Kelly Lang Country Artist

My friend, the multi-talented Kelly Lang, dropped in to update us on her new release "This to Shall Pass" from her highly anticipated "Jealous Green Eyes" album. Y'all check her out at

www.kellylang.net

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:06

And I have been busier than normal, but happy. I like to be busy.

SPEAKER_00 0:12

Well, yeah, and uh I gotta tell you that was the first time I actually seen you in concert.

SPEAKER_01 0:20

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_00 0:22

And in that setting, I love that setting.

SPEAKER_01 0:28

Well, it was one of my favorite favorite events too, because it's more personal. You get an opportunity to really tell the stories and set up the songs and why they've been written. And uh Monthaven is a it's a quaint little place, but it's one-on-one. You know, you get more of an intimate setting for sure.

SPEAKER_00 0:45

Yeah, but now I'm waiting for uh Kelly Lane, the comedy tour. Well, I know she mentioned that I should go into comedy, and and I have uh I don't think of myself as funny, but I enjoy laughing, so I had so much fun, and you just telling the stories and and picking on the people in the other room and stuff, and I was just like, Oh my god, I loved it.

SPEAKER_01 1:15

Well, I love people, you know, and I love to cut up and and uh if you've got a good audience like we did the other night, it's they're fun to play with, you know.

SPEAKER_00 1:23

Oh yeah, because uh I was sitting there Kim was sitting next to me and and Charlene was sitting right there. Yeah, we just had a blast.

SPEAKER_01 1:31

Oh, it was fun. It was it was one of my most fun nights. I was very relaxed for some reason, you know. I just I hope that you felt that, but it was I'm normally not that chill. I normally get a little bit more stressed out, but I was amongst people that I knew wanted to be there and that I loved, and you know, it was just it was just a fun evening. I was so happy to have my sister and brother-in-law in town, and uh, she never gets to see me in concert, so it was it was quite a shock for her, I'm sure.

SPEAKER_00 1:58

Well, yeah, I mean, it was it was just it was so laid back and so much fun, and I was just like, you know, you you kind of miss some of that if you're in like a bigger venue or bigger more people and all that stuff, and you do, you do, and that the intimacy is you know, one of my one of my fun most fun nights I've ever experienced was in Murfreesboro one night.

SPEAKER_01 2:21

I saw Barry Gibb, um, and he was singing to just his guitar and a piano player, but he got to tell the songs of why he wrote certain things, and I thought, you know what? That's where it is, you know, that's the magic sauce. Because if you're you I mean, I love to see full concerts, don't get me wrong, but when you you feel like you have left knowing them a bit better than you did before you walked in, and I that's really important to me.

SPEAKER_00 2:46

Yeah, because I mean it was just it was amazing.

SPEAKER_01 2:49

Well, thank you. I'm glad y'all were there.

SPEAKER_00 2:52

Well, yeah, I told uh I told Lisa I said, you know, we're we're gonna do more of that because I I had a lot of fun and you know, never met y'all in person before. We'd always just you know over this thing, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:06

It's quite different, actually. I I love I love in person, it's a whole lot more fun, and then Lisa got your book, and she read your book.

SPEAKER_00 3:19

I haven't been able to touch the book.

SPEAKER_01 3:22

I knew I liked her, I knew I liked her.

SPEAKER_00 3:25

She has been reading your book, and she's she brought it in here, and she was like, You gotta tell her I loved this book.

SPEAKER_01 3:35

Is she finished it already?

SPEAKER_00 3:38

Yes, two nine.

SPEAKER_01 3:40

Oh, I that's the biggest compliment to me because I would like for people that read it to feel like they were sitting across the table from me and just talking, you know, and I felt like it was in my voice and it was it was the way I really wanted the reader to be able to hear. It's an easy read, you know, it's a fast read, but uh it's there's heavy topics in it, you know, of cancer, but then there's funny things in it and things that I laughed out loud when I actually was able to write. So I'm hoping she picked up on that too.

SPEAKER_00 4:09

Well, yeah, and well, what she wrote is Kelly's book is uplifting, witty, and incredibly relatable. She writes with pure authenticity that made me feel connected to her and her amazing journey. That's even there's even a touch of wisdom inspired by the secret.

