Circling The Drain

Unknown: Hey, this is episode
two of our interview with Trace

Atkins. So, get ready for some
fun stories and some craziness.

Yeah, you're not gonna see all
of the fun and craziness in just

one part. No, it's in part two,
and I believe we've got a part

three we're gonna do. Right,

get out of town, we do.

So, there will be craziness and
great stories in every episode

coming up with Trace Atkins on
Circling the Drain. Welcome to a

podcast about music and
entertainment. Before it all

goes down the disposal, this is
Circling the Drain. Would

hypothetically, you got to pick
a band to tribute for the rest

of your life. Can't do any of
the trade stuff or anything that

you did. You got to pick a band,
and this is the rest of your

life to tribute act. Who would
be the tribute? Only

one I could do would be Dire
Straits. Mark Knopfler never got

out of my range, you know. If
you listen to Mark Notley, I

mean, you listen to Dire
Straits, he got a pretty low

voice,

and he's almost like he's
talking,

yeah, more than singing. Yeah,
yeah, I do Dire Straits.

That's a good one to pick.
There's not many Dire

Straits tribute bands out there,
I do too, man.

They put out some great, and
plus a lot of those songs

translate well to country. Yeah,
you know, like Waylon did Set Me

Up, and he did a great version
of that. I thought,

yeah, yeah, I love that song,
man.

See, the thing I dig about you
and Waylon is like when I first

saw Wayland Honky Tonk Heroes,
the album cover, it didn't look

like cowboys to me, looked like
a bunch of bikers in a bar, and

that's what you kind of.. I have

an album cover on my Dangerous
Man album, that when I told him

that I was so sick and tired of
that at that point of the photo

shoots and the makeup, and the
crap, and the wardrobe, and all

of that stuff, and I'm, and I
showed him, I said, 'You see

this? I showed him that album,

yeah,

Honky Tonk Heroes,

great, great album.

He was there. Who else was
there? Oh, there was somebody

else in the, in

the.. Oh, there's Billy Joe.
Billy Joe Shaver was there,

yeah, and

there was like seven or eight
guys in a bar, Wayland sitting

in front of them with a
cigarette hanging out of his

mouth, and none of them looked
like they'd been close to a

shower for days. Oh, you're
Richie

Albright. One

of them must have just farted,
because they're all laughing,

they're all laughing, except

for Roger Scott.

He farted, and so somebody
snapped that shot.

Yeah,

and it to me is one of the most
iconic album covers ever.

Oh, it is,

and that's what I wanted to do,
and I was like, I just put on a

T-shirt, and I got rug grease on
it, and I had on a pair of dirty

jeans and cowboy hat, and I sat
down in that shop, and I said,

"Take the picture. That was it.
I'm not doing all that crap

today. I don't feel like it. I
don't want to do it. It's just

weird. This is going to be the
shot, this is going to be the

album cover, and that was

it. When I was, I was at MCA
Records for a number of years in

their promotion department. John
Schneider was, you know, on the

Lamborghini, and we did a.. I
was part of his album cover

shoot for one of his albums. You
remember where down on a fad

there's a pool hall down
underneath there's a bowling

alley and stuff where the sutler
yeah

yes

anyway we shot it down there

oh yeah I remember that place
and we were

down there all day long you know
just like you say you know I

mean I'm I'm kind of vaguely
visible on that album cover, but

yeah, I can relate to kind of
some of what you're saying. We

were down there all damn day,
for you know, just a couple of,

couple of photos,

way it ought to be, man. You
know, make them real, but we got

to get to great song, because
this is the first time that I

really got to talk to you was
because even though song was

great, I was, I got to explain
this, because at the time I had

girls that I was a stepfather
to, and one of them loved

country music, and so every time
I take her to school she would

commandeer the radio and jump
from station to station, and she

loved Honky Tonk Badonkadonk,
and it got to the point I liked

it when I first heard it, but
after a while with her

constantly zeroing in on the
song, I got a little. I'm tired

of it, right. And so I, we're on
the Phil Valentine show, and we

start talking about music, and I
blurt out, I said, man,

anything, but I just don't want
to hear honky tonk but donkey,

not one more time. And then all
of a sudden I get a call and ask

who their name was, and this is
Trace, he's gonna whip my ass

right here, Trace ad, because he
goes, wait a while, he goes, the

only trace in this truck, and
then he let me know on the ear,

he goes, you may be tired of it,
was gonna put my daughters

through college,

yeah. Well, you know, and I love

the song. In fact, I like it
more now that I'm older, because

it's just a cool song. It's a
well, fun song. It's

a cleverly written song. If you,
if you really look at that song,

I mean, Dallas Davidson and
Randy Hauser and Jamie Johnson

wrote that,

right?

And those are three of the
finest country writers in this

town. Yeah, you know what I
mean. And the demo that I heard

of, it was Jamie singing the
demo, so if you can imagine that

cornbread mouth, he was singing
that demo, and Scott Hendricks

played it for me in his office,
and both he and I just, just

laughed until we almost pissed
ourselves, because it was so

funny, Jamie singing that song.
Yeah, and I was like, man, but

listen to it, I said it's
cleverly written.

Yes, it's

cleverly written, and I don't
mind novelty if it's cleverly

written. These are three
songwriters you know at the top

of their game, and it's a
well-crafted, cleverly written

song. Yes, it's stupid, and it's
a novelty thing, but it's still

cleverly written, and so, and I
thought it was funny, and so I

never expected it to be a single
out. Oh, it was huge. Let's just

cut it and see what happens.
It's funny, you know. So, yeah,

there was no more thought that
went into it than that, but, but

I appreciated it, for it was
clever. But now it's like that

is the number one, the most
played country song, most played

country song in strip club
history, not everybody can say

that. I

can't say that.

