Speaker 1: I've always believed in one mantra, share your story or
someone will write it for you. And as we continue
to grow inside this podcast world, there's a lot of
stories we haven't dug into yet. Aro dot net, A R.
R Oe dot Net. Thank you so much for supporting
the vision as well as the path. Good morning, Good
morning mister Ralph. How are you doing today?
Speaker 2: Good? How about you? Errow?
Speaker 1: Absolutely fantastic and very excited to share a conversation with
you because to me, there's a vibe about you that
I think you know you've got and it's like, teach
me how you got there, because so many people run
away from a situation where they think where things start
to change with them creatively as artists, and they go, ah,
that's not why, I don't.
Speaker 2: Want to do that.
Speaker 1: But yet you're moving forward and it's like, that's the
guy I want to talk with.
Speaker 2: Oh, that's awesome, thank you.
Speaker 1: How are you able to tap into that? Then?
Speaker 2: Honestly, I'm just I just I go with the flow.
A lot of the times, I'm having fun and and
I'm always down to learn, so I'm ready to go.
That's that's pretty much what I do.
Speaker 1: So does that tell me that you are what I
call a stream thinker. In other words, it's moving through
you at all times. You get to choose like we
do channels on the flat screen.
Speaker 2: Yeah no, I mean I definitely. I definitely like to
like to switch it up and like to change things
and like to you know, whatever, whatever whatever it calls for.
I do.
Speaker 1: To to be able to sing with your grandfather, I
mean that that that blows me away because I thought
I was the weird one that got to sing with
his grandmother all the time. Except probably is so I
always try to sing like Jim Nighbors on Andy Griffith,
because you always had that voice that sounded like this,
and I thought that's the way you're supposed to sing
and and but she never told me to stop doing it.
So so when I heard that, you know, you've got
your honey grandpa and things like that, it's like, it's like,
my god, I'm so jealous of this guy. I'm so
jealous that he got to do this.
Speaker 2: Definitely. You know, my whole family's been pretty musical. My
mom singing church, my uh my mom's dad, my other
grandpa I call him, thought that he was a musician
for years too. Honey, Grandpa used to have me in
the garage. We would always sing along to some music
and it was just all such an amazing experience and
you know it's it's you know, molded me into the
person I am today.
Speaker 1: All Right, So let's talk about that garage performance, because
I grew up playing in a garage band. When you're
in that garage, a lot of people don't realize that
when you're singing music, your eyes have got to be
fixed on something. Where did you go to? I always
went to the spider webs because I always thought them
as being magical and that they always had a way
of reaching out to other things.
Speaker 2: Wow, that's that. That's great. Actually, I like that honestly.
I mean I was, I was young when I was
in there with him. He's definitely it was a it
was like a just kind of like a we. He
would work on something or he'd have his tools out
doing stuff and be singing along and just having fun.
Speaker 1: But isn't that what's fun about music is that somewhere
along the line you realize, wait a second, even though
I'm singing right now in the present place of now,
it had to start somewhere and God for you to
be there with your grandparents and your family, your mom
and the church. I mean everything that you are today
is because of those before you.
Speaker 2: Exactly, wow, exactly, I've never forgotten that either. That's that's
the way. That's the way it's got to be. And
I definitely give it to give it to my family
for helping me get there too.
Speaker 1: Did you ever kind of laugh as that child when
your mom would be singing in church? Because when mom
would play the piano in church and she would walk
in there, it was like, that's not my mom, that's
rock star mom. She's look at the way she's walking.
She doesn't walk like that at home. She's trying to
be the rock star mom ome.
Speaker 2: Yeah, all those harmonies, I'm like, okay, I didn't not
even like that. That's so funny, because yeah, no, I
mean here hearing my mom. Even my mom and grandma
they like to sometimes, I like Thanksgiving and stuff. They'll
break into a little song too, and it's it hasn't
happened for a couple of years now, but I have
a feeling it might happen this year. We'll see what happens.
