 Okay. Yeah, this backdrop, I'm a mid-century freak, you know? Yeah, mid-century modern school. I went to the Brady Bunch house recently, it was for sale. I know, I saw that. Yeah, it was up for like five million, and then they sold it for three million, but it was crazy to be inside there. I don't know how old you are. Oh, I think you're 46, I'm 57. I grew up with Brady Bunch. Most people did after school, you come home and watch it. And then to be in that house, you could just hear all the sounds like, Marsha, Marsha, Marsha, you know? Yeah. Yeah, that was pretty cool. I think it sold again. I think it sold a second time as well. Yeah, it sold the first time to a TV network, so that Brady Bunch cast could actually build the inside as a TV show, because the inside didn't look like it did on the show. That was a set. They weren't the outside, so it was a TV show they did, and then it sat for a couple of years. It's in my neighborhood, actually. I walk by it every day with my dog, and then they put it up for sale. And they had 24-hour security there. It's the second-most photograph house other than the White House in the U.S. That's amazing. Second to the White House. Well, crazy. You know, somebody bought that. A lady bought that. And it's like, you know, if I got a lot of money, I still wouldn't buy it, because there's just people out in front of your house at the time. Yeah, you would never. But at one point, I swear, when it was first sold, because it changed hands more than once in the past few years, but I read that at one point, somebody was considering doing an Airbnb-type deal with it where you could, like, stay in it. I don't know if that ever actually happened. Well, that was my idea. Buy it and have it as, like, have, like, say, Rolex wanted to debut a new watch. They'd have a private party in there. You'd be in the Brady Bunch house with some red new Rolex or, you know, Louis Vuitton. Any kind of brands could have parties in there. You could have movie release parties in there. Everything. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's definitely, there's a lot of angles to it for sure. I don't know if anybody's pursued that, but yeah, you could never actually live there because it would just be nonstop harassment, you know. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Your neighbors would hate you, you know. All right. Are you in the garage? I see a challenger back there. Is that like a red-eye or something? It's a demon. Yeah. Yeah. The demon. That's the 2018 demon. They made 3,000 of those for the US market and 300 for Canada. And that thing was, at the time, it may still be, but at the time, the most powerful and fastest muscle car ever created and, you know, it was made for drag racing and did like, you know, the quarter mile and 9.6 seconds, 9.65 and things zero to 60 in like 2.3 seconds or something crazy. And, you know, there's like all kinds of amazing stuff about that car. That's number 18 out of 3,000. And then they've got another one coming out that they're building them right now. It's called the Demon 170 that runs off of ethanol fuel or E85. This one has 840 horsepower on 100 octane race fuel and the Demon 170 has 1,025 horsepower on E85. Now, you know, I think those had two keys, right? A red key to open up all the way up. Have you taken it onto the track quarter mile or backwards wherever you live? No, I did. Most people bought these and just keep them in their garage. And, you know, I've driven, this one's probably one of the higher mileage ones that put like, it's got over 4,500 miles on it, I think at this point. So I'm driving around here and there and I took to the track before I moved out of California, we took it to, I want to say it was Irwindale. I think it was Irwindale, eighth mile track. And, you know, I was just trying to get to know the car. I went out there with Hot Rod Magazine, they did a story on it. And it was really just like, you know, this is a real world, you know, one day account of a demon owner just getting to know their vehicle on the track, you know, because they can do amazing things, but it's not like, it's not like a Tesla where you're, you know, you get a Tesla Plaid and your great grandmother can get in it and stomp on the pedal and run, you know, a nine second quarter mile, right. But like this is like a bonafide race car that requires some finesse and, you know, some practice behind the wheel to learn all the stuff about the car. It's like, you know, you have to work for it in this car. A car can do it, but you have to actually know what you're doing in order to put the power down and get the numbers that you want, you know. Is that manual or automatic? No, this one's automatic. They never made any of the demons in manual, but you could get some, you know, some of the Hellcats. And I think, you know, this is the last year for all the Hellcat stuff. And so I think they're doing a few, like a limited run where they put, start putting the manual transmission back in it if you wanted it. It's funny to think about Dodge, you know, I had a, I had a Mopar Super B, B5 Blue, 70, and then I had a 69 Roadrunner R1 Red convertible 440. And just loved Mopar all my life. And then when they made that Viper, when the actual Viper came out, it was so crazy, right? The Dodge Viper. There's a Viper on the other side of that car. Oh, wow. Whatever. This is a, it's Gen 5. So it's the last, I don't know if you can see it. Can you see it? Oh, yeah, I see it. I see that. Oh, that's the, yeah, that's the one I like, the coupe. I don't like the convertible. I love the coupe, man. Just the way it looks. Yeah, that's the last generation. So they did those from 2013 to 2017 and then they killed it all for a second time, right? But that's the GTS. So, yeah, I think the most iconic Viper was the original GTS, the shape, you know, and I can't remember what exactly what year, but it was like late 90s when they first came up with that