212. Taylor Austin Dye and Old Jack D

Welcome to another trip down the Bourbon Road with your hosts Jim and Mike. So grab a glass of your favorite bourbon and kick back.

Hello everybody, I'm Jim Shannon. And I'm Mike Hyatt. And this is The Bourbon Road. Today, Mike, it's another one of our Stillhouse Sessions. And where are we?

We are down here in Leapers Fork, Tennessee at Leapers Fork Distillery. It is absolutely stunning down here. You know, I like to call this The Makers Market, Tennessee.

Absolutely. It's a beautiful place and they were gracious enough to lend us the use of their stillhouse to do a series of sessions where we're going to interview some great guests. And today, who do we have on the show?

Well, we got a little girl from Boonesville, Kentucky, Taylor Austin Dye. She is a little country music artist. She's actually our first female artist on the show. It's taken us way too long.

I'm honored.

Well, we you know, we are a bourbon podcast and how could we not be the first to have a Kentucky girl on our show to sing about whiskey and drink whiskey with us?

I do love bourbon. I think that's pretty fitting.

Well, you know what? Mike has kind of hooked you up today. There's a couple of really good. Well, there's a couple of really good whiskeys. The first one's a bourbon. We'll talk about the second one in the second half, but Mike, what do we have in the first half?

Well, I brought a really nice bottle. It's a Mikters limited release. It's their toasted barrel finish. This is a pretty hard barrel or bottle to find, right? And I was lucky enough to get a text message and said, Hey, I got a bottle for you waiting at the shop. And I was like, man, I'm there. 91.4 proof, Kentucky straight bourbon whiskey from Michter's. We've been out to Michter's together. Really lovely distillery there in Louisville, Kentucky. They put out some good stuff. They got a great story. A lot of people think that is a name, but it's two names mashed together, right? That's right. It is Michael and Peter. So that's where Michter's comes from for a little history for all of our listeners out there. But yeah, that's what we're going to be drinking. Really lovely expression here. I love this.

Yeah, and you know, this is not the first this comes out on an annual basis and And this is something that a lot of people Unfortunately can't get their hands on because of limited number of bottles But if you do I think it's something you'll really like and we'll talk a little bit about it here Are you ready to drink a little whiskey?

Oh, I'm so ready.

I

Now, this is $99 MSRP. That's a high dollar bottle for a lot of people, but to me, it's well worth it. Like you said, Jim, it is limited. So I figured we had a special guest on today. Why not let her drink for something special from her home state of Kentucky.

Well, thank y'all.

And then we'll jack it up a little bit in the second half. What do you think? Yeah, we're going to jack it up just a little bit.

Cheers, y'all.

Cheers. Man, that's got a nice sweet nose to it. She done pounded that thing.

Oh shoot, were we not supposed to shoot it? My bad.

You're good, you're all good.

That was really good though.

That's how you drink your whiskey? Who are we to tell you?

A beautiful expression here. That toasted marshmallow all day long on that campfire, that sweetness is there for me. Almost as good as a weeded bourbon.

Well, you know, when they toast the barrels, Mike, they add that extra wood sugars in there and it kind of sweetens it up for you. And I think that's where it gets you, right? Yeah. Now, what do you think? Have you had this before?

I have never had it, but I'm very pleasantly surprised. I never even heard of it, honestly, but it's super tasty.

Yeah, it's finished in their tank in there. They have these big limestone plates that are bolted to that tank. And that's where they get their limestone water from. It's almost like a filtration system for the water. Pretty neat system they have set up there over in Chaveley.

Yeah. Yeah, it's a great brand. It's a Kentucky brand. They're doing some really great things. And there's some pretty fine people working at Michter's. And it's always nice to get one of their toasted bottles.

Yeah, you can actually go over to Fort Nelson, I guess it's called, right there on Main Street, Whiskey Row in downtown Louisville, and you can actually fill your own bottle down there. Not of this, but you could fill a bottle down there and get your name put on it and your own label and stuff. That's a nice thing to do. But yeah. Well, let's get to you, Taylor. We talked about our bourbon a little bit. Your home state. You are from Booneville, Kentucky.

I am.

Now, where's Booneville for our listeners?

Well, I always try to explain it, and no one really ever knows where it is. Our population is 111.

110 because you're here.

Well, yep. Now they're one less. But we're close to the Natural Bridge area, I guess, about 20-25 minutes southeast of there. Hour from London, hour from Hazard. Those are our nearest Walmarts, unfortunately.

Red River Gorge area.

Yeah, it's beautiful down there. It's just not a whole lot to do. But Southeast Kentucky is the best way to explain it.

We got some other friends over there. We got the Beattyville Hillbillies.

Yeah, that's right next door.

Yeah, they're right there, up there in the mountain's hills, they would say. But I was driving my pickup up there and he said, what are you doing to me? We went up and up and up and up.

Never ends.

He wrote me this cryptic message of ways to get to his house. And I understood it all as a country boy. He's like, turn right at the tree with a hole in it that forks to the right. And then turn at the giant rock. There's an old John Deere tractor sitting out at Weeds. You go past that about a stone's throw, then you turn left. He got me to his house.