Speaker 1: How important are videos for you in this generation and
the reason why I bring this up because I have
done so much research in the past month about the
several different levels of where people are musically. Is it
on the radio, is it on TikTok? Is it on
a digital streaming platform? And each time you go to
a different platform, it's a different human being listener that's
getting a different side of the story. How are you
dealing with it? Living with it?
Speaker 2: I would say, I mean, you know, as long like
content is everything, obviously we got to you gotta put
out a lot for people to see. So I definitely
try to do you know, I like to go live
and stuff like that on social media and talk to people,
sing a little bit, answer questions. I give people opportunities
to have access to me, because you know, some people
just shut off from the world, and I don't want
to do that. I want to make sure that you know,
people know that I'm available. I am definitely that person
that loves to talk if I can, and I also
love to listen to so there's a there's kind of
a mix to me for sure. When it comes to
that you're.
Speaker 1: Speaking the street right now, that that is like why
didn't you do radio if you love to talk? Because
I've always believed that the reason why people get into
radio is because the writer just needs a stage to perform.
And you would you have done radio? Would you have
done broadcasting? Because if you love to talk, you're not
going to stop.
Speaker 2: I love to talk. I'd love to do more of
the music side of things, So I mean like actually
performing and things like that. So that's one thing I
always tell Like my band, I was like, man, you
guys at to turn off my mind because I'm just
gonna keep on talking until But that's not a that
wasn't you know. It's funny that ever crossed my mind.
I don't know why I didn't think of.
Speaker 1: That, well, only only because I've always believed that. Why
didn't I come out sounded like one of those disc
jockeys on the radio from Klifornia or or from you know,
from New York City. And it was like, because I
grew up with Casey case I'm telling stories. Oh my god,
maybe I'm a writer. Oh my god, I mean the
wrong business.
Speaker 2: That's awesome because me being a.
Speaker 1: Creative person, I mean that that puts you in a
position of okay, okay, where are we going to take
this ship? Because it's floating no matter what, right and
you gotta.
Speaker 2: You gotta go somewhere. You gotta be a storyteller. But
that's what music does too. For me. I love telling
a story with music and I love you know, it's
another form of of dare I say talking is like,
you know, you can let people know exactly what's going
on with with music, and you know with a certain
song you're singing, people feel that, and yeah, it's music
tells a story always.
Speaker 1: Do you have to pinch yourself when you take a
tour of France or even if you travel around and
all of a sudden you step on that stage. You're going,
how did I get here? Oh my god, thank you Jesus.
I'm here. Now let's figure out what we're gonna do
with it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, I tried out for the Voice. I've
tried out for the Voice eleven times. This is my twelfth,
this is my twelve time. But I'm actually finally on
the show, which is amazing. You know those other times
I never got to the actual stage and so you know, yeah,
when I first saw the Voice stage, I had to
pinch myself. I teared up a little bit because it
was like, man, I've been trying to get here since
I was seventeen, sixteen, seventeen years old, and now I'm thirty.
I always do it around. I was like, man, they
waited till I was thirty to give me on this show.
But you know, at the same time, maybe I wasn't
ready back then and now I am. So you know,
I feel like everything happens for a reason.
Speaker 1: Well, they always say that, you know, everything that we
do in our twenties is because we wanted to do
it as a teenager but our parents said no. And
once we hit thirty, we're mopping up the mess that
we created in our twenties. Okay, so how, oh, how
are you mopping up your mess of that seventeen year
old that had visions? In other words, what was that
seventeen year old holding that you now have knowledge of today?
And that's why you're on that stage? Did I say that?
Speaker 2: Right?
Speaker 1: I mean, because I mean beginning, I can't imagine what
you've gone through twelve seasons.
Speaker 2: Right, and so I I you know, it's it's definitely
a mental game too. You're like, man, am I even
good enough? You know? The whole time? But you know,
I've just had to never say die attitude and just
you know, this is this is what I want to do.
