WEBVTT

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Hey, it's Bob Thickett. We
are on our way to the legendary Broken

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Spoke. Come on, let's get
out of the truck and head inside.

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And damn you're proud of it.
Come on, let's go inside. Getting

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ready for another tale from the Broken
Spoke. Did you enjoy part one of

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our conversation with Walt Wilkins. Let's
get back to the conversation. Here's part

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two. Walt Wilkins on Tails and
the Broken Spoke. Ye left movie business

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for soft business. Well it wasn't
movie business. I just found the locations,

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you know, for any famous locations
that we must have any movies like

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what Yeah, we're doing a deep
dive into this. Well, okay,

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what people ask you about? And
it's I kind of thought it would be

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one of the two or three movies, right at least she got a credit,

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you know, they always think the
film commission. But I found all

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the just about all of the locations
for days to confused. Was going to

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ask you about that one. Yeah, in Austin. It took a day

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and a half and uh, their
their location scout for the movie company for

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Link Link Letter was. Her name
was Katie Coconuts and she was a location

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scout private and then we were the
We would work with them. We because

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it. I mean, look that
that script was all set in seventy seven

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and I was sixteen and seventy seven, and I think NK letters from Huntsville,

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I think, but he wanted to
you know, Austin knew it all

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read the script. It was like, oh, man, had it all

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done. We had it done in
a day and a half. That's so

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good. And then we went and
shot pool and drank beer. There's there's

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still people that come to Houston and
they will they will look for the science

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for that movie was filmed. I
mean we had a program director did that.

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He was so oh I found where
they felt part of days and confused.

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Yeah, yeah, yeah, top
notch. The roller used to be

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our across the from roller Rink was
and became the pool hall there, uh

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Markana theaters in it and yeah back
behind it on Hancock where I grew up.

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They were just looking for a hideaway
parking lot. I said, I

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know what, it was fun pretty
that's a big movie. Any other movies,

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Yeah, I did a lot on
Leap of Faith. That was a

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major movie with Steve and John Dravolta, right, Yes, that was all

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over Texas, the Panhandle. Yeah, it was just the mostly in the

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Panhandle and I we found he and
their guy and I we worked for two

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weeks solid. Did you ever get
credits from any of these movie things?

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I can't remember. One of them
did actually say a name but on the

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credits, but now I can't remember
which one it was. But you know,

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maybe my job was I read they
sent the script this is back for

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you were sending pictures via email,
you would I put together printed pictures and

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folders, take them together for you
know, go to Fox Photo or Photo

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Matts, Fox Photo. We had
them all. We had to count there

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did it all. I'll send them
overnight. Then they'd send if they want,

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you know, and I'd be honest. I'd say this Ken, I

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don't know a place in Texas it
really fits this. But sma Ath,

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you know, this was in the
early nineties. Everyone wanted to come to

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Auctice. They were looking for reasons
to come to Texas, and we were.

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Texas was the number three market at
the time. Well, but also

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it was like what I was telling
people about doing Sessions, recording Sessions's right

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to work State Yep, no union
cards, right, you can you can

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do a session here for half the
cost, yes, and have and the

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pickers are just as great, and
same thing with movie completely. We had

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a great crew and it was an
open shop which really helped, especially with

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teamsters with the drivers and stuff.
So yeah, it was it was really

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rocking. It was a fun time. I mean it was every week.

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I was somewhere around the state locations. So you're up in Nashville are you

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writing for BMG the whole time?
I wrote for BMG for five years.

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Okay, you're there a good while, yeah, and then seven years with

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CURB and then after that I think
had three independent deals too. Okay,

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and uh, when so when did
you and Tina get married? Is up

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there or here? Well? We
met there pretty early on Chip Young and

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I. He would take me to
lunch three days a week at the Sammy

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Bees, where she was the daytime
bartender. We sat at the bar,

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ate soup because I was taught always
take the cheapest thing on the menu when

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you're someone's buying your lunch, and
uh, second cheapest, That's what I

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was. And I had soup,
you know, and uh and bread,

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lots of bread and met Tina there
and then uh, we actually got married

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in New Mexico because we're both Westerners, so but we got married while we

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lived in Nashville, and Luke was
born there too. So when when you

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come back here, it's just,
uh, when I met what did we

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meet? Like in six something like
that? Oh? Four four? Well

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we moved back. I bet we
we probably got together in O five.

