Blending Rock n' Roll with Country: Anthony Von's Musical Journey

Ever wondered what it takes to fuse the raw energy of Memphis rock and roll with the heartfelt storytelling of 90s country? We’ve got the perfect episode for you. Join us as we sit down with Anthony Von, a seasoned country artist from Toronto, who brings over 25 years of industry experience to the table. Anthony shares his unique musical influences, drawing from legends like Elvis Presley and George Strait, and gives us an insider's perspective on the differences between the Canadian and American country music scenes. We also dive into his experiences performing at the iconic CMA Fest in Nashville and the warm reception he received during his U.S. radio tour.

Balancing a thriving music career with another profession is no easy feat, but Anthony makes it look effortless. We get a firsthand account of the demanding life of an independent artist on a radio tour, from hitting up to 25 radio stations across different states to early morning performances. Anthony also opens up about his background in landscape architecture, sharing valuable advice from his late father on the importance of learning a trade. Tune in to hear about his creative songwriting process, memorable TV appearances, and thrilling performances at major sports events. Plus, get a sneak peek into his future plans for Nashville and the Country Radio Seminar. This episode is packed with inspiration, valuable insights, and a few personal anecdotes that you won’t want to miss!

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Here we go, we are live. Hello everybody and welcome back Another edition of Skip Happens. Love it. I get to talk to people from all around the world and tonight I can tell you we're going to go north of the border Canada and pretty big in Canada, making his way into the United States via Nashville, and we've been chatting a little bit off the air and now we're on and we're going to find out even a little bit more. I want you to say hello to my new friend, anthony Vaughn is with us. Anthony, how are you bud? Great Skip, how are you doing? Doing well. It's so good to see you. Tell everybody, where exactly are you?

Speaker 2: 0:37

Well, I'm from Toronto Canada. I'm born and raised in Toronto. I now live in a town just outside of Toronto called Milton. So I always say Toronto, because Milton's a smaller town outside of Toronto, but it's very close to Toronto. But Toronto, canada, is where I'm from.

Speaker 1: 0:55

What's the main highway? Is that the Queen? Yeah, QEW and the 401. And the 401, I was thinking about that, yeah, the 401 is our big highway.

Speaker 2: 1:06

The QEW is the one that and the 401, I was thinking about that. Yeah, the 401s are a big highway, the QEW is the one that goes around the lake and connects to Buffalo?

Speaker 1: 1:10

Isn't that like, because I've gone to Toronto via Buffalo, like you say, but you get on that highway, isn't it like four or five lanes?

Speaker 2: 1:16

wide.

Speaker 1: 1:17

The 401,.

Speaker 2: 1:18

yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1: 1:20

And if you slow down, you don't slow down, they'll run you over. Yeah, you got to keep moving. You have to keep moving. But hey, it's good to see you, it's good to have you on tonight. Like you say, you're from Toronto. You're no stranger to putting out great country music. You've been doing this for close to 25 years now, if not a little bit more. And they say that your music kind of embodies the fusion of you. Take Memphis I can't talk. I said that's Memphis.

Speaker 1: 1:50

No it's Memphis and Nashville and that's how you're described in your bio. You feel that's accurate.

Speaker 2: 1:58

Yeah, that is accurate. And the reason why they peg that is because, uh, my, my mate, my major background is I, my influence is elvis presley and uh and a lot of the memphis sound like you got johnny cash, you got carl perkins, jerry lee lewis, all those throwbacks. I mean, that's, that's my my love, the early rock and roll, and then fusing that with like 90s country, like I really took a liking to 90s country, um, all the great artists from uh, from there, like um, george straight, garth brooks and I at twain and uh, when I was my writing style is a combination of the both right okay, okay, that that's cool.

Speaker 1: 2:37

now, because um is there in your opinion. I'm gonna ask you this right off the top You've got Canada, you've got the United States. What is the difference when it comes to country music?

Speaker 2: 2:50

I'd say just that you've got a lot more country artists in the United States. You've got a lot more radio stations in the United States. We all probably have like 40 or 50 major radio country stations in Canada. The US you've got 300, 400, 500 stations, countries, just it's more, I guess, just bigger, just much more bigger in your country than it is in ours. But we love it in Canada just as as much as what you do in the states. It's just you have, you just have a bigger marketing scheme there, right so?

