287. Taylor Hughes Praying to the Whiskey

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.

Hey this is Big Chief and you're listening to The Bourbon Road. You know what I love to pour in my old fashions? Is a little maple syrup. It can't be just any maple syrup. It has to be from seldom seen farms up in Ohio. He takes bourbon barrels. pours his syrup in there and ages it for six to nine months making for some delicious just some delicious syrup that you could pour on pancakes you can pour it on waffles chicken waffles like this fat guy likes but seriously you want to make a delicious cocktail with some maple syrup and not that old simple syrup check out seldom see maple.com pick up some stuff from there today we'd appreciate it

Hello everybody, I'm Jim Shannon. And I'm Mike Hyatt. This is The Bourbon Road. And today, Mike, we are at Jeptha Bend Farm. We're getting ready to get our music on.

Yeah. Who do we have in the house? Well, we got Taylor Hughes, and she's going to be headlining Bourbon on the Banks October 1st in Frankfort, Kentucky.

And that's at the Goodwood Afterparty, right?

Yeah.

I'm excited about that. I'm looking so forward to that event. We've got a couple of events before that, but Bourbon on the Banks is always, always on my mind.

Yeah.

Isn't that a song always on my mind? Always on my mind. Yeah, I won't sing it. I would ruin it.

I'd ruin the whole show.

No, but yeah, we got a couple events we got coming up. We got a USA Cares obviously this weekend coming up. We have the Southern Whiskey Society down in Franklin, Tennessee. Both of those events support great causes. The first one, USA Cares, is the Gala, we're going to be at July 23rd, and then the Southern Whiskey Society, it supports one generation away, which gives food to needy folks.

Great event, great people, really looking forward to it. And then just a short time after all that is Urban Heritage Month. Yeah. Got the Bardstown bourbon festival and bourbon on the banks. We're going to be busy.

Just a little bit. There might be just, we might drink just a little bit of whiskey in that period, but we got some whiskey in our glasses day that Taylor pulled off my shelf. So she picked a couple of good ones. Well, she, she certainly did. Well, she picked three actually. We're playing on two, but there's a third bottle. We'll get to it. She saw it hidden up there. She said it was hidden. It's not really hidden. It's just on the back shelf. Well, Taylor, welcome to the Bourbon Road.

Thank you for having me. Yeah. I always find my way around the bourbon shelves. It takes me a minute, but I saw my favorite one, the knob 12 year, and I was like, oh, we definitely have to have that on there. What are we doing?

Well, that's a great bourbon. The other two, we'll get to in just a few minutes. Well, we'll get to one of them. pretty darn quick, won't we?

Yeah, and this is a pretty special bourbon, especially for both of us being veterans. Elmer T. Lee is the first bourbon we're going to drink. Elmer himself was a bombardier in World War II, a lot of people don't know that, and the U.S. Army Air Corps. Before there was an Air Force, there was an Army Air Corps, and that's where he served at. went to UK after he was honorably discharged in 46, 45, 1945. Graduated in 49 from there with an engineering degree and went to work at Buffalo Trace and worked there until 86, where they, he's the guy that invented plans. I don't know if you knew that or not.

I did not know that.

I do love Elmer T. He used to work with Albert Blanton, so they knew each other. Not too long after that, they honored him after he retired with his own bourbon.

That's awesome. I had no idea. I just always drank it, you know.

We always love our brothers and sisters who served. I have a special place in my heart for those from the greatest generation, those who fought in the Second World War.

Yeah.

Pretty amazing people. All right. Well, I think we should get to the whiskey. What do you say? Let's do it. That sounds good to me. Awesome. Kind of fruity, Mike.

Yeah, it's definitely a nice bourbon and stuff. It's subtle.

Yeah, it's a subtle burn. It's not too bad.

Yeah, Mike and I actually had another bourbon a short time ago before the show. We won't talk about what it was, but it had a little bit more of an impactful flavor on your palate. And this one's a little more soft and sweet and a little fruity, a little caramelly.

Might be closer to ancient age than most people know and plans.

Yeah, that's true. That's true. Well, this is a, this is certainly a great bottle to have on the show. We haven't had it on in more than a minute. It's been a while.

It's what I'm here for is to bring the old stuff out.

Isn't that another song? It's been a while.

Yeah, that is another song.

It is another song. It's been a while.

Yeah, that's another song. Just name all these songs. I'm in that music frame of mind.

Maybe we'll get him to sing a little bit later.

That would be a bad mistake.

Enough bourbon and you'll do it, right?

I've seen him sing before karaoke.

Hey, we're all friends here. There's no judgment.

Yeah. I guess I do edit the podcast. I can always take it out later. So Taylor, where are you from?

I'm originally from Lexington, Kentucky. So that bourbon runs through my veins, but I live down in the Nashville area, specifically Spring Hill. It's about 35, 40 minutes south of downtown Nashville. But I've been there. It'll be five years in December.

You had the itch to go to Nashville.

I did. I've had the itch since I was itty bitty and no one knew about it till I was probably 18 years old.

Is that when you, when did you pick up a guitar and said, Hey, I'm going to play a guitar.

I think I started learning guitar when I was, yeah, I was probably around 18. It was, or 17 or 18. It was towards the end of my junior year of high school, beginning of my senior year. So 17, 18 years old. But I'd always loved to sing. And I was always in choir and we have home videos and stuff of when I was in preschool and I did all the little shows and stuff like that that they would host. And there's actually a video of me pushing the girls out of the way so I could make it to the front to sing. Not my proudest moment, but clearly I was like, I'm made for the stage.

We might need a clip of that for them. Right?

I'm sure my mom has that somewhere. I'm singing like, Mary had a baby or something like that. Something that they did. But yeah, I was actually really involved in athletics growing up. My dad and I My dad has this way of forcing me into things that I think I'm going to hate and then I end up loving them. So when I was in middle school, he was like, you're going to play a sport. And I was like, no, I'm not. And he was like, you are. And he pushed me into volleyball and I fell in love with it. And I was actually going to go to college on a scholarship and I blew my knee out my junior year of high school. And that's kind of what led me down the music path. I had always loved singing. You could pretty much find me singing anywhere. I was always involved in choir and stuff, but I never told anyone that's what I wanted to do. It was like a secret dream, I guess. No one really knew that I could sing. They knew I did choir and stuff, but no one ever really thought anything of it, you know. And I went to my dad and was like, I think I want to learn to play guitar. And he was like, all right, you know, we'll go down to the doo-wop shop and get you lessons. And what's funny is that The day we walk in, my guitar teacher, Polly Felice, who I still work with today, he's a good family friend of ours, is someone that my dad babysat way back in the day. So it was almost like this full circle moment, like it was kind of meant to be. And I'd been taking lessons with him for, gosh, maybe a few weeks, if that. So there was no way I had learned to play guitar yet. And he was like, oh, you sing. And I was like, yeah, you know, I dabble in it, I guess. And he was like, I'm going to take you to Nashville. And he told my parents and they were like, what? There's no way she knows how to play guitar. She probably doesn't even know three chords. And he was like, no, your daughter sings. And they thought it was funny. They were like, no, she doesn't. What are you talking about? Pretty much the first time I ever really performed and stepped on a stage was down in Nashville and I think I was probably 18 or 19. I started singing for a TV comcast down there called Nashville Spotlight. I don't think they have it anymore. But I remember my first performance. I went down there and had a great time. Everyone really loved me and they came up to my parents and they were like, oh, please bring her back. And they were just kind of smiling and nodding and we left and they were like, were you lip singing? And I was like, no, that's me. And they were like, oh my God. And that's just kind of how I really got started. And, you know, and they were like, okay, well, this is, this is a real thing. And, you You know, I started playing out and I went to college for a little bit and decided I wanted to be a rock star instead and went to my parents one day and was like, you know what, I think I'm done with this whole school thing. And, you know, most parents would be like, no, you're not. But my parents were, you know, especially my dad is the one I was kind of scared to tell. And he was like, all right, we're all in. There is no plan B. It's all or nothing, which is pretty cool to have that kind of support. I know a lot of artists probably don't have that from their parents because, you know, this is a really difficult job and it's not normal. There's no steady pay. And, you know, it's probably like a one in a billion chance, but it's what I love to do. And, you know, they've been supportive ever since.

That's a great story. You know, it just occurred to me that how many people tried their hand at the music business because mama and papa told them they could sing, right? Maybe they couldn't.

There's a lot of those.

And they get down there and they fall flat on their face because they really don't have the chops for it. They were just the opposite of that. They had no clue.

They had no idea. Thought I was lip singing. Thought it was I'll pretend.

Do you remember that first bar in Nashville that you went to and played?

Yeah, it was called the Nashville Palace.

Okay.

Um, and it's still there. It's still hopping. People go there all the time. They have, um, local artists there all the time. They have big acts. Um, it's a great place to go honky tonking. If you want to go like line dancing and, uh, um, it's right over next to, um, the grand old Opry in, um, the Opry hotel. It's like right in that area. Um, but that's kind of where I claimed I got my start. So,

That is such a cool story. Such a cool story. So was it hard to like remember words and stuff like the whole song? Because lyrics could be very difficult to learn. And you go to Nashville now and you see almost every artist has a iPad or iPhone in front of them. And I'm like, why do you

It can be really difficult. I know for a lot of the Broadway artists, you're kind of required to know like a billion songs. Like it's insane. I actually have it saved on my tablet of all the songs and they constantly add stuff. But for me, like remembering the lyrics has always kind of come naturally to me. I always bring a tablet with me just in case if I'm playing a new song that I haven't remembered yet or someone has a request and I need to look it up because I might not know it. But I think a lot of us, there's something about being a musician that the lyrics just flow in your head and you can't remember anything else. You can't remember what you had for breakfast, but you can remember a hundred songs.

