JAJ Episode 4-Finalized

In this transcription, a group of friends discuss their favorite country songs and artists. They introduce themselves and a special guest, Taylor, who talks about the emotional impact of the song "Cover Me Up" by Morgan Wallen. They also discuss the storytelling aspect of country music and their favorite country artists, including George Strait, Alan Jackson, Cody Johnson, Conway Twitty, and Marty Robbins. They emphasize the emotional and relatable nature of country music. All right, everybody, today we have a special episode, but I'm gonna start with introducing myself. My name is Jovi. My name's Adam. And I'm Jay. We actually have a special guest on today. Go ahead and introduce yourself, Taylor. So my name's Taylor. I grew up with Jovan, and after I graduated high school, got close with Jay. Because of Jovan, I've known Jovan since I was, oh God, what was I, four? I think you were three. Yeah. Yeah, bro, like I've known you my entire life. That man's like my brother. I've known him my entire life. We've been inseparable since before kindergarten. But yeah, guys, I don't really have much else to say. All right, we can hop into it. I'm gonna start with my little song that we're doing off the polls. I also wanna thank everybody for supporting the polls and answering those little questions that we ask you guys. It's great and it's fun. So the song I was gonna talk about, the country song I was gonna talk about off the polls is gonna be by my mom, the one and only, Save Me by Jelly Roll. I really haven't gotten into the artist that much. And then, you know, I listened to that song and I thought it was amazing. I think the guy is amazing. I think he's really just a stand-up guy, like he stands for. And just all the positivity he brings on stage and off the stage, I really appreciate it. And you don't really see that that much these days with artists, you know, it's pretty hard to find. So I really like that artist. I've listened to him just a bit more since hearing that. And so I think it's amazing. And Adam, go ahead and share your poll answer. My pick for this poll was gonna be My Wish by Rascal Flatts and Two by High Knots. I've heard the song growing up. I listened to country all the time growing up with my mom. And this is one of those few songs that stood out. It's a really nice song about, it kind of captures perfectly how to say I love and support you. Like just kind of, very emotional song, but it really exaggerates that idea of I'll be there for you. I'll be supporting you. I wish the best for you. It's a really wholesome song in general. So it's kind of something you can listen to and kind of remind yourself there's always someone there. So it's a really nice, peaceful, happy song to listen to. Jay, which one stood out for you? I'm actually not gonna be going off the poll this time. I'd like to talk about some of the ones that my coworkers actually gave me and my little sister. So shout out to Jella, shout out to Cynthia and Daniela. Thank you guys for listening and supporting. Daniela said she wanted me to include Your Man by Josh Turner. Josh Turner has some bangers, but this one, how can you not let down? Everybody knows the answer to this song. They've had Patrick Starr freaking AI cover it all over TikTok. So the next one I wanted to do from Cynthia was Dirt Road Anthem by Jason Aldean. That one's a staple in my life as well. I remember hearing it for the first time with my auntie Dee. Yes, my auntie Dee on a farm. My mom's side of the country, likely. The one that I wanted to shout out from Adela was Carrie Underwood. She told me to do Before He Cheats because how the fuck do you miss that? How the hell do you miss that, you know? That's a banger song. Another one that I wanted to talk about actually real quick, along with Carrie Underwood's Before He Cheats was one called Just a Dream. My mom listened to that all the time. So shout out, mom. She would listen to that all the time after my uncle Estevan had actually passed away. So that song kind of means a lot. A lot of my family will probably know what exactly I'm talking about. When I say, like, when you watch the music video, you kind of feel some things. But yeah, let's go ahead and pass it over to Taylor. Taylor, talk about your poll or answer that you chose. So somebody threw in cover me up. So I just want to talk about, like, as an ex-service member, what that song, like, actually means and how much it resonates with people who did serve. That song was not originally written by Morgan Wallen, okay? It came out and was produced by Jason Isbell. And the song is talking about dealing with post-traumatic stress. So for people who don't know what PTSD is, it's usually acclimated with some sort of, like, going through a traumatic event. So, like, for service members, oftentimes it's, you know, us getting deployed. And, you know, we see some things that the general public doesn't understand that we see. You know, we have to go do things that the general public will never understand or comprehend that we do. And that song resonates so well with me. It has a very deep, not just chorus, but the lyrics themselves are just so deep. And not only do they kind of hit you in your soul, but they hit you in your heart. Like, if you genuinely understand what that song's talking about, it'll move mountains in your emotions. And it's crazy. It's absolutely insane how much that, and it's not just me. Like, all of my buddies that I served with, it resonates with all of them too. I mean, I remember when Morgan Wallen first did the cover of it, we were like, oh, Morgan just dropped a new album and a single. Let's go listen to this quick. And we listened to Cover Me Up and we were all sitting in my barracks room when I was out in Florida. And I can remember sitting there with six of my buddies and all of us were just in tears. I mean, it just, it hit like a brick. It hit like a freight train. Yeah, that's something I can, I've been learning more about country music. I haven't been like a country music listener. I've grown up a bit off of it. Like, you know, because my uncle, he loved playing Tennessee whiskey. He loved it. But I was never really into it. And I've been learning a bit more about it since I'm trying to learn, at least into like, you know, all types of music and everything. I've learned it's really music you can relate to. I know rap has the same type of way of doing that, but country, it's a bit more harder, I want to say. And I, that was the main reason why we wanted to bring Taylor on, because he knows more about this, obviously, more obviously than I do. And so, yeah, I mean, it obviously hits harder as music and it's something I've learned. I mean, Adam, can you speak to that? Oh yeah, definitely. No, country