Speaker 1: 3:30

that's why we you know, when a lot of yeah no, no, no, and I get that.

Speaker 1: 3:35

I was always a fan of doc walker, you know, and emerson drive came out of canada. Um, you know, those guys always back in the day, just I just love those, those groups. But then it seemed like, you know, there's a lot of artists you're make it really big in Canada and yet they come over here, and now they hit Nashville and it's like for them starting all over again. I mean, I have interviewed some artists that have been, you know, top, top of their game in Canada and then over here in nashville it's um, okay, we got to start over, so to speak.

Speaker 2: 4:08

So well that because you have you, you have a lot of talent, a lot of like. When I, when I did the cmas uh in june and I was, I did the hard rock cafe, um, six, six, one, five, live, uh, just just the talent on my show alone was incredible. And then all of the talent that I saw at the cmas, it's just, it's just endless. And even when I was uh taking a break from my shows at the cmas, just going into some of the some of the uh the clubs on the boardwalk, just talent after talent after talent and I got to sit back and just see the people that are playing in the clubs. They're recording artists themselves. It's just non-stop talent, you know.

Speaker 2: 4:47

So there's a lot of competition in Nashville, a lot of competition, and even in Canada too. I mean I do well in Canada but, like you said, when you come to the States you really got to push your game. You got to really, you know, really go at it. But I enjoy every stop I make in the US. Even when I did my radio tour in June, it was a lot of fun, people were great, they welcomed me with open arms, I mean every season I went to.

Speaker 2: 5:14

they liked the new single that's out, so yeah.

Speaker 1: 5:19

Yeah, so I would assume that was CMA Fest that you went to yes correct, correct. Yeah, CMA Fest. So you actually played at CMA Fest. Yeah, hard Rock correct, very cool, very cool. And, of course, who else was playing with you, do you recall?

Speaker 2: 5:35

You know what? I couldn't remember so many probably. Yeah, I couldn't remember all off by hand, but what I did notice, Skip, is that there's maybe three male artists on this bill and then 10 female artists. So it's I mean, that's what I've noticed in country music there's a lot of female artists.

Speaker 1: 5:52

From going back 10 years, I think, the female artists they've tripled us, you know so yeah, well, you know, you may be right that there's a lot of female artists out there, but it seems, it seems like there's only a limited number that are being heard on the radio. I think, I think we need to have more of a, more of a female presence. I mean, we have, yeah, we got you Luke Brines, we got your, you know, john Parties, we've got. I can go on and on and on, but I can probably in one hand. You know there's Miranda Carrie Laney Wilson, you know very few, so, but we need more. We need more, in my opinion.

Speaker 2: 6:32

I was. I was just talking about when, when I'm seeing like live performances all over Nashville it was just a lot of a lot of female country artists all over Nashville so as opposed to recording yeah, I guess you're correct with that. Yeah, I got you. But it's going to change. It's going to change the female, especially with Lanny Wilson and everybody, all the females are starting to dominate for sure.

Speaker 1: 6:59

So you're on. You put out a Christmas song Ahead of that. Of course you had. I'm Going to Memphis, if I'm not mistaken. Yes, a Christmas song Ahead of that. Of course he had, I'm.

Speaker 2: 7:04

Going to Memphis, if I'm not mistaken.

Speaker 1: 7:05

Yes, You've got a brand new song that just came out. Matter of fact, I think. Hang on a minute, I think I have it right here. You let me know. All right, here we go, that's it right, that's the one. Let's give it a little bit of a listen. Here we go, then we'll talk about it. Listen, here we go, then we'll talk about it. You kiss me first, I kiss you last. You're a little bold.

Speaker 2: 7:29

I like it like that you kiss me first, I kiss you last. You kiss me once, I'll make it last. I've been waiting all week for the things to say. It's Friday night and I got my day. You're looking real pretty, you're looking real nice. If you kiss me once, I'll kiss you twice. We'll do a little dance, we'll have a little fun. We'll do some lion dances with brooks and guns. If you move a little closer, I'll move again.

