. So
Dani Combs:your nickname was Reba. Oh,
Unknown:that's my teachers called me Reba because, I
Dani Combs:mean, honestly, okay, so Jen is a redhead, just like Reba and. She showed us pictures of her back. You did look like her, though? For real, yeah, legit. I don't know if you did that. I
Unknown:did the hair. Oh, yeah. I had the big old hair in the 90s, and it's naturally curly, so, you know, it was pretty easy to kind of emulate what she what she looked like at that point in time. Yeah,
Dani Combs:we'll have pics on ourselves. They're gonna be there. Don't worry. Jen likes it or not. No, she is. She's down. She's now. I mean, it's one of those things where maybe it's not Reba today, but it's, you know, the kids, you know you love what you love, right? And good for you for being out there and being like, Yes, I do look like Reba, and I do love Reba, and I'm gonna go see her four times this weekend, you know. And unfortunately, when we like, have close ties to something that's maybe not considered popular. That's what happens. I mean, that happens as adults, certainly as certainly as teenagers. Well, I'm glad that that did not dim your love. I know you brought us, like, some more info on her, so I kind of probably know in and out of some of the stuff you're gonna say, because I know a decent amount about her, myself and Danny's gonna have a lot of questions, but she does have ties. I do have ties. Do we want to Yeah, they're really quick, short, okay, short and basic. They're tiny ties. And I'll do a quick tie as well. So like, Okay, so first I will say, Jen, today I tried to wear something country themed. Okay, she's looking at me like you failed, but not necessarily, but I don't have anything country themed, because I not country. But I am from Louisiana. Tons of people in my high school is not encouraging music. Okay, that was like a thing, especially in the 90s, because it was like the Garth Brooks and all this thing. Anyway, I do have on Louisiana sweatshirt, and I do have on a hat that says Epley farms, because that's my dad's family who are farmers, and the farms been in the family for over 100 years. So that's the closest country well, yeah. Anyway, my mom and my sister loved Reba. My mom loved country music. I was forced to listen to it growing up all the time, and I did have a short window of time where I liked country. I don't remember if I liked Reva's music or not, but Jen gave me homework to listen all these songs, and I started listening. I was like, Oh, I know this. Like, I can remember sitting in the station wagon here, and I actually watched her show. She's funny. Oh, yeah, like, I used to watch her sitcom just, just for whatever, you know. And, yeah, that's it. That's my that's my reboot size. And, you
Unknown:know, interestingly enough, like, since probably I don't know, two 2000 2000 maybe, let's go 2000 2001 2000 something around there. I haven't listened to country music since then. What? I don't listen to country music at all. Now. I don't like modern country music. If I'm gonna listen to country music, I will pick like the Spotify playlist 90s country right? Because that's that's where I really listened to it and where I really liked it. I do like a lot of artists from the 90s. I was a Garth Brooks fan, Brooks and Dunn Martina McBride, you know, like, kind of getting into that stuff. But I did not, I did not continue to listen to country music into my adulthood. That is interesting.
Dani Combs:And you know what? Like, my mom used to listen to, like, late 80s country music. That's like her favorite, and she still does listen to that, like, like, Randy, Travis, oh yeah, and Travis, George straight, and George straight, like, that's so I had to listen to that nonsense all the time. Sorry. No offense, no offense. Everyone you I am not gonna, I'm not gonna do it. But that's that's interesting how we kind of like, I feel like, no matter what genre of music you listen to, like your your golden era of music, you always go back to,
Unknown:yeah, right. And what's completely ironic to me too, is now, you know, we have Facebook, we have social media, so we're connected to pretty much everybody, right? And so many people that I went to high school with that would have 100% made fun of me for listening to country music, posting at a country music concert, and I'm like, I was just before my time. You were progressive.
Dani Combs:That's what it was. Yeah, music listeners. So like my I've talked on the show before about how my parents didn't really listen to music at all at home, and that's true, but I remember, I had a friend named Amanda when I was in like, second and third grade, and her family did. So I first heard Reba at her house, and it was a cassette tape, and I want to say it was whoever's in New England. I think it was that one, because I had whoever's in New England Little Rock, yep, that's the one rock, a version of respect was that on there
Unknown:that was actually on a little bit of a later album, yeah, and
Dani Combs:so I remember listening to it there to the point that I asked my parents for tapes. So, like, I had, like, I remember listening to her on cassette to start, and I kind of had to go back, like, to some of the earlier stuff. And then there was, like, a video that she came out with. Well, she had music. Videos.
Unknown:She was a pioneer for music videos. That's actually one of the things, one of the things that I was gonna talk about a little bit was how, you know, she was one of the, especially with country music videos, she was one of the first to really kind of grab on to the idea that that was going to be big, and that was going to be a way to really tell the story of the song, you know, visually, yeah,
Dani Combs:yeah. And I remember her some, like, when you had me listen to those songs, I was like, I remember this video, and
Unknown:whoever's in New England was her first music video. Oh, like,
Dani Combs:that trivia. So I had another friend then named Nicole, and her family also was really into it. Her mom was really into it. And they got a VHS that was, like, five of her music videos. And it was fancy, you lie. Rumor has it, is
Unknown:there life out there? Probably that had Huey Lewis in it? Yes, yes. That was, that was one of her there's the scene where she's reading, I
Dani Combs:Know Why the Caged Bird Sings yes to her, yep. And there was one more song on, I can't remember which one. I don't think it was whoever's in England, but it was, it was something. And I just remember watching the video over and over and over, because I loved, like, her acting. I loved the stories it was telling, you know, like, fancy, obviously, is a whole story in and of itself. And then even, is there life out there? It was like she was a mom and there's her husband and, like, doing,
Unknown:how many people identify with that, right? Like, so I actually listened to that song Yesterday, because I was, I was like, Okay, I haven't actually listened to Reba in a little while. And I'm like, I need to, I need to refresh my memory here, right? So I was just kind of scrolling through, like, her discography, and just picking out some songs that I knew I liked. And, you know, you put that song on. And now, as a 40, almost six year old woman listening to that, I'm like, Oh, my God, I can, you know, I was a teenager when this came out, and I didn't really identify with what she was talking about in that song. But man, does it hit home now, right? Like, how many regrets do we have, or things that we wish we would have done, or things that we wish we could do, not that we want to leave our family or what we've created, or not that we don't love our life, but just kind of thinking like, what is what else is out there? What else is there that I could do? Right?
Dani Combs:I So, I don't know if I'm skipping ahead, but I'll just go and say this, I took notes on my phone. What for each song You made me listen to? Because I was like, I don't know. She's gonna ask me about this. I'm gonna make sure I'm prepared. But that song is their life out there. I remembered that song because I'm pretty sure my mom listened to that over and over again, which I don't know what that says, But I mean, I'm a mom now, so I get it, but I was crying. I'm like, literally crying, because that hit home so hard for me, especially because I was remembering being a stay at home, mom of young kids. And I, like, remember that video, and
Unknown:it's hard, right? When you're when you're a mom of young kids, it is hard. And
Dani Combs:I, you know, my husband was active duty military, so I was alone a lot. We had no family. Sometimes I had friends, sometimes I didn't. It was me and me like, and I didn't want to be doing that. I wanted to be working, I wanted to be doing other stuff, but that's what you have to do. And then, like, you have all these questions that she's singing about. And I was like, oh my god, this is why I told this in a country it's too real, like the emotions and the lyrics. But seriously, I will say from, from a person who is not a country music fan in general. I will say the old country music, like you're talking about from from the 90s, 80s, is such good storytelling most of the time. Sometimes, yes, yes, it's very good storytelling. And like that is why it's, I don't like to listen to it sometimes, because it's very sad and it gets you all in your feelings. So
Unknown:while we're on that subject, do we, do we want to talk about the songs I gave you for homework now, or do we want to wait until later? Hey, you're driving this train. So Well, I mean, you we've already we're kind of talking about, Is there, like, other So, sorry, okay, I
Dani Combs:like, totally mess up your order. No, no, no, it's
Unknown:fine. It's fine. It's fine. So I gave you what, four or five songs I think, last night
Dani Combs:to talk about, and y'all already know these songs, so I some stuff. So that song, should we tell people what that song is about? If they're like me and they have no idea what it's about?