Have you ever had to be had to
have been talked into recording

a song? You know, you hear
stories about George Jones. He

didn't want to do, he stopped
loving her today because he

thought it was too morbid.
There's a

couple, there are couple that,
yes, that it wasn't. I, that I

was talked into recording, it
was that I had to make a deal,

because there were songs every
now and then that I wanted to

cut that the label didn't want
me to cut, and so in order to

cut the one I wanted to cut, I
had to cut the one they wanted

me to cut, so you make those
deals every now and then, you

know, but those songs weren't
ever singles, but there was one

song that became a single that I
only reason I recorded the song

was because I wanted to have a
track that I could sing to at my

oldest daughter's wedding
reception, because I thought

this will be a funny song, it'll
make the mamas cry, and so you

know, I recorded you're going to
miss this, to just sing at her,

and then Mike Dungan was at the
wedding, and he was like,

"Where'd that song come from? I
just, you know, Lee Miller gave

it to me. It's a song he wrote,
and I thought it'd be funny to

sing it at the wedding
reception, make all the mamas

cry, but it made the dads cry.
Yeah, there's

only been like before we moved
to Nashville, it was oh four,

and we started getting with the
notion of moving to Nashville

started coming around when we
were working radio out there,

and what came on the radio was
Bad Brad Paisley, what Kay Lo's

song Kelly Lovelace wrote it,
where basically he's the

stepfather, yeah, the dads,
yeah, they didn't have to be

right. Oh my gosh, my wife and
I'm like, I'm not crying, and

you're crying, you know. And
then the Neil Thrasher song that

Kenny recorded, who's.. I can't
believe I can't remember these

names of these songs. My life,
there goes your life,

there goes your life. That's
another one that got me,

and that one got me, you're
gonna miss this, so yeah. Thank

you for that.

Dungan was like, let's put that
out as a single one. I was like,

yeah, it's too sappy. They're
never gonna play that on country

radio, they're not gonna play.
That was my first multiple week

number one, and so you know I.
Yeah, after, and that year I won

single of the year, or something
like that. Anyway, so I got up

there to accept the award, and
Dungan was sitting right out in

audience, and I just pointed at,
I was like, this song proves

that I have no idea what I'm
doing, because I didn't think

this song would be a hit, I
didn't think it would get played

on the radio, and that guy told
me that it would, and he was

right, and so here we are. Thank
you very much. That was

one of Ashley Gourley, being
another one of the writers on

that, yeah, one of his, what, 84
number ones that he's.. oh my

gosh, have you heard about that?
Oh, you know, Ashley's like

Juggernaut,

there are people sitting outside
his door, wherever he is right

now, hoping that they'll get
clean. Yeah, just, just what's

Ashley writing next? Because we
want it, you know? Yeah,

everybody wants an Ashley Dorley
cut. I've recorded several

Ashley songs. He's great, man.
He wrote that with Lee Miller. I

just saw Lee the other night,
and we just got to laugh about

some old times. Are

you still writing anything to
see? You have your radar. I

write some stuff,

man. I just wrote, actually,
which is going to be my first

single coming out. They may have
dropped it Friday, I don't know,

but it's a song that I wanted to
write something for the for the

250th you know, so some couple
of writers came to me with this

idea, and, and we wrote it, and
so it's coming. It's called

American Made, and should be
coming out pretty soon.

Well, your song, Arlington,

yeah, another one that made me,
yeah, that one an empty chair,

man. Both of those just really,

you know, you know, I still do
stuff on WSM FM, you know, from

time to time, and you know,
Memorial Day, you know, whenever

I'm on the air, Memorial Day,
that one's always a go-to. I

mean,

that's how do you get

through that song, that's a

great.. did it one

time at Arlington Cemetery. It
was at the dirt just before

Christmas when they put out all
the wreaths on all the.. you

know, that organization that
does that.. I can't remember

what the name of it is. Shame on
me, but they put Reese on all

the all the monuments there in
Arlington, and they asked me to

come up and do that song.
That's, that's was the one time

that I got so choked up that I
just couldn't hardly get the

words out, you know, and I had
to actually just kind of speak

some of it, because I couldn't
sing. It was just, I was

overwhelmed by the whole thing,
you know, it just was too much.

I would imagine when you're in a
situation like that, the

audience has got to have -
they're going to have grace for

you, because I mean it's
humanity. I did it at the

Ryman the other night, and it
choked me up, you know, because

I did two shows at the Ryman on
Memorial Day weekend, and so I

did that song. I see, I, and I
explained to them that night, on

when I was on stage, I explained
to the audience, this is a song

that you very few people have
heard me do this song live,

because, and there's a reason
for that. I have such respect

for this song, and I have such a
reverence for the subject matter

of this song that I don't
subject it to audiences that I

don't think will listen

to it,

if they're not going to listen
to it with that kind of

reverence, then I won't do it. I
don't do it in front of drunks,

I don't do it at festivals, I
don't do it anywhere that this

song, because I swear, if I saw
somebody down there goofing off

in the middle of that song, I
might jump off the stage and

kick their amen, and I don't
want to have to do that. I don't

blame you,

so I don't do that song very
often. I do it at Memorial, I do

it on Memorial Day, and I do it
when veterans organizations ask

me to. Yeah, and that's about
the only time I'll ever do.