Speaker 1: 8:07

That's when the flirting begins. Now, there it is. Kiss me, what is it? Kiss me twice, kiss me first, kiss me first. That's it. I didn't have it here up in front of me, but I did listen to it before we even went on tonight and I said you know what I love? The fiddle in that. Thank you, that is real, that. You know, the fiddle comes right out at you and I love that. And plus, it sounds like you know it's a fun song and it's one of those that, now that I've heard it again, it's going to be in my head all night and that's a good thing.

Speaker 2: 8:36

It's a really good thing. Great, yeah, no player is. Shane goose, actually a really good fiddle player here in toronto, canada. He's uh won a lot of awards here he's really really good, yeah good to have him on this, on that track awesome.

Speaker 1: 8:51

Now, where did you? Did you record it there? Did you make the trip to nashville record?

Speaker 2: 8:55

no, I did, I recorded. I recorded it in toronto, uh, with a producer uh an award, a juneau award-winning producer, uh, by the name of greg kavanaugh, and and he came up with the concept of having a little bit of a bluegrass nineties country feel to it. So yeah, and that's, that's where you get that that sound. I was, I was quite happy with it.

Speaker 1: 9:15

Very cool, very cool. So, and did you? You wrote that too correct. Yes, I did you did Yep and I watched the video of it and I love the setting. It's in a bar and of course you know you got the two pretty ladies sitting at the table and you're doing your thing on stage I, I did that in nashville back in march.

Speaker 2: 9:33

I was I, yeah, I went down in uh in march and did the video and I was really, really happy with the video. Um, uh, it took about I think it took about I think it took about uh 14 hours to film that. I mean, take you know, I'm thinking it's going to be like a Sinatra you want two takes and you're done, but no, it took a while, but uh, you get in your shots. You left your right shots, but it was. It was a really fun process. I really enjoyed it.

Speaker 1: 9:59

Awesome, awesome. How often do you get to Nashville?

Speaker 2: 10:08

Um well, I try to get to Nashville at least twice, three times a year, maybe four times a year. I was there twice this year already, once in March, and then also for CMA Fest as well.

Speaker 1: 10:15

Very cool, very cool. Now, have you been to the Country Radio Seminar here in the States?

Speaker 2: 10:21

I have not.

Speaker 1: 10:23

That happens in February. You should talk to grassroots about that and it's just a great way to get out and really network, you know, with a lot of radio people, a lot of label execs, a lot of you know grassroots to take you around and it's pretty cool because you get to see and meet so many different people and networking, as you and I both know, is so very important and you know with what we do of course.

Speaker 2: 10:45

Yeah, I was actually told by my manager that, uh, that that was one of our things we had to do this year to go to go to that for sure yeah, it's definitely worth it, even if you just hang out in the lobby of the omni.

Speaker 1: 10:57

I'm just saying I mean any anybody, that's anybody has to walk through there so or you go down to bar lines and you hang out in the bar. You pick yourself out a stool earlier in the day and there it is and it's waiting for you when you're done. That's pretty cool. Where abouts did you go on the radio tour? Did you hit New York State at all?

Speaker 2: 11:19

I did. First we went down. We went to Nashville first, then we went to Alabama, then we went to Georgia, then we went to West Virginia, virginia, then up to Pennsylvania, new York State and then Connecticut.

Speaker 1: 11:37

Oh, very cool, you made your rounds. How many radio stations do you think you had? At least, I'd say at least 25, at least and and and you were up at the crack of dawn.

Speaker 2: 11:49

Yeah, on the morning shows yeah, eight o'clock every morning and then that's maybe four a day. Sometimes, uh, no less than two, but like four, a good four a day, yeah wow, yeah, and that's gone.

Speaker 1: 12:03

See, that's what a lot of people don't realize that you as an artist, and especially as an independent artist, it's a lot of work that goes on that nobody sees. I mean the traveling and and going into the radio stations and meeting the program directors and the on-air personalities. And you know, yeah, eight o'clock in the morning you got to have that smile on your face and that cup of tim hortons in your hand and you know it may be a good pastry and you hit the radio station you know what skip?