Yeah. Well, you drink whiskey like it comes natural. Like you said, it's running in your veins in Kentucky. Now your mom and dad are in a room, but I'm going to ask you this. When's that first sip you had of some bourbon?

Oh, okay. Let's see.

Your dad's over shaking his head.

Oh, well, he knows I was raised like a boy and like my dad and I are pretty close. So a lot of my drinking was done at tailgates. So with him, but I was probably a good bourbon, not till I was in my twenties. Now I probably had like,

ENJ or something pretty rough when I was like 15 or 16.

But hey, I kept it together. I was a 4.0 star athlete, had good GPA. I didn't do anything crazy. Yeah, I don't think I really truly started appreciating bourbon until I got into probably my mid 20s. My husband is a big like bourbon connoisseur and we have quite a collection at our house. And I actually went bourbon hunting yesterday and got five bottles. I called him and he was like, yep, buy that and that and three of those. And I'm like, all right. And I'm sure the guy at the store was like, what are you doing? I was like, I want them all. I don't mess around.

They know what's going on around here.

I think sometimes when women are doing it, they're a little surprised. You know, I go into some places and they're like, Oh, do you want this? And I'm like, no, no, no, no, no. Where are your allocations or what do you have hidden in the back? And they're like, Oh no, this girl knows what she's talking about.

know that that's the case anymore just because I think the bourbon community has came so far. Yeah. There's no surprise that women are out there seeking out.

Maybe like, especially like here in Kentucky, but like down in where I live, you know, they don't really expect girls to be drinking that. And A lot of them are drinking tequila and vodka, which, hey, I like a good tequila. Don't get me wrong. I like me some Casamigos.

Well, speaking of that, sometimes you've got to take a break from bourbon. Yeah, right. What's your other bourbon?

What's my other bourbon?

I think she just said tequila.

Yeah, it's probably tequila. If it's hot outside, because I'm not a beer girl. I don't like beer. I don't like salsers. I'm either liquor or nothing. But I do like a good tequila.

And you're drinking at room temperature straight, or are you having it?

I like it chilled.

Okay.

Um, but yeah, I typically don't drink like mixed cocktails. Um, I do love an old fashioned though, but obviously that's bourbon or whiskey.

Who doesn't like an old fashioned.

They gotta be done right. And like, um, I'm so bougie. I've been spoiled. There's this bar down there in Franklin, Tennessee called Obie Joyful. And I'm really good friends with the bartenders and the manager down there. And they actually let me do one of my photo shoots there. But they make their cocktails like craft, like it is the correct way. So every time I go in, they're like, you want to smoke old fashioned? I'm like, yes, I do. You got to have it smoked.

Yeah, you and Mike have that in common. He's bougie, too.

Oh, yeah. You know, you just got to be fancy. I'm one of those people that, like, if you can set it on fire like a sidecar, I'm like, yeah, do that. I like the pyrotech.

I'm not big into the smoked old fashions. It has to be done right, first off. If they just put the whole glass into a smoking box, The smoke's not going into the whiskey. It's just getting all over your glass. And then the next thing you know, you go home and your hand smells like smoke. I don't want that. I want the smoke inside.

Well, they do it right down at OBJ. And then actually, my dad bought us a smoker for at home when we make old fashions at the house and we'll make our own little fancy concoctions.

That's pretty cool. Well, he supports your habits. I know, right?

And then, you know, I say that, and then I get a phone call, you better not be drinking. Messes up your vocal cords. And I'm like, I'm fine, I'm fine.

Who else told us that? Somebody else told us that, I think, the day after, but not the day before, right?

Yeah, I mean, we've had some artists on that they say they drink bourbon. And then when we sat down to drink whiskey with them, and it's kind of shocking to them, I think, they're like, oh, this is tough right here. Right.

Well, you know, I used to, it's funny, I used to always have a shot with me during my shows and I would just sip on it throughout the show. So like a three, four hour show. And I would notice that it would just, by the time I was done with the show, it tore up my vocal cords and my vocal coach was like, you cannot be doing that. So I stopped and you know, I'm the bourbon girl and every time I go to a show now, my fans that are regulars or have come out to see me, they're like, Taylor, let's buy you a shot. And I'm like, no, I can't drink till after.

Well, how does somebody like, like, let's say Eric Church, who's notorious about drinking Jack Daniels on stage, you ever think that's really Jack Daniels in there?

It's just, it's, it's probably the Jack. Um, you know, I think it really just depends. Uh, cause I know a lot of people like my, my girl, Miranda Lambert shouldn't drink bourbon on stage. I think she usually has like, Tito's vodka on stage. I'm like, I don't know how y'all drink while you're singing because it dries out your vocal cords. But some people I guess are just used to it.

Now I've seen Cody Jinx in concert. He's got, he loves Maker's Mark and he came out in the crowd, brought it out in the crowd and was drinking with people. And I was like, what is he doing?

Well, if you talk to them, now I could be wrong, but I bet if you talk to them the next day, their vocal cords are probably hurting. Yeah. Um, but I'm also super sensitive and have a ton of food allergies and I didn't see you're having any food allergies. We put those aside today. Um, usually like my diet is very like so weird. I never go out to eat anywhere because there's just so many things I'm not supposed to eat. But when you told me you were making barbecue, I was like, I got to do it. I got to eat it. I'm going to eat it and I'm going to enjoy it. And we're just going to drink bourbon. It's going to be okay.

It does though.

Alcohol kills anything bad. Germs, you know, food allergies, all that. It's like out the door.

So you go to Nashville. What was the first song that you wrote for yourself or recorded?

Ooh, first song I wrote when I moved to Nashville, I'd started writing before I moved there. But the first song I wrote, gosh, it was probably, I do have a song called Buzz Off Me that I wrote with a girlfriend of mine, Stephanie Joyce. That and then a song that I'm actually gonna play you all here in a little bit was one of the first songs I wrote when I moved there. It's called Prayin' to the Whiskey, which was my sophomore single. I actually wrote that with my dad. So that was, gosh, five years ago, almost.

Wow. Five years ago, you still wrote that song.

Yeah. That's what's funny about releasing music is a lot of the time, these songs that you all are hearing on the radio, they were written five, 10 years ago. like they're typically not just new songs. So a lot of artists when they go on tour and they're trying to promote a song, they're probably sick of it because they've been playing it for 10 years. It just now hit the radio. And so, I mean, I love playing this song. It's a special song to me. And it was, you know, one that I wrote with my dad. So it was kind of cool to release it as obviously new music for me, but kind of introducing my dad as a songwriter as well. But yeah, those, those two are what's coming to mind right now. I've just, I've written so much stuff that it all kind of gets lost in the mix.

It sounds kind of like a song that'll go real good with this Elmer T. Lee. Oh, absolutely. Well, let's, let's hear it, Taylor.

Yeah, I can do that for you. All right. So this is my sophomore single, uh, Praying to the Whiskey. You guys can find it literally everywhere. iTunes, Spotify, all that good stuff.

Jim, Jack, Johnny and Crow Those four apostles jaded my soul That's pretty rough company For a Catholic girl like me to keep But they're all right for me My momma would fade She knew these things How better than to say, oh, I cannot say, God damn it, I sway Y'all better pray for me Find me the rosary It is standing up for me Baptize me in the brown water Overacts don't get no hotter Devils cut the name of father I won't wait to hit the bottom Sunday morning I'll be on my knees But tonight you can find me Bring it to the whiskey But at the bar, well, he's my creature Till he yells, let's call him a sinner I'll be confessin' till the liqter's over I wear the rosary, it is long enough for me Baptize me in the brown water, over acts don't get no hotter Devil's cut that I am a father, I won't quit till I hit the bottom Sunday morning I'll be on my knees but tonight you can find me Prayin' to the whiskey Jim Jack, darling you're cold Save my soul, I've left the roads to breathe Here there's not enough of me That ties me in the brown water Overrides don't get no hotter Devils come that ain't my father I won't quit till I hit the bottom Sunday morning I'll be your man Sunday morning I'll be your man Bring it to the whiskey. Bring it to the whiskey. Bring it to the whiskey. Bring it to the whiskey. Oh, yeah.

Man, I think a little bit of that smoked bourbon got in that voice. Right?

A little bit of that grill. Yeah. You know, I find that I have a, when I'm writing songs like that, I'm like, Oh, you know, I get inspirations from stuff I've done in the past. And there have been quite a few times that I was praying to the whiskey, you know, a lot of tailgates, you know, back in the day, back in college.

And now do you have an artist that has influenced you? Say it influenced you a lot.

Yeah, I love Miranda Lambert. She is probably my favorite artist of all time. I get a lot of my influence from her. Ashley McBride is another artist that I love. A little bit of Chris Stapleton. Of course, you've got to have a Kentucky artist in there. A little bit of Lynyrd Skynyrd. I love me some Southern Rock. And I don't know if y'all know who Susan Tadeshi is. She's from a Tadeshi Trucks band. They're more of a big band kind of blues thing. And that's who, it's a band that my husband actually got me hooked on. And he tells me all the time, he's like, your voice reminds me of Susan. He tells me you're a blues artist. You're not a country artist. And I'm like, oh, okay. But growing up, you know, I grew up on country music and Southern rock and blues, and it was always playing in the house. And that's kind of just, I like to take bits and pieces and kind of mix it together and make my own thing.

So your voice is very rich and deep and you kind of have a low, kind of a low register. And it's really interesting and it's kind of unique.

Oh, thank you. That's the number one thing you want to be in this business is unique.

I think the artist you named, you know, Chris Stapleton, people were like, where'd he come from? But he had been around forever.

Yeah, writing music for tons of artists.

For artists that people really would just blow their mind, right?

Yeah.