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Yeah, right, because well because
I'm well, I remember meeting you at

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that thing at b M I at
Bruce and Bill carteron I were picking and

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you and Liz came out. Uh, and that's where I remember meeting,

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because that was in Nashville. That
yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,

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that's where we met. And uh
and I just you know, and it

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was just like I'd heard your name
and I'd heard your songs, and it

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was just like and just like anybody
else, like from the first what Wilkins

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song you hear? You're a huge
Walt Wilkins fan, and and Oglesby would

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send me a lot of your stuff
too, and uh, just great songs.

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I forget which ones you cut,
I forget which songs do what I

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said, I forget which songs you
cut of mine? That was a joke.

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You don't need songs. That was
in Nashville joke, right, it's

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camera, yes, record, I
know that's a joke. Look the fact

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that you've recorded easily a half dozen
of things we've written together and I've not

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yet recorded something. It has more
to do with my recording projects and quality

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of the world. I know that
you just keep plugging away and you'll get

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there. You'll get a money Warden
cut. It's always good to have a

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goal. I do want a many
Warden cut. You know what Brandy and

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I were talking, Matt, Uh, I think in the next batch,

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I think the dangerous few are going
to start doing only When I Breathe.

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That's a good song. That was
one of our best songs, one of

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our best sarios. And Uh,
well that you know we have the songs

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called only when I Breathe. Brilliant
song and it has been on the last

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round of getting cut. I didn't
realize you guys had written together before.

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Yeah, man, we we were
in some cool songs. One than I

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do all the time that we gave
different titles to it, but it's one

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of my favorite songs, Farm to
Market Romance. I call it farm the

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Market romance. I call it lone
Star lullabye. Great. Every every wagoneer's

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gig, we pick it good.
That's one of my fai. That's a

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great It was our drummer's favorite song. Rayroz. That's a great song.

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Yeah. Uh off September nine and
it just laging love. Yeah, great

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song. There's a couple of people
around the state who sing soft September Night.

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Great song. I could never pull
it off completely from me, but

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I love that song. It's great. You cut it great. But your

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farm to market romes did a great
version of I just you know, it's

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like writing with Walt Wilkins, like
manis a great writer. You know.

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Coming down here, I was thinking
about how I mean. I I just

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I think money is amazing. It's
work ethic, his ethic, completely ethical

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dude, hard worker, so talented. Uh. I just I just think

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Moni's fantastic, positive, always positive. Yeah that's the bad money. It's

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all good about two minutes every afternoon. Oh yeah, so funny that I'm

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down here today and uh and Brandy
said, uh, You're not going to

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say that, are you, because
you sound like an asshole? And I

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said, well, no, I
wouldn't say it, but of course now

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I'm going to say it. It's
like for me, it is the rare

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I've set at tables with a lot
of songwriters, and it is the rare

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table that I sit with a songwriter
where I'm not the best songwriter at that

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table. Today is not one of
those days. Today, it's a tie

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as brilliant. I mean, it's
like trains I've missed, we could do

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a whole hours, one of my
favorite songs. It's one of my favorite

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songs, songs, favorite song.
Yeah, brilliant. It's been a it's

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been as a great life. Well
that is poetry. Well yeah, it

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really mean the song. And I
have a song called It's a brilliant song.

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But you know, it's wild.
It's like because I've known Walt's songs

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for I don't know, twenty years. I reckon that'd be about right,

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Yeah, And we've been writing together
for fifteen years, you know, a

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long time, just such great songs. And it's wild that as long as

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you've been doing it, you've been
doing it in a while, You've had

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so much success, you have so
many people that love your songs, and

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I have my favorites. You know
these are my Walt Wilkins favorites, and

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does my Walt Wilkins playlist and dad
and then rarely does a writer that's been

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doing it that long that consistently for
me anyway, because I fall in love

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with songs and then I get caught
up and that those are my favorites.

