"That's all I got so far." "Damn, man." "When are you gonna go down to Austin and start playin'?" "Oh, man, we've been to Austin many times." "I wanna save the music for Nashville, Bobby." "I'm Jill, and Wheeler had, uh..." "Come on to break horses for my daddy, workin' at the ranch." "And I was helpin' out some that summer." "Whew." "He walked in..." "He was the handsomest man I'd ever seen." "Wheeler is a guy we'd let work with our animals and do anything around this ranch." "The animals trust him." "He has a soft touch, a soft hand with them." "That tells you a whole lot about a human being, their character and their nature, is how they react with animals." "My name is speedy master." "I've known Wheeler since he was a little kid and in elementary school." "Wheeler is the boy of my older sister." "And, you know, he was just a boy when she passed, and Wheeler took it real hard." "He clung to his daddy." "Wheeler's dad just passed away." "He's had a pretty rough life." "Wheeler came to this school and, uh, he was a smart kid." "He knew a lot about history." "He... asked me out in algebra, right after class ended, and I barely even knew him." "Well, I guess we first met in high school, when we hung out, got into all kinds of trouble." "There's nobody like Wheeler." "We did all the usual high-school stuff:" "Drivin' around and lookin' for friends, and of course we'd go to the rodeo." "He was 11 years older than me and, uh, he kissed me, out behind one of the stables one night when we were cleaning' up." "We had the greatest summer..." "And my daddy found out." "He was none too happy." "He came down to the office for the teacher, for talkin' back and, uh..." "So I said, "Wheeler," ""you have your choice." ""You can call your mama to come get you or take it like a man." ""You bend over a chair and give you one good lick." ""It's gonna sting now." "Now, you want your mama..." "Or you want the board?" "Which one?"" "So he took the board." "Took it like a man." "Went back to class and never came back for that again." "Hey, Wheeler." "Hey, Bobby." " Jimmy, can you hold her for me?" " I sure will." "You know Bobby, don't you?" "Yeah!" "Hi, Bobby!" "Hey, good to see you, Jimmy!" "You got some fancy camera gear over there, huh?" "I told you." "I'm here to make you look good, man." "I know, but what are you doin', Bobby?" "I don't wanna be famous." "I don't wanna be on TV, man." "Your music deserves the pictures." "You've been talkin' about that for years." "Trust me, you won't even know we're there." "Well, I'm leavin' at sunrise, man." "All right." "We'll be there." "Bobby... bring your toys, whatever you wanna do." "I'll see you back at the house in a little bit." "I'm almost done here." "He didn't share his music with a whole lot of people." "But he'd play for me, at nights." "He said, "I got this one song I want you to hear."" "And he got through with it and..." "I was just smilin' from ear to ear." ""She's only 20." Heh." "That's about me." "I am so excited that Wheeler is gettin' outta Kaufman and going to Nashville, because he has that passion, he has that heart for country music." "Jimmy and I both hate to see him leave, but we know that he needs to do this." "We'd be out summers, out at the lake," "Wheeler'd always have his guitar there." "Everybody said, "you gotta go." "You gotta go for it!" "You're good." "You're better than Garth."" "He should've done that 20 years ago." "He will do well, I guarantee you." "He will do really well in Nashville." "He's as good as anybody who'll be there." "I never heard any of his songs." "I don't know if he's really all that good or if it's just kind of a pipe dream, but..." "Seems to me like it's kind of late in life to be doing somethin' like that." "I don't know how he did it, goin' through all that." "I can't imagine and it..." "It breaks my heart for him." "But I guess if he goes on out there and makes it big, then more power to him, and I'll be so proud." "You know, today, sugar, that country music just isn't country." "It's just cheesy." "What happened to the cowboys singing' about real life?" "Wheeler's..." "Got a life and a story to tell." "He's so full of heart." "Country music needs that." "Nashville doesn't even know what's comin' to 'em." "Don't you find it pretty damn hilarious when people go bitchin' and complainin' and goin' on about illegal immigrants?" "What do you mean?" "Hell, my ancestors actually came from Tennessee." "They came down to Texas in the 1830s." "At that time, Texas was part of Mexico." "Basically, the Mexican government couldn't get any of its own people to settle up there, so they offered Americans free land and low taxes." "They had people showing' up from Kentucky, Arkansas, Tennessee." "Most of 'em didn't register." "They were growin' their cotton, raisin' their cattle..." "And gettin' stinkin' rich livin' off the free resources." "Santa Anna found out about it, and home boy got pretty pissed off." "He sent the troops up there to control all these illegals." "Started taxing' 'em out their ass." "Now, the Americans, they didn't take too kindly to that, so they started to revolt." "And what did that lead to?" "What's that?" "The battle of the Alamo, man." "Texas became its own country for nine years." "Then joined up with ol' America in 1845." "So basically, at the end of the day..." "We're all illegal immigrants." "I was surprised to see a Japanese pickup sitting' in the drive." "Yeah..." "I was too, when daddy came home with it." "I gave him some shit." "You know where they make this pickup?" "I would think Japan." "No, man." "San Antonio." "Really?" "Swear to god, man." "San Antonio." "So..." "It's not a bad truck too, you