Unknown:Well, that's why I'm gonna tell you, why I gave you so so first of all, the songs I picked were all from the 90s, which because this is, you know, xennial podcast. So I tried to kind of keep in, I mean, obviously rebas music goes well into, I mean, she's still recording today, but I tried to kind of stay with that era, since it's, you know, kind of what we're, what you you guys are all about. So, but I wanted, and I'm gonna ask Danny first, because she's not the Reba fan. I just wanted to know. So first of all. So we talked about, is there life out there? And you know, I picked that just because of how it hits home differently now than it did at what the age we were when the song came out, right? So I also gave you, and these two are kind of related, so for my broken heart. And then there was another song called, if I had only known so I'm gonna ask Danny first, do you. Know why those songs? Well, I'm gonna say the album for my broken heart, and also the song, If I had only known why they were so important to Reba. Okay,
Dani Combs:so I did not know this until I pulled it up on Apple Music, and it had this little blurb, and I read it, and it made me start crying. So I don't know the details, but so just let me backtrack a little and tell people what that song is about that we were just talking about, is there life out there? Yeah. It's about a mom who gets married and has kids young, and basically the whole song is like, Is there life out there? I don't remember all the lyrics so much she hasn't done, yeah. Is there life beyond her family and her home? Yeah. It's basically like the what ifs that we all go through. You know, not that you want to leave or whatever, but you're just wondering, what if. As a mom, especially when you have
Unknown:that's literally the Lyric, right? She doesn't want to leave, she's just wondering, is there life out there? Yeah. And
Dani Combs:I think it's so hard to explain to people the real meaning of that song, unless you are a parent, especially a mom, not that your dad, like you dads out there don't feel it, but I feel like it's different for women. I'm sorry anyway. So that's what that song is, just so we tell So, okay, so the two, those two songs you just mentioned, Jen, for my broken heart, I definitely remember my mom listening to this one. Um, it's so depressing and sad. And then, if I had only known I didn't even listen to the whole song, because it made me so sad I had to stop listening. I don't remember that one, but when I looked that one up on Apple Music, it said she wrote this album after like, eight members of her tour group died in a plane crash. So
Unknown:in 1991 she, you know, in the 90s, she really started traveling to by private jet, to her, you know, to her tour, she was probably one of the, I would say, first, or, you know, pioneering artists to kind of start traveling that way, rather than by bus. And for some reason, her, you know, her band was going ahead of her, so she was supposed to leave. I think later that day, it was foggy. They took off in San Diego. There was some sort of pilot error, and they ended up hitting the side of a mountain, and everybody on board perished. So she lost, basically what she would consider eight of her family members. I mean, she had been, you know, she basically lives with these people. She's performing with them every single day and at once, right? So the next album that came out was for my broken heart. So, if I had only known, if you, you know, had listened to the to the words, is basically a song, and I'm gonna try not to get emotional, but y'all look it up, basically, you basically, it's, you know, if I had only known, this is the last time I was gonna see you, what I would have done differently, right? Or, you know, things that I would have appreciated, right? So, and I'm now, I'm going to ask, I know you probably won't know the answer this question, but I am going to ask Katie, because she's a Reba fan, what was the only time she performed that song live, and what was the what was the reason?
Dani Combs:I think this might be totally wrong and it might be confusing things. But was it after the challenge? No, after the space shuttle disaster? No, no. She performed it at a memorial for the Oklahoma City bombing that okay, yeah, I knew it was a memorial for something different, and it was the only time she's ever been
Unknown:and otherwise she does not sing that song live, because it's just too much. It's
Dani Combs:very well, like I was saying, like, the storytelling, like, it's almost too like part of emotional healing and grief
Unknown:to like, and that was what that I was just gonna say. That was what the entire album for my broken heart was for her, yeah, was, if you listen to some of those songs, it's a sad album, very but she was she was sad and she was grieving, and that was her way of helping herself heal and get through that time.
Dani Combs:And I think too, like also when you use your pain to create art, sometimes that helps people later that you don't even know about go through their pain. So
Unknown:many people identified with songs on that album. So, yeah, absolutely.
Dani Combs:So, yeah, I was a mess. I was cleaning my house listening to this. So while
Unknown:we're on kind of the sad subject too, did you listen to she thinks his name was John, yes.
Dani Combs:And I do remember that song as well, which, again, hits different when you're older. Yep, right? Because, I mean, I remember listening to his younger I was younger. I was like, Oh yeah, that's sad, whatever. But I'm like, Oh
Unknown:man, yeah, that one. Let
Dani Combs:me see what I wrote down about it. I remember this, oh, okay, this is that. It was a sad song, but I had a funny I was like, I think this was in a movie or something. I remember my mom and sister loving it. Maybe there's a hot guy in a video question mark.
Unknown:She absolutely, she had a video for this song. But I don't know if there was, like, a different video, and I don't remember a hot guy, but I mean, I mean, other than, like, the guy that she had the one night stand with,
Dani Combs:he was probably hot one night stand video, probably. But then I was like. Maybe it was like in a movie, I swear. So anyways, I was, I meant to google it, and then I forgot. So,
Unknown:so to me, one of the things that makes this song so important is that remember, you know, in the 80s was really when the AIDS epidemic, like started, and it was so stereotyped as a gay and disease, right? And so for Reba to come out with a song that is about a woman who is just a normal, regular woman growing up, you know, in her young age, going out and doing what young women do, and having a few too many drinks and making a mistake and having a one night stand and not being safe about it, and then contracting HIV. And, you know, at that point in time, now it's different. We, you know, we have a lot of treatment now that people can live successfully with HIV, but back then, it was kind of a death sentence, right? Yeah. And so that's really what that song is about. And when she talks about, you know, she'll never know love, she'll never have children, she'll never because she had a one night stand. And I remember in the 90s, when her tours were huge, there was a very emotional song she did perform that in her tours, tours during the 90s, and she would start just in kind of, I think it was like a black dress or whatever, just standing in the center of the stage. And as she sang the song, there was a lift under the stage, and it would lift her up, and there was an AIDS quilt that kind of ended up coming out like and being like, her, her dress, basically, but that she was like, attached to. And it was, yeah, it was, it was pretty powerful now
Dani Combs:that, and that really says a lot, and maybe you'll get into some of this as we're talking but I assume she's ruffled feathers from time to time with some of her progressive viewpoints, well, especially in the country music world, because they tend to be pretty conservative, ish, for
Unknown:sure. And that's, you know, when we start kind of talking about her, her rise, that's part of, that's part of her, her being a trailblazer, right? Because when something wasn't going the way she liked it, she just fired everybody and started over, or did it herself? Yeah?
