So, welcome back to the Rugged Revival podcast. We are the home of the UK's country, Americana, and Roots Music
community. I'm your host TJ and joining me again is Rugged Ronny uh the most
famous man in Buckingham Shield. How are we doing mate? I'm very good. Ronnie, I was waiting for something else then but
uh thank you. That was very nice. No, no, it's going to be a nice introduction this week for a change. And you're also the most generous man in the world. So,
for anyone doesn't know Ronnie, especially after a few drinks late at night, uh he does like a drunken Amazon
purchase as we uh discovered. Uh, so if you want a bottle of bourbon, be sure to
ring Ronnie after 10 10 p.m. I would say, but there you go. Anyway, I
digress. So, on today's show, we had the one, the only Miss Presley Hail. Uh, one of our favorite artists out of Texas
right now, and really appreciate you coming on, Presley. How are you doing? I'm doing great. Thank you all so much
for having me. Ah, super. There's certain guests we do get excited about, and you were you were certainly one of
those uh guests. And um Rugged Rolly was so excited this week. You were playing Presley's music in the car with your
mom. I was. Yeah, I was. I took my mom shopping and
and she was like, I really love this. I really love this. And well, there you go. So, yeah, he's a mommy's boy. What
can I say? So sweet. So, you're properly famous now over in the UK. There you go. Um but yeah, like
I said, welcome to the Rugged Revival. Um, and what we we tend to do rather than just kind of read a a Spotify bio,
we hand over to you to kind of introduce yourself and to just to tell the listeners, you know, about your music and how you would describe your music,
maybe in one sentence, maybe in two. So, over to you. Totally. Well, yeah. My name is Presley Hail. I'm from Hamilton,
Texas, and I've been playing music for about six years now. I started when I was 16, just playing out in bars around
where I went to high school and stuff, and here we are recording and getting out there. I would describe my stuff as
like more singer, songwriter, country, Americana, but yeah,
beautiful. Love it. And um we've given some nicknames, nice nicknames in mind.
Uh so some of the female artists that have come on. So we've had Jesse Williams on recently who actually
describes herself as being the mountain mama. Addy Levy came on too and we we nicknamed her the queen of Appalachia.
So, I think it's only right that we give you a a fitting nickname and we would say you're a Texas bell, someone full of
class, grace, and charm. So, you can you can accept that or not. I accept that
totally. Thank you all so much. That's so nice. There you go. Tip of the hat. So, there you go. Um, I will hand over
to Ronnie now because Ronnie is the perfect person to kind of start with the the background.
I I'm sure you must be ill because you're being very very nice to me tonight. But anyway, um I appreciate
that. Thank you. So, um I have to say, Presy, it's not very often that I get Starruck. Uh but tonight, I definitely
am. Um and TJ was absolutely right in the post that he put out. Um I did nearly fall off my horse when he told
me. Um so, I have the absolute pleasure of starting off tonight's show with some questions around your personal family
life. Uh if you don't mind sharing that with us. So, Prizley, can you please tell us where did baby Presley start?
It's my favorite question of asking everybody. Where did you start? Where did you take your first steps? Um, and take us up to your teenage years if you
wouldn't mind sharing that with us. Absolutely. So, my family is from Hamilton. I was born in Plano, Texas,
which is like kind of close to the metroplex. And, you know, anyone who's familiar with Texas, it's close to Dallas and Fort Worth and stuff. And I
lived there for about two years. Took my first steps up there. And then we moved straight back to Hamilton, which is like
where my whole family was from. So, we came back and yeah, I started singing in
church when I was around eight. They had like I'm Baptist and they would do a bunch of like Baptist church plays for
the kids and stuff. It was like vacation bible school/musical, you know. So, I got the
lead role as Esther when I was in fourth grade. And that's kind of the first time
my family like heard me sing and stuff like they always heard me singing in my bedroom like karaoke, Hannah Montana,
stuff like that. And so and they they would tell me that I couldn't hold a tune in a bucket,
right? They thought I was terrible. That never stopped me. Never stopped me. Good. But they did not like it. They
thought I was so bad. But it was until I sang at church that they were like, "Oh, hold on. Like she's actually pretty all
right." And they started like really encouraging me. They were never discouraging, mind you, but they started
really encouraging me then. And so I moved. My parents got divorced when I
was around eight. So, I went to Brownwood, Texas with my mom and my stepdad. And my stepdad, he's
phenomenal. He is the one who kind of like shoved a guitar in my hand in my brother's hand. And he tried to get me
to learn when I was, you know, in fifth grade, but it never stuck. I was always singing though. So, it was until I was
16 is when I picked up the guitar and started learning. I was in Gulf at that time, which like all these little towns
are about an hour from each other, you know, so I wasn't really moving around like crazy. But I graduated high school
in Gulf. I would do the FFA talent show, which if you don't know what FFA is, it's a Future Farmers of America. And
Oh, wow. That was my I did not like athletics when I was in high school. I did cross country for like a year, but
FFA was my thing. And they had like a talent show in FFA, so I would do that.
And I started learning how to play guitar then. And from there, my mom was like, "Well, do you want to go do open
mics and stuff?" So, she would take me to open mics with my stepdad. And I
started writing, like seriously writing when I was 18 and the rest is history.
That is incredible. Thank you so much for sharing that with us. Um, just just a little bit on that. What point did you
think um you when you get that sort of light bulb moment and you think, do you know what? Music is my thing. I love
music. This is going to be my thing. I'm gonna do it. Was that the same sort of time when you were doing the open mics?