So, the first time you heard
that, the demo, or what have

you, I mean, that had to have
just reached out and grabbed

you, huh?

It killed me, man. And the story
behind the song, you know, I

don't know how much time y'all
would have spent on this. Oh,

definitely, as long as you
wanted you. So,

Dave Turnbull and Jeremy
Spielman wrote that, and Dave

had written a couple of big
hits, and he wanted to go buy

his mama a new car. She came to
visit him. She lived in

Arlington, Virginia, and she
came to visit Dave. And so he

took her downtown to a car
dealership, and they took a test

drive. And on the test drive,
the salesman was in the back

seat, and he was like making
small talk, how you know the way

they do, and asked her where she
was from, and she said, I came

to, I'm from Arlington, and he
said, Oh, I have a son in

Arlington, and she was like,
what part, and he goes, no, he's

he's in Arlington Cemetery, and
then he told them that story,

basically of how he. His
grandfather was a marine, and he

was a marine, and then his son
was a marine, Lance Corporal

Patrick Nixon, who the song is
about, and he got killed in

Afghanistan, and so his father,
David Nixon, told Dave and his

mother that story, and Dave
couldn't wait to get back to the

car lot, so he could go home and
try to write this song from this

story that he had just been
told, and he got together with

Jeremy, and they wrote it
together, and it was.. it's..

it's just an unbelievable song,
and. and after we recorded it, I

was so nervous about it. I
didn't want it to seem like I

was going to try to, you know,
make money off of this tragedy,

and so we invited the family,
David Nixon and his wife, and

his other children and
grandparents, and they all came

downtown, and they came to
Scott's office, and we played

the song for him, and I said,
before I played it, I said, "I'm

not going to put this song out
if I don't get your blessing,

because it's about your son. And
so, and this song came from the

story you told, and if you don't
like it, we're not going to put

it out, and we played it, and
everybody sobbed, and we got

their blessing, and that was
that.

Well, I remember when you
brought it to Phil Valentine's

show, and we played it. You got
emotional in the studio that you

were sitting with me, and I was
quite concerned about you,

because I think I even asked
you, you said this song, just,

yeah, it

does, man, yeah,

and it does to anybody, yeah.
Well, I

admit, you know, I've been on
the air playing it, and I can

hardly key the mic.

Oh, I know,

you know, because it does, it
does get to you, man. And

speaking of the should,

speaking of the Phil Valentine
show, on a more lighter side, we

loved having you on anytime you
were on, we always look forward

to it, Phil and myself, because
we thought the world of you.

Well,

still, I still, the

feelings mutual. I think the
world of you, and I loved Phil

Valentine. Oh,

you did,

and you know, we had a great
relationship, and he was so

funny, and so quick, and so
witty, and anytime that you do

an interview with Phil, it was
like sparring, it was, man, it

was like doing the

radio show with him, it was like
sparring. Can

I keep up with this guy? You
know, that's all I was worried.

There are a few people that do
that to me. You had a few

interviewers that are like that,
man. And you just cannot cross

swords with this guy and stay
with him, you know, because he

was so funny.

We got the biggest kick because
you left me a message one time,

and we recorded it. We, we used
it on the air because it was

hilarious, because you were, you
were, we were trying to get you

on, and you left me a message,
you said, Johnny, I want to find

out what time your little radio
show airs and what time you want

me on this little radio show
that y'all do, and so we played

it, and then after I got, after
it got done, I said, Well,

Trace, as soon as you get done
with your little, your little

hooting nanny, whatever, song,
you know, playing that little

club you're in, about 230 if you
can come in. We had more fun

with you, man.

Well, I always enjoyed talking
with you guys, and Phil was,

yeah, he was, he was a legend.

Well, and he was a good guy. And
I also, I don't mind, I don't

mean to get all heavy here, but
I really appreciate when he

passed away, because I was
really, I didn't know what I was

going to do. In fact, I felt
like I wanted to leave radio,

and really didn't know what to
do, and you, you actually called

me and gave me some good advice,
and I really will never forget

that.

Well, I know what he meant to
you, and I mean, you don't have

that kind of relationship with
somebody for that extended

period of time, and it not
change your whole life and your

whole world whenever you lose
that. Yeah, I knew you were

feeling like that.

Well, I appreciate that, man. It
meant a lot to me. And, well,

I've never forgotten it.

Well,

you're a good man.

Those were some good days, man.
Yeah,

they were.. I remember one time
I went to the rodeo with you,

and you were in the car, and you
said, 'Man, I thought you guys

were gonna get fired one time.
Yeah, when we were doing that,

still remember that. Yeah, it

was the weather woman. Oh, don't
even

say her name. I won't, don't, I
won't, but. She said it's gonna

be, it's gonna be juicy out
there, hot and juicy, hot and

juicy. Oh my gosh, and then they
just started going

over and over, and y'all just

kept.. you wouldn't let it go.
No,

we kept.. in fact, I said, I
think I said, you know, I.. I

would gladly pay her to just
wake me up that way.

Local weather woman, yes.
Really,

yes. Somebody that's

been around for a while,

and she said those words, yes.
And then they cut it out, and

they just kept looping it for
the rest of the show, and it

really went too far. It really
went too well. I was the guilty

party.

I thought you guys were gonna
get fired.

FCC was gonna come break the
door down at some point. Now we

gotta know who it is. You don't
want to say it. No,

you don't. No, we're not gonna
make it easy on these.

I'm not Lisa.