GTS profile. And so then when they did the Gen 5, they brought the GTS back and the silhouette and the kind of the overall shape of the car was a real kind of throwback to the original GTS, but bringing it into the modern era. But that car is incredible. I mean, the only thing, I mean, I just come out here and stare at that thing. It's just like so, it's just amazing to me. It's like an American exotic car. And, you know, there's nothing about it that feels dated except for, you know, the interface, like the navigation system and all that stuff. But you get in that car, you look at that car from every angle. I mean, a car could be a brand new vehicle that just can't. I mean, the styling of it is timeless. They got it so right on the Gen 5 Vipers and it was sad to see them kill it all. And I was hoping, you know, the Viper people like, I think they're all about the V10, but when they came out with that Hellcat motor, I mean, that V10 on that Viper is 640 horsepower. I got 840 horsepower in the demon right there, right? But the Viper is probably a thousand pounds lighter than that demon. So I was going, man, if they could put that supercharged V8 Hellcat with like 700 or 800 horsepower in a Viper, it would be unbelievable. But, you know, they killed it off. They didn't do that. Maybe they'll bring it back as some sort of electric or electric hybrid, you know, crazy exotic car. I don't know, but it'd be nice to see them bring it back. It's such an incredible car. I remember my buddy got one and I drove it the first year, the convertible. And it was scary, man. It felt a little squirrely. It was loud. And it was just like, oh, dude, these things, you can crash in this thing, you know? Oh, yeah. No, there's people, there's, there's been a lot of people that have, the last thing they ever saw was, you know, like that thing running into something, getting away from them. Like, you know, the original, it wasn't until 2013 that they even put traction control in a Viper, right? Because, and the only reason why they did it then was because it was finally federally mandated that all cars from that point forward had to have traction control, right? But they were like, no, this is like a race car for the street. So, you know, you got to know what you're doing or this thing can get away from you really quick. That's actually one of the reasons why besides the styling and everything, it's like, I do like the idea that thing has, you know, it has some safety built into it, you know, because, I mean, I can drive, but, you know, accidents happen and it's nice to have, you know, something looking out for you if you make a mistake. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. I've drove on the track out there in Vegas dream racing and I've drove some of the fastest cars going, you know, Ferrari 458, the GT2 911, you know, Bogates, all of these and men, you know, when you're going flying down the straightaway, you get up to about 180 miles an hour, then you come into the turn, you got like the 22 piston brakes and everything. It's so, it's crazy actually driving fast. It's crazy as you get older. Yes, it is. I mean, it's an adrenaline rush for sure, but, you know, what getting older does for you is that then you start to actually think about what if one of these tires like, you know, cuts loose and, you know, blows out while I'm going 120 or 140 miles an hour or what if, you know, the brakes overheat and then, you know, you got serious brake fade going on and you can't, you know, you wait a little bit too late to hit the brakes before you go into that turn and, you know, you can really play out all the scenarios where when you're a lot younger, you just don't even think about any of that stuff. Oh, yeah. When you're a lot younger too, you're probably drunk, you know, you're like, yeah, I don't care about this tomorrow. I hope not. I hope not. Hey, man, I grew up in the fucking 70s and 80s and that's just how people were. I'm not advocating it. I'm just saying you got in a Camaro. No, I get it. I saw this video on YouTube recently where I don't even know, you know, it's one of those things where it just popped up and it was like from back in the, in whatever year it was, it looked like it was the early 1980s or whatever, but when they were like, you had to wear a seatbelt and you could not have a beer in the car. Oh, I saw that video. And they're interviewing this guy and he's sitting there with a beer in his hand and he's smoking a cigarette and he's like, you know, I just think that we know if I want to be able to, you know, have a batch be able to have a beer, you know, it's like so much has changed. I love it. He's like, he's bullshit, man, taking all my rides away. I can't. Yeah. I mean, that was real, but I remember the whole, you know, I can't drive 55 and, you know, when I was a kid, you know, they tried to make, I think 55 was like the primary speed limit, you know, on interstates across the country for a while because they thought that was really going to cut down on automotive deaths and stuff, which I don't know that it actually did much because they went back to it. Now some places it's like 80 miles an hour, you know? Yeah. Well, the cars got so much better, you know, back then you're driving something with drum brakes and, you know, you put on the brake, you're like, I hope this stops. You know, it's just how, how much is it going to slow you down before you hit something? Exactly. Yeah. I could talk cars all day with you, especially since you play with the whipper. The whipper is that Mustang he worked on for five fucking years, you know? I know, dude. Yeah. Yeah, he's still working on it. It's a beautiful car, but, you know, that's part of being a hot rodder, you know what I mean? It's kind of like the never-ending test and tune, you know? Yeah. Yeah. Another love of mine, of course, is guitars, cars, guitars and watches. That's basically my, an architecture. Those are my