Did you think I'm going to do that now? Or was it even before that? So, it was really my whole life. Like
when I was a kid, I remember I started watching Hannah Montana. I couldn't have been older than three. Like honestly, I
was obsessed with her and I still am. I love Miley Cyrus. Like she's iconic. Always has been. And it's like one of
those like if you can see it, you can be it situations and I stand by that. And I
really there was never a doubt in my mind that I would be anything other than a singer when I got older. The
songwriting and like country musician like came later and it was really when I started playing guitar and writing stuff
that I actually enjoyed and felt like accurately represented what I was trying to say. That's when I was like, "Oh,
okay. I I can do this. I can have a career as this." And yeah, now I'm going
to give away a little secret. I did actually watch Hannah Montana quite a few times and I loved it. And I love Miley Cyrus. Um, and actually I've got a
story that I'll tell you probably another time around uh her her dad playing Achy Breaky Heart one night, but
I'll tell you all about that another time. Um, but anyway, more about you. I want to hear all about it.
Yeah, you don't. Um, anyway, so um that that's that's fantastic. And um just on
your songwriting, I just wanted to know um has your upbringing in Texas uh and
what's what's gone on in your sort of childhood influence the stories you tell throughout your music? Oh, 100%. You
know, like I've kind of lately I've been writing more. So like my grandfather, he
was a farmer. He still is alive, but like he would farm when I was a kid and stuff and I never farmed, you know, but
it's like all the cousins would kind of take their turn on the tractor, you know, whatever. and like I don't know just like that
bluecollar hardworking like growing up mentality and like you know going deer
hunting when I was a kid and my family they were bird hunters like always talking about the quail and the white tail and I just I love Texas so much you
know and I love my family so much but you know like everyone has their own things growing up and stuff and their
own things to write about but when I like have a hard time maybe like digesting things that
happened when I was a kid or something. I take it out writing songs for sure.
That's amazing. And and I I think everything you've just said there around farming, it's you know, it's a difficult
it's a hard time. It's a you know, it's a hard time doing that um as a job supporting local farmers. Absolutely.
Help local farmers. Um but you know, my own family history, there's a farming in the background and you know, that's
that's incredible. So, um yeah, thank you very much. Um now, there's a question that I've asked some artists
before. Um, we know because we know how great you are uh and and what you know
what you do and and how talented you are. But I wanted to ask you, what is it that sets you apart from everybody else
in today's music scene? That's so tough. Apart from everybody, I
don't feel like it's hard for me to think of myself as unique. I mean, I think like just physically like I do
these hearts on my cheek and like I purposely did that to be like identifiable and to be like set aside.
But my music I don't know like I try to I really love like what's going on in country music now and like modern terms
but I really love Emily Louu Harris and Nancy Griffith and Guy Clark and Towns Vanzant. So I guess in my songwriting
and my style I'm trying to keep that feel alive in today's music but yeah I
guess just I hope my old soul comes through good. Okay. Yeah, you certainly are honestly.
Um, and TJ actually mentioned earlier, he said, "Do you think we should um do
like homage to uh to Presley and and make some heart um shapes in my face?" I
said, "I'd love to do that. I've got nothing to do it apart from having permanent marker." So, I'll be walking I'll be walking around with it on my
face. We'll we'll do that. We'll do that on the next one. Maybe we'll do it on the I was going to get my kids thinking about merch. No, that's sweet. Oh my
gosh. I've had a few little kids come to my show doing that and I cry every time.
It's so sweet. Thank you so much. I'm going to hand over to TJ because I know he's busting to ask some questions. So,
thank you so much. Yeah, brilliant. I don't think we'll look as cute as the kids with hearts in our faces that are
done badly. So, uh it will do you a disservice. Um but yeah, no, thank you for coming on. You know, we've said this
a million times already, but um so we we discovered your music uh listening to the ranch radio. I I won't talk about
the ranch anymore because I I big them up in every episode because I I love them. Um but I think Oh, they're
fantastic. Um but I think it was less lonesome that came onto the radio at the
time and that's when I I didn't quite know who who you were, but there's certain songs or certain artists that
come on that particular radio station where it makes me pay attention and we
become instant fans. So we go down a bit of a rabbit hole. I'm like, "Oh, I've got to find out who that person is and you know, we'll go for your Spotify."
And, you know, it's um we were just drawn to your voice. You know, you've got such a mature, big voice, and you
know, these songs are so mature and fantastic. And in my opinion, you're one of the best singers I've heard in recent
years. Um, and Ronnie did d draw comparisons to
somebody, but I can't remember who on earth that was. I did actually. If it was in relation to the music or Yeah.
No, you're absolutely right. It was it was everything. And I was so funny enough TJ mentioned about um playing it with my mom in the car. Um and I said
for some reason there was there was a vibe that come out and I just said you give me sort of Paty Klein that type of
era vibes and my mom went yeah that's the one that was that was and I was showing her pictures and you know going
through your albums and stuff and I just absolutely it's definitely you know well up there Paty Klein and I I loved it you
know still guitar and everything in your um in some of your songs. So anyway, I'll hand back up later. Thank you very
much. That's so sweet. I couldn't remember, so I thought I'd get Ronnie to get involved at that point. But um but
yeah, I think I think we're just grateful for internet radio because in the UK, unless we have the kind of
mainstream radio stations here, but you won't hear, you know, the likes of Presley Hail or Adam Hood or all of
these fantastic artists. It's just it's a bit of a shame really, but we are we're grateful that we kind of come
across the ranch and and some of these awesome stations. Um, but anyway, let let's kind of move on slightly. So, back
into the music, when did it start becoming a serious thing in terms of gigging and writing, you know, what what
kind of point was that and you know, how did that start? So, when I turned 18, I graduated in
2020, I graduated high school. So, COVID had just hit and like not to bring that up, but it was a huge turning point for
me. So my brother had passed away at the beginning of my senior year and he was
my best friend. He's the reason I got into music and that was also a huge turning point. I was like, well, why am
I wasting my time, you know, taking SATs and all this different stuff. Like I don't want to go to college, especially
not now. I mean, he was 19 and I was 17 at the time. I was like, I'm not going to waste my time doing something I don't
want to do. Like I've already been gigging for a couple years. Like I want to do this. And COVID hit. I graduated.