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But there is a to me,
a new song of Waltz called dogs Man.

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It's my favorite Walt Wilkins song of
all time. I've heard that one.

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Ah, it's well. In fact, Ron Flynn is mixing my new

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record right now, so is that
on it. Did one of my songs

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get bumped for dogs Yeah? No, outside, Yeah, there won't be

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a mighty all your fear of success
rising its ugly head once again. This

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song dogs Man is if it doesn't
make you cry, you've been dead for

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two days. It's just about dogs. It's it's literally, it's about the

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Sistine chap is about God. It's
about dog. It is that it's it

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mentions the dog I grew up with, and and but it was inspired by

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a friend of mine, Plain Lukenbach, a year ago, year and a

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half ago, which I played the
first Sunday's Money's Done it several times over

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the years with them had men ass
in a while. It's weird you played

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last year and the one of my
dear friends came up afterwards and her dog

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had run off, and she'd been
up all night putting the posters up and

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all that around, dripping well out
Uh where would you say the barbecue salt

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lick out there? Anyway, she
showed up at Luke and Box just to

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you know, from a leaf from
and and and the dog in fact never

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came back, but she was crying
and and uh and and I was she's

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younger, and I've always She's I've
always. I was thinking about what to

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say, and all I could say
was Lindan, dogs man, I'm sorry,

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and the and then and then the
songwriter report of my brain went,

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I would comfort you, but I
have to go. Not a bad title,

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not a bad title, dogs man, I'm sorry about your dog and

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everything, but I got to go. Yeah. So I left the next

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day for a tour all down the
East coast, and uh, I remember

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I started it in Connecticut or somewhere
like that, and then finished in Atlanta.

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Did you write it like on the
like on the plane or were you

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just as you were driving over the
whole truth. I remember how I finished

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it. Uh. I was in
Atlanta steaming with my best friend Tina,

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and Luke flew out to Atlanta so
we could go to an Astro's Braves game

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and and that morning Tina was asleep. It was early in the morning.

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I woke up and went and the
rest of the I was kind of stuck,

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you know, And it all just
came to me that morning. Yeah,

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I've never been stuck right in so, Yeah, it sounds awful.

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You get stuck all the time like
everyone. So you said that you played

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Luke and Bach once a month.
I've done it. I've done it.

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What I do is the first Sunday
of every month. I've done it for

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fifteen years. Fantastic, You've got
I want to get it. And Luke

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and Bach has changed a lot in
the past fifteen years. It has more

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commercial now, right, well,
I think for considering fifteen years, it

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hasn't changed a lot. And the
buildings now that I'm talking about, Yeah,

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and the changes they made are good. Like restrooms. According to my

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wife and every female I've ever known
that's been in Lukenbog for more than two

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hours, they're grateful for the new
restrooms. There's a new gift shop,

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which is cool. Well, you
know the statue of the statue of Jerry

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Joe. Yeah, it's nice.
I mean, these are all nice things

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that are kind of a knowledge.
It's cultural. But I remember as a

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kid the first time I went there. I went in seventy eight. There

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was a kid. There was nothing
there except two thousand other people to see

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where Willie and Whaling were. My
first was seventy five. My dad stopped

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by there when I was fourteen,
and I remember, you know, walking

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around and you know, hippie guys
playing guitar, and you know the girls

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in nineteen seventy five with the long
hair and the little shorts and it's fantastic.

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And I was like this, this
might be from me. My dad

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was in the Air Force. I
was like this, I might like this

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side of the river. Yeah.
Yeah, that line is they get what

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change your day? What is the
line? A dog can change your day?

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And the time it takes to lick
your face. That's so great.

