Episode 79 – Brayden Stewart

00:00:00:00 – 00:00:16:13
Brayden Stewart
But the bands that, like, really stuck out to me, you know, like Alice In Chains and, and, you know, Staind and all that stuff, that was all stuff that my dad showed me. You know, and I think that, you know, just the songwriting kinda captured me pretty early. I don’t know what it was about it, but it, it got ahold of me pretty quick.

00:00:16:14 – 00:00:38:18
Brayden Stewart
When you’re playing guitar and you’re, you know, my age at the time, at some point you’re gonna wanna start impressing people. You know what I’m saying? And, uh, only so many people care about if you can play a Megadeth song. And so I was a young guy, I still am, but, like, you know, a younger guy trying to find, you know, what makes me unique and how to get my emotions out.

00:00:38:18 – 00:01:04:16
Brayden Stewart
You know, I think I absolutely would be a different person if I wasn’t sucking at guitar for so long. I think that now more than ever, there’s a demand for real human things. It’s good to scroll TikTok and see somebody in a room playing an acoustic guitar and singing a song. Yeah. You know? Or going to a bar and seeing somebody with bad sound and, you know, the lights are all messed up. Like, you want — I want that.

00:01:04:17 – 00:01:10:06
Brayden Stewart
I want that, you know what I’m saying? I want it to smell like cigarettes in this bar and I want this guy to sound good. You know what I’m saying?

00:01:10:06 – 00:01:11:09
Brandon Adams
Want my feet to stick to the floor.

00:01:11:10 – 00:01:32:10
Brayden Stewart
Exactly. Exactly. I’m a big critic, you know, of what I do and, you know, how I do it and my music. When we finish the records, any song that we’ve ever put out, it’s, like, really hard for me to, like, get too excited about it just in case people don’t like it, you know? So I think what kinda keeps me grounded is just remembering what I’ve got right now.

00:01:32:10 – 00:02:05:16
Brayden Stewart
I write songs with an audience in mind, but also, like, I mean, the only way I can truly do that is if I’m doing what I want to, you know? My audience is in mind. Everybody needs something. Something that’s like, “You can’t take that away from me,” you know? And so if that happens to be music, then, like, that’s great.

00:02:05:18 – 00:02:21:07
Brandon Adams
Hey, everybody, welcome back to The Blueprint. Today I’ve got Brayden Stewart, singer-songwriter from East Texas. Southern rock, get ready. He’s gonna show us some stuff and where he’s been, where he’s going, and it’s really kinda taking off, so gotta stay tuned to hear his story. Also, if you guys can do me a favor, hit that subscribe button. It’s gonna help me get a lot more of these stories out there.

00:02:21:07 – 00:02:27:05
Brandon Adams
Brayden, thank you so much for coming on the show. I really appreciate it.

00:02:27:05 – 00:02:30:02
Brayden Stewart
Dude, thank y’all for having me, man. Yeah, man. I’m excited.

00:02:30:02 – 00:02:41:06
Brandon Adams
Well, it’s always cool for me when I have my fellow East Texas boys kinda come through here and, and, and show out a little bit. So, yeah, man, tip of the hat to you for that. And, and, uh, let’s keep representing, right?

00:02:41:06 – 00:02:54:02
Brayden Stewart
Yeah, man. Yeah. Trying to at least, you know. So many, uh, small towns in East Texas, Northeast Texas that have got artists coming out of them now. You know, I think it’s — I think it’s really cool. Yeah. Really exciting. I’m glad to be a part of it.

00:02:54:06 – 00:03:12:08
Brandon Adams
I’ve heard, you know, from a lot of the guys locally here, they keep talking about how much talent is kinda in this area, you know, and from an outsider’s perspective, you may not recognize that, but they keep telling me, like, there is so much talent here available and it is booming. Like, yeah, tell me about that.

00:03:12:08 – 00:03:45:05
Brayden Stewart
Dude, I mean, I, uh, I, I mean, I, I grew up in a town called Scurry, Texas, and, you know, it’s a pretty small town. So when I was growing up and learning how to play guitar and stuff, wasn’t, like, too many of my friends that knew about it or, you know, cared to know about it. But, uh, yeah, when I started playing music, like in bars and stuff, I mean, getting to see, you know, so many artists and getting to meet people that do music and are like-minded, it was pretty crazy for me.

00:03:45:05 – 00:04:07:08
Brayden Stewart
You know, I, I, I don’t know. It’s — I, I was kinda sheltered a little bit, like, in Scurry. And you know, so getting out, you know, it’s been crazy to meet, you know, so many people that are so talented. I don’t know what, you know, I don’t know what it is, but, um, yeah, I think it’s just everybody’s kinda influenced by similar music. Everybody had a similar upbringing, and so — you know. I don’t know, I guess that’s, it’s something in the water maybe.

00:04:12:12 – 00:04:16:20
Brandon Adams
I was just gonna say something in the water. That’s a, that’s a Texasism right there for sure.

00:04:16:20 – 00:04:18:13
Brayden Stewart
Sure. Yeah. Yeah.

00:04:18:15 – 00:04:21:13
Brandon Adams
Um, well, tell me a little bit about, like, your family. You’re raised in Scurry. You’re born in Scurry?

00:04:21:19 – 00:04:32:02
Brayden Stewart
Raised in Scurry. Yeah, I was born in Athens, but raised in Scurry. Um, yeah, I mean, growing up is simple living, you know. Just kinda —

00:04:32:04 – 00:04:34:01
Brandon Adams
For those that don’t know, that’s a big town or small town?

00:04:34:01 – 00:04:56:15
Brayden Stewart
Super small town. Okay, super small town. Um, I graduated high school with 80 people, um, which I mean, I say that and some people are like, “I graduated with 15.” It’s like, well, you know. But yeah, it’s pretty small town. Um, you know, didn’t have too much going on, um, except for, like, sports and stuff. And so, and I wasn’t great at sports.

00:04:56:15 – 00:05:14:18
Brayden Stewart
Yeah. And so I kinda had to find my own thing. And, uh, yeah, I think the — I think pretty early on I was, I was obsessed with music, I think. You know, I don’t know what it was, uh, soundtracks and video games and stuff and what my dad was showing me, what my parents were listening to.

00:05:14:20 – 00:05:16:14
Brandon Adams
So they had a pretty big influence on you coming up?

00:05:16:15 – 00:05:50:18
Brayden Stewart
Oh, yeah. Okay. Oh, yeah. Especially music. Me and my dad, real big metal guys. You know, I mean, he was into, you know, all the things, ’90s — you know, ’90s, ’80s. Yeah. And so whenever I, you know, kind of came to my own, you know, and started listening to music that I was finding, um, it was, you know, pretty influenced by all that, you know, for a long time. You know, I, I got pretty big into, like, you know, the, uh, the metal stuff that was coming out in the ’80s, the thrash stuff, the punk stuff.

00:05:50:20 – 00:05:58:22
Brayden Stewart
And then, you know, the kind of more nu metal is what they call it, you know, from the ’90s, and then the grunge stuff from the ’90s.

00:05:58:24 – 00:06:00:19
Brandon Adams
I see you wearing the Incubus shirt over there.

00:06:00:19 – 00:06:21:02
Brayden Stewart
Yeah, yeah, yeah. My mom got me this for Christmas. Nice. Yeah. You know what I’m saying? So, but yeah, no, Incubus is awesome. I love all those bands, man. But the bands that, like, really stuck out to me, you know, like Alice In Chains and, and, you know, Staind and all that stuff, that was all stuff that my dad showed me.

00:06:21:02 – 00:06:24:22
Brayden Stewart
You know, and I think that, you know, just the songwriting kinda captured me pretty early. I don’t know what it was about it, but it, it got ahold of me pretty quick, you know?

00:06:24:24 – 00:06:34:16
Brandon Adams
Yeah. Well, that’s, uh, he’s, he’s definitely from my era then. Yeah, yeah. So he’s, uh — we’re, we’re hitting on all the same cylinders there. Yeah. Um, you know, you’re, you’re an only child?

00:06:34:18 – 00:06:40:02
Brayden Stewart
No, I’ve got a, I’ve got 2 other brothers — 2 younger brothers and a, and a sister. Okay. Um, older sister.

00:06:40:02 – 00:06:41:05
Brandon Adams
Also in music?

00:06:41:07 – 00:07:03:23
Brayden Stewart
Not really. My, my, my middle brother, uh, AJ, he’s real big into, he’s real big into music. He doesn’t play. He tries to. He’s, you know, he’s getting it down. But, um, but yeah, really the only musicians in my family are on my mom’s side. Uh, my uncle was in, like, a metal band, and then, you know, my grandma, all them were big hippies.

00:07:04:00 – 00:07:17:20
Brayden Stewart
And so, you know, they were, you know, showing me a bunch of music as well. And they all play, but you know, like, I’m kinda the only one that’s, like, you know, really got it. Like, like this is what I do. This is all I do. You know what I’m saying?

00:07:18:01 – 00:07:32:21
Brandon Adams
When you say they showed you music, like, what was it like for, for music, you know, to kinda transfer from generation to generation? Was this, like, we’re just playing music while we’re at a, a family outing? Or it’s like, “Hey, let me show you this,” or is it, you know, are they passing music to each other?

00:07:32:22 – 00:07:53:11
Brayden Stewart
Yeah. Well, I mean, uh, at first it was like, I mean, I think I recognized pretty early that, you know, like, my grandparents listened to way different music than my parents. You know, like being in the car with them or, you know, being at the house and my grandma’s, you know, doing whatever. She’s making food and she’s listening to Fleetwood Mac. You know what I’m saying?

00:07:53:11 – 00:08:13:03
Brayden Stewart
Like, that was different than what my dad listened to. Right. And so, and it sounded older, you know what I’m saying? Like, I, I think I recognized that. You know, like, it sounded different. You know? It sounded more, like, vintage or something to me. And I, I thought that was cool. Um, and so yeah, I mean, it was, it was definitely just, like, in passing for a while.

00:08:13:05 – 00:08:32:19
Brayden Stewart
Um, I started playing guitar, though, when I was, like, 9 years old. And, and when that happened, like, my grandma would, like, tell me to learn songs. And like, you know, she would give me, like, you know, whatever, and she would show me how to do things, and my uncle was the same way. Um, see, as soon as I started playing guitar, it was like, “Check this out. Check this out. Check this out.” You know what I’m saying?

00:08:32:19 – 00:08:33:15
Brandon Adams
They saw the passion in you, and they thought, “Oh, well, let me put my influence on what your passion is because you’re so good at this. Try, try mine.”

00:08:40:03 – 00:09:03:21
Brayden Stewart
Yeah, man. Yeah. And also I think that, you know, it is, you know, uh, it’s probably hard to connect to a spastic 9-year-old kid. So as soon as you see something that’s like, like, yeah, like, you got that, I, I think that that, like, formed a, a deeper relationship with them. And I think that they appreciate that now, you know? I mean, that’s like, I still send my grandma music, you know. My grandma still sends me music.

00:09:03:22 – 00:09:27:02
Brayden Stewart
The other day I sent her a Crosby, Stills, and Nash and Young, like, live record that I’d found. And you know, it’s stuff like that. You know? It’s, I mean, a lot of my relationships with my grandparents on my mom’s side and, and, you know, with the people on my mom’s side, we talk about music. We talk about documentaries and live albums, and I show them songs. It’s, it’s really cool.

00:09:28:21 – 00:09:35:04
Brandon Adams
So, yeah, I mean, it is kind of a, it’s a bonding experience, right? And there’s so many memories that are tied to songs.

00:09:35:04 – 00:09:35:17
Brayden Stewart
Absolutely.

00:09:35:18 – 00:09:51:12
Brandon Adams
Just as you go through your life, you’re gonna go across things, and, um, you know, something tragic happens to you or something amazing happens to you, that song that’s playing in the background’s almost a stamp on your memory. Right? And so it’s really cool when someone does find a passion and you’re like, “Oh, let me pull one of these things out that meant so much to me and put it in the, in the jukebox.”

00:09:51:12 – 00:10:07:18
Brandon Adams
Yeah. You know what I mean? Yeah. And sharing that kinda stuff. Like, me and my, my family, we, uh, play a game called Pass the Phone. Um, I’m, you know, I’ve got a 20-year-old and a 17-year-old. You know, kinda similar to your age.

00:10:07:18 – 00:10:22:10
Brandon Adams
And, um, I would hand him the phone and say, basically, “Hand the aux,” right? “You get 2, you get 2, you get two, and I get 2,” right? And so I wanted them to hear stuff that comes from my heart and how I feel about things, and this one makes me feel like X or whatever. Check this out.

00:10:22:12 – 00:10:41:24
Brandon Adams
And now he does it, and I’m respecting his music kinda both ways. And then my youngest, and then my wife, and then we’re just kinda passing this around, and we do road trips, and we do that for two, and two, and two, and two all the time, right? So you really get to pass that gift to somebody else, much like your grandparents and your parents did for you, and your uncle with them, you know.

00:10:41:24 – 00:10:53:24
Brandon Adams
And so it’s, it’s really kinda inspirational to hear that families are out there doing that and passing it along because I see you walk in at 20 years old with an Incubus shirt on. It’s like, all right, somebody’s been here, you know, walking this guy through this, right?

00:10:53:24 – 00:10:54:10
Brayden Stewart
Yeah.

00:10:54:10 – 00:11:03:18
Brandon Adams
So does that, has that influenced, you know, at an early age, did you wanna be rock, or did you know, “I kinda wanna be country-soul”?

00:11:03:20 – 00:11:34:04
Brayden Stewart
Uh, I definitely wanted to be rock at the beginning. Um, I knew, you know, pretty early that the thing that I was into was, like, metal music, and rock music, and classic rock. Like, I just something about it, you know? And so really, uh, I mean, like, my mom and my dad listened to, like, Ragweed, um, obviously, like Stoney and, you know, they, they loved, you know, like, my dad loves Doug Stone and Gary Stewart, you know, Keith Whitley.