I was 18. I moved out of the house. I met my boyfriend. We've been together for 5 years almost. And it's like he
took me to Shreveport where he was from. And I really cut my teeth down there. Got exposed to some really, really
phenomenal writers that really changed my path as an artist. Up until that point, I had only been around a very
small bubble of songwriters. And I got around those guys and I was like, "Holy cow, like what what is all of this?"
It's like everything changed in the best way possible. And then we came back home after two years. We came back to
Hamilton together. And I got involved with a guy named Larry Joe Taylor. So he has a songwriter showcase in
Stevenville. He also has a big old festival in April which is actually happening next week. So that's exciting.
But Nick and I, my boyfriend, we both entered separately. He ended up winning that year and I did it the next year and
I got runner up and met my best friend race. He won that year. So all of a sudden we just had this family, you
know, of songwriters that we never they were just like under our nose the whole time and Larry started managing me and
yeah, I mean things really started picking up steam a couple years ago after all that happened. Just um I just
want to ask a quick question TJ if that's all right. Um Shreveport you mentioned uh and you said you went with
your is it your boyfriend Nick you say? Yes. Yeah. Um, is that where you sung
um, Bell Street at the Louis, was it Louisiana Grand Stands Opry? Um, it was
on YouTube, let me tell you. Listening to that song was
it was mind-blowing. It was unbelievable. Oh, that's crazy. Um, so yeah, I and I couldn't I when you said
Shreveport, I thought that was that was where I saw the video and I saw you singing on stage. It was unbelievable.
So, sorry. Oh, no. My guitar was out of tune the whole time. I appreciate it. I
mean, it sounded amazing. So, good. Good. Very touching. Really touching. That's sweet. Thank you. To to untrained
or untalented ears like us. Um, fantastic. So, yeah. So, you you mentioned Nick, your boyfriend. I mean,
these are all talented artists in their own right. And that's Nick Brumley, isn't it? And, uh, say race and they
they've worked with you on multiple tracks. And Mountain Daughter, um, I think was one of the standout tracks,
wasn't it? that uh really kind of uh gained that attention and particularly through the ranch. So I was watching I
was binge watching uh YouTube videos last night. Nothing sinister but just show prep and uh but it was great just
to kind of see your journey in terms of starting at the beginning and I did find a video when you were 17 and I was it
was quite funny really. It looked like it was like that is Presley isn't it? But uh and that was
the bandwagon TV one. Do you remember that one? Oh my god, it's hilarious. I
can't believe that stuff is still out there. That's insane. Oh, that's so funny. I think you were playing a Beatles track in a in some cool car and
you were driving around ukulele. On a ukulele. Awesome. Yeah, it sounded good.
It was in tune. Hilarious. Good. Good. At least that was. But uh I think when I
looked at I was like that video is 5 years old. You were 17. So you're still very young and it makes us feel very old
for a start. But it's great for you because you've got the whole kind of world at your your feet almost and uh
you've got some amazing tracks out already and I think it's a great place to kind of start with with the tracks that you've put out already. Um so with
your debut single New Mexico in 2021 and then we'll work our way forward. So do you want to talk about you know the the
kind of the first uh single you cut um the reaction to that and and kind of what it what it's about really? So, the
first one that I cut was New Mexico, and that was actually the first song that I ever wrote. And I don't know. So, a
buddy of ours, he was doing us a favor. He had like a little house studio. He was very talented, like from Nashville
and stuff, like worked as a producer down there and an engineer. So, he had us in his little house in Gladewater,
Texas, which is East Texas. And, you know, like nothing against Daryl, I just
did not understand how to like express what I was hearing at that time. I mean, I was 18, 19 whenever that song was cut
and I was just very shy in a studio. It was like my very first studio experience. So, I think it turned out
great for what it was, but I could tell it was just like not my vision. And I also didn't have like much of a presence
at all in the scene at that time. So, when I released that, it got about what I expected, which it did better than I
expected. So, I was really proud about that. But whenever Mountain Daughter came about, Mountain Daughter is like
New Mexico's like older sister in my opinion, you know, and Nick and I, so we
took a trip to Colorado. I'm sure you've heard the story if you went like binging and stuff, but I love that though. I
love that so much. That's so fun. But we were in Colorado. I was so inspired. I fell in love with it. We carved our
initials in a tree. It's the only time I've ever done that with any, you know, man I've ever dated. And it was very special to me cuz I love nature. And I
started I wrote the beginning of the song like the little ac capella bit that it comes in on and I had like the second
verse kind of and I had like bits and pieces but I had been sitting on it for months and months and months like six
months I think and I just couldn't go anywhere with it. So when I got into the Lar Jo songwriter showcase for the
second year I didn't have any songs. So I was like Nick I need your help and we
wrote that song together. Nick, you know, like put his magic on it. Really turned that song into something special
that, you know, we both adore so much. And it was that year we played it for
Bigfest few or a couple weeks later after the songwriter showcase and Shane Hollinger heard us and he was like, "If
you record that song, I'll play it on the ranch." And I was like, "Yes, sir. I got it." So, we came up here to Dripping
Springs and we recorded it and Rece and Nick sang harmonies on it. We had some freaking stellar players on it and yeah,
like that song really did change my life. It grabbed all the right attention. Some of the wrong attention
if I'm being honest, but like it grabbed a lot of good attention, too. And I'm very grateful for that. Fantastic. What
What is the wrong attention? Just so we know. I just had I had some like I was still
very green in like the professional side of things and I had some you know
manager figures come out of the woodwork before I like really got involved with Larry and I didn't really know what I
was doing and luckily all of them were handshake deals so I could be like yeah
no I you know this isn't what I thought it was and there was no like lawyers involved or anything but I certainly I
certainly got my hand slapped a couple times but it was good. Good learning experience.
