Hey, it's Bob Pickett. We are on our way to the legendary Broken
Spoke. Come on, let's get out the truck and head inside. Come
on, let's go and side get ready for another tale from the Broken Spoke.
Well, I hope you enjoyed party one. Now let's get back to
the conversation. Monty and I are talking to John Arthur Martinez. It's Tales
the Broken Spoke and nobody you brought up you know Kent's name. We really
have not paid proper homage the Kent at all, and we need to plan
a future podcast when we do that, you know, because he influenced so
many people, and I mean just the greatest friend a songwriter, yeah,
ever had. And it's it's great that that Randy Rogers is carrying on the
tradition we cheat him right now. You probably have noticed you ever see Parker
McCollum usually on TV. Occasionally he will wear a cheat him street hat,
which is it's nice and everything. Let's get back to you though, because
the Pride of Marble falls class in nineteen seventy nine, Yes, the champion
disco dancer. So eighty six you're playing down at Headliner's East and that's where
MONI saw you for the first time. Right, what was that? Wasn't
just your day job? You had other jobs of sides picking around here,
didn't you. Well, there was a period where I was as kind of
off the grid is a good way of putting it. You know. I
had friends who let me stay at their places. I didn't have a home
like I have now with my lovely wife, right, celebrating twenty five years
this year of marriage. So I didn't have a home like that then.
I sometimes default it might be my folks couch, you know, it might
be for a while there it was my buddy's couch, or behind sleeping back
behind the couch because he wanted me sleeping on the couch behind the couch in
Tucson, Arizona. For a couple of years. Uh, left Texas,
went to Tucson. I was there thinking I was going to get a graduate
degree. But all I did was write songs and play gigs. Hey,
that is a graduate degree, man, Now, let me tell you.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, you were a Rhodes scholar. You didn't know
it back then. Yeah, on the road and well, because I like
and I knew because John Arthur and I we've we've written together. We've been
blessed to write a top forty record together on on his record. Great just
did a great, great record. I just played it if I didn't care.
I played that on Saturday, and Dad gummed if I didn't start weeping
when I hadn't played it in a while. Man, such a such a
strong team. We wrote this amazing cat Tommy Connors. But uh, you
were you were? I mean, were you really caught lightning in a bottle?
Was on the Is it the first the first season of Nashville Star?
Yes, it was season one? And what was that two thousand and two?
Two two thousand and two or three? And they had their big nationwide
cattle call. Now where did they have that? Someplace very close by We're
sitting at the Willie Booth. It was about seventy five yards to the east
on that stage. Spoke yes, and it was uh Tracy Gershawan who was
at She was at CBS, then Sony she was then you know, and
uh and Charlie Robinson was there. But now Tracy and Charlie that was all
this part of this thing of uh uh to Winnow it downs from like what
was it like from twenty to five or something or something like that. They
had they had thousands originally they uh and and what Tracy did was she hired
all all throughout the country. She she hired these different people that had been
in major label an rs to go through literally about one hundred cassettes and and
there were cassette tapes, not even CDs. And Tracy hired uh one former
major label an R person in Austin to go through about seventy five cassettes,
and that was Brandy. And she said, do you know this guy,
John Arthur Martinez, you know, and I'm just gonna quote it because it's
a possiz were married, of course, you know, yeah, we already
married. We've been married four years, three or four years. And she
just no, she hadn't even started her publishing company. She had she was
she was managing Perdinais and Arland for Willie and she hadn't even started Moonkiss and
Tracy hired her to go through these cassettes. And Brandy just went, I
mean, you know, these are some of these are good. I mean
they're good. You know, It's like but it was going to be a
nationwide you know, like a like an American idol for country music, you
know, Nashville Star. It was going to be a huge deal. And
Brandy was like, man, this was good. And she had like a
good pile and then she like it. Then she had like a I mean,
none of them were like bad bad. They were good enough to have
sent it in, but they weren't like ready to have hit records, you
know. And and she had this good pile. And then, uh,
after she's gone through like I don't know forty of them or something, she
came across John Arthur's and she went out, I got one cassette for this
pile. She goes, it's Brandy. And if you know Brandy this,
I'm just gonna She goes, it's a podcast. She goes, this guy's
fucking great. I just well, well let me hear it. You know.