know." "It gets good mileage, good power on here." "Yeah, it drives smooth." "Yep." "Wheeler, we never got a chance to talk about..." "What you went through a few years back." "Yeah, I don't wanna go there, Bobby." "Look, I'm sorry." "I care about you." "I just... wanna get an idea of how you dealt with it." "I mean, years went by and..." "You didn't talk to anyone." "I was runnin', man, like you hear about everybody." "When you're in pain, you run." "You wanna forget who you are, forget where you come from." "What changed, man?" "Moved back in with my daddy, was on my farm, started writin' songs again." "Bad things happen to good people, man." "The way of the world." "The mavericks are lookin' pretty good this season." "You gotta come down for some games, man." "Went to a couple with daddy last year." "They got these chicken fingers." "Me and daddy, we'd go through three orders Durin' the game." "I know he's proud of you for takin' this journey." "Yeah..." "I'm just happy he's somewhere else now." "He had a good, long life." "He was a good man." "Yeah, he was." "Even though he drove a Japanese truck in the end." "Hold on." "Hold on, boys." "Hell yeah!" "I can't believe..." "We're comin' into town, man." "We finally made it." "I do need to find a toilet, though." "All right, I'm gettin' off, man." "I just wanna drive down Broadway before we find a place to stay, all right?" "Let's do it." "Cool." "Hold on." "We made it to Nashville." "Hold on." "I'm gonna make a left here, I think." "That's the Ryman!" "That's Ryman right there!" "Bobby, shoot the Ryman!" "I'll be damned, man." "I think we're comin' up on the alley." "That's the backstage, man." "I think that's the backstage entrance." "I gotta find me a place to park." "Oh, man..." "Who's playin' tonight?" "I have no idea." "Oh." "It must be further down." "'Cause that's tootsie's, man." "This is the backstage entrance." " Hi there." " Can we help you?" "Are y'all open tonight or...?" "We are, but go around to the front and buy a ticket, man." "Oh, okay." "There's a show tonight?" "Yeah." "Who's playin'?" "Umphrey's McGee." "Oh, okay, cool." "Have a good night, pal." "Nice to see ya." "Who's playin'?" "Humphreys Mcg..." "I don't know him." "Who's Humphreys McGee?" "He's playin' tonight." "We just got in, but..." "They wouldn't let us through." "He said, "have a good night." Basically," ""get the hell outta here."" "Well..." "Man, we got that close, you know." "Whew." "You know how many artists come down here, man?" "Come down these stairs and walk right across the street and go to tootsie's for their beer after." "I mean, Hank Williams, Kristofferson, you name it, man." "Standin' outside the mother church of country music." "You know how many times I listened to the grand ole Opry from here, man?" "They also did every episode of the Johnny cash show in here." "I mean..." "I can't believe this." "Hot damn." "Gee whiz." "I mean, heh..." "Holy mackerel." "This is unbelievable." "Let's find a place to stay." "This place look all right to y'all?" " Sure." " Yeah, it's fine." "Will you hand me my coat back there, Mike?" "Here you go." "Get us a couple rooms, huh?" "All right, I'll start unloading." "Yeah, let's grab the gear first, then we'll come back for the bags." "Howdy." "You got two rooms available?" "I'm gonna do two eggs over-medium, if I can, and some well-done bacon and a side of well-done sausage." "It comes with home fries and toast, okay?" "Sure." "Yeah." "White toast?" "You got any biscuits or no?" "Sold out for the day." "Okay, no problem." "Crispy bacon, sausage, over-medium breakfast." "Oh, if you've got maple syrup on the side, that'd be great." "Well, my name's Sherri, so if you need anything, let me know, okay?" "Hey, Sherri, I'm Wheeler." "Bobby, you want anything?" "I'm good, man." "We grabbed something' earlier." "All right." "I have to ask, what's up with the camera?" "Oh, it's just my buddy Bobby and his friend Mike, they love shooting' things." "Mm!" "Your toast is on its way." "Thank you, Sherri." "Looks good." "So what's up with the syrup?" "Oh, uh..." "My daddy ate this way since I was young, so he got me started on this." "Pork and syrup, nothin' like it." "Pork goes good with about anything." "Mm." "You a musician, or...?" "I'm a singer-songwriter." "I'm gonna try to play a few open mics while I'm down here." "Why not?" "You're in the right spot." "Yeah." "We just took a drive." "Needed to get out of town for a little bit." "That's always fun." "Mm." "I like taking a map, hitting it, decide where to go from there." "Yeah." "Done a few of those trips back in the day." "That was incredible." "Thank you." "I'm glad you liked it." "Thanks, Sherri." "I'll see you next time." "All right." "Have a good day." "Welcome to music row." "Music row is to music what wall street is to finance, what Madison Avenue is to advertising and what Hollywood is to film." "And it's not just about country music either." "All types of music are represented here." "At the center of the circle is a very famous sculpture." "The sculpture's called musica." "It's caused a lot of controversy." "We're considered the buckle of the Bible belt here." "We have over 800 churches." "A lot of our church leaders didn't want that to be put up." "Some of them are still tryin' to get it to be taken down." "I've taken a different approach." "I think it's great." "It's right here at the entrance to music row." "I think it serves as a great reminder." "A reminder to all of us that you might only lose your shirt in music, you might lose your pants, as well." "That's my take on it." "On the left is a very famous recording studio." "It is called RCA studio b." "Studio b is where