Speaker 2: 12:28

I'm not a morning singer either, like I mean, it's quite funny when I'm trying to. You know they, they want you to do a couple numbers of your song. I'm I'm not a morning person at all when it comes to singing, but, uh, I still found it fun. I mean that all, all their program directors and the jocks were super, super cool, super nice.

Speaker 1: 12:46

And super funny.

Speaker 2: 12:48

You know what I mean? They're cracking jokes right off the top.

Speaker 1: 12:52

You know, one thing I would do when the artists would come through on their radio tour is, yeah, they'd come in with their guitars, or some of them have even showed up with a keyboard, but normally I say you know what, I'm going to play the studio version. But I'm going to play the studio version and I do that for a reason that it just you get the full feel of the single, you get the real deal. And if you you know afterwards you want to play something on the guitar or whatever, that's fine, but to hear the single that's out being sent to radio, in my opinion you want that full studio sound, you want it. This is this. Is it right here?

Speaker 2: 13:38

This is, this is what you're gonna hear. So that's, I always do that right, because when you, when you're playing it acoustically, it's stripped down, so you might not get that same effect, like you're saying you're getting that full studio sound correct?

Speaker 1: 13:44

yeah, yeah. So you've been doing this for a little bit, obviously right and um. You know you got a family and you know, is this all you do? I mean, just, you're just an artist I shouldn't say just an artist I'm just saying, you're an artist skip.

Speaker 2: 13:58

To be honest with you, because I'm independent, I, I need another, I need another, I need another job to fund this. Uh, I mean music. If I could, if I would do this totally full-time, this would be exactly what I would do. But I have, I have another job to fund this, this, this, this project, because I mean, uh, to get, first of all, you have to have investors as an independent artist, and you also need to be able to fund this as well. So, yeah, I know, I, I, I'm a, I'm a landscape architect yeah, oh cool, oh, very cool, yeah.

Speaker 1: 14:29

So do you do like um, do you do like homes or are you strictly in business?

Speaker 2: 14:36

Yeah, basically what I'll do is I'll design and construct and landscape homes. That's what I did. I studied music and landscape design. I studied the two of them together at the same time.

Speaker 1: 14:46

See, I always think this is very interesting because you're not alone. I mean, everybody I talk to says, yeah, I work at Kroger or I, you know, and this is your profession, something to fall back on, but you can still do something that you absolutely love and you have a passion for, and you're doing very well at it.

Speaker 2: 15:03

But my dad passed away when I was 16. So my dad told me, because he knew I, he knew I loved music. So he said to me, son, if you know, I know you love music, but learn a trade. So that way you have the, you have the one to fund the other. And he was not wrong. So I mean I and I, and I I continued to do that, and I'm glad I did, because I hear a lot, of, a lot of music, the, the artists that I talk to, like they're they, they go on Broadway and they're and they're, they're playing all night long for the, for the tips that they play, and they work really hard at it, Right, and I mean I just, I just this is my way of doing it. I, you know, I want to be able to write and create my music, but I, I want to fund it in my, in my own way, which is the way I'm doing it.

Speaker 1: 15:45

Exactly, exactly, the Syracuse university arts. Actually it's a. It's not really Syracuse University, it's the State University of New York, but they got the ESF school and that's big in landscape architecture and all that. Esf Environmental School of Forestry maybe, I don't know, it's something like that, but yeah, it's a big landscaping school. Of course it's right next to SU, it's up on the hill, so it's kind of cool.

Speaker 2: 16:14

Excellent, yeah, yeah, because we we have a couple here. We have one in uh, one in toronto called humber college that's where I got my degree and then there's also the university of guelph too. So and they're, they're, they're quite big in the landscaping you can get, you can get into forestry, you can get into, uh, uh, a bore culture, which is trees and that. But I just got in the general part of it where I could study, uh, like you know, the basically designing the exterior of your house, right? So that's what.

Speaker 1: 16:40

I got you. I'll be calling you.

Speaker 2: 16:42

Okay, no problem.

Speaker 1: 16:45

And I'll put you on a stage in front of listeners too. I would love to do that. Uh, what do you? What do you see yourself like in five more years?