00:11:34:10 – 00:11:54:16
Brayden Stewart
So, you know, in the interim between all the metal music I was hearing, I was getting introduced to country music and, you know, like, good country music. Ragweed stuck out to me the most just ’cause I could hear the rock and roll element in it, you know. But still, like, even that was, you know, like, not enough just yet for me to, like, “That’s, that’s my thing,” you know?

00:11:54:16 – 00:12:13:22
Brayden Stewart
Yeah. So, uh, yeah, no, early it was a lot of, like, uh, I was learning Metallica riffs, or, you know, Megadeth riffs or, you know, Sepultura riffs. You know what I’m saying? Just, like, stuff that I thought was cool and, like, mean and, you know, and also, you know, you’re — I, I was a young guy.

00:12:13:22 – 00:12:31:09
Brayden Stewart
I still am, but, like, you know, a younger guy trying to find, you know, what makes me unique and how to get my emotions out. And I think that was it, you know? I, I was, I’m super lucky to have gotten introduced to that stuff because, you know, I think I absolutely would be a different person if I wasn’t sucking at guitar for so long.

00:12:31:11 – 00:12:51:07
Brayden Stewart
You know what I’m saying? Like, wanting to be good, but you know, I feel like guitar is, you know, one of the things that obviously the more time you put into it, the better you get at it. And so, and metal music’s really hard to play for a 9-year-old, you know what I’m saying? So it kinda taught me, I think, the, the lesson of, like, failing over and over again before you get it right.

00:12:51:09 – 00:13:09:09
Brayden Stewart
But yeah, so definitely a lot of metal music. Uh, had a couple buddies that liked metal music as well, so it was cool for me to, like, check out what I can play. You know? So yeah, no, it was definitely metal for a long time. I didn’t really get into country music until I was probably 15.

00:13:09:11 – 00:13:35:00
Brayden Stewart
I was washing dishes at one of my uncle’s restaurants that he worked at, and, uh, that was around the time, uh, Imaginary Appalachia by Culture Wall came out. And, uh, my dad had been showing me some Tyler Childers stuff. But I started listening to that record, and then I listened to, like, some Sturgill stuff. Just, like, really good zen music. Just, like, in a good head space to wash dishes.

00:13:35:02 – 00:13:43:02
Brayden Stewart
And so that was around the time I got introduced to, like, country music that I liked. You know, that struck something in me. You know?

00:13:43:02 – 00:13:59:04
Brandon Adams
But — it’s funny to hear, like, this transition, like, I’m — I’m — I’m following it. It’s, it’s really cool because I can see the path. It’s an easy way to get from this, to this, to this, right? And, like, even at the beginning when you say your rock days, like, the challenge of playing, like, uh, some really complicated stuff through the metal, like, I think of Tool, like —

00:13:59:04 – 00:14:00:17
Brayden Stewart
Yeah, that’s my favorite band of all time.

00:14:00:17 – 00:14:10:23
Brandon Adams
Yeah, I mean, they’re just so incredible with the way that they mix up sounds and, and, uh, uh, well, what, what — why, why are they your favorite?

00:14:11:00 – 00:14:32:04
Brayden Stewart
Oh, dude, I mean, it’s the songwriting, man. How do 4 guys write something like that? That’s what always gets me. Like, how? ‘Cause it’s just them. You know? Like, you know, like, he, like, Maynard writes the words. You know, Adam plays guitar. Like, yeah, it’s like, that’s what they got. You know, it’s 4 dudes in a room, and when they walk out, they sound like that.

00:14:32:04 – 00:15:00:03
Brayden Stewart
Like, how did that happen? You know, I wanna know the thought process and, like, what they were influenced by. Like, that, that’s, that’s what I’m saying. I think I got super immersed in it, like, really young. And so, and I think that if I started playing country music at a young age, I wouldn’t have had that sort of thing, ’cause, you know, like, you, you hear, like, Keith Whitley. It’s one dude.

00:15:00:03 – 00:15:19:14
Brayden Stewart
You know what I’m saying? Like, and you, like, learn the chords, and it’s like, well, it’s, like, 4 or 5 chords and maybe a key change. And that’s it, you know? Like, that’s awesome. It’s incredible music, you know what I’m saying though? I think that, like, playing guitar and playing metal music and listening to bands, something about that in me was just like, “This is incredible.”

00:15:19:14 – 00:15:29:07
Brandon Adams
Yeah. You wanted that lead guitar in there to really kinda danced with the music, you know? Not kinda waltzed you along, but had its space in there to kinda lead as well, right?

00:15:29:07 – 00:15:46:03
Brayden Stewart
Right. Yeah. And I think that that’s — and I mean, even now, you know, I, I mean, most of, most of what I listen to is stuff like that. And I think that that’s kinda what makes this band, my band, stand out is because we are 5 guys.

00:15:46:05 – 00:15:47:01
Brandon Adams
Not the burger place.

00:15:47:01 – 00:15:59:05
Brayden Stewart
You know what I’m saying? Yeah, yeah, yeah. It’s just 5 guys. You know? Uh, we all are influenced by different things. Yeah. We all get in a room, and we walk out, and we sound like that. Like, that’s what we got. You know? And so I don’t know. I think it’s cool.

00:15:59:07 – 00:16:02:05
Brandon Adams
So your parents started introducing you to music. You’re 9.

00:16:02:05 – 00:16:03:04
Brayden Stewart
Yeah.

00:16:03:06 – 00:16:16:18
Brandon Adams
Uncle’s like, “Check this one out.” You’re getting better at it. Like — so what’s the next step? Do you go like, “Man, I really love this. I need to start taking some lessons.” Did someone start helping you down the line? Was your uncle the one taking the lead on that? Um — like, who was this?

00:16:16:22 – 00:16:47:05
Brayden Stewart
So my uncle was definitely, like, when I got a guitar — again, another one of those things where, you know, I think that they saw that I was passionate about it, and they were passionate about it, so they kinda jumped in. Um, and so yeah, my uncle would, you know, he would show me how to play things and, you know, he showed me, like, some good, like, blues music to kind of, like, give me a good reference point for scales and things and, you know. Uh, but yeah, I mean, he was around, uh, for a little bit and then he moved off.

00:16:47:07 – 00:17:07:24
Brayden Stewart
And after that, I, I just kinda would sit in my room and play all day. You know? Um, also around this time, uh, I had a vocal surgery, actually. Uh, I had tumors on my vocal cords. And, uh, yeah, they, uh, you know, I had a surgery. It was a whole big thing, you know, didn’t really know what was gonna happen, and so I was just kinda secluded in my room. You know, I couldn’t really talk for a long time.

00:17:12:18 – 00:17:14:09
Brandon Adams
What’s a long time?

00:17:14:11 – 00:17:36:06
Brayden Stewart
I mean, I couldn’t talk for about a month. Okay. It was like, “Hey, don’t do that.” So I didn’t go to school for a while. All I really had to do was play guitar, you know? And so again, you know, around that time I’m super passionate about it. I’m super into it. This thing is kind of like, you know, keeping me playing.

00:17:36:07 – 00:17:56:19
Brayden Stewart
And so yeah, I, uh, I just got obsessed and I would watch YouTube videos. I would watch live performances. I would watch tutorials, you know, just things like that. And, uh, I kinda got in a groove to where I could learn songs and figure them out. You know, this is, I was probably, uh, probably 10 around this time.

00:17:56:19 – 00:18:23:16
Brayden Stewart
Wow. So yeah, I was doing that, uh, 10, you know, to — COVID happened when I was 14. Right. I’m finding country music now. You know what I’m saying? I’m, you know, I was working at a restaurant, and now I’m secluded again. You know what I’m saying? But with a different thing in front of me this time. So I never, I’ve never taken lessons, but, uh, there were some things that kind of kept me playing.

00:18:23:19 – 00:18:32:03
Brayden Stewart
You know? I think that if I, you know, again, if, if things hadn’t happened how they did, I’d be a different artist, or I don’t know if I would be. You know?

00:18:32:05 – 00:18:50:00
Brandon Adams
Coming from East Texas like that, when, when, uh, when COVID did happen, I mean, people were still around the campfire, right? Right. You know? We’re still outside, we’re still doing those, those things around the fire and stuff. So, um, I guess that kinda honed in on some of those skill sets, right? Like, we, we need to get our guy Brayden over here to, to run guitar and sing for us while we’re all, you know, kinda cutting back a little bit, right?

00:18:54:12 – 00:19:18:16
Brayden Stewart
Yeah. And singing happened, you know, kind of naturally. I mean, I was in, like, a little band when I, uh, my freshman year when COVID happened. And we would, you know, we would just sit around and jam, like, Pantera songs and, you know, I was, again, I’m listening to country music during this time and, you know, we’re playing metal songs. And it’s fun to me, but it’s not quite what I’m into right now. You know?

00:19:18:18 – 00:19:43:12
Brayden Stewart
And so, yeah, I mean, I would, I would just kinda, like, sing the songs that we were playing. You know? And eventually I would show them things that I was working on, like little riffs or something that weren’t super heavy. Yeah. And, um, you know, I mean, we’re all stubborn, 14, 15-year-old kids. You know what I’m saying? So it’s like, “We wanna play this song and we don’t care about what you got going on right now.” You know what I’m saying?

00:19:43:14 – 00:20:02:07
Brayden Stewart
And so, yeah, around that time I was already kind of getting an idea of, like, writing songs. And so I don’t really know how that happened though, honestly. I think it just kinda was a natural thing. I mean, I’ve been obsessed with it for a long time, most of my life at this point. And, you know, figure I might as well start making it, you know?

00:20:03:05 – 00:20:12:06
Brandon Adams
When you went from, you know, playing songs and playing other people’s songs to, “Hey guys, I’m now listening to this kind of music,” the first song you wrote was — what genre?

00:20:12:08 – 00:20:36:09
Brayden Stewart
It was more bluegrass, honestly. I was kind of into the bluegrass thing as well. Um, Tyler Childers, you know, like there’s, and, and Sturgill Simpson. There’s a lot of elements of bluegrass in there. And, um, yeah, I was, I was also dating this girl at this time, and her dad was a big bluegrass guy, big country guy. And so I would go over to her house and we would, me and him would jam, you know? And so he’s showing me stuff, too.

00:20:36:09 – 00:20:50:10
Brayden Stewart
And I don’t, I don’t know. To me, I think that it was just a smaller task and a, and a, and a more, like, I was more interested in maybe writing a country song than a metal song at this time. You know what I’m saying?

00:20:50:10 – 00:20:52:12
Brandon Adams
Tell me why — tell me why the difference.

00:20:52:14 – 00:21:18:10
Brayden Stewart
Uh, I think that it only takes one person to play a, a country song. Okay. I could do that in my room. Okay. I could, you know, get my chops up and not need a drummer around. You know? Um, but yeah, I don’t really know. Also, I was — I, I feel like also when you’re playing guitar and you’re, you know, my age at the time, at some point you’re gonna wanna start impressing people. You know what I’m saying?

00:21:18:12 – 00:21:38:17
Brayden Stewart
And, uh, only so many people care about if you can play a Megadeth song. And so, um, I think a little bit of that. Also, the fact that I’d been so immersed in it all, I think that that just kinda led me to start writing my own songs. And what was coming out was just more country sounding stuff. Yeah. You know?

00:21:39:17 – 00:21:58:20
Brandon Adams
I was gonna say, like, for the most part, heavy metal and, and rock has kinda taken a backseat, you know, for the most part and, and with everyone jumping into the country genre, like, it seems to be pushing itself forward at the moment. You know what I mean? Did that play a role in what you were doing?

00:21:58:24 – 00:22:15:11
Brayden Stewart
Absolutely. Yeah. I mean, the Texas stuff that was coming out then, I mean, you had, like, guys like Giovanni & the Hired Guns. You know? I mean, I remember when the, you know, the Bad Habits record came out and I was like, “This is — it’s like rock and roll a little bit.” You know, and then South Hall. You know, and then Koezwood kinda take —

00:22:15:11 – 00:22:34:11
Brayden Stewart
And this is what all my friends were listening to, you know? Like, this is what it sounded like in, you know, the parking lot at my high school was Giovanni & the Hired Guns, Dillon Wheeler, Koezwood, you know, Reed Southall. Like, that’s what they were all listening to. You know what I’m saying? If I went to a party, you know, I mean, and we were all hanging out, if somebody was, you know, playing music it was either, like, rap music or it was that.

00:22:34:13 – 00:22:54:06
Brayden Stewart
Yeah. And that was like, okay. Yeah. There’s something, like, happening that, like, is digestible to me. You know, because of where I come from. So yeah. I mean, I don’t know. I think that — I don’t know. It was just crazy, you know?

00:22:54:08 – 00:23:15:03
Brandon Adams
So yeah, it started out, like, uh — I th- I think about this cross-pollination of different types of music and, and as you’re going into it, and I, man, I, I wanna go in so many different directions right here. But, um, I think it’s really cool because, like, uh, what was it? Like, Florida Georgia Line and those guys came out and they started putting, like, beats in their, in their music and whatever, and kinda changed music a little bit at that point.

00:23:15:03 – 00:23:34:02
Brandon Adams
Yeah. You know, and, um, I think the generations now are kinda pulling back to roots. You know? And that’s a really cool thing to see is, like, yeah, man, we kinda danced over in — ’cause we were listening to rap music and country music and, and alternative in our areas. And so it’s a cool blend to put those together, but now everybody’s kinda done that, and now it’s like, yeah, but this is us.

00:23:34:02 – 00:23:42:22
Brandon Adams
Yeah. Like, there’s a void over here now that needs to be filled by the people that have kinda stepped over to that area. Right. You know?