But his voice.

Oh, it's incredible.

People are like, he's not very entertaining because he sits up there and plays the guitar. And I was like, oh, he's pretty entertaining. I'm not playing to see him dance. Right. I want to hear his story. He tells a story in his music. And I think that's what's so great about music. You can get a story out of it and stuff. That brand of the whiskey, we've all been there, right, Jim?

A time or two, right?

I probably prayed a little bit to 10 High before and said, I would never drink that again. You haven't prayed to Crow yet. No, I never prayed to Crow before.

Maybe one day.

Old Crow makes that chili taste pretty good. Yeah, that's true. That's true. That's my cooking bourbon.

So I had to come up with Jim, Jack, Johnny and Crow.

You know, it's funny is that it's actually a line my dad came up with. Um, cause like I said, we wrote this together and we were sitting there talking about, you know, obviously our love for bourbon and whiskey. And I think it was around tailgating season two. And we were kind of just laughing about, you know, back in college when him and I were both in college, the things that we did and things that we were drinking and it's kind of, you know, how we got different ideas for the lyrics for it. And, um, it's, um, kind of based on the fact that I'm Catholic and I like to drink, right? But we were trying to think of, you know, the apostles. So like, OK, well, what are bourbons that have like actual people names, you know? And so or I guess that would make sense, like people names or whatever. And he's he started just listen. And I was like, hey, that kind of flows. And it's kind of just how he came up with that. And it's actually I have merch that has the Jim Jack, Johnny and Crow, those four apostles jaded my soul and people love it. They're like, I need it. And I'm like, hey, maybe maybe one of those bourbons have jaded your soul. So, you know, that's pretty cool.

Probably a time or two for me. Yeah, right.

But yeah, you know, my dad, it's funny writing with him because we've written a ton of stuff together and she's the only one I've released so far. And he's such a great writer. And for me, my strength has always been like melody. And when I come into a write and I always joke around, I'm like, he can't carry a tune in a bucket, but he can write, you know, people, you know, where'd you get your voice then? My mom is a closet singer. She won't sing. But before I existed, she was in a band and she played all the time. And I try to get her to sing, maybe a few cocktails in her and we'll get her to sing later.

Well, we can open up another mic, I think, if we need to.

We actually got another mic and everything, headphones and everything.

She had no idea that that's what we were doing. Like this is actually meant for her to sing some harmonies.

She's like, this is a setup.

She's like, get me out of here now.

So when was the first time they heard you like a record on the radio or something? Do you remember that day?

Um, yeah, um, I can't remember the specific day, but I remember the day that I like the where we were. Um, I actually went into 92.9. Um, I don't think it's called the bear anymore. What is it? 92.9. Um, Nash FM radio is what it's called now. It's been called like a billion different things, but it was here in Lexington in a Deidre Ransdale is actually the one who played my song first on the radio. And I brought her three singles I had and I'm ready to go. And she played Good Taste. And she was like, this has got to be the song that you start off with. And I was like, all right, let's do it. And I remember being in the studio and I was doing a live interview. And it was funny because they can only play so many songs throughout the day. And it's really hard to get on the radio because they have their favorites. And for an independent artist to get on there, it's even harder. And we were in there and she was like, we're going to take Cole Swindell out and we're going to put you in. And I was like, I just took Cole Swindell's spot on the radio. I was like, how? How cool is this? And this was my first single too. And it was right in the middle of the pandemic. So I couldn't go out touring to promote it. So a lot of the promoting I was doing was over Facebook Live and Instagram Live. But I had so many friends that would go out to their car and send me videos like, I'm listening to your song on the radio. And I still haven't saved on my phone. And this was... Back in 2020, when I first released my single Good Taste, I remember just being like, oh my God, how cool is this? This is what I've been dreaming of doing forever and have my song debut in my hometown, which I never thought I'd do. It was really cool. I don't know if y'all know who Cole Swindell is, but he's a huge artist, huge writer. And I was like, okay, well, sorry, Cole, today's my day.

How big of a part does the whole social media thing play for you?

Oh, it is such a huge deal these days. The music business is so different now than how it was in the past. In the past, probably back in the 90s when it was golden country music, record labels would develop artists and that's how you discovered new artists. These days, it's total opposite. You already have to be developed. You have to have your own brand going, your own followers. You pretty much have to be your own label for an actual label to come to you and be like, okay, now I want to put some money into you because they don't have to do all the hard work. They're just, oh, this person's making pretty good money. How can we reap some of the benefits kind of thing? So these days, the numbers on social media, and I'm so old school, I'm like, man, they came out with another one. Like when they came out with TikTok, I was like, please don't make me do this. Please let this be a fad. And it is not, it's still around. So I broke down and I got one in a, but I'm such a like an Instagram girl and like Facebook. That's where a lot of my following is on is those two. But you know that when you're going to book shows or you're getting PR, it's what are your numbers? You know, and you're like, Can't you just listen to my music first? And then, you know, we'll talk about the boring numbers, but it's a huge thing. And that's how, you know, you get big booking agencies to want to work with you because they want to make sure that they can book you outside of your normal areas. It's how radio is like, well, why should I play your song? No one knows who you are or your. you've only got 10,000 and this person's got a hundred thousand, you know, why should we play you over them? And it's, I hate it because it's almost lost. Like the, the art is like not special anymore. It's all about numbers and it's not about like storytelling and being talented, not that people aren't talented, but like, it's almost like people want instafame and stuff rather than connecting with an artist and That's why I love playing. I love being on the road and meeting new people. And, you know, at my shows, I go talk to people before my shows. I talk to them during my shows. I talk to them after my shows because for me, like, that's what makes making music so special is that you're connecting with people on a totally different level. You could be totally different in your beliefs and your thoughts, but there's something about music that just brings people together no matter what. And, you know, I will be a slave to social media if they want me to be. I mean, I love doing the Instagram thing, like I said, and I always do like Facebook lives and stuff, which, you know, there are good things about social media. I've been able to grow my following over in the UK and Australia and Ireland. And I have people, you know, constantly, when are you coming over here to do a tour? And I'm like, oh, I'd love to. Can you help me? Like, I don't know where to go. I've never been over there. Like, the only place I've been is like King and Coon. I've never been over over the UK or anything. But social media has been good for that because you're able to reach people all over the world. Whereas, you know, back in the day, you couldn't do that.

It's kind of put artists more in control of their brand.

Yes, absolutely. So there are absolutely good things about it. You're able to release music whenever you want to release. You don't have to listen to a label. Sometimes when you're signed to a label, they pick what you're going to do. what you're gonna wear. And being an independent artist, one of our strengths is that we make our own rules and we make our own decisions for the most part. And we can release however many songs we want, we can dress the way we want. If that's what our fans like, then that's what we're gonna give them. And I think that's been a really good part of the social media growth and just technology, period. I'm lucky if I can work my cellphone, y'all. There are some things about it that, you know, there are good things.

Yeah, that social media thing, sometimes, even for us, it's the same way. People say, hey, what's your numbers? And that's always with PR. And I'm like, well, our numbers are true. And they'll be like, well, this person has this. And I'm like, OK, well, look at those numbers for totality. And look at ours. And you'll see that we have real whiskey drinkers. We don't have fake followers. And we've built it organically. I notice your social media accounts are the same way. You know, you're building organically and it must be tough to try to compete with that where you can look at somebody else's stuff and you're like, I know better.

Absolutely. Yeah.

But if you're playing on the same stage as them, right. And you're playing at the same venues, you know, you're doing just as good.

Right. Yeah.

And then be like, I played this venue with you at the, I played, opened up at the amp for Dustin Collins or I'm playing, uh, bourbon on the banks October 1st. Right. You know, that other artists, they're not playing that. So.

And that's the thing is that, you know, you can really get caught in the whole comparing yourself to other people. It is especially in the music industry. It's constant because people only post their highlight reels, you know, and you have to remember that like some of these people, they're not their followers aren't real. A lot of them have been bought, which is kind of, you know, I hate to say that, but you can kind of tell sometimes when people have bought followers. or a part of growing organically is that these people that are following you are actually true fans. They're coming to your shows, they're buying your merch, they're listening to your music, they're sharing your stuff. And that's what's important is having people that actually truly believe in you. They're not just following you and then they don't even you know they click follow but then they don't even pay attention to what you're doing at all and they're not even listening to your music they couldn't even tell you who you are they're like oh i think i remember following them or it's a bot you know like it's not even an actual person you know and so i think You know, growing organically like that is important, I think. Yeah, sometimes we get caught up. I know I do constantly. I get caught up in the, well, they have a lot of followers and like, I'm doing the same thing as them, but are those followers real? Like, are they really like true fans of theirs? Are they supporters? Like, I know that my following is and that I've worked so hard to build and still trying to, you know, build as much as I can. So you just kind of have to take a step back and be like, stay in your lane, you know, put those blinders on and just focus on you, you know.

Well, Taylor, I noticed that you haven't drank a whole lot of that Elmer.

I'm just, I like to enjoy a good bourbon. I'm not going to throw it back. Like some people might, you know, Jimmy didn't throw it back.

We just sit down. No, not you all.

Just, I have some friends that might just throw it back, you know, and we have friends that throw it back.

Yeah. Right. Yeah. Yeah. That's all right. It is, it is your glass of whiskey and you need to drink it your way. But.

Now, if we're ready to like do another one, I'll throw it back.

Well, I'd say we're ready to do another song. And I'd like to hear that first single that you had.

Good Taste. Yeah, absolutely. I can do that for y'all.

I mean, it's kind of Good Taste like this, Elmer Teague. Yeah, absolutely. And then we'll go to break right after that song.

All right. This is my debut single, Good Taste.