Elvis Presley did most of his recordings." "And some of the other artists who recorded here at studio b:" "Pat Boone, the Louvin brothers, Jean Shepard, Jan Howard," "Bob wills, bill Monroe," "Carl Perkins, red Foley and kitty Wells." "Ferlin Husky, Jimmy Dean." "Grandpa Jones recorded t for Texas here." "Porter Wagner, Dolly Parton, the Everly brothers," "Mel Tillis, Roy Orbison, Willie Nelson recorded here." "It just goes on and on." "Right now, in front of us is curb records." "And we have a curb songwriter on the tour today, Bobby Tomberlin." "Bobby's written great songs." "Songs recorded by artists like Jerry Lee Lewis, Willie Nelson, a great song by diamond Rio..." "One more day, a number-one hit." "It crossed over to the adult contemporary and pop charts." "One of the great songs I just heard you sing was at little Jimmy dickens' funeral." "You wrote that for little Jimmy and his wife, Mona, correct?" "Yeah, I did." "Yeah." "And such a great performance on that song that you did at the funeral service." "Bobby, so great to have you with your friends on the tour today." "Hey, thank you, buddy." "Coming up on your right is the Quonset hut recording studio." "The Quonset hut is where artists like Johnny cash recorded." "Bob Dylan recorded Nashville, skyline and blond on blond." "Brenda Lee recorded here." "Loretta Lynn." "And this is the building where Kris Kristofferson was a janitor when he first worked on music row." "And coming up on your left, where Elvis Presley stayed..." "I just wanted to introduce myself." "Wheeler Bryson." "Hey, I'm Bobby." "Never met a real time songwriter before." "Good to meet ya." "You too, man." "I grew up, my daddy taught me all about Jimmy dickens." "We used to listen to him a lot on the grand ole Opry." "Yeah." "What's a big-time songwriter doin' on a tour bus with us, you know, in Nashville?" "My buddy, Josh, he's visiting from out of town." "Oh, all right." "How you doin', man?" "Yeah, good to meet you." "Yeah, we were just out takin' the tour." "Man, it's a pleasure." "Yeah." "What do you do?" "I'm a singer-songwriter, but not professional like you." "I..." "I've never been to Nashville and came with some buddies of mine and took the tour, a little tourism." "But I'm also gonna hopefully play some open mics and see what I can get done." "I'd like to hear your stuff." "Oh, yeah?" "I'll give you my number, man." "You can come down to one of these open mics." "Sure!" "Hello there!" "Howdy." "What can I get you?" "I'll take a bud light, please." "Bud light, that's a good one." "Thank you." "See that piano, Bobby?" "Sure do." "What's goin' on with all the bobbies?" "I just met a guy named Bobby." "Bobby." "Bobby's idle hour." "It's like Bobby day." "Bobby day." "Hey, sweetie, can I get you somethin' to drink?" "I'm all right right now." "I'm about to go on." "Good luck." "Let me know if you need anything." "Thank you." "Whoo!" "Yeah!" "You sounded good." "That was a hell of a song." "That your song?" "Yes, sir." "Thank you." "You looked a little nervous." "Yeah." "I played like shit." "I don't know what I'm thinkin'." "You sounded good, man." "You got a good voice." "You'd be surprised how many people in this town make money can't sing half that good." "You did good." "My name's Wheeler." "Wheeler Bryson." "Travis meadows." "Good to see you, man." "I was comin' here and I was expecting to find a keyboard, 'cause we went to one bar and they had a piano..." "Man, it's a guitar town." "Ain't many pianos around." "So if you wanna play keys, you gotta bring your own." "Yeah, pretty much." "Or at least be prepared." "Where can I find a good..." "Like, a used keyboard?" "Uh..." "Somethin' that won't..." "Probably..." "Corner music's a good place." "Howdy." "How you doin'?" "Hey, man." "How you guys doin' today?" "Oh, hey, man." "How are you?" "It's goin'." "All right." "Look at that hair." "Rock'n'roll." "Nice guitar, man." "$3,200, that's pricey." "Yeah, they're proud of 'em." "Yep." "You lookin' for a guitar today?" "Actually, I'm lookin' for a keyboard." "You got any good used keys around?" "We do, we do." "Absolutely." "Different part of the store." "Yeah?" "Yeah." "What's your name?" "I'm Wheeler, man." "Wheeler." "Toddzilla." "Nice to see you, man." "Nice to meet ya." "It's a big shop." "Well, yeah, it's been here a long time." "So what kind of keyboard you lookin' for?" "I mean, somethin' used, uh..." "You know, weighted keys, just a great piano sound." "Okay." "I don't really need any of the fancy synthesizer stuff." "Okay." "All right." "I think I might have somethin' over here." "Uh... a guy traded this in last week." "Oh, it's a Yamaha, huh?" "Yamaha, p-155." "Weighted keys." "Mostly piano sounds." "It's in great shape to be used." "It doesn't have a scratch on it." "Really has a great sound." "That'll work for you." "What's this one run?" "Oh, there you go." "Well, we got it for 699." "Normally, these things are about 1,200 bucks new, so..." "Yeah." "You think if I pay cash..." "Talk to somebody get me a deal on this?" "We can usually negotiate if you're talkin' green stuff." "Friendly folk from Texas, man." "My first time in Nashville." "Let me go run the numbers, let me see what I can come with." "All right, man." "I'll just give her a test-out." "Sounds nice." "Sounds good, Wheeler." "Thanks, man." "Well, I ran the numbers." "We can do the keyboard and the bag with the pedal for $600 even." "That's a deal." "Cool." "Let me help ya." "Get her up in there." "Yeah." "It's safer in the bag." "Cool, Todd." "Wheeler, thank you very much for your business." "Thanks for helpin' me out, man." "Good luck to you." "Thank you, man." "Take care." "Yeah!" "What I've been