loves, but obviously you've made your career playing guitar and early on, I remember I grew up around that era and so did you, where Stevie Ray hits and then you have everybody after that. I called it the strat and the hat era, where Austin came along and you had like Doyle, Johnny Lang, you, all these guys came out as the new quote unquote member gunslingers, which is hilarious, but it's amazing to see people like you, just a long, great career of putting out records and just, you know, didn't go by the wayside, you know, because it was really red hot for a little bit and then it went away. People like you and Johnny Lang and guys like that have been making records for years and killing it. Yeah. Yeah, I've been fortunate, man. You know, we've got the careers going on. If you look at just like from the time I signed my record deal, well, I signed my record deal 30 years ago this year, like this December, it'll be a 30-year anniversary, me signing my record deal. And in 2025, that'll be the 30-year anniversary of the release of my first record. So, you know, three decades of doing this and that's impressive. I mean, for me, I mean, I know what it's like. I know how many people, first of all, would love to even just get a shot, you know, at doing this, right? And then the amount of people that want to, versus the ones that actually do get a shot is, you know, that's tremendously different numbers, right? Very small amount of people actually get a shot. And then the amount of people that actually get a shot that they're successful doing it is even smaller. And then the amount of people that are successful for more than five years, then it gets even smaller, you know what I mean? And so we're going three decades, got a new record coming out November 17th, still making new music, you know, still selling out venues, still reaching new people every night. Like, you know, I asked the crowd, I'm like, how many of you guys are here? You know, how many of you guys have seen us before in your back again, you know, and about half the room raises their hand in cheers. And then I'm like, how many of you guys are seeing us for the very first time tonight and the other half of the room cheers, right? So that tells me, man. I mean, some of those people might have been listening to my music for the past 30 years and they just came to their first concert. But still, you're still getting new people to come out see you play live. And then I guarantee you there's a number of those people that just still just discovered me in my music and showed up at a concert, right? So we're still reaching new people even 30 years in. We're not just always preaching to the choir, but we do have a tremendous foundation, a fan base that we've cultivated primarily over the first three records that's been with us, you know, throughout the entire journey and has supported me, you know, writing and recording the music I feel inspired to make no matter what that sounds like or what direction it might take us in, you know, and embracing, you know, the artistry of it all and just showing up for us, man. And so, yeah, it's pretty amazing. And a lot of things changed. You know, there was a record that you could put out a record. Nobody buys records anymore. That's changed. There's like almost overnight mainstream rock radio, which was the primary format that would play this music on the radio kind of disappeared, you know. So like you had people stop buying records and you had a lot of radio stations that used to play this stuff that didn't change formats and became something else. And so then you didn't have a main, you didn't have a country wide home for this music on terrestrial radio to turn new people on your music. So a lot of things changed over the years. That's just two of them. But thankfully, man, I mean, there's no shortage of people that want to see this music live. And people are still consuming this kind of music. It's just in a different way. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, you know, whether it be the Blues Cruises or Blues Festivals, we just had the crossroads here again, Clapton, it's alive and well. And there's also a ton of new guys. I think one of the greatest right now is Marcus King. So you're constantly getting, I mean, he's 26. I met him when he was 20. And you get young guys that come out. And it's awesome to see in the world where guitar wasn't popular for a while. Now it seems to be since COVID back and boom and again. And guitar music, not necessarily like, I'm talking about like Blues Soul Rock, I call it, you know. And it's, you know, I did a tour with Marcus for two months and they were sold out double night theaters everywhere, all different ages. So yeah, it's alive and well for sure. Yeah, man. Well, the other thing is just like, you know, where I think we're reaching one of those, there's this cycle in music and it's just like clockwork. It just lasts different amounts of time. But we're very rapidly approaching or we may have already been in this part of the cycle for a while. But like, whatever the mainstream music is, has become so diluted that it all sounds the same. Like, you know, where you turn on the radio and you hear whatever the most popular, you listen to the popular songs and you can't tell one band from the next because they all sound the same and they're all kind of doing this, whether it's the pop country or pop-pop or whatever, R&B, hip-hop. I mean, it's all, everything starts to sound the same. And so then people are going, okay, well, I want something different. And then they start looking for something different to sink their teeth into. And that's when a lot of people start finding out and getting interested in, you know, American roots music like Blues and Rock, you know, like Real Rock, you know, and stuff like that. And they start finding their way. And they start showing up at our shows and listening to our music and stuff like that as well. And