Dani Combs:Okay. All right. Girl, yes, Reba. All right. Fiery redhead, were there? Yeah, were there other songs? Or should we go?
Unknown:I mean, I had fancy in there, but I mean, fancy is just because fancy is fancy, and that's like her iconic song, right? And that's the kind of
Dani Combs:what know that song, whether they know Yes, country or Reba, or whatever, child prostitution. It's hard to forget you don't know dolly but you know Jolene. Yeah, exactly. You don't know Reba, but you know fancy, and it
Unknown:is forever her encore song. It is what she closes every single show with her. It hits different live. I'm sure that you you know that candy like, there is just, you can listen to it on you can even listen to a live recorded version, and it is just not the same as being there in person. Yeah, that's probably partly why I saw her 42 times, is because I just needed to hear that song live,
Dani Combs:right? Like, like, the CD is not gonna cut it these days. Spotify is not gonna cut it. Well, I think I had told you guys when I went to the one in Nashville, I was by myself, and it was between two couples, and it was like a little awkward, but man, by the time we got to that encore song to fancy we were all best friends, and
Unknown:she always wears a red dress when she sings it. But when in the in the 90s, when she was doing the very theatrical tour, she would come out in like a black like, almost like a fur, like trench coat, with her hair up and pinned with a hat. And I could tell you too, the timing, what words, what note she was gonna do, what right? So she would take the hair pin out, throw the hat, the hair would come cascading down, and then the, you know, the black coat would come off, and the red dress would just be revealed underneath. Right?
Dani Combs:Flopping down. Y'all want to know my note on that? Yeah, I do. And
Unknown:by the way, the coat would always come off at the lyrics. Got me a Georgia mansion in an elegant New York townhouse flat. Yes,
Dani Combs:that's where the coat as it should, as it should. I wrote on my note for that song, obviously, I put, remember this one exclamation points, and I put, gotta love a bop about an 18 year old prostitute who becomes a high class call girl. Yes, just Yes, we're here. Well, I loved that song before I knew what it meant. I just liked it. What did you think it was about? I just thought it was about, like poverty and she had to go because her family. And do
Unknown:you all know that Reba was not the original recorder of that song? I
Dani Combs:did not. I didn't know that. Hold on, it's what's her name. She was on The Carol Burnett Show the other lady. Maybe there were two. The
Unknown:brown headed lady, you're thinking of something different. You're a ramai. I'm pretty sure I might have to recheck my facts. But who do you have? So I thought it was Bobby Gentry in 1969 let me look. But I do know you're talking about Vicki. Lawrence Vicki, but I thought. The Vicki Lawrence song was the night the lights went out in Georgia. But it might be fancy. It might be fancy. I might be
Dani Combs:wrong. I might be wrong. We're having a live battle of
Unknown:it's been a while, man, you're gonna
Dani Combs:love this. I just typed Vicki Lawrence fancy. And you know what the first hit is? Vicki Lawrence night, the lights score for Jen. Her nickname is not Reva, for nothing. Y'all not for nothing. See, I was just trying to show everyone what a true, true fan she was. But yeah, I didn't know fancy was a cover, um, ish, because someone else had done it. Um, so I would sing the words to that song, like, all the time. And finally, my mom was just, like, irritated, but, like, I sang a lot, so, like, that was just irritating. She was finally, like, that song is inappropriate. You need to not sing it anymore. I'm so tired of it. And I even then, I was like, what
Unknown:another interesting bit of trivia was apparently Reba son, Shelby, hated that song and would cry backstage every single night.
Dani Combs:I mean, I get why a kid would not like his mom. Hear his mom sing those.
Unknown:I mean, it was like real little I'm sure he didn't understand what it was. He just hated that. Just didn't like
Dani Combs:it. He knew ahead of time. I also love any kind of song that can throw cockroach and a lyric, Oh, yeah. Like, just, just, like nice little toe of my high heeled chicken. You could get me singing in the word cockroach, because that's my number one biggest fear in the entire world. Yeah, and bopping along to it, you're, you're, you're pretty good, and that's what. And that song is so visceral, though, like cockroaches and lockets and poverty prostitution, like and and like her mom dying and the baby and
Unknown:her just saying, just be nice to the gentleman. Fancy, that'll be nice to you, right
Dani Combs:see, I just shattered, but you bopped,
Unknown:and you still do
Dani Combs:and, yeah, probably bopping right now, singing it to yourself, absolutely, absolutely. Well, let's find out more than okay, did all this research for us. I'm ready.
Unknown:Okay, so the first thing I tried to do, actually, was, was to summarize the awards that she's won, and then I got very overwhelmed, right? Yeah, because she has won some sort of award every single year up to present, since 1984 holy so I tried to just kind of summarize the big ones. Okay, so first of all, she won three Grammys. Okay, Katie, do you know what any of those were for? Here's some trivia. Or can you maybe guess? I'll give you hints. The first one was 1987 87
Dani Combs:so must have been a country Album of the Year.
Unknown:It was, it was for, it actually was best female country vocal performance for a specific song. Oh, 87 I don't know if it was for whoever's in New England. Second one was best country collaboration in 1994
Dani Combs:was that with Brooks and Dunn Nope. It was, Oh, does he love you? Yes, with Linda
Unknown:Davis. Linda Davis, I
Dani Combs:don't even know who that is. Does he love you? Well, she
Unknown:was actually just one of rebas background singers, you know, I think she, she did have a band and, but she just kind of never really made it big, um, but Rebug was just like, hey, do this duet with me and, and one of they could sing it when they toured, because she was there, there's already there, yeah, I
Dani Combs:love that. Yeah, yeah. That's a really, you would really like that song. Maybe, I think you would. It's about to put it on my thing. So
Unknown:does he love you? Is about two women. Reba is married to the man in the song, and Linda is having an affair with the man in the song, and they are singing back and forth to each other. Does he love you like he loves me?
Dani Combs:Oh, it's another brandy. Monica, it's another Have you
Unknown:seen the video for that song? Reba blows her up at the end of the video, in a boat, blows them both up, sets, puts a bomb in the boat and blows the two of them up.
Dani Combs:I loved that song. Still do. I'll send that one after
Unknown:and then her third Grammy was actually in 2018
Dani Combs:oh, was it for a gospel album? It
Unknown:was best roots gospel album. Yep, I
Dani Combs:knew it. The only reason that is even in my mind is because she talked about it at the concert I was at in 2023 and she had a whole gospel portion. I know she has done that at concerts here at did she have so
Unknown:when I saw her at the Strawberry Festival. She was, she had just, I don't know, just started, or had, or had been recording gospel music. She did sing not a whole section, but a couple songs. Definitely. That's, I think, she had back to God out at that point, which is kind of, and I'm pretty sure I remember she sang that, yeah.
Dani Combs:Okay, so, so those are. The three Grammys she has, and those are the only I mean, I know she has,
Unknown:she had 11 nominations, yeah, but she won three. Oh, yeah, sounds right. Okay. What else? So I kind of went by by award, like the major awards, right? So Academy of Country Music Awards. She won top female vocalist in 1984 1985 1986 1987 1990 1991 and 1994 Whoa, yes. And she also won Entertainer of the Year in 1994 Dang,
Dani Combs:yeah. That's a lot of years in a row. Then.