I come down home, I like a baller A kind I don't take back to mama I like them rough around the edges, whiskey soaked That gunman, that tenor, that so-so Boom, stompin', good time, I know when's the last But I fall for the kind of guy that makes me raise my glass Blame my heartache in the morning on the whaling in the Jones Blame the whaling, leave me hanging on that copperhead road I'm a good-hearted woman, love's a good time, and God, blame the way I forgive them all that walk the line Hit some broken record, played again and again I played my good taste in music from my bad taste in bed Like the way that they make it laid back Little smoke, a little drink, never hurry, yeah Call me an addict, said, ain't a habit When it gets stuck in my head, I gotta have it I blame my luck in the morning, I'm wailing in the jungle I'm a good hearted woman, loves a good timing guy I'll play away, I'll forgive him, only walk the line Here's a broken record played again and again I'll play my good taste in music for my bad taste in men Pearl, Hank, and Haggard make em hard to resist They lead to bad decisions, I ain't ready to quit, I ain't ready to quit Blame my heart again, I'm warning on the whaling in the Jones Blame the whaling, leave me hanging on that copyright road I'm a good hearted woman, lost a good time, and God went away I forgive them all that worked It's a broken record played again and again I play my good taste in music for my bad taste in men Play my good taste in music Bring my good tasting music. Bring my good tasting music for my best tasting man.

Yeah, there's some attitude in that song.

Just a little, just a little, you know.

All right, Mike, well, what do you say we take a short break and when we come back, more whiskey, more music. Yeah, let's do it.

man jim you know what i've really been enjoying lately oh you're gonna tell me some of that seldom seen farms maple syrup that's been aged in bourbon barrels it is absolutely delicious not only in a cocktail but you can cook with it right you can you absolutely can now mike kevin just sent me a new shipment so i got a little bit more and i've been making some beef jerky lately

Really? Yeah. Now I know you're the meat master, but I tried my hand at it. I said, you know, I want to make some beef jerky and I've got a pretty decent beef jerky recipe and it's got a little bit of soy sauce, a little bit of Worcestershire, a little bit of, you know, onion powder, garlic powder, those kinds of things. But I always put brown sugar in it. Well, this time Kevin sent me a bottle of his granulated maple sugar. Wow. And I decided that I was going to substitute the maple sugar for the brown sugar. Oh, game changer. Let me tell you. Total game changer. Total game changer. Some of the best beef jerky you've ever had. So I'm going to make another batch here in about a week and I'll be sure to get you some.

Man, that sounds delicious. Vivian took and we just got an air fryer like most people got these days, right? And she took and soaked fresh pineapple in that maple syrup and then put it in the air fryer and it kind of crisp up a little bit. Oh, sounds good. It was just magically delicious. Um, and people probably wonder why we love it so much. Kevin competed in the maple festival last year, 2021, and he was named grand champion. Uh, that's saying something.

So Salem Seam farms. Grand champion of the 2021 Maple Syrup Festival.

Yeah. Wow. That's saying something. Yeah. You're going up against some heavy hitters in Maple Syrup. And I know we're talking about just the syrup, but that's something to be proud of. Hats off to you, Kevin, for winning that. Kevin's also competing in a couple of other competitions. Make sure you check out his website. Check out his social media on Instagram and Facebook. You won't be disappointed. If you want to buy something, From him. Where can they go, Jim?

You can go to seldom seen maple.com and Kevin and his crew. They've got a great website, very easy to navigate. They've got all their products on there. You can buy their maple syrup by the bottle. You can buy it by the case. Uh, you can buy that sugar.

oh my goodness mike that stuff is so good and they've got some other gift sets there too so you definitely want to check it out well he's also going to be in some distilleries pretty shortly here um some distilleries from that i love that i know you love he's going to be down leapers fork You can find his syrup down there, aged in their barrels. Trudy Oak down in Dripping Springs, Texas. I was just out there. His syrup's going to be there. Awesome. And at Garrison Brothers in Texas, if you think you love some maple syrup, make sure you go to Garrison Brothers and pick up a bottle from them also. Kevin appreciated. I know he loves people. You're supporting a local farmer, a local product, a small family. This is no factory place that's putting out maple syrup, right, Jim? This is a good man doing good work. Yeah, gotta love it. Well, make sure you check out his site. Like Jim said, seldom see maple.com. Pick up a bottle today.

All right. We were back from our little break there. We had to finish off our Elmer Tea Lee and get a few drinks of water. We've got to hydrate. Hydration, that's important. And we're back with Taylor Hughes. Great first half, wonderful music. You've got some more for us, I think.

I do, I do. I'm over here babysitting my Elmer Tea. Don't worry. I'll get on to the next.

You got two glasses there.

Hey, I'm double fisting. Here we go. It's a party. It's Saturday. Like I'm not working. We're having a good time, right?

We've been having a great music conversation, right? We've talked about all kinds of artists in your last song though. You know, I noticed all these other songs in that song, but the one that stuck out to me amongst everything was a little Steve Earl in there. I heard Copperhead Road. It used to be one of my favorite songs, but I heard somebody not too long ago singing that and I was like, Steve Earl would be dying right now, the way they were singing it.

That's I feel like that is the song that I hear whenever I go to a honky tonk. Like someone is always playing that song, even not a honky tonk. Like someone always yells that play that song. The band's like, OK, OK. But it's such a fun one. You can dance to it. Like I love to dance. I'm all about the line dancing. I might look like a fool, but like I'll still do it.

Maybe that's what I was thinking that people were lying to answer to that song. And Steve would probably be just dying because people were lying to answer because he definitely not a line dancer.

Right.

I mean, he was like, to me, I thought in the 80s, I thought Steve Earle was going to be it.

Yeah.

I was like, this dude's going to make it. And that was it. That was.

Hey, sometimes that happens, but that's a pretty popular song. So he's got that. Well, he's a great songwriter. You can't take that away from him.

Mike, I've seen you dance a few times, but I don't know that I've seen you in a line dance before. How's your line dancing skills?

I've never been into that. I don't know why. It's probably because I'm a Texas boy and we got that step and a half, two step, but that's it.

How's your wobble?

I'm the wobble queen. I don't even know what a wobble is.

You don't know what the wobble is? Oh, if you go on my TikTok, it's probably my most viewed video of me wobbling in the middle of a pool at a resort in Mexico.

Oh, I've wobbled across the pool before.

They asked me if I wanted to work there and I was the person that would start the dance every single day at the pool. They were like, oh, where's Taylor? And they dragged me out to the middle of the pool because there was like a platform in the middle of the pool and they turned on the song and I was like, here we go. and I am now the wobble, the wobble girl.

Yeah, I think you got that wrong, Mike. You thought she said waddle. Yeah, no, waddle like a duck.

Waddle, waddle, waddle. Yeah, I mean, probably after a few drinks, I'm waddling, you know, but the wobble, like wobble may be wobble. I know.

I'm pretty positive. In the pool, there's, you could see the wear marks in the pool for me back and forth across the pool. It's between your spot and the bar.

Yeah. He's got his spot, right?

You always have to have like a spot, especially when there's a bar in the pool. Why leave?

Well, he is the mayor of the pool. Everybody's going to know me by seven days. You're going to know who I am.

It kind of sounds like me. Everyone knows me because I'm, I'm the wobble girl. Then you're the bar guy. And so like, I feel like we could team up though. You gotta have, you have to have liquor to do the wobble. Probably.

There's plenty of that in Mexico. Well, speaking of liquor, speaking of liquor, that's a good segue. What do we have in our glass, Mike? We got some old Weller foolproof.

This is one of the Wellers I haven't had. I haven't had this one and I haven't had the orange label.

What do you know about Weller?

What do I know about it? I know it's tasty. And I know I got lots of it on my shelf at my house.

This guy was famous right here. I'm still learning. Like the grandfather, the mac daddy of weeded bourbon. There would be no Pappy Van Winkle that these people were buying today without W.L. Weller.

That's true. You know, I actually prefer Weller over Pappy.

I mean, people just don't know there'll be no maker's mark. Um, there will be no larceny. There will be no fits.

I do like some larceny or the, what is it? The barrel proof.

Oh yeah.

Oh yeah. They make those for me old fashions and they don't tell me they're doing that. And I'm like, and they're like, Taylor, you're feeling good. And I'm like, yes, I am.

Like, yeah, I think Weller's whiskey. more or less fueled the West, right? I mean, his barrels were all over the West and they had that big green print on them.

Put a green thumbprint on there to honest whiskey. And one of people don't was real whiskey and stuff. And, um, back in the day, people would doctor up their whiskey, right? They, they call it rot gut for a reason. Right, Jim? That's right. They put spit in it or chewed tobacco. We don't need to go there.

We don't need to go on that test. I know.

Not today's whiskey though. Not today's whiskey though. This whiskey right here.

That is, I've got to say, this is really good, and I haven't had this one. This is finer than a feather. And I have the CYPD, and I like this better than the white label. And y'all already know what my favorite is, the Nob 12, and this is competing with it.

This bottle right here, I've been hanging on this thing for a minute now.

Well, if you don't want it, I'll take it.

No.

I'll take it right off your hands.

I mean, you'd had a scrap out here.

$2, I'll give you $2.

Me and you would scrap in Woodrow. Woodrow the whiskey dog wouldn't have none of it.

Oh, Lord.

Well, this is definitely a good, Mike, this was a pick from a little way back, but it's called the Kraken and we've had it on the show a few times, but it's always good to pull this out and I'm glad you've still got some of it.

Yeah, we just had this on the show not too long ago. We talked about it, whether this whiskey had went bad or not. Now, I don't think it's went bad. I don't know. Does it taste bad to you, Jim?

Tastes pretty good to me.

No, it tastes pretty darn good.

Tastes pretty good.