music, I mean, it's mostly emotional. I mean, that's the whole reason, I mean, big tough guys pick up guitars and share their emotions, but I remember growing up, I mean, like I said, I grew up listening to country music, my mom loved it. I didn't really have a taste of it at the moment, so I was just listening to whatever my parents listened to. And I remember listening, I can't remember what song it was, but I was listening to country in the car. I was listening to the lyrics and I was actually paying attention to the lyrics, like as a kid. And I was like, I think I remember mentioning it to my mom, like, hey, like, I never really realized that music tells like a story to it. It sounds kind of like wack, bringing it up, just like, yeah, there's stories in there. But I mean, being able to like look at the lyrics and like break it down and actually like get the meaning from it, it was something different. So it kind of influenced my music later on. So like, okay, that's probably why I am where I am now. I mean, I've always tended to be more of that storytelling listener and the emotion side, rather than just like, it's just, it's very calming. It's soothing. You can't not listen to it. And like, you have to like country music. If you don't, you're kind of lying. There's gonna be some kind of aspect of country that you're gonna like. I mean, you just gotta go out and find it, cause there's always something. Yeah, that's true. I agree with that. I mean, I've never been one to listen to it. I'm gonna keep saying it cause I know it's true and I don't wanna make it seem like I'm a big, avid country listener. I've recently just got into it. But I know Jay and Taylor know a crap ton about it. So we're gonna go into our like, our favorite country artists right now. And Taylor, how about you kick that off for us, yeah? Okay, so I like old country music. Like yes, love my George Strait, love my Alan Jackson, love my Cody Johnson, love, you know, some of the 90s to newer artists, but oh my God, I could listen to Conway and Keith Whitley, Hank Walkland, Hank Jr., Hank Williams. Like I could listen to all of the Hanks, like. Older country music just resonates so much better with me. Like you have to realize like the difference between like 60s, 70s, 50, I should say 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s countries versus 90s, early 2000s and current country is significantly different. So like back in the day, it was outlaw music. Like outlaw country was the thing. And it was so beautiful, so phenomenal. Like you wanna listen to something that makes you like, yeah, like I'm ready to go hop on my horse and go walk out in the middle of town and have a nice little shootout with somebody. Like outlaw country, bro, gives those vibes 100%. But so then we transitioned and we started talking more about like life storytelling, which was a thing anyways, but like one of the bigger artists that started telling, not just singing outlaw music, but like storytelling was Marty Robbins. Marty Robbins made this huge transition. Like obviously everyone's heard Big Iron. Like it was a TikTok trend for a fat minute, but Marty Robbins kind of like helped kickstart that transition and then you come to people like Conway and Hank Laughlin, where they're talking about like actual life, whether it's like, oh my God, like I'm married and this woman looks beautiful and I'm thinking about cheating on my wife, to like Conway has this song, it's called That's My Job. And when he starts out the song, he's talking about him as a kid and he's like, you know, I just had a nightmare. Where's the first person I'm running? I'm running to my dad. Like I'm going to get that comfort from my father. Then he grows up and he's like, dad, I wanna go be a music artist. Who's gonna help me if I fail out? And his dad says, that's my job. That's what I do. Everything I do, I do it all for you to keep you safe with me. Oh wow. And then he obviously Conway makes it big. Like Conway was huge back in the seventies and eighties. And like for reference, if you guys don't know who Conway is, obviously he's a country singer, but some of his songs kind of have like Frankie Valli in the Four Seasons vibes. Yeah. I played a couple of his songs in the truck while you were in there, Jovan. Yeah. I think I've heard a few of them. They're really good. He like, he's got some really good music. One of the newer artists that that's kind of underground that I would like, I was like, yeah, we could talk about Kojo all day. I love Cody Johnson. Cody Johnson's got one of the most impeccable voices I've ever heard ever. But Hank Williams Jr's son, Sam Williams, is kind of underground right now. And he just, not too long ago, he did a cover of his dad's song, Weatherman. And if you haven't listened to it, I would without a doubt recommend it. Like if you need one of those songs, it's going to kind of give you a reality check in your life and make you feel some things you need to feel. That is the song to listen to. Because not only does he relate to like, obviously it relates to people who, you know, listen to country music avidly like I do, but it relates to everybody because those are emotions everyone feels as a man. You know, we, especially in this generation, and it's not just this generation, it was worse than like my dad's generation or his dad's generation, kind of the just suck it up, be a man, and go about your business. Like just go on and do what a man's supposed to do. He kind of really hits that. And that's what Hank was chasing after when he originally wrote the song. And so he opens up and he's like, you know, Mr. Weatherman, what's your forecast? And he says, I need a major change because I can't stand no more rain. Like he just starts talking about how hard it is to be a man emotionally, and how sometimes we just need that little glimpse of a blue sky and sunshine to really just push us over and make us realize, okay, life's going to be okay. And this thing about those songs makes me think I should have picked up country a long time ago. I know Taylor, you always played it for me, but I've always been a stickler in the mud, like not listening to it. I do feel- I'm the same way with rap though. I'm the same way with rap though. We all argue over it. Like, you're like, yo, let me show you this new rap song. And I'm like, nope, I'm good. No, thank you. And then I'm like, yo, let me show you this. Let me show you this country song. And you're like, do I really want to listen to it though? That's like the best part of this podcast though. Cause it's about us expanding our taste. Hence the whole slogan. It's about us expanding our taste, listening to different stuff. That's like why I've been trying to get into more stuff. But Jay, if you can