then the next wave of whatever's next will come along, you know, that will be the new era of what's popular until that gets so saturated that then it all happens all over again. Yeah. I mean, think about that time where, you know, Rockabilly, Stray Cats, and you had all those guys, Zoot Zoot Ride, all that kind of music, like big band music was popular. Like right in the 90s there, that was a wild scene, you know, at the same time you got Grunge and you got like Kenny Wayne and those kind of guys. So there was like, there's been waves of different stuff that comes and goes. Yeah, you know, it's interesting you look back. I mean, the 90s was actually a really great time for music because of that. Because it was an era where you could have, you know, people like Nirvana and Pearl Jam, you know, bust in the door wide open on the Grunge scene and then you could still have like Blues artists that were putting out records and selling millions of records too and, you know, pop and everything in between. You know, it's like there were so many quality musical options, you know, out there and it just has become more narrow as the years have gone by at least as far as what's allowed to be put out there in the mainstream, you know. At what point when you first start playing guitar, because I always say there's a million guitar burners on YouTube and Instagram and TikTok and I've seen it year after year after year, guys that are mind boggling. But at what point do you realize, and this is always I say the most important thing, that you realize I better write some songs here because who cares after a while how great you are in guitar? Where is the song? You know, once blue on black hits, you've got a radio hit song. Do you start to realize, hey, I got to really get into songwriting because Stevie had the songs, Hendrix had the songs, Eddie had the songs. Well, no, no, I've been about all about the songs from day one because my dad, you know, worked at a radio station. I grew up around a radio station. You know, my dad was the program director. He was the guy that chose whether or not your songs, your band's songs would be played on his radio station, right? And we went to every concert that came through town. I just grew up listening to all kinds of music, but in particular music that was played on the radio and became hit songs. So that's always been part of my DNA. And that's why I mean, I don't know, I don't know the exact number of, I haven't tried to count and memorize it, but we've had, I would say, a significant number of radio singles throughout my career going all the way from my first album to my fourth album, you know, and some of them, you know, Blue and Black being the biggest, which set records at the time, you know, for how many weeks it was at number one on the mainstream rock charts and stuff. And so I've always been about the songs. I've always been just as much about the songs and the vocal and the melody and the storytelling as the guitar playing from day one. That's just the kind of music that I like to make. I mean, and not every song that I write is a platform just for me to show everybody my chops on guitar, you know, there's some songs. There's one on the new record called You Can't Love Me. It's like, that song is, I mean, the guitar solo is there just because it, because that's what's supposed to be there in a band like this. But, you know, the guitar solo is in a moment for me to like, wow, people, it's just serving the song more, you know, but the song is really the purpose of the song is the message in the song and the vocal. Yeah, I really like that song. I'm friends with John Mer, I like John Mer a lot. I like what he does also with some great songwriting, great playing, and, you know, he brings it all to the table. And that song, as I listened to it on your new record, I was, it's called Dirt, what is it, Dirt on My Diamonds, which is a great title. But it's a great, great song, you know, and that's what I liked about you from the beginning, because back then there were a lot of guys, I grew up around the Mike Varney era, and there were burners that just didn't have any songs. And the ones that did have songs are still here. And it's because of the songs, you know? Yeah, well, that's true. But also, you know, the talent, I mean, you can't, I mean, you can have great songs, but it's like, at the end of the day, I mean, because like, there's a lot of like, I mean, pop music nowadays, I mean, though, you give people with no talent, and just put a song, I mean, so that, that to your point, a lot of the times it is just the songs. But when it comes to, you know, being known as a great guitar player, then you actually have to have the skills to back that up too, right? And so the songs are a big part of it, but you got to be able to wow people, and like, you have to be able to captivate them through your instrument, you know, because of like the arena that you've been put in as a guitar player. So you got to have the talent to go with it for sure. I know, I know Stevie was one of your guys, but back in today, were you diving into some of the other like 70s guys like Frank Marino and Robin Trower and all those guys? Yeah, man. Yeah, I heard all that stuff, Mahogany Rush and Marino and the Allman brothers and Skinnerd and, you know, I was a big ZZ Top fan, love Billy Gibbons, man, when I was a kid. I mean, just rocked out to so many ZZ Top albums. In addition to all the blues guys, you know, like Bibi and Albert King and, you know, Freddie King and Lightning Hawkins and Muddy and Howlin' Wolf and, you know, Hubert Summit, all those guys, man. I mean, I just consumed music, you know, as my, I mean, it was almost like a 24-7 thing, because even if I wasn't sitting there playing music myself, I was around my dad or in the car with my dad, and he always had the radio station on to be listening to it to make sure, you know, people are doing their job and the playlist was