Immediately I was like, well, let's me just see about that.
And it was amazing, and you know, and in Brandy's cassette, uh,
Brandy's pile, there was the what she submitted to Tracy was John Arthur
and Miranda and the pretty Good here the same season as Miranda. Yeah,
oh yeah, that girl was on that show too. Yeah, it was
here yeah, and Miranda didn't even make it. She was number I think
she came in third, she came in third. Yeah, but yeah,
but I mean and the person who came in first eight year was Buddy Jewel.
Buddy, yeah, and John Arthur was second. Yeah. Well here's
the great Yeah, yes, that's that's what happened. Here's the crazy thing.
Miranda lost in Dallas, and so she came to Austin hoping that she
would get another, uh opportunity to to succeed. Wait a minute, wait
a minute. She went to Houston. She went to Houston. She went
to Houston to make to see if she could get because from from Austin.
Prentice Varning out of Uvaldi was also on the show. And a girl named
Kristin Kissling who could put herself in the pretzel and that was that appealed to
the producers for television the radio show. But so there were four of us
from Texas, those three Kristin Kissling, Kristin Pretzel Kissling, uh, Brenie
Varning from Uvalde. And he he could have been something that's fantastic. He
was very good. And he was at the spoke that night because he was
fantastic. Yes, and he's also the one that won the local competition.
I came in second at the local competition. And then there was of course
Miranda as well. So there were four of us on the national show that
made it. Who were the judges besides Charley Tracy Gershom No, but went
they had actual judge judges on the show, didn't they? But I think
Tracy Robert Orman okay, yeah, and he's a brilliant I mean that man
loves country mu oh, he knows music. Yeah, and he loves it
too, you know. So yeah, that was a fun show to watch.
It's great show. And I remember like the spoke was packed, and
I mean and I remember like, remember I remember Tracy talking about Miranda even
then she goes, she's a star. I don't know if she's remember she
said, I don't think she's ready, but she's a star, because you
know, Tracy. And then John Arthur, I mean, man, you
know, because you're so sweet and humble. Let me just let me just
say what you're not gonna say. He killed, he brought the place down.
You just you're just a great set. Just one of those times where
it's just everything came together. It is just the right amount of people.
They just had enough beer in them. And and John Arthur just you know,
and and Charlie, Charlie Robinson. He went, do you know this
guy? I said, I know him a little bit, but man,
Brandy loved his cassette and he goes, he's amazing, you know. And
Charlie talked to you that night, right, yeah, Charlie, my wife
said, we got After I performed, I said, I've got to go.
I got my wife's got to get up early. She's cutting hair in
Marble Falls. He's a barber stylist. And I said, we got to
go. So I left, and Charlie followed me out and was just talking.
My wife said, was half an hour that he was out there.
He was trying to convince me because I still wasn't completely convinced that this was
something I should do. I just released an independent album and was starting to
get some independent Texas airplay, and I thought, you know, I'm starting
to make a living, and maybe I don't want to demean what I'm doing,
but I will say this Nashville Star was not uh. They were glorifying
the songwriter and not demeaning any part of the artist. It was very pro
artist, very very well done, a lot of integrity in that show,
and you know later on it it didn't because of Tracy. Because of Tracy
Yeah, well, I mean, Tracy just loves loves a songwriter. She
has always and she still does love the songwriter. She's best friends with Emmy
Lou Harris. That gives you an idea what kind of person she is.
And she's married to Steve Fischel, the great steel player, great record producer
that you know. She's got a great show on XM by the way too,
which listen to all the time. Yeah, that's the way we reconnected.
She you know, and she's just always about uh, introducing great art.
Well, she's got a great ear. Yeah, she's got a great
ear. I just remember being upset that Buddy Jewel one that season because,
like you said, there was so much talent, especially you, and we
were rooting for you being the hometown person. You know, nothing against Miranda,
she's East Texas. But but and it's but I just remember we're upset
the Buddy Jewel won. And Buddy Buddy's a great performer, great singer,
but his career didn't turn out like everybody thought it was going to turn out
well, you know, and ought to say this because he's a great singer
and there's no butt that comes with that. I just I was very familiar
with his voice, like Buddy, uh, it's got a beautiful voice.