workin' on back home." "I was tryin' to..." "I haven't had keys, man." "Now I can make this song happen." "Hi, this is Jill." "Sorry I missed you." "Please leave me a message." "Hey, Jill, it's Wheeler." "Just checkin' in, sayin' hi." "We made it to Nashville." "Been here a few days." "Yeah, I played an open-mic last night." "Didn't go so hot." "I'm gonna give it another try tonight, though." "Anyway, I'll let you know how it goes." "Give my best to Craig and the girls, will ya?" "All right." "That ain't no Texas sky, but..." "It sure is pretty." "Thank you very much." "Great to be here at Douglas corner." "Thank y'all." "Hey, Wheeler!" "Hey!" "Hey, man." "You made it, man." "You sounded great." "Yeah?" "'Cause I don't know." "I haven't done this that many times." "Oh, no, it sounded great." "This is a great room." "I can't remember the last time I've been to a writer's night." "I'm so glad I came out tonight." "Thanks, man." "What's the deal?" "Piano and guitar?" "Wow." "You like the songs?" "Loved the songs." "I liked her songs." "Is this your friend, or...?" "Yeah, we've written a couple songs together." "I'm Wheeler." "I'm Audrey." "Nice to meet you." "You were awesome." "Love the songs." "Thank you so much." "I loved your song." "We were about to go to another bar and get a drink, get outta here." "It's kinda noisy." "You wanna come with us?" "Yeah." "I'm ready to get out now." "I'm gonna run to the head." "I'll meet you out front." "I'll meet you out front?" "You comin'?" "All right, yeah, I'm comin'." "Cool." "I'll give you more of the history when we get in here, but it's old dives." " Looks cool." " Here, let me get this." "Thank you." "All right." "First concert, Hank Williams Jr." "In the middle of a cow pasture in the south of Alabama." "Wow!" "How about you?" "Willie Nelson, 1981, reunion arena, Dallas." "That's a good one." "I met Willie last year." "Come on!" "Oh, I did." "I actually was on Willie's bus." "Get the hell outta here!" "And I have to say, it was the highlight of my career." "One of the highlights." "Of course it was." "Okay, favorite album." "Ooh." "That's hard, man." "It is hard." "That's a tie." "That's a tie:" "Kristofferson, silver tongued devil;" "Merle haggard, down every road." "God, those are great." "Mine is blue by Joni Mitchell." "I love..." "I love Joni Mitchell." "It's a good one." "There's some great songs on that record." "Some great songs." "My mom, actually, she worked at pizza hut..." "True story..." "When she was pregnant with me, and so when she would drive on her way to work, as a waitress, she would sing to me." "She would sing circle game, which is, you know, on ladies of the canyon." "But anyways, so I remember those melodies, so, you know, she's very influential to me." "You were in her tummy and you remember those." "I'm serious!" "I know it sounds crazy!" "I know it sounds crazy, but for some reason, later on, when I heard those melodies," "I just..." "I know it sounds nuts, y'all, but seriously." "No..." "I believe in that." "I think it soaked into my bones." "You got a sound like her too." "That Southern cross song you sang, when you go to those high notes, I mean..." "That's a great song." "You're a great..." "It's a great song and you have an amazing singing voice." "Thank you, yeah." "Buddy, you really were great tonight too." "Yeah, you were." "I couldn't believe it when you walked in, a piano..." "On your shoulder and..." "Oh, man, I walked in with that heavy piano." "Guitar?" "And then my guitar." "Maybe I got greedy, but I wanted to get on the keys, and then I heard her song and I was, like:" ""I'm glad I brought my keys."" ""'Cause I ain't that good on the guitar."" "You really need to be heard." "You know who would really like this guy?" "Who?" "Bart Herbison." "That's perfect." "Who's that?" "Bart Herbison at the NSAI." "Yes." "What's NSAI?" "Nashville songwriter's association, and they just help songwriters and artists just comin' to town." "What do you mean, like an agent?" "No, they're not an agent." "They just... what would you say?" "This is a great person for you to meet that would help you to maybe meet other publishers, or maybe just connect you with other writers." "What, I just play for him?" "Yeah, you play him a song." "Yeah, I want him to hear you." "I really do, man." "And he knows a lot of people, or...?" "He knows everybody." "He's very connected." "It's gonna be good." "I'm excited." "Hope so." "Allow me." "Hi." "How y'all doin' today?" "Good." "How are you?" "Doin' well." "Audrey Spillman and Wheeler for Bart Herbison." "Okay." "Hey, you've got Audrey and Wheeler." "Okay." "Y'all can go on up." "Thank you." "Thank you." "Come on this way." "I'm followin' you." " You nervous?" " I'll be all right." "You're gonna be great." " Hey, Audrey." " How you doin', girl?" "Hey, Bart. How are you?" "Good!" "Good to see you!" "You too." "This is Wheeler." "Hey, man." "That's a pretty good music name." "Wheeler." "Thank you, man." "Come on here and sit down." "Get your guitar out." "Thanks for havin' us, Bart." "I'm glad to take this time with you, 'cause they don't call me often, and I'm figurin' you've got somethin' pretty special to say in these songs, man." "You know, I just always wanted to come here, and I didn't know what was gonna happen." "We got here, I played a few things," " a few open-mics and I met..." " Loved it!" "Met Bobby and then Audrey, and everybody kept tellin' me" "I gotta meet you, and I love that thing on the outside:" ""It all begins with a song." 