The Weed of King Kentucky says it tastes like heaven. That's a song too, isn't it? Heaven.

Yes, it is. Jason Aldean just did a cover of that song. That's an old classic.

Do you like your whiskey high-proof?

I'm not going to lie. I do.

Yeah?

Can I handle it sometimes? Probably not, but that's fine. I like to take risk.

There's definitely a risky bottle in Tennessee right now because Jack Daniels just put out a 153 proof bottle. Think it was? I feel like I had that. Was that some alcohol wheel? Oh my goodness. No, I don't have any details on it, but I got the press release on it.

The knob 12 120 proof I like a lot too, and it's hot. Even my husband's like, I can't believe you like that. I'm like, it's so good, but he's kind of a sissy. I like it spicy.

I like it hot.

He's like,

So you drinking White Claws or something?

That's funny. You say that he loves White Claws. In the summertime, he says, you know, ain't no laws when you're drinking White Claws. And I'm like, OK, I didn't know I married a girl, but that's fine.

Oh, my goodness.

I'm just kidding. A lot of people like them. But for me, I just like I said, I don't like salsers. I don't like beer. I don't like any of that stuff. I'm drinking. It's liquor.

You know, the funny thing about it is you don't realize how big that business is, but I would venture to say that the White Claw business is probably big enough that they could probably sell that business and take the money and buy every bourbon distillery in the world.

Probably. They probably could.

They're huge.

I don't know about that. That's pushing a little bit, Jim. That's, woo, man, that's sacrilegious.

We won't let them in to do it. We won't let them do that.

Sometimes you get surprised by that kind of stuff. Yeah. I don't know if you remember when, uh, when Kmart went bankrupt and they sold a third of their stores and they took the money and bought Sears.

So you're saying that the people that bought the people that bought barstown bourbon company really own white claw and barstown bought green river distillery and they're just going to start making white claws at all of those. Careful. You know, this is how you start rumors. I know.

There's going to be like a white claw flavored bourbon or like a little mix like cocktail you'll be able to buy.

Oh my goodness. I can hear it tomorrow.

Did you hear the bourbon road? Right. Guess what's going to happen? We've got all the, you know, the gossip, right?

You'll be no more bourbon in Kentucky. Oh my goodness.

It's all white cloths.

There's a song in that right there.

Hey, there probably is.

Big Chief done drank it all.

I think there's a song, all the bourbon in Kentucky. All the bourbon in Kentucky. Yeah.

Everyone write this down. We got to, you know, write a song here later. Take notes.

What, you got a song that you've been working on lately?

Yeah, actually. I have a song that a friend of mine is getting ready to cut. And I might cut my own version, we'll see. But it's called Jesus in Jail. It's probably one of my favorite songs that I've written since I moved to Nashville. And it's definitely, it was an idea I brought to the right in even the first lyric. Dead on me Maybe not today, but back in the day that I could play for you guys, but it's so It's very much me and it's very It's a funny song That's edgy, which is you know, my thing that sassy edgy kind of thing But it's probably one of my favorites and right now my catalog and my friend Crystal King is cutting it as well in a

Those are some of the things you can do when you're an independent, right?

Yeah.

That's pretty cool.

So, and that's what's kind of cool is, you know, we were talking about Chris Stapleton earlier, and he wrote Whiskey and You for Tim McGraw. And then, you know, years later, he went and cut it himself. And now there's two different versions out there, right? And another song, Mama's Broken Heart, Casey Musgrave wrote that, Marina Lambert cut it. And then now there's a version that Casey put out there, but you listen to them, they're almost completely different. You don't even realize they're the same song. And that's what's really cool about, you know, being an independent artist is that you can put your own spin on things and, you know, you and your friend can release the same song and it sounds like two totally different things. You know, or.

Well, now you've had a little bit of that weller.

Yes.

Full proof, a little fire in the belly.

Now I'm feeling real good. Yeah.

She's ready for that.

I'm loosening up and I'm ready to go.

What can we hear that song?

Absolutely. All right, this is Jesus in Jail.

Roll it into that church pew like a cloud of smoke I was out all damn night to win, God only knows Never even made it home when last night's hair in a second coat of that carbon black mascara gonna bless my soul Cause I'm guilty of charge, never gonna be a star So I came here today To bow my head and make the cross Sending up my work on Paul Hope the Lord will pay my bill Cause hell, I'm somewhere between Jesus and jail If I take an extra step Like I knew you would The lonely ghost might save my sins Or kill this hangover of mine My ready ways Have passed a few blocks Come judgment day Don't need another bite Cause I'm guilty of charge Never claimed to be a saint So I came here today To bow my head and make the cross Sending out my worth on call I hope the Lord will pay my bill Cause hell, I'm somewhere between Jesus and jail Jesus and jail I'm a repeat offender, a good old fashioned sinner So Lord, let us surrender Cause I'm guilty of charge And I claim to be insane And my heart's a little lost So I came here today To bow my head and make a cross Sending up my work on call And hope the Lord will pay my debt Cause hell, I'm so way between I'm so way between I'm so way between Jesus in jail Jesus in jail Jesus in jail I'm somewhere between Jesus and jail.

Hey, hey.

That's good stuff. I think we've all been there.

Yeah.

All right.

I'm still there. No, you're still there.

I'm still trying to get out of there.

Sometimes we're in wife jail.

Always in wife jail.

Yeah.

I know what that is.

Look, your dad's back there like, oh, yo, yo.

I put my husband there sometimes, you know?

Yeah. It's better just to keep us there and let us out once in a while when we're like really good.

You know, a nice pair of shoes always fixes things, you know? So maybe just buy a nice little gift. That's the trick. It is the trick. Shoes. I'm letting the cat out of the bag. It's like, that's how you do it. I'm totally getting it. Don't buy your wives. It's not...

I could never buy a pair of shoes for her that she would like. I mean, there's no way I could pick out those shoes. Boots. You buy boots. Buy boots. But even then, I don't... You can't go wrong with boots, Jim.

You can't. My husband bought me these boots, actually. And you know how I got these? Funny story. It involves bourbon. We were at our favorite bar, OBJ, down in Franklin, Tennessee, and he had a few cocktails in them and I was on my phone online shopping at the bar. I was like, do you like these? He's like, yeah, those are cool. And I was like, man, I'd really love these. And he had, you know, he was feeling good because he had a few drinks and he was like, oh, babe, I'll buy those for you.

I was like, I need to get you drunk more often.

Right. They were only $60, not like they were crazy. Cause usually I'm like, buy these. He's like, those are $500. I'm like, but they'll look so good on stage. He's like, no, but that's the trick is you get them a little, you know, a little lookered up and then they buy you a pair of shoes.

You picked them out. See, that's where I would go wrong. Cause we went boot chopping in Nashville together. Remember that? Yeah. You remember it took, how long it took to get a pair of boots for you and for Melody.

You got to pick the right one.

Did she buy boots?

Yeah, at the end of the day.

It's like we were there for so long, I don't remember.

I don't remember because I was looking at boots myself, Jim. She knew exactly what she wanted. Yeah, you're bougie. So I didn't care about her boots. I was trying to find myself a new pair of boots.

You can't go wrong with a good pair of cowboy boots.

That's right. Nashville's got all kinds of boot stores. Oh, they're all over the place.

It's hard to pick.

You wouldn't even try on hats. Well, I got a big head, so it's hard to find a hat to fit this head. You know, if I got a hooey hat, I'm good.

What's a hooey hat?

Hooey? You don't know a hootie? Hooey? Oh, a hootie? Hooey. No, not a hootie in the blowfish.

That's why I was like, like, Jerry Strucker.

It's a hooey hat. What is that? I don't know. It's just a ball cap. You know, it says hooey on it. I don't know. It's a Texas hat company. I like them. When they sit by here, they got the... I'm gonna have to look this up now. But I like them. That's one of my favorite caps to wear. I love a good baseball cap. I don't have enough baseball caps, I don't think.

That sounds like me with my shoes. I go and buy more shoes and my husband's like, where are you even going to put those? There's no more room in the closet. And I'm like, well, we can move some of your stuff out.

We should go shopping together. I don't have enough shoes either, so.

Oh, I probably have more boots than I do like clothing. And it's always like, well, what are you going to wear? I don't know, but my shoes are going to look real good.

That's what it's all about right there. Yeah, I'm not bougie at all, so I need just a couple of drawers in one of the dressers. Right now I have like 10% of the closet. 10%? Maybe 10%.

Maybe.

It's a walk-in and I bet I got two feet of it, three feet of it. That's it.

That's it. Nice. We got separate closets in our bedroom. Oh, that's nice. And I took the woman's closet. Oh. See, boozy.

How does your wife feel about that? Why are she like pretty like low key, low maintenance?

I'm twice the size of her.

So I need, I got bigger clothes.

I got big feet. So my boots, my boot collection takes up a lot.

I think my husband has like three pairs of shoes and that's it. And then you go to my side and it's just like boots galore and it's gorgeous. It's like a shrine. I put them all up for display. They're all set a different way so you can go in and enjoy them. Sometimes I go in my closet and I just sit there and I just kind of look at them.

With a glass of bourbon.

Yeah, so as I drink my bourbon, my old-fashioned, I just sit there and I'm like, oh, look at all these beautiful shoes.

Now, I'll tell you what, boots are good for Nashville. When we come back from Nashville, we always have a bunch of whiskey with us. and a whiskey bottle will fit perfectly inside a boot and protect it.

You hide those suckers in there. That's right.

I'm not hiding nothing. You're protecting it. I'm protecting it.

Oh, are they good for them? Well, he's got four or five pair of boots. Always take four or five pair of boots with you. And that's 10 bottles of whiskey that he's bringing back from Nashville.

Hey, you gotta do what you gotta do.