Y'all stepped over, tiptoed up
to the line, and tiptoed over

several times, especially

dancing on the booth, man. That
was old. Did you ever hear the

story about, well, it was Pamela
first. She, she kind of, she,

she kind of pissed me off one
day because we were getting

ready to do dance in the booth,
and she calls me with an idea,

right when we're getting ready
to do dance in the booth.

Pamela, I'm sorry, I'm telling
this story,

an idea for dancing

right when we're starting, so
I'm pissed off, and then I'm

having problems with my ear. My
earphone jack comes out. Well, I

forgot that I'd hit my mic, and
I'm sitting there cussing like

there's no tomorrow. Actually,
Phil doing this. It, we had some

times on that show,

you guys,

and he actually cut a great
promo for us. I forget what he's

probably got the voice for it.
Oh, he did,

I think I ended it with, or I'll
kill you. Yeah, listen to the

Phil

Valentine's show

played it all the time. Yes, we
did. We

played that a lot, man. Jay, is
it

weird to have somebody in here
that's got a deeper voice? Oh,

no, no, not at all, not at all.
It just makes us feel like

little boys, doesn't it? Don't
whip me, Daddy. It was

fun to hang out with at the
rodeo. That was my wife's first

rodeo.

It wasn't your first.

No, I've done.. I've.. I grew up
in Kansas.

Yeah, I just

set up a new production company,
and I called it Fifth Rodeo logo

for it is a cowboy on a bucking
horse holding the fifth of

whiskey. Any

plans to do something like a
podcast or anything like that?

Yeah, a lot of people ask me
about that all the time, but I

just, you know, I don't, I
don't, I just, I don't need that

kind of pressure, need to try to
find something cool to talk

about every day, because there
are days I don't have anything

cool to talk about, obviously
I'm heading back to me. me off a

tractor and brought me down
here. We talked

about, you know, Lululemons and
voiceovers. See, there you go,

good examples, good examples of
just the

degradation here.

Well, you know, I love the farm
life, but I also love the

ultimate cowboy showdown. That
had to be a lot of fun to do.

It was fun. It was fun to do the
stuff, it was like sometimes

though I felt bad, I felt bad
for those guys and girls,

because man, that was a rough,
it was a tough show,

yeah,

and the challenges and the
things that they had to do

sometimes were putting those
horses in danger,

yeah,

and I won't see them hurt their
horses just to be in this

competition little show, and I
didn't, I just didn't think that

the prize money was enough for
what these people were risking

on that show, and it, it
bothered me sometimes to ask

them to. Some of the things that
I asked them to do, I thought

some of it went just a little
too far, and I started voicing

my disapproval about some of
that stuff, but yeah, it was

fun.

Well, it looked like it.

We got to go to some cool
places, and I met some really

cool people, and there are still
real cowboys out there,

yeah, there are, whether

you believe it or not. I mean,
they're still out there.

In fact, you know, that was
always my dream to be a cowboy,

but I've never, no way, I would
have made it. Asthmatic cowboy,

don't think that's gonna happen,
you know.

And some on some of those, you
know, those big ranches, I mean,

they're, yeah, they're things
today that make it easier and

more efficient, and you know,
machines do a lot, but there's

still just some things that you
cannot do without a horse and a

cowboy.

That's right,

there's some things in the
ranching business that have to

be done off horseback. There's
no other way to do it, really.

Yeah, you know, so yeah, there's
still some of them out there.

Yeah, being on the ATV ain't
gonna cut it for everything.

Plus, I loved your Christmas
show that I got to see. Yeah,

man, we love because that year I
was not in the Christmas spirit.

I was just kind of wasn't
feeling it, wasn't getting into

it. Phil couldn't go, so he gave
me his, his, I guess, ticket to

go, and my wife and I went, and
my gosh, we enjoyed it. God,

that was a.. I love the way you
did it, the whole production of

it, and plus you stepped out of
your comfort zone. You were

playing a lot of.

it was more Celtic one man play
most not just not just a musical

thing, it was, you know, yeah,
it was. I had a lot of dialog

that I had to remember, and all
the anecdotes, and you know, the

stories about how these songs
came to be, and I thought it was

doing the research to put that
together. It was fascinating,

and that's my favorite show that
I've ever done. I love doing

that, and for the same reason,
because every night we'd finish

that show, and I was in the
Christmas spirit, ready. It felt

good to me, and I, you know, I
don't know, man. I think it kind

of goes back to my gospel roots
and my gospel days, you know? I

mean, I felt good about what I
had just done when I got off the

stage after doing that Christmas
show.

Yeah,

you know, there's.. I got a
little bit of a Johnny Paycheck

thing. I get off the stage and I
just, you know, did Badonkadonk,

and it's like, you know, yeah,
I'm sorry, Lord, chicks digging,

walking outside, yeah, but it's
not the most.. I don't know, I'm

not changing, I'm not changing
people's lives with the stupid

stuff I do, but you know it's
fun.

Well, you mentioned how you had
to remember a lot of dialog and

stuff. I mean, is has that been
a struggle for you to remember

lines and things, or does that
come easy to you?

It does come pretty easy, man.
Yeah, I think maybe you know

being a singer and entertainer
for all these years, you know,

it helps in remembering dialog,
just like you have to remember

lyrics, I guess maybe that's
helped me some over the years,

but it's always come pretty easy
to me, remembering my lines.