'Cause I feel like my songs have helped me get through some things and..." "If I can make some people feel somethin'," "I'd love to do it." "Let's see if they do, man." "Let's hear somethin'." "All right, then." "Man!" "Wheeler." "Wheeler!" "I don't know what to say." "That moved me, man." "You know, the biggest compliment I can give any songwriter..." "By the way, what a voice..." "And artist..." "Ah, thank you, sir." "Is that was personal, wasn't it?" "Yeah, it was." "I felt it, man." "I'm just so happy to be here, so happy to meet people like you." "I mean, I'm not lookin' to be a star, I'm just lookin' to..." "Well, you may have to change that wish." "I just want people to feel somethin' from the songs and..." "I'm so glad they got this on film." "That was an important moment to me, even with these trucks beeping' out here." "I'm so glad they got that." "Uh..." "I didn't mind that at all." "Oh, Wheeler." "You got me, man." "I don't normally do this after hearin' one song, and I wanna..." "I know from Bobby and from Audrey what you're all about, but I think I need to call Jim ed, man." "It's..." "Jim ed is...?" "The eagles, Hank Jr." "He runs curb records." "Oh, shit." "I ran into him a couple days ago and he said," ""Bart, we want somethin' real." "We want somethin' different." "We want somebody different."" "I think he's talkin' about you." "I know he's talkin' about you." "Ah, man, I mean..." "Audrey told me the people that've come in here and played for you, man." "Just the fact of meeting' you," "I'm honored, whatever you think." "Forget all that." "Hold on a minute, man." "There's somethin' I wanna do." "I never do this." "One of our founders was a lady named Marijohn Wilkin." "You know that story, Kristofferson came to town, slept on this lady's couch for seven years?" "Okay, yeah." "She wrote one day at a time." "Oh, and long black veil?" "Yeah, Marijohn Wilkin." "I know who you're talkin' about." "This was the first songwriter of the year award we gave out in 1969-70 for Kris." "This is Kris' award?" "Kris' award." "Sunday morning coming down, to beat the devil, help me make it through the night, for the good times." "And let me tell you why I got it out." "'Cause you know what was true about all those songs?" "They were real." "Ah, yeah, they were." "And so is that, man." "I'm gonna call Jim ed, and..." "I'm gonna help you out." "You got more like that?" "Oh, man, I got songs." "I got a bunch, man." "I just haven't gotten a chance to get in the studio professionally." "I've got a demo tape I can get ya." "Look, I love Nashville and I love country music, and we honor it and respect it." "But I think it's good that you haven't been here." "Wherever Kaufman, Texas, is from, whatever you felt..." "Wheeler..." "Thank you, sir." "Thank you so much, Bart. I wanna get out of your hair, but you tell me where I need to be." "If somebody tells me, I'll go to any meeting'." "I'll be happy to play for Jim ed." "Well, get ready." "I've been seeing that name a lot around town." "You got a little more coffee?" "Yeah, no problem." "Yeah, well, the hermitage was the name of Andrew Jackson's plantation." "You know he was the first president to ever have an assassination attempt on his life?" "Oh, really?" "Yeah." "He was comin' out of the capitol in D.C., he was leavin' a funeral or somethin' and..." "This crazy Englishman comes out of nowhere, claiming' to be king Richard III." "Took two pistols and fired 'em right at him." "Luckily for Jackson, they both misfired." "I mean..." "King Richard III had been dead for a few hundred years, you know." "The guy was crazy." "So they disarmed the man, they pinned him down." "Guess who pinned him down?" "Davy Crockett." "Jackson proceeded to kick the shit outta him with his cane." "So they test-fired these guns." "Bullets fired every single damn time." "Wow." "Yep." "That's crazy." "True story." "My breakfast is always $13.05." "Amazin'." "Well, I get the same thing, don't I?" " Yeah, true." " You had the Wheeler special." "I still gotta tune my guitar before this meetin'." "What do you say we get movin'?" "All right." "Yeah?" "Let's do it." "All right." "Ah..." "You know, Bart Herbison doesn't call me every day, and there's no surprise that you're a real, true talent." "Oh, man, thank you." "Thank you, sir." "You know, Wheeler, I really liked fever." "I'd like to know more about ya." "Do you write a lot of songs, and how about do you play live?" "Yeah." "I mean... songs, I got for days." "Live... haven't had as much experience with that, but that was one of the reasons to come here, was to not only see Nashville, but..." "To play some open-mics, see where that took me." "Uh... but it's somethin' I think I could get good at if I had the practice." "But, uh... yeah, I got songs." "I like your sense of commitment." "How does this sound to you?" "We do a development deal, you cut three sides in our studio across the street, uh, with musicians." "You get a chance to experience the creative process and what it means to work with other people and to make a record." "Damn." "So I would get to play with real Nashville players and record a few songs for you?" "Yes, you would." "Pfft." "Damn, yeah!" "I'd be into that." "Where are you stayin' while you're here?" "Uh... we're stayin' over at the deluxe inn, which is a... a little place right off Trinity Lane." "Hold on just a sec here." "Uh, Rebecca?" "Yes, sir?" "Is the lodge empty?" "Did Moe leave and it's open now?" "Yeah." "He moved out last week." "So we've got a place south of town." "It's over there by Franklin and, uh... great cabin." "It's a place where you could write more songs, play music, you just clear your head, you could hang out..." "How's that sound to ya?" "Mr. Norman, I wouldn't want to, uh..." "I wouldn't wanna impose." "I'm goin' into the studio." "I don't need a place to