If we go to Nashville for two days, I'm gonna take about five pair of boots with me.

One for each outfit.

Well, you don't know what you're gonna have to wear.

Exactly. That's true. If you're going to like a show, you might need a dressier boot. Or if you're going down to Broadway, you definitely want to bring a pair that you don't mind having something spilt on them.

Now that's that right there. That's super offensive to me when somebody steps on my boot.

Oh, you don't want that.

touches my boot or pees on my boot.

Pees on your boot? Is this like a, is there a story behind this?

It's printer's alley.

I love printer's alley. No one's ever peed on me in printer's alley.

No, not on the alley, but I had somebody pee in my boot in a bar before some guy and I was like, Hey dude, uh, You're peeing all over my boots." And he's like, good Lord, you're a big man. And I was like, yeah, you know, we're about to find out right now. Oh my goodness.

Why are you peeing in the middle of a bar?

Well, not the bar, the men's bathroom, you know.

I thought you were like at the bar, like ordering a drink and you look down and you're like, man, you're peeing on my shoe.

Yeah.

I was like, dang, I've never been to this bar before.

And drinking in Nashville affects your aim just a little bit, I think.

I could imagine. Yeah. I mean, I don't really have that problem. I don't want to say that.

That wasn't in Nashville. I won't even tell you where that bar was, but the bar was a trough with ice in it.

I've been to places like that before.

I've heard of these kinds of bathrooms.

But peeing on my boots. We were talking about Brent Cobb and we went to see Brent Cobb in Louisville at this little Zanza bar. They're known for their pinball machines in there, but they got a room back there. Pretty good size room for concerts and stuff. Brent Cobbs in there playing. And my wife had just got these brand new boots. We got them out in New Mexico. That's a good spot to get boots. Super nice boots. And this girl was stepped all over her boots. And my wife, I could see her face like, hey, you're going to mess my boots up. And I looked down at that girl's boots on, I was like, yeah, she just doesn't care about life. Her boots were trashed. And I was like, not like she'd come off farm, like she don't take care of her boots. And I was like, man, cause you spent a lot of money, but you do need to take care of what you got. Well, you take care of those boots, but you know what? Those boots, my wife, we went out and went to Kip Moore concert, Louisville palace, and she had too many drinks.

Oh no.

This seems to be a recurring theme that you keep bringing up. Yeah. Yeah. Well, she actually peed in the parking lot there. Oh my goodness. This show's going downhill real quick.

She's like, wait a minute. I am not a part of this.

So we get home. I barely drank anything. So we drove all the way home here and got home and she gets undressed and she just throws her boots on the floor. Well, we just got our dog at the time, Woodrow. Woodrow loved, at the time, loved to chew on some leather stuff.

Oh no. Oh no. That's a no-no. That's a dead dog.

He chewed the top out of those leather boots. I mean, there's super rare areotes to get and you can't replace them. She still has them. She just can't wear her pants outside of no more. That's old Woodrow the whiskey dog right there. Woodrow was mad. He didn't chew a pair of my boots and a belt.

Oh man, he was just out to get y'all.

Yeah.

He's like, I'll show you leaving me to go to a concert.

Yeah. We wouldn't even leave him in our front room for the longest time because we, you know, leather couches and leather chairs. And we're like, I always had these visions of getting home and Woodrow had chewed up the whole, every piece of leather we had.

Oh well, I have a Husky and he, He likes to do things like that too. We went on vacation to California and we had some friends watching him and he got mad and chewed the crown molding off our wall.

Oh, wow. I mean, that's up.

Well, I guess like the the bottom part, the bottom part of the same thing, Jim. I was like, well, he probably could actually, you know, he's done some crazy things, but he's also one of those dogs like if you make him mad, like he'll look at you and then he'll go pee all over your stuff. And he knows what he's doing because he's like, shouldn't have done what you did. He is a devil dog, but he's my big fluffy devil dog. My husband called me yesterday and he goes, you know what your dog did? It's always my dog when he's done something bad.

He's like, I put him outside, gave him a bowl of water and what'd he do?

He knocks it over in front of me, looks at me and starts rolling in it.

And we just got these dog washed.

Okay. And it is expensive. And I'm like, well, you did something to make him mad. He's like, just come home and get your dog. I'm like, he's our dog. Not when he's bad. He's yours. I'm like, it's like kids. Like when kids do something wrong, I'm like, I don't know.

So what do you think about this foolproof? I'm trying to, I'm trying to steer us back and we've talked a lot about PN and it's Jim's responsibility to get this podcast back on track.

Back on track. Yeah. Um, I love it. It's real smooth. I was not expecting it to be as smooth as it is. Um, I'll just take another sip.

Anything else to say about the foolproof, Mike? I know it's a weeder. You don't have to say that again.

It's a weeder, man. I'll tell you what.

It's really good.

I think all bourbons should be wheat.

You think all of them should be?

Every distillery should have a weeded bourbon. Now I agree with that.

Not all bourbons should be wheaters, but all distilleries should have a wheated bourbon because they don't know what they're missing.

That's like my question when we go into a place and they don't have wheated bourbon. I'm like looking around like we're on a tour, me and Jim are like walking around mixture. I was like, so where are you guys going to put that big old silo for wheat? And they're like, what? What are you talking about? We don't even make wheated bourbon. I was like, yeah, but you're going to, so you need to get that silo put in place.

They're like, I didn't know I was going to.

We had old Bruce Russell in here recording, and I said, hey, so when you become the master distiller of wild turkey, which doesn't make wheated bourbon, You're going to make some weeded bourbon?"

And he was like, hmm, hmm. That's a good idea. Where'd you hear that from?

So yeah, weeded bourbon is a thing for me.

Do you like mickters?

We love mickters. Love some mickters, love some toasted.

The toasted blue label.

Yeah. I have some of that at home. It is so good.

This girl knows her whiskey.

I do. You know, what's funny is we were out in California and we go there a lot on vacation. We went to this little hole in the wall, bourbon store, or not bourbon store, liquor store, and they had this. And I was like, you know, it's out in the wild. You can't find this anywhere. And they don't realize what they have out there. And you're like, how much is this? And they tell you like a third of what you'd pay here. And we're like, yep, we'll take it. And we were like, how are we going to get this home? Because we didn't want to put it in our luggage and we didn't want to pay for it to ship it. So we just drank it all the week we were there. And we were like, man, we're never going to find that again. And as soon as we got back to Nashville, we went into this other hole in the wall liquor store and I was like, look what's on that shelf behind him. And there was another bottle.

Was it the same price though?

It wasn't the same price, but it still wasn't as expensive as like a lot of places. So we snatched it.

The bourbon gods were looking out for you. They were like, you know, you really shouldn't have drank that bottle when you're in California.

Exactly.

We're going to get you another one.

I'm going to help you out. I have an act for finding stuff when no one else can. We'll go into a store and I look up and down and people are like, oh, there's nothing here. And I'm like, you didn't see that? And they're like, how did you see that? And I'm like, I looked. Like, my husband's also the person who opens the fridge and he's like, where's this? And it's right in front of him. And I'm like, you mean the dish that's sitting in front of you? Why are you hiding things from me? And I'm like, what?

That's just guys.

Is it a guy thing? That's just guys. Okay.

So maybe, maybe there's- Except Mike.

Except Mike.

Yeah.

Maybe there's hope for him and he'll like, you know, grow out of that. I do. I always find really good stuff in, you know, yesterday I found quite a few bottles as well and I snatched them.

You know, you were talking about hiding stuff in the fridge and stuff. And I made this blackberry cobbler for one of our listeners came over here the other day, a guy named Doug Keller. Doug, I know you made it safe back to Ohio. But I made this blackberry cobbler. It's pretty damn good, right, Joe?

It was a good cobbler, yeah.

Well, it must have been so damn good because we had about half of it left in this container in the fridge. And I went in there looking for it. I almost dug that. I almost cleaned the entire refrigerator out.

You wanted some cobbler.

I was like, man, I want to eat some of that cobbler today. I looked all over for it. I looked for it and looked for it. And finally, today I asked Viv, I said, hey, did you eat that blackberry cobbler?

She's like, hee hee hee hee. Yes, I did.

I was surprised that she didn't say, it's in the refrigerator. You should look for it.

You just missed it. You overlooked it.

No, it was all gone.

So hey, I like me some cobbler. I like sugar really. So like in kind of dessert, I'm all about it.

Well, I had no extra sugar in it. It's just berries and cake mix. Well, I guess that has sugar in it.

I like cake. That's my favorite. I like cake. Whenever there's like a wedding.

Sounds like forced jump right there.

I like cake. My dad's birthday was actually on Thursday and I was like, I'm going to bring him some cake. And I brought three little like bundt cakes. And then I got to his house and his mom had made brownies. And I was like, oh, we're in heaven. Here we go. Like, I'm all about the sweets. And I was like, I hope you don't mind that I'm going to eat half of your dessert. Like, I know I brought it for you, but I'm eating half of it.

Well, while, while we were talking about all them crazy things, the bourbon fairy made a delivery. You mean Fayo two showed up. It was a Fay, but so we've actually have a Taylor's third pick in our glass right now.

My favorite.

And this is the knob Creek 12 year. She's trying to get drunk, Jim.

Let's go, it's Saturday.

She loves them blue labels.

I do. Blue is my favorite color.

This is the hundred proof. And yeah, so pretty good. I would say that those are all top level picks.

Yeah, she did. She did pretty good. Did I do good?

Do I get an A?

Yeah, you get an A in that. We thought you were going straight Buffalo Trace. But then you found her.

I really like Buffalo Trace's line. Like there's not really anything that they put out that I don't like.