SPEAKER_01 4:31

Ah, it's true, it's true. I I learned a lot along the way and how to get through life's toughest moments by those uh inspirations. I I agree with her. Thank you so much, Lisa.

SPEAKER_00 4:44

Very kind, and uh, you know, that's uh now that I get the book, I'm gonna start reading it tonight.

SPEAKER_01 4:51

Good.

SPEAKER_00 4:52

Let me know your thoughts because she told me something she was blown away by that you wrote, and it was the whiteboard.

SPEAKER_01 5:02

Oh, the wishboard, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 5:04

Yeah, the wishboard on that's what she's got me doing now.

SPEAKER_01 5:08

I'm telling you, I have cleaned my wishboard maybe four different times since I began it, and when you see that your things that you put on there come true and you can physically take them off, it's very, very empowering. You know, you think, wow, I I didn't see that coming. One time I put up a silver version of a car that I wanted, but I really wanted the white one, you know. I just I just found a picture of the certain car I wanted and I put it on the wishboard, and lo and behold, like two months later, this car shows up in my life, but it was silver, and I was like, Well, you got to be careful what you wish for, you know. So um eventually I I got more specific with my wishboard, but uh, it does really help. Um, just just this week I looked up the things that I had put on there, and I I need to take a few more things off of it. It makes you feel very accomplished, and you can focus and see exactly what direction your life you want it to go in. But if you don't put a wishboard together or write a list down of what you want, you're just aimless, you know. So it's really uplifting.

SPEAKER_00 6:13

Yeah, because I mean she started telling me about all that, and actually got a whiteboard, a big whiteboard. And I I made the comment about Sheldon Cooper on Big Bang Theory, how they always had the big whiteboards everywhere.

SPEAKER_02 6:30

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 6:31

And uh now I'm like, here's a you know, January, February, March, April, May, and this is what I'm wanting to gear up towards, and this is what I'm shooting for.

SPEAKER_01 6:44

And yeah, it's powerful when you have goals to set and you see them in front of you each day, it just is a little spark of a reminder, you know, and and like I said, it's very fulfilling to take those things off of your board to replace them with something even new. You know, it's really funny, David. One time I put up in the center of my board the word contentment.

SPEAKER_02 7:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:06

Because, you know, you could want things or goals or whatever, but I thought it was super interesting when I put up the word contentment. For a long period of time, I didn't have anything I really strived for. Like it was like I can't even think of anything I would want or goals that and I realized, oh, you gotta be careful what you put on the board because contentment makes complacement, you know. So um I had to be really careful about that to not get get complacent in my day.

SPEAKER_00 7:35

Yeah, that that uh I can see that, you know. You gotta be careful with everything nowadays, you gotta put certain things down.

SPEAKER_01 7:44

Words are very powerful, yes.

SPEAKER_00 7:45

Yes, they are. I and you know, I didn't really realize how powerful certain words can be until I got to a certain age.

SPEAKER_01 7:58

Yeah, wisdom comes with age, and patience, I suppose I probably need to work on that a little bit, but um, I've I've learned that uh I don't always have to be right, and I don't always have to give my opinions just because I have an opinion. Um, the older I've gotten, the more um I let I let things slide a lot more, you know, and and uh I tend to be kinder even to myself, you know. I I give myself more grace than I once did as well.

SPEAKER_00 8:26

Yeah. And then when you sang that song, This Too Shall Pass. I didn't realize that was the first time you actually sang that out in public.

SPEAKER_01 8:36

Yeah, it was scary. I get very emotional when I sing that because I cried when I wrote it. I really cried, like bald like a baby, and I had a hard time getting through it the other night. I was supposed to sing it at Country for a Cause, but um, that's an emotional night for me anyway. And I didn't want to add double pressure on me, so I switched songs at the last minute because um it's so the words to it are so powerful. It's it's a human nature song, you know, that I feel I wanted to be in the right environment and mentally not be so um busy, but for me to be able to perform that. So it worked out really nice that I could the other night.

SPEAKER_00 9:14

Yeah, because I I was, I mean, I I can speak for myself and probably everybody else there. We were so honored that you shared that with us.