Yeah, have you had directors
that are just insistent that you

remember it word for word? Yes,
or can you get those that are

like, hey, just give us the
essence of the part? In some

ways, with respect to dialog,

most of the time they want you
to stay pretty close. I've been

on some things where I took some
liberties, and usually they

didn't mind too much, but I've
been on some where you know

you'd do it, you'd do a take,
and then script supervisor comes

around with the folder, this is
what you're supposed to say, not

what you just said, whatever
that was, you're supposed to say

this. It's like, I don't like
that. Yeah, but you got to say

it, okay? You know, so whatever,

you're signing the checks, yeah.

Some of them are really adamant
about it,

yeah. And that

usually comes from the writers,

yeah.

You know, usually if one of the
producers or the director was

also the writer. Then they're
really hardcore about it, and

you're not the only actor in
the, in your household. You've

got, oh no, my wife got a
beautiful..

she's the actor in that

man. She is.. you talk about a
cool gal.

Yeah, she's great.

She is really glad you got. Meet

on a movie set,

Virginian, the Virginian, yeah,

doing the Virginian in
Vancouver, and yeah, she was on

set for two or three days,
maybe. I don't know, that's

where we met, yeah.

I can see why you fell for she
is a beautiful gal, and she is

also very down to earth, not
what I was expecting,

and very talented too. Oh, yeah,
she's a great writer, she's a

great actor, she's, yeah, she's
all the stuff,

and plus anybody that names
their dog Gary Busey, and he

looks like Gary Busey, that's
why he's named Gary Busey, he

looks just like him,

we were, we were doing, I was
pulling a float in the Christmas

parade years ago, six or seven
years ago now, and she

volunteers at a, at a shelter
there locally, close to the

house, and you know, she likes
to work with animals and stuff,

so anyway, they had a float in
the parade, and they had all

these dogs that they're trying
to find homes for, and and she

had this tiny little dog in her
hands, and she comes up to the

truck, I'm pulling the float in
the parade, and she comes up and

says, "Look at this little dog,
and I looked at him, and he's

got this blonde thing that
sticks up on the top of his

head, this crazy blonde hair,
and at the time he had his, he,

he still had his puppy teeth,
but his big teeth were coming in

too, so he had like two sets of
teeth in his mouth. She brought

him up to the truck, and his
teeth were sticking out, and his

hair was sticking up, and he
looked like Gary Busey's mug

shot. And so I said, wow, that
dog looks like Gary Busey, and

we took him home that day, and
that was his name,

fitting, he's

crazy like Gary, that dog's a
trip, but she's great. Yeah,

now you had mentioned that
you're writing a song for the

250th anniversary of the
country.

I wrote it, we already got it,

already got it, releasing it for
that purpose. Any thoughts on

the, like, a lot of hullabaloo
and controversies been coming

around the Freedom 250 concert
recently, and people speaking

for it, and dropping out, and
all that fun stuff, is have you

been asked to be a part of it?
Are they, have they finalized

the list?

I don't know. I don't know
anything about that stuff, man.

I'm doing.. I've done the PBS
Fourth of July celebration on

the in front of the Capitol
Building. I've done that show

several times over the years,
and they reached out and wanted

me to be a part of this year,
and so I signed on to do that,

probably in the winter.

Yeah, right,

you know. So I'm doing that, and
I'd already told them that I was

going to do that, and then when
somebody reached out to me to do

something, and then when Trump's
thing came along, they had to

move the july 4 PBS thing to the
third.

Oh, wow,

you know, because they didn't
want to be in competition with

that, because that show was
supposed to be on television,

right?

And that's that was that was
what we were told a couple of

months ago.

Yeah,

so it actually give me in on the
third, and I was like, cool, I

don't care, whatever, you know.
And now I don't know if that

thing's even still going to
happen or not. Well, I think it

is. Last I read that Trump named
off the list of people, and it

wasn't long. I mean, it was like
Lee Greenwood. I don't see him

on here. I see Flo Rida, Vanilla

Ice,

Vanilla Ice, Young MC, CNC Music
Factory, Martina, you know, she

dropped out, yeah,

yeah, Martina, yeah, she dropped
out, she's the

only real country artist on
there, yeah,

but he basically said, well, you
know, I don't need them, you

know, I'm more popular,
wonderful, it's gonna be great

because I'll be there, your
favorite president does

a great impression to him, is
John Rich Desi Rollins. Oh my

gosh, he's freaking, yeah, spot
on. I

tell you, the best one I've ever
heard, actually, is I forget the

guy's name, it's Sean's, yeah,
Sean.

I follow him on social media, he
is very.. he's a young guy, too.

Yeah,

and he.. I was listening to
Michael Del Giorno show, and it

was the first time I turned it
on, and it was a Friday, and all

of a sudden I hear the
presidential thing go on, and

all of a sudden thinking, good
God, he got Donald Trump on,

because the guy does a spot on,
I mean, it sounds just like him,

yeah, sir, sir, that's what I
love about Sean. I

don't know who you're talking
about. Yeah, I don't know

either. I don't know

the whoever his name is, Sean

Farish.

That's F A R A S

H. Oh my god, he

is really gosh. I think

Trump is really kind of like
doubled. Down on that, like that

whole, he kind of embodies that
impersonation. Yeah, like

Christopher Walken kind of just
doubled down on all the people

impersonating him. Yes, after a
while,

and

he has started to, like, you
know, really amping it up. I

think Trump's doing the same
thing. I think he is. Let me

tell you, you're gonna love it.
You're gonna love it. It's

wonderful. It's gonna be the
greatest thing you ever seen.

Trump were talking about cereal.
I'm bigger than Elvis, I think.

He said that he's

unlike Elvis. In fact, he said
I'm more popular than Elvis.