I don't have a plan B, Plan A is what
I'm trying to do. And this wasn't the only show
I've tried out for. You know, I've tried out for
a g T. I've tried out for the other shows
multiple times too. In the double digits also, I just
you know, I never wanted to give up and I
never wanted to stop doing music. So in between that
I had a band, I mean I have a band now.
In between that I was in choir, I was doing
college choir, you know, high school, middle school. I've always
been singing. And then dare I say I was a
karaoke singer for a little bit too, because in the
little limbo when I wasn't in choir, college choir to
my band, I was kind of just out there doing
some karaoke and having fun out there too.
Speaker 1: Please do not move. There's more with Ralph Edwards coming
up next. He toured France as a musician. Now he's
on NBC's The Voice. We are back with Ralph Edwards.
You speak so perfectly in tune and your connection to
people blows me away, And so I have to ask you,
is there a real person job that you're doing that
puts you in front of real people to know who
it is that you're trying to reach. Because it took
me thirty six years to go get a real job
at a grocery store only because I wanted to be
with people. What about you, Ralph in the way that
how are you doing this? And I just want to
know if you're with real people in a real job somewhere,
and that's that's what you're envisioning when you're on that
giant stage.
Speaker 2: You know, it's funny if you look at my resume
and you'd be like, oh my gosh, this guy has
done so many different things. I mean, he used to
be a cashier. I was a car salesman YEP. At
one point I worked in the medical field and the
like the retirement homes. I was arrested strong manager there like. So,
I mean I've talking to people. I've never been shy
of that. I've always been able to talk. I've always
been able to communicate very well. And that's that's transferred
over to you know, my stage work and you know,
talking to people while I'm performing or you know, interacting
with the crowd and talking to people, even kind of
throwing some jokes out there. Yep. I'm in no way,
shape or form a comedian. Don't let me say that,
but I try to be funny.
Speaker 1: Sometimes real person. Question, because you brought it up. You
said you worked for a retirement home. One of the
things that I'm dealing with right now is the aging
of the guests that I've been with for the past
five to six years. How did you handle that aging process?
Knowing that you know where life takes this that is
the guarantee of life, it's going to happen, but dealing
with it as close as what you were, because I'm
not that close yet to it, but you were, What
did you learn from that moment of transition?
Speaker 2: You know, it's it's it happens. It happens, and you
know everybody everybody has their day. Everybody has it and
and you know, obviously you can't you can't tell which
day is yours is going to be. But I think
that that you just make the most of when you're here. Uh,
That's that's kind of what I did when I was
a restaurant manager. I also would sing for the residents
it was during COVID, so we had to deliver the
food to the rooms and things like that. So and
I we all had to figure that out as we went. So,
you know, making them stay in their rooms and and
not making them that came out bad, but having them
having to stay in their rooms because of COVID and
things like that was such a stressful time. But you know,
getting to smile at them and getting to for them
to you know, obviously not be able to see your
actual smile, but at least see your eyebrows go up
because of the mask. But you know, talking to them
and just being that part of their day where they
get to have a human interaction was amazing. And and
you know, I'll never forget that job because that job
was one of the most rewarding jobs. And you know, obviously, yeah,
I got paid for it, but at the same time,
like I loved what I did, and I loved taking
care of them, yep, and I would loved I'm probably
actually gonna go back and visit them as many times
as I can. You know, as you said, you know
that life happens, and that's that's there is some it'll
probably be some different residents, but I wanted definitely to
make sure that I go and reach out and go
do some things like that because I love I love
you know, the elderly people, and I love you know,
taking care of people as much as I can.
Speaker 1: Well, you know, I'm so jealous of you to be
able to do that. And the reason why is because
we did a movie promotion and an assisted living place
and they I walked in there and they're listening to
Bruno Mars and they were hanging out with the snoops
and all that kind of stuff with the vocals, and
I'm going, what is going on here? These people are
are are up there and they go, what are you saying?