Unknown:So you have, basically, you have two, two huge Country Music Awards, right? You have the Academy of Country Music, and you have the Country Music Association, right? So you have the ACMs and the CMAS every year. So for the Country Music Association, the CMAS, she won female vocalist in 1984 8586 and 87 and she won Entertainer of the Year in 1986 I don't know what the difference is between the two of them, but she apparently was more more popular with the association in the beginning of her career. She was nominated throughout the 90s, but she didn't really win a whole lot in that, in that particular, that particular award. Well, yeah, I mean, I was just, I was just saying, Danny had stepped out. Sorry, that's okay. She was the the ACM. She won top female vocalist in 1980 480-586-8790, 91 and 94 you go, okay, so then we have the billboard, Billboard Award. She won female country artist in 94 and 97 she won favorite country album in 9193 and 95 American Music Awards. She won Favorite Female country artist in 80 880-990-9190, 290-394-9598, and 2004.
Dani Combs:Dang Where did she put them? All I know gotta have a whole house just for that.
Unknown:And the People's Choice Awards. She won Favorite Female country performer in 9294 and 95 and here is the one that really gets me. She won Favorite Female musical performer. Now, think People's Choice Awards Favorite Female musical performer, this encompasses all genres of music, and she won that in 1992 9395 96 and 97 you know
Dani Combs:what like as a performer? All of us are performers. I think that award would mean so much to me, more than the other ones that all these because it's fan voted, because it's people are choosing you out of yes, all the people they like, they are voting for. And, I mean, okay, it's kind of a popularity contest, but whatever like you win. That was done. You love me. You really love me. Like, seriously, seriously.
Unknown:She also won the People's Choice Award for Favorite Female actress in a TV series in 2002 I mean, her
Dani Combs:show is funny. Her show is really good. It really is. My mom is actually, I called my parents, like, two days ago, and I was talking to my step dad on Father's Day, and I was like, What are y'all doing? He's like, Oh, well, me and your mom had just finished watching an episode of Reba. And I was like, like, McIntyre is like, yeah, we just started watching her show. Never watched it. And then I was like, How ironic that you guys so funny. I'm about to talk about this, yeah, so
Unknown:she's also won, you know, like, she won a lot of song album, like, I just couldn't get into it was just too, too much. And she's, you know, over the years, had humanitarian awards, lifetime achievement, Achievement Awards. She was the billboard Woman of the Year in 2007 in 2011 she was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. She's also in the Hollywood Bowl of fame, and she is the only country female artist to have number one hits spanning four decades. The only one, the only one, not even dolly, dolly, yeah, the only one, wow,
Dani Combs:that's amazing. That's pretty amazing. Yeah. I mean, geez. Oh, and in 2018
Unknown:she was honored by the Kennedy Center. Okay, for her, for her, what is it contribution to American culture? Yeah,
Dani Combs:that's Ooh. Talk about a award that that would be also amazing to have. I think that you're welcome choice one, but also like, Thank you for contributing to our culture in a positive way. Maybe we'll win that one day. We probably for this podcast, you never know. I mean, you know, you never know. Awesome. So those are, that's like, obviously, a zillion more awards than that, but that's an encapsulation,
Unknown:yeah, that's kind of just the big, impressive. So it sounded
Dani Combs:like you were starting to say awards in the early 80s. So, like,
Unknown:yes, so her first, her first award was 1984 Okay,
Dani Combs:so where I know a little bit of this, where did she come from? Like, what's going on? Okay,
Unknown:so, so Reba. Reba was born in 1955 so she's 69 years old now. She was born in she she was born in Oklahoma, and she lived in. This tiny, tiny town called chalky Oklahoma, which I think I've heard her say 100 times, had about 18 people in it. She was born into so she's the third of four children. She has an older sister, an older brother and a younger sister. She was born into a rodeo family, basically. So her father owned a cattle ranch. He was also a champion steer roper. So they spent a lot of time as children, traveling to, you know, national, state, whatever rodeos. She also rode horses, and was very, you know, proficient on horseback. She did some barrel racing, if you know about about that, right? So cool, yeah, that's when you, you know, you ride a horse as fast as you can, around barrels in a in a cloverleaf pattern. So fun. But her mother loved to sing, and had it had always been her mother's dream to be a singer, but obviously it never panned out. But while they were stuck in the car driving back and forth to all these rodeos on these long road trips, her mother taught the children how to sing and how to harmonize with each other. So that was kind of where they started singing, was with each other. She would tell stories about, like, when they were at home and they would be singing, they would be, you know, singing some song or practicing some harmony. And her mom would come out of the kitchen with, like, her spatula in her hand and be like, Nope, that one was a little off. Reba, you need, you know, you get your harmony. Was do it again, and she'd walk back.
Dani Combs:That was Katie this morning. I was like, I'm not gonna say anything, yeah. I just like, pop into the room, hi. Let's back it up a couple measures, guys.
Unknown:So when Reba was in the ninth grade, her and her siblings formed a group called the singing mcintyres. Oh, my God, that's so cute. And they they went around and sang at rodeos and restaurant, I mean, like bars, as soon as she could get into them, right, like and so in 1974 Reba was chosen to sing the national anthem at the National Finals Rodeo, and in the audience at the National Finals Rodeo that year was A man named red stegal, who was a country music singer back in the day, and he approached her afterwards and said, I think you should make a demo, and I want to help you do it, because I think you have the potential to be a star. And so he helped her make a demo. She went with her mom, drove across the country to Nashville, and there's a story that she tells about how she would make all of these excuses for stopping right, like because she was nervous and she wasn't really sure she wanted to do it, and she kind of kept hesitating. And she tells a story about how her mom stopped her and said, Reba, if you don't want to do this, we will turn around and go back home, but just know that if you do do this, that I'm living my dreams through you.
Dani Combs:And she said, I like that, though it's like, oh, but yeah, like that. But
Unknown:she said it was the kick in the pants that she needed, I think, kind of to make her, to make her want to go do it. And, yeah, she's, she tells the story with fondness, right? Because she yeah
Dani Combs:and I moms know, like, how to challenge whatever kid it isn't Yeah, of them, yeah. Don't you think that? Like, I don't like it when parents tell kids that, like, I'm living my dreams through you. Because, like, I don't, I don't first know. I mean, I know what you're saying. I mean, like, let them have their own pressure, you know, like, I guess, because we all have kids that are performers, and none of us are like this, but I have seen parents be show parents or Dance Moms. Oh, right, right, right. They're living literally what they wanted to do through their children, which is not okay, because that's right, that makes their stuff about you. I
Unknown:think the key part of that sentence, though, was, we'll turn around and go home if you want to, right? Like it was definitely her dream, and she wasn't gonna push her to do it if she didn't want to. She was, she was just saying, you know, yeah, this, you know, you're having a chance I never had exactly, yeah, you'll be fulfilling a dream that I was never able to fulfill,
Dani Combs:yeah, which is a little different wording. That's a little bit different, but I don't know the meaning, yeah, but that makes sense. Yeah, that that is cool. Like, how old was she? Did you say that was 1974
Unknown:she was born in 55 so
Dani Combs:19? Yeah, I don't do math on air. So she was 19. She was young, but I guess I was like envisioning, like a parent saying that to like an 11 year old. So I think like a 19 year old, I think a 19 year old's a little different too, because I think I would say to my kids at that age, and even the age they are my older ones, you. Yeah, maybe in different words, but like, this is a huge opportunity. Yeah, like that not everyone gets, so, yeah, you don't have to do it, but think about it. Yeah, like, because I never had this opportunity. I've
Unknown:had that same conversation with, well, Maddie, my daughter, because, you know, her being in musical theater and and I grew up in a very small town in Connecticut that didn't have, I didn't even have a community theater really near me to even get involved in, and I didn't have a theater program at my school. And you know, so just to I tell her all the time, you know, you are so lucky that you have these opportunities. Because totally, I didn't have that when I was young, and I didn't get to follow my dreams necessarily the same way that you are going to be able to do that. I tell
Dani Combs:Cooper that too. Like, I'm like, because we live for listeners who don't live around here, like, we live in a very cool area where there is endless opportunities for performers of all ages. Honestly. I mean community opportunities, here, there, everywhere, yeah, and it's amazing. Like, it is just amazing. And I tell Cooper the same thing, like, bro, I didn't have all this. Like, I mean, so don't, like, don't forget how lucky all of you are. Absolutely, you know, yeah. Like, not everybody gets because for them, they're like, oh, here we go. Yeah. Like, no, not everybody gets that. Yeah, totally. But anyway, just like, understand the opportunity. So yay Reba 19. So, right.