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That's that's brilliant. Man. Go
I'll tell you this. You might as

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someone who makes records. I drawn
and I Ron Flint and I We tried

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several ways to record that, including
I said, well, let's do it

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like a sixties Nashville with the vibes, maybe strings, Let's do it like

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that. Let's listen. So we
listened to Tom t Hall songs and we

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were thinking about tried that, tried
several ways, until finally we just went

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I got the painted guitar, which
I don't record with a lot, and

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we got in a booth, did
it, and then scrappy Jed put another

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guitar on it. And that's that's
the version well called the record. The

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song is the star. It's not
a production thing, you know, I

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mean really, and that I would
think going much beyond that started getting another

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way, easy way to suck it
up, Yeah, because that just that's

207
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and it's such a that's one of
the best songs I've ever heard. Oh

208
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I'm coming up, oh whenever I
pick him up from the duplicators. That's

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how I don't do a big release
or anything, so I would I think

210
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I'll have them at the end of
sometime in August. And we know that

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you play a lot at the Saxon
Pub just down there Wednesday night today to

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club nights. That's again that's around
fifteen years now. It's fantastic doing well

213
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these steady jobs. It's pretty good, it is. It's nice to have

214
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anchors like that, same crowd all
the time that comes in the face.

215
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I got some that are the same, but people come from every week.

216
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I'll say where are you from?
And there are people from all over the

217
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country every Wednesday, and there are
people from Europe every every other Wednesday.

218
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To make you feel great, Oh, it's fantastic. You'll ask them,

219
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how did you hear about it?
People said, well, someone said I

220
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needed to come see you play.
You know, so that means word of

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mouth, and that's a great feeling. We've got friends from DC that came

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in for the eclipse and they saw
Grissom down in Saxon on Tuesday, and

223
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then they saw that it was Walt
Wilkins on Wednesdays and they it was would

224
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have been three thousand dollars for them
to change their ticket, and they well,

225
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we can't do that. But they
went, you have David Grissom on

226
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it every Tuesday, and what Wilkins
every Wednesday? They had no idea you

227
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were there on Wednesdays, but now
they do. In their next trip to

228
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Austin will be the anchor is coming
to see you at the Saxon. I

229
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appreciate it. It's a great gig. It's a great gig. They're great.

230
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It's a great family. It's like
playing Luke and Bach. You get

231
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to be part of the culture there
after that many years and you know,

232
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the same people own Lukenbach, Hondos, people daughters and I'm one of the

233
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daughters and a grandson, and then
the Abeles family at the Saxon. It's

234
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neat to be part of those school
years now, like like on your regular

235
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gigs, like at the Lukenbox first
Sunday every Wednesday, do you have like

236
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because people come in from all over
They'll want do they like email you ahead

237
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of time, like would you please
play this sometime? No with you?

238
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Sorry, I'd love last Yeah uh
yeah, I yes, We I do

239
00:17:06.200 --> 00:17:08.160
my best. If it's something I
just don't play anymore, if I have

240
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time to learn it great if I
don't. But what's great about the Saxon

241
00:17:11.960 --> 00:17:14.599
And it's always been this way.
So we started with a mister Carrols for

242
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years and then I played acoustic with
Ron for about a year and then we

243
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started picking up players. I said, let me, this is a great

244
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time to ask people I know that
I never get to play with, like

245
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Scrapy judd Man. I was,
all right, it's playing Brett Da.

246
00:17:26.599 --> 00:17:29.559
I mean all sorts of musicians in
this town that I never that i'd see

247
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around and never we call them.
And now it's kind of settling into a

248
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fourth piece that that we just recorded
with. So uh and it's fun.

249
00:17:37.799 --> 00:17:41.599
I don't make a set list.
I just start songs and really yeah,

250
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really yeah, it's all organic.
I like that it is. I just

251
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have never not been on stage with
a set list. I know. Well,

252
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you it's one of the things.
Uh, you know, you always

253
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look the part. You look great. That's who you are, you look

254
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I mean you always You've never don't
look great. And then I always like

255
00:17:57.799 --> 00:18:03.319
showed to his house to write flip
flops and haven't even looked in. He

256
00:18:03.359 --> 00:18:07.880
always dresses for radio and the address
radio as I am today. And uh,

257
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but I love that about money.
He's a show I mean, it's

258
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a great show man. You're always
prepared. Your shows are right on.