00:23:42:22 – 00:24:03:08
Brayden Stewart
Well, I mean, yeah. I think there’s a, there’s kinda, it’s, it’s kind of always done that, you know? Music has always kind of been like, “We want this,” and so we do this for a while, and then it’s like, well, wait, like, but y’all stop doing this. And now we want that, you know? I mean, like, you look at the difference between the music from, like, the ’70s and the ’80s, and it’s literally that.

00:24:03:09 – 00:24:12:02
Brayden Stewart
Yeah. It’s the, you know, like, the hippies and all that stuff. And then the ’80s was, like, more, you know — you know, like, uh, what’s the word? Like, drum machine driven and — mm, synth stuff.

00:24:12:04 – 00:24:12:20
Brandon Adams
Synth stuff and —

00:24:12:20 – 00:24:17:07
Brayden Stewart
Yeah. Then you get to the ’90s, you know what I’m saying? Like, like, like the — Pearl Jam and —

00:24:17:07 – 00:24:18:08
Brandon Adams
Right, grunge and —

00:24:18:12 – 00:24:39:08
Brayden Stewart
The, the, the Mötley Crüe to Nirvana. Oh, yeah. Like, you know what I’m saying? It’s like that is such a hard wall to hit. Yeah. And then we’re that. Yeah, you know what I’m saying? And, and then that happens all the time. Yeah. And so yeah. I mean, whenever country music started kinda taking the, you know, like, more hip hop elements, I mean, obviously it’s, like, cool and whatever. It’s just — it wasn’t for me, unfortunately. You know?

00:24:39:08 – 00:24:43:13
Brayden Stewart
I mean, it’s cool, but I just didn’t listen to it.

00:24:43:13 – 00:24:44:04
Brandon Adams
Yeah.

00:24:44:06 – 00:25:05:12
Brayden Stewart
And so yeah. And I think that now more than ever, there’s a demand for real human things. Yeah. Like, we want that. I want that. You know, I think with the, you know, everything being so accessible, I mean, it’s good to scroll TikTok and see somebody in a room playing an acoustic guitar and singing a song. Yeah.

00:25:05:16 – 00:25:18:09
Brayden Stewart
You know? Or going to a bar and seeing somebody with bad sound and, you know, the lights are all messed up. Like, you want, I want that. You know what I’m saying? I want it to smell like cigarettes in this bar and I want this guy to sound good. You know what I’m saying?

00:25:18:09 – 00:25:19:08
Brandon Adams
Want my feet to stick to the floor.

00:25:19:09 – 00:25:21:19
Brayden Stewart
Exactly, exactly, ’cause it’s, you know —

00:25:21:20 – 00:25:22:15
Brandon Adams
It’s authentic.

00:25:22:17 – 00:25:28:05
Brayden Stewart
Right. Right. It’s, it’s genuine. So I don’t know, but yeah.

00:25:28:07 – 00:25:46:17
Brandon Adams
No, it is kinda cool to see that. And, you know, there’s even, like, there’s always been the, the bands that, like Lynyrd Skynyrd, that were a little bit of that Southern rock. Like, kinda carried the torch for both. You know, rock and roll and country music and were just a little bit more edgier. Yeah. And then the Whiskey Myers of the world that kinda came through following in that same genre.

00:25:46:17 – 00:26:10:18
Brandon Adams
Like, I love that. But now I’m seeing a lot of stuff that’s coming through that’s, like, Teskey Brothers. You know, where vocals are really kinda key in the way that it goes, and it goes back to your bluesy stuff. You know, is that what you’re feeling? ‘Cause I, I was listening to a few of your things that, uh, that you play, uh, some of your songs earlier. Get some really good runs in there for, for some, on some songs and stuff. You know. And so I was, I was thinking like, okay, what’s the inspiration for some of these?

00:26:13:18 – 00:26:39:24
Brayden Stewart
Right. Well, I mean, so trace it back a little bit. You know, I mean, uh, I’m writing country songs, starting to play in bars now. You know what I’m saying? I’m 16. Playing, you know, around. I’m doing things. And, uh, I mean, all of the people that were around me at that time were older. You know, I mean, anywhere between 10, 20, 30 years older than me.

00:26:40:01 – 00:26:57:20
Brayden Stewart
And, uh, a lot of those guys were playing blues music, you know, or, authentic country music, you know — I’m saying my friends were, at least. And so yeah, when I got to hanging around those guys, I mean, they were showing me what they were listening to, and I’d heard of the Allman Brothers, but — you know, they were showing me, you know, the good stuff.

00:26:57:22 – 00:27:06:15
Brayden Stewart
Yeah. You know, I’d, I mean, I’d listened to Lynyrd Skynyrd my whole life. But I hadn’t heard Saturday Night Special. You know what I’m saying? Yeah. Like, stuff like that, that’s like — Deep cuts.

00:27:06:15 – 00:27:06:23
Brandon Adams
Deep cuts.

00:27:06:23 – 00:27:31:15
Brayden Stewart
Deep cuts. Yeah. You know what I’m saying? Um, and then, you know, getting shown, like, Mountain and, uh, I mean, the Grateful Dead and, you know, all this stuff that’s like, was foreign to me. You know, um, that I’d heard of, but just not in my face. You know? So yeah, and then you trace that stuff back and, you know, you go back to the Etta Jameses and — you know, I mean, you know, I don’t know.

00:27:31:16 – 00:27:31:23
Brandon Adams
Otis Redding and —

00:27:31:23 – 00:27:33:03
Brayden Stewart
Otis Redding. Yeah.

00:27:33:03 – 00:27:33:16
Brandon Adams
Yeah.

00:27:33:18 – 00:27:52:09
Brayden Stewart
And, you know, I mean, Kings, you know what I’m saying? Like Freddie King. Albert King. Guys that were like, you know, nobody had sounded like that. You know? Hendrix. Hendrix was huge for me. Yeah. You know, Hendrix and Stevie and all that stuff. Like, all that stuff was big for me while I was playing guitar, you know, ’cause my uncle had showed me some stuff.

00:27:52:11 – 00:28:15:24
Brayden Stewart
But when I started playing live, I think, it kicked the door down for, like, so much music. And a deeper appreciation for blues. ‘Cause blues is so improv-based. You know, I mean, you can go listen to all those Hendrix live records or Stevie live records, and you never really — it doesn’t sound the same record to record. You know? And that was capturing to me.

00:28:15:24 – 00:28:27:07
Brayden Stewart
Yeah. You know, especially the Grateful Dead and the Allman Brothers. I mean, those are jam bands. Those are true jam bands. So I don’t know. I think that that was cool for me, too.

00:28:27:09 – 00:28:45:21
Brandon Adams
Yeah, and getting into some of these, you start to talk about bluesy stuff, right? When you start talking about that, a lot of that stuff is life experience. Right? It’s not money or fast cars or things like that. It’s about, man, things that have happened to you in your life and how they really affected you. My family this, or whatever, right?

00:28:45:21 – 00:29:07:24
Brandon Adams
And so, um, it’s always really unusual for me. I know someone, if someone young is playing that type of music, they’ve had some great influence in their life, family-wise. Or a mentor, right, who’s like, “Listen to this,” or, “Check this out,” or do whatever. Yeah. ‘Cause you can’t really sing like that or talk like that if you’ve never been broken like that. You know?

00:29:07:24 – 00:29:29:18
Brandon Adams
And the cool part about that is who’s, who’s been that person for you? Who’s been that person to show you, like, the hard times? Has there been something that you hold onto that helps you write at night or whatever? You know what I mean? So for someone like you to say, “I’m really into the bluesy stuff.” Or, uh, you know, some of the artists that you’ve called out, like, those people are speak from your heart type people.

00:29:29:18 – 00:29:34:15
Brandon Adams
So who, who was that for you that really kinda pushed you down the line?

00:29:34:17 – 00:30:06:24
Brayden Stewart
Dude, I mean, my guitar player, Colton Mathis. Okay. Uh, he showed me, him and my, him and my drummer, Aiden Klutz, they showed me mountains of incredible blues music. Um, and so yeah, I mean, that combined with, you know, me being a guitar player first at that time, I, I might still be, I don’t know, but me being a guitar player and being around that music, I was like, “God,” you know, what I’m saying? Like, “This is incredible.”

00:30:07:01 – 00:30:26:20
Brayden Stewart
And then, you know, the singing. I mean, those guys to me sounded more like I do than, you know, the, the metal guys and the country guys. You know? And, uh, I’m not saying I sound like any of the greats, but, like, you know, I mean, that sounded closer to what I wanna do. And I just hadn’t been exposed to that yet.

00:30:26:20 – 00:30:45:21
Brayden Stewart
Yeah. You know? Um, also it was just a new thing. Like a newer, like Mount Everest of music. So, and also, again, you wanna impress people, you know what I’m saying? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I wanna see this music so I can show it to people. Yeah. You know? And I love it. And so, yeah, I don’t know.

00:30:46:01 – 00:30:52:06
Brayden Stewart
It’s gotta be those 2 guys. Um, yeah. Yeah, they just showed me so much great music. It was awesome.

00:30:52:09 – 00:31:09:10
Brandon Adams
I’ll just say this, man, first off, I mean, I, we got a long way to go in this thing. But I’m highly impressed with your depth of, um, wanting to understand music and understand where it came from and the different genres that you wanna get into. Most people are like, “Yeah, this is me, and I just kinda fell into this where I was at.”

00:31:09:10 – 00:31:24:12
Brandon Adams
Yeah. You know, and blah, blah, blah, you know? And family’s done it, I’ve done it, whatever, right? Yeah. I mean, you’re searching. You know, you’re going through all kinds of genres to find out, like, who you are and, and matter of fact, like what you’re at right now — fast-forward 5 years.

00:31:24:18 – 00:31:26:05
Brayden Stewart
Yeah. You know. Absolutely.

00:31:26:11 – 00:31:42:24
Brandon Adams
And, and, and kinda see where that comes from, you know? And so it’s really kinda cool and refreshing, honestly, to have a, an, a real conversation with someone, and you talk about the bands that you’ve heard of and why you like them. And what came outta that that really kinda influenced you. Because I don’t know that most people can do that, right?

00:31:43:04 – 00:31:51:24
Brandon Adams
You know? Do you have these conversations all the time? Like, you said your, your drummer and, and your, and your guitarist, but other guys you talk to outside of them, is it kinda the same way?

00:31:52:04 – 00:32:18:03
Brayden Stewart
I mean, to an extent, yeah. I mean, I think that maybe, like, maybe for me, I’m sure it’s like this with a lot of, you know, my buddies, but I, I’m just, like, an obsessive guy. You know, like, I’ve gotta know, you know? Um, and so, yeah. I mean, I definitely know that there are people that are as passionate about certain genres, um, as I am.

00:32:18:03 – 00:32:41:22
Brayden Stewart
But I think for me, the, the real earworm is, like, where did it come from? Geographically. Like, what was happening during this time? Like, you know what I’m saying? I think that it’s just, it’s just interesting to me. And I just, I have to know. So yeah, I’ve definitely had a bunch of conversations about music like this. But, you know, I mean, it’s hard to come by, you know? They’re hard, they’re harder to come by.

00:32:42:03 – 00:32:46:19
Brandon Adams
What do you do? Do you go directly to Google or YouTube or where? What do you do?

00:32:46:23 – 00:33:08:01
Brayden Stewart
YouTube. A lot of, like, documentaries. Uh-huh. A lot of — most of the books I read are autobiographies. You know what I’m saying? Okay. Or of bands, biographies, you know what I’m saying? Um, that, I mean, live records. Like, if you wanna know anything about a band, listen to live records, watch documentaries. You know what I’m saying? Like, those are — it’s what I spend most of my time doing, you know what I’m saying?

00:33:08:02 – 00:33:23:09
Brayden Stewart
Um, it’s just like a, it’s almost, like, a weird comforting thing, you know? I mean, when I go to bed, I’m listening to, you know, music or watching something that involves music. You know what I’m saying?

00:33:23:11 – 00:33:26:03
Brandon Adams
So I don’t know. I’m, I’m interested to see, do you know, do you listen to Spotify?

00:33:26:07 – 00:33:26:20
Brayden Stewart
Oh, yeah.

00:33:26:22 – 00:33:32:05
Brandon Adams
Do you have a, a minute count on how many — you know the yearly things that shows how many? I’m interested to see where this is at.

00:33:32:07 – 00:33:36:16
Brayden Stewart
Uh, I, I know that last year I was right around 100, 100,000.

00:33:36:18 – 00:33:38:00
Brandon Adams
First person to beat me so far.

00:33:38:00 – 00:33:51:15
Brayden Stewart
Yeah. That’s, that’s amazing. That’s kind of where I’ve stayed at, around 100,000. Yeah. Uh, I think that this year might have been a little — it mi- I was close to 100,000. I don’t know if I broke it. Um, but dude, I’m al- it’s just always happening.

00:33:51:19 – 00:34:08:22
Brandon Adams
I was 78,000 last year. And I was like, I haven’t seen anybody that was close to that, too. And I thought maybe I’m, maybe I’m just weird because it’s like I, I use it as emotional push or drive, or if I need to hurry up, or if I need to slow down. I, I use these keys for me, different types of music, to help influence my, my mood.

00:34:09:02 – 00:34:16:03
Brandon Adams
Right? Um, or if I need to calm down, I’ll put on Otis Redding. If I need to, you know, speed something up, I’ll put on Tool.

00:34:16:05 – 00:34:33:13
Brayden Stewart
Yeah. Or if I need to, you know — but, and that’s, and music’s the only thing that will do that. You know, it’s the only thing that — like, if you’re alone in a room, if I was alone in here, different genres would bring out different things in the room, you know? Me and my fiance do that all the time. We’ll be driving down the road listening to a song, and it’s like, “What are you seeing right now?”