We just got physical like 911 addresses probably five years ago. Up until then, we did not have that. So we had to give those kind of directions to let people know where we was at.

So when the fire truck is coming out there, you have to be talking to them on the phone.

Well, you can just call the fire department and say, hey, I'm over here by so-and-so's house. It's on fire. Come over here. And they know. There's not many of us.

There's some great artists that have come out of the hills of Kentucky. One lives down here in Tennessee, a really famous woman, Loretta Lynn, and her sisters, right? Oh, yeah.

I got a butcher hauler.

Some of the newest artists coming out of there. You got Sturgill Simpson. Tyler Childers is just killing it right now. A good friend of ours, Bo Garrett from Montgomery Gentry, guitarist out of there, he's out of the hills there, I think Pikesville, Kentucky. But yeah, so no surprise that you would come from there and be able to sing and stuff.

Thank you.

Did you grow up in there? When did you kind of pick up a guitar?

Yeah, I always grew up around music. My family didn't really play, but I was just always drawn to it. And a lot of people in the community, there's a lot of bluegrass, a lot of folk music, a lot of Appalachian storytelling type bluegrass. So I always grew up around that. And I learned to play by ear. I actually started on the fiddle when I was five years old.

On the fiddle?

Yes, sir.

Now for folks not from Kentucky, that would also be a type of violin, right?

Well, they're the same. It's just what you play on it.

I didn't know if there was any physical difference in them. I didn't think there was.

There ain't. If you play bluegrass on it or old-timey music, it's a fiddle. It sounds better when you call it a fiddle. If you play classical or whatever else, it's a violin.

I didn't see a violin case or a fiddle case.

No, I don't play that much anymore. I play mandolin quite a bit at home, just toying around, but I always take my guitar out and play at my shows.

Well, the next show you come on with us. Oh, absolutely. I want you to bring that stuff. I'm just a geek about, especially bluegrass music and old time gospel music like that. To me, it just, it kind of feels like home.

Right. Yeah, me too.

You know, if it doesn't resonate in your soul that something's probably wrong with you.

So when you were growing up and at what age did you start playing?

I think around the age of 10, I started playing guitar and then just kind of picked up a lot of random stuff along the way, you know, bass, a little bit of everything.

And you're singing the whole time?

Yes.

You're singing the whole time. That's pretty awesome. So what were you singing? Because you didn't have your own songs yet back then. Whose songs were you singing?

Well, my mom always tells a story about when I was just learning to talk and she remembers me kicking my feet in the back seat, singing Collegia by Hank Jr. And I actually have a tattoo of Collegia that says poor old Collegia on my arm because it's my favorite song. So I love that. But again, I sang in church, I sang ACDC. I mean, it was just a little bit of everything when I was growing up. And then of course, all the bluegrass stuff as well.

I bet you didn't know that. That's one of my most favorite songs of all time right there. Hank Jr. is just a... Some of his songs just, it's gotten me through some tough times in my life. His blues man song and just some of his songs, but that Kalijah speaks truth to power with me is, you know, being called big chief and Kalijah and his story. And it just, it's a great, great song. So let's, let's get a song played. What would you, what's your first song you're going to play for us today?

Well, I think I'm going to start out with a slow one, actually. This is one I released back in February. It kind of blew up on TikTok. I've been on TikTok a lot since the pandemic started. And like I said, I put it up on there, blew up, and people were pretty much demanding that I release it. So I got in the studio, recorded it. One of my good friends, Chabworks, produced it, and co-wrote it with me, actually. And it's called Good Time Girl. And it's a song that I think a lot of women relate to about being somewhat of a side chick, I guess, for lack of a better term. And I just think a lot of people have experienced that. And for that reason, this song ended up charting on the iTunes country charts. It went to number 26. And then the music video, CMT, ended up picking up about a month after its release. This song has been a really good one for me, especially as an independent artist. It's called Good Time Girl. It's out everywhere now.

She's your Sunday morning, and I'm your Friday night. She's your top shelf, treat yourself, and I'm a cold Miller lie. She's a pretty sundress, I'm an old rip parent jeans. She's a shiny new sports car, and I'm a 69 Shelby GT. But I don't wanna be your good time girl. Arm around my shoulder shutting down your favorite bar. I don't wanna be your good time girl. Never seen you sober, only see you in the dark. And I'm not asking you to give me the world. But I don't wanna be your good time girl. And I'm a rose tattoo She's a light shade of yellow And I'm a darker shade of blue She's a fairy tale on paper I sure bet you can never lose But you ain't fooling me boy Cause when you're holding me your heart tells me Good time girl, arm around my shoulder Shutting down your favorite bar I don't wanna be your good time girl Never seen you sober, only see you in the dark And I'm not asking you There's so much more between us Than just another midnight kiss But I don't wanna be your good time girl Arm around my shoulder Shutting down your favorite bar I don't wanna be your good time girl Never seen you sober Only see you in the dark But I don't wanna be your good time girl No, I don't wanna be your good time girl

Wow, that's something else.