SPEAKER_01 9:23

Oh, thank you, David. It was it's a scary song to sing. You know, it's really funny because a lot of the songs that I sang the other night um are I I've not sung a lot of them, like never met a man I didn't love, or um I there's a couple of them I can't think off the top of my head, but um when you have written something and then you share it with people, it's like I hope you think my child is cute, you know, because you don't know how it's going to be received. And I I was so pleased how well people it was a listening crowd, you know, and and I really appreciated that very much.

SPEAKER_00 10:01

Yeah, because I I was laughing my butt off when you were talking about men you love.

SPEAKER_01 10:08

Oh man, it literally, and once a week TG is asked, or I'm asked that, you know.

SPEAKER_00 10:15

You know, well, I mean I remember his song, and then you said this is your version, and I was just like, Oh god, and then you singing it, and I was like, Apropos, babe, apropos.

SPEAKER_01 10:32

I mean, you know what's good for the goose, right? So I had to I had to bring it to the table.

SPEAKER_00 10:39

It was great. I mean, the whole night was just it was so enjoyable.

SPEAKER_01 10:44

Well, good. I'm so glad you liked it.

SPEAKER_00 10:50

So you got the calls.

SPEAKER_01 10:54

Country for a cause, the June 3rd. Um doors are at five at Third and Lindsley, and the show starts at 6:30. We have a huge lineup this year. We've got Mo Bandy and Linda Davis and the Malpass brothers, Allie Colleen, which is you know a treat in itself. Um, John Barry, Darren Brooke, I mean Darren and Aldrich, Darren Aldridge and Brooke, and um I mean just the list goes on. Ty Herndon, Neil McCoy. It's gonna be such a different night. We've had not had a lot of these artists on before, so it's gonna be some super fun. And and there's gonna be some surprises too. So, and we never know. I mean, oh yeah, people could walk through the door and we're like, whoa, you know, we just we're always and it's it's like a party backstage because you know, we don't see a lot of our friends throughout the year, we see them at this show or in passing, so it's nice for us to catch up with them, but then we have to rush on stage because we get caught up in conversation backstage.

SPEAKER_00 11:51

Oh, yeah, I know all about that. It's just uh things backstage get so wound up, it's it's sometimes it's like you gotta have somebody back there going, Hey, I know now I have to get wrangled in every once in a while.

SPEAKER_01 12:06

Scott goes, You're supposed to be on stage. I'm like, ah, take off running.

SPEAKER_00 12:10

Now is it that time?

SPEAKER_01 12:12

Yeah, yeah, but it's super fun and it's for a great cause. You know, we raise money for Monroe Carroll Jr. Children's Hospital here in Vanderbilt, and all the money goes to them. I think we've raised close to 300,000 so far. And this is uh mine and TG's 12th year to host the um Country for a Cause event. And it's it's just such a it's really close to my heart because my family had my brother was uh born with brain cancer, and the children's hospital that took care of him only charged my mom and dad one dollar to remove his brain cancer. And I, you know, otherwise I don't know what they would have done. I really don't. Financially, it can really destroy a family. So whatever little bit we can do to give back is is really an honor to us and a blessing for us to be able to do that.

SPEAKER_00 12:58

Yeah, it really is, and y'all do such an amazing job at that, also.

SPEAKER_01 13:02

I mean, it just oh thank you.

SPEAKER_00 13:05

It amazes me every year the the amount of artists that come in and everything that goes on with it. And then uh am I correct as saying that you and TG are being recognized for something down off of McGavick Street?

SPEAKER_01 13:21

Yes, um, there is a museum there, the Willie Nelson Museum, that is going to be um showcasing a booth or a uh exhibit, I don't even know what it's called, exhibit area for our careers and clothes that we have worn, like on album covers or um stage things, you know, and I haven't seen any of the display yet, so I'm really looking forward to that. It's it's really humbling though, you know. It's like, why would you want my clothes in there? It's it's kind of weird. And I I'm I tease Scott Sexton because he's the one that helped, you know, get that to going together. But he's like, we need clothes for this, and we need clothes for I said, Scott, no, I get really attached to my clothes. I I get they're like my little friends, you know. And he's always saying, You gotta let go of something, Kelly. So I thought it would be best to just donate an array of things and they could pick what they choose from, and and I can always go get them if I need them. But um, I think the the general public is it's free to come see that June the 5th. And um, I think it's our our part is at 11 o'clock. So if people want to come by and watch the zit exhibit being displayed, that would be really cool to see you guys, and and we're signing autographs that day there, as well as you know, the the convention center that downtown at CMA Fest.