People are old? No, this is the this is how
they feel on the inside. So you for you to
be in that retirement home, you, as far as I'm concerned,
you were hanging out with a bunch of damn teenagers.
Speaker 2: Oh no, you know, it's funny. It's it reverses too,
because they like to get away with stuff. Yes, Oh definitely, man,
it's it's so funny. It's you know, yeah, no, it's
it's so funny. I truly missed those days when I
was when I worked over there.
Speaker 1: Wow, so now what is your vision growing forward? Because
please tell me that you were journaling, because in your
journals and through your experiences there is so much valuable
information that you can use as tools.
Speaker 2: I'm definitely I'm definitely keeping track of what's going on.
Right before I left for the show. Uh, one of
my friends gave me a journal to kind of ride
in there when I when I was over there at
the hotel and everything. But you know, I'm definitely keeping
track of what's going on, trying to timestamp things. Everything
has just been so crazy and amazing and the back
and forth. You know, I'm only three hours away from
LA so it's not like I have a huge flight
or anything like that. I'm kind of just driving back
and forth when it's time. But uh, I mean, I've
just been living in the moment and having fun. Arrow.
This is this is my my Uh, this is my
time to finally, you know, to get this thing going.
And so I'm not gonna I'm not gonna miss anything
with it.
Speaker 1: So I'm just having Well, see, that's your inner eye
right there. Your inner eye is saying, okay, this is it, Ralph, Okay,
But but it doesn't mean that it's gonna be over,
but there are some tools that you need to pay
it to me, it's like playing watching my grandson play
those video games. And and because you've got to pick
something up along the way, what are we going to
pick up today? And what is the one thing that
Snoop has planted inside of you where you're going? I
knew that was possible, but until he said it, Oh
my god, I've got to activate it right.
Speaker 2: And his his main advice has always been to just
relax and live in the moment. So he he kind
of the the advice I've been using and advice I
just said, like he's been giving me that advice. I
think after the show, I would love to work with
him a lot more, a lot closer even to to like,
you know, maybe release some original music and things like that.
And that's kind of the goal afterwards, you know, after
the lights turn off, you know, what are you going
to do? And I want to make sure that I, uh,
I don't just you know, I want to go back
to Fresno for sure. I want to come back here
to come back home and and uh you know, live
live here, but also maybe live a little bit in
La too, and and release some music and hopefully one
god willing go on tour.
Speaker 1: Yeah, but you know what the rules are when you
when you move to LA, You've got to limit your
in and out burgers. You can't be over there every day.
You gotta you gotta take it one burger at a time,
maybe once every other week.
Speaker 2: Well if it makes you feel better. Fresno has one,
has one on every block too, So yeah, I'm used
to that in and out burger stuff for sure.
Speaker 1: Dude, you got to come back to this show anytime
in the future. First of all, before we check out
what is your what is your side of dress? Where
can we find out more about you so that we
can give you that love long before this moment of now.
Speaker 2: I appreciate that you can follow me on Instagram at
Ralph Edwards Music. You can follow me on TikTok at
Ralph's Gonna Wreck It with two t's at the end.
You know, I got a band called vibe check Yep,
that's vibecheck dot the band on all social media platforms
and www dot vibecheckdband dot com. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I love those videos too.
Speaker 2: Man.
Speaker 1: You guys are like real rock stars and those damn
videos too. You guys do it right.
Speaker 2: Thank you, thank you. We just have fun, man, We
go up there and have fun. That is the goal
every night, because you know, the only time I'm working
is when I'm cleaning up the speakers. So true, that's
the job right there.
Speaker 1: Please come back to this show any time in the future.
The door is always going to be open for you.
Speaker 2: Ralph, thank you so much. Eric, I appreciate you.
Speaker 1: You'd be brilliant today.
Speaker 2: Okay, thank you, my friend, thank you, thank you, you too.