Well, and he he sung on probably a half dozen of demos. He
was a demo singer there in Nashville, and he was like the guy like
when I was first came to town. Uh, Tricia Yearwould and Kathy Matteo
were the two chick singers you hired to sing on your demos, and Buddy
Jewel was the dude. You know, he was a country singer. But
I felt though Garth Fund just made a great record on Buddy Jewel and Garth
Thund is a great producer there. There just wasn't I felt Clint Black Yeah
right, that's right. Uh. I didn't think there was any magic on
that Buddy. No, it was bland. Yeah, yeah, I'll that
you say that now. It was it was. And I can say that
as a radio programmer because and it but but yeah, I mean he had
talent, but just it just the talent that he had did not come across
the record. Well to me, it just sounded like what you wanted in
a great demo singer. He sold how the song ought to here, but
not the song you It wasn't a star. Yeah, it wasn't a star
and you star y ain't. Yeah. Well, man, what a great
show that was. I forgot about that show and then when it moved over
to the other network, it just didn't do anything at all. That was
a fun show to watch. Yeah. Well, I also think that they
they they brought in. The show was so successful, you know, like
anything else in show business changed, This is so successful. Why I changed
again? Why change something was working? What did you learn though by being
on that show? Did it help you as a songwriter? Well? Everything,
It helped everything, because there's nothing like television. I make a living
because I was on national television. Not just national television. The show was
rebroadcast country Music channel in Australia, Sweden, Canada. Became an international star
because of it. I got fan mail from South Africa and Japan and and
I'm able to go to Europe and there's still requesting songs that I just did
my fifteenth tour of Europe in May and June, Switzerland, Germany, Austria,
Spain and France, and people come up MANI and I'm here. I
am in Dresden outside you know what used to be East German, East Germany,
and some guy comes up and he wants to buy these. He picks
out like six or seven CDs. I was trying to tell him, well,
you could buy my my thumb drive, you know, for eighty euros
and you're you're spending ninety on the CDs. And he was trying to explain
to me why he was doing that, and I just thought maybe he likes
CDs, he prefers CDs. So he comes back the next day and he
has it written and translated. He said, I already have this, this,
this, this, and he named the titles already had. I don't
have these. That's why I want the CD and I want you to sign.
So you know, it's crazy because there there's East German what used to
be East Germany, and here's a guy that has seven of my CDs already.
That's cool, you'll bring it's worldwide. Just well, that's the whole
thing is like. And you got to remember, like, particularly in the
European market and the Asian market, that these Nashville Star was two, three,
four, sometimes even five years later, and there's no such thing as
an old song or an old TV show if it hadn't been on before.
And we were doing something and uh, I think it was I think it
was Sweden. Now it might have been, might have been uh Amsterdam,
might have been in Holland. But and we look up and we're driving on
the way to the club and it's just me and the guys. It's you
know, it's kind of a we do country, but it's kind of a
rocking thing, you know. And we look up there's a damn John Arthur
Martinez billboard and he said dutta dutta du in Dutch Nashville Star and you go,
wow, damn right, it is nice when nice happens to nice.
And this was like in five or six. This was a few years after
the show that was not to those people that was Floralia the Netherlands. You're
talking, yeah, yeah, it was okay. And what was crazy is
that Stephanie Orbina Jones and I and my wife too. Even though Stephanie hates
to give my wife credit, my wife was definitely a writer on it.
My wife and I had the song started and then we brought it and Stephanie
helped me finish at the River of Love. It was. It was on
all of these plates. You know, of course, they don't have radio
the way we do. You know, Swiss radio has specialty programs right but
back the way radio used to be block programming. So they have the specialty
programs playing the River of Love, and it's charting in France and Switzerland and
the Netherlands and number one in Malta, the only number one I've ever had,
number one in Malta, and so uh so. Anyway, it was
incredible so that people would hear the first notes, and we started every show
with the song Doom, Doom, Doom, and immediately they'd all it was
familiar. They'd all get on the dance floor from just from that leg.