Speaker 2: 16:54

I. I'd like to see if I can at least write another two albums, three albums for sure. If not one album, at least two EPs in an album. I love writing music every year. This upcoming fall, I'd like to write another holiday song. I've written one already, called I'm Coming Home for Christmas. I'd like to write another holiday song. I've written one already, called I'm Coming Home for Christmas. I like to write another one, and then in the new year I like to get writing on my new EP.

Speaker 1: 17:23

I love that. I love that. So when you write a song and you pick up your guitar and you're going to play it, I mean, do you do that for your wife? Or say, honey, what do you think of this? Do you think it's worth it or not, or anything like that? Or a friend.

Speaker 2: 17:38

Well, yeah, one song I wrote for my wife and that was that was three, four years ago it's called In Summer Love. I wrote that for my wife. So, yeah, it happens in many different ways. I find that I write a lot of songs when I least expect it. An idea comes to me and then what I do is I'll have my device and I'll sing it into my phone. Whatever the hook may be, whatever the catchphrase may be, I'll make sure that I don't lose that idea. And then I'll take it into my studio and I'll start writing it. Some songs may take 30, 40 minutes. Some songs may take six months.

Speaker 2: 18:17

Um so, but I'll start my ideas. I might have five, six, eight, 10 songs going at once, and then, uh, two may finish within 40 minutes and then the other 10 may take six months. Um, and then, uh, I collaborate that with, with my team, uh, my, my manager, my producer, and then we decide which songs will go on the EP or the album.

Speaker 1: 18:37

Nice, how big of a team do you forget about grassroots? But you, I don't mean forget about grassroots, but not in this part of the conversation. Is you and your team there? How big is that team?

Speaker 2: 18:51

Well, I've got four here. So I've got my social media. I've got my writing collaborator, I've got my producer and my manager, and then my family, which is my big team. And then I've got a big team in the US too. I've got grassroots. I've got my publicist, nicole. I've also got my videographer there in the States so they helped me a lot in the States as well. So you gotta have for anybody that's in this business. You gotta have a good team around you for sure.

Speaker 1: 19:23

Right, right, right, and you gotta have somebody to bounce things off of as well, yeah yeah, yeah, when you go to Nashville, do you walk Broadway? Do you get out there at all? I know you said you were at the CMA Fest, but you do, I do.

Speaker 2: 19:41

I'm a big student, I like to walk Broadway. I like to always soak in what I can. I mean, I'm always learning, I'm always listening. You know what I mean, because there's a lot of talent in Nashville, a lot A ton of talent. Yeah, a lot Ton of talent.

Speaker 1: 19:55

Yeah, ton, sometimes I think there could be too much. I don't even know if that's possible, but yeah, it's. There's so many people that are. They're like, okay, I'm going to Nashville, I'm going to give this a shot. A lot of people make it and a lot of people don't. So but I guess if you don't go, you would regret not going. You know what I mean. So, yeah, do you um any particular place to hang out when you're in nashville? Do you get out of town at all, maybe up to the station in, or do you go to the bluebird and you have you played at the bluebird, probably?

Speaker 2: 20:26

I haven't. I was when I was there in june. I wanted, I wanted to get in. I I could not get in. I guess there was already. It was already full, it was already packed. I was getting my manager to try to get me in there, but no, I did not play the blue board yet one, one of my one of my checks. I like to get on the bucket, check out my bucket list, but no, I have not played there yeah, yeah, and I I'm pretty sure you will yeah, there's no doubt you know which, which is really cool.

Speaker 1: 20:50

Um, have you been you're. When you sit down to write, do you get into like a writer's session with other people, or is it just you? Oh, I'm sorry, that's all right, it's all right, I'll answer it.

Speaker 2: 21:03

Sorry about that, it's all good.

Speaker 2: 21:06

Yeah, I've got, I've got a I like to get. I write a lot of my music on my own and what I'll do is I'll collaborate with another one of my writers His name is Chris Smith and I'll bounce things off of him If I don't like the way the bridge is going in the song, if I feel it needs. Maybe it's too. It's just too simplistic. It's maybe my, my song's only got three chords in it and it doesn't. To me it doesn't sound. It doesn't sound like it's it's got enough. It doesn't got enough. Uh, maybe enough changes in the song. Um, a lot of times songs need that little extra bridge in there that I might need a little help with. Most of the time, I write everything on my own. Uh, my, my one, my. One thing I'd like to do is I'd like to get to nashville and write with some of the other writers. I know there's a lot of writers in Nashville, but that's one of my things that I'd like to do.