Thank you.

Yeah, I like that. So does that story come from anything in real life?

It does and it doesn't in a way, kind of, but not so much. We were sitting at the bar one night, my good friends, me, Priscilla Block and Kristen Foreman, and we were just talking about boy stuff. And I think it was Priscilla. She was like, so have you seen so-and-so? And I said, oh, no, I only see him in the dark, like that kind of thing. And that's kind of where the idea from the song came from. And I just built that whole idea around that line. So that's kind of where it came from.

It's a cool story. Thanks. How many songs do you like write a week or do you, do you try to write so many songs a week?

Actually, I've been on the road so much this whole year, which has been awesome. I'm so glad that it's back to normal, but I have not been writing a ton as much as I used to. I'll probably write one song a month, honestly. Just being out on the road and everything is super time-consuming and not being home. I'd say about one a month, yeah.

Now when you're, I know you got off the road on Thursday, right? You had a long drive from Georgia up back to Tennessee.

Yes.

So you ever get in that car because your boyfriend goes with you, right?

Yeah. So we, we go together a lot. We do an acoustic duo type thing and we actually went all the way down through Georgia, um, played McKaysville, Dahlonega. I'm trying to think of all the cities. Then we hit Panama City beach and then we were there for a few days, doing a few shows and then we shot back up. Um, but yeah, it's a, it's a long, long time in a car. I'll tell you that.

You ever get great ideas on those road trips?

You know, actually the song that I think you had mentioned earlier that you like called mean, I got the idea for that song, um, in the car and I wrote it in the car.

Or are you having some bad memories about that trip?

Flashbacks. No, not really. Not really. It was just, uh, I'll tell you the story about that song in a little bit if you want me to.

Yeah, we'd love to hear it. I just think it's neat how people write a song, you know, um, artistically. Um, sometimes you can get writer's block. Even me and Jim is we're trying to think of ideas for shows cause you want to keep people's interest, right? You want to make them feel something new. You want to have new artists on. We're always coming up with those and trying to come up with bright ideas. We're always brainstorming all the time. They're not all good ideas. Sometimes bad ideas come up.

I think the important thing is to recognize a bad idea, right? Yeah.

I mean, I've written a lot of horrible songs, like really bad. And I look back and I'm just like, what? What was I thinking? But, you know, got it out of my system, I guess. I don't know.

It's good when you have a partner though. And I'm sure your boyfriend's a good person to bounce those ideas across those songs cost. Hey, hey, let me let you listen to what I'm thinking.

Yeah. I always send him and my other friends, like my work tapes and I'm like, Hey, is this total garbage or am I just like, is it 3 AM? And I think this is great. You know, no, he's very honest and I love that. I do not like things to be sugarcoated to me whatsoever.

Yeah, sometimes it's just better to be blown about, right?

I would 100% rather someone just tell me the truth, tell me it's horrible. I would rather hear that than, oh, that's good. And then me out here singing it, thinking it's great. And then everyone's like, maybe, maybe not, you know?

Yeah, yeah. And what kind of reaction did you get on that last song when you sent it off to those girlfriends?

Oh, that was like the one that everyone was like, this is like, this is your song. This is the one like they all just, it was like a huge reaction from everyone I sent it to. And then when I did release it, it ended up charting. So I guess they knew what they were talking about. Yeah.

Well, that's a good group of people to have on your side. Now you're good friends with another artist that's been on here, Josh Bogart.

Love that dude. He is making me a brand new hat.

From Dooling Banjo.

Yes, his new hat company he started. So I'm very excited. It's almost done actually.

Dooling Banjo hats. If you're looking for a hat, your artist, your lady that wears hats, your man that wears hats, he's going to make me a custom hat because I got a big old Milla. So, I'm pretty proud to call him a friend. He lives right down the road from me, actually. It's nice that you're also giving back to artists like him that have that second business and stuff.

Oh, 100%. I always want to support anyone that is, especially from home. We've got to stick together, especially being from Kentucky. I'm super glad to give him business. He's a good guy.

So, I wanted to tell you listeners how I found Taylor, really. Jim had been pushing me about TikTok. He's, hey, man, TikTok account now. And I said, well, I don't even know what TikTok is. I know people dance on there, I think. But I got on there, and I think the algorithm for TikTok is whatever you look at, it tries to feed you stuff that you look at. Like, I want to look at barbecue. I want to look at bourbon and country music. And you popped up there, but you were seeing a Fleetwood Mac song or a Stevie Nicks song one night. And I was like, God Almighty, you sound so great on there. I was like, then you know what you do is you look, who is this artist? Right. And then I go over to Amazon Music, I search for your music and I'm like, man, look at these other songs. She's got she's killing it with these songs. How how does not more people know about this young artist? So that's how I found her, Jim.

Yeah, I remember. I remember you sending me a link and saying, check this out.