I remember Stephanie was on the show a few years later, wasn't she Didn't
she make that? I remember I remember her auditioning for the show for Nashville
Star. Yeah, she auditioned for the show, but it was out at
the out at the old Roper's nightclub. I remember what year it was.
I don't think she I don't know whether she chose not to or not,
but I don't think she did. Okay, and there was some kind of
audition that she was parting her big old lick. She just came off a
big old hit wreck. So cool. So when people you know, you
just work at it a long time and then you just kind of do exactly
what you've always done, and all of a sudden, welly aren't you glad
you had that test injury years ago? And by the way, he's got
the only website I know that you. It has a little page that says
tennis that you can click off. You don't play tennis wearing your cowboy boots,
do you? I did? Once or twice a base player late at
night, we saw some kids playing at the public courts, and my bass
player went up to Donnie Dog Price. I don't know if you know Donnie
Price. I don't think so, Donnie goes, I bet you, I
bet your my buddy can beat you guys and his boots in his hat,
and so he and so they they took the challenge. Of course I could
beat him in my boots. And but anytime something sixties now you can still
do that. That's great. This was not when I was in my sixties.
This was when I was in my forty fifth classes seventy nine, doesn't
he looks like he graduated maybe twenty years ago. Yeah, that's exactly.
Yeah, I play. I played tennis this morning, so I yeah,
guys living the good life. I tell you, well, that's the beauty
of small town living. Is at Horshy Bay Resort. They let me come
in and play on their courts, you know, and and be part of
their experience here. And it's they have clay courts there that are comparable to
what they have Rolan garrows. And so I played on I played on grass,
and I've played on you know, regular asphalt. I've never played on
clay. It's got to be fantastic. Yeah, it's easier on your knees.
He's on your everything. And but the reason that I did that was
you remember you heard about that pandemic that came around, right, think Someway.
That's why we got these behind us, right. Yeah. So,
uh, my wife said, ah, g b's hiring. They're paying twenty
two an hour to go be a night stalker. And I thought, honey,
I got other skills. So I started teaching tennis again. Uh.
And I was a high school tennis coach at Marble Falls for a little while
there, and I played, as you know, and I was taught many
clinics at Horseshoe Bay and I and we used to teach a tennis camp at
mary Hart and Baylor, and so I knew how to teach. Who says,
you can't go home? That's beautiful. That's a great team. You
know that. That's so cool. Yeah, and I still have kept a
couple of the clients even though I'm busy making music. Again, we about
guitar lessons. Man, you'd be great as a guitar teacher too, Yeah,
but it's all intuitive. My guitar playing is all self taught. Yeah,
you know. Yeah, And it's harder to convey that I can show
them, you know, what I do is and I have taught, like,
for instance, my family members, and I'll ask them what song they
really want to learn, and I'll teach them how to play one song.
And I said, what that those chords that you just did, well,
now you can also play blue Eyes Crying in the Rain. You can also
play jumbalayah. You can you know you you know, so you teach him
a few chords, and you have taught me something because all the way down
here today I'm listening to one of your early albums, and I learned how
to sing Ameralo by Morning in Spanish. Wow, a little bit, a
little bit, man, What a beautiful What a beautiful version of that song.
Such a great language, that version beautiful. Yeah, that version.
My percussionist Luis is from Brazil. He said, they played my version in
Real Degeneiro and played everywhere. They loved it. It had featured Joel Guzman
on the accordion. So I told Matt Rawlings, who produced the album.
I said, Matt, we can't go anywhere close to what George did you
know? So I said, we need to do the intro lick with a
Spanish guitar and accordian and uh, and I said accordion should be the leading.
He was a little more cautious because it's Nashville. He said, well,
we'll have Brent Mason do the Spanish guitar and then and then the second
verse will Adjoelghuzman. I wish it had been the other way around. It
is the way it goes from that one to the three minor that really lends
itself to that's a very Spanish movement. You notice I changed, I changed
the arrangement, and I didn't go to that that when he goes to the
tag at the end, I didn't go to the George Strait tag that everybody
wants to go to, don you know. I didn't do that. And
I put a pause in and at the end my favorite part, you know.
