Adam Harvey

Welcome to Ramble City.

Brad: Adam Harvey is here at ramble city this is something I've been looking forward to for quite a long time. Thank you so much for being here man you so much.

Adam: It's a pleasure. Thanks so much for having me and congratulations to I hear the podcast is doing really well so it's ah it's good to I think it's exciting sometimes to try new things and sort of maybe get out of your comfort zone a little bit and try something different.

Brad: What's funny that you mention that because when I you know sometimes pitch this idea of what we're doing today. Sometimes it can feel look what we're doing is we're doing I've asked Adam to do his top 5 songs about himself his favorite top 5 Adam Harvey songs and sometimes it could feel a slight bit narcissistic doesn't it. It's like these are the 5 songs that show how great I am but I don't think that's it I think it's more you don't get to sort of sometimes everyone's got an opinion about your songs. Everyone's got an opinion about what you do and everyone's got the songs that. They played at their wedding and that they heard you when they were driving in a car for the first time in a ute and they'd listen to it and they go this means you know this to me but sometimes it's nice to hear from from you. The guy that's singing it from your records your songs your perspective. What songs you cherish and the ones that mean something to you so that's why we're here today.

Adam: Well, you know it's funny to say that because over the years of I've learned that music and memories are very very closely related or connected and it's Amazing. How a song can trigger. Ah, memory or you know because we celebrate all of our events in life. The good times The happy times the sad times you know and it's all associated with music and it's Amazing. How music can trigger a memory but and yet once again, a memory can also trigger a particular song that's related to that same.

Brad: Yeah, yeah.

Adam: Ah, memory as well. It's It's really quite powerful when you think about it with music and know it helps us get through the worst of times and celebrate the best times and you know I know myself I can be listening to a song will come on the radio and it might take me back to when I you know.

Brad: So yeah.

Adam: First kissed a girl or you know it might or might take me back to my wedding day or you know and all of a sudden I'll hear a song and it'll remind me of my dad or you know there's something like that and then it's the same when I go to a particular place when I'm on the road and I'm traveling and I'll I'll pull up and stop somewhere and all of a sudden There'll be a particular song I'll remember oh well I was here the first time I ever heard that song and yeah, it's it's quite powerful and quite quite amazing. How closely related they both are memories and music.

Brad: And I think this is what we're goingnna sort of be experimenting today with hearing the 5 songs that you've picked that we're gonna talk through about what memories they hold to you why they're kind of special songs for you. What it is about them. Um, we're gonna step through it chronologically I thought that might be a cool way to do it. Um.

Adam: Yeah, cool it.

Brad: Going to listen to a little bit for the people listening in podcast form. So if you're looking at the Youtube video you can go and hear them ah via wherever you get your podcast but let's kick off with with the first one. Let's hear a bit first and then we'll talk about it. This is number 5

Brad: Now I don't know how much we can listen to copyright reasons I just want to listen to all all sort of three and a half minutes of it that are the first songs you picked here so are from your fourth album working overtime. So what's this first 1 Adam.

Adam: Ah, yes. Ah, yeah, that one was called the house that Jack built and I guess that was the song that really helped sort of establish. You know my career back in the early days and that was that.

Brad: People fell in love with you. It's okay, we can say it they they heard this and they went ooh.

Adam: But that was that was the song that was the sky I remember in the studio recording that song and I just you know I looked at the producer and he looked yeah and we just knew that it was going to go really? well. Um, and yeah, it was so exciting at the time and people often say oh do you get sicker singing those same old songs and I think no I say nah never because if it wasn't for those songs I wouldn't be able to do what I love for a living you know twenty five years later the song was originally meant for Alan Jackson and

Brad: Yeah. Was it really because oh wow.

Adam: A couple of good friends in mine wrote it? Yeah Billy yeah Yates and Jerry Sally wrote the song. They're great songwriters american songwriters and they've they've had a lot of hits with big country music singers in the states but they wrote the song on Alan Jackson put the song on hold for those of you out there that aren't quite sure what that means. When when a big artist or in Nashville is about to go and record an album. They put particular songs on hold which means that they're going to record them. It also means that other no other artists can. Potentially take those songs and record them themselves. It's kind of like it's all mine. They're all mine and and so that's what happens. Yeah that's what happens. So anyway, Alan Jackson's in the studio recording and all of a sudden another guy Jim Mcbride comes in with a song called the chatter hoochie.

Brad: Yeah, this blocking that block and other things from there's um, yeah, yeah.