Unknown:So she gets to Nashville, she signs with Mercury Records. They like her demo her first album. Well, it didn't, it wasn't right away. Her first album came out in 1977 so it was a few years later. But she, she talks a lot about how in the beginning it was very you were told what to sing, you were told what to wear, you were told how to act. You were told basically everything by the men who ran the country music business, and which we
Dani Combs:hear from lots of artists we do. And she just in country. She
Unknown:didn't love that, right? Okay, who would so? And I actually wrote down a quote that she that she had, and I think it was in one of her books. She said, as a woman, you don't complain. You work twice as hard, you do your job, you try to outsmart them, you try to outwork them, and you get there first,
Dani Combs:boom, dang truth. Bomb, yeah. So it's kind of like, at least at first, she was accepting of the confines, but also like, how can I use it to my advantage? Right?
Unknown:Right? So she she did what she needed to do to get further in her career. And then in 1984 she dropped Mercury Records because she was tired of being told what to do, and she signed with MCA, okay, which gave her a little more creative control. However, in the late 80s, she still was kind of irritated at the confines that she was under, and she dropped everybody and basically started her own entertainment company and started producing her own stuff. I love that too. And you know, well, she married her manager too at that point. So,
Dani Combs:hey, it happens. I mean, you're together all the time, yeah,
Unknown:yeah, yeah. So a little bit of her her romantic history too. So she was actually married once before. So she married this man named Charlie battles back in the 80s. He was also a rodeo star. I
Dani Combs:mean, that just sounds like a rodeo name. Yeah, Charlie battles, but,
Unknown:but he didn't like the stardom stuff. He he wanted her at home and to have babies and, you know, do all of those things. And she was like, No, I'm not really into it. I'm kind of like, Hi,
Dani Combs:I'm Reba, yeah. I don't know if you realize, like, who I am, but I don't do those things exactly. Charlie battles, so
Unknown:they ended up, so they ended up divorced, and then she met Marvel black sock. Who was I actually, you know, I'd have to look up. I'm not sure which came. I think he was her manager first. I think so too. And then they got married, and the one son that she does have is with him, an interesting kind of bit of story too. You know, Kelly Clarkson was discovered on American Idol, but she had said that Reba was her idol growing up, right? And Kelly ended up marrying rebas. Stepson, get out Narval black stocks, son from his first marriage. Yep, they are since divorced, they've got. She did end up being family with Reba, which was kind of the craziest thing.
Dani Combs:All of her children are with him, two or three kids. Kelly Clarkson has, yes, wild. Can you imagine, like, it's like, well, I was gonna say it's like Katie helms when she married Tom Cruise. That's totally different, because that's super creepy and weird. But this was more nevermind that was more appropriate. But like to be like, not only get to meet Reba, but like, literally, she's at your wedding. She's like, Hey mother. She's
Unknown:like, kind of your step mom, grandma
Dani Combs:to like your kids, like, what?
Unknown:Or your mother in law, I guess.
Dani Combs:Oh my gosh, wow. That's wild. I love me some. Kelly and I know that they have a great, I mean, I think they have a great relationship, Kelly and Reba, yes. Like, yeah. Enough. The divorce and all that, like, you're still very, very close.
Unknown:I believe Reba is still close with her step children as well. She considers them her children, yeah, divorced children.
Dani Combs:That's right, right? You know, my chore and I are both from, like, divorce families, but that like, he's still very close with his stepmom, like you don't that's kids, it's family, unless there's something toxic or abusive going on, if it's like they cared for you and raised you any hand in that, then, you know, yeah, right away for
Unknown:you. Reba, yeah. So, yeah. So she married normal in 1989 they had her son, Shelby in 1990 which now he is a race car driver. Okay, yeah, that's what I'm not really like. I didn't really follow him too, too much. So I don't know, like, what Maurice car circuit, or like Shelby,
Dani Combs:that says southern my son Shelby, my son Shelby.
Unknown:I love it. And now she's dating because she's divorced from Narvel. That was, I don't remember what year, but quite a few years back, they got divorced, and now she's dating the actor Rex Lynn, who, if you have seen the show Big Sky on, I think it's either ABC or CBS. I can't remember that's, that's a recent show, and she stars with him in, I think only the second season she was in the second season, yeah, but he plays, he plays opposite her
Dani Combs:in the show, yeah. He's kind of like the patriarch of the show, kind of for No, he's actually a villain, yeah, and she kind of is too, yeah, yeah. Oh, is he older than her?
Unknown:Maybe by a little. I didn't look up how old he is, but I love that he calls her Tater Tot. Oh, that's hilarious. And if you watch the voice at all, Rivas first season as a coach on The Voice, what she gave the people who ended up on her team was tater tots.
Dani Combs:Yes. Well, now Danny and now Danny and Reba are kindred spirits forever. Got everything else she loves Reba so
Unknown:other than her music career, because she has, she has 33 albums in her discography, right? Yeah, 33 Yes. She also did her stint on Broadway in 2001 she played Annie Oakley and Annie Get Your Gun, which she is quoted as saying, was the hardest work she ever did in her life. For real, yeah, believe it, she also had a Vegas show with Brooks and Dunn from 2015 to 2021 so she had a residency show in Vegas for for a while. Yeah, yep, about said, what? Six years. She's also written three books. So you'll notice, in my, in my I can't wait we'll talk about the letter. But that was her first book that was just coming out that year that that that happened. So she wrote, kind of an autobiography. She wrote one call in that was in 1994 she wrote comfort from a country quilt in 1999 oh, the first one was Reba my story. And then she also wrote not that fancy just last year in 2023 I love me autobiography I actually have not read. I have not read the most recent one, so I'm gonna have to get my hands on that, yeah. Um, that's kind of all I really had about her, kind of how she came, yeah, how she came so much.