259
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But my shows are scruffyer, just
like mine. I have done this since

260
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I was fourteen, so there's really
no would you be lost without a set

261
00:18:25.559 --> 00:18:30.160
list. Yeah, but it's the
pacing of it, you know, because

262
00:18:30.279 --> 00:18:33.759
it's not just a list of songs
that also go Okay, I'm gonna want

263
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to go straight into these three and
then take a second. It's a little

264
00:18:37.400 --> 00:18:41.920
bit different because here, like it's
a dance hall with Walt, you're sitting

265
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there, you're listening, you're sitting
down, you're getting involved in the performance.

266
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Here, well, I will have
him. I mean, I do

267
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make set lists for like when festivals. Sure, well yeah, when the

268
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band needs to know and you've got
forty five minutes and not forty six,

269
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right exactly. But like, like
I know, like when I do like

270
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a writer's night where we're doing like
an in the round, people call them

271
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song swaps. I hate that term. It's I don't know, it sounds

272
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small ball to me. I don't
know why, but I've never loved that

273
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term either. I think it's because
we came from Davidson County and it was

274
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in the rounds. I reckon they
call them instead of guitar pools song swaps.

275
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Well, Titar knowings his guitar pools
anymore, which is really the best

276
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thing. A guitar pool there's one
guitar and passed it around and you tried

277
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it. That was the whole time
as a phrase came from. He had

278
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to pull it out of the other
writer's hands. That's where a guitar pool

279
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came from. But yeah, I'll
have a song list and not a set

280
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list because it changes. Because sometimes
you'll be on a on a in the

281
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round or a guitar pool and uh, some guy, you're gonna do a

282
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waltz next, and then the guys
in front of you do two waltz.

283
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Is you can't do that? Or
or lyrically they start something you want to

284
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keep that kind of thing going right, or somebody really like you're doing it

285
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with walt and it's just it's so
intimidating. They're they're pummeling you, and

286
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you go, okay, I'm gonna
letter break this out right now, because

287
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you don't want to get your ass
kicked, and sometimes you don't want to

288
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be the ass kicker, and you
kind of down shift so it doesn't look

289
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like you're beating up a kid.
You know, I cannot see you beating

290
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up any I know exactly what you're
talking about. And you're the kindness of

291
00:20:22.240 --> 00:20:23.920
your heart You're like, I cannot, I can't. I can't do that.

292
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I'm not breaking out just to hear
your voice in front of this kid.

293
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I saw a guy who at the
time was a Texas music entity,

294
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a cat he was similar to be
a star, and I felt so bad

295
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for him that he had to follow
me every time. Sure that the last

296
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song I did, yeah, because
I was like, I was watching him

297
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deflate, and I'm like, I
don't want to do that to anyone.

298
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Did he thank you afterwards or anything
like? No, I don't think if

299
00:20:51.720 --> 00:20:53.599
he had a clue then he wouldn't
have let on. He but he looks

300
00:20:53.640 --> 00:20:56.400
stricken. And it wasn't just me. There were two other people in this

301
00:20:57.400 --> 00:21:00.599
round. I felt bad for him. The greatest example of that. And

302
00:21:00.640 --> 00:21:07.359
it was so beautiful and and uh, the humility of it, the honesty

303
00:21:07.400 --> 00:21:11.160
of it. We were at an
Austin City limbs deal and it was Rodney

304
00:21:11.160 --> 00:21:15.720
crow loud of it and Willie Nelson
and and how it started it was wild

305
00:21:15.759 --> 00:21:18.799
and Willie than Rodney, and that
was how the end the round went.

306
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And after about the third round,
and this is Rodney crow Man and granted

307
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he was doing stuff off his latest
record, he wouldn't do do until I

308
00:21:27.640 --> 00:21:33.480
can gain control again, and you
know, leaving Louisiana and all that stuff.