Thank you. TikTok honestly has been great for me as an independent artist. And especially like I mentioned during the pandemic 2020, I was able to just create content from home and still keep in touch with fans and followers. And I think I've racked up about 215 K on there as of today or as of yesterday. So it's been a really big blessing for me to be able to get my songs out there.

Yeah, you're always on there playing, playing your music, drinking bourbon on there a lot. You've got a bunch of bourbon because it's cool that you do know the bourbon behind you, right? That's in the shot back there. Cause you tell people about that bourbon and what it is and you do a little education on it. Yep.

So we did like a little bourbon tour of our collection that we have. And then when I do my lives, it's always like a big, you know, topic of conversation. They're like, oh, tell us about what bottles you have behind you. Oh, I see Blanton's, I see Bull. You know, people just like to relate to what, you know, I got back there. So it's always a big, a big topic of discussion for my, for my fans. And they're always like, what are you drinking tonight? And I'll be like, oh, I made this, that or the other, you know? So bourbon has always been a big part of my life in general.

So what's your go-to bourbon if you have a go-to bourbon?

Well, for everyday drinking, you know, if we're just at home making a mule or old fashioned or something, I would say Bullet or Woodford. But I do love Blanton's and Angel's Envy as well. So those are like maybe my top four.

I still think that's good. Folks, I remind you that we are in our still house session. So this is a working distillery. So you might hear a little background noise. I doubt it.

We'll hear it. A little bit. But, you know, you always want to mention it just in case it comes across on the tape. But no, this is great. The atmosphere here really lends itself to a great session. And that's why we're calling it Steel House Sessions, because the ambiance and the inspiration that you get and just you feel like it's the right place for music and bourbon coming together, talking to a great new friend. This is pretty awesome. Mike, let's get back to the bourbon just for a minute.

Yeah.

Any final notes on the victors?

That sugary sweetness, like I said, the marshmallow, that campfire is still coming out for me just a little bit. I wish, as we always say, Jim. You can get this in a barrel strength. I wish I could find a barrel strength that's about 120 proof. For me, it's a little bit light on the palate. It's not viscous, so I'd like that more oily feel. But I think we're going to get that in the second half.

Taylor, how do you like your bourbons? Do you like them higher proof or lower proof? Or any proof.

You know what, I've never met a bourbon that I didn't love. Actually, that's not true. There's a few that I'm not crazy about. But, you know, around 100 and up is good for me. Okay. Of course, I usually drink it neat.

And you like them sweeter or spicier?

Most of the time sweeter.

Yeah. Yeah. So Weller full proof would be on your list.

Okay.

Yeah, I would say. Weller 107, that sweetness and that spice and that little bit of Elevated proof.

I like Weller.

Yeah. Weller 107, Makers Mark Cast Strength. That's a super beautiful expression of Makers. I love it. My wife actually, she's not a big bourbon drinker. We went to Makers Mark the other day and Rob Samuels from there, he poured her a humongous glass, rocks glass, full of just Makers Cast Strength. And she was like, man, this is so chocolatey and so good. I'd never seen her drink that much bourbon in my life before. That's a big pour.

It was.

She was on that leather couch.

She said, this is relaxing. I guess you don't want a Samuels pack pouring your whiskey for you, do you? Yeah, he poured it thick.

Taylor, what was that first bourbon that you tried or when did you try your first bourbon?

Well, from what I've heard, I don't really remember, but apparently my papa used to put bourbon on my gums when I was a baby, when I was teething, and I think that's a big thing to do in the South.

Yeah, that's a remedy, right? That's like a home remedy.

Well, it's supposed to like numb, you know, take away the pain for the baby, so. I guess when I was a newborn.

I mean, I think if you go back a few years, when I say a few years, you go back, you know, 50, 100, 150 years, you know, whiskey in general was the medicine, right? I mean, because you didn't really have pharmaceuticals. You didn't have all these cures and whiskey cured what held you back then.

It does now too.

It does.

That's true. Kill some of that pain a little bit every once in a while. Well, do you have a second song? We close this first half out on it. What do you think, Jim? That sounds good to me.

I do. This next song is actually a Kentucky theme song of sorts. I wrote this song about people that get mean when they drink. bourbon, whiskey, what have ya. I am not that person, really. Maybe sometimes, but I wrote this song about my mom because she cannot get around the brown stuff. It's like, she's gotta have it clear or she's trying to fight everybody. Don't tell her I told you all that. But this song's called Mean. I released it at the very end of 2019, so it's been out just about, I guess, almost two years now. I bet it's a fun one and it's out everywhere if you guys want to check it out. It goes like this.