Dani Combs:Well, I know you're gonna tell us a little bit about this thing you brought with you, but we kind of hinted at it earlier, some of the struggles she had, and how she got, like, ticked off and, like, just fired everyone. So, yeah, company, I don't know that I've ever heard of any, like, specific feuds she's ever had with anyone in country music. Like, is there any sort of, like, anything that's
Unknown:kind of one of the big things about Reba is she has, I kind of always use the word classy to describe her, because she has, at times, been a ruthless business person, but she has always done it with style. I guess you know, she never really made any huge enemies that I know of. She She like I said, she did start her her own entertainment company called starstruck entertainment, because she wanted full creative control over, you know, over her career. And then she started branching out into other things, you know, she did when she got into acting. Her first movie was tremors with Kevin Bacon. Yeah, that movie, yep. And then she did in that was in 1989 and then in 1990 she did the gambler returns with Kenny Rogers. She has done a bunch of Made for TV movies. She was in the series buffalo girls as Annie Oakley, which is kind of what led to the Broadway role. She had her TV series. She also had, like they tried to reboot a TV series for her. I don't know if you remember, probably, I don't know, it was probably five or six years ago, there was a sitcom called Malibu country that they it really didn't take off like they did the pilot season, and then it kind of didn't get renewed, but it was cute because it had Lily Tomlin played her mother. So I actually really enjoyed. Enjoyed the pilot season, but then I was kind of bummed when it didn't come back. Because I love Lily Tomlin, but yeah, I
Dani Combs:do too. And then, you know, she's
Unknown:done, like I said, she's done, made for TV movies. She was in a Lifetime movie recently called the hammer, where she played a judge, which was pretty cool. I saw a preview for that. It was really good. I really want to watch that. It's good. And then, most recently in big sky, and then, obviously, now she is doing the voice, yeah, so that's kind of the most recent thing. So great.
Dani Combs:So why? So we've kind of just talked, you were just mentioning she's classy. She kind of transcends all these different forms of media, right? But why do you think, like, what's the appeal of Reba? Like, why do people like her? Why was she so influential
Unknown:in, you know, I think I, I think she was as important as she was. I think, first of all, flexibility and adaptability, right? I think that she was able to not, excuse me, not get stuck in she wasn't afraid of change, I think so, you know, when she saw music videos were becoming big, she was on it. I'm gonna pioneer music videos. You know, when she saw there was a way for her to get her name to maybe other people that didn't listen to country music in the acting realm. She was there, she got her name out to the people who followed Broadway, because she went and did that, right? She so she was constantly evolving herself and changing to keep with the times and keep current and keep fresh, and always have new material for her fans to be able to to see and digest, right? So it wasn't like, you know, and I, I'm not gonna say anything negative, but I feel like some of the other country music stars were very kind of, this is what I do. I sing, and I'm kind of, this is just, I'm stuck in my ways kind of thing, and there wasn't as much moving and jiving and adapting and kind of figuring out, like, what, where, where is the industry going, and how can I stay at the front of it? I
Dani Combs:think that's the difference between someone who's maybe, like, you know, has a hit album, and someone who's a superstar, yeah, that lasts decades. Like we say that about Cher. Cher's always coming back, but similar, she is always like, you evolved. She did techno music. She does her regular music. She's an actress. You know, she's been on TV shows, like, she's all these different places, and like you said, that's how you pick up different kinds of fans shoot. We can't even get our one Tiktok video up because we're like, we don't know what's going on. We're not sure we're not Reba, but we're not but I'm inspired by this. We are by what you're saying right now about Reba, because it's like, yeah, like, it's, don't be afraid of, like, trying those things. And it sounds like she had a TV show that didn't do so well, but, like, that's okay, yeah, she still got out there. And there are people who enjoyed it, and maybe people who saw her for the first time, you know, for doing that,
Unknown:you know. And one of the things you had asked me was, why I think she's so important, yeah? And I think, you know, she really was one of the people who led the way for female artists of all genres today, right? So, like, and we were talking about Kelly Clarkson, she was one of Kelly Clark and Clarksons idols growing up. She was one of Taylor Swift's idols growing up. You know, Taylor Swift started in country music. And so I think that she was one of those women who decided, no, I'm not gonna let men tell me what to do, and I'm not gonna just fit the mold and do the status quo and what people expect of me, and I'm gonna do what I wanna do, and I'm gonna do it the way I wanna do it, and I'm gonna figure out how to make that happen. And so she was able to kind of set the stage for a lot of these big women superstars that came behind her, to have that groundwork set, and kind of set the stage that no women can do this, and we're not just going to do what men are going to tell us to do all the time.
Dani Combs:So what you said about her media company made me think of Taylor Swift. Because, you know, I think we have all these Taylor's versions now of all her music, because she got to a point where she was like, I just want to own all my stuff. I don't want anybody to own the rights to anything that's that I've written. I don't want to do it the way you tell me to do it. So she she essentially bought everything back. Yeah, redid. It re released. It added the lyrics that people told her she had to take out. So like, if you're little tip listers. If you're on Spotify and you want to listen to Taylor Swift song, look for Taylor's version, because you're supporting that, not what she did before. And that was interesting to me, that like that was a big deal, and the chicks are the chicks did that too, the Dixie Chicks, they eventually they were so tired of, like being told what to do, and like all the kind of discrimination against them and their views that they eventually just said, Forget it. We'll just make our own albums, you know, we'll just record them on our own, release them on our own, promote them on our own, do our own concerts, because they were tired of it too. So to hear that Reba did that in the eight late 80s, early 90s, whatever you said is, is really interesting to. See kind of the path that other people have taken now on that route. Wow, that's really, that's really great. Okay, so fan club stuff. Fan Oh boy. About this piece of nostalgia that you have brought with you, we will have pictures. Don't worry. So,
Unknown:okay, so you know when you're and I was telling you guys this earlier, but when you're a teenager, you do things that as an adult, you think, what the heck was I do? Because we have no we're gonna go, I'm gonna go buy Reba birthday present, because she's surely ever gonna care that like, right? But she did well, I mean, she, I mean,
Dani Combs:you're tired enough you're talking to the woman that would send letters to her crushes. Male, yeah, so, and I was like, next level. Okay,
Unknown:so, so let's So, let's go with this was set the stage 1994 so I was 14. No, no, 16. I was 16 years old at the time, right? Yeah, because I'm trying to think when I gave her that present, if I don't think I drove to that concert, I'm not sure if I was driving yet. I think my mom, my poor mom, did not belong to the fan club, so did not get to go backstage, so had to wait for me at least, like, one o'clock in the morning, right, right? I
Dani Combs:don't know if I would do that. I'd be like, no child get in the car. I
Unknown:actually, when I was thinking about this story, started thinking to myself last night, wow, she really did a lot of things for me that like that were not convenient for her, right? Yeah, I
Dani Combs:would probably not do that wait forever if it was convenient for my schedule, right?
Unknown:No, this is, like, one o'clock in the morning. You know, she's in the parking garage. Like, when are she coming?