Yeah, that that's that's where you need good people around you. Like you say, if you got Larry Joe Taylor, who's a legend
on the Texas scene and and your friends around you, that that keeps you on the the straight and narrow, um, so to
speak. So fant. So you released a few songs in 2023. So Mountain Daughter,
obviously the one that that kind of gained the most attention. And I think I mentioned it earlier, it was Less Lonesome is the one I heard on the ranch
that kind of drew me towards you. And uh and then you had a few more out in 2024
with Mosquito, Think of You, and then 2025 uh this year where you've had I I
think it's just getting better and better in my opinion. So you've got Sunny Day and Dog in the Cold, which came out. Was that last week or the week
before? Uh yeah, it was like two weeks ago. It feels like last week. That was like not long ago. But yeah, so we've
been playing that non-stop. And um I I I didn't tell Ronny the other week, but I've been pulling together a kind of a
secret list cuz at the end of the year, I want to have five songs that I think are probably either the most played from
what we do or the favorite tracks from our community. And I think that is definitely going in there. Dog in the
cold. So a we we are definitely adding adding that to the list. We're not going to add Lone Star State of Mind as well.
Mind we played it on repeat the other night. Well, I'm talking about stuff that came out this year, right? So, all right. So,
attention attention, DJ. Sorry. There you go. Um,
so that's something we'll be doing. And, um, yeah, I mean, just going through through your catalog of music so far for
someone still so very young. They're all, and I've said the same word repeatedly, but they're all incredibly
mature songs, cultured songs. So, what what is your writing process for somebody starting out or needing some
inspiration? How do you kind of approach your songs? So, the stuff that I usually end up
keeping the most of and like liking the most later is like stuff that I get really inspired when I'm like driving
around alone, like either running errands or going to a gig or something. So, I'll just like kind of hum and get
my voice memos out and like maybe spit out a few lines. But, it's really like trying to focus on a melody and then
whenever I get home or to my guitar and have time to sit down with it, I'll listen to it and like kind of map it out
chordwise and then go from there. So I start that way a lot of times. Sometimes
so like with less lonesome for example, we had just watched Radney Foster. He hosted like a coowwriting seminar at a
festival we were at a couple years ago. I guess that was three years ago. That's crazy. But I was hung over. So hung over
the next day. But he and I was like sitting down with my guitar trying to make myself feel better after the festival. And I had remembered something
he said. He said, "If you ever get stuck writing, put your guitar in dad gad." which I'm sure you know what that is,
but it's a different tuning. And so that's what I did. And I couldn't really figure out like how to play any chords
in Dad Gad. So I just ended up putting it in like double drop D. So I left the
other string alone. And that's when I started writing less lonesome. But I just kind of started like humming with
the melody as to what I was playing and then the lyrics came after. So it really
varies, but it's almost always melody driven. I have never been able to
successfully write a song as if it was a poem and then put music to it. I really
wish that I could. I heard that towns band did that all the time, but that's just not how my brain works. So, yeah,
it's always melody driven. Usually starts in the car or the shower, you know,
all those places of inspiration. Fantastic. Um, so I mean going back to the Texas
music scene because we on the podcast we go from place to place. We've we've been to Alabama, we've been to Georgia,
Kentucky, Texas a hell of a lot because there's so I mean you're such a big state. There's so many of you, so many
incredible artists. But I'm always interested about your experience of the scene, the local scene. How do you find
the Texas music scene where you are? and uh as who has kind of helped you settle into it and you know and I suppose
another question to add to that would be do you think it's much different to the other scenes like Nashville or or
Georgia if you've experienced those? So I really haven't experienced Nashville a
whole lot. I have experienced Shreveport which is its own scene really but Texas
I've had nothing but a beautiful experience and like you grow up and you hear all this different stuff like you
know they're not mean to women but like don't take you as seriously. I've never
had that problem ever and like I'm so grateful for that. And like it could be the company that I keep. Like most of my
friends are guys and they're like very respected in the scene, but everyone's been so kind to me, so helpful. And a
couple of my female artist friends like Shelby Stone. Oh my gosh, I adore her so much. And she is just so her and I were
actually in the songwriter showcase together both years that we did it. And that's wherever we met and like kind of got to know each other. But I just think
she's absolutely dominating and I love her. Milo Ray, she's another one that I really love. uh Meredith Crawford, she's
an East Texas girl, but we just have this very like maybe not necessarily close-knit, but we all support each
other from afar and close by. And like anytime we're playing the same festival, we're all front row screaming our heads
off, singing the songs, you know? Everyone just loves each other. And like there's I don't feel any sort of
competition at all. And it's so refreshing because like whenever I was younger and not really involved in the
scene, I thought it was this cutthroat get out of here little girl kind of thing, but it's absolutely not that way.
And I'm so honored to be a part of it. Uh, it's a great answer because you've touched upon something I did write down
and I did take it off, but it was a few comments I did see online, not not about you, but about the scenes in general
about country music and it was from from female artists finding it, you know, a struggle to get involved because it is a
male-dominated industry and they've had some some negative experiences. But it's interesting to hear the other side of
the coin and, you know, um, and your perspective on things. But there you go. Anyway, I've been waffling on for quite
some time. I think I will hand over to Ronny because he's itching to to ask some questions again. So, I'm gonna
Excuse me. I'm gonna uh I'm gonna ask you this one. TJ always gets the hump with me because I always keep offering
too many songs out. So, um we've um we've started a playlist um which is
exclusive for our podcast guests um and artists that we meet on the road. Um so, what two songs should we add to this
that reflects your work? Um, and and what would you like us to put us? Well,
what would you like us to put on? I mean, we've got we could probably give out three or four songs now cuz I've got to that I've got to that total. So,
we've got a playlist as long as what what two songs would you would you say?