They say I'm mean Lord she's got a temper and honestly I just can't remember the last time I went out without showing I do it to myself, I always take it too far And if I drink a shot of whiskey, Katie bore the door And if I think you're looking at me, we'll wind up on the floor Kissing, cussing, fighting, fussing, everything in between I just can't help it, baby In Kentucky, we keep him on the shelf And if I see him, I'll tell old Jim myself I love the stuff you're making, don't be mistaken But saying it's hold on me And that white label gets me unstable Got me faint, I'm ten foot three And if I drink a shot of whiskey, Katie, pour the door I just can't help it baby, that Jim Beam makes me mean I swear I swore it all for good, just because you can don't mean you should And if I drink a shot of whiskey, Katie bar the door And if I think you're looking at me, we'll wind up on the floor Kissing, cussing, fighting, fussing, everything in between I just can't help it, baby, that GMB makes me mean

All right. And we stepped it up a notch there.

I'm used to having a big old loud mouth. Everyone's like, maybe tone it down a little bit.

No, it was great. Thank you. Thank you so much for playing that song.

Of course.

Well, we're going to take a short break now, fill up our glasses for the next session. And when we come back, we got a lot more from Taylor Austin Die. All right, we are back and we've got Taylor Austin Dye in the house. If you were here in the first half, you got to enjoy some pretty darn good music.

Thank you.

Yeah, back in the day, you'd say that was knee-slapping music. Knee-slapping stuff. We also had some great whiskey. We had the Michter's Toasted Barrel finish, which for me,

I would say it's close to being a unicorn, right? Yeah, it's pretty close. I'd posted a photo of that to some friends on our roadies page and people were like, man, where'd you get that at? How do you get that stuff? And I'm like, you know, you're a big chief. People just reach out and say, Hey, would you like a bottle?

So in other words, you're special.

Oh, I'm not going to hunt it anymore. I won't hunt deer, but not bottles. Yeah.

So in the first half, Taylor, we got to kind of dive a little bit into your past and hear about how you kind of came up and found yourself to where you are today. We got to listen to a couple really fine songs. We hope our listeners will start downloading real soon.

Me too.

But in this half, we'd kind of a little bit like focus a little bit more about what's going on in your life today. And you know, how things have changed. You know, we know that COVID has been an issue for everybody. We don't want to spend a lot of time on it because we don't want Debbie Downer in the house.

Of course.

But we do know that it has affected careers. It has affected the way people had to operate. And so now today, sort of on the other side of COVID a little bit, we at least hope we're on the other side of COVID. How are things going for you?

Honestly, it's been a really great year for me, aside from everything. I got a booking agent in January of this year, and she has just been working her tail off for me. She has been sending me here, there, and everywhere, and of course, all my fans. I call my fans Ryder Dyes as a play on my name. I don't know if I told you guys that, but the Ryder Dyes have been requesting me in all these cities, so we've been working it out, getting to all these different venues. And we've just been on the road. Honestly, this has been my first off weekend. I say off weekend, I played last night and I was supposed to have a gig tonight, but it got canceled. So now I have an off weekend. This has been my first off weekend in months, honestly. But I'm glad I could come down here with y'all and spend it like this drinking a little bit of bourbon.

Something besides bourbon. It is bourbon. It's a bourbon. People are going to get mad as for saying that.

It's a bourbon, but it's classified as a Tennessee whiskey.

Tennessee whiskey. The king of probably whiskeys in the world right here. Probably the most sold whiskey in the world. I don't think anybody would challenge them on that, right? This is the big, this is the big gun. This is the big gun. This is the Jack Daniel single barrel barrel proof right here coming in at 132.3 proof. Yeah. Yeah. So,

You've got to put on your big boy and your big girl pants right now. Well, I shouldn't say, I keep saying big girl, and I get myself into trouble. Grown woman pants. Grown woman britches. But this is just eight points off a hazmat.

Yeah. I'm so excited to try to drink this. Try to drink it. But usually these things are cherry bombs. I mean, it's just so much complexity in these things. You've got to keep a spark away from it. Yeah, well, you don't want to light it on fire. Well, her song she's singing, it might light it right on fire.

That's right. So tell us a little bit about this song that you've got that sort of ties in with the whiskey we're drinking this time. And then we're going to sip on the whiskey and then we want to hear your song.

Alright, well, once again, I've been living my life on TikTok. Every time I write an original song, I post it, and you get feedback. This was just one of those songs that got an astounding amount of feedback on there. Just over a million, maybe two million views at this point of this song. And the lead in line is there's a lot of things in common between me and old Jack D. You could never handle your whiskey and you could never handle me. So I feel like that now is an appropriate time to sing that song. Yeah. Like now a lot of people relate to that as well. So, um, so this song was released on October 21st. So I think we should maybe sip on a little bit of this and I'll sing it for y'all.

Cheers. Cheers. Man, I tell you, you gotta be careful pulling that up to your nose. Pow, pow. Yeah, you don't wanna dive your nose into that for a big wisp.

That is spicy.

Yeah, it is.

All right.

I should have said spicy cherry bomb right there. That's like an atomic fire bomb.

You know, I was just thinking that, Mike. Those big jawbreakers, the atomic fireball jawbreakers, the ones you get in your mouth and they're just so big they just make your jaw stick out. That's exactly what I'm getting there.

But it has a good taste.