stay." "We're all right there." "No, no, no, it's not an imposition." "I'll have Rebecca call and get it set up with William out there." "It'll be fine." "Really?" "Yes." "It was a pleasure." "Thank you so much, Mr. Norman." "Wow!" "Bobby, look at this joint." "Hello?" "We got two bedrooms here, some sleeping' area up here." "Wow." "Then a king bed back here." "My phone number and everything's on this piece of paper here." "Great." "If you need anything, you can just give me a call." "So you're on the property?" "Yes." "Great." "It's nice to meet you, William." "It's nice meetin' you." "Thank you, man." "If there's anything, let me know, or I'll call, we'll have a beer sometime." "Sounds good." "If you need anything, let me know." "Okay, man, thank you." "You're welcome." "I hear it kind of like:" "Dum-dum-dum-do-dum." "I like that." "And I don't have..." "Should we write..." "Do we have to rhyme with crime?" "Down to the ground, or poor me." "Do it again." "Do it again." "Man, it's tough." "You know?" "No..." "Ground, town... town?" "Pour..." "How about:" ""Pour me out of this town"?" "Pretty crazy, this town." "You never know where you're gonna meet the next great talent and, uh, not too long ago," "I had some friends visiting, and went on this tour of music row in Nashville and met this guy from Texas." "He was just a cool guy and then, the more I learned about him, he had quite a story." "He's had some hard times and he didn't get to come to Nashville right after high school like I did." "But anyway, we got together, he played me some of his songs and we got together, and actually wrote a song just a few days ago." "And I asked him to come on out to the blue bird and play." "And I'd like for you to meet my friend Wheeler, from Kaufman, Texas." "Yeah." "Yeah." "Yeah, buddy." "It's a pretty magical place." "It's pretty crazy the first time on this stage and, uh..." "It's good to have you here, man." "Thank you." "I can't believe I'm at the blue bird." "This is nuts." "Well, let's just go for it." "Thank you." "Thank you." "Wheeler, ladies and gentlemen." "Took him a long time to get here, but by gosh, he did a great job." "Wow." "Kaufman, Texas." "It was one of those magical blue bird moments." "It was." "I've always loved that place." "It was always kinda like the Ryman to me." "The blue bird was the pinnacle for me, you know." "No doubt." "Used to make a lot of trips up here and..." "Stop in on the 9:00 shows and it was like goin' to church." " You know what I mean?" " Oh, yeah." "I'm gettin' a little cold, man." "It is cool." "I'm proud of you, buddy." "We gotta write another one, Bobby t." "I can't thank y'all enough for comin'." "Hell of a night." "What's that?" "I don't know, I've never heard that before." "He writes all the time." "We're at curb studios right here." "'Cause Mr. Jim ed Norman gave me a day or two to cut these three songs." "I had to pinch myself earlier." "I mean, this is just..." "I can't believe all this is happenin'." "When it rains, it pours, man." "I want you to meet a guy from Kaufman, Texas." " Hey, guys." " Hey, Wheeler!" "This is Wheeler Bryson." "Nice to meet ya." "Nice to meet ya." "It's a pleasure." "Nice to meet ya." "Pleasure." "Hey, Wheeler." "Basically, the numbers correlate to the scale of the..." "The beat?" "Oh, right." "So if you were to just say," ""no, I wanna do it in f,"" "these numbers still are relevant to the key of f." "Wow." "Let's go play it." "Yeah, man." "Okay, buddy, you're gonna sing a scratch vocal." "Okay." "Where do you need me?" "Good luck, Wheeler." "All right, guys." "Thank you, guys." "Have fun, man." "Here we go!" "And one, two, three." "I'm eddy Bayers." "I'm kinda like the elder of the group," "I've been goin' on since '74." "And, uh..." "Today, was... a surprise, because it was so refreshing." "And Wheeler, as a songwriter-storyteller, great voice, and the verse on every song that is just unusual." "And someone like him doesn't come around very often." "Wow." "Rockin', baby!" "That took it to another level." "Yeah!" "I like that guitar kickin' in." "Guess what I just recorded in the studio?" "She's only 20." "Yeah!" "Oh, Jill, you have no idea, it sounded so incredible." "Wheeler's awesome, man." "Like eddy was sayin' earlier, it's just a privilege." "The dude's got a killer voice, he's awesome, he's more country than a lot of new artists we're working with." "It's just refreshing." "He's kinda..." "It seems like he's blending a lot of the cool stuff that's new with some of..." "Where he comes from." "My name's Bif Watson." "Hitchhiked to Nashville in 1971, the day after high school." "Workin' with Wheeler today, uh, really authentic." "Authentic country singer bringing' back Lyric and melody, which is a wonderful thing." "Just a real joy to work with." "Great guy too." "Sounded really good in there." "Thanks." "Thank you." "I should get back in there too." "I don't wanna waste their time." "Well, can I listen for a second?" "Yeah, you can sit in there." "I'm just standin' out in that big room, feelin' lonely and tryin' to sing good." "You know, I wrote move on..." "Tryin' to heal myself." "A lot of the lines in that song," ""forgetting' your past" and "learn to forgive"..." "I don't think I'll ever forget the past..." "Forget the pain, but..." "Yeah, maybe it was just the... the magic of how the track sounded with the lines that I'm singin'." "I had Wheeler's vocal cranked." "He's like a cross between cougar, John cougar, a little bit of Springsteen, but Waylon, you know, back in the day." "I think he's a great storyteller, he's gonna do great stuff." "I'm just thrilled to be on the ground floor of this, 'cause it's great." "Wow, there's