So Matt was saying, how are we going to end this? And
so and so I started playing. I said, I'm just gonna sing the
am You know, my voice is really tired after after tennis, no no,
uh, Me and Blakeley and Greenberg did three shows in four Worth and
we stayed up three or four every night writing songs and yeah. So but
anyway, that's John Randall doing those beautiful hearts. John Randall, Yes,
such a great He's a great guy. He's working a lot with Parker McCollum
now, which I think he's helping turn Parker into the star. Well when
you first heard that song, did you hear the George Straight version or did
you hear the original version of Amilo? That morning? Well, we played
on case. We played the original version. The first time I heard was
We used to play Strafford all the time, and we brought him down there
for a few shows in the you know, I always make a point of
acknowledging Terry Stafford as the one who who co wrote this was I forget the
other co writer? Was it Foster? But uh? Staff Terry Stafford acknowledges
that it was his idea and his and his feeling and his concept, but
he acknowledged that it was the other guy that really did most of the writing.
Well, your version is beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. Our listeners haven't
heard remember which one was the first because it was played in well, since
you grew up around this area, I'm saying, because we played all over,
we played the you know, Terry's version was played, Uh played the
early version. Yeah that's Terry Stafford and Paul Fraser Fraser Okay, okay Foster,
I said, Fraser, that's okay, Alexander Fraser. Yeah, what
was by Terry Stafford? Music and Cotillon. Well, he's doing quite well,
doing quite well with that. You know. That's what we always tell
people about, you know, because people think if you've written some you know,
a couple of big hits like your set, and that's not really the
case, particularly since we were talking about you know, royalties, you know,
being decimated. But I always tell people it's like when you when you
have a number one record, here's the here's the cycle of royalties. It's
number one, get a nice new house, and then the second round you
get nice new things for your new house. And then the third round,
like you get nice groceries for your house. Starting down, the fourth round
is can I come stay at your house? They got an extra couch.
I never had any of those levels of success, So you have money.
I'm always I've always admired your success as a as a songwriter and well as
a performer too, because I'm nice to see the wagoneers here. Even before
I knew you, I can tell you I'm a dancer, and so we'd
come dancing here all the time. And but getting back to royalties, I
did have something that was just absolutely freakish. You were talking about Cameron Randall,
Well, Cameron Randall and all those guys. They they decided we're going
to do a record on Flocco and make him a household name like he deserves
to be. Yeah, And so they did this record and they took a
song that I had co written with Mike Blakeley and my and then Alex Harvey
helped us finish it on his birthday in Nashville, and Alex loved the song.
It was just quirk, a quirky two chord song called said gurrokay hell
Yes, and my truck driver Buddy used to say it all the time,
so I thought it'd make a good little hook. And Alex sang it a
cappella to Halverson. Bill Halverson the producer of Flocco's record for Arista, and
Halverson says, I love it, I want to use it for Flocco,
and so he put it on Flocco's record and the album wind up winning a
Grammy. So it's just really incredible to be, you know, to get
a Contributing Songwriter award from from NARISTI. And also that thing was cool.
But I mean, hell Yes was a was a big record, especially in
places like Europe and other places where Flacco has more of a cult status.
But but uh, Floco never liked it that much because they changed what I
gave them too much. They turned they made it a little too New York
Latino commercialized. And but there was another guy on Arista. I don't know
if you remember, a guy named Alan Jackson heard of that guy. So
Alan heard that version and put it on his uh, his compilation record that
he did with Walmart, the exclusive record that he did with Walmart. It's
a bonus track, Alan singing uh almost note for note, the same production
that Flacco did, but but different recording, different recording with Alan Jackson singing
it row Rowe with his Southern accent. Well, and it was just a
great you know, because I didn't hear what what you and uh Blakely and
Alex Harvey Road. I just heard the record. It was just you know,
because you know what was in your head in your heart when you wrote
it. I only heard the record records amazing. I mean, it's just
amazing. And I've never heard the Jackson you know, and we his engineer,
John Shelton is John Kelton is a good family friend. But all have
to listen to that. But man, versions amazing. Well Floko did.