Speaker 1: 22:00

Get into a writer's round, for sure. I've actually sat in those and watched how it all comes together and it's just amazing. It's amazing how all the thoughts come out and then everybody kind of does their own thing and then all of a sudden you know. Next thing, you know you got a song.

Speaker 2: 22:19

Yeah, cause, like, if I'm sitting, if I'm sitting with two other people, three other people see for me, I have to. If I'm writing by myself, there's no, I don't have to really be rushed at it, which is what I actually like about being a solo writer. There's like about being a solo writer there's no time frame, right, so you can put songs aside and come back to them and then eventually, the thought process once you give it a second to breathe, you eventually do figure it out. But when you're with three other four other people, it's a much faster process because you've got more ideas coming at you, so you can finish that song in record time now, right. So if you come up with the idea, it's pretty cool how they start. You know that he's got the bridge, you know he's got, he's got the hook. He's going to say it's really cool. And that's one thing I haven't experienced yet is having a team of three or four working with. I've only I've only had a team of two right now.

Speaker 1: 23:07

It can only get better, just keeps getting better for you. That's pretty cool, you know. Know, it says here you had a strong presence on television as well as radio. What, uh, have you done?

Speaker 2: 23:17

a lot of tv well, you know um for for for tv. Basically I've done a lot of charity stuff on tv oh okay, yeah, I've. I've also done, um, uh, you know, doing some like when I was doing some sports, when I was doing the anthems for the Blue Jays, I would be singing the national anthem. I mean I found that nerve wracking because you've got 50,000, you know that are watching you do the anthem. So I, you know, I feel like I got a pretty good presence. You know, when I'm on television, Also.

Speaker 2: 23:50

I did. When I did the video in Nashville, I, I, I, everybody really, really commented on the commented on the video, how well it was done. So, yeah, Very cool.

Speaker 1: 23:59

Do you follow the Blue Jays?

Speaker 2: 24:01

I do. They're not doing too good this year. You know they've traded off a lot of their players. It sounds like they're rebuilding again, but yeah. I do follow them.

Speaker 1: 24:12

They lost today.

Speaker 2: 24:13

Okay.

Speaker 1: 24:14

Because we're a big baseball family. As a matter of fact, the starting pitcher for the Jays today used to live with us, Paulo Espino, and we used to house players here in Syracuse. Paulo played for our AAA team and then, you know, he went to another team and then he got called up to the bigs. But I got a text today saying he was pitching and he was. You know, they lost, but still it's good to see somebody you know up there on the mound, so it's pretty exciting.

Speaker 2: 24:45

Yeah, that's, that's great. Yeah, I did. I didn't know. I didn't hear of this guy, so he must be again. He's like you said he's new. Yeah, you know he must be again, he's like you said he's new they've brought.

Speaker 1: 24:53

Yeah, you know they. They call him up. I mean he's on the what they call the 40 man and, um, he's playing in buffalo, which is the blue jays triple a affiliate yeah and uh. So because he's on that 40 man, if they need somebody or they want to give somebody a shot, that you know. Okay, we need somebody, we'll call paulo, so he goes up and he does his thing, which he did today today. So it was kind of cool.

Speaker 2: 25:14

So awesome yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1: 25:16

It's very awesome, very awesome and uh. So when do you think you're going to be going back to Nashville?

Speaker 2: 25:22

I'm hoping.

Speaker 1: 25:23

I'm hoping early next year and I'm going to take your advice, and hopefully it's February, yes, uh it's the country radio seminar and it's towards the end of February it's like the week, and I don't know if it's final week. I have to look. It's around the 20th, 21st, somewhere in there. So but if you Google it, the country radio seminar that's. You know you can meet other artists and, like I said, there's all sorts of people you can connect with. And if you mention it to grassroots, I mean they know the ins and outs of that.