talk about your favorite artists, that'd be great, buddy. For me, I mean, I can, I'm not going to say it's old school. Cause like, I mean, I'm sure Taylor knows that it's not really old school. Cause there was like, he was like, he's talking about transitions and stuff, you know, between different types of countries. I mean, just like how all music has grown over time. But some of the main like two artists that I could say that I was like kind of like growing up on were definitely Tim McGraw and Lee Bryce. A little bit of Carrie Underwood in there. Like I had mentioned in the intro, Carrie Underwood was more of my mom's side. And then my grandparents kind of got me more, on my mom's side, my grandparents on my mom's side got me more into a lot of like the people that, you know, most people know now, like Jason Aldean, Tim McGraw, Chris Young, Luke Combs, Lee Bryce and Josh Turner. So I kind of wanted to highlight mainly Lee Bryce and Tim McGraw, only because these guys were people I kind of, I kind of grew up on in a way. The albums that I listened to a lot from Lee Bryce were the Live Like You Were Dying album. And then Two Lanes of Freedom was another one too. And then Damn Country Music was another good one that I listened to a lot. A song from Tim McGraw that I think everybody should go listen to for sure. Only because, I mean, I don't know how recently it blew up. I know it was fairly recent when it came out. One of my teachers actually showed it in class. I forget who it was. It might've been Mrs. Powers. It might've been. But it's called Humble and Kind. It might've not been her. It might've been Mrs. Powers. Yeah. That came out like four years ago? Yeah, yeah, yeah. So it was about the time that I graduated maybe. Maybe a little earlier actually, because it was before, it was before 2019 I think. But Humble and Kind is a beautiful song. It just kind of, you know, it's one of those upbeat songs where, you know, I'd be able to, yeah, it's like Humble and Kind. You know, like be good to people. Don't, you know, don't do certain things to people that you wouldn't want done to you. Like this song is basically the golden rule, like in a way, where it's like treat people the way you want to be treated. I know Adam had just dropped in, and I just to kind of say that it was a good song, but go ahead and hop in, Adam, if you wanted to talk about it a little more. Sorry, I got excited. But- Oh, you're okay. No, Humble and Kind is a good one. It actually has more of like a personal touch that I wanted to more address. My mom, she was kind of the one, like, whenever we go on road trips or whatever, I'm always like, I'm an awesome DJ, just playing whatever my stuff. But I like to try to ask my mom, like, hey, give me a song, give me a random song. Just kind of get her taste in, so she's not bored in the car. I mean, she likes her music, but she loves her country. So one of the ones she recommended at one point was Humble and Kind. And before we had played it, she told me like, this is what that song is about as well. Just telling us like, this is kind of my song that I relate to you guys. Like, I, basically the way she hoped to have raised us and just having that decency, Humble and Kind kind of being true to yourself and what she raised me to be. So shout out, mom, for your listening. She doesn't listen to this. I'm kidding. I just wanted to call that out because I thought that was a pretty cool personal touch I could add. So thank you, Jay, for the opportunity. Sorry. Of course, of course, of course, of course. It's, I mean, it's always good to relate to, it's always good to have music that you can relate to. So I don't mind if you guys didn't need to like hop in with me, you know? Another artist that I was talking about right now was Leigh Bryce. The song, the album that I wanted to talk about, the one that my mom had in the car was Hard to Love. It was probably like, you know, the album at the time, I guess you can say. I listened to songs like A Woman Like You, Drive Your Truck, you know. Oh, Drive Your Truck is insane. Drive Your Truck was one of the ones that we also kind of related to with my uncle Esteban passing, because he did own a pickup truck. I can't tell you what year, what model, nothing like that. But shout out to my uncle Esteban, you know, he used to own a little Ford pickup truck. I think it was a Ford, something like that. But it was one of the songs that he kind of related to. But the one I really wanted to kind of highlight off this album was That Way Again. That song is like, it's a sad song. It's a sad country song, but it doesn't feel like a country song in a way. Because, I mean, like we were talking about earlier, I think before the podcast, we were talking and Taylor was kind of catching up with him. He was saying that like, you know, new country is like fear and love and all that. And like this one is more so like heartbreak. And I think heartbreak country songs are really good. I know Taylor can touch up on that a little bit more. After we get to, you know, more of his pieces. This song was one of those heartbreak songs. It's really sad. It's about how a husband and a wife, like over time, they just kind of drift apart in a way where like he doesn't realize it, but she does. She, like in the song, it literally says she's catching herself looking down at her ring every now and then. She doesn't want to leave him. And she just wants to see him that way again. Like he wants to, she wants to see him open doors for her. She wants to see him like be all upbeat and love her and feel her. And she wants to be playful. And she doesn't want him to be like, the kind of guy where he's like, I don't want to deal with you right now. I got to work in the morning. I'm sorry. Like, just kind of like turn around in bed, you know? Like, so this is one of those like super heavy hitter songs. I highly recommend to go listen to it. I kind of described it like the way it really is. So yeah. I'd like to hand it over to Adam. Can I touch on Lee Bryce for a second before we jump to Adam? Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. So, not to get overly personal, don't get me wrong. Lee Bryce has a lot of amazing songs. Like, Drinking Class, phenomenal. I Drive Your Truck, Can Move A Grown Man To Tears, without fail. But like, Lee Bryce wrote this song and it's called Save The Roses. And if you haven't listened to it, I would highly recommend just listening to the way that this man speaks about death. About eight months ago, I got diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia. And a couple of weeks after I got diagnosed, the song kind of popped up while I was driving. And I was with my mom. We were on the way to a doctor's appointment to go get some testing done. And the song played. And it absolutely moved me to tears. And I looked at my mom and I was like, mom, I'm gonna die. Like, if I die, if this cancer takes my life, this is what I want my funeral to be like. I don't want you guys to be sad. I don't want you guys to be thinking, oh, he was so young, why did he have to go? I want you guys to be happy. I want you guys to go do the things we used to love doing together. And that's what Lee Bryce talks about in that song. He's like, listen, you should be fishing with a cold beer in your hand instead of missing me here. Y'all should be missing me there, like at the pond, in the blind, in your truck four-wheeling. You shouldn't be missing me staring at my casket. Go do the things that we used to love doing together. And I don't think I've had a song resonate with me so, like, so, so, so much. Like, we're all not promised tomorrow. But my chances of life are significantly slimmer than anyone else. It just, it really made me sit back and realize, like, I haven't been appreciative of, like, the friends in my life, the family in my life, and, like, the things that we've done. Like, I have so many amazing memories, and I want those to be the things people think about. And Lee Bryce kind of really kicked that thought in for me. Just wanted to say thank you for bringing that up, Taylor. Adam, go ahead, buddy. Yeah, thank you, Taylor, for sharing that personal aspect. Of course. The artist I wanted to go with, probably a pretty popular name I'm sure most people are familiar with. It's going to be Blake Shelton, because he's like the face of country that, especially for my mom. She likes Blake Shelton, don't tell her I said that. But one of the songs that I think, I want to say it was this song when I kind of first noticed that story aspect of country music. It's going to be Austin by Blake Shelton. It's a solo song, but it's the way they go about it. They kind of, it's between him and his interest going back and forth through voicemails. So it's a really interesting take on the storytelling. And it just kind of really shows the potential within like old country music and the way they went about telling the stories. And it wasn't just saying how they feel. It was like, you were feeling how they felt. Yeah, so that was just half of it, good side. But there's also just a really fun song. It's a play on words, it's called Some Beach. Really funny song. It's just, it's a fun song you can listen to. It has like a nice little vibe to it. It's a funny song if you guys haven't heard it. I recommend it. It's just different feels you get during the day where you just don't want to be doing what you're normally doing. You'd rather be at Some Beach, but there's different aspects. It's just funny. You got to hear it. He talks about going to the dentist or they give him numbing cream in order to do a certain procedure, but they start drilling before the numbing cream takes effect. So he's like, Some Beach, I want to go out somewhere. I'd rather be anywhere from here. He needs to find a parking spot. As soon as he's about to park, someone whips in, takes his spot, and he gets upset about that too. Just wants to be away from everything. So it's a fun song. I just like that you can be able to see the difference between, oh, he's telling a story about this girl, and he's like, oh, just making jokes about day-to-day life and kind of making light of it, saying, it'll be all right. We can meet you somewhere else, but it'll be all right. I mean, it's just fun. I don't know if you guys have heard it, but those are probably my two favorite of his, just because it kind of shows the different sides of what he can do. Yeah, it's a good song. Yeah, it's a fun one. I mean, you can't not have fun and kind of giggle as you're listening to it. Jay, I know you said, Humble and Kind. That was really good call for music. But the Sublete Shelton, just to point out a really sad song. Not really sad, but one of the sad songs I like. Zac Brown Band, Goodbye in Her Eyes. Just a really good song. Emotional, kind of being able to know it's over before it's over, and just kind of having that feeling. Like, just for me to be able to describe that, it just shows how well he makes you feel that. So it's cool, just kind of, they have very strong skills to make you feel what they're feeling in country. So I like that aspect of it, and it's probably why the people are drawn to it. I mean, you gotta have an ear for it. You gotta listen to lyrics and you gotta be able to tear it apart the way that you want to in order to get the story. But if you can, it's some really good music. So hopefully, if you want to listen to any of those here, especially some beach, it's fun. It's just a stupid song, but I recommend it. Jovi, I know you said that you don't really listen to country music. I know you had your old early Taylor Swift phase like last year, but I think that's passed over now. He has definitely passed over, especially since the Chiefs just won the Super Bowl. Okay, good call. First and foremost, I will say I was not going for anybody. I was actually wanting the Niners to win, but sad case, sad case. I mean, I wish it was the Raiders, but I know it's never gonna happen. But yeah, I was never an avid country listener. I did stumble onto a few while listening to rap and stuff like that. And I guess what this would be considered is what Taylor told me earlier is a country pop. And I guess I am pretty into pop, I guess. So the first artist I want to talk about, I listened to him a lot in high school and I really don't know where I got this artist from. I think he just appeared out of nowhere on my set. I don't know if he's a rapper or a singer. I don't know where I got this artist from. I think he just appeared out of nowhere on my suggested. I didn't have Spotify at the time. I was listening to YouTube, had to get all the dumb ads and then listen to the music, which is pretty terrible. But I listened to Thomas Rhett a lot. Not 100% really knowing who he was. The first song that I listened to a lot, I think it's one of the first country songs that I really loved was Marry Me by him. And I'm not sure if you guys have heard it. I mean, I have, nevermind. Beautiful song. Yeah, it's pretty popular. It's a good song. I mean, it's a good song. What's the song? Yeah. I know it's pretty sad. I don't know, I like singing it. I like singing in general, like belting all those notes out. I thought it was fun. That song, along with Die Happy Man, I thought that was also a really good one. I don't know. I always like the way he- I had a first kiss, too, and it's a couple of years ago. Yeah. Aw. I don't know. I like the romantic side of country, I guess. It's very nice. I liked it. Speaking of romantic sides of it, I also like the artist