The two songs that I have like solely written I co-write quite a bit, but the ones that I've written by myself that
I'm extremely proud of would be Less Lonesome and Sunny Day. Less Lonesome is
about my brother. The first one that I wrote about him was Bell Street. And I wanted to write something less on the
nose, you know, and something that I could play and maybe not give the whole story away and people wouldn't always
get it. Like I wanted to write it as if it was a breakup song, you know, and luckily I have a lot of people thinking
that it is a breakup song. And I think that's really cool because that's what I was trying to do. And I don't know, like
that song means a lot to me. And there's a lot of that song that has like grown with me. Like, you know, I released that
song 3 years ago. And the more that I play it, or was it two years ago? I don't know. It was a couple years ago,
but the more that I play it, there are like little lines that I'll change here and there for live shows to like make it
more relevant in my own life, you know? And Sunny Day, I wrote that song. So, I
really needed to write another song for the record that we've been working on. And I was in New Bronx Falls. Race was
playing a show. So, like Nick, my boyfriend, plays bass for Race. And we were just hanging out at the Airbnb.
They went to soundcheck and I just stared out the window and saw these birds playing in a little puddle and I
was like, man, like and they just took off and went away. And I've always I've always wanted to fly. I feel like that's
very normal thing to do. I would have dreams about it. I used to have a reoccurring dream all the time where I
just sprouted wings and did whatever I wanted. But yeah, and I've moved around
my whole life and I've realized I get very antsy and uncomfortable when like
things get a little tough. I'm just like, "Oh, like a move will fix it. I just have to move five hours away and
everything will be better, you know?" And I've realized I was like, "Oh, is this because like I moved around so much
as a kid or is this because like I have like avoidancy? I have no idea." So I
hyper analyze myself all the time. I should really just go to therapy. But instead, I write songs. But yeah, so I
wrote that song kind of about calling myself out and being like, "Girl, you don't have to keep looking for greener grass. You can just water your own. It's
not that hard." So yeah, those two I think really represent me as a person
and as a writer to my core, you know. Well, we will certainly add them two songs. And what a beautiful magical way
you've just put it. Um, that is probably one of the best answers to that to that questions that I've had. Um, and the way
you've just described it is is awesome. So, thank you. Um, so a bit more about
um your what what would you say is the best album or single that you've listened to in the last Everybody keeps
saying 10 years. I'm not five years. Let's do five years. Okay. So, it's an older one. It's a live
album, but one that absolutely like changed my life as a performer is Nancy Griffith live at the Anderson Fair in
Houston and it's called One Fair Summer Evening. And it's absolutely stunning.
It's just her and a keyboard player and she's just killing it. And the stories that she tells are so adorable and so
well worded and she was just so poetic with her just talking her words, you know. And one of her songs I love so
much is called Love at the Five and Dime. John Prime cut it on her tribute album after she passed away. But it's a
beautiful song and the story that she tells for that song is like it should
just be another song. It's so good. And she's playing her guitar the whole time and she explains like certain things and
that she's doing on the guitar. Oh, it's amazing. But that one for sure. And then Willie Watson. I'm a huge fan of his. Oh
my gosh. So I love his folk singer albums. And if you don't know who Willie Watson is, he played banjo forc medicine
show. He was in their band for a long time and he left at some point. They didn't break up, but he just left the
band and he started doing these folk singer albums. He has like two of them. I think he would just find old folk
songs and cut it. But he didn't have any original songs. I still loved him. But
that last year he released his first like all original self-titled album and
it's probably the best album I've ever heard like front to back. And I might be a little bit biased. It's just so folky,
so authentic. The stories are amazing. The guitar playing is amazing. The way
it's been produced is so beautiful. I also really love Heroin the Harvest, Gileian Welch, but that's a third one.
You only ask me two. You can have as many as you like, honestly. But I really love that stuff.
Yeah, we'll definitely give them a listen. Um and and way you just describe it around the the real folky sort of stuff. I'm looking forward to listen to
it. So, thank you. Um now are there any emerging musicians or um well to start
off I I always say this to the artists that come on that we we get a chance to interview and um we always say that
country music Americana you know the roots that we we describe it at the first part on the introduction to the
rugger revival is all about community and it's all about giving people that that little bit of light you know to to
say look we can push it out we'll do whatever we can to help you out you know we want to stick together as a
and we want to help each other, you know, and we want to build on that. And and the next question is about um seeing
if you know any emerging artists or any talent that you would like to shout out and just say, you know, do you see um
and and probably the second part of that question is around any advice you would give them from what you've gone through,
what you've done. Um you've done so much in in such a short time, but is there
anything that you would give? So, there's a lot of artists that I've seen very recently just through the
Texas like Larry Joe Taylor songwriter showcase. It just ended last Sunday and there's this there's quite a few of
them. I can't even name them all off. But Ashton Naylor, he is one of them. He has just started releasing stuff. He's
fantastic. Uh Savannah Freeman, she is about to go into the studio for the first time and release some stuff. The
prettiest voice I've ever heard. She sings like a freaking bird. Oh my gosh. and she's an absolute doll. Cameron
Albbright, I'm sure you've heard him on the ranch if y'all listen to the ranch frequently. He just won the songwriter
showcase, so that's extremely exciting. Yeah. And there's quite a few others,
but I guess any advice that I would give is don't get a big head too soon cuz
believe it or not, I definitely had gotten cocky at some point and been humbled a few times. And it's like yes,
like you need to be humbled. It's very important to me that like you just deal with it with stride and like it's like
okay yeah I understand why that happened. My head was a little inflated that needed to happen you know but once
you get that I feel like just stay humble. Keep writing songs. Stay true to yourself. It's okay to have idols but
don't try to be anybody else that you're not cuz you're cooler. I swear, you
know, but just be yourself. Write your songs. Tell the truth. Write the truth,
you know, but keep your head up. It's hard out here sometimes. Yeah, you're absolutely right. I mean,
from from some of the some of the information we were getting from the other artists and, you know, what you've
been saying, it is a tough slog. You know, it's a slog to get there to do what you're doing. I take my hat off to
you. We both take our hats off to you. um all the artists that are up and coming because you do such a difficult
thing um and to try and keep up with it. I know TJ will probably talk about social media and all that sort of stuff
but you know it's just one aspect of of having to deal with that pressure on and and your own personal life you know so a
lot of people work full-time as well but um that's great advice and and absolutely if there's any emerging
artists that are listening take heed listen to the advice you've been given. Uh, and interestingly, when you said be
yourself, be you because you're better, that's that's the best bit of advice that I've heard from all of them. They
always say the same thing, be you. Don't try and be anybody else. You know, be unique. Um, and you're certainly
smashing that. You're certainly unique. Uh, honestly, brilliant. Thank you. Um,
so, a couple of other sideways questions, I think. Um, I want to know when you've done a a set or a gig or
you've been busy practicing all the time, what's the one thing you like to do to chill out and relax?