Speaker 2: 25:51

So that's pretty cool, pretty pretty cool, for sure I'll ask them for sure.

Speaker 1: 25:56

Absolutely, and tell us a little bit about your live performance. Is it pretty crazy? Is it pretty? Would you consider like, okay, here's rockabilly. If you say Memphis, you say Elvis, you say Nashville, that's kind of, I think, a little bit of rockabilly.

Speaker 2: 26:13

Yeah, yeah, I do have a rockabilly feel. I mean I, I mean I'm, I've got, I've got the um, the kind of rockabilly clothes on the top half and then I've got the country on the bottom, so I've got the jeans and the boots and yeah, so I do. I do got that, that rockabilly. Look about my stage presence. When I'm, when I'm singing, I do like to interact with the audience. I'll go out in the crowd, you know, get people going and I like to take the guitar off. I mean, I'll play the guitar but I like to take the guitar off so I can move around and, you know, kind of get in everybody's face. I do like to interact a lot.

Speaker 1: 26:47

I love that. I love that If you can connect with your audience. You know, I've seen it happen. It's just, oh yeah, it's huge. It's huge. And do you, when you, you know you go out and you sing some of your songs that probably people in canada would know more so than here, but uh, soon it will be here but do they sing those back to you? And when they do that, does that make you feel like, wow, this is kicking ass, get me.

Speaker 2: 27:11

First, I was surprised they actually knew the words I, you know, I mean and and that's a good feeling. When they already know your, your, your song, that's out now. I mean, that's, that's great, cause that's what, that's what all songwriters are hoping for that they already know your song and we're singing along with it, right? So, and if you can pull the mic away and they already know your words, that's, that's, that's amazing, right.

Speaker 1: 27:31

Exactly, exactly, right, I just I was going to say something. I totally lost my train of thought. But doing that, oh, social media is what does that? You know, as you put a song out, you may not hear it on the radio right away, but by the time you do, your audience already knows it because of social media, and I would assume you're on all those platforms as well, correct?

Speaker 2: 27:52

Yeah, I am. Yeah, I'm on Spotify, itunes, amazon for all my songs, so you can kiss me first is on all of those and all of my other songs from my other albums are all there. You can reach me on Anthony Vaughn Music for Instagram and for Facebook and Twitter, and also for YouTube. You can get all my videos up there as well.

Speaker 1: 28:18

Yeah, if you could, anthony, if you could collaborate with anybody at this point, who would you like to do that with?

Speaker 2: 28:25

I'd have to say Lainey Wilson.

Speaker 1: 28:27

I like to collaborate with her. I could see you doing that.

Speaker 2: 28:30

Yeah, I like to collaborate with her. I think she's just on fire. She writes great songs. I love her stage presence. I love everything that she's doing. I love her look. I like her style.

Speaker 1: 28:46

She's the real deal.

Speaker 2: 28:48

I've got a style that goes the other way. She's got that 70s style right. Where mine's kind of like that, that 50s, 60s, 90s style right.

Speaker 1: 28:57

Right, yeah, but I could see that happening, because if you, if you think about the way she performs and how she handles the stage, how she handles herself, and then I'm thinking about how you would do that I, it would go together great. I think that's a great choice, sure you know? And laney, laney has definitely paid her dues. She's been in nashville for quite some time. She moved there in a camper and the plumbing was bad. The floor was rotted out. I mean, I got you watch my podcast, I she told me the whole story. It was just crazy. But now look at her and she's the real deal.

Speaker 2: 29:28

Yeah, you know, she is real deal, yeah, absolutely. You know what? Everybody and everybody loves her. She's a you know cause he's very honest in what she says.

Speaker 1: 29:37

So, yep, yep, it's funny, um, we taught we're talking about Laney, we should be talking more about you. But you're awesome, but, uh, talking about Laney, when I had her on the podcast and then afterwards I said, laney, I'm gonna send you out a couple of coffee mugs, I'm gonna send you four coffee mugs. She's like, oh, thank you very much. So, um, I sent them out to her and she did a show at um at the new york state fair last year. By the way, it broke all records for attendance when she was there for her show alone, just in the area of the stage, there was 53,000 people. It was just yeah.