Actually, that takes some, that
takes some cojones

trip. I was sitting in the back
of his Rolls Royce limo one day,

I was after I'd won The
Apprentice, or anyway, and he

wanted me to come back and just
be a judge on one of the things,

and sit with him in the room to
tell whoever is fired, whatever,

and so we were going to pull up
to this venue and then get out

of the car and go inside, and of
course the directors and the

producers are up there setting
all this stuff up like they

always do, and it takes forever,
and so we're just sitting in the

car waiting, just he and I
sitting in the back of the limo,

he looks over at me. He goes,
"Trace, are you reasonably

faithful to your wife? That's
what he asked me. You know, and

I was like, "Dude, you know,
I've found they're not ever

reasonable, you know. it's
pretty good,

and if you're not, you better be
very rich. He's got to be an

interesting character to be, he

is, man. Yeah. Oh my gosh, and,
and, and Junior, he's a cool, I

like Junior, and he, we were
talking one day, and I was like,

"Man, let me ask you something,
what exactly do you do? And he

said, "You'll know the truth. I
was like, "Yeah. He goes, "I

follow him around and put fires
out, that's what I do, tough

gig,

right?

Didn't you one time when Trump
was running for president, you

asked him if he was really
serious? Yeah,

I didn't, I didn't think he was
really going to do it, yeah. I

really didn't. And you

wanted, you wanted a cabinet
post. I do remember that, yeah.

Well, I wanted to be ambassador
to Australia,

yeah.

Yeah, I thought that'd be a good
gig.

I thought you wanted to be the
office of hell no,

yeah. If not that, I'll take
Ambassador to Australia. Yeah,

he's always been good to me,
man. He's always been good to my

family. He's just always been,
yeah, he's always been good to

me. And that, and that's how I
judge him, too. You know,

people, you know, they, they
have their opinions, and they

treat him the way they want to,
and they think he's whatever

they think he is. You know, I,
he's always been good to me.

Yeah, you know, he's always been
fair to me. He's always been

good to my family. And you know,
you say what you want about

Trump, but I'll tell you this:
he's, you know, he's not evil,

right? There are people out
there that think that, well,

he's not

Hitler, that he's

this sinister bad guy.

Yeah,

he's not. He's a rich old
asshole, that's what he is.

Well, and you just.. there's
nothing sinister, there's

nothing evil here. There's..
he's not trying to take over the

world, he's just a rich old
asshole, and he's used to

getting things done the way he
wants them done, and getting his

way, and, and you know, it
really makes him mad when he

doesn't.

Yeah,

yeah.

Well, you know, I mean,
property, property development

in New York, you know, you got
to be ruthless, and in many

ways, you know, yeah, and as you
say, man, it's like, you know,

he's used to getting stuff done
and not all the BS that,

yeah,

that Washington brings with it.
Oh

God, I can't imagine any.. see,
that's what you got to give the

guy credit, because anybody that
would want to put up with that

BS in Washington, DC, all the
crap that goes on there. Good

Lord, not me. No way, man. I

mean,

and he doesn't have to. That's
the whole thing. He doesn't have

to. People forget that. Yeah,

no, he doesn't have to. But
shoot, man, I mean, he is an

arrogant dude, man. Oh, yeah, he
is every.

Somebody, yeah,

you know, and you know,

I got to meet him, and I was
part of a press junket in South

Carolina, and went up on his
plane, and met him, and he

showed us the plane, and all
that, and the guy couldn't have

been any more, oh yeah, funny
and warm and friendly, you know,

the total antithesis of the
image he puts out there, you

know, it smells like

super engaging. Yeah, he is.
Yeah, he

is. Yeah, yeah. I got to go up
to his.. how to his.. I don't

want to call it, you know, his

pen house.

Yeah, that's unbelievable. But
he was very kind to me, and

toured his offices, and all that
stuff with him, and walked along

with him, and, and he's very,
very proud, rightfully so, of

what, what he's built, and, and
he's just, but he's still, he,

you know, he's, he's a jokester,
and he's, he's, he's got a great

sense of humor,

yeah, he does, you

know,

yeah, and I think a lot of what
he puts out, all that hyperbole,

it's, it's a joke, yeah. And
people don't get it, no,

they don't, yeah, don't. And
he's always like, yeah, it's

like the Greenland thing, you
know? People freaked out, oh my

god, he's going to take over
Greenland. No, he's not. He says

he is, so that he can maybe do
this,

yeah, this

one little thing that he's
trying to get done, like maybe

he wants to put a new base on
Greenland, or whatever, and so

he comes out and says, I'm going
to take Greenland, that's not

really what he wanted to do,
we're going to

make Canada the 51st that's
right, same thing, it was a

negotiating

trick. Yeah, he does that stuff
all the time. Yeah, he always

has. Shooting for the

moon, landing on the roof,
that's it. You ever seen the

Dave Chappelle bit that he does
about Trump? And he says, 'Look,

I get it, I understand. He says,
'But one thing you guys aren't

missing is what happened in that
debate in 2016 He did something

nobody else did, and that was
when she was trying to corner

him on all the loopholes with
the taxes and everything. He

completely like tai chi to her
and absorbed her blow and put it

right back on her and said,
"Yeah, absolutely, I do this,

and so do your friends, and it
was like nobody's ever hurt. I'm

like, "You know, he's not wrong.
I mean, that was a.. that was

like a, like, ripping the
curtain off, man. Well, I think

that's

why, that's why so many people
voted for him, right? That, that

this guy wasn't afraid, right,
like the other politicians, to

call, yeah, you know, yeah. And
he

says, you know, you've been in
charge this whole time, and you

did nothing about it. You were
using the tax code, according to

what's written there. This is
the law. This is, we're going to

use the loopholes as they say we
can use them. And guess what,

all your donors do the same
thing, and you've been in charge

this whole time, and you didn't
do a damn thing about

it.