Kane Brown. One of them I listened to a lot was Homestick. I listened to that a lot while I was at SF State. I don't know why. No other song could really express how I was feeling except that song, which I thought it was funny because I'm such a mainstream rap listener that that was my go-to song for almost a year straight. So I thought that was very ironic. I know. Yeah, thanks for that. I knew it was gonna come. Another one from Kane Brown I really like listening to was Thank God. It's off the album Different Man. I like that one a lot. I think Nas was the one who showed me that song. It was when I was first hopping into an awesome relationship with my wife. Shout out my beautiful wife. I love you. Should've been me. Shut up, Adam. Can we like take a minute to talk about Toby Keith too? Oh yeah. At some point. Honestly, once I'm done with this last part, take the floor. Because the last artist I'm gonna talk about, I'm pretty sure everyone knows him. I mean, Life is a Highway is a banger because of cars. And that's the only reason why I know them and why I listen to them. Rascal Flatts. I love them obviously. They're such a fun band. But the two songs I listen to them the most is one of their, it's off their Christmas EP. It's I'll Be Home for Christmas. I know it's a classic Christmas song obviously, but I like the way they sing it. I don't know. I like it better than anybody else did. And so it's my go-to when Christmas time comes around. I think it's really nice and beautifully sung. And then obviously this one, everyone knows it, What Hurts the Most is a banger. I've listened to that song so many times and I can't count how many times I've sung that drunk in the truck with Taylor. What Hurts the Most. Just belting that out. Am I right, Taylor? Dude, the amount of times that we sat in my six and blasted What Hurts the Most and scream cried to that song is insane. Like the absolute heartbreaks we went through from ages of like 16 to 21. It was wild. And Jay was just kind of there third wheeling our sadness for no reason. Jay, I know you wanted to talk about Rascal Flatts and then from there we'll talk about Toby Keith. So Jay, go ahead and take it away. I actually wanted to highlight a song from Rascal Flatts. I'm glad you guys brought him up. They were a group that actually were in the movie for Hannah Montana. It's a beautiful song. I actually didn't know he was in the movie until I heard it again and then Marlene kind of mentioned it to me. Like, oh yeah, this is the song that was in- It was like a quick watch. Yeah, and it's Bless the Broken Road. It's a love song. Beautiful, beautiful love song. I love it so much. I can sing every word for it. I remember always like singing the song. This is one of the songs that I kind of listened to in the car. Like I know Marlene doesn't like country but this is one of those ones that like I think about her too a lot. It talks about how you go through a lot of relationship problems in the past and stuff like that and all these little like sharp turns, heavy or bumpy roads and kind of like a broken road, you know? You go through that whole broken road, that whole path just to get to where you were meant to be with. So it's like the whole line, God bless the broken road that led me straight to you. Like that type of, like that's just literally what it says. And so I always think about Marlene when I hear this song. So it's a nice little touch on. I love this song a lot. But yeah, go ahead and pass it over to Taylor for the whole Toby Keith part of our podcast. Okay, so like I said, oh, I was saying, but apparently my mic wasn't working. Everyone's heard a Toby Keith song, whether it's Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue, it's Red Solo Cup. Like he's got some amazing songs, but one of the ones that I want to touch on that kind of really resonates with, obviously Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue resonates with me. It got played at my basic graduation. But another one I want to talk about is American Soldier because like, yes, it's one of his popular-ish songs, but it resonates with me so well because it talks about like the life of a service member and what it's actually like, like what it's like to live that life. And he like paints the picture so well. But overall, as an artist, Toby Keith was just, he was phenomenal. He wrote some absolutely outstanding music. He was a standup guy and a lot of his songs are super catchy. I mean, there are so many different Toby Keith songs I could sit here and talk about for hours on end, talking about, you know, how great his music was, how this song hit during this part of my life or how this song resonated with this part of my life. But as an artist in general, he will forever be one of the greats. Like, yes, obviously when you talk about country music, like George Strait, Alan Jackson, Conway, Keith Whitley, like those are names that are commonly talked about. And so is Tim McGraw. Like Tim McGraw's forever going to be one of the greats. But Toby Keith is up there. Like he's definitely in my top 10 favorite country artists ever. And he's irreplaceable. He's got a very unique voice. He's got a very unique range. He's just, he's a great overall artist. And it's unfortunate that he passed away, but it's not like he's gonna go unremembered because like I said, his music is unforgettable. He's one of a kind. Yeah, I actually wanted to bring up a song by him that I, I mean, you already said it Taylor once, but the song, Red Solo Cup. I remember, my whole family on my dad's side is all Mexican. They're all straight, they're all straight like Mexican. Somebody bet Toby Keith that he couldn't write a song about anything sitting in a studio. And Toby Keith said, all right, pick something out. And they pointed at a Red Solo Cup and he wrote Red Solo Cup. That's amazing. But I would, like I was saying with the whole, you know, my whole family is Mexican, you know, and it's not saying that like Mexicans can't listen to country either, because a lot of us also grew up out in the country and doing field work and working on farms and stuff. So, you know, going into that, my, I remember being at a party with my uncle Mike and my aunt Sonia, so shout out to them. And I remember, I remember like coming downstairs after playing like some video games with Christian or play with his toys or some shit. And I remember hearing that song and I was like, country in this house? Like I was surprised. And then I remembered Mike is also white. So it kind of all went well. Love you, Mike. But it was kind of like a funny thing to me that like to be able to hear that. So it was kind of cool to know that like certain genres of music aren't just for certain people. Like anybody can like country, anybody can