00:34:33:15 – 00:34:51:10
Brayden Stewart
You know? It’ll be like, “Oh, it’s like the, this, like the, that tore up street sign. Like, that’s what that reminds me of.” Or, you know what I’m saying? Like, look to your left, like the skyline. You know what I’m saying? Like that thing. Yeah. You know, you can’t get that from anything else. And so, that’s cool to me.

00:34:51:10 – 00:34:53:03
Brayden Stewart
Yeah. That’s rock and roll to me, you know what I’m saying?

00:34:53:03 – 00:35:00:21
Brandon Adams
Me too, brother. Like, I, I don’t know, guys, I’m gonna, I’m gonna enjoy this one today. This is gonna be, this is gonna be a good one. Honestly, like, I really, really enjoy, like, conversations like this.

00:35:01:00 – 00:35:01:20
Brayden Stewart
Very cool. Yeah, man, me too.

00:35:01:22 – 00:35:18:11
Brandon Adams
Um, do you think that you’re gonna be hopping around genres as you go through? I think of — and I, I, I came across this girl the other day, and I’m sure she’s been around for a while, but, uh, Jessie Murph. She has songs in different genres all the time, and she’s got bangers across the board.

00:35:18:12 – 00:35:19:04
Brayden Stewart
Yeah. Right?

00:35:19:05 – 00:35:25:02
Brandon Adams
Do you think that’s something that you would potentially jump through —

00:35:25:04 – 00:35:26:10
Brayden Stewart
Absolutely.

00:35:26:12 – 00:35:27:12
Brandon Adams
That’s kind of a passion too.

00:35:27:12 – 00:35:51:09
Brayden Stewart
It’s, it’s, it’s hard for me not to. I’ve had so many conversations with, you know, record people, record labels, uh, bigger bands about like, “What, like, what do you do?” And it’s like, “I, right now it’s this,” you know? I mean, this record that we’re working on putting out is full of different things. The record we put out last year is full of different things. You know, it’s — you know, there’s a common theme.

00:35:51:11 – 00:36:12:24
Brayden Stewart
The common thing, like, like the common theme is I’m singing. It’s kind of — and, you know, we’re playing. Other than that, you know, I mean — you know, you could, you, you could take — there’s probably 3 different genres in the record we put out last year. Probably 4 different ones in this, in this album, you know? But there’s a common, there’s a commonality. And it’s the fact that I wrote the songs and that my band’s playing them. You know? And that’s the thing, you know?

00:36:13:01 – 00:36:34:17
Brayden Stewart
You look at, you know, you look at a band like Pearl Jam. Go back and listen to those records. He, those, those songs got progressively — you know, it was more, like, folk-based. There was a little, like, pocket of time where there was a lot of acoustic guitar happening. And it was still Pearl Jam. Yeah. You know?

00:36:34:19 – 00:36:58:15
Brayden Stewart
And look at Alice In Chains, you know? There’s, there’s an entire acoustic album. You know? Like, I mean, and it started as that, you know what I’m saying? And then they branched off, and then their biggest album was an acoustic-based album. You know what I’m saying? And so I don’t know. I don’t think it’s — a lot of people think it’s a, not a bad thing, but a, you know, it’s hard to promote that.

00:36:58:17 – 00:37:16:21
Brayden Stewart
But I mean, I think that that’s — there’s attitude in that. There’s a, there’s a genuine thing in that. And that’s, you know, um, all of my favorite artists have done that. Yeah. And so, I mean, I’m not trying to replicate anything, but I’m trying to do what I’m influenced by in the moment and what I’m feeling in the moment.

00:37:16:21 – 00:37:29:17
Brayden Stewart
And if what comes out is a, you know, a, a ZZ Top song, you know, close to — roll it, great. Yeah. But if it’s a, you know, if it’s a pop song, who cares, man? Yeah. I’m doing this for me. Yeah. You know?

00:37:29:19 – 00:37:45:07
Brandon Adams
That’s cool. That’s a cool outlook, man, at such an early age, too. Like, not to put myself in this, but I like to create all different things. Right. I paint, I do murals, I do sculptures, I do blah, blah, blah. Whatever, right? And everyone’s like, “Oh, you need to kinda hone yourself into one.” And I’m like, “I don’t like that.”

00:37:45:07 – 00:38:06:05
Brandon Adams
But everything is a canvas. Everything. Yeah. Right? And so why can’t it be X? Why can’t it be, you know, this, that or the other one day, depending on my mood? Because I’m really just telling you a time capsule of my life. Exactly. You know? And I didn’t get to that until I was older. Yeah. I mean, you’re a few years younger than me, and, and you’re, you’re hitting it already. You know what I mean?

00:38:06:24 – 00:38:24:24
Brayden Stewart
Well, I mean, records — they’re, they’re timestamps, man, you know? I’ll look back on the first album I put out and remember that I was 18 years old when we put that album, or when, when I wrote that album. From the time I was 16 to 18. Like, those songs kind of make up my, you know, my teen years, you know?

00:38:24:24 – 00:38:43:00
Brayden Stewart
And then I’m gonna put an album out this year that’ll remind me of this time in my life. And, you know, I mean, I do — I mean, I, I, I write songs with an audience in mind. But also, like, I mean, the only way I can truly do that is if I’m doing what I want to, you know? My audience is in mind, you know?

00:38:43:04 – 00:39:06:09
Brayden Stewart
I’m, I’m hoping to broaden that and, you know, do whatever, but — I don’t know. I think that even if I wasn’t playing live, I’d still be writing songs. And, like, that’s, that’s the one thing that I need to always hold true to. You know? The songs I’m writing now, I would’ve done that even if I wasn’t, you know, making money. You know what I’m saying? Like, in a, in a — you know, that’s the best way I can put it.

00:39:07:00 – 00:39:15:00
Brandon Adams
So at 16 you’re, you’re playing in bars. Um, you start catching gigs over and over. You’re just doing you and a g- and a, and a guitar, right?

00:39:15:00 – 00:39:37:07
Brayden Stewart
Yeah. Well, so when I was — at this point — when I was 16 years old, I put out an album. Uh, I put — I s- I was working at this restaurant. I was waiting tables at this time. Um, and I, I was playing drums in the jazz band at my high school. Um, I was getting better at that, and I figured, you know, “I’m gonna go cut a record just me.”

00:39:37:07 – 00:40:00:00
Brayden Stewart
And I went and I saved up money, and I went to, like, a family friend’s studio and I cut an album. And, uh, yeah, I, I, recorded all the songs. I wrote all the songs myself, did the drums, every — it sounded not great, you know what I’m saying? It’s me doing it all. But yeah, uh, I put that out, um, in, like, 2022. ’21.

00:40:00:02 – 00:40:20:08
Brayden Stewart
’21. And, uh, yeah, I mean, like, there was, like, a local radio station that I sent it to. Or I had a friend, like, a friend send it to. And they picked it up, and I got some gigs from them. And then, you know, like, just kind of meeting people and playing open mics. I did a lot of open mics.

00:40:20:10 – 00:40:28:10
Brayden Stewart
Um, yeah, that was kinda how I started. Um, and that album, talk about different genres in an album. There was crazy stuff on that album.

00:40:28:12 – 00:40:34:17
Brandon Adams
So at 16, you’re, you’re laying all these over. You have a — what, are you in your garage?

00:40:34:19 – 00:40:47:13
Brayden Stewart
Uh, I was in my room. I had an electronic drum set in my room. Okay. And I had, like, a little, uh — like, my amp, and I had, like, a little looping pedal that I would just plug everything into. It sounded terrible. Okay. But, uh, yeah, I would write, like, riffs and — oh, Ed Sheeran scenario. Yeah.

00:40:50:22 – 00:40:53:03
Brayden Stewart
But yeah, I did that all the time.

00:40:53:03 – 00:40:53:19
Brandon Adams
Yeah.

00:40:53:21 – 00:41:13:11
Brayden Stewart
I mean, I would record anything, anything I thought was cool. And this is really before I had a concept of, like, verse, chorus, like, how do I get there? So a lot of — I mean, I had so many just riff ideas with, like, a bassline over it and, like, drums. Just a drum beat. You know what I’m saying? Just something to make it.

00:41:13:17 – 00:41:29:13
Brayden Stewart
Yeah. I did that all the time. I mean, I was still playing sports then, and so I would get home from practice and just sit in my room and do that all the time. Also, I had my own room finally. You know what I’m saying? And so it was like, “I’m gonna make use of this.” Yeah. You know?

00:41:29:15 – 00:41:32:20
Brandon Adams
So, so what, what programs were you using to, to cut all this together?

00:41:32:22 – 00:41:59:20
Brayden Stewart
Oh, dude, it was literally just a looping pedal. It was a small looping pedal. Uh, and then I had a, a — it was, like, a Boss looping pedal. Um, I had that, and I was playing that through a Line 6 Spider amp, the Mark II. Um, and it wasn’t great sounding, but I could plug my electronic drum set into my amp, and I had, like, saved a little preset for drums, um, and it sounded terrible. It sounded awful.

00:41:59:22 – 00:42:07:07
Brayden Stewart
But yeah, just running that. And then I would just sing over it, like, little melodies or something.

00:42:07:07 – 00:42:10:09
Brandon Adams
So nothing was layered in. You were capturing it all at once —

00:42:10:10 – 00:42:19:06
Brayden Stewart
Capturing it all — and this is what I got, this is what I got. This is, you know, this is 4 bars. Yeah. You know, just whatever. But yeah, that was all I did. That’s cool. So that’s kinda how I started writing things.

00:42:19:08 – 00:42:23:01
Brandon Adams
And so you said you made your album. Did it go on YouTube? Did it go —

00:42:23:02 – 00:42:45:24
Brayden Stewart
It went on everything. Spotify, okay, everything, and that’s kinda how I started. I took it down not long ago. You know, a while back. Um, but yeah, after that, uh, I started working for this label, a, a smaller label in Dallas, an indie label, um, called 301. Um, those guys are awesome. And, uh, yeah, I just played guitar on tracks. I would record my own stuff there. Uh, put out a song.

00:42:45:24 – 00:43:13:06
Brayden Stewart
Put out a song and an EP, um, through them, and then after that, we had the band together. The band that’s been the band. Um, and so yeah, after that, uh, we started writing — I, I was writing songs for another record. And, uh, that was the first, like, full length, like, good production. I say good production, like, a band was playing on it, and, like, we had, like, a producer and an engineer. Like, it was a whole thing.

00:43:13:08 – 00:43:29:20
Brayden Stewart
Um, and we had a private investor help out with that, and that’s that record, you know? And so then we did a deluxe version, and now we’re working on another one, you know?

00:43:29:22 – 00:43:32:01
Brandon Adams
So you signed with somebody already?

00:43:32:03 – 00:43:33:21
Brayden Stewart
I’m signed with somebody now, yes, sir.

00:43:33:21 – 00:43:35:04
Brandon Adams
And at that point you were not?

00:43:35:04 – 00:43:54:10
Brayden Stewart
At that point I was not. Okay. Um, right now we have a distribution deal through Santa Ana, and I do publishing at a, with Warner Chappell in Nashville. So I’m writing songs out there all the time. And, uh, yeah, this record’s through Santa Ana. They’re helping us out a whole bunch. Um, it’s going on.

00:43:54:16 – 00:44:15:04
Brandon Adams
That’s crazy. So from capturing everything yourself, all in one loop, yeah, recording that, throwing that up, getting a little exposure. Started in bars, 16 years old, start picking through. I’m guessing you’re getting those every weekend, every other weekend or so, right? After that, you’re like, “All right, I need to start to move past.” To jump to that, you went to, uh, 301 here, right? That was the next step. Yep.

00:44:15:04 – 00:44:26:24
Brandon Adams
Worked for them for a little bit, got a little exposure and got m- and introduced to a couple of people. And they say, “Hey, let’s put this album out.” That leveled you up again.

00:44:27:00 – 00:44:52:11
Brayden Stewart
Yes. Right. It’s been a, like a t- it’s been a slow burn. Like, exact — yeah, like, you look at how it’s been, and it’s been grind until you meet somebody who puts you in different rooms, and then grind. You know what I’m saying? Like, that’s what it’s been for us. And I love that. You know, we’re, we’re, you know, we’re a band of good buddies who’ve been through the same, you know, bullcrap.

00:44:52:12 – 00:45:04:02
Brayden Stewart
You know what I’m saying? Like, just, I don’t know. And so but now we’re in a good spot that hopefully levels us up again. You know? And so yeah, yeah, it’s been the whole process.

00:45:04:08 – 00:45:20:10
Brandon Adams
Yeah. So got to that point, got the last album out. So then you talked about, like, what’s, what happens when you get that out? Do you go start just doing more venues around here? Or, like, what’s the next step? Like, you sign an agent? Like, tell me, tell me how this, how it starts to roll.

00:45:20:10 – 00:45:44:09
Brayden Stewart
Right. So we had, like, a little moment with that, with, with the last album. It was, it was bigger than anything we’d ever done. Um, bigger than anything I’d ever done. We had, like, a really big pop on TikTok. People were really digging it. Um, and we started getting, like, flooded with show offers, and I had a manager at the time. Um, and he was helping out with everything and, you know, he took on a, a big role,

00:45:44:09 – 00:46:11:05
Brayden Stewart
’cause around that time, I mean, some of the biggest booking agencies in the world were hitting us up about shows. You know? I mean, and then Warner in Nashville was hitting me up about records and, you know, all this. And so, like, it all just kinda, like, flooded. You know? And so — um, but you know, there’s, there’s a side to everything that, uh, we didn’t really love at first.