I love my dogs. I love my dogs so much. Like, anytime I see my dogs, I'm just
immediately happy. We take them on the road with us, you know, wherever we go. We usually get an Airbnb nine times out
of 10, so like we keep them there. So, as soon as we're done, I'm just like, I want to go home. I want to see my dogs.
I want to hang out with them. Because I mean Graham, we have a little rescued pit mix and he's the sweetest guy and
then Emiloo, she's a little bulldog. So we have Emiloo Harris and Graham Parsons and they are best friends and they're so
sweet. But and like I don't know like I really love talking to people, you know?
It's like and it's really crazy for me to say that because I've always been very introverted and really shy and I've
never like truly disliked people. It's just like it's easier to like stay out of the way. But after a show, especially
like in the Fort Worth area, like with the ranch crowd and stuff, I love talking with people and I love like
hugging their necks and hearing their stories and like if they related to something and, you know, hearing them
out. I think that's really awesome. But I don't know, I love being with my friends. I love listening to music. We
have a few like comfort shows that we settle into as well whenever we get home from a show. And it's just fun. Just
family time, downtime, dog time. Most importantly, what's your favorite comfort show?
Oh my gosh. My favorite comfort show. Silicone Valley. Have you all ever watched that? Okay. Yeah. No, it's so
good. It's like I love The Office. I love Parks and Wreck and like Silicone Valley is still like really fresh to me.
So, I'm obsessed with it right now. But there's this other show. I love Walton Gogggins and I've been watching
Righteous Gemstones with Race and Nick. If y'all haven't seen that, y'all have got to check it out. It's definitely not
a kid show, so be wary of that. But it's hilarious. It's really good. But yeah.
Oh, shrinking. It's on Apple TV. It's got Harrison Ford in it. And it's about
these therapists that are just dealing with their own, you know, BS in their
own way, but they're helping other people as well. It's really awesome. It's a really good feelgood show. But I
think as bloss, uh different kind of trash TV that we watch, you know, my my
wife to be watches those sorts of programs, but uh I love Mountain Men and
Moonshiners and stuff like that. That's that's my bag. That's good. I always forget about those
shows. Oh, they're proper trash TV. That's what my my wife said anyway. She's like, "Why do you watch this?" They're all the same. I just love it.
You know, you can zone out and uh just just watch loads of them. So, uh yeah, just revealed what I watch. Anyway, I
was obsessed. We've only just uh finished watching uh Yellowstone. We've only just finished watching that, but
our go-to I think I said in the last one, um but our go-to that we've watched
about a thousand times is Shitz Creek. I love Shitz Creek. What an awesome What
an awesome program that is. Oh my god. And I cry all the time. All the time. Me, too.
But there we are. Anyway, I'll give it away all my secrets. Um, so Preszley, you know, we like some gossip on this
show. We love a bit of gossip. Can you tell us all your secrets? No. Um,
outside of music, what's something you're passionate about um that people might not expect?
I love fishing. I love fishing and I think like I'm a Pisces and I'm not
really into like horoscopes and stuff, but it's like I love being by the water. I'm not a huge ocean person, but give me
a good like river or a creek or a tank. I love putting my feet in the water. I
love like I've really gotten into fly fishing lately. I'm not good at it. I'm not good at it at all. But there's
something about just like it's so fluid, you know, and it's like that's whenever
I'm like bass fishing with like a rod and reel, I'm still like thinking about other stuff. It's so easy. But like fly
fishing, like it's a full body thing. That's all I'm thinking about. I was like, "Oh, was that a bite? Was that a
bite? Shoot. Don't get in the tree." You know? So like I love that stuff. I love
being outside. I really like yoga as well. Like it's really important to me
to keep my brain steady, you know, like I have to do something like that. But
just like putting my feet in grass is a really great pastime as well.
So no, I mean I'm pretty boring honestly. Like if it's not music, it's just fishing, water, grass. I like
hiking. I like walking around. But yeah, being surrounded by nature. Thrifting is
cool. Yes. Perfect. Perfect. So, I've got to ask
now TJ TJ mentioned something earlier because I know it's on the top of your
bio. Um, and it's I can't even say it. A master in
training for Roshambo. Roshambo. Roshambo.
Yeah, tell us. So, that's forever. That's been there for so long. So that
piece of my bio has been with me dang near my whole career because like
whenever Nick and I we played together before we ever dated and we didn't who
wanted to go first. It's like song swap style. So, we rock paper scissors to see who went first. And you can't you can't
win at Ro Shambo. Like, you can't perfect it. Like, there's no way, you know? So, I just thought that was super
silly and dumb and I was like, "Oh, master in training one day and like I'll win. I'll get it every single time." But
no, it never happened. But yeah, that's where it came from. Uh I'm I'm going to be honest. Um me and my husband uh do
the same sort of thing. uh where I always lose and I've got to go make the tea or I've got to go and cook dinner or
Yeah. So, I always lose. I'm just I'm just rubbish at it. So, anyway, should we try one now? Should we try one now?