like rap, anybody can like hip hop, you know, that kind of like that whole deal. But yeah, it was just a nice little memory I wanted to bring up. Speaking of like country music, we kind of listened to growing up. Do you remember Jovan going to the ag show with uncle Paul and Amos and we were in the backseat of the FJ and Big Green Tractor came on and Amos about had a spasm and then all three of us were just laughing and singing it. And Paul looked like he wanted to just absolutely off himself. Bro, it was so bad. We're like all piled in this tiny FJ. We're like probably 12 years old and Jason Aldean's Big Green Tractor comes on and the three of us kids are just having the time of our life. You know, minding our business. Oh my goodness. Oh, I know. I mean, we have some interesting memories to country music for sure. I mean, you know, from us driving through Parlier to Fowler, Fowler to Parlier and me being like, hey, listen to this new song or like listen to this Upchurch song we just dropped or this remix or hey, look, Jelly Roll just, I remember when you saved me and I was like, listen, bro, like you need to listen to this song. Like it is gonna resonate with you like crazy and I remember sitting in my truck and we listened to Save Me and I'm trying to remember the other Jelly Roll song off the top of my head and I can't but we listened to those two and you kind of just looked at me and you were like, dude, that hit me like a freight train and I can remember the both of us were tearing up and we were parked outside of your house and like, there's just, we have so many amazing memories where country music kind of brought not only to light like our emotions but like created core memories for us. Like I know country has never been a big thing for you but like for me it has and I know there's been those instances where I'm like, John, just trust me and listen to this song. So many freaking memories to country music, it's insane. Taylor, I know you know this song and it's obviously like, you know, very near and dear to, you know, my family but Tennessee Whiskey because my uncle would always listen to that. Oh, I know, uncle listened to that all the time. You know what's crazy too is like, that song itself is just, if you really sit down and listen to the lyrics that are put out, it's just, it's so deep. Like the way Chris Stapleton is describing that love is insane. Something that I kind of wanted to, something that I kind of wanted to bring up was just kind of like a little memory that I had with Taylor, because Taylor was talking about memories and stuff like with music. But I figured, you know, why not make a reference to something that I talked about in our nostalgia episode where I said, fun fact, we almost died. We were all in Taylor's truck, Cameron and I were in the truck. Okay, pause. Yeah. No, yeah. We were with Cam, so shout out Cam. It was all of us. And we were listening to Freaky Friday by Chris Brown. And Taylor goes, let's go mudding guys, let's go mudding. And I was like, all right, fuck it. Let's figure out what this mudding shit is. And so we went, we were driving around Fowler area, like out in the country and it had just rained and so there was mud on the side of the road. Taylor was like, let's do it. And so we hit it. And when I tell you that we almost fucking died, we almost toppled over the car and fucking died. Okay, pause, pause. For reference, ladies and gentlemen, for reference, I was driving a cab and a half long bed six O diesel, okay? And we hit this mud and don't get me wrong. I had great tires on my truck. I was running 37 inch ATs and they were thick. So there's no reason we should have slid at all. And we hit the rut and all of a sudden the truck starts spinning out and the ass end of the truck is just fishtailing. And I was like, oh great. So here I am trying to get this truck back online. We do a full 180, have no idea in the world how we didn't flip. And when we had stopped, my driver door was like not even a foot and a half from a tree in an orchard. But we should have died. And what made it even funnier was like, I'm looking in the rear view mirror and I can see Jay and Cam in the backseat. And Jay is like grasping for dear life on every oh shit handle he can find and has a seatbelt on. And then there's just Jay in the passenger side backseat. No seatbelt, no care in the world, has accepted his fate and he's ready to die. And Jovan just starts screaming in the front grabbing every oh shit handle he can see. And I'm just casually like super calm and quiet steering the truck in every which direction I can figure out how to get it back on the road. It was funny because I'm laughing to panic and screaming and Cam was in the back just looking at us like, you know what? I was ready for what was about to happen. I'm not going to shit you guys. I was ready for it. Cam literally looked at us and was like, I was ready to die. And all of us were like, what? I remember I was like holding on. I looked at Taylor and Taylor was like in full concentration mode, like ready to correct the fucking truck. I look at Jovan fucking swinging his little ass like in the front seat and then fucking Cam. I look at Cam, the blankest expression on his face. And I was like, were you not scared? He's like, no, I was ready. I was like, what the fuck dude? But see, and like, we were letting her eat, man. Like my turbo was screaming. That truck was hauling. We were having a great time until we weren't. And then we have the bright idea. We have the bright idea to go sit at the Fowler Park after and all of us were like, we almost just died. We could have died right now. That's crazy. And I kid you not, Jay, if Jovan and I are together in a vehicle on a Friday and freaky Friday comes up, we change it because we're like, nope, not dying today. That is not a thing. Yeah, traumatizing. Oh man, that was crazy. Every time I hear that song, I just think back to holding on for dear life, looking at my window and thinking, you know what? This is it, this is where I go. I was like, holy shit. Bro, we were like literally right outside of your house at the time too. Like we weren't even like 500 feet from the driveway. Oh, that was so bad. I think the world was just playing with us. Like, hey, watch this. No, it was just my redneck stupidity, be so for real. But with all of that, we don't have much time left. I do want to talk about any new music that's come out recently. And the Usher album just recently dropped along with his Super Bowl halftime show that we all got to watch last night. Jay, I know you're like the biggest Usher fan there is. So go ahead and talk about that. That is father, that is dad. Fun fact, actually, me and Natalie and Adela, shout out them, we used to think that my dad was always