great energy on that." "Holy cow." "The whole band followed you, so that was... brilliant." "That was a track." "I think Wheeler's got a great shot, you know, so can't wait to see what happens with this." "Ah, man." "Okay..." "You wanna see how it's done?" "Yeah." "You wanna see how it's done?" "Yeah." "All right." "Good lord!" "How lucky can a man get?" "You hit dirt." "Close." "All right, here's the shot." "Okay." "Here's the one." "Who's winnin'?" "Uh..." "Travis." "'Cause he's not playing." "I'm gonna go take a walk." "Audrey, you wanna come?" "Yes." "Be back in a minute." "Good luck, Bobby." "This isn't happening." "You wanna take a wander with me?" "Yes." "I do." "What's goin' on with you?" "Just a lot on my mind." "I can tell that, but, I mean, you can tell me." "Yeah, I think it's everything this week." "The studio..." "Just been, uh, movin' so fast." "It's brought up some feelings and..." "What is it?" "Uh..." "I had a, uh..." "I had a little girl." "I lost her when she was 5." "Her name was Sadie." "She was everything to me, you know..." "I am so sorry." "I just miss her, you know." "I miss her every day." "And bein' here, all these nice things happenin'... it just makes me think of her." "She was at a party, playing with some friends, they were swimming in the pool." "My missus was supposed to be watching her." "And I don't know, the adults, they started talking or somethin'..." "My baby drowned." "Ah, hell." "I deal with this pain every day of my life if I think about her, but..." "I'm happy now, you know." "I know she'd be..." "She'd be proud of me and, uh..." "I just can't believe she could..." "Be taken away that young." "I can show you somethin'." "I got two here." "Here she is." "She looks a lot like you." "She's gorgeous." "Yeah." "Whew." "I can't even imagine." "Can't even imagine." "So, uh... there was a gap of time there, after that happened..." "I mean..." "I understand why this means so much to you." "Yeah, well, I just figured it's my last shot, you know." "I lost some time there and, uh..." "I mean, that kind of torture," "I wouldn't wish that upon anyone." "So... one day, I'll be with her up there." "I'll play her some songs and..." "You will." "It sure is nice to meet you, Audrey, and..." "I really consider you a friend." "And, uh..." "I don't tell people..." "About this stuff, but, uh..." "I trust ya." "You've been a good friend to me." "Well, good friends don't go away, they..." "We got that to look forward to, don't we?" "That's right." "You know, I got your back." "Why don't we head back to the lodge, light a fire." "Yeah." "After you, Ms. Spillman." "Wheeler, it's Bart Herbison here." "A couple things, man." "I love giving good news." "First, I checked those cuts out you recorded," "I'm telling you, bro," "I've still got my skirt up over my head, man." "They are awesome!" "And after that song you and Bobby Tomberlin played the other night at the blue bird, they want you back to play your own set." "Congrats, pal." "Give me a call." "That was great." "Thanks." "It's been a lot of fun." "Thank you." "Hold on." "You wanna hear another song from Wheeler?" "Wasn't that great?" "Play us another one." "Thank you." "All right, I'll give you one more, yeah." "Thank you, guys." "You guys are awesome." "Uh..." "This is a song I've been writin' for the last..." "About a month now." "Uh... it's a song I wrote for my..." "My father, who's no longer with us." "Um..." "He'd just be over the moon," "I think, to know that I'm playing this song at the blue bird café in Nashville, so, uh..." "This song is called show me the way." "Thank you." "Thank you." " Where we headed again?" " Bart's out of town, and he wanted me to introduce you to a writer." "Oh, yeah?" "Yeah." "In there?" "Yeah." "Come on." "Audrey." "Yeah." "Hi." "I'm Johnny." "How are you?" "Nice to meet you." "Wheeler." "Good to meet you." "Nice to meet you." "Welcome." "You guys good?" "You need anything?" "Nope." "Good." " I'll show you back." " All right." "Oh, my god... you have got to be shittin' me." "This is crazy." "Come on." "Kris, Audrey and Wheeler are here, man." "Hey!" "Come on in, man!" "Hey." "Wow." "Hi." "I'm Audrey." "Hi, Audrey." "It's nice to meet you." "You must be Wheeler." "Ah, yes, sir." "Heard a couple of your tracks over there at Bart's office." "And, man, you knocked me out." "Thank you so much, sir." "Coming from you, are you kiddin' me?" "Is this happenin'?" "Sorry." "Ah... wow." "You're my hero, Mr. Kristofferson." "I grew up listenin' to your music, reading' about you, uh... your story, and that William Blake quote you love so much." "I read all about that, and that got me through some really tough times." "It's one of the main reasons I'm in Nashville." "Well, I'm glad you made it." "I'm doin' a charity gig, comin' up at the Ryman." "How 'bout gettin' up and doin' one of your songs?" "Are you serious?" "The Ryman?" "!" "Yeah." "Well, yes, sir!" "I'll be..." "I'm at a loss for words, but I will be there." "I will be on time." "I'll be early." "Ha!" "Ha!" "Well, you'll be early and you'll be great." "That'd be incredible." "Well, great, man." "Johnny'll get you all the details." "We'll have some fun." "Okay." "Thank you so much!" "Pleasure meeting' you." "Yeah." "I'll be proud to say I know ya." "I hope so!" "I hope I make you proud!" "Thank you, man, for bringin' us in to meet the man." "See ya!" "Thank you." "Whoo!" "Yes, indeed." "Absolutely beautiful." "He's a country-music troubadour, a gypsy spirit, and a country song in his heart." "Wheeler Bryson, welcome, my friend!" "Ah, thank you so much for havin' me." "This is my first radio show." "Oh, we're makin' your debut radio right here in