Dani Combs:I'm pleased, at 1am yeah, anyway, yay. So, anyway,
Unknown:so I go to see so, so Reba had a fan club, right? So, and you know, all you had to do was, and I don't even think you had to pay so it was, it was free. You just like site, yeah, you had to fill something out and mail it in, because, you know, we didn't have, like the Internet back then, right? But once you joined you, you got a quarterly newsletter mailed to you in the mail, which had, like, all of her, like, you know, news and what's happening and pictures and all of the stuff, right? And we'll actually get back to these newsletters in a little while, because I'll have another story about what that led to, yeah. So anyway, we we would get these newsletters, and also, as part of the fan club, if you were had tickets to a concert, you could sign up once a year to go backstage for a meet and greet with Reba, right. Can you imagine it's not happening? Yeah? Well, she ended up, she ended up, and I don't know exactly what year, but she did end up stopping it, because it got to the point where there were so many people backstage, like she couldn't even have it backstage anymore. Like they literally would have it in the concert venue because there were so many people there. And it ended up being like, you know, there were hundreds and hundreds, if not a few 1000 people. And like, she'd sit up there and, you know, she'd take a few questions, and that was about it. But when it first started, like, when I first started going backstage, they were pretty small. This one probably had, maybe, I don't know, maybe 100 people backstage or so. That's small. It pretty small when you when you consider about it. Yeah. So anyway, this was in so the letter was from April, so I know I went to see her in March, and her birthday is in March. So, and of course, being this super fan that I was, I would watch every interview I could ever find. We'll have to talk, remind me to tell you about my riba room and all of the stuff I have anyway, so, so in these interviews, she would talk about someone had asked her one time, like, you know, do you collect anything? And she had said, Well, I really like, like centerpiece bowls for my table, which
Dani Combs:is so 90s and 80s, right? Yeah, I like bowls to put things out on my table, yeah. And
Unknown:on top of that, she also owned a thoroughbred farm. So now we're also going to go back to some nostalgia of the hallmark store, right? So here I am as my little used to be like a fancy place where you go, yes, yes. So here I am as my little 16 year old self in the fancy Hallmark store looking for a present for Biba, right, that I'm going to bring to the meet and greet because it's her birthday when I go see the concert. Can you please help me cashier at homework so So I end up finding this centerpiece bowl that has thoroughbred horses on it. And I'm like, Oh, yep, that's it. I don't even know. I spent all my money on this damn bowl, which God knows it probably ended up God knows where bowl
Dani Combs:too. I did. I wrapped it with me with a birthday card. The whole concert,
Unknown:I love this. Went backstage after, raised my little hand, told Reba that I had a birthday present for her. I brought it up, of course, the big burly security guard steps and steps forward and is like, I'll take that. Right? But, but he, he opened it with her, kind of like from a from a safe distance, which never happened today. Yeah, yeah, ever. But, you know, she, she was, thanked me for it. So it was amazing. Blah, blah, of course, I had included a birthday card, which, of course, in case Reba ever wants to reach out to me, because we're going to be BFFs, I put my address in there, right, right, exactly. So, about, I don't know, a week, a week and a half later, I am checking the mail at my house. And now the first thing I saw, I remember, the first thing I saw when I pulled this out of the mailbox, was, was the back of the envelope, which this particular thing it, and it just says Reba, and it has a Nashville address on a PO box, right? That was the same symbol you would see on fan club related material, right? Yes. So, like, when you got logo, it was her logo, yeah, basically, right. So I saw that, and I'm like, Oh, I got something from the fan club. And then I turned it over, and there's like, so I'm trying to describe it for you. There is, like a drawn picture of Reba on horseback with a cowboy hat on with and she's like, throwing a lasso. And the lasso is like, where you can write the address for where you're sending this, and it's handwritten my name and address, right? And I'm like, What in God's creation is this, right? So I tell you, I pull this out of my my little 16 year old self pulls this out of my mailbox, and my heart is beating so fast, my hands are sweating. I'm like, shaking. I'm like, What is this, right? So I open it up, and it is her own personal stationery, and so on the front of it is, now she's off the horse, and she's like, sitting on a rock writing her little letter, right? You open it up and it says, and it's dated, April 10, 1994 right? Dear Jennifer exclamation point, and
Dani Combs:she even spelled my name, right. Thank
Unknown:you so much for the beautiful dish. I love it. I hope you enjoy the new CD and the book, because at that time, I believe it was the, it's your call, album that was coming out, and her, her autobiography, Reba my story, and it says, Love Reba McEntire. All handwritten. Is all handwritten, all handwritten.
Dani Combs:That is that I love stars that take the time to really appreciate their fans. Do you know what I mean? I do because, and they still do that nowadays, don't get me wrong, but I feel like for a superstar to have taken the time not only to, like, sit down and send you something, but like, she hand wrote it, yeah, and, like, she probably knew this 16 year old is gonna lose her mind, and
Unknown:I will tell you I had so much riba stuff, and sadly that, you know, there's, there's some personal kind of, I don't want to say tragedy stories, but most of it was stored at my grandmother's house. And when she passed away, and my uncle sold the house, I just wasn't around to be able to get there to get the things that I wanted to keep, and most of my stuff got thrown away. So I don't really have a lot of the memorabilia stuff that I had, but this is the one thing that I have protected and has traveled with me through, I don't know how many moves, and I pretty much knew exactly where it was when I knew I had to dig it out for you guys, because I was, I was, yeah, that's, that's my one thing that is, like one of my prized possessions, right? I have
Dani Combs:this vision of that, like bowl literally sitting on her table everywhere she's ever moved since she got it that I will
Unknown:live, I will, I will, I will live, hoping that is the case actually
Dani Combs:this bowl, tag her in this, in this social episode, and see maybe we can do, I remember that we'll do a little snippet of just
Unknown:that girl had hair just like me.
Dani Combs:Yes, I will definitely tag her as she you never know. Never know. Y'all because that is so specific, right? And at a time when that fan club wasn't as big, that might be a memory that she has, you know, you figure, oh, they meet so many fans. They blah, blah, blah, you never know
Unknown:which. The other thing I brought with me is my high school class ring, which, which has, interestingly enough, it has my name on one side, Jen with some little ballet shoes, because that was a dancer, right? And on the other side, it actually says, Reba with a cowboy hat, let me see, because that is what, what everybody called me, including my teachers, like you just like, claimed it for yourself. You go, that was my name, though. That answer to that, the
Dani Combs:only thing I was called was Ricky Lake, and I did wait, I can see it. I know I do look like her, and I really looked like her back in her talk show days because we had the same haircut, yeah, but I didn't want to be called Ricky Lake.
Unknown:The only other celebrity I have ever gotten is Molly Ringwald from the breakfast in the Breakfast Club. You're
Dani Combs:more readable, yeah. But
Unknown:you know, if you saw pictures of me when I was younger, you might see it, but maybe, but now that my hair is really short, you don't see it anymore. But,
Dani Combs:yeah, interesting. See, nobody ever told me. I look like I got when I was like a young adult, I would get Lori Laughlin, Aunt Becky from Full House, see that? Yeah, I can see that. That's really, it. Really. The only other one I had was Lacey Shabad, oh yeah, like her main girls. See that, yeah, but yeah. Anyway, yeah, wow.
Unknown:Okay, so I have a Louisiana story, yay. Yeah, right. Okay. So going back to this, this fan club and the newsletters I used to get right. So I remember on the back page of the newsletters, there was a section called pen pals, right? Oh, this is I was waiting for the story. This literally would be people who just wanted a pen pal, and they would send in their address to be printed in the newsletter, and all it would have is the address and the age of the person, right? So I would peruse it. And you know, there was another girl from Louisiana that was exactly my age. And of course, now, being in New England and having only one other person that listened to Reba or was a fan? I was like, Yes, I want to meet other people my age that actually like her, right? So I wrote this girl's name was Danielle, Danielle Danielle Danielle Williamson. And I believe her married name is white, but so if she ever happens to find this podcast, give her a shout out. Shout
Dani Combs:out, Danielle.
Unknown:So she lived in Spring Hill, Louisiana. I have no idea where that is, so it is near Shreveport. Okay, Northwestern, yeah, yes, north, yep. So I started writing to her, and, you know, we with just over our mutual fan, you know, Fandom of Reba. And then we would start, we did phone calls, which, back in the day was so funny, because, you know, this is long distance, so it's not free to call, right? So I would be very timed, like you have 30 minutes that you can talk to her on the phone, and then you must get off because it costs too much money, right? Yes. So, so we started like talking, I don't know, maybe at least once a month. We probably knew each other that way, via letters and phone calls for about a year, right? And then I believe it was between my sophomore and junior year of high school, so probably around 94 right around that time, 9394 she asked, and her parents asked if I wanted to come spend a month of my summer vacation with them. The crazier part is that my mother put me on a plane to Louisiana to people she had never met before in her entire life,
Dani Combs:a month in the summer in Louisiana is a nightmare.