So,

well, I loved the.. I loved the
first debate with the

Republicans when Rand Paul, God
bless him, was going to try to,

which I thought this is not
going to work, and my wife,

because at the time I really
wanted Rand Paul, I liked him.

Yeah,

and my wife asked me before we
watched it, Who you for? I said

I'm for Rand Paul. Nobody gets
it. And after Rand Paul gets up

there and starts trying to get
Trump, and Trump said I donated

1000s of millions of dollars to
his campaign, and it just kind

of made Ron Paul just go, and my
wife looked at me. She goes,

'You're for him.

He was just knocked out.

I think you're out of luck.

His goose has been cooked. Yeah,

well, Trace, I mean, I know
you're, you're part of a label

off a broken bow, now are you?
No,

no,

you're okay. What are you
self-labeled at the moment?

How's that working? I mean, you
know, because things, as we

know, have changed in that, in
that world, in the record label

world these days. No,

I was at Capital, and then I was
at Capital for 10 or 12 years, I

guess, something like that. And
then Toby, I was talking to Toby

one day, and he was like, "Hey,
man, Universal just, you know,

offered me however many millions
of dollars to do this joint

venture with Show Dog, and yeah,

right,

and you know, they made me an
offer I couldn't understand, so

I was like, you need some help
spending that money, he was

like, yeah, so I went to Show
Dog, and I was there for a few

years. Then I went to Broken
Bow, yeah, and I was over there

for a while, and then I was on
Verge, and, and you know, on my

30th anniversary, I was like, I
would like to go back home and

finish where I started. And so I
signed. There is no capital here

in Nashville anymore, but MCA,
right, right, yeah. Took it,

yeah. So, so capital is in the
whole MCA Virgin thing. So I

signed with them, and I'll put
out an album this year, and I

don't know, yeah, maybe the last
one I do.

Okay,

and I wanted to, I wanted it to
be back where I started.

Right,

as far as new artists go, are
there any out there that are

turning you

on? I don't, man, I just don't
pay enough attention to it to

give an educated answer to that.
You know, I like Ella Langley. I

love her. Oh, I think she's
great. I love her voice. It's

got that sultry thing. Yes, it
does. Plus,

she's just drop dead gorgeous.

She's got everything, got every
every tool is in her toolbox.

Well,

you're not. I love the Shine.
Have you seen the Shiner beer ad

she does, where she kicks the
bottle and the top pops off,

it's just.. it's just, and she's
not even trying to be sexy, but

it's sexy. It's like, man, this
girl's got it all,

and she's country. Yes, yep.

There's certainly.. in fact, Dan
Mandal and I on this

very, very program made a bet
because he said, 'Well, she's

going to go the route of Taylor
Swift, I said she will not. I

guarantee you, she'll stay
country.

I don't know about all that
stuff. I just think she's good,

and I don't.. I just don't keep
up with much of it anymore, you

know. I don't even know. I have
guys opening for me or closing

for me these days, and I don't
even know who they are. Who the

hell Shaboozy? Sorry, it hurts
your feelings, but I have no

idea who you are. I

thought you were a new brand of
whiskey, that's what I thought

Shaboozy was.

You know, I started country
radio 1978 you know, and I'm

more of a traditionalist at
heart, I mean, you know, kind of

like you, you know, my dad was
the, you know, and he was oil

field, you know, where that's
why we moved to New Orleans from

Texas, you know, to Orton oil
fields down there, South

Louisiana, but anyway, you know,
I grew up on the Conway Twitty

and the Merle Haggard and Buck
Owens and all that stuff, I'm

really liking what Zach Topp is
doing traditional country

artists, young man, that is
hopefully will help swing that

pendulum back a little bit
toward the more traditional

stuff. You know,

I don't know, man. Yeah,

it just.. it does seem to, you
know, it's always been cyclical,

that's for sure.

It's always been that way,

yeah.

Any particular piece of advice
you give to artists that are

coming into, like, you've been
there, you know where they are?

What would you, I mean,
especially with the changing

landscape as it is with AI and
live music, is basically going

to be the main revenue stream of
all what they're doing, and

well, and that's the only thing,
too, that's left that the fans

actually know it's real, yeah,
you know, and I, and even then,

I mean, some people are lip
syncing, and they're using

tracks and all that kind of
stuff, and it's like I always

open my shows up, and I do three
or four songs, and then I do my

greetings and salutations, and
I'm like, oh, by the way, this

is us doing human stuff tonight.
This is not.. I'm not lips.. if

it sucks, if I suck, it's gonna
suck. You're gonna hear it suck,

you're gonna know that it's
real, you know? And that I'm

real.. we're here doing some
real shit, you know, and you

know that that's the only thing
we have left, it's nothing that

you hear anymore. I mean, you
don't. It's hard. I got fooled

the other day, somebody pitched
me a song, and I thought it was

real.

Wow,

and it was AI, and, and it, and
it faked me out, man. And some

of them, it's hard to tell.