00:46:11:07 – 00:46:25:17
Brayden Stewart
Um, but yeah, I mean, we just started doing support stuff. That was kinda the big takeaway, was we started opening for Pecos. Pecos on the Rooftops. We opened for South Hall. We opened for Ty Myers. You know what I’m saying? Like, all these bigger acts that got us in front of more people, and then we, we hit the road.

00:46:25:17 – 00:46:57:15
Brayden Stewart
You know, we, we toured last year, uh, with Blacktop Mojo. Um, they’re an East Texas band. We did, like, 3 weeks on the East Coast with them. Um, in front of more people, you know. And then we played a bunch more shows, you know, weekend warrior stuff, Thursday through Sunday. Um, we worked up the funds to do a deluxe version of the album, put out more songs. That got us more exposure, and yeah, it’s been — you know, we’re still kind of riding that.

00:46:57:21 – 00:47:13:15
Brayden Stewart
Yeah. You know, we’re putting out more music for another album, but, like, it’s been very recent. You know, it’s been, like, the last month or 2, putting out new music, and so, um, but yeah, we’ve just been hitting the road, man. Touring, trying to, trying to make money, trying to make a living. Um, just writing songs.

00:47:13:15 – 00:47:22:13
Brandon Adams
We had, uh, we had Pecos on here, uh, 10, 10 weeks or 10, 20 shows ago maybe.

00:47:22:15 – 00:47:24:08
Brayden Stewart
Um — yep. Big dude, man. I watched that.

00:47:24:09 – 00:47:31:00
Brandon Adams
He’s a big dude. I had no idea — he’s a sweetheart when he sat down. I was just like, “This is a giant human being.” Yeah. You know. Uh, but nicest guy in the world.

00:47:31:01 – 00:47:31:12
Brayden Stewart
Sweetheart.

00:47:31:13 – 00:47:49:02
Brandon Adams
Right. But, uh, really, really has a really good, uh, head on his shoulders, but — but a good heart, too, right? So it’s cool to kinda get in with those kinda people, you know, as you start to go through these and, and find out who your people are. Right. Um, well, that’s awesome, man. And so you’ve gotten through it, and you started growing some more. You just went on a tour?

00:47:50:13 – 00:48:14:08
Brayden Stewart
I just went on a tour, yeah. I was in Europe for, uh, 2 weeks with the Blacktop Mojo guys. Um, we put out a single with them, uh, 2 weeks ago now — um, a week, week and a half ago now, and so kinda touring to support that. Um, support them. Uh, yeah, we were out there with Gorilla Riot. They’re a, uh, a band from Manchester. And they’re a kickass Southern rock band. You know what I’m saying?

00:48:14:10 – 00:48:28:08
Brayden Stewart
And so yeah, they were before us, and then it was us, and then Blacktop Mojo. And we did 8 shows out there, and, uh, it was incredible. You know what I’m saying? Yeah. It was mind-blowing. We toured on a bus. That was crazy. Yeah. We toured on Blacktop’s bus. Yeah. It was insane.

00:48:28:09 – 00:48:30:07
Brandon Adams
Yeah.

00:48:30:09 – 00:48:37:08
Brayden Stewart
Um, but yeah. Yeah, no, that was the, was the second tour we’ve done. And so yeah, I mean, it’s crazy.

00:48:37:11 – 00:48:43:05
Brandon Adams
What’d you think about that? Was it how different was it than you thought it was gonna be in your head?

00:48:43:07 – 00:49:07:00
Brayden Stewart
I mean, I imagine — what I, all I really had, like, a, a — I don’t really know the word. Um, I was predisposed to, like, the fact that they loved Southern rock music through the Blacktop guys. You know, like, they had already told us that when we get over there, it’s gonna be totally different than, like, crowd-wise, than it is over here. Um, and it was true. They, they loved it.

00:49:07:02 – 00:49:27:23
Brayden Stewart
They, you know, they don’t get it that often, and so, dude, it was packed. I mean, they’re huge shows. You know what I’m saying? Like, I mean, 500 cap rooms, you know, with 500 people in it. You know? Like, nuts to butts, dude. You know what I’m saying? Like, wall to wall, packed for a band from East Texas.

00:49:28:00 – 00:49:47:01
Brayden Stewart
You know? And getting to be a part of that was a huge blessing. Um, but yeah, it was, it was way different than I thought it was gonna — I mean, I had no idea really. But you know, the ideas that I had in my head, you know. I mean, they’re really sweet over there. Um, the food isn’t as bad as you think it is, as, as you, as you’ve heard it is.

00:49:47:01 – 00:49:54:09
Brayden Stewart
Um, and yeah, they do drink warm beer. So that’s about, that’s about what I learned, you know?

00:49:54:09 – 00:50:08:13
Brandon Adams
Yeah, yeah. So, spent a little time in some pubs over there. A little tight, a little cramped. It’s a little, little damp over there. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Most — I had a, I had a few buddies I sent you guys’ locations to who are over there, and so, um, some of them said they were going to the show, so I gotta follow back up, so.

00:50:08:13 – 00:50:10:06
Brayden Stewart
Yeah. Yeah.

00:50:10:08 – 00:50:25:10
Brandon Adams
Really kinda cool to see. Like, I actually sent it out, and I said, “Hey, look, some guys from my hometown over here are gonna be over in your neck of the woods, so you gotta stop in and check them out.” So kinda cool to see, like, uh, you know, like I said earlier, us, us boys from East Texas sticking together and kinda putting that out.

00:50:25:12 – 00:50:41:10
Brandon Adams
So as you start to continue to grow here, like, what’s next? Like, you just toured. You just came off that. That’s kind of a big moment in your life. You’ve, you’ve turned the corner on, uh, something that you hadn’t got to do yet. Right.

00:50:41:12 – 00:51:05:02
Brayden Stewart
Um, I mean, right now it’s, it’s back to promoting new music. You know? We, we have a, a, a big album coming out. Um, and yeah, just getting back to that. Playing back here in Texas. Um, we’re doing more support dates with Colby Cooper and, and some other folks. Um, playing Green Hall in a couple weeks.

00:51:05:04 – 00:51:29:12
Brayden Stewart
And so, yeah, just kinda gearing up for all that, gearing up for summer. You know, the summer’s like the big time, you know, for, for music or for touring, for hitting the road. Like, summer’s kind of prime time. You know what I’m saying? So yeah, we, I mean, we got back and we got back 2 days ago, and, you know, this morning I’m back on the phone with people trying to figure out what to do. Figure out where, you know, what are we doing this weekend, what everything look like.

00:51:29:14 – 00:51:45:02
Brayden Stewart
And it’s looking like it’s gonna be like that for the rest of the year. You know? Unless something crazy happens. Nothing pops up. I mean, it’s just, you know, back to work. You know? Back to doing it.

00:51:45:06 – 00:52:01:13
Brandon Adams
When you, when you go through this process of riding up to the high, it can also become a little bit of a letdown on the other side of that when you have this peak moment and then all of a sudden you go settle back into where you were.

00:52:01:14 – 00:52:02:15
Brayden Stewart
Right?

00:52:02:17 – 00:52:25:03
Brandon Adams
Right. Is it hard? Because I, I, I think of sometimes when you finish a project or you get done with it, there’s the, uh, elation of getting it done. And so the, you know, your endorphins are kicking and everything’s great, and it’s, you know, you’re, you’re, you’re at your, your peak, but that only lasts so long, and the next thing you know it falls down. Like, how do you pick that back up?

00:52:25:03 – 00:52:28:17
Brandon Adams
Are you feeling some of that, like, coming off of a, a tour like that?

00:52:28:17 – 00:52:51:08
Brayden Stewart
Yes, absolutely. I mean, y- it happened the last time we were on tour. You know, 3 weeks gone in a van. I mean, you get back and it’s like, “What? What do I do?” You know? I mean, we were just so busy for, you know, most of this month. Like, how — and there have been, you know, bands that have done way bigger tours than that, but I mean, you know, I, it, it’s hard to, it’s hard to go, like, full throttle.

00:52:51:08 – 00:53:14:01
Brayden Stewart
Like, just, you know, every day, what time’s soundcheck? What time we playing? Where we setting up merch? Play the show. Sell merch. Hang out with people. You know, go to the bar. Go to sleep. Wake up. You know, it’s like it’s a — you kinda settle into a groove, but it’s a, it’s busy. Right. You know? I mean, I didn’t really get a chance — and also we’re 6 hours, we were 6 hours ahead of everybody back here.

00:53:14:04 – 00:53:29:17
Brayden Stewart
So I, you know, I got like a small pocket of time to talk to my family and, you know, my fiance and all that stuff. And so, you know, getting back and it was like, whoa. You know, I’m still kind of in that — like, you know, like, what?

00:53:29:17 – 00:53:51:18
Brayden Stewart
And so the thing is for me too, is, you know, I, I think I’m a, a pretty, I’m a, I’m a big critic, you know, of what I do and, you know, how I do it and my music. And so I think I, like, when we finish this, when we finish the records, any song that we’ve ever put out, it’s, like, really hard for me to, like, get too excited about it.

00:53:51:20 – 00:54:08:08
Brayden Stewart
Just in case people don’t like it, you know? So I think what kinda keeps me grounded is just remembering what I’ve got right now. Truck still works, you know, everything’s fine.

00:54:08:10 – 00:54:09:20
Brandon Adams
I’m gonna eat today.

00:54:10:00 – 00:54:25:07
Brayden Stewart
Yeah. You know what I’m saying? Like, I’m gonna put my pants on. Yeah. Hopefully. Hopefully. Uh, I’m just, you know, just take it as it happens. And just kinda remember, like, I’m okay. You know? It’s all going to be fine.

00:54:25:08 – 00:54:39:11
Brandon Adams
Yeah. ‘Cause it can feel like almost like a dream at some point. Right. You know? It’s like this is what I’m supposed — for 3 weeks or whatever, 2 weeks you and your guys are on — and it’s like, it feels like this is what I’m supposed to be doing. You know?

00:54:39:11 – 00:54:55:08
Brandon Adams
This is my moment. This is what I was meant to do. This is how I wanna live. Everything’s going great. I’m going into crowds. They’re sold out. They’re full. They’re hearing my music. Fulfilling, fulfilling, fulfilling. Take all that away. Yeah.

00:54:55:08 – 00:54:56:12
Brayden Stewart
Today? Yeah. Right.

00:54:56:18 – 00:55:02:15
Brandon Adams
And then you go back and you sit in your room, and you’re sitting on the couch, and you’re like, “What’s on TV today?” You know, and you’re like, “Uh, gosh, do I have it in me again?” Yeah. Yeah. You ever question that?

00:55:02:15 – 00:55:24:23
Brayden Stewart
Absolutely. Okay. Absolutely. I mean, you know, it’s, especially after a first album that did really good, working on a second one, you hope that it does better. And if it doesn’t, then it’s like, well, what did we do wrong? You know? And so that’s where, that’s where the, I would be doing this even if it wasn’t paying me money. That’s where that comes back. It’s like, what am I better at?

00:55:25:00 – 00:55:46:13
Brayden Stewart
You know what I’m saying? What am I better at than doing music? And if, and if that answer is ever anything else, well, we’ll have to have a different conversation, but right now this is what I’m best at. Right. So it’s just kinda what I gotta get used to, and learning how to do that and regulate. That’s a big thing too. Like I said, just remembering I’m fine.

00:55:46:15 – 00:56:03:12
Brayden Stewart
Everything’s okay right now. Like, I’m gonna go play shows this weekend. It’s gonna be a great time. I’ve just gotta get through this, like — what do I do with my hands thing. You know what I’m saying? Like, what do I do? Yeah. You know, is anybody gonna like this? It’s like, well, you know. If — that can’t be what I’m worried about. ‘Cause that’s never gonna be fulfilled.

00:56:03:15 – 00:56:21:05
Brayden Stewart
You know, if that’s what I’m looking for, then that’s never — I’ve gotta worry about me liking it. You know, my band liking it. Yeah. My band staying paid and staying happy. My family staying paid. Staying authentic.

00:56:22:06 – 00:56:22:13
Brandon Adams
Staying authentic.

00:56:22:13 – 00:56:44:20
Brayden Stewart
Exactly. Right. That’s, that’s what I — that’s my job, you know? And so — but that, I mean, I think that me having been doing this since I was 16, you know, if, if I, if we put a, if I put out a song tonight and it blew up, like, I’ve got a lawyer and I’ve got an agent, I’ve got a manager. I’ve got friends that know that I do this. We would — I would have some, some ground. You know what I’m saying?

00:56:44:22 – 00:57:01:19
Brayden Stewart
I’d have a foundation under me where I’d be fine. But I can’t imagine like a, you know, like Bailey Zimmerman or somebody that just, you know, put out a song ’cause they liked it and it took them. You know what I’m saying? That’s a, that’s scary to me. So I’m very blessed that we’re in this position to where I’m ready for it, you know?

00:57:06:24 – 00:57:08:20
Brandon Adams
You’re happy with the ladder steps.

00:57:08:22 – 00:57:09:14
Brayden Stewart
Absolutely.

00:57:09:15 – 00:57:15:00
Brandon Adams
Versus the like s- spaceship takeoff. Right. And then you’re like, “Whoa, I wasn’t prepared. I — wasn’t ready for that —”

00:57:15:02 – 00:57:16:05
Brayden Stewart
I wasn’t ready for that.

00:57:16:07 – 00:57:30:12
Brandon Adams
You know, what happens on the other side of that if it’s, I don’t have another one of those spaceships? Right. Because I’m already up where everybody expects me to be. How do I not, how do I do that again? Yeah. Um, there’s a really famous rapper, Kid Cudi, that’s kinda done that. He’s been forever one of the, one of the greatest.

00:57:30:12 – 00:57:35:11
Brandon Adams
And, uh, and they deal with that mental aspect of that. Or Andre 3000 —

00:57:35:11 – 00:57:36:18
Brayden Stewart
Yeah, absolutely.