Usher because, I mean, not to like brag or anything, but like my dad is like, he can sing pretty well. And when he sings, he sounds like Usher. It's kind of scary. But watching the halftime show last night was fucking awesome. My whole childhood, my whole, oh, I got a bunch of nostalgia, a bunch of chills. I was, I kind of, I called Alicia Keys, I called Ludacris and I called Lil Jon. I wasn't expecting Will.i.am or Jermaine Duprey. Duprey, I think that's how you say his name. All of us was really hoping for Justin Bieber, including Marlene. I know me and her were kind of disappointed with that. I was expecting to see, I know, I was expecting to see like a redo of the, of the, Oh My God dance that they did or for them to even dance to, to Somebody to Love. Like, I think that would have been an awesome, but overall, in my opinion, obviously because I'm an Usher dick writer. Yeah, I did, I did. I have a cologne too. I'm not gonna do it. Like literally, it's a black bottle and it says Usher on it. Oh yeah, but it's, all around, I thought it was a amazing, amazing Super Bowl halftime show and incorporated all of his music that I liked growing up. I was happy to also see her on stage as well. Marlene had told me that she went to a Coldplay concert and she seen her open up for Coldplay. And she was saying that her was so talented that she was playing the drums. She was doing everything, every instrument, basically. And so I was like, that's awesome to see her kind of do that on stage, like in front of everybody, you know, for me, at least for the first time, cause that was my first time seeing her actually play an instrument. And I was like, yeah, I'm the girl talented, you know? So along with the halftime show, he also dropped his album, Coming Home. Like I said, I'm the biggest Usher fan and I fucking hate that I have to say this, but there was not that many good songs on there. I feel so bad saying that, but I will highlight the ones that were really good, that are worth listening to. I also kind of don't want to squeeze in here too. We have a playlist on Spotify. I'm not sure if Jovi's been kind of updating or putting together the app for this, but we have a playlist on Spotify that's connected to our podcast. So actually real quick, quick tutorial also as well. If you go to our podcast page on Spotify and you hit more like this, there's a playlist that's called JAJ Podcast Name Drops and all of our music from every episode that we've mentioned or not every episode that we've mentioned, but every episode that we mentioned like together with that we drop or that we name drop or reference is going to be in this podcast and in this playlist, I mean, sorry. So if you guys want to go ahead and give that a follow and that way you guys can kind of expand your taste as well. A little plug there. But a song from the Coming Home album that I wanted to highlight was that, he didn't release as a single because he did release Standing Next to You with Jungkook, fire song. Risk It All was one that I mentioned earlier too. In the first episode. Good Good with Summer Walker and 21 Savage were also really good ones that he released. Those were all singles that he released before this album. But the number one song that I loved on this one that brought me back to old Usher feeling was One of Them Ones. Go ahead and give it a listen. I thought it was amazing. But yeah, I know that Kanye also dropped as well. So I know Jovi is the biggest Kanye fan here. So go ahead and hop on that Jovi. All right. As Kanye fans know, it's been a hot minute since Kanye has dropped. The last album he dropped was Donda. And we all know that Kanye, this is the tricky part of it being a Kanye fan. We know he says some pretty dumb stuff. So I'm gonna be the first to lay it out. I'm gonna say like I support the music, but not entirely everything he says. I do stand up for what he stands for though. I mean, the positivity stuff. And if you're a Kanye fan, you're a fan of yourself. The self-motivation, I get it. But he did drop his very anticipated album, Vultures. And it's just like the first edition of it. He's gonna be dropping three. So he has two more to go. Honestly, I enjoyed this album. I mean, I was up like at 3 a.m. listening to it because it took him forever to drop it. The whole thing with album music, I had to get a two-month little free subscription for it just to listen to the album, but it was worth it. Ah, man, it was just such an experience listening to it. Getting to see his listening party as well was pretty cool. And it finally dropped. After months and months of anticipation and delays and stuff like that, it finally was put out to us. So I'm gonna talk about the songs that I really liked from it and the songs that I enjoyed and felt like it was like, I don't wanna say old school Kanye because I don't think we're gonna get that anytime soon, but just Kanye songs that I like to listen to in general. I really loved the first song on the album, Stars. I think it was a great opening. Felt very transitional to what he was going from Donda into Vultures. It was very, a big transition and a very different flow. Another one I liked, a different vibe for Kanye was Burn. I liked the transition of beats into that right there. It was very, very fun. Kinda sounded like old school Kanye for a minute because you could tell he was just having fun on the beat and everything which had all the sign. I thought it was, it felt good to hear Kanye having fun for once instead of like pushing out music. And then another one I liked was Paperwork. That was just a fun song. And then Good Don't Die, which Kanye kinda dives into his emotional side. And it was kinda cool to hear that because we really haven't heard Kanye talk about his issues and stuff like that. I mean, we all know he hasn't, but it was cool to hear him actually talk about it and how he's feeling and stuff like that. But I thought it was really cool. Adam, I'm not sure if you gave it a listen, but if you did, did you have any songs you liked on there? I didn't listen to too many. I just kinda listened to the ones that you recommended to me. But Burn was for sure a fun one. I mean, it was a faster beat and kinda just something like sing along to. I mean, it sounded like they were just having fun. So that was the vibe I got from that one. Thank you for sending that to me, by the way. Thank you. I haven't really listened to Usher's new album. Just whatever Jay sent me, he also sent me a few of them. He does have a fun vibe. I know Jay said he was a little disappointed with what he came out with, or with like the majority, not majority, but there could have been some more. The majority, I'm sorry. The majority. Sorry, I was trying not to say that. But Super Bowl show, that was very