They did a great job. But Flocco didn't actually sing the lead. Raul
Malos sang the lead and Flokos sang the harmony on that and Parnell played the
slot. Leroy and Radney Foster did the harmony as well. So it's a
pretty good collaborative. That was a great album though. I remember that album
came out. They had an album released party which was held in East Austin,
and they renamed this restaurant Flaccos Tacos the big thing, right, and
it was, man, it was. It was fun, you see.
And you know, of course he'd tell you a floko run well yeah,
well and just such a and just a thing about you know, Flokos.
He's just such an amazing human being, just a great cat, you know.
And he does not suffered fools, no, no, no, no
no, just a wonderful, wonderful guy. Well, man, I because
I mean we we might have to do a two parter with you, you
know, because you've had you've had hit records, and you and I have
been blessed to write a hit record together, Top forty record together. Oh
that record we forgot to mention, well, Miranda, Miranda sang the harmony
on that record. I didn't care. Yeah yeah, song that John Arthur
wrote about being a stepdaddy to his to his step dog. How did this
happen? Just because you still are you still in touch with Randa? This
is from your friendship just a few years ago. Well, in those in
those This was probably seven or eight phone numbers ago with Miranda. I called
her up when you know we were friends. That's why she's not returning.
Wait a minute, yeah, So I called her up and said, Miranda,
I've written a song for my daughters. And I don't call them step
daughters, of course, call daughters. And and I said, I think
your harmony would be perfect because she's sang harmony. Uh in the Nashville Star
House. We were always singing harmonies together. She loves singing harmony. She's
a great harmony singer. So she said I'd love to and she came in
and and of course then we had to apologize later for not following the protocol
because she's big sony artists and duel tone. But but they chastised this and
let us release it anyway. That's true. It's fantastic. I mean,
I remember it is like you know, I'll tell you a great story about
that, about that single uh is uh I had. It's been a lot
of part of my career as a songwriter on the right hand side of the
chart, which is like from fifty to one hundred, you know, And
I had spent very little time on the left hand side of the chart,
which is from forty nine to one. And this is the true story.
So we you know, we got we took Billboard back then and it was
going for ads. You know, it's John Arthur, you know, and
so you know, I just said, well, you know, and then
they said, well, no, we had a good first week, and
I was like, okay, you know, I don't I don't know what
that means. But so I'm just looking on the charts where the wagoneers and
I would reside on the right hand side of the charts. I'm looking at
from one hundred up to fifty and can't find it. Couldn't I couldn't find
it. Well, you know, maybe next week there'll be enough. And
Brandy goes, you've done, son of a Bitch. It entered at thirty
seven on the left hand side of the chart. Yes, that's so cool.
The Hotshot debut is so great. It's like, well, fixing to
have us a little hit record. Yeah, well, of course we found
out that you now have Miranda's current number. My Miranda story and this is
about the same time you guys did Nashville star Austin Clemon's music festival just started
right, So I even forget who's on stage, but I turn around and
Miranda is behind me with a notebook and she's watching this person on stage and
she's taking notes. And of course nobody knew who Miranda was back then,
but she's studying the craft whoever it was on stage, and I thought,
you know that is and for some reason, that's just remarkable. You never
see them. She was study, she's paying attention to the songs. She
was driven, and it looks like a star, you know. And we
all knew early on that she was going to be successful. And Sony knew.
Sony, much to Buddy's chagrin, Sony was always focusing on Miranda.
Really yeah, and we knew it. And I was forty years old on
that show, so that I just knew that. I thought, every opportunity
I have, I'm going to sing one of my songs, and you know
that's what I did. Now, when we did the compilation album, they
wouldn't let me sing a song. I said, well, I thought this
was about finding the next singer songwriter in you know, this is the next
Nashville star who who writes his own songs. And they said, well,
yes, it is and you know what they said. They said, well,
some of y'all are better songwriters than others, so it'd be an unfair
advantage. What that's what they said. Come on, well, that's what
they said. And so they said, everybody knows show business is based on
fairness. Yes, so no, no, here's the real reason they want
us to pick a song from the Sony catalog. Exactly, yeah, exactly.