00:57:36:20 – 00:57:52:12
Brandon Adams
Who’s, who’s put out such great music and now he’s questioning can he ever do it again. You know? And he looks back and he says, “I don’t wanna put any music out anymore because I don’t, I’m not that guy.” Yeah. You know? And it’s questioning yourself. Yeah. You know, ’cause he did take him — he took the world up here.

00:57:52:17 – 00:58:09:10
Brandon Adams
Right. You know, with him. He didn’t just go up there. He brought us with him, you know? And so it’s kinda cool to see the journey, and then to know that everybody, at, at whatever stage they’re at, kinda questions that, that next step, you know? But that can also be kinda cool.

00:58:09:10 – 00:58:34:15
Brayden Stewart
Yes. Absolutely. I think it’s, I mean, it’s about being on your feet, man. Like, again, the whole, like, being ready for anything. And also being ready to, to mess up. I know I’m going to. Yeah. I mean, I’ve done it enough, you know? Like, I mean, everybody’s done it enough to know that it’s gonna happen again. I’m gonna look up in 3, 4, 5 years and be like, “If I’d have gone this way, things would’ve been way different.”

00:58:34:20 – 00:59:00:21
Brayden Stewart
Yeah. You know, but it’s — this is my first time, you know, being a musician, being an artist. So I mean, it’s ju- I, I think it’s just, you know, everybody’s going — there’s, there’s a linear curve between people who think they’re really good and they’re not versus people who do not think they’re good and they really are. Yeah. You know? It’s just finding that, like, I know I’m good. I know I can sing, I know I can play guitar. I’m gonna do that. I’m gonna be okay.

00:59:00:23 – 00:59:08:19
Brayden Stewart
You know what I’m saying? I don’t know, it’s just, like I said, just regulating everything, making sure I’m good. You know?

00:59:08:21 – 00:59:10:14
Brandon Adams
Tempering expectations —

00:59:10:14 – 00:59:11:03
Brayden Stewart
Absolutely.

00:59:11:03 – 00:59:12:22
Brandon Adams
Of the result of something that’s your passion.

00:59:13:01 – 00:59:14:02
Brayden Stewart
Absolutely. Right.

00:59:14:04 – 00:59:38:03
Brandon Adams
The result of it being Garth Brooks or Tool or Incubus or Pearl Jam. Yeah. I mean, those, that’s a long, long shot, right? But if you’re doing something that potentially can get you there, versus has taken you further than so many people have ever even dreamt of to this point, you know? Like, even if you end up somewhere in the middle, you’re — that’s crazy. Right. You know?

00:59:38:05 – 01:00:00:06
Brandon Adams
But tempering the, uh, the expectations that make you feel like it’s not good enough if — yes. You know? Yes. Because on the other hand, you are doing something you love and, and that will change that. Right. It’ll make you start chasing. You’ll say, “Oh, I need to do something more like that guy who did a hit and that guy who did something,” and now you’re not authentic to yourself.

01:00:00:07 – 01:00:24:03
Brayden Stewart
Yeah, then you gotta play a song. You finally — you’re finally huge and you gotta play a song that you don’t really like. You know? I mean, I don’t know. It’s, I, it, it’s, it’s an interesting conversation because everybody deals with it differently. You know, everybody that I know, you know, some people fall off. They can’t do it. They can’t do the mental stress, and then they’re back, and then they can’t do it, and then they’re — but it’s, it’s, it’s hard for a lot of people.

01:00:24:05 – 01:00:48:22
Brayden Stewart
Yeah. You know, it’s hard for anybody to be vulnerable and it not be met with love. You know? And so you put your heart and your soul out there and it gets 10,000 streams. It’s like, “Well, what’s ma- what, what am I not that he is? That she is?” You know what I’m saying? And that’s like, those are unfair questions. Yeah. You can’t ask those. You gotta just be in it for the love of the game, dude. Yeah. You know what I’m saying?

01:00:48:24 – 01:01:00:06
Brayden Stewart
It’s one of, it’s, it’s, it’s one of those things, I think, music is.

01:01:00:06 – 01:01:05:02
Brandon Adams
That, that’s a very mature, uh, outlook on this, honestly. Because everybody’s pushing.

01:01:05:03 – 01:01:05:20
Brayden Stewart
Yeah.

01:01:05:22 – 01:01:24:24
Brandon Adams
And I’m always been buffet mentality, like, there’s enough for all of us to eat versus, like, last meal mentality of there’s one hamburger, I’m fighting you over it, I’m tearing you down, or whatever. It’s like, look, we all got enough. Like, you do it for the love of the game. Do it because you, you really appreciate just being here. And, and when you do that, good things come out of it.

01:01:24:24 – 01:01:46:02
Brandon Adams
Lift other people up, you know? Yes. Well that’s cool. I, I, I like, I like so much about this. I’m gonna, I’m gonna start, uh, downloading some more, uh, Brayden Stewart albums and checking these bad boys out. Good. Just because I wanna, I wanna go through the journey you’ve talked about. I wanna start to hear about some of the influence and see if I can find out where it’s from and — right, start sending you some, uh, some songs as well.

01:01:50:12 – 01:01:51:07
Brayden Stewart
Yeah, please do.

01:01:51:09 – 01:02:01:04
Brandon Adams
Please do. That’d be cool. Um, so as you, as you go through these next steps, writing songs, this is gonna be the focus going forward is, like, writing another album?

01:02:01:05 – 01:02:13:01
Brayden Stewart
Yeah, yeah, we’ve already got an EP on the back of this album. Um, I don’t know if I’m supposed to say that. But there will be more music after this.

01:02:13:03 – 01:02:13:20
Brandon Adams
As expected.

01:02:13:20 – 01:02:34:23
Brayden Stewart
As expected. Yeah. Um, there’ll be more music on the back of this, and then next year, you know? Probably be doing it again. You know, I mean, it’s just, like I said, I, I can’t think of anything I’m better at. So I’m gonna keep doing this. You know, and I, I, I’m gonna be writing songs one way or the other. Might as well put ’em out. You know, might as well show ’em to the band, work ’em up. Spend some money to go record ’em. Put ’em out. Tour ’em, you know?

01:02:42:19 – 01:02:55:01
Brandon Adams
You know, when you guys go through this, this whole setup of, like, we need to — how does, how does the timing come up of, I need another album, or I need another song? Like, who tells you that?

01:02:55:03 – 01:03:20:15
Brayden Stewart
Um, nobody has told us, nobody has told us that. Nobody’s told us, like, “Hey, it’s time,” just yet. But also we’re pretty young, so I don’t, I don’t really know. I mean, we, I knew it was time for another album whenever I had another album written. You know? Um, like, we, we put out Better Part of Me, which is the last album, um, and I mean, we put that out, and then in about, like, 6 months we did a deluxe version.

01:03:20:17 – 01:04:06:06
Brayden Stewart
And then there was a, like, a lull period where we were out of our deal, and we didn’t have any money to go record another one, so it was like, “Well, what do we do?” And it was like, well, you need to make sure I’ve got an album first. And kept writing and, uh, yeah, through that time we were just having a bunch of conversations with people. And, uh, we ended up signing with Santa Ana for this record, and, um, we have that and then more music, and then after that it’ll kinda be the same thing, I bet. Just kind of in a lull until we decide to go record or somebody jumps on us and is like, “We want this next record.” You know?

01:04:06:18 – 01:04:20:22
Brandon Adams
And when it goes into that process of saying, “We want this next record,” what’s, what comes first? Uh, the music bed, the guitar, or the lyrics and the story?

01:04:20:24 – 01:04:25:03
Brayden Stewart
Man.

01:04:25:05 – 01:04:59:21
Brayden Stewart
See, that’s a good question. There’s gotta be a theme, I think, um, ’cause you can’t — I mean, like I was saying earlier, I do, like, we do a lot of genres. We do, we’re all influenced by different things, but there’s gotta be a theme, a commonality, a, you know, like this, like the last album was a lot about, you know, me growing up. You know, and me kind of, you know, being observant and seeing how, seeing the underbelly of, of, you know, the world that I had seen. You know what I’m saying? It’s kinda what the last album’s about.

01:04:59:23 – 01:05:20:13
Brayden Stewart
And this one, I think, is more about, like, coming to terms with it. You know? The last album’s full of, like, some angst and some, you know, some, you know, some feelings. I think this one’s more about appreciating things and, and knowing where I messed up and knowing, you know, what’s going on. I’m sure the next one will be about something totally different, and so, but I’ve gotta find that.

00:05:20:15 – 01:05:36:23
Brayden Stewart
We gotta find what, find out what I’m gonna say before we start sending demos out. Right. You know, ’cause I can write, I can sit in my room and I can write, you know, 10 songs. One of ’em’s good. You know what I’m saying? And so I don’t know.

01:05:37:00 – 01:05:46:17
Brayden Stewart
I, I think that the process will be finding the theme, what’s been going on, and then working. I kinda work backwards a little bit, you know?

01:05:46:17 – 01:06:03:22
Brandon Adams
So — but you’re more of a storyteller first. Yes. So if, like, one of your band members came up and said, “Man, I’ve been working on this thing, check this out,” do you try to work that into something? Or do you try to write based around somebody would give you that? Or is it always like, “Hey, man, here’s a story. Here’s the lyrics,” and somebody goes, “Oh, I can add to that”?

01:06:06:19 – 01:06:29:02
Brayden Stewart
Uh, i- it — it honestly happens a bunch of different ways. You know, we don’t have like a, I don’t have like a, it happens this way thing. Most of the time it’s, you know, a line that I thought of or something that you said or, you know, one of your guys said that I was like, “That’s an interesting way to put that.” Or, you know what I’m saying? And I kinda like build around that.

01:06:29:04 – 01:06:50:08
Brayden Stewart
It always starts with guitar. I will say that. It’s hard for me to — I’m not a super, like, like, I don’t hear melodies all the time unless there’s a guitar playing — like I’m, I’m playing guitar. Um, but yeah, I think I’ve just trained myself to look in, in some different corners for lyrics. You know? Like, different sides of things, different ways to say things.

01:06:50:10 – 01:07:06:02
Brayden Stewart
And so, yeah, it usually starts with a line. A line and, like, a guitar melody. And then I kind of build around that. You know? And, uh, yeah, most of the time it’s stories. You know? Or it seems like they are. You know what I’m saying?

01:07:06:04 – 01:07:30:03
Brandon Adams
So, yeah. And as you’re writing those, are you thinking about — and I’m just, I’m nerding out a little bit. You know, just ’cause I’m inquisitive about it, but do you have a formula? Do you start out, like, part one, part 2, part 3, uh, with a line that pays off on the end as a double entendre? Are you trying to, like, trying to do these, uh, like a f- do you have a formula for it?

01:07:30:03 – 01:07:30:11
Brayden Stewart
Yes.

01:07:30:13 – 01:07:30:23
Brandon Adams
Okay.

01:07:30:23 – 01:07:55:17
Brayden Stewart
Yes, absolutely. I mean, if there’s an end goal, I’ve gotta get there. Okay. You know? If there’s a — I mean, if there — so sometimes it’ll come naturally, but for the most part, like, there’s a, there’s a “I need to tickle my brain” thing. Like, if I have a line that could mean something else in the third verse, I’ve gotta at least exhaust that and see if that’ll pay off when we get to the chorus.

01:07:55:19 – 01:08:19:18
Brayden Stewart
You know what I’m saying? Um, so yeah, I mean, most of the time it’s, it’s things like that. You know? It’s little, like, you know, like you said, double entendres or, or does the story wrap up in the bridge and now the chorus means something different than it did before. You know? Um, that thing is fun to me. You know? That’s, like, what makes it worth it.

01:08:19:20 – 01:08:42:19
Brayden Stewart
Um, that or honestly just, like, you know, getting the point across. Like, there’s — I, I dunno. I, I think in, like, 2 different trains of thought. It’s either, like, a story or it’s, like, uh, one thing that’s just, like, really potent. You know what I’m saying? That’s, like, really emotive and, you know, whatever. What other big words you can say there. You know what I’m saying?

01:08:42:21 – 01:08:59:13
Brayden Stewart
Um, but yeah, if I can, there’s a payoff. You know? If you listen to it, there’s a reward. You know what I’m saying?

01:09:01:12 – 01:09:02:04
Brandon Adams
Set it up, say it one way at the beginning.

01:09:02:06 – 01:09:08:06
Brandon Adams
Say it all the way through, and then the payoff is what you said earlier to set up the same thing. Right. But you hear it a different way now.

01:09:08:06 – 01:09:13:08
Brayden Stewart
There’s a callback, you know what I’m saying? Like, we’re back at the verse. Yeah. You’re like, you’re like, “Wait a minute, like, it’s a rewind thing.” “Oh, you meant X.” Right. Yeah. Exactly. Yeah. I thought you were saying this the whole time. You know what I’m saying?

01:09:13:08 – 01:09:14:05
Brandon Adams
Oh, you meant X.

01:09:14:06 – 01:09:39:01
Brayden Stewart
Yeah, exactly. Yeah. I thought you were saying this the whole time. You know what I’m saying? Um, yeah, I mean, Everything Must Go is the song we put out, um, you know, couple months ago, and, uh, the whole thing was, like, kind of painting this picture of getting rid of someone’s stuff. Um, like, kinda getting rid of, like, memories and, you know what I’m saying? Like, you’re kinda cleaning out your closet, but the payoff is the whole time it’s, you know, you’re like — you drive by, like, a, a RadioShack and they’re closing down and it says, “Grand sale. Everything must go.”