309
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But anyway, after about the third
round, he just stopped and he

310
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goes, you know, I'm not
used to getting my ass kicken and in

311
00:21:38.519 --> 00:21:45.000
the round. I saw Rodney a
few weeks ago and he broke out to

312
00:21:45.079 --> 00:21:48.759
like, that's that's great, but
I but I am Rodney Crow. Just

313
00:21:48.799 --> 00:21:52.960
to remind you, did you see
him with Sam Baker? Yes, Sam

314
00:21:52.000 --> 00:21:55.960
Baker is another guy's gonna talk to
you about. I want to sit down

315
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with Sam. Do it? Because
Sam on Sunday, he and I played

316
00:22:00.480 --> 00:22:03.519
to swap songs. Does he live? Luke and Buck? I got a

317
00:22:03.519 --> 00:22:07.319
shower from Rodney, so I know
that it's a five one to Rodney produced

318
00:22:07.359 --> 00:22:11.319
his new record and it's all spoken
words. It's beautiful, it's incredible.

319
00:22:11.759 --> 00:22:15.000
Really, Yeah, we're gonna have
We're gonna have Sam this summer. It'll

320
00:22:15.039 --> 00:22:18.599
take a breath away. Yeah,
Sam and I have a long history.

321
00:22:18.640 --> 00:22:21.759
I produced Sam's first two records.
I never knew that. Yeah, in

322
00:22:21.799 --> 00:22:26.839
the and uh and uh, the
ones that got him started in Europe.

323
00:22:26.880 --> 00:22:30.839
And yeah, I love him.
So what's the connection with Sam and Bill.

324
00:22:32.319 --> 00:22:36.240
Uh. Yes, Bill Warrel,
it was a great guy. We

325
00:22:36.400 --> 00:22:38.200
lost a couple of years ago.
Were they really years ago? Can you

326
00:22:38.200 --> 00:22:42.079
believe it? Three years ago?
Did they really discover that sculpture that Bill

327
00:22:42.960 --> 00:22:47.519
drew all the time. I don't
think Sam was on that trip, but

328
00:22:47.680 --> 00:22:51.160
when he saw the shaman k Payne, Yes, yes, because I had

329
00:22:51.160 --> 00:22:52.880
heard that Sam was on the trip
with him. I didn't know. I

330
00:22:52.920 --> 00:22:55.480
thought they went on a lot of
trips together. I don't think Sam was

331
00:22:55.519 --> 00:23:00.640
on that particular trip. But here's
an interesting thing. We've already talking about

332
00:23:00.720 --> 00:23:04.720
J Boy Jay Boys from Colorado City, Texas. That's where my dad grew

333
00:23:04.759 --> 00:23:10.480
up, from Sweetwater al right,
yeah, yeah, cool. No one's

334
00:23:10.480 --> 00:23:15.400
ever said that thirty miles from That's
right. No one's ever said I'm from

335
00:23:15.440 --> 00:23:22.400
Sweetwater. Cool. Oh, I
would, I'd moved to West Texas.

336
00:23:22.400 --> 00:23:26.400
I'm going tomorrow. You want to
go? If I could? I would.

337
00:23:26.200 --> 00:23:32.440
I love driving West Texas. About
the family and the food. So

338
00:23:33.759 --> 00:23:37.279
yeah. So anyway, Worrel.
When I met Warrel, he said Wilkins,

339
00:23:37.279 --> 00:23:40.240
and I said, yes, I'm
c A's son. He goes,

340
00:23:40.720 --> 00:23:44.319
Sonny, Sonny is how my dad
was known in the little town. And

341
00:23:44.480 --> 00:23:48.839
uh, so that's how I got
in with Warrel immediately. Immediately, he

342
00:23:48.960 --> 00:23:52.799
was just a great guy. He
was he felt like a family member within

343
00:23:52.880 --> 00:23:56.839
five minutes of talking to the guy. He had a huge impact on me

344
00:23:57.200 --> 00:24:03.160
on Sam and also Uh and on
Darden, which I didn't know until after.