That's inepotism. Yeah, yeah, yes, that was the real reason.
Well you know it ain't show friends, it's show business. Yeah.
Wow. So I picked when you say nothing at All? And I sang
the second verse in Spanish and the second chorus in Spanish, and it also
charted for me with no promotion. Right, yeah, but that's a I
didn't know that was off the compilation. That's a really great record. That's
a great record. It's a great song. I can hear you singing it
now. Yeah. No, that's fantastic, man. So anyway, can
you go back and watch the old episodes of the show. I mean,
it'd be great to rediscovery those old episodes. Again, I haven't done that
in a while, but I wonder if somebody licensed that show, that'd be
fantastic. Great. Yeah, it'd be great just to see everything again.
Yeah. So October twentieth and twenty. First, you've got the uh,
the Lone Star Jam. What is it called Fiesta Jam? Yes, the
Jam on Lake the official my five O one C three benefits youth magic education
in my community. And so I wanted to brand our event is Fiesta Jam
on Lake Marble Falls. Uh, And so that's what we officially are called,
Fiesta Jam on Lake Marble Falls. And it is October twentieth. With
the songwriters Monty Warden, Pauline Rees, Bernie Nelson, Hellyanna Finley, my
buddies, John Murray Greenberg, Mike Blakeley and myself. We perform as the
out Law Firm Law Firm because our names sound like a law firm and Green
Blakeley, Blakelee, Greenberg, Martinez. So we decided, you know,
we're so we call ourselves. So we're going to release a new record at
the same time, at hopefully my first vinyl record. I know you have
them fantastic, You're gonna love it. And have you have you have you
had a pressing? Have you had your press No, we we're just now
in the final of finishing all the overdubs right now. You will never k
not do vinyl once you've done it. Yes, that sound. The reason
I brought these up here was I'm going to give these to you. But
but my biggest success story has been this is my newest album. It's been
when I started putting my all of my records on a flash drive, and
I am, I've got a reorder. I've got six of these left.
We brought that. We brought John Wood John Colley of his concert a couple
of weeks ago, had that. I've never seen an artist put his music
on. I thought, this is the neatest thing. This is keeping.
So you've got this, and how many songs do you limit to the flash
drive? Because that's the question. I have fifteen albums that I've put on
there, all fifteen. This is my lifetime's work, my life work.
Man. How did you do that? Did did you do you work at
NASA? That's sounds incredible to me. Well, most of them are self
produced. They were there were uh two of them had significant budgets. The
dual Tone release with Sony backing and then the uh pregatory road release that I
did. That you you played my version of Waltz when you can't out drink
the truth? Right? Uh but but yeah, so and so I go
and I put it out there. I said, friends, fans, what
is this worth? This is my life's work and I have fifteen albums.
You know what should I charge for this? You know? Forty bucks?
Fifty bucks? Everybody agreed, one hundred bucks? Yes, right, So
it's good and right and that's cheap though, and I'm on and I'm on
my reorder. But I also put some videos when I'm in Europe, and
all the lyric booklets, and how do they do? Like like, is
it like a pressing plant that does it? I let disc makers do it?
Disc makers does it? Wow? I did try. I did try
a cheaper company and I'm not going to say their name, but it wouldn't
play in people's cars. And I said, listen, and disc makers is
correat and I love disc makers. Yeah they done a great job. Yeah,
okay, give me your I know your website and I'm let you say
in your own words. John Arthur Martinez dot net. Just remember that I'm
a tennis player dot net. That's brilliant net dot net John Arthur Martinez dot
net. I just I just spent over two hundred dollars buying Monty Warden dot
com from somebody in Europe. Somebody held on to that, you know,
somebody went and just waiting for you. And so we've got the Wagoneers dot
com, we got Dangers Sheet dot com. We're gonna put everything under just
my name. You know, nobody knows who the hell am. So I
put it in and it's it owned. I had to buy it by my
own name from somebody. Well, mine's owned by somebody in the Cayman Islands.