music city, USA." "You have definitely kicked up some dust." "Quite a buzz goin' around music city about you." "Nashville is a place where dreams can come true." "So what do you wanna do with all of this?" "You know, Marcia, I don't know," "I just wanted to see if my songs were just good in my hometown or if they actually, uh..." "Would translate." "And, you know, the overwhelming' feelin' that I've had here, just the experience of this, I'd be fine if everybody took it all away now and I went home back to the farm." "So can we talk about the show that's coming up?" "You mean the one I was invited to play at?" "Yeah." "Yes, so can I mention that?" "It's kinda in here..." "I mean, yeah, as long as I won't get in any trouble." "I don't know if that's acceptable, but, yeah, I mean, basically," "I had the great fortune of meeting' my favorite..." "Poet out there, Kris Kristofferson." "And he invited me to play at the Ryman with him, to come up and do a song, and I think it's next week." "I'm very excited to see what your future holds, and you seem so connected and honest to who you truly are." "Folks, again, be sure and check out Kris Kristofferson with Wheeler Bryson at the Ryman, comin' up." "My friend, you're welcome back anytime." "Come and see me." "It's an open-door policy." "I'll come back, Marcia, for sure." "Yeah!" "Hey, morning', stranger." "Good morning." "Someone moving' a little slow this mornin'?" "A little bit." "Where's Dorothy?" "Dorothy's upstairs." "She's sleepin' off the same feeling, so..." "Hm." "That was good harmonies last night." "I had fun." "Thank you." "She had a really good time." "I'm glad she came." "But today is your day, it's a big day for you, so..." "Anyways, I'm proud of you, and I wanted to give you a little somethin'." "What's this?" "Just open it up!" "Yes, ma'am!" "Wow!" "Look at these, Bobby!" "Damn, man." "Are you kiddin' me?" "You like 'em?" "I love 'em." "Gorgeous pair of boots." "Thank you so much." "You're welcome." "Let me try." "Let's see how we're doin' here." "Ah, yeah!" "Look at those bad boys!" "Whoo!" "I mean, they are slippery, I could moonwalk back to you." "I can moonwalk back to you." "Oh, my god!" "Oh, man." "Thank you so much." "You're welcome." "So, Bobby, we should get goin' here." "What else do I need?" "I got my jacket," "I got my guitar." "I think we're good." "Yeah?" "We'll see you down there at sound check, and you'll call Bobby t." "And tell him to come?" "I will." "He'll be there." "Okay, great." "Let's do it!" "Thank you, darlin'." "You're welcome." "You made my day." "Made my day!" "Whoo!" "We'll see you down there, Mike!" "All right, good luck, Wheeler!" "Thanks." "That was so sweet of Audrey." "These boots, they fit like a glove, man." "They look sharp." "Finally gettin' into the Ryman, baby." "Can you believe it?" "I'm excited to hear what he plays." " Who, Kris?" " Yeah." "Yeah, man." "I just can't believe it." "Just got the chills, man." "I got the chills runnin' through my spine." "Tsk." "Couldn't even sleep last night." "You know, your dad's gonna be listening tonight." "Yeah, he is." "He sure is." "What a day, man." "What a day." "Can't imagine what that stained glass is gonna look like from the stage." "And now a sad piece of news." "Wheeler Bryson, a recent guest of the show, was involved in a tragic automobile accident earlier today in Franklin that claimed his life, as well as the life of his childhood friend," "Bobby Ross." "His talent was true." "His words were honest." "His voice a beautiful mix of traditional and modern." "And at his core, an infectious spirit that touched the hearts and souls of everyone he met." "Our friend, Wheeler Lynn Bryson, dead at the age of 41." "This is an interview you don't wanna do." "He was special." "Uh..." "I needed his songs and I needed him in my life." "When I met Wheeler, he kinda filled a void." "And..." "I found something in Wheeler that I had lost, just the joy of writing songs and playing music for the fun of it." "I really wanted to come to Kaufman and I wanted to see the place and meet the people who made him who he was." "As long as I sing, as long as I play guitar and do shows," "I'm gonna sing our song and I'm gonna say," ""here's a song..." ""I wrote with an old boy from Kaufman, Texas." "His name was Wheeler Bryson."" "We became friends, and I don't make friends easily, because he was so real and genuine..." "And open about..." "His flaws and emotions." "He was just honest." "It's hard for me to talk about it." "Uh..." "He had no rules, he was not in any sort of box." "He is... he was just him." "And he had this story to tell." "It was incredible." "I feel like he made it." "He won." "There's just not a day that goes by" "I don't think about him." "Hearin' his music's almost... bittersweet." "Anyway..." "I-I'm glad that the world gets to have his music now." "You know..." "At least everybody gets a little piece of him." "Kristofferson became part of Wheeler's story." "And there's this great Lyric, the greatest songwriter's song ever is a song called to beat the devil." "I was born a lonely singer in a world turned deaf and blind who was crucified for what I tried to show but if I never have a nickel won't ever die of shame 'cause the truth remains if no one wants to know." "Wheeler told the truth and he broke a lot of rules in how quickly people did want to know." "And it matters, and it's gonna live on and on and on." "You know that line in the song, when I say, "nobody's here forever"?" "It sounds good in a song, but..." "I think people are here forever." "They're just not here in the flesh." "It's a crazy thing... death." "It's the one certainty that nobody's certain about."