It does have a good taste. This is some good whiskey. This is well-crafted Jack Daniel's whiskey. And these single barrels, they're all just a little bit different. And they're all really good. And they're all really high proof. Now we bought this for like $65, I think. Beautiful bottle, right? Beautiful bottle. Great price. I mean, I don't know how old this stuff is. Do you know? Does it say? I think it is around a 10 year old, 8 to 10 year old, Jim. Man, it's some good stuff. It's a little sweet. It's definitely, and you know what, when you're talking about Tennessee whiskey, you have to use the word smooth, right?

It is smooth.

Even though it's powerful, it's a smooth powerful.

It really is.

Yeah. Yeah, I wouldn't call this smooth.

It's not bad. Y'all had me thinking it was going to be atrocious, but that's pretty good.

No, it's actually, I think you have to disallow the alcohol content and you have to look at sort of that impact on your palate. I think the front end is really smooth.

Remember when I would, call certain whiskeys and be like, hey, this is an artist, country music artist right here. This will be some Jamie Johnson right here.

100%. Yeah.

Yeah. Just that he, he really doesn't, if you've ever seen him in the concert, he doesn't get up on stage and dance around. And, uh, he, I wouldn't say we wouldn't put on a show. He gets up there and plays his damn guitar and sings his heart out and soul. And, uh,

He lets his talent do the talking, I think.

And he would kick the stage lights in if they were blinding him. Absolutely. That's what this does right here.

Truth to power right there. Well, I'd like to sit back and sip in on this a little bit and we'll listen to Taylor crank one out for us.

There's a lot of things in common between me and ol' Jack D. You can never handle your whiskey and you could never handle me. And I know you can't forget how good we looked dressed up in black. And how your night gets better after both our seals are cracked. So don't ask me no questions honey If you don't want the truth Cause baby I'm that full strength No I don't want your 80 proof Yeah I'm hard to live with But harder to live without So don't put ice in my water sure is pretty but I'm a heavy pourer and if you ain't real careful boy you'll end up on the floor and I know you think that hangover won't hang on very long but that pounding in your chest will be there long after I so don't ask me no questions honey if you don't want the truth cause baby i'm that full strength though i don't want your A proof yeah i'm hard to live with but harder to live with now so don't put ice in my whiskey cause you can't And you can try to chase me But you won't ever catch up And you can buy a cheap replacement But it won't ever be enough So don't ask me no questions, honey If you don't want the truth Cause baby, I'm that full strength No, I don't want your Don't put ice in my whiskey cause you can't water me down. Don't put ice in my whiskey cause you can't water me down.

We just cranked it up just a little bit. We could have jacked it up, right? That's a great song. You know, the release just happened.

Yup. TikTok. It's all thanks to TikTok. They blew it up on there. So I felt like I had to release.

Yeah, Mike and I are really kind of trying to zero in on this TikTok thing, but you know, it's hard for us older folks. Yeah, it is hard. I mean, do the young folk really want us in there? Not dancing. First off, I'm too big to dance. I don't think anybody wants us in there dancing.

That'd be something. I'd like to see it.

Now cooking, I can cook on there. Yeah, I cook on TikTok. I could, Hell, drink on TikTok. There's nothing wrong with that, right?

That's what I do.

We can show people how to drink. I think we should take a few lessons from you, Taylor, on drinking.

Oh, well, maybe.

She did shoot that first drink back like a champion.

I did. I didn't know the vibe. I thought we were just doing a shot, but I was apparently supposed to sip. This has happened to me many times before, so cannot say that's been the first time.

You have trouble reading a room.

Yeah. Yeah. I'm always just all in. I'm like, let's party. And then I'm like, Oh wow. We're at church.

Oh, that's a joke. That's a joke.

Yeah. Don't come for me. That was a joke.

So you're playing some gigs. You just, you just did a tour and you're playing some gigs. What do you got going on right now?

Well, you know, that song just got released. And good news is I'm putting out two more singles by the end of January. So six weeks after Water Me Down, I'll have another one out. And then six weeks after that, I will have another one out. So I'm just cranking out all the music, just, you know, trying to trying to get my my stuff out there and then get it on iTunes, Spotify, all that stuff so people can have it to listen to more readily available.

So how does this whole thing work? You get this music out there and it really starts cranking and then now you got to support it, right? Right. And you got to keep it coming too. So how does that work? I mean, do you take time off to go like focus on writing and recording and then come back? And is it like a season of this and a season of that? How does that work?

There really is no time off to be honest. I just try to do things. You know, my schedule is always super just completely jam packed. I mean, but I like it that way. I like to stay busy and I love what I do, but there is definitely not a lot of off time. I recorded these three singles. over the span of about a month, and we were just in there sporadic days. It wasn't like we went in there and stayed the whole week. I was in there one day, and then I was out on the road the next weekend, and then I was in there the next week, and then out on the road the next weekend. So it was just like trying to fit studio time in between all of my shows, because obviously I'm an independent artist. This is what I do for a living, so I gotta make that money. So yeah, definitely.

Does the idea of this like mountain cabin getting away and writing your music for a little bit does that kind of sound cool?