345
00:24:03.160 --> 00:24:06.440
I known Darden a few years and
Worrel's name came up and he's like,

346
00:24:07.079 --> 00:24:08.279
you know, we didn't bring that
up with Dark. I wish I

347
00:24:08.279 --> 00:24:11.599
hadn't known that. I didn't know
anybody I ever have a big impact on

348
00:24:11.680 --> 00:24:18.200
Darden other than Darten. I played
one time playing his show with Moni and

349
00:24:18.279 --> 00:24:21.759
Darden. I asked him both to
play Lukenbach one day and it was cold,

350
00:24:21.960 --> 00:24:23.519
we went to the dance hall.
I didn't know they had such a

351
00:24:23.599 --> 00:24:30.720
history together. I had never laughed
in front of people so much mercy.

352
00:24:32.160 --> 00:24:34.799
They're merciless to each other. Yeah, but you know what, I hadn't

353
00:24:34.799 --> 00:24:41.480
talked to Darden in years. I
didn't want to interrupt him. He's a

354
00:24:41.720 --> 00:24:51.079
he is like you. He's brilliant
and hard working and worl Yeah. I

355
00:24:51.160 --> 00:24:55.759
spent a lot of time out at
Warls and he gave me my mantra and

356
00:24:55.880 --> 00:25:00.240
my mantra when I was about forty
two or three and had come to time

357
00:25:00.240 --> 00:25:03.640
I was getting dejected, you know, after losing a couple of singles in

358
00:25:03.720 --> 00:25:07.960
Nashville and stuff. And I said. We were bouncing around drinking beer out

359
00:25:08.000 --> 00:25:14.759
at his place and the Mace on
Thelanto River in Mason County, and I

360
00:25:14.759 --> 00:25:15.920
said, what, how do you
when you get dejected? He said,

361
00:25:15.960 --> 00:25:21.359
all right, I'll tell you something
that I heard when I was got dejected,

362
00:25:21.359 --> 00:25:26.480
and it was keep creating, keep
risking, keep creating, keep risking.

363
00:25:26.839 --> 00:25:29.359
That's what I live by. Yeah. I like that. You know,

364
00:25:29.480 --> 00:25:33.039
to make a record these days is
a risk. You're you're not going

365
00:25:33.119 --> 00:25:36.039
to make the money back, but
you keep creating. Why because you're supposed

366
00:25:36.079 --> 00:25:40.079
to. And that's what I tell
people all the time, is like,

367
00:25:41.400 --> 00:25:45.599
only do this. If you can't
not right, If you can do something

368
00:25:45.599 --> 00:25:51.000
else, then do it. But
if you can't, not then that's God

369
00:25:51.119 --> 00:25:52.480
talking to you. And that's you
know, And I think I agree.

370
00:25:52.799 --> 00:25:56.160
Talent is his gift to us,
and what we do with it is our

371
00:25:56.200 --> 00:25:59.200
gift back to him. Yes.
Yeah, And ultimately, when we were

372
00:25:59.200 --> 00:26:02.680
talking about Nashville, yeah, I
left this life. I liked, liked

373
00:26:03.839 --> 00:26:06.680
I loved this life in Austin,
thirty years old, in the town I

374
00:26:06.680 --> 00:26:10.160
grew up in. I'd already been
away a couple of times but had come

375
00:26:10.200 --> 00:26:14.160
back. And but I would have
an eye twitch. This is true.

376
00:26:14.240 --> 00:26:17.559
And later on was like, that's
stress. And the stress was I was

377
00:26:17.559 --> 00:26:19.480
starting to write these songs, starting
to play them, learning how to play

378
00:26:19.519 --> 00:26:23.799
them here in town, and uh, this is what I wanted to do.

379
00:26:23.920 --> 00:26:30.759
My heroes as a kid. Besides
a couple of athletes were the songwriters.