fun to watch. I was just watching it at work. I was playing it from my phone and I had it there for my co-workers to watch. I had to keep going back and forth between commercials to charge it. I was at like 6% the whole game. We made it work. I know, Jay, you did find a few songs from Usher. So I'm glad you found that. Joe, you've been waiting forever for a new country album. So I'm glad you got what you were looking for. So yeah, I'm glad you guys got your update in music. Yeah, and as far as new country albums, Kojo just recently dropped an album. And when I tell you that album is like probably his best yet, it's amazing. If you like listening to Cody Johnson, I 100% would go listen to his new album. It's beautiful. Dirt Cheap absolutely is my favorite song on that album. It hits so hard. And like I said earlier in the podcast, Sam Williams, super underground, new and uppercoming artist. His dad was Hank Williams Jr. Give the man a listen. Like he's been around for a minute, but he's still kind of like not heard of. I know after I started listening to him and I was put on by one of my friends, I started sending it to my friends back home and they were like, yo, like this dude's got an amazing voice but that's really it as far as new country albums, to be honest. The new Kojo album is the only one really worth listening to. Yeah, I wanted to highlight another drop as well. Beyonce actually dropped two songs after the Super Bowl. They're both country songs, which is kind of crazy. Now you don't really expect her to kind of delve into them. One of them is called 16 Carriages and then the other one is called, I think Texas Hold'em, something like that. Another artist who is coming out soon as well. Taylor also mentioned that, yeah, it was called Texas Hold'em. Taylor also mentioned that Post Malone is dropping a country album soon. That I'm really excited for. I've heard him cover a bunch of country songs. Beautiful voice. He has, yes, he's such a good like, what's the word? He has like a really rappy and versatile voice. Yeah, that's what I was gonna say, versatile. I'm excited for that. Go ahead, my fault. Yeah, good. His cover of I'm Gonna Miss Her by Brad Paisley was literally insane. Like the day Post Malone drops his country album, I will be MIA, blasting it, not gonna lie. Did you guys see when Post Malone did Devil in Disguise? Oh yeah, it was beautiful. Beautiful cover. That was awesome. Another- Oh, sorry, sorry, go ahead. No, no, you're good. Sorry, Jay. I don't know if you guys caught the America the Beautiful they sang before Super Bowl. I didn't see it because I missed the beginning. But- Oh, I did. Yeah, I caught it. It was gorgeous. Oh, and he showed up in a turquoise bolo tie. Man was like, listen, I'm from Texas. I'm fixing to rep. It's cool that he's from Texas. Bro, that man is as conservative as they come. If you look at his Instagram feed, it's nothing but him out in the sticks with his firearms, just having a heyday. Looks like he's fun to hang out with, especially since he's like the main like representative of like Bud Light now. So it looks like he's just a fun guy to grab a beer with, honestly. Another artist I wanted to kind of highlight as well, who is coming out with a country album too. Well, it's rumored right now. I don't know if it's confirmed, but Lana Del Rey, I know a lot of Lana fans are out there. She's coming out with a whole country album. And, you know, I'm pretty excited. She just covered Country Roads, Take Me Home. I'm pretty excited. I actually really liked the cover a lot. And I'm excited to hear more and more from her in terms of country, because I feel like her voice will suit it. So yeah, I'm pretty excited about that. I mean, I don't think I'm really waiting on any artists dropping right now as of lately. Well, there's one, and I think, I think one person here in particular is waiting on the album as well, the Rex Orange County album. Adam, do you think we're gonna get that anytime soon? Let's hear it for sure, but I don't know how soon we should be expecting it. He's been like dropping like little teasers, like little clips of songs so far, but nothing full yet. I'm just waiting on that. I'm really excited for it. Oh yeah, we're gonna be really excited about that. And I know Jay's gonna jump on that one too. I am, 100%. Hopefully soon. As of other artists dropping, I don't know if there's any more. I think there might. I mean, there's so much speculation for a duet album, but I don't know. I know this year. I don't know. Sorry. I don't know exactly when, but I know sometime this year. I think Khalid is planning on dropping a new album as well. That's exciting. So that should be pretty cool. We haven't gotten much from him. His last album was okay, but I mean, the stuff we listened to in high school is what I'm looking for. Young, dumb, and broke location. So maybe he'll get back to that a little bit. Oh yeah. I think this might be a good spot for us to call it a night. How do you guys feel? Pretty good. It's been an hour, so I want to say it's a pretty good time. Oh damn. Yeah, we're good. Yeah, I think we're good. Yeah, so go ahead, Joey. Give it a outro. Before I do my little outro and stuff, first and foremost, I want to thank our first guest on this podcast. It was great to have you, Taylor. I'm happy you were able to hop on, and I know you're one of our biggest supporters because you always call me after you listen to an episode. So it's nice to know that you're supporting us. So I thank you a lot for that before I do my little outro. So thank you, Taylor. Oh yeah, of course, bro. I mean, you know I'm always going to support my boys. Like as soon as I found out you guys were doing a podcast, I was all over that shit. I mean, I literally made Papa listen to it on the way to the golf course, like when he was out here visiting. Like the entire way to Power Ranch, the only thing we listened to was the podcast. Thank you, Taylor. Of course. Yeah, I was going to say it was awesome to have you on today and give your kind of like expertise in country. I'm glad that it was you out of all people because I know you and I love you dearly. So I'm glad, I'm hopeful that, you know, everything's going well as well medically. I hope to see you get better and I'm going to keep you in my prayers constantly. Hey, thanks, man. I'm doing my best. And it was, like I said, it was a pleasure to be on. We all know Taylor loves country music. So, I mean, who else would be a better option to ask? Alrighty, I think with that, we'll go ahead and exit out of here. So with that, I've been Jovi. I've been Adam. I've been Jay. And I've been Taylor. All right, thank you guys for listening. This has been J-A-J Podcast and we are done. Night guys, thank you. Y'all take care.