Adam: And Alan Jackson says you know what? forget about the house that Jack felt I'm going to record the chatow hoochie and so I rang jerryry Sally who's a great maid of mine I said look I know you're devastated because Alan's knocked the song back. But I said would you mind if I record it he said yes, sure, go ahead, you know record it. And I think yeah looking back now I think Jerry Sally would have earned about $20000000 if Alan Jackson hadn't recorded it and I think he earned about $20 from from my version in royalties. But I still love this song and it um. But was ah it was that moment where at the golden guitar awards I think you know I I won a few awardds that night and it was really that moment where okay wow you know it became reality thanks to that song that oh okay, I'm going to be able ah to actually do this for a living this is going to be my career you know and it was a a really big. Big moment and I'll never forget how exciting it was.

Brad: That's amazing. That's such an incredible story. Yeah, because it was your fourth. It was your fourth record and it's it's funny before we go to listen to this next song just a quick sidestep. There really is that moment isn't there in the studio when you're sitting there and you're listening back and you know. You've pieced everything together because you know you start with just ah, you know a guitar and a voice and then you know you might record the the rhythm section and the song is unfolding in front of your eyes piece by Piece. You know. A lot of people and fans of music may not understand how that sort of comes together and then you're sitting there in the control room. It's playing through the speakers and you're sort of looking at each other going. Wow This is this is yeah incredible. Isn't it.

Adam: I think we' I think we're onto something it is it really is you know and the the I did 2 albums originally that were just independent albums that I just did myself which um'm um, still you know whenever someone says oh I've got a copy of that album I go off for god's sake throw it out burn it please. And then and then I did ah I got signed to warner music and I recorded an album with Jay Cammaleri and the boys out of the black sorrows down in Melbourne and um and I recorded that and yeah, that was I think I had the shortest record deal in history with warner music that one that album didn't go gold or platinum. But I think it actually went crayon. And and so warner music said see your later son. You've had you shot in the music game. You only get 1 chance you've had your chance and you blew it. Yep, see your later. Go back to your day job and then all of a sudden I got that second chance with with that song the house that Jack built and and back then I think it was abc music that signed me up. So.

Brad: So that's it. You'll never be anything.

Adam: Yeah I was very lucky I got a second chance.

Brad: Let's hear another song from that record this is ah number 4 this is the shake of a hand.

Adam: Um, and.

Brad: So a song really about values. Um, it's you know a story song isn't an Adam it sort of talks through it's it's a song for me that you listen to it and by the end of it. You want to be a better person. It sort of sits you down and sort of says this is the type of guy you want to be right and by the end you're sort of like. Yeah I do I do want to be a better guy. You know is this is this kind of what you were you? We were sublium subliminally starting a cult or something when you.

Adam: Ah, it. It was. You know it's funny because the harvey men in in my life have you know my dad my granddad and all that they were never very affectionate men. Um, they were big strong burly fellas you know and you never you never sort of hugged each other or never said I Love you or anything but it was always about the the handshake you know when you caught up with him. You gave him that handshake and I was taught from a very early age to you know, grab someone's hand and shake the hand and look them in the eye and.

Brad: Yeah, yeah.

Adam: And you know if you make a deal with someone and you shake hands on it. You got to follow through with it. It doesn't matter. You know what happens or whether you're on the raw end of the deal or not, you know that's that's more important than signing contracts and everything once you shake on something that's it. It's binding. Um, and I was raised that way as a kid and so I just saw how times were changing and and as you know everything changes but I wanted to write a song about that and you know John Williamson told me many years ago he said never be frightened to write.

Brad: Yeah, yeah.

Adam: About something that you think is only ah but about you it only affects you or your family or whatever because he said when you write a song from that real personal point of view. It comes across so genuine and other people all go through the same highs and lows in life and. And other people listen to that song and go oh my god that's my dad. Oh my god that reminds me of my granddad and it's it's been over the years. It's been really touching the amount of people that have come up to me and said oh you know we played that song at at Granddad's funeral or you know whenever I hear that I still think of my dad. He's no longer here but that song.

Brad: Yeah.

Adam: You know, reminds me of the the special bond that we had and that's I think that's one of the greatest compliments you can ever get as a songwriter you know you write a song about you and your own family or your relationship with your father or your grandfather and it can mean so so much to so many other people it's It's a beautiful thing.

Brad: Yeah, that specificity makes it like you think that being so specific is like well no one will get it because you know it's it's ah it's about my feelings. No one else knows no one and everyone's like I got a dad man and this is like this has just knocked me over for 6 when I went.