Oh, yeah, hard to.. well, there
was

one that Jay,

yeah,

got turned on to anything to

me, man. And I

even said, "Man, we need to get
this guy on AI. Yeah, it was all

bs. Yeah,

yeah,

breaking

road. And so the landscape and
the rules of the game have

changed to the point that I
don't even think I can give any

good advice to anybody anymore.
I'm such a dinosaur, I don't.. I

don't even.. my advice used to
be to the young guys coming up

and girls was just don't spend
your own money. Yeah, if anybody

believes, if anybody really
believes in you, they're gonna,

they're gonna put the money in,
and they're gonna pay to produce

your record, or whatever. You
shouldn't have to ever come out

of your pocket and pay for any
of that stuff, you know. If they

believe in you, they're gonna
pay for it. If they ask you for

$1 you turn, walk away, because
it's not, it's not good, you

know. They don't really believe
in you. If they did, they'd

spend their own money, so you
know that's been my advice over

the years. But I don't even know
if that even means anything

anymore. Yeah, you know, I don't
know, man.

So, are you ever going to write
another book? Because I love..

I'll show

it to the.. I don't know. I

love this book, by the way, I
thought was very, very well

written, and

man, I sat down with a couple of
guys, they were twins, and it

was really creepy and weird,
because these two dudes were

those kind of twins that
finished each other's sentences

when they would talk, sit
exactly the same way, and I was,

I was on the West Coast, out
doing a run out there, and so I

stayed over for a few days. I
went out early and spent a few

days in Pasadena, cooped up in a
bungalow out in big some big

hotel out there with these two
guys. We stayed several days

there, and it was all day things
all day for like four days in a

row, and then at the end of my
tour I was up in Washington

state somewhere, and they came
up there and I spent like

another week with them, and all
it was was just us just trying

to figure it, because they were
writers and we were trying to

figure out how we were going,
because I didn't know where to

start, you know. My manager
wanted me to write a book, and I

was like, "Okay, well, I may
have a story to tell, but I

don't know how to tell it. So
those two guys steered me

through this thing, and this is
how you do it, and this is where

you start, and this is, you want
this roller coaster ride to do

you know and they walked me
through all of it and and helped

me immensely and then they
basically presented a book to me

of everything that we had
written and talked about for

those two couple of weeks and
then I took it and edited it and

did my thing to it and changed
some stuff and rewrote some

stuff and and made it made it
sound exactly like my voice and

and that's how it ended up so I
don't know if I have anything

left really to say anymore I
mean I thought some of that

stuff in that book was actually
turned out to be pretty

prophetic, yeah. Did looking
back on it now, you know,

especially with some of the
immigration stuff, and those

things I was on on the right
path.

Yeah, you were, and in fact, it,
it for me personally, it really

made me feel good, because
during, like, I guess during

2009 I didn't feel real good
about the country, and this gave

me hope. I thought, well, thank
God somebody thinks this way,

you

know, and I was afraid to put
the book out. I remember when

the book was about to come out,
it was about to be released,

and, and I was worried about it,
and I called Charlie, and

Charlie Danielson, because
Charlie had, you know, Charlie

had written several books, man,
and I called him, and Charlie, I

need to talk to you about
something, man, I'm worried

about this book coming out,
because I kind of, I laid it out

there, man. I, you know, I bared
my, you know, soul in this

thing, and you know, I don't
know how I think I'm gonna make

some enemies, and people aren't
gonna like me because of this

book. And he was like, "Son, he
said, "Let me tell you

something, the people that may
read that book and not like you

because of what you wrote in
that book. Let me tell you

something, they don't like you
now, he said, because there's no

secret of who or what you are.

Yeah,

and all your fans know who you
are and what you stand for, and,

and your first of all, people
that aren't your fans aren't

going to read your book, so they
don't care,

yeah,

and they're not going to read
it, so what are you worried

about? And I was like, he's,
you're right, I'm so stupid,

what was I worried about this,
Charlie? Yeah, he was so great,

man, he

was a great guy, so

wise and caring, and just he
was, he was a great, great

American, a great guy, and a
great friend, and

great talent,

everything, great writer, he was
just, yeah, I loved him, yeah,

singing at his funeral was, you
know, a feather in my cap, you

know, glad I was able to do
that, but yeah, he settled my

nerves. He's like, don't worry
about it, and he was right.

Yeah, he was smart, man.

I didn't sell enough of those
books. Fill his hat up. Why was

I wore. Worried about it in the
first place.

Well, I got one, so you

did an audio book of that.

No, yeah, I was gonna say

another dude.

Yeah, I don't even know. I guess
the publisher, publisher, must

even ask me about it. Yeah, read
my book. Yeah, right. No

wonder it didn't sell. Still do
it. It would be better

in your voice. Yeah,

well, I mean, because

you got a great voice, man.
You've got one of those, you've

got one of those future Sam
Elliott voices.

He really does. Yeah, you really
do. Both, you guys, man,

it's like it's all the way down
the kneecap. Well, now you know

me, you could record

it here if you like. Oh, there
you go. Thanks, man. And a

reasonable price. Yeah, wait a
minute. Here we got ahead of

ourselves. Maybe I would finally

sell some of them, if I did
that, do your own audiobook. I

think it would, yeah.

I think that's a great idea.
See, we've given old

news now, though. Yeah,

but you could have 15

years old,

add a couple of updated
chapters. Yeah, exactly. You go,

oh,

maybe so. Yeah,

there you go. Yeah,

more thoughts. Yes, addendum
thoughts. Yes,

exactly. I hope you're enjoying
the Trace Atkins episodes that

we've been giving to you. We've
got one more to go. Number three

is on the way, so get your
Badonkadonk ready, because Trace

is coming back to Circling the
Drain.