SPEAKER_00 14:40

Yeah, well, I'm uh I'm not gonna be able to be at CMA Fest this year, but I will I will be at a couple events around. I I'm I'm definitely trying to get to Christmas for a cause and I'm trying to get down to uh because I want to see this display that they're putting up. Me too. I'm just like because I mean, you know, you go uh like the Johnny Cash Museum, yeah. You walk through there and you see, and you're just like, dude, wow, and yeah, because when you see Johnny Cash, you think six foot five man in black, and then you're like, was he that skinny? Really?

SPEAKER_01 15:27

He was very thin. It is. There's a lot of things that you're like, wow, I didn't know she was that short, or didn't know she was that, you know. And I think uh one of the things I think they're gonna keep is and the outfit that I wore on TG and and our iconic duet album, and the pair of shoes that I wore on that, I had gotten a lot of slack from or a lot of joking from from Larry Steiner. Larry, yeah, and he said they look like I had duct tape on my feet. So you be the judge. When you come see my shoes, you'll see if they look like duct tape. I I agree with him actually, but they're comfortable, so that'll be funny as I'll get out. I can't yeah, come on.

SPEAKER_00 16:08

Oh god, so it this is turning out to be one hell of a year for you, honey.

SPEAKER_01 16:15

Accidentally, it is. It is. I've been I've been, you know, I told you at the top of our conversation, it's I've been very, very, very busy. Um, you know, when when you're acting as um the writer and the producer and the creative director of the videos that go along with each single that's been released for this project, and the actor in the project, you know, it's there's a lot of of spinning plates that I'm I'm forming, and I have creative control over everything that I'm doing, so which is great, you know. I I really love that part about it, but it's a lot when you put together a project like this and it's all self-pinned, um, it's there's a lot of heavy lifting. I'm not gonna lie. It's it's something I enjoy greatly, but I don't know if I would do it again.

SPEAKER_00 17:02

I don't honestly, with the way you've been writing music, and I can't remember exactly when the book you got done with the book and it came out.

SPEAKER_01 17:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 17:14

But it was just like I don't see how you keep it all together sometimes.

SPEAKER_01 17:19

Well, I'm really grateful that it looks like I'm more busy than I am. I I bank a lot of things. I am very busy day to day, but I bank a lot of things and it looks like I'm releasing something each day. And um, I have had now to luckily have a social media team that helps me with a lot of the things that TG and I put out each day. I I couldn't handle all of that. That's that's been a real help for me. And you know what's really fun, David, is they have picked out a lot of videos from my past. I've even forgotten about. Like there's videos that that of TGs that he's done. He's like, where did you find this? You know, so it's been a lot of fun for us archivally to go back and and relive some of these memories that we've totally forgotten about, and it is really bringing a new audience to our shows. Uh, we look out and we're like, wow, that is that's a younger audience than than I expected. You know, but they're they're seeing things for the first time somehow, you know, so it's it's making a big difference.

SPEAKER_00 18:19

I've seen some videos of you from way back in the day with the big hair, and I was like, Oh man, I remember that.

SPEAKER_01 18:30

Yeah, and then you know, social media, everybody has an opinion. They want me to grow my hair back, or they want they don't like my hair short, or they love my hair short, and they're glad I don't have big hair. Everybody's got an opinion. You know, it's it's super funny that you know, just leave me alone. It's like I was teasing it in the show the other night. If you've got an opinion, I don't want to hear about it. You know, I'm finally at the age where I just nothing really bothers me anymore. But um, I wanted to share with you too. Um, I know June 5th of 1993, I think that's 34 years if I'm doing the math correctly. Um, we lost Conway Twitty. And I have a song called Goodbye Darlin that I put out many years ago in honor of Conway. Well, this year, um, on July the 4th, I'm going to be at Loretta Lynn's Ranch in Hurricane Mills singing the song Goodbye Darlin along with Trey Twitty and Taylor Lynn, uh Loretta's granddaughter and Conway's grandson at Twitty and Lynn is Twitty and Lynn is their fame. And um, I'm gonna be doing that and then one of the songs from the album. So if anybody's around Hurricane Mills on July the 4th, come celebrate Conway Twitty with us. It's gonna be a really special day.