Yeah, I think when you, when you pick a, an older Knob Creek whiskey as, as one of your chosen few, that it tells us a little bit something about you. Cause you know, their whiskies are typically very, uh, I don't know, very aggressive, oaky deep. They're, um,

I'm a little aggressive.

They're not necessarily smooth. You know, you use that word smooth sometimes. Yeah. You wouldn't say that normally about a Knob Creek, an older Knob Creek whiskey, right? Right. It's more of a, it's got character. It's bold. Yeah.

The 15 is kind of like that. I remember I actually tried the 15 and the 12 at the same time. And I thought, you know, sometimes I read the tasting notes and when I was reading the 15, I was like, oh, this sounds more like me. And I tried them and I was like, no, I want the 12. So we actually ended up giving the 15 just to somebody else. We liked it, but we were like, we love this 12.

I think if you did a blind taste on them without the age statements, hands down, the 12 year old would just blow the 15 year old away. The problem is, is that so many people are fixated on that damn age. They're like, oh, this 15 year old, it's 15 year old bourbon. It's 15 year old bourbon. I'm like, stop thinking about the age people. Stop it.

Taste it.

Shame on you for thinking about that age.

It's kind of like the Pappy's. The 10 year, or not the 10, the 12 year. Yeah, I think it's better than the, what is it? 22, 23 year old, you know? But I find that my husband and I have a lot of the same flavor profiles and like we tend to like the same things, but I do like a little bit hotter.

That makes the bottle go down pretty quick when you both like it.

Oh yes. But it also it's one of those things that we can agree on, though. So there's never really a disagreement or an argument. Like when I get a phone call and he's like, I did something. I'm like, what do you mean you did something? And he's like, I might have bought something. And I'm like, oh, well, as long as I can drink it, like, I guess it's OK.

Man, that's perfect right there.

What can I say? I'm wifey material.

Does your husband have a favorite song that you sing?

You say he's not a country guy, but... No, he actually really likes... I'm trying to think. There's cover songs that I know he loves of original stuff. He really likes, you know, praying to the whiskey. There's one I wrote before I moved to Nashville called Angels Envy that he likes. It's also like super depressing. But he likes that one and I'm trying to think if there's like, he loves my most recent single High on Something because he tells everyone it's about him. So he's like, it's about me. So it's her best one. And I'm like, okay, whatever.

That's a really cool song because the subject is kind of, it's kind of truth, right? I mean, it is truth, right? Yeah. And I won't give too much away because you, is that one you're going to play?

I can most certainly play that one. Wow.

It's, that's definitely one that I really like. And we were talking a little bit about whiskey and how you guys both like it, but there's something, there's a line in that song about bourbon and like a tenure to, yeah, to get good. That's pretty cool stuff.

Well, I always say, you know, the older the bourbon, the better, but not in the Knob Creek sense. 12 is better than the 15, but you know.

I think I tend to agree with you on that. I like the 12 a lot and you particularly like the 120 per version of that, right?

I do. You know, I won't say no to either. But before my vocal coach got on me about drinking while we're singing, so we won't tell her that I'm doing this right now while I'm drinking. But I used to always have a shot of the 120 proof at my shows and I would just sip on it throughout the show, you know, a three, four hour show. And by the time I was done playing, I was pretty much like ready to go. I was like, let's do this. You know, and everyone's like shows over and I'm like, no, let's keep going. But yeah, I do like sometimes they get a little too hot, but there's something about that 120 I really like.

That's a great whiskey. This 12-year sipping on it, and it should be my palate today, but it's a little sweet on me.

It is sweeter. I think that's what I like about it, is the sweet notes that I get from it.

But the barrel is ever-present. I mean, you can definitely tell this one's been sitting in that wood for a while. Yeah, for sure.

Especially the 120, you're like, woo, Lord. It smacks you, and then you're like, oh, but it's a good smack, right? It's a good wake-up call.

So can we hear High on Something? Absolutely. Awesome.

Yes. This is my current single, High on Something.

Like a rushing blood to your head with the first hint of nicotine. Like an 88 Chevy Burning up a tank of gasoline Like a quick fix from a fit When you tip it on back Tap a buzz that comes and goes It don't ever last, but with you No crash and burn Ain't lookin' for an easy way out And it ain't a drug, it ain't a drug Whatever it is is more than enough And I don't know much But I know one thing You got me high or something Like a worn-in leather On an old pair of boots Like the lazy stretch of a lawn Along June afternoon Like a ten-year bottle of bourbon Takes time, but damn, it's worth it So to build the fire This one keeps it burning Cause with you I ain't coming back No crash and burn, ain't lookin' for an easy way out And it ain't a drug, it ain't a drug Whatever it is, it's more than enough And I don't know much, but I know one thing It got me high, lost all faith And I'll soon find, cause with you No crash and burn, ain't lookin' for an easy way out And it ain't a drug, it ain't a drug Whatever it is is more than enough And I don't know much No, I don't know much You got me high on something You got me high on something You got me high on something

So was it about him?

It was. It was. What's funny about that song is when we went into the writing room that day, a lot of the stuff I write is very sassy and edgy. And a lot of, you know, a lot of the times people are like, if you want a murder ballad, go to Taylor because she loves writing those, you know? You know, what can I say? Miranda Lambert and Ashley McBride are big inspirations for me, right? But we went into the studio that day and I was like, you know what? I don't have a love song. And I typically stay away from those because they turn out super cheesy and You know, my friend that I wrote it with, Stephanie Joyce, she's kind of the same way. She loves writing murder ballads and stuff. And we were like, OK, we're going to do this. And it's going to be so good that you're going to want to cut it. And I was like, all right, it's got to have that Taylor Hughes stamp on it. And we started writing and talking about guys we had dated in the past. different life experiences and how we felt about our husbands now that, you know, who are with and how you, you know, had a date, a few frogs to get to the to the right one. And the words just started flowing out. And she was right. I loved it so much that I decided to cut it. And we tried to do a little bit of a Chris Stapleton feel to it, you know, because I get a lot of inspiration from for him, too. And It's been doing pretty well. I actually found out it was charting down in Texas on their Internet radio. It's been in the top 100. It's just been climbing ever since. I actually checked on it the other day and it was still on there. So I was pretty excited. I was like, I didn't even know they knew who I was.

That's pretty awesome. I mean, the general gist of the song is that there's bumps in the road and things can get rough, but you're still high on each other. Good things take a while. Absolutely.

That was the thing is that a lot of love songs, it's almost like we just met and then we fell in love and that was happy ending. It's like, that's not really how love works. That's not realistic. You know, I wanted I didn't want something that was like, oh, puppy love or, oh, you know, everything sunshine and rainbows. I wanted something real and something, you know, like there are these exactly, you know, inspiration from like my parents or like, you know, just relationships that I, you know, was like, wow, that's what I didn't want. And this is what I have now. And put it into words and put it into a song.

Awesome. Yeah, it's kind of like whiskey, right? You want the real thing. You don't want that damn White Claw.

Absolutely, right? Ain't nobody messing with that stuff.

Yeah, yeah. That song kind of goes with that whiskey, right? It's the truth. But, you know, White Claw, I've tried it. Have you ever tried it, Jim? I haven't tried it.

No, it's not real. I tried seltzers before and they're just not my thing.

They're not my thing. They just taste like nasty water.

Yeah.

Like sometimes you get them, you're like, Ooh, mango flavor. That sounds good. And then I crack it open. I'm like, Nope. And then my husband's like, don't worry, I'll drink it.

I went to Virginia to visit. Well, the first cohost of the show lives in Virginia now and he, he took us out and about to try and find some distilleries and breweries and things like that. But the only thing there is they're seltzeries. They're everywhere.

That's a thing.

It's like, yeah, it's a thing.

I guess you could go to like a tequila place or a vodka place or the rum places. Like when you go on vacation, we did a tequila one and my husband tried to kill me in snorkeling. Yeah, we did an excursion where you could go to the, you know, go to the distillery or whatever they call it for tequila and you get to watch them make tequila and you get to sample it and then you get to go snorkeling. I didn't want to have anything to do with the snorkeling. I'm not a strong swimmer. I'll get in the water and I'll doggy paddle. But like, I'm not trying to go down with the fish and stuff. And this was on our honeymoon. He was like, it's going to be great. And I got in the water and I had a panic attack and he had to drag me the entire time. And he's like, babe, look at these fish. And I'm like, I'm going to die. This is how I leave. Just take me back to the tacos and the tequila. It was so bad.

Yeah, I think too much tequila and snorkeling, they don't sound compatible.

No, like just keep me on land. I'm not trying to go where the sharks live. That is their home. I don't want to be shark food. Not about it.

Yeah. So you're going to be at bourbon on the banks, right? Are you pretty excited about playing that?

I'm so excited. I've actually been really interested in this event for a while and I'm like, we got to get in there. I don't know if they have music, but there's going to be, we're going to, if they don't have it, we're going to ask them to do it. So, you know, when we scored the opportunity to play the after party, I was like, I'm so there. I'm so excited. Like it's, there's, you know, I live down in Nashville and I absolutely love it. There's no other place like it, but there's something about coming back home to play for other, you know, for the, for my hometown and stuff like that. And to see familiar faces and to even meet new people and do things like this, that makes it just really special.

Over 2000 whiskey drinkers going to be there.

Absolutely. It's going to be great.

They'll have been sampled from over 53 distilleries.

There better be some food there.

There could be no whiskey left. I don't think.

Oh, absolutely not. Everyone needs to have a snack at all times.

There'll be a little bit of whiskey leftover. I mean, we, we dished out some whiskey last year.

Just a little bit and we're going to have a little bit left over though. We're going to have better bottles this year.

So is it like, what do you all do? Do you like bring like your own personal favorites or do you like team up with a distillery and they like, they're like, here, we want you to serve this.