01:09:39:01 – 01:09:56:17
Brayden Stewart
Then you get to the chorus and it’s like, “Shut down shop.” You know what I’m saying? Like, that’s the th- yeah. It’s, like, it’s, like, kinda funny a little bit. But, like, we’re building to that. There’s a hook. Like, I’ve gotta get there. You know? And there’s other songs that I have like that. Um, the kind of, the, the pre-chorus changes every time. And so the chorus kinda has a different spark in it.

01:10:13:17 – 01:10:16:18
Brayden Stewart
Yeah. You know? So it’s, it’s, it’s stuff like that. That’s it’s —

01:10:16:18 – 01:10:26:08
Brandon Adams
That, it’s — to me, writers that do clever hooks, clever lyrics, things that make me think —

01:10:26:13 – 01:10:27:17
Brayden Stewart
Yeah.

01:10:27:19 – 01:10:57:03
Brandon Adams
I’m a big Kanye fan. Right. Birds can’t fly in a cage, sun don’t shine in the shade. Yeah. Stuff like that. I mean, I love hearing things that make me think, “Okay, yeah, like, well, obviously a trapped individual’s not gonna shine.” Yeah, yeah. Or, you know, and it’s like you start to think about it, you know? And, and then when they start to put it in lyrics, it’s really positive for people because now they’re saying something to themselves over and over and over again of like, “You can do this. You can do this. You can do this. You can do this. Just remember.” And it’s, that’s — I mean, you’re programming people.

01:10:57:09 – 01:11:16:21
Brandon Adams
Now, you can program people for bad stuff too, right? But at the same time you can program someone to think positively by paying off a clever lyric and relating to something in their life. You know? Like, you may have had something really bad happen to you, but guess what happened out of that? You met X, Y, and Z.

01:11:16:21 – 01:11:38:07
Brandon Adams
Yeah. Next thing you know, like you weren’t prepared for this other life that you’re about to have if you didn’t have these other things. You know? So, uh, God’s hand’s in a lotta stuff. You know? And so it’s always, uh, really impressive to me when I hear singer-songwriters that do start to weave these storylines in and really start to, you know, make me think, you know, or, or, or I’ll, I’ll be listening to it, you know, in the background and I’m, I’m writing and I’m like, “Did that — what did that guy just — hang on a second.” You know?

01:11:38:07 – 01:11:47:09
Brandon Adams
And you gotta back it back up. It’s like, “Oh, he got me.” Yeah. You know?

01:11:47:10 – 01:12:10:00
Brayden Stewart
Dude, it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s fun. Yeah. It’s fun to be on the other side of that. You know? It’s fun to be the one in the room. And, uh, yeah, I mean, uh, Jason Isbell’s my favorite artist of all time. Like, he’s my favorite songwriter. And, uh, he said, like in an interview one time, uh, his job is to make you think that he knows you. You know what I’m saying? That’s cool.

01:12:10:02 – 01:12:29:02
Brayden Stewart
It’s, it’s his job to make you think that he knows a secret about you. You know what I’m saying? And I’ve always been like, “That’s awesome,” you know what I’m saying? So, like if I can invoke something, if I can get something out of you, like, that’s my job. You know, you paid $20 to see me in this bar. Like, at the very least, I’m gonna try to — like, you’re gonna remember something I said.

01:12:29:04 – 01:12:56:03
Brayden Stewart
Yeah. You know, you’re gonna walk away thinking about, you know, something. Bring back a memory. You know what I’m saying? Like, ’cause music’s like, for me, the only thing that can do that. And so, I don’t know. But also, like, you know, like you were saying on the flip side of that, it’s like there are positive things you can use, you know, in that way. I mean, you know, a hook that’s, like, got that kinda like Kanye thing, like — you know, they’re saying — it’s, it’s stuck in their head, and, like, that’s a good thing to be stuck in your head, you know?

01:12:56:05 – 01:13:16:07
Brayden Stewart
But — and it takes, it takes, like, a, a certain kind of, like, artist to be able to do that. Yeah. You know, it takes a seasoned guy. You know? Like that line that you had just said. It sounds like that should be there. You know what I’m saying? Like, it sounds like those words should have been there. You know, there’s no fat on that. That’s important too, you know?

01:13:16:08 – 01:13:38:13
Brayden Stewart
It’s hard to just, like, have a good, positive message, man. Like, I love everybody. Yeah. And like, like, yeah, that’s good, but — you’re not really saying nothing. Exactly. Yeah. You’re not really saying anything. You’re not really saying anything that I would grab onto. You know?

01:13:45:09 – 01:13:56:08
Brandon Adams
What was the first time you were ever sitting anywhere, you’re playing one of your songs, and you look up and someone’s mouthing the words?

01:13:56:10 – 01:14:19:04
Brayden Stewart
Oh, dude. Uh, we played a show at a, at this bar called, uh, Southern Junction in Royse City. And, uh, we had the album out, and, uh, people — there, there were times where people would, like, they’d walk up and be like, “I love that song. I know, like, I know the words to it.” Like, that was cool.

01:14:19:06 – 01:14:38:11
Brayden Stewart
First time that I noticed it was there. Uh, we played the song Better Part of Me, and there’s a big moment in the song where the band drops out and it’s just me singing, and during that part I almost lost what I was saying because everybody was singing it back to me. And it was like, “Whoa, dude.” Like, that’s awesome. Yeah. Um, and yeah, that song means a lot to us.

01:14:38:13 – 01:14:44:16
Brayden Stewart
But yeah, that was the first time where I was like, “These people fucking know the song.” You know what I’m saying? Like, that’s crazy.

01:14:44:20 – 01:14:55:09
Brandon Adams
Was it, like, a, um, a shocking moment? Or was it one where it almost like, you know, emotionally got you where you couldn’t get the words out?

01:14:55:11 – 01:15:16:18
Brayden Stewart
Uh, a little bit of both. Yeah. You know? I was just — I mean, I knew that everybody in there w- you know, most of the people were — they’d been to the shows or whatever. But it was, like, the first time where I was like, like, “Y’all have listened to this. And that part sticks out to you.” Like, you know, I don’t know. It made me a little emotional, you know? I was like, “Wow,” like, “That’s crazy.”

01:15:16:18 – 01:15:26:04
Brayden Stewart
But also I was just like, “We’re doing it,” you know? Like, good. You know what I’m saying? Like, this is good. Like, thank God.

01:15:26:04 – 01:15:42:16
Brandon Adams
Well, you do your artistry to connect with people. Right, right. I mean, that’s the only reason. You’re not doing it because you’re looking for something in your bank account. I mean, that helps. But at the end of the day, like, you’re doing it to connect. Yeah. And if you sing a song that no one’s moved either way by, it’s like just kinda middle of the road. It’s okay. It’s not good, it’s not bad. Like, that’s the worst place to be.

01:15:42:16 – 01:15:51:04
Brandon Adams
Yeah. And you sing something that people start to put on repeat.

01:15:51:06 – 01:15:52:14
Brayden Stewart
Yeah.

01:15:52:16 – 01:15:54:17
Brandon Adams
And then all of a sudden they start to catch those lyrics.

01:15:54:18 – 01:15:54:24
Brayden Stewart
Yeah.

01:15:55:04 – 01:16:14:03
Brandon Adams
And then they’re like, “Oh, that was me.” You know? That’s how that started out with this podcast, like, that’s why I want you to relate to people. You know, I want people to see who you are, right? Because that could be someone running the same race that you’re running right now and just way behind you. Yeah. And so when you connect with people like that, and that’s what artistry is about.

01:16:14:05 – 01:16:32:07
Brandon Adams
It’s about inspiring. It’s about giving someone a little bit of joy for just a few minutes, you know, while they’re doing this thing. And so that’s why I’m super, super, uh, excited to, to hear the way that you’ve talked about stuff, the way I’ve gone through your music and everything else. And been, been pretty cool to take that experience on with you as well.

01:16:32:07 – 01:16:35:08
Brayden Stewart
Yeah, man, you as well. Yeah.

01:16:35:10 – 01:16:43:02
Brandon Adams
Um, do you ever go back to, like, hometown Scurry and say, “Hey, let me put on a hometown something something for us guys”?

01:16:43:02 – 01:16:47:20
Brayden Stewart
Yeah. Yeah, I do that. Uh, I’ve done that the last 3 years. I play, uh, the 4th of July.

01:16:48:00 – 01:16:49:11
Brandon Adams
Okay.

01:16:49:13 – 01:17:10:19
Brayden Stewart
I, uh, I play there. Um, there’s like a festival that they have. And, uh, they’ve brought me out, you know, the last 3 times. Hopefully they do it again this year. It’s always a great time. Um, my mom teaches in Scurry. You know, my brothers go to school in Scurry. I graduated from Scurry. Like, I went there my whole life.

01:17:10:21 – 01:17:33:21
Brayden Stewart
Yeah, I mean, it’s pretty cool, man. Like, I mean, I got an email the other day. Some kid, he was like, “Hey.” He text, e- emailed my manager. Um, my manager’s email is in my, my Instagram, and he emailed my manager, and he was like, “Hey, I’m just a kid from Scurry. I was wondering if, you know, if I could maybe get up and play with Brayden this year if he’s doing Freedom Fest.”

01:17:33:21 – 01:17:50:07
Brayden Stewart
And I was like, that’s awesome. Yeah. You know what I’m saying? Like, that, that kind of thing is like — that’s why. You know what I’m saying? Like, you know, I would’ve done the same thing. You know what I’m saying? If there was a kid a couple years older than me who was playing in Scurry, I would’ve absolutely emailed him. You know what I’m saying?

01:17:50:07 – 01:17:54:12
Brayden Stewart
Like, that’s the kind of ambition, you know, that you need.

01:17:54:12 – 01:17:55:08
Brandon Adams
You want that, yeah. You need —

01:17:55:08 – 01:18:00:23
Brayden Stewart
Some kind of, like, crazy, almost delusional thing like — yeah, get on stage.

01:18:00:24 – 01:18:01:16
Brandon Adams
Let me just talk to him.

01:18:01:17 – 01:18:05:09
Brayden Stewart
Exactly. Exactly. Yeah. I say delusional, but like, you know what I mean? Like — it really is, though, if you think about it. Like, let me hop on with your band and — right, I’m nobody from nowhere. You don’t even know me. I need to get into your thing that you’re curating and trying to make, you know, your — exactly — your baby, you know? And let me hop in there real quick. That’s — like, like, you need that. You need balls, man. Yeah. You need to nut up and email somebody’s manager.

01:18:21:23 – 01:18:37:08
Brayden Stewart
Yeah, you know what I’m saying? But I mean, and like, you know, kids in my mom’s class are always like, you know, “I wanna, I wanna learn how — I want Brayden to teach me how to play guitar.” It’s like, yes, dude. I’ll do that. I don’t care. You know what I’m saying? As long as it gets you doing something.

01:18:37:10 – 01:18:55:00
Brayden Stewart
You know, ’cause I mean, again, Scurry’s such a small town. You know, if you’re not playing football or, you know, not really good at baseball or, you know, basketball or track or you’re not super smart, like you just kind of, you know — fall off — like, like anywhere, you just kind of like sink back, you know? Like, you know, you might have — you know, you got your friends and stuff, but everybody needs something.

01:18:55:02 – 01:19:08:14
Brayden Stewart
Something that’s like, you can’t take that away from me. You know? And so if that happens to be music, then that’s great. It could be anything. But like, if you think about you — if you’re thinking about music, then that sort of thing needs to be like taken care of.

01:19:08:15 – 01:19:13:15
Brandon Adams
Yeah. Elaborate a little bit on that, uh, you can’t take that away from me.

01:19:13:17 – 01:19:35:17
Brayden Stewart
Uh, dude, I mean, just like, I think that was what was so cool about music for me at first. It’s like it’s not going anywhere. You know, music can’t — you know, this guitar isn’t gonna, you know, walk away. You know? This guitar isn’t gonna take something from me. You know, nobody can. You know, nobody can take this. This is, like, just me.

01:19:37:10 – 01:19:40:17
Brandon Adams
It’s my relationship to this, not my relationship to someone else that can change it.

01:19:40:17 – 01:20:03:08
Brayden Stewart
Right. Right. It’s not like — you know, there’s probably some weird underlying thing there with me, but that’s what it was, man. I mean, I remember it. I remember feeling like, like that way. You know, I remember thinking like, you know, this is, this is, this is me, dude. Like, this is — I love this. And it’s not going anywhere, you know?

01:20:03:10 – 01:20:22:08
Brayden Stewart
You know what I’m saying? Like, that’s such a — it was like a comforting thing almost. You know, and I didn’t even have anything crazy happen to me. You know what I’m saying? It wasn’t even that. It was, I think it was just the fact that it was unique, and it was individual to me. You know? My buddies all had their things, you know. You know, they all, they all have their things that they’re good at. You know, they get to show out. Like, this is me. You know?

01:20:29:21 – 01:20:45:20
Brandon Adams
Yeah. So individually it was something that spoke to you that you weren’t trying to match up with someone else on something that particularly didn’t fit you. Right? Just to really try to force it and try to get there and whatever. Like, you relied on this as a safe place because you actually were pretty good at it and you knew, like, I’ll have this forever. Right?

01:20:45:20 – 01:20:46:01
Brandon Adams
Win or —

01:20:46:02 – 01:20:46:17
Brayden Stewart
Yeah.

01:20:46:17 – 01:20:49:04
Brandon Adams
— lose.

01:20:49:04 – 01:21:05:11
Brayden Stewart
Yeah, no matter what. My, my dad always says they can’t take your birthday from you. You know what I’m saying? Like, and that’s — I like that — kinda how, that’s kinda how — yeah, you know, like, no matter what, dude. You know what I’m saying? I could leave today and have a blowout on the road and, you know, it could be the worst day I’ve had all week.

01:21:05:12 – 01:21:20:18
Brayden Stewart
Yeah. When I get home, you know what I’m saying? Yeah. Like, that’s there. And it’ll always be there for me. You know? And I think that you try to get that as early as you can. You know? I think that something like that keeps you grounded.