what he said it should be, because he created the playlist, you know, and all that stuff. So it was just like music 24-7 and all that stuff. I was like a sponge and just absorbed all of it. And then it finds its way back out in the music that I write and make, you know. And so you hear a lot of these different, because it wasn't just blues and it wasn't just rock. It was James Brown, you know, a lot of funk stuff, R&B, jazz, you know, hip hop, rock, country, every single genre you can think of was played around our house. And so all that stuff is just kind of in your subconscious and then it comes out. And this album is a great example. You hear a lot of different, you know, that's what I've always done from day one is taking blues is like the foundation and then mix it up with all these other, you know, genres that I kind of soaked in as a kid and trying to come up with something that sounds new and different for that genre and pushing into new directions. And there's a lot of that happening on the new record. Yeah, it was in that sweet moment. It had like a Dr. Dre kind of that. Yeah, yeah. It's got a little bit of a California vibe to it. Yeah, I loved it. I was like, all right. Yeah, but I mean, you know, it's like, I mean, I grew up in the birth of hip hop, you know what I mean? Like my generation, we witnessed that whole thing. So even if you weren't a big, like I never wanted to be a rapper, but I grew up listening to that stuff. I mean, you couldn't not hear it, you know, if you were a kid in that era. And so it's just kind of part of who I am as a result of being part of that generation. And so I heard that stuff and plus, I mean, you know, those grooves, you know, I mean, that stuff is all I am groove oriented, man. If you listen to my stuff from day one, I mean, it's all about the groove and, you know, trying to make people make their body move, you know, just to make the music feel so good that they can't help but get out there and dance or something like that. You know what I mean? Did you dive down the Dumble rabbit hole at one point? Did you get into that? Yeah, well, yeah, he and I became friends, I don't know, probably 15 years ago or so. And he built me about 11 different amplifiers over the course of our friendship and changed everything for me. Like, you know, regardless, I mean, the hype is real. I mean, you know, it exists for a reason, you know, he didn't make it the hype. The hype exists because of what he's capable of, what he created. But I mean, all that aside, it's like, I'm just here to tell you that, you know, I went from like having amplifiers that I used every night on stage and I would have to like have a combination of pedals and like stand in the right spot and hit it the right way and contort my body like this to try and get it to sound a certain way and hoping that it would sustain as long as I wanted it to or something like that, you know, and all this effort just going into hoping that the amp is going to do what I'm hoping it's going to do to I went from that to like this man building amplifiers around the way I play my instrument so that they intuitively do exactly what I want them to do effortlessly. So then it freed up so much energy for me creatively on stage and anytime I'm playing in the studio or whatever, it just like freed up so much more energy and focus for me to put into the music instead of trying to do all of those things just hoping that that note's going to sound the way I want it to. So just that in itself was just a tremendous improvement for me, you know, it changed the way that I was able to make music. Remy through that process, I mean, he's gone now, rest in peace, but he was a notorious recluse. How did you end up getting a hold of him and then did you go out to like Santa Cruz or whatever and hang with him? What was that about? No, no, he was in the Los Angeles area. So he had been up in Santa Cruz for a really long time. That was like way long time ago. But no, you kind of generally meet him through a friend, you know, if you know somebody that knows him kind of thing. And I had a friend that was that knew him. And my name came up between the two of them. And I guess Dumbled had said that he was a fan of my music. And in particular, a couple of records of mine that I had done. And so my friend Sherman, who knew him, Sherman was like, well, you know, I know Kenny, I could introduce you guys if you want. He was like, oh yeah, absolutely. I would love that. And I've been trying to track him down for years since I rented a Dumbled amplifier on my fourth album, The Place You're In, in 2004. And I rented this record, this album, I'm sorry, I rented this amplifier. And I was like, oh my gosh, and I asked the guy if I could buy it on the spot, he wouldn't sell it to me. And then he was like, I was like, well, I got to meet this guy, I got to find this guy. And he goes, oh, he doesn't make amplifiers anymore. And if he did, he probably wouldn't make one for you anyway. And I was like, what? So I couldn't, I couldn't find them until my friend Sherman put us together. And then we just immediately hit it off and became very, very good friends for the duration of our relationship till he passed away. And what models was he making for you? Was he just making specific amps for you? He said like, 11 amps? Like, was he just building different? Everyone was different. Yeah, everyone was different. Like, you know, what happened was, is like, we started going down the overdrive special path and then at one point, and I should have done this, I don't know why did we shifted gears. But, you know, at one point, I had him doing research into building me a 60 watt steel string singer, which would have been the only one like it ever made, right? Because I didn't, I'm trying to bring my volume down. You know, I played three Fender twins turned all the way up to 10 for so many years. And I'm like, you know, just, I'm trying to find a way to