Unknown:Don't remember that
Dani Combs:we live in Florida now, so it's the same. It's the same, except worse. But I
Unknown:also can't believe that I got on a plane by myself.
Dani Combs:Wait like this is how parenting was back then, guys, I'm not kidding. That was our live. She
Unknown:talked to her mom on the phone. Was like, no, she sounds legit.
Dani Combs:She sounds like a real person, right? Bye, and it's like you wouldn't have even had a cell phone to like, no, no way to try. You have no way to track down the landline or not. She
Unknown:did not hear from me until I called her from the house when we got back, like when we actually got to her house from the airport. Can you imagine? No, I would never let my kids, didn't you? I had an amazing time, see,
Dani Combs:and that's what's so interesting, right? Because it's like, I feel like our kids aren't as independent. I know we were just talked about that. We were just talking about, but what
Unknown:a culture shock for me, man, right?
Dani Combs:So first of all, North Louisiana,
Unknown:I had never, ever in my life, had people make fun of the way I talk down there, and I'm like, wait a second, you all talk funny. What was y'all stuff like? I never had said y'all in my life, yeah, why would you and and the other one that I always made, that always got me was, we're fixing to go to the store, and I'm like, fixing to like, What? What?
Dani Combs:When you were in North Louisiana. So North Louisiana dialect is very different than South Louisiana dialect, which is where I'm from, like, which people don't understand. And so you guys, it's like Texas. All the different regions sound different. So North Louisiana is the very typical southern accent that you would think, yes, when you think very thick southern country five, like Southern around South Louisiana is more of a Cajun, right? Yeah, different. So when I went to school, when I went from South Louisiana, not to, I'm not trying to steal your story, but when I went from South Louisiana up to North Louisiana for college, I did not sound like everybody else there. And when I would come home to visit, they'd be like, Oh my God, you sound so country, yeah, and it's the same state. Guys like, like, anyways, but
Unknown:they would make fun of like, oh, things that I said. Like, if I said, What do you guys want to go you guys, they're like, we're not. Guys, like, What are you talking about? Like, like, you don't say you guys, like, what
Dani Combs:do you have the best food ever, yes. So
Unknown:the interesting thing, so a couple things that I really remember. From that trip. Well, first of all, I remember we went camping, but we went, but we went camping in Arkansas, like over the state line, okay? And I remember going to see the boyhood home of Bill Clinton
Dani Combs:in Arkansas, Arkansas is hilarious. And
Unknown:then we went, we we went camping, and they taught me how to catch crawfish, which I had never even seen before in my entire life, doing. Like, no, you have to, like, catch a fish and then, kind of, like, make it gross, and then, like, put them out on the rocks and let them all, like, come out, and then you, like, yank them out and shake them off in the bucket. I've never done that, yeah, just eat them and then, and then I ate them for the first like, we don't have crawf. We have big ass lobsters in New England, but we don't have crawfish. I had never, like, seen those before my life. So and they also took me to a rodeo, which I had never been to before my life, which I have never either super fun, super, super fun, yeah. So I got, like, you know, I bought, I bought other boots and a hat, and like, yeah, oh yeah. I got the southern treatment when I went down. It was so
Dani Combs:fun, all brought together by your love of Reba. Yes, yeah. And I got,
Unknown:I got great cultural expansion as a teenager, because
Dani Combs:instead of, like, traveling abroad, you went to Louisiana to Reba pen pattern.
Unknown:One other thing that I remember talking about was, was a plow, and so they're only she's looking at me like, I'm crazy. Their only concept of what a plow is is, like, what you plow the fields with for crops. And when I think of a plow, I think of a snow plow because, and they didn't even know what that was
Dani Combs:plow. And I have lived enough places, though now, with snow, right? I'm like, it gives me PTSD. Anyways, the best story I think we have done now, because, yeah, that was so 90s, that was, Well, this has been awesome. Bring any other stories or memorabilia or anything. This has been a lot already. Now, I want to make sure we covered everything that you brought. No, I mean, unless you have, I think so. I
Unknown:mean, you know, I other than just my stories of going to see her everywhere and every time I could that was, I don't think I have any other like, major, you know, riba related stories of my life.
Dani Combs:Someone listened through this whole thing, and they either aren't a Reba fan or don't know much about her, what three songs would you suggest they listen to after they're done with this podcast? Oh, that's a hard question.
Unknown:Fancy for sure. If you have never heard fancy, you must, because that is number one, her most iconic song, prostitute,
Dani Combs:bop. Prostitute, bop, hashtag. Oh God, this is tough.
Unknown:You know, I would probably say whoever's in New England, just because it is the song that broke through her career. Now, it is very different from her 90s music, because it is much more 80s country music. It is much more, you know, what the men were telling her to sing, kind of stuff, but it's still a really good song. And just another kind of aside on that song. You know, I grew up in New England, right? And I can't tell you how many times I saw her in the state of Massachusetts. And the first line of that song is, you spend an awful lot of time in Massachusetts, and the entire crowd would just lose their ever loving mind, right? Because it was like the one song that belonged to us.
Dani Combs:Brooks would sing, Colin, Baton Rouge, yeah. Oh, I love that song.
Unknown:So I would probably say that song, oh, gosh, there's so many. No.
Dani Combs:One more. One more, one more. This is just their jumping off point. They can just get their mouth what? Oh, no, I just piqued their interest.
Unknown:Well, whoever's in New England is definitely a ballad. I don't know. I'm Oh, I gotta say, Is there life out there? Yeah,
Dani Combs:we've talked about that a lot, yeah. So that'd be a good one. That'd be a good one. I also liked, and you didn't mention this one, the greatest man I never knew. Yeah? About her dad?
Unknown:I know that song, yeah, I know that, yeah, yeah. So she, she, it's about, you know, she said many times that, you know, her dad was super loving, and she, she knew, well, she knew that she was loved based on how he provided for her, for her, and how he provided for the family. But he wasn't an emotional man, and he wasn't one to say I love you, or to say I'm proud of you, and that was difficult for her. And the greatest man I never knew is a song about a father that passes away, and the daughter is singing about how he was the greatest man that she never really was able to get to know because he was kind of so stoic and so standoffish. But yeah,
Dani Combs:that song, that one gets you right in the fields. Too. Awesome. Well, this has been great. I know we're gonna talk a little bit on the. After Show. So for our patrons stick around for that, we're gonna keep Jen on a little bit longer. And I know there's lots of other things you know a lot about, so hopefully we'll have you back on. And of course, if you love this episode, be sure to share it with your country music and non country music friends and your zennial and other generation friends, and leave us a review wherever you're listening. Join us on Patreon if you want. And I don't know, do we have a witty thing about the about the show? No,
Unknown:I'll have to talk about, I'll have to talk about my riba room on the after show. So, yeah. So
Dani Combs:I think that's where we have, like, a catch. She has that I was just thinking in whoever's in New England when she says it's not too late, yeah, you'll always have a place to come back to. So if you want to listen to us again, it's not too late, you'll always have a place to come back to. There we go. All right. Well, thank you so much, Jen, and we will see you next time bye. You
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