01:21:20:22 – 01:21:40:08
Brandon Adams
Yeah. I’ll tell you, we, uh, we always come up with a lot of, um, lines for at the, after, for this, uh, show after it’s over with. And can’t take your birthday from you might be top of the list when it comes to this one. That’s, that’s pretty good, man. Like, honestly, uh, my dad always told me when we were driving in a golf cart, “Take your hat off, son. The breeze is free.”

01:21:40:19 – 01:21:42:02
Brayden Stewart
Yeah. Yeah.

01:21:42:03 – 01:21:44:15
Brandon Adams
You think about the small things in life like that, dude.

01:21:44:17 – 01:22:03:09
Brayden Stewart
That. That thing, that’s what I try to write songs about. That thing. That thing that makes you pull over and go, like, “My dad used to say that to me.” You know what I’m saying? And I’d never thought about it. I’d never thought about what a crazy way to look at that is until just now. Yeah. You know what I’m saying? Like, that thing is so specific and so nostalgic and so honest. Like, that’s what I’m trying to do. Yeah. You know?

01:22:11:06 – 01:22:21:21
Brandon Adams
You live by these codes that your family’s kinda put on you. Right? Whether you think you do or whether you think you don’t, they have this impression on you and you’re built by them.

01:22:22:12 – 01:22:41:22
Brandon Adams
Now, you can be built broken — or you can be built living off and learning the things that they’ve, they’ve taught you, right? My grandfather would always tell me, “There’s 2 ways to have the biggest building in town. Work your tail end off and build it up bigger than everybody else, or spend your time knocking down everybody else’s.” “What kind of man are you?” is what he would say.

01:22:47:04 – 01:23:05:03
Brandon Adams
You think about that all the time. Like, am I doing my job? Am I doing what I’m supposed to be doing? Because someone has imposed on me one of these family traits. You know, you know, your dad did the same, “You can’t take your birthday from you.” A lot — you may come across hardships your whole life. You may get, you know, tax man may be coming or the whatever’s happening, whatever, you know, and it’s like, can’t take your birthday from you.

01:23:11:08 – 01:23:12:02
Brayden Stewart
Yeah.

01:23:12:04 – 01:23:15:12
Brandon Adams
That’s a pretty good line to make people sit and realize, like, you still got it pretty good.

01:23:15:12 – 01:23:41:04
Brayden Stewart
Yeah. Dude, yeah, I mean, I don’t know, man. I think that, I think that things like that are the messages. That’s, that’s why I’m doing what I’m doing, you know? It’s why I like to write songs, it’s why I like to play in front of people. It’s why I want you to walk away from any interaction you have from me and think like, “Yeah.” You know what I’m saying? Like, that was good, you know?

01:23:41:05 – 01:23:56:10
Brayden Stewart
And so, yeah, I think that, I think that’s just kind of what’s, uh, what’s been bred in me. You know? Just, uh, staying grounded. Yeah. You know? Remembering, you know, people a stone’s throw away from me have had it a lot worse.

01:23:56:11 – 01:23:57:02
Brandon Adams
Yeah.

01:23:57:04 – 01:24:02:15
Brayden Stewart
And I’ve got what I’ve got. I’m gonna make the most out of it. You know?

01:24:02:17 – 01:24:20:11
Brandon Adams
Well, I’ll ask you this, ’cause I ask all the m- all the music guys that come in about this. Like, do you have a, uh, top 10 songs that kinda define who you are, like, if you were to boil it down? And I come across this to say I went to a funeral one time and, and, uh, they were singing some standard songs.

01:24:20:11 – 01:24:31:16
Brandon Adams
Nobody knew the guy who was getting buried. They did a — just, it was a run-of-the-mill type of thing. And I told my wife, I said, “Two things are gonna happen if I ever die.”

01:24:31:17 – 01:24:32:05
Brayden Stewart
Yeah.

01:24:32:07 – 01:24:40:23
Brandon Adams
“One, don’t have nobody up there talking that don’t know me personally.” I want them to say a lot of jackassery about things that I did and talk the realness about me. Yeah. “And 2, don’t sing no songs that you never heard come out of my mouth.”

01:24:40:24 – 01:24:42:01
Brayden Stewart
Yeah.

01:24:42:03 – 01:24:44:00
Brandon Adams
And I said, “So I started a final 10.”

01:24:44:01 – 01:24:44:14
Brayden Stewart
Yeah.

01:24:44:16 – 01:25:00:19
Brandon Adams
“These are the 10 songs I want played.” And she goes, “You can’t play that one at a —” I said, “Yes, I can. This is my 10.” Yeah. You know what I mean? Have you built a final 10 that really kinda defines who you are and the memories you have with the people that have been around you?

01:25:00:21 – 01:25:22:07
Brayden Stewart
Uh, I mean, I, I could probably rattle some off, you know. Uh, I think, uh, The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down by, by The Band — to me is one of my favorite melodies of all time.

01:25:22:09 – 01:25:26:21
Brayden Stewart
Uh, damn, man, that’s a good question.

01:25:26:23 – 01:25:56:19
Brayden Stewart
H by Tool — one of my favorite melodies of all time, one of my favorite songs. Either H or Eulogy. Probably not Eulogy. Not at my funeral. Yeah. Um — The Pot. The Pot. Yeah. We were doing a bluegrass version of The Pot the other day in the green room. It’s fun. Uh, Lonely Love by Jason Isbell, a Drive-By Truckers. Harvest Moon, Neil Young. Um, Wild Horses. Uh, damn. I guarantee you if I went, if I sat on it for a bit, I could, I could get you a banging 10.

01:26:06:00 – 01:26:22:05
Brandon Adams
All right, well I’m gonna share mine with you and you share yours with me too. Yeah, go ahead. ‘Cause it’s really kinda cool to kinda, once you start to think about — yeah, you pin memories. Like, I have a memory with my youngest son of a song that we played every morning going into school.

01:26:22:05 – 01:26:40:09
Brandon Adams
Because when I started taking him to school, he was used to going to sleep when he got in the car riding with his mama. Yeah. And I said, “Nah, nah. I’m not your limo driver over here.” Yeah, yeah. “We’re gonna talk.” And so I would put a song on that I knew would wake him up ’cause he liked it. And so we played it every day.

01:26:40:11 – 01:26:51:19
Brandon Adams
And he would start out like this, and next thing you know he’d start bouncing his head. And next thing you know we’re, we’re doing this in the car, and, you know, uh, it was ELO. Uh, you know, and so it’s really cool. Like, I’ve got one with all of my family members. Those, those are time capsules.

01:26:51:21 – 01:26:56:04
Brandon Adams
And so it’s really kinda cool once you start thinking about what really defines me. Yeah. You know?

01:26:56:10 – 01:26:56:19
Brayden Stewart
Yeah.

01:26:57:00 – 01:27:11:16
Brandon Adams
Um, uh, When Doves Cry. Yeah. You know? That’s my mom. Yeah. You know? And so it’s got some, it’s got some really good ones that if you really — I’m impressed with you guys because you have the ability to make a mark on a, on someone without them having to, without them having to buy your artwork.

01:27:11:16 – 01:27:21:24
Brandon Adams
You can just put it on them and they live with that and they love it, and it’s, it’s out there for everyone. It’s so, it’s so cool, man. You guys do such a really, really cool thing for the world. Yeah. You know? And so I’m rooting you on, I’m super proud of you, man.

01:27:22:00 – 01:27:22:20
Brayden Stewart
Thank you, man. I appreciate it.

01:27:22:20 – 01:27:27:15
Brandon Adams
And, uh, I, I’m gonna, I’m gonna start coming to some of your spots if I, if I check those out. Please do. Yeah.

01:27:27:21 – 01:27:29:13
Brayden Stewart
Yeah.

01:27:29:15 – 01:27:35:13
Brandon Adams
Is there, uh — well, I’m gonna ask this question too before we leave.

01:27:35:15 – 01:27:38:19
Brandon Adams
Beer, whiskey, wine?

01:27:38:21 – 01:27:46:01
Brandon Adams
If you were to drink something. Allegedly. Allegedly.

01:27:46:03 – 01:28:03:15
Brayden Stewart
I, I, I only drink whiskey, man. Yeah. I drink whiskey, I drink — I have a hard time with beer. I’m not there yet. Yeah. You know what I’m saying? I’m not there yet. I like wine. Yeah. You know, I like, I like beer. But if I’m at — I could drink legally in Europe for 2 weeks.

01:28:03:15 – 01:28:05:22
Brandon Adams
And that’s when we found all this out, just for the record.

01:28:05:22 – 01:28:08:21
Brayden Stewart
And that’s when we found all this out. Yeah. I’m just back over here now.

01:28:08:22 – 01:28:10:21
Brandon Adams
Yeah. With a headache.

01:28:10:23 – 01:28:21:16
Brayden Stewart
With a headache, hungover. Um, yeah, it’s just, you know, whiskey, man. Yeah. Whiskey and Coke. Yeah. Whiskey and, you know, uh, whiskey sour. You know what I’m saying?

01:28:21:18 – 01:28:24:13
Brandon Adams
Isn’t whiskey Coke just a straight up East Texas thing, I think?

01:28:24:13 – 01:28:35:04
Brayden Stewart
It’s just — it’s just the best. I could, I could have one right now. You know what I’m saying? I could have one when e- it’s just so good. Yeah, yeah. But yeah, that’s, that’s my bag right now, dude. Yeah. Or when I was over there.

01:28:35:09 – 01:28:38:17
Brandon Adams
That’s awesome. What else? Or this Saturday?

01:28:38:17 – 01:28:40:13
Brayden Stewart
This Saturday? Yeah. Yeah. Turn 21.

01:28:40:13 – 01:28:41:23
Brandon Adams
Happy soon to be birthday.

01:28:41:24 – 01:28:43:04
Brayden Stewart
Thank you. 21.

01:28:43:04 – 01:28:44:20
Brandon Adams
That’s a, that’s a, that’s a good one.

01:28:44:22 – 01:28:47:10
Brayden Stewart
I, I’m excited. Yeah. I’m excited.

01:28:47:12 – 01:28:50:10
Brandon Adams
Well, I’ll tell you this, uh, where can people find you at?

01:28:50:12 – 01:29:12:10
Brayden Stewart
Um, well, Instagram is bradynstewart.tx. My TikTok is officialbradynstewart, and my Facebook is just Bradyn Stewart or Bradyn Stewart Music. You can find me on all the streaming platforms. Anywhere you can find music, you can probably find me, just Bradyn Stewart. Um, put out Keep On Walking with Blacktop Mojo a couple days ago.

01:29:12:12 – 01:29:31:18
Brayden Stewart
Go check that out. I’m sure by the time this comes out, either the record will be out or we’ll have more music out for you to go check out. Um, Gypsy’s Corner comes out on May 8th, or — yep, May 8th. Um, and yeah, you can find all the shows and stuff on my website, it’s just thebradynstewart.com.

01:29:31:20 – 01:29:33:00
Brandon Adams
When’s your next show?

01:29:33:02 – 01:29:44:06
Brayden Stewart
My next show’s Thursday in Stephenville, Texas at the Twisted J. And then Friday we’re at Sweetwater Grill, um, in Royse City playing, like, an acoustic thing, and then —

01:29:44:06 – 01:29:45:03
Brandon Adams
Right up the street from me.

01:29:45:04 – 01:30:04:08
Brayden Stewart
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Uh, we’re just — that’s one of my spots, man. I’ve, I’ve played there since I was 16. Um, love those guys. And then Saturday we’re at, uh, Throttle Stone Saloon. Okay. Fort Worth, celebrating — that’s another one of my — I’ve played there a bunch of times. We’re kinda filling this week, my 21st birthday weekend, with kinda some —

01:30:04:14 – 01:30:05:08
Brandon Adams
Showing out time.

01:30:05:08 – 01:30:09:01
Brayden Stewart
Showing out times. You know what I’m saying? Just, good times.

01:30:09:03 – 01:30:11:01
Brandon Adams
That’s awesome. You’re playing the, the fair as well?

01:30:11:05 – 01:30:30:20
Brayden Stewart
Playing the fair next weekend. Uh, I think I play on the 25th. Uh, I play the day that Fox & Bead plays, I think. Uh, we’ll be playing that with Lane Hunt. Okay. That’ll be a whole lot of fun. Um, so yeah, I’ll be at the fair next week, and in Houston at the White Oak Music Hall with Cody West.

01:30:30:24 – 01:30:39:16
Brayden Stewart
Okay. That’ll be awesome. And then Green Hall May 15th with Colby Cooper. So that’ll be awesome.

01:30:39:18 – 01:30:46:17
Brandon Adams
One person you can’t wait to play with, or dream person to play with, and we’re gonna say Sanara.

01:30:46:19 – 01:30:50:04
Brayden Stewart
Blackbear Smoke. That would be incredible.

01:30:50:09 – 01:30:52:11
Brandon Adams
He put it out there. Let’s make it happen, guys.

01:30:52:11 – 01:30:56:19
Brayden Stewart
Let’s make it happen. Yeah. But yeah, that’s it, man.

01:30:56:23 – 01:31:06:23
Brandon Adams
Yeah. Brayden, it’s so very nice to talk to you. I’m really intrigued to listen to your music, but just the way you speak about music and, and life in general, good people.

01:31:07:00 – 01:31:08:10
Brayden Stewart
For sure. I appreciate y’all having me, man.

01:31:08:11 – 01:31:09:08
Brandon Adams
Yeah, man. Thanks for coming.

01:31:09:08 – 01:31:10:15
Brayden Stewart
Of course, dude.

01:31:10:17 – 01:31:13:17
Brandon Adams
Well, everybody, until next time, that’s The Blueprint.