Speaker 1: 30:13

And when I got on stage to do the, the presents, and I looked out, I was speechless because all I could see, as far as I could see, was people. It was just head. I could have walked on heads, but we walked backstage. She looks, she goes Skip. I said hey, lainey, how are you? You know, just strike up a conversation. She goes. I got all your coffee mugs on my bus and that's where they stay. We use them all the time. And I'm like, wow. I said you know what this is when you know somebody's real, because they remember you, they don't have to look at a diary or find out, okay, who are you, or find out ahead of time. They remember you and you know she. To this day she uses the mugs on her bus, which I think is pretty cool.

Speaker 2: 30:55

So that's that's, super cool yeah.

Speaker 1: 30:57

By the way, you'll get a mug too.

Speaker 2: 30:58

Oh, thank you, Thank you.

Speaker 1: 31:00

So you can drink your Tim.

Speaker 2: 31:01

Hortons, yeah, and I drink a lot of coffee, so I'll be using that mug for sure.

Speaker 1: 31:06

We were talking before we went out about. You asked me about Tim Hortons. I know here in the Northeast they're few and far between. We have a Dunkin' just about everywhere. But of course Tim Hortons is huge in Canada and they always will be, for sure, for sure.

Speaker 2: 31:20

I actually have my own tin of coffee upstairs.

Speaker 1: 31:24

And I got my own Dunkin' tin upstairs there you go Exactly right. Anthony, it's been pretty cool chatting with you to find out about you and what you do with the music that you're putting out. I know the single is out there again. If you would tell everybody how can they listen to more of your music, how can they find out more about you, the website and, you said, the socials for sure, my website.

Speaker 2: 31:46

My website is Anthony Von, vio and dot CA. That's my web. You can find all my socials on my webpage or you can go on Anthony Von Music for Instagram, for Facebook, for Twitter and also for TikTok. I'm on all the social platforms and for iTunes, spotify and and amazon, my songs are all there awesome and make sure you go to like itunes.

Speaker 1: 32:13

You buy the music. Yes, you can, because it benefits the artist, and please do that. Um, I cannot say that enough. So, just because you put a lot of work into that and, uh, you know somebody's going to listen to it, they should buy it it. I mean, it's about 29,. Right, isn't that what it is on iTunes, or something?

Speaker 2: 32:31

Correct If, if, if, if fans want to buy my my copy on on my webpage, you can get a physical copy on my webpage. Just go there. You can email, email my manager, email my team and they'll send you a copy.

Speaker 1: 32:46

That is pretty cool. Yeah, would you autograph?

Speaker 2: 32:49

it, I would, I would. There you go. And we've got merchandise. We've got t-shirts that say Kiss Me First. We've got all kinds of merchandise, so check it on out, yeah.

Speaker 1: 32:57

Yeah, what a great idea though. Kiss Me First, and those t-shirts, the whole branding, the whole marketing of that is you can go in so many different directions with that. Kiss Me First.

Speaker 2: 33:09

That's true. It's a cute title and the shirt's really, really, really nice. I know a lot of women buy the shirt. I'm getting a lot of sales. Women are buying that.

Speaker 1: 33:22

That's a good thing. If the women are buying it, you're good. You're good they do most of the buying. Anyways, women, you've got to love, love that. Anthony, it's been great chatting with you tonight. Thanks for coming on. Skip happens. Uh, it's good to get to know you a little bit. I look forward to actually shaking your hand someday soon. We'll probably see each other in nashville and I'll make it a point to say hello. Or, if you see me before, I see you make a point to say hello and really would love to. You know, carry on this conversation in person, maybe over a beer.

Speaker 2: 33:52

We can sit and chit chat. Skip, thanks for having me on Appreciate it.

Speaker 1: 33:56

Absolutely. It's Anthony Vaughn here on skip happens tonight. If you enjoyed the podcast on YouTube, make sure you subscribe, make sure you check Anthony out online. He gave you all the every everywhere you need to go, he just told you. So y'all do that. Thank you for viewing everybody. Listen to the music and we'll talk to you again soon, right here, skip happens Bam.