SPEAKER_00 19:37

Yeah, because I'm writing that down as we speak.

SPEAKER_01 19:40

Yeah, it'll be so it last year we did it, and I was so um blown away by how dedicated those fans are. And before I even began to sing, they were into the song. They knew they knew it already. Conway fans and Loretta fans are all hi Rich, my brother-in-law just walked through, um, are all very um just passionate. Thank goodness. You know, it keeps the keeps the music alive.

SPEAKER_00 20:04

Oh, yeah, I love it. I love everything that you're just having so much fun, and I'm just I'm so happy for you because thank you. It's like you know, you hear some people as they get older their career dies and everything else, and you're just like exploding all over the place. I'm loving it.

SPEAKER_01 20:26

Well, you know, age is just a number, and I I think of myself, you know, when you've gone through a health crisis in particular, you really push reset. And so I feel like I'm 12. You know, you could tell me otherwise, but I wouldn't believe you. I feel like I'm 12 and I'm starting it all over again. And each day it brings a new challenge and something I learn. I love to learn. And I I am just I feel like I've got a new lease on life and a new passion for things that I took for granted for a little while, to be honest with you. You know, I took for granted that everybody could write or everybody could do an album. But at this point in my life, I'm going, wow, you know, this is a real privilege and a real honor to have a conversation with you and social media to be able to promote it. We're in a a really sweet spot in time that uh independent artists really have a voice.

SPEAKER_00 21:19

Oh, yeah. And I I'm loving all of it because it opens up so many doors that we didn't have back then.

SPEAKER_01 21:26

No, we didn't have it back then, and you know, if people feel that I am busy, which I get that term a lot, people always say, You are so busy. Um, it's thank goodness for social media because we can bank it, but um, it it gives us it brings us our power back to us. You know, we don't have to wait on a record label to make a decision or to wait on somebody to run our lives for us. We have the power, and that's one thing I want to encourage your viewers to do. You know, if you are on the fence whether you should release some. Or if you don't feel like you're strong enough, you've got power, you got just as much power in your hands as a major record label would right now. And it's important to have faith in yourself and believe in it enough to to just put it out. You know what you're gonna lose. So meanwhile, I'm living the best life.

SPEAKER_00 22:19

And I'm loving it.

SPEAKER_01 22:21

Good. Glad you are. Glad.

SPEAKER_00 22:23

All right, anyway. We're gonna get off here. Thanks for stopping by and hanging out with us.

SPEAKER_01 22:28

I'm so glad. And let me know how you like the book.

SPEAKER_00 22:30

I will.

SPEAKER_01 22:31

Please tell her how much I appreciate her very kind words. That that means a lot to me.

SPEAKER_00 22:35

I will, because she she really enjoyed it, and and we just had the best time the other night. And uh it's just I can't wait to see what happens next.

SPEAKER_01 22:46

Me too. Every day is an adventure here. So thank you. Thank you for noticing.

SPEAKER_00 22:52

All right, Kelly, tell everybody where they can find you, hon.

SPEAKER_01 22:55

Uh yeah, go to Kelly Lane.net and um I'm I'm too active on social media. It's uh everything. Uh it's Kelly Lane Music on Facebook, Twitter, uh, Instagram, TikTok, even. TikTok is a whole nother level of animal. I I am just getting into that, but it's it's a lot of fun, and you know, it's a different audience altogether, but I love engaging and and uh I love your I love your kind comments. If you leave a bad comment, I will erase you.

SPEAKER_00 23:23

Exactly. All right, Kelly. We'll alert you later, hon. Thanks so much. I'll see you soon.

SPEAKER_01 23:30

Okay, my friend.

SPEAKER_00 23:31

Bye-bye. All right, everybody. Please remember, like, share, follow, and subscribe. It helps us all. Go check out Kelly Lang and all the stuff that she's got going on. Make sure July 4th, go out to Hurricane Mills and look at what all's going on. Y'all, I'm telling you, TG Shepherd's got a lot of stuff going on. They're doing the country for a cause. Kelly's new song that she's just putting out, This Two Shall Pass. Oh my God, the things that these people are creating and doing is just it's amazing. And I can't speak highly enough of these two individuals. These two artists are just awesome. All right, we're out of here. Love you. Mean it. Bye.