380
00:26:30.880 --> 00:26:34.000
Yeah, my folks were cool.
Drop me off to see Willis Sallin

381
00:26:34.240 --> 00:26:40.039
and and and and Framolds. Those
are my two favorites. And Murphy's record

382
00:26:40.079 --> 00:26:45.119
Cosmic Cowboy Souvenir was my was the
record that and then record by Michael Nesmith

383
00:26:45.319 --> 00:26:48.440
split my I always say it split
my head open. I never recovered,

384
00:26:48.599 --> 00:26:52.440
I mean once, you know.
It was country like I grew up with,

385
00:26:52.519 --> 00:26:55.799
but it was you know, the
stuff, and it was all happening

386
00:26:55.839 --> 00:26:57.240
round here at where we lived,
where we grew up. You know,

387
00:26:57.440 --> 00:27:00.599
felt really lucky to be you were
a kid of the seventies. Yes,

388
00:27:02.680 --> 00:27:07.240
South Austin, North Austin what was
then North Austin, Far north As then

389
00:27:07.359 --> 00:27:08.720
Yeah, now in the middle of
town. I grew up well East Austin

390
00:27:08.759 --> 00:27:12.960
for three years and then we moved
to uh right over in the like Mopack

391
00:27:14.079 --> 00:27:18.839
and forty fifth forty fifth. I
grew up near McCallum, over by the

392
00:27:18.839 --> 00:27:22.599
cemetery, but we were Anderson High
School was new, the new Anderson High

393
00:27:22.599 --> 00:27:27.440
School, and I was busted up
there got you what great time. I

394
00:27:27.519 --> 00:27:30.359
was awesome. And that's when that's
when Austin was just happening. Like you

395
00:27:30.400 --> 00:27:34.400
mentioned from hos fromost was just amazing. He was the best storyteller. He

396
00:27:34.559 --> 00:27:40.759
was just I'm sure I just sat
there like this mouth of Gabe everything.

397
00:27:40.920 --> 00:27:42.119
Yeah, And I never I didn't. The only time I got to meet

398
00:27:42.160 --> 00:27:45.880
him was after the stroke. I
never really Yeah, I got to,

399
00:27:45.279 --> 00:27:48.559
you know, hang out with Willis
a little bit and play some but uh

400
00:27:48.720 --> 00:27:52.559
Framwinson never really had got to meet. But man, he had a he

401
00:27:52.680 --> 00:27:56.759
was he was so special. I
don't know Willis Harley at all, but

402
00:27:56.039 --> 00:28:00.079
I knew from Holts Real he was
the first. He was actually the first

403
00:28:00.160 --> 00:28:04.039
hit maker I ever met. I
was eleven, yeah, and he was

404
00:28:04.160 --> 00:28:08.039
just you know, and I just
told him some reason, I said,

405
00:28:08.079 --> 00:28:11.680
I want to be a songwriter.
It's eleven years old, and he just

406
00:28:11.519 --> 00:28:15.680
busted out laughing in such a great
way, and he said, don't let

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00:28:15.839 --> 00:28:21.119
anybody talk you out of it.
That's a good manto, right, so

408
00:28:21.319 --> 00:28:25.079
great eleven years old, that's fantastic. And joining our conversation with Walt wilkins

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00:28:25.119 --> 00:28:30.519
On tells Broken Spoke one more part
Part three drops next week and we're gonna

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00:28:30.519 --> 00:28:34.880
find out why Walt left Nashville to
come back to Austin. Tals the Broken

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00:28:34.920 --> 00:28:38.720
Spoke again. Thank you for listening. Hope you enjoy the conversations. Tales

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00:28:38.759 --> 00:28:44.000
from the Broken Spoke is recorded live
at The Broken Spoke in Austin, Texas,

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00:28:44.200 --> 00:28:48.039
hosted by Country Radio Hall of Fame
broadcaster Bod Pickett and Monty Warden,

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00:28:48.400 --> 00:28:52.039
recorded mixed down and produced by Mike
Rivera