get that, I was trying to find a way to get that same sound, but at a slightly lower volume. So that's what we focused on. And so, you know, basically, I ended up having these amps laying around various Fender vintage amps, a couple of reissue of amps here and there, too, that, you know, basically he would look at it and he, if you had an old Fender amp, I mean, he could do a number of different things, right? He could do a mod to an amp or he could do, you know, a number of different circuits that he designed, you know, but basically every time I gave him one of the amps, he would use only the, he would use the chassis, so the metal chassis, and he would use the cabinet, you know, and that was it. Everything else, if the transformer was good, if it's specced out okay, then he would use that. But everything else, you know, he generally would just scrap and then he would hand wire, you know, fabricate from scratch his, you know, entire circuit. And so I'd go over there and he plugged me and every time you go over there, it's you're there for like a minimum of four hours, you know, it's just like, you know, you don't go by for 20 minutes. And it was great too because you don't want to leave because like you're sitting there playing through the greatest amplifiers on the planet, like, you know, he's got everything and, you know, you bring your guitar and he would just sit there on his stool or on his chair. I don't know why this thing keeps going off. I don't know if you can hear that or not. I need to put this thing on silent, sorry. So he would, he would put, he would sit there on his chair or on his stool and I'd be on the couch and I'd be playing guitar and he just plugged me into different amplifiers and he would just sit there with his eyes closed most of the time just listening. And he would be listening to how I'm playing and my attack and how hard I hit the guitar or how soft my touch is or and he's also like listening to what it is I'm trying to get out of the amplifier, right? And so he's like assessing my playing style. And then we would figure out, you know, he'd plug me into an amp and there's like, well, this would be a great platform for us to build you an amp off of, you know, and so we'll start with this and then we'll go from there. And then he'd start working on it. Then I'd come back when he had something that could be played through and then I'd play through it and he'd listen to it again and then he'd go back and make a few adjustments or whatever until it was done. But basically, you know, the whole process started from him just listening and trying to see he could figure out what I was trying to get the amp to do and then he would go build the amp to do that. Do you still use them right now? Oh yeah, I use them. That's what I use on in the studio on the records where I use out on the road. You know, I'm a little concerned though. Hard to be wants to like, I mean, because I was like, I mean, I don't, I play these things hard, man. You know, they're not, you know, they're cranked up. And then I'm a little nervous because, you know, there's nobody that he didn't have an apprentice. So there's nobody, like he didn't pass the baton to anybody. So like, if one of these amps bites the dust, you know, it's like something whoever fixes it is not going to be him. And it may never sound the same. So that's, that's kind of weighing in the back of my mind, you know. Oh, God, yeah, you know, it's, I mean, he's gone. Like you said, he didn't pass down. It's a lot like to me, like Eddie Van Halen, he's gone. And all of that knowledge and stuff he has is gone. I mean, his son has some of it. But I mean, imagine what was in that guy's head, you know, it's, you know, Dumble, you know, Dumble, few people knew and the people that did know hoarded the amps. And that's it now, you know. Yeah. Did you ever get like, mattress and like Mark Sampson and all those boutique stuff? I've played a bunch of different boutique amps. I've played some of the Dumble clones. Yeah. I've abed them, to be honest with you, with real Dumbles versus, you know, it's supposed to be just like the Dumble one. It's never the same. I mean, it's not. I mean, the fact of the matter is this, and I watched it firsthand and I've told people this, it's like, you can get the guy, you can like, you can go get one of his amps and you can de-goop it, you can look at the circuit, you can go, you can try and copy that, right? But this man would sit there and he would have these capacitors and resistors and bags full of them, right? And he created the schematic for the circuit. And he knew in his head what the values of all those things, what the appropriate value, because I mean, he would go through a bag of those things and he would test them and he might toss 75 of those things aside before he finds one that's right within the spec that he wants it to be in. And that's the one that goes in the amplifier, right? But everybody thinks, oh, you see the writing on the little, on the, you know, capacitor, you see the numbers on the resistor, the color coding and that's supposed to be that, but they don't all read the same. And he may not have wanted it to read exactly what it's supposed to. He might have wanted it a little less or a little more or whatever. And so he would search and search and search until he found one that was the right spec and that's what went into the amp. I mean, just little things like that are like when I watched him troubleshoot one of my amps when we had a problem and he's got his multimeter out and he's like touching this and that and he's looking at these readings and only he knows what those numbers are supposed to be, like what they're actually supposed to be. Other people may think they know what they're supposed to be, but you don't really know because you didn't design the circuit and you don't know about all of the things that he had up here. So it's like, you know, you can like, I don't