Oh, of course I would love to do that and maybe I will do that at some point soon. I know a lot of my friends have went on writing retreats and everything. I just had the chance to to go on one of those trips yet. But yeah, I totally love that idea. Just clearing your mind and just writing some music.

Getting back up to Boonville, you know, in the mountains there would probably help that a little bit. Getting back to those roots.

Well, you know what? I grew up on a tobacco farm, actually, in Boonville. And going up there in the hauler, just there's no cell service, no Wi-Fi. And, you know, just going up in there and taking the four wheeler, taking a walk, whatever. It's always really like peaceful. And, you know, it's just always a I don't know, it just makes my heart feel good to go back there and be up in the holler and, you know, in the old barns and everything that I grew up in, hanging, stripping tobacco and all that stuff. And I actually wrote a song about growing up there called White Oak. I know a lot of my writer dies know that one, but it does me good to go back and just hang out there.

Yeah, that trip home like that always kind of resets you for life, right? It's a good reset. You kind of remember where your roots came from. I know every time I go back to Texas, I always try to go back with my baby brother and me and him take some road trips together and see old friends and visit old stomping grounds and kind of reset ourselves for life. Whatever stress is going on in our life or we think life's been too hard, look back on it and where he came from, because I came from a dirt poor family, and we go back and look at that, and man, I got it pretty good right now. I'm living life.

I knew I always wanted to live in Nashville, even growing up. I would come down here, my parents brought me down here, I think when I was about 10 or 11 years old. And I was a part of this little program down in Hillsboro called Kids on Stage. I did it for like two weeks in the summer, for a couple summers. And ever since I started doing that, I was just like, man, this is exactly where I'm supposed to be. So I always knew that I wanted to be here and come here. And I always felt at home here. But yeah, there's definitely nothing like going back to the Haller and just disconnecting from all the social media and all the TikTok and all that stuff as much as I love it. And I'm thankful for it. But it's good to go home and get that.

Have you been approached by any big labels to be signed yet?

You know, I get approached by a lot of different people but I'm holding out for the right one.

Well, there's nothing wrong with that, right? Do you have somebody in mind that you like, I hope this label walks up to me and says, I need you on her label?

I have a few. Yeah. I won't name names.

Well, we hope those labels are listening today, whoever they are, you know, or they hear this and they're like, man, she's rocking it out right here. She's a, she is a true American queen right here.

Appreciate that.

Absolutely. I think that we hope that happens for you and we hope that maybe we're part of that process. That would be kind of cool. You got a song you want to sing for us now. Sure. Music is medicine. I need a little bit of medicine right now. What are you going to play for us?

So this is a song and I wrote this song because in country music, there's a lot of women artists out there that are just singing these songs about, oh, my husband cheated on me. I'm going to. Slashes tires and buses windshield out and you know all this that in the other but you never really hear the artist or whoever wrote the song, you know kind of being the woman and being in the spot that they're kind of in the wrong and They're the one that's did something bad and they're kind of I'll run up to it So you don't really hear a lot of that So I decided I wanted to take that view take that point of view and write a song about it And this one's called like you do It is coming out soon. So if you guys want to follow along, it'll be out everywhere on Apple Music, Spotify, iTunes, Amazon, all that good stuff. But this is just my take on a cheating song from the woman's perspective.

I slipped my ring into my pocket. I know I shouldn't be doing what I'm doing, but I am. You opened the door. You didn't even lock it. Because you knew I'd be here. You know me like the back of your hand. I wish he knew me like that I wish he knew all the words to my favorite song The one you always sing harmony on I wish he knew how I like my drinks I like him a lot stronger than he thinks I do And I toss and turn when I lay down at night Tryin' to figure out how I Cause he don't know me like you do I lay down in the bed beside you I know I shouldn't be doing what I'm doing but I am And I can't stand I being untrue I'd tell him but he wouldn't understand Cause he don't know me like that Wish he knew all the words to my favorite song The one you always sing harmony on I wish he knew how I like my I lay down at night trying to figure out how I can pick a fight And get out with the cleanest one Cause he don't know me like you do It's a living hell and I've made my mind up But I can't tell them that I choose you It's always been you Cause you know all the words to my favorite song The one you always sing harmony on You know just how I like my drinks I like him a lot stronger than he thinks I do And I toss and turn like you do Wow, there's a lot of heart in that song

It's a sensitive subject matter.

Yeah, it is. I mean, yeah, I think it's got a little bit of, a little bit of heartache, a little bit of love, a little bit of regret, a little bit of sorrow and longing. I don't know. It kind of hits all the buttons, doesn't it?

Yeah. It's pretty cool.

It's that always saying, three chords and the truth right there. Some people don't like to hear the truth, but sometimes it's good to hear.

I prefer it.

So, so Taylor, you're going to be on the road, um, the next couple of days in your home state, right?

I am coming back to Kentucky. I'll be at, um, cocktails too, in Lexington on November 5th. And then on November 6th, I'm going to be at Frankie's, a full band show, and that's in Moorhead, Kentucky. So if you want to see more about that, I have always my full schedule posted on my website, TaylorAustinDi.com. You just click on shows or upcoming events and it'll take you right to it.