We do have a sponsor, um, which is Leapers Fort Distillery, um, down in Tennessee. And they'll be pouring from our tent. Yeah, they'll be pouring. We have our own Bourbon Road Lounge.

Right, right. But I'm going to have to check out this lounge.

We still are in discussion about whether we're going to have a barrel pick or not. We may have a barrel pick. We will definitely have the roadie bar though. Well, yeah, we've got a roadie bar that we bring this year. I think we had 20 bottles last year. We didn't come home with any whiskey. So I think we're going to bring a little bit more this time.

Yeah.

Those bottles that have been on the show, we want to bring them and share them with our listeners. We got old Brit Mac in the house right now with her man, Matt. But she was there and got to experience it last year and it's one hell of an event.

I'm sure. I mean, does it get better than like an event dedicated to bourbon and whiskey? I can't think of anything else.

The only thing that would make it better, Taylor, is everybody going to see you after.

Oh yes, you need that in your life. You need some Taylor Hughes in your life, y'all.

And if you could just look out in the crowd and everybody out in the crowd was wearing a t-shirt that said bourbon bullshitter on it.

Oh, yeah. I think I need a t-shirt like that.

It'd be a pretty perfect event, wouldn't it?

Absolutely.

I think we can probably make that happen. Do it.

Be like, you can't come into the show unless you have this shirt. Then everyone's like, I've got to have a shirt. I need to be a part of this party. Like, everyone's going to want to do it.

Yeah.

For sure.

It's a great time. We have such a wonderful time and, you know, such a large number of roadies turn out, and that's great. our roadies by the way i don't know if you're familiar our roadies are i don't know i don't like calling them fans i like calling them listeners there are listeners

Listeners and I like their family almost. You know, it's like our guest. Every guest to me becomes a family member and it's like, hey, I met this person. They come to my house or come to Jim's house and you know, they play music for us or drink whiskey with us. And you know, that's, that's where you meet people and you get to face to face and honesty and eat some good barbecue, eat brisket and pulled pork.

You said food and I was like, yes, I'm there.

Well, like I said, if you leave here hungry, then something's wrong with you.

I'm easy to please. If there's ever like food somewhere, I'm like, oh yeah, I'm there. Count me in.

Well, you make sure when you're walking around that day before the after party, when you're just hanging out and having a good time, you stop by at the Bourbon Road Lounge.

I'll just hang out there.

Say hey to us and she can just bring her guitar for a little bit.

I'll do some mariachi style stuff. I'll go around every person and just sing.

Now, I mean, we would love that, but I just want you to have a good time. So feel free to just show up and hang out and drink a little whiskey with us.

I'll be there. Now, is your mom and dad, are they going to go to Bourbon on the Banks too? Absolutely.

They're kind of the posse. My mama's my number one fan and the dad is the, he's the bodyguard. Occasionally, the bank and the sound system and the sound guy and the booking agent and the manager and all that stuff, I've been very, very blessed to not only have their support, but to have their help in doing this and chasing me all over the country playing and helping me do all the things. So yeah, they'll definitely be there. And you know my dad's going to be there. There's bourbon.

Man, Taylor, it's been great having you on, but you know how we like to do. We like to do some giveaways for our listeners and stuff. And I would like to do something kind of with your song, Praying on a Whiskey. And you said you had a shirt.

I do have lyric t-shirts.

What's it say on it?

It says, Jim, Jack, Johnny and Crow, those four apostles jaded my soul. And then it's got a little whiskey glass on it.

So you think one of our listeners could get one of those shirts?

Absolutely. And it's going to be their favorite t-shirt they own. It's so soft.

And Jim and I will go ahead and we'll do a sample of each one of those whiskies to pair with it. Not only will we do that, but I'll put three extra samples in there of the three whiskies we drink on this show.

Seven samples.

Wow.

Can I win this? You're going to be wearing the bourbon bullshitter t-shirt. I'm so pumped about this shirt. Like I'm ready for it.

Yeah. I think that's a pretty amazing giveaway. So how do they win it, Mike? So you know what we always do from the time we do the post on Instagram in the morning until nine o'clock at night. Cause that's what time I got to go bed. I went to 10 o'clock last week, Jim.

Yeah.

I suffer.

Yeah. It's not good. It's gotta be nine o'clock for Mike.

And it's the day of the release of this episode. Yeah. So, you know, you gotta be 21. You gotta reside in the United States. We need you to follow Taylor Hughes music on Instagram. Obviously you follow us. At the very, in the comments, what we needed you to do is tag three people and hashtag Taylor Hughes music. Awesome. Yeah. Taylor Hughes music tag three people nine o'clock at night. I will announce the winner to this. Um, enter as many times as you want. If you want to enter a thousand times, tag a thousand different people, just don't tag me. Don't tag big chief. You're a freebie, man. They figured it out. Jesus Christ, man. I get tagged in so many dang giveaways. I'm like, man.

Well, that's pretty easy. So they get a Taylor Hughes t-shirt. They get seven samples. So they get the four whiskies on the t-shirt, plus they get the three samples from the show. That's like an entire bottle of whiskey. That's pretty awesome.

That sounds like a good night you're going to have when you get all this stuff.

You don't want to miss this one. You definitely need to get in on it. Definitely. Without a doubt. Taylor, how can people find out more about you, where you're going to be? What you're doing, what your new songs are, where are you? Where do people find out more about you?

I'm everywhere. I'm on all the socials, but I do have a website. It's TaylorHughesMusic.com. If you go subscribe to that, I send out a monthly newsletter. It's the only thing I'll send out. I won't blow up your inbox. unless there's something super exciting going on, but it's got my full tour schedule on there. It also has all my social media, so you just click on it and it'll take you to all of my socials. So like Instagram is Taylor Hughes Music, Facebook, Taylor Hughes Music, my YouTube channel is on there, TikTok, all that stuff. You can buy merchandise through there. I send out all my monthly newsletters. There's always a little reminder, hey, Shoot me an email, send me a DM, whatever way you want to contact me and we'll get you a t-shirt. They're only $25. And like I said, they're super soft. But yeah, if you just go to that website or just go to any of my socials, you can also find all my music on any streaming or download platform. So iTunes, Spotify, Pandora, Amazon. I've heard it all. People have found my music everywhere. So if you guys go do that, I'd be greatly appreciative of it.

Well, that's so awesome. And thank you for being on the show. You've been a great guest.

Thank you for having me.

It's been a pleasure drinking whiskey with you. I think you picked some really, really good ones.

I hope you think I know something about...

I think you've proven yourself.

I am now worthy.

You've earned your stripes. She's definitely put truth to that, preying on the whiskey song. Absolutely. Yeah. All right, Michael, where can people find us on the internet? Well, you know, you can find us at TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, wherever you find us. Our main place, though, is on Facebook, the bourbon roadies. We're almost 3000 people in there, Jim. Three easy rules to get in there and join. Are you 21? Because that's what you got to do to be able to drink some bourbon in the United States. Do you like bourbon? Hell, everybody likes bourbon, right, Jim?

If you don't, you're wrong.

There you go. If you don't, you're wrong. If you like white claws, you're wrong. We don't tolerate any rudeness in that group. Meaning if you drink from the very bottom of the shelf, small, tin, high, all the way to the top of the shelf, maybe some George T. stag there, Jim. We want you to celebrate that whiskey. We want you to celebrate life. We want you to celebrate retirements. We want to celebrate birthdays, whatever you're celebrating in life. Even if you have a family member or a friend that passes away, we want you to raise a glass to them and celebrate that.

Absolutely. We do two shows every single week. On Mondays, we do a craft distillery episode. We call it our Craft Distillery Monday episode. We'll have a single expression on from the craft distillery that's doing it right. Mike and I'll taste it. We'll talk about it. We'll let you know whether you should add that to your bar. I think we're pretty spot on. I think we've got some good ones on there. Every Wednesday, we'll do a full-length episode like today's with Taylor Hughes. We'll drink a couple of whiskeys. We drank three today. We'll drink a few whiskeys. We'll have great conversation. We'll get in depth. We'll have some music in the case of today's show. Mike, what can they do to make sure they don't miss a single episode of the Bourbon Road?

Well, you want to go up to the top of that app, hit that check sign, that plus sign, that subscribe sign. Go ahead and make sure your app tells you, hey, these two jokers have a show that's out today and you need to listen to it. It'll get you to working back like Jim said. Then you need to scroll on down and hit that five star review. Leave us some comments because you know what's going to happen if you don't. The big bad booty daddy of bourbon is going to roll over to your house with some Jim Jack, Johnny and Crow playing some Taylor Hughes music. By the end of the night, you're going to have a big old smile on your face. You're gonna leave us that five-star review in those comments, but seriously those comments those reviews Open up the doors to distilleries to us get great guests on our show like Taylor Hughes here We'd really appreciate it.

Yeah, so Mike and I are very approachable. You see us in town See us at a liquor store. You see us at an event You see us at bourbon on the banks. Make sure you come up and say hey to us and Have a drink with us. Introduce yourself. Let us know what led you to bourbon. We'd love to hear your story. You can always reach out to us. If you've got an idea for a show or you've got a guest you think it'd be a good match for the bourbon road, make sure you let us know. Get on our website, hit that contact us page, send us a message. We'll get back with you. You can always send us an email. I'm jim at the bourbon road.com. He's Mike at the bourbon road.com. But like we always say, probably the best way slip into our DMS on Instagram. I'm Jay Shannon 63. I'm big bourbon chief. And we'll see you down. The bourbon road.

And listen closely to what I say Living through this little world, some sunny day So take your time, don't leave Too fast Troubles will come And they will pass Go find a woman You'll find love But don't forget Is there someone up above? It may still work out if there's something Be a simple kind of man Won't you do this for me, son?