know. It's not like Legos, you know what I mean? It's not like, it's not fucking, you know, connect the dots. It's like those early Klon Centron pedals, you know, the Centaur pedal, you know, everybody tried to copy that. They're not the same. That's just all there is to it, you know, and so capacitors and everything change. Companies change that makeshift, tube company, everything. So it all is fluctuates and that that's the the chase of tone. How about how about strats? You got any old great vintage strats like slab boards and stuff? Yeah, my 61 is my favorite, but like, you know, I'm sitting here staring at like, this is a 59 hardtail right here hanging on the wall. There's a 58 over there, three-tone sunburst hardtail. These things sound great. Hardtail, only thing I ever do is I always put graph tech saddles on because I break strings with those old school, you know, original style saddles. I just, I always break strings with them. But these hardtails are underappreciated, but you know, when you got the strings going through the body, that's a whole different level of resonance, you know, and those strings are like connected. They're more connected to the actual body of the guitar. I love the hardtail. If you're not messing with a tremolo ever, man, why not have the hardtail? I mean, tellies are God, but you get the strapped body and the pickup configuration, but with the telly strings through the body vibe. I mean, I feel they're fully underrated. Yeah, absolutely. Everybody wants the tremolo, but that's a special sound, you know. It feels like it gives it a little more tension on the strings, you know, so you do have to deal with that. I mean, I feel it more because I play 11s, 11 through 58. So I play thick enough strings where you're going to feel, you're really going to notice it. But you know, it's like, it's worth the, it's worth the extra effort for sure. Tell me what it was like to first play with the double trouble guys. I know Whipper plays on the new record and he tours with you and stuff, but the first time you play with them, it had to be just surreal, right? Yeah, man. I mean, the first time I played with them, well, I was like, was that 15? I think I was 15. I don't know if I'd signed my record deal yet, but I had a gig down in Antones in Austin, Texas. And so we got the opening slot. Bill Carter, this guy that he's an awesome guy. He wrote, you know, like Willie the Limp and I think he was one of the co-writers on Crossfire and stuff like that. So Bill Carter was, had the gig at Antones. They booked me to be the opener. And Chris was playing drums with him that night. So I guess Bill showed up and saw my set or part of my set or whatever. And then he came up to me and asked me if I would sit in with him. And I'm like, and then I found out Chris was in the band. I mean, I would have said yes, regardless, but I was like, oh hell yeah, you know. And so he called me up on like the second song and then never told me to get off the stage. So I played his whole show with him and they set me up. I was right by Chris, you know. And so I was just jamming back there with Chris. I mean, it was just amazing like dream come true for me. And as first time I met Chris, first time I played with him, got his phone number. And that's how we reached out to him when I was going into the studio to do my first record and asked him to come play drums on it. But what was so cool about that night is Bill Carter came up to me after the gig and I was like thanking him for letting me get up and play with him and stuff. And he handed me some money. I don't remember how much it was. Maybe it was a hundred bucks or 50 bucks. I don't know what it was, but he handed me some money. And I'm like, oh no, no, no, no. You don't have to give me anything like this. My pleasure. It's just incredible. He goes, let me tell you something, son. Somebody offers to give you money for playing music. You take it. And I was like, yes, sir. So that was the class act. Bill's a class act. You know, I met the whipper. I'm good friends with Bill Burry. He's like one of my best friends and we tour. We're about to do Madison Square Garden. As a matter of fact, whipper was telling me crazy stories about the first time he did garden, you know, all coped up and drunk and shit. He's like, man, I felt like a loser. Here's my dream. And I'm all loaded. You know, I met the whipper at Bill's Christmas party and he had just finished recording this record that you are about to put out. And that was a while ago, man. You know, I guess you guys recorded an L.A. Yeah, we started it right before COVID. And we were doing a, we were, we were in the home stretch of finishing the record right when the whole lockdown thing happened. And so then, you know, there was still a little bit of work that needed to be done to it. So I just put it all on hold because, you know, nobody knew what was going to happen. And turns out it was a good idea because we didn't do anything hardly for two years. And, you know, I just knew it was not the time to put out new music. So we ended up, I had a live concert DVD that we put out called Straight To You Live. I thought that was most appropriate because then, you know, people can watch a concert in the comfort of their own home while everybody's locked up, you know what I mean? But if we put out new music, it was like, you know, that stuff would have been, it would have come out and they'd be over it and be waiting for something else. And we would have never got a chance to actually tour for that record. So it was good that we held on to it. So then we ended up finishing it up and finally getting it out this year. And there's, and there's two albums actually. So this is volume one, Dirt on My Diamonds volume one. And then there's Dirt on My Diamonds volume two that we don't have an official release date. It's finished. We just haven't chosen the date yet. But I would, I would, if I was assuming