Yes. Let's do it. Absolutely. Come on, TJ. Should I Should I I've been training all day. So, uh is it after three? Is
that the etiquette? Go. One, two, three.
Wait a minute. We're going to have to do that again. Oh, you How can you mess rock paper scissors up? Seriously. One,
two, three. Dang. I watched both of you. Ah, we'll
change the rules over. You won, Presley. It's fine. No, it's not how it works. See, that's why I'm still training. Still training.
Unlike us. We are. What a podcast this is turning out to be. So, anyway, uh, we've had a bit of fun.
Why not? Um, so Prey, as you know, we have themes on this show. Now, TJ doesn't know I'm going to do this. Okay.
Um, oh, bit nude line there. Oh, it looks green. Should be yellow. Um, now we've also got themes on this
show and we're approaching the Easter weekend. Um, so firstly, I want to know,
do they have Easter eggs? Do you do Easter eggs? Is Easter a big Easter egg giving, chocolate giving celebration in
the US? Yeah. Yes, it is. I mean, not so much
for like us musicians who don't even know what day it is half the time, but
growing up, my mom my mom would go all out. Like, she would give me like pajamas and all the chocolates and like
little Easter egg hunt and stuff and like sometimes a freaking lamb to raise, you know, like we had a lamb one year.
Oh my god. Her name was Dolly. She was so sweet. But yes, so no, we do go all
out and like my stepdad whenever I started getting older, we had these like crystal looking eggs and he'd put like
$5 in it and they'd be hidden all over the pasture. They'd be like way far away. So, we'd have to go look for that.
But no, Easter has always been like a really big deal in my family. But yeah, I haven't celebrated in a long time,
unfortunately. But we might this Sunday, I think they're going to have an Easter. No, you have to. You have to do it by
revival request. You got to do it. And you got to get some ears like this. Um, I'll tag you all on Instagram. I got to
say, you got Dolly the Lamb or did have Dolly the Lamb, Graeme the Dog, and did
you say the other one is Marylu? Emily Lou, Ann Lou for Oh, Emily, sorry. Emily,
like Emmy Harris. Um, it's my hearing. Sorry. Um, you're good. Anyway, so that's uh what a great mix. Now, um, the
last one on Easter is what is your favorite egg? What would you What would be your ultimate Easter egg to get?
Cadbury egg all the time. Cadbury egg. Good choice. I love Cadbury eggs. Like
two of Cadberry eggs. Yeah. Yeah. What's yours, TJ? Well, I
get the leftovers what my kids have, all the stuff that they don't want. Um, so they get given about 20 Easter eggs by
the family, maybe more. Um, so yeah, they'll eat a few of the good ones. Uh, like the Malteses ones, but anything
Cadbury. Yeah, I I didn't think you guys had Cadbury over there. So, uh, that's a real treat. Um, so yeah, we'll have
those ones and then they'll leave me about 15 of the most disgusting cheap
Fredo Fredo ones. And then I've got a whole month to eat Easter eggs and then the month after I need to lose weight.
So, uh, that's every year pretty much for me. Yeah. All year. All year.
Anyway, um I saw a uh a controversial Easter egg actually, which was a Toblone
egg. Have you ever seen a Toblone egg? No. Anyway, right. Anyway, enough of
that. Right, we've done Easter. Happy Easter everybody. Happy Easter, Presley from the Ruger Revival. So, that's
enough of that one. Um last question for me, I promise. Um and I've asked loads
of different artists this and I find it so interesting, but please tell me your top three goals. Now, there could be top
three goals in three months, six months, nine months, a year, for the rest of your life. What are your top three
H I think about this all the time. So, I just started playing full
band shows and we're still tweaking through the set list. So, I would really love to get like a solid set list soon.
like hopefully by September, I want to have a solid set list with a solid flow.
I want the band to feel very comfortable. I want to walk up there as if I'm the only one to worry about,
which has been I have really great players playing with me. I'm so lucky. So, it's been that way most of all. But
I just want to walk up there confidently, comfortably, tell my stories, roll on at full band. So,
that's definitely one. my second one. This might be silly, but I'm really terrible about bringing merch to shows
and I just ordered a lot more. So, I want to be like I want to get a freaking sick merch setup with a sign with all my
stuff. I have I have all the stuff that I need. I just need to put it together and actually take it with me. So, that's a huge goal of mine is like get my merch
game down. Get my merch game golden. So, full band set solid merch game solid.
What will be the last one? I'd like to write a couple more songs by September. A couple more like songs that I really
like, songs that I feel like because I write, you know, pretty often, but I
want to start finding a flow again. I had a flow about a year ago. I was in a songwriter group like once a week and it
was just really stressing me out, so I got out of it. But I really want to find that flow again by the fall. So yeah,
find my songwriter flow merch game. solid full band set. We are going to be
right behind you on the merch game. We love a bit of merch. Um, we love hats. TJ loves a koozie. I love t-shirts and
hats. Soon as you got your merch game sorted, I'm there. I'm there. I'm going to be buying it for all of us. So, we'll
we'll be repping you on the rug revival going forward. Um, thank you so much um for for answering
my questions there. Um, I'm going to hand over to TJ. Yeah, we definitely do love the the merch, Pres. So, um, yeah,
I think hats, uh, we can't keep wearing our own hats. It's a bit cringe. It's a bit, uh, it's a bit it's a bit sad,
really, isn't it? So, uh, we we wear a hail one. What you talking
by others? And I I do definitely think we should be doing rock, paper, scissors with every
guest that comes on now. And we do a leaderboard. Who who kind of wins at the end of it? That's totally absolutely new
idea. So, I I think some of the questions we like to ask towards the end is about the future and kind of what's
next for you. Um, I didn't describe England probably in the best way with the weather and everything else at the
minute, but uh, do you have any plans to visit the UK? Have you ever been over this way? Is it something that you have
any desire to kind of do? I would love to. I've always wanted to go to the UK
so badly. I've been to Germany one time and I absolutely fell in love with it.