That's awesome. And you've got a TikTok.

I do.

Who are you on TikTok?

You know what, I try to keep it easy for everybody. So I am Taylor Austin Dye on every platform that I have. Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, Snapchat, like all of it is Taylor Austin Dye.

That makes it simple. It does. People don't have to remember everything different, but you've got kind of a unique group of names there that nobody else is going to have.

Right. Three Name Club.

Three Name Club works pretty good.

And she got her own club, the Rider Dyes.

Yeah, so there's actually an option on my website. If you want to join the Rider Dyes, I send out like kind of exclusive little content and like first peaks to merch and, you know, first options for merch to those people that sign up for that mailing address. So once again, all you got to do is just go to the website, click on Rider Dyes and then enter your email address for that.

And on TikTok, whenever you play music, people could pay for a request on there.

Of course. Yeah. So I do, uh, usually I do weekly lives sometimes, you know, if I'm on the road, you know, that gets skipped a week, but usually I do weekly lives. And if you want to get on there and hang out with me on TikTok, um, you can get on there and request songs, even if there's a song that you would like to hear me sing. If I kind of sort of know it, if I've heard it a couple times, I'll usually try it. And I accept Venmo and Cash App and PayPal and all that good stuff for requests on there. So it's always a good time on my lives if you guys just want to come out. And even if you don't want to request anything, just come and hang out. It's always a good time. We always drink a little bourbon, speaking of. It's about two hours long, so we have all kinds of time to talk and hang out.

That's awesome. Well, Tanner, we appreciate you being on the show today. We really love it when new friends join us and drink a little bit of whiskey with us. We kind of create that bond. We hope that you'll make some time for us in the future and come back.

Nothing like bonding over bourbon. I'll tell you that.

Awesome.

I'll come back anytime, y'all. Thank you so much for having me.

Thanks for being on. I mean, this is always special right here, especially in the Steel House. Absolutely. Well, Mike, where can people find us? You know where you can find us at. You can find us on TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, wherever else in the world. You can find us at live events. But one of the main places is our private Facebook group, The Purban Roadies. 2,300 people strong and growing every day. Want to come join us you gotta be 21 you gotta love bourbon because everybody likes bourbon and you gotta agree to play nice Because we don't tolerate any rudeness, right?

Yeah, that's right. You can't come in there and attack somebody for For what they're drinking for what they're doing, you know If you choose drink a bottle from knee-level or below on the shelf, that's your choice. And nobody needs to be second-guessing you, right? It's your bourbon, you drink it your way. We don't talk about any social issues. We don't talk about religion. We don't talk about politics. We try to keep it real. We talk about things that matter like people and relationships and family. We talk about good times. and drinking whiskey. Yeah.

And we share that whiskey, right, Mike? We try to share it a lot. No selling whiskey in there, but you can give it away and you could share it with, we like to say that's the angel share. So share that whiskey with your fellow roadies. They enjoy it and it just, furthers that bourbon community. One of the ways you can find out when we have an episode releasing, when we're going to have great guests on, like Taylor or Austin Dye here, is to go ahead and hit that subscribe button up top, that check mark, that plus sign, that subscribe, hit it. Your app will tell you, hey, these two jokers got some shows coming out tomorrow, today, whenever. Also, if you would scroll on down and hit that five star review, we really need that. But if you don't, you know what's going to happen, right? The big bad booty daddy of bourbon is going to come on over to your house. I'm going to bring some of this Jack Daniels. I'm going to bring some of this. We're going to drink all night long. We're going to have a great party. I'll even play some Taylor Austin die for you. By the end of that night, we're going to get that five star review. I'm going to leave with a smile. You're going to leave with a smile. Be great. Those five star reviews really do open up the doors for us. It gets great guests on like Taylor Austin Die gets great whiskey in our hands to review. So we'd appreciate it.

Absolutely. We do two shows a week. We do a short episode every Monday where we kind of focus on a single bottle, a single expression from a distillery. Usually it's a small distillery, a craft distillery. Somebody trying to break through and shine the light a little bit. We hope that you'll listen in every Monday and that you might just find something you like. Every Wednesday we'll do a deeper dive. We'll have a guest on the show like Taylor and we'll talk about them. We'll drink a few whiskeys and have a really good time. We want to make sure you get both shows every week. Mike told you how to do that. In the meantime, if you've got an idea for a show or you've got a comment about a show we've done, we'd love to hear about it. We're very approachable. You can always reach me at email. I'm jim at the bourbonroad.com. He's mike at the bourbonroad.com. But probably the best way, as we say, is to hit up our DMs on Instagram. I'm jshannon63. I'm one big chief. And we'll see you down the bourbon road.

And it rings like a bell through the night And would you love to love her? Next to the sky like a burning flight Rhiannon. Rhiannon. Rhiannon. Rhiannon. Take my disguise. Take me by the sky