After Nashville Star me in about six or seven of the Nashville Star people,
uh, our names were were bought up by somebody in the Cayman Islands,
John Arthan Martinez dot com. And I said, you can keep dot
com. I'm not gonna do that. You can keep dot com. I'm
a dot net guy anyway, so brilliant. But let me tell you though,
I did have a webmaster that dropped the ball. I owned jam Records
dot com and he let it go. I put his name as administrator and
he didn't renew the fee. But I own jam records dot com. How
much is a fee a year? That's nothing it's just a few bucks.
It's worth doing. Yeah, yeah, it's worth doing. But I'd never
own moneywarden dot com. And I just bought it. Had to buy my
own damn name because I because I can't say Moneywarden dot neet like tennis because
I don't play tennis. Yeah, oh man, man, this fantastic.
Are you gonna come back? I'd love to Okay, we'd love it.
We'd love to hear some more stories and everything and talk about the event after
the event too. Yeah, be real cool. Yeah, yeah, definitely,
definitely. And I love this man. Let me tell you this guy,
this is a great person, the most honest guy makes Santa Claus look
like an asshole. He's just a Well can I use that on the air
because I love that. Yeah, it's if you can, it's true.
But if you know John Arthur, you know that's the fact. Yeah,
well, I appreciate that. Money feeling is mutual. Oh man, a
lot of fun mortels, broken smoke coming up. Okay, here's a late
addition, John, are that we we connected because same girl cross in high
school. Junior high Bowerie Mobley moved from Sweetwater tomorrowl Falls. You graduated with
her and boy. But then we just found out because we're the same age
class of seventy nine. You look like his dad, No, he does
not. I look a lot older. It's radio life, is what it
is. Radio life, Okay, but we just found it and we I
don't I'm sure we met in seventy nine. We both competed UIL State Editorial
Championship in May April May of nineteen seventy. I wanted I'm the state champion
editory. And of course, look what has happened to journalism since then?
Aren't you glad we didn't go work for a newspaper? Oh god, yeah,
no, I was. I got third in feature writing and I did
compete state against you in editorial. And where was the championship was in?
All U t U T. Thompson Center is where we Uh, I couldn't
pull that out of my Yeah, it was Thompson Center because it's only I
haven't been at the TOMPs Center since I graduated from UT. It's over there
by the LBJ Library. Yeah. Yeah, nineteen yeah, man, those
are fun times, those ui L journalism competition together. Yeah, we competed,
yeah, and but then again, you know, I can't say that
against Miranda Lambert Nashville Star, and I could say I compete with and journalism
that that had just seventy nine. Y'all were a couple of chick magnets back
then. Baby, you know what the you know? Okay, let me
tell you. I don't know. You may not remember this, but here's
what we did whenever we competed for u AL competition. And I was like,
say, it was kind of like the big dog back then set high
school because I was always winning medals. We would get everybody's UI L medals
and I would walk in just a few minutes late, after everybody else was
in the room, so all the people could hear the medals clink clank,
clank clank, And here I come in wearing a letter jacket with all these
metals, just looking at people, nodding my head. It's psychologically that is
that is cool. And I will tell you this that my daughter, I
mean not my daughter, my little sister would wear my letter jacket because I
got I littered as a freshman, So I got my litter jacket as a
freshman by the time you could, so she was always wearing my letter jacket.
And I always always thought, I need to go back and get a
new letter jacket. I came home from college found my sister wearing my letter
jacket. I got mad. I took it back with me to Tech.
Wow. So, after all, we have a lot of common I don't
have any after first semester ninth grade. You're a baby winner. Yeah,
you're rock and roll dude. Hey, it worked, it worked, it
worked, and you're quite articulate. Well, yeah, I talk pretty good.
And what are you going to do in real life? Tails from the
Broken Spoke is recorded live at The Broken Spoken, Austin, Texas, hosted
by Country Radio Hall of Fame broadcaster Bob Pickett and Monty Warden, recorded mixed
down and produced by Mike Rivera