So, I would really love to go back. I really want to go to the United Kingdom. I really want to go back to Germany. So
yeah, I want to go to Ireland. Like I just I really want to go explore over there so much. I love how old everything
is. I love the history. I love the cobblestone streets. So and I love the way everything is just green, you know.
But yeah, I want to go back. Brilliant. And the people are quite miserable though. So uh you know, we'll
don't listen to a wordy saying to Ireland. I'll make sure you have a brilliant time. It's amazing.
Epic place. Yeah, we we have some plans to uh go to Ireland at some point, Ronny, don't we? That's where Ronny's
family's from. So, uh yeah, I I think there's something we need to do. But yeah, me me and Ronnie are planning a
few tours of our own. And I think we we're going to try and do the USA uh next year, providing we get some
permission from the other halves. Um you know, and one place we'd love to come
definitely is Texas. you know, we've had quite a lot of artists. So, if you're around and you're you're willing to meet
up, we'd uh we'd love to go there. But where would you recommend we go um as newbies going to Texas? Um where should
we go and why? I love Fort Worth. I really do. I never like really spent a whole lot of time in
Fort Worth growing up, but I have lately. So, the Fort Worth Music Fest, they have it at the end of February,
beginning of March every year. This last year was the third one. It's going to be an annual thing. So, they do it every
year and it's kind of like I would compare it to like Americana Fest in Nashville or South by Southwest in
Austin, but it's just a weekend. It's only like four different bars. There's
really great like Texas singer songwriters. Larry Joe is like the, you know, like ring master of that thing.
So, he like brings in all his people. We're always there. I love it so much. I love the atmosphere. I love the thrift
stores and vintage stores in Fort Worth. I love the food. You can get good food anywhere just about. So, Fort Worth is
great. Haiko, Texas is a hidden gym. It's so tiny. It's like 25 minutes from
where I live now in Hamilton. It's in between Stevenville and Hamilton. And it's like I don't know if y'all ever been to Fredericksburg in Texas, but
it's like where everyone wants to go for like their bachelorette trips and wine walks, whatever. But Haiko has this very
charming vibe about it. It feels like it's stuck like in the early 1900s almost. Like it's very cute. They have
this amazing venue there called Haiko Hall. They have music all the time. They have music every Sunday. They do like a
slow ride Sunday thing, acoustic, but it's just absolutely gorgeous. Green Hall, New Bronze Falls. Stunning. Must
go. Iconic. So yeah, there's tons of really amazing smaller places where you don't have to break the bank or
anything. But yeah. I sent Ronny a video the other day and I think it was of the stockyards and Billy
Bobs. I think it's that that sort of area. It looked amazing. I said we've got to go there. But yeah, some of the
places you've just described sound completely up our street. You know, we're getting old now. So, we we like these hidden gems and something off the
beaten track yourself. All right. I'm feeling But yeah, I'm I'm not a big fan of like
the big cities and stuff like that, but I think these places sound awesome. Um, so we are there. Uh, and if you're
around when we are over in Texas, then come meet us for a beer and, you know, join us in our hangover adventures. That
would be fun. Be fantastic. And and a final one before I hand over
to to Ronnie again is about any any more kind of projects. So, you mentioned
maybe getting a couple more tracks out this year. Um, is there any kind of big places that you're touring? Anything
that you can reveal what what what you're doing towards the end of the year? Tell us the secrets. No, this is
the secret part. Yeah, I just started working with a booking agent and we are
trying to map out a potential tour for the fall hopefully. We are getting close to releasing another single in the next
few months. So, we're kind of just going to keep the ball rolling there, but I'm really hoping that we'll be able to talk
about a record very soon. Uh yeah, so hopefully a tour, hopefully a record,
but I know I'm going to be doing some shows here and there potentially. I know I'm going to like New Mexico in June,
which will be really fun, but we might be going to a few other states throughout the summer, which is awesome.
Nothing seriously set in stone yet or I would like spill it all out. But yeah, so just there are plans being made,
exciting plans. So, I'm very stoked about it. Oh, that's awesome. And uh we do try and get artists in trouble just
by spilling the secrets that you're not allowed to tell. So, uh we we we get quite close. But uh is there anything
else that you would like to plug? We we've talked we've had our questions obviously, but is there anything you want to ask us or anything particular
you want to just get out there to the listeners? Not anything that's heavy on my heart. I
feel like we covered so many bases today and I've had a really great time with you guys. Thank you all. Same. I will
hand over back to Ronny. He I like Ronny to do the final message because he normally messes it up and he has a real
trouble. I don't know why why you do but saying the final part. It's because it's so many words you put into one sentence.
That's why. And I I try my best, but I can't really do it. Anyway, um Presley, I wanted to I wanted to do something
different today. I wanted to end on uh on some comments that I found uh some people commented about your music
because I I think it's absolutely right that we we tell everybody what what you know other people are are saying about
you. Um so, if you don't mind, I'm going to read some now. Um, Prey Hal has that
rare ability to make every lyric feel like it's part of your own story. She sings straight from the soul. Her voice
is classic country with a fresh edge. Pre's music is like a breath of Texas air, real and refreshing. She doesn't
just sing songs, she lives them, and you can hear it in every note. Prey Hail is a rising star with the heart of a
storyteller and the grit of a true country artist. Her authenticity sets her apart. There's nothing manufactured
about Pres's music and that's what makes it unforgettable and that for me in
everything everybody has said on them comments just describes you to uh you have been so fun. You are so talented.
Thank you so much for spending the time with us. Uh thank you for letting us get to know you. Um and you really are one
of the brightest stars in the sky. Uh so I'm going to raise a toast. Uh if you don't mind if you got a drink anywhere
there. Soft drink, water, cup. Lovely. Um, so thank you for joining us. Uh, I'm
going to raise a toast to the grit, the grind, and to the revival. Cheers everyone for listening. Cheers y'all.