anything, I would think it would be this time next year that one will come out. Now, you guys recorded in LA, what studio were you at? You know what? I really should, I really should, should be able to answer that question, but I cannot remember the name of the studio. And I've done several interviews now and I never, every time I do an interview, I cannot figure the name of that place. But the reason why is because they tore it down anyways, like the studio doesn't even exist anymore. So the name doesn't even matter because you couldn't go there and make a record if you wanted to, because they, they, when we went in there, they said, this is going to be the last album ever recorded at the studio. This building's being torn down. It's been, it's been sold and they're going to tear it down and build a high-rise condo. And that's that. So at the end of the day, it doesn't matter, but it was a good studio. It served a purpose. We have fun making a record there. There you have it. And you, you moved from California. Where are you living now? I'm in Tennessee. We're, we're south of Nashville, loving life. You know, I, I did, my first 21 years, I was Louisiana. Then I, the next 22 years I was in, you know, California. And now it's, I don't know, maybe the next 22 will be in Tennessee, but we're really happy here, man. You know, and we have a big family. My wife and I, we got six kids and just a great, we're out in the country and it's a great place to, to raise a family. Six kids. You should have bought the Brady Bunch house. No, right? We got our own Brady Bunch. Yeah, yeah. Well, hey man, I really appreciate talking to you. And I listened to the record. It sounds fantastic. And, you know, anybody that the whipper, the whipper, anybody that Chris is with is just the real deal in my eyes. You know, he's not going to play with any, any garbage. And I saw you guys years and years ago in San Francisco at the Warfield, man. Like, I mean, I think it was the blue on black record, you know, that's how long ago I saw you at the Warfield. And I remember when I was watching you guys, I was like, oh, can he wait at the time? Oh, he doesn't sing. It was, to me, it was like Nugent or Robin Trauer, like, oh, they got a singer. You know, Chris told me that they're singing quite a bit now over the years. Yeah. What, last question, what makes you choose that you're going to sing one and no one's going to sing one? Well, it's really like, you know, whose voice is better suited for the song, really. I mean, for me, I'm not precious about any of it. I mean, especially because, you know, for years, I didn't even sing any of the stuff anyways, right? So it's like, it's, I'm totally fine. If I can't, that's how I got to wound up hiring somebody else to sing in the first place is because when I was a kid and I saw my record deal and I picked up the guitar and played the guitar, everybody talked about how I played beyond my years. You know, when I played guitar, I sounded like an old soul. And, you know, it was so surprising to hear such a young guy play like that and blah, blah, blah. But when I opened my mouth and tried to sing, I sounded like a kid straight up, right? Yeah. And that was not, that was not the, I did not sing beyond my years. And that was not the voice that I heard from my music. And people were pressuring me to sing. And I still to this day maintained that if I would have allowed myself to be talked into being the lead singer in my band at that time, that I wouldn't have had the success that I've had up to this point. And then Noah came on the second album, and he did, he's done an incredible job. And then I started singing on the fourth album. And then over the next couple of records, a little less, a little more, whatever, the last three albums, it's been like 50-50. I sing essentially half, and he sings the other half, but it's really boils down to whose voice is better suited for the song. Because believe it or not, I mean, Noah can sing just about anything, but there are, there have been some songs where there's just a certain kind of like, I don't know, I think it boils down more not so much to singing as it does personality. You know what I mean? Because we have very different voices. Yeah, you know what I mean? It's just the delivery. And so I think a lot of that comes out of personality. And so sometimes my personality is better suited for the lyric or for the song. And then sometimes his is, and sometimes his voice is just the right voice for that song. And so it's on a case by case basis. Well, I got to tell you, man, it had to be an honor probably for Irving is off to sign you, man. I mean, that guy is a goddamn musical legend, man. So hats off to him for taking the chance for a guy that didn't sing. You know what I mean? He's off guitar playing, and that's the kind of sense that that man has. And here you are 30 years later, so still killing it. So thank you so much and hope to see you out there, man. When you come to town, I'm sure I'll be seeing you somewhere LA or somewhere out on the road because I talked to Chris quite a bit and it'd be great to come see you again. It's been so long. Right on. Yeah, well, absolutely. Just let us know. All right, man. Thanks for doing the show. And when's the record out again? One more time? November 17. November 17. They got some videos out right now. And you got an Instagram or anything? Yeah. I think it's, I don't know if it's Kenny W. Shepherd on there. If it's Kenny Wayne Shepherd. I think it's Kenny Wayne Shepherd. Facebook. Facebook and Instagram. That's kind of where we reside the most. You know, I'm not the best of social media. It's like I resisted that stuff for a real long time. I'm a pretty private person, but it's actually a really great tool. It's good to keep engaged, directly engaged with your fans. All right, man. Thank you. Thanks for doing the show. Yeah, brother. Thanks. I'll see you later, buddy. All right. Have a good one.