Adam: Um, no yeah, yeah. It's true. Yeah, some songwriters fall into the trap of well we've got to try and be as generic as we possibly can. We've got to appeal to as bigger an audience as we can with this song but you know if you actually write a very close personal song about an experience and you've had whether it's good bad or otherwise.

Brad: Yeah.

Adam: There are people out there that will really connect with that now and I think that's probably 1 of the secrets I've found especially with country music.

Brad: Yeah, well ah, ah, half a million records. Don't lie I believe as you've as you've sold over the years so I guess you're onto something mate. All right? Let's take. Ah, let's let's take a quick break. We're gonna send you out guys with listening to ah to one of my favorites here. Let's ah listen to this one.

Adam: Ah, but ah, well.

Brad: We'll be right back on Ramble city. If there's any song that makes me want to get drunk at ten am M in the morning my friend this is it if I ever needed just if I was ever going to print a business card that I could just hand to people the night the morning after a night this it would just have a button that plays this song. Just.

Adam: ah ah yeah it's a get out of jail free card. It wasn't me. It was the genie. That's it's it's funny. Yeah I wrote the song with 1 of my best friends who happens to be Kevin Bloody Wilson and we've written a lot of songs together.

Brad: It really is it wasn't me. Yeah. Get ah I did not know that you guys wrote this together. Wow.

Adam: Yeah, we do. We're great mates and ke a lot of people probably don't know but Kevin's really really big in in Ireland and England and parts of Europe and everything like you too was over there every year plays a massive crowd. So I'm talking like thousands of people every night and and Kev said to me 1 time he said come with me come over to. Let's go. Let's go to Ireland and England and that together come with me and I said what am I going to do and he said just come along and have fun. You know we said maybe we'll write a song or something you know. And yeah, it was great to go over there and and travel around Ireland and and I remember ah we were driving I think it was driving through tipperary. Kevin had a tool bus over there and we're going through tipperary and Kev said oh I do want to write a song together. You know and I said yeah sure and he said have you got any ideas and I said well I've tried to write this song with about 2 or 3 other people and every time I tell them this next line they always say that's the most stupid idea for a song they've ever heard. So I said get ready to shoot me down here. We go and anyway I said the genie in the bottom of the gym beam bottle made me do what I didn't want to do and ke looked at me and said that is brilliant. So I think I just had to find someone with the same low Ike was mine to appreciate that someone did.

Brad: Um, guys I have got a song for you I got a song Friday let it be let it be let it be let it be I don't know what pulls on but that's bloody rubbish.

Adam: So we we write this? ah. Ah, ah, ah, ah, there are 2 there's a famous story about Willie Nelson too when he yeah he rode on the road again. He wrote it on ah on a you know napkin so to speak on the airplane and went back to the record executives and said I've got the song for the for the movie I've written it for you. And they had a look at it and the and the record executive says on the road again I can't wait to get on the road again and I can't wait to get on the road again. So yeah I thought he was crazy. But anyway. So yeah, yeah, ah I actually.

Brad: Yeah, it's Genius Managed Genius I Just came up with it.

Adam: Ah, ah, it's funny isn't it. It's a funny old world I wrote a song called who's going to smoke the weed when Willie's gone which is another others but that that genie so it it. Ah.

Brad: Can someone get him that song though. Sorry can we just get can we get Willie to sing this song please on his next family record anyway, back to you enough enough sideways. Ah brilliant.

Adam: Ah, ah, ah Marna no, it's ah where Willy's heard the song when he loves it. So I yeah I used one of 1 of Willie's musicians Mickey Raphael's ah his harmonica play has been forever and and Mickey played Harmonica on that particular track who's going to smoke the weed when Willie's gone

Brad: Yeah, yeah.

Adam: And he said oh I've got to play this to Willie Nelson and anyway I've got an email from mickey to say willie absolutely loved it. So that was very cool. But yeah, the genie in the bottle. It's funny because the record company said that we're not putting that on this album we are not that song is dumb.

Brad: Oh wow.

Adam: It is you You cannot put that on there. You know you know not giving your audience enough credit for their intelligence Blah Blah Blah Blah blah and I said guys you know what on on the one out there playing to them every single night of the week on stage.

Brad: Get right? wow. Yeah, yeah.

Adam: I know what my crowd like and they're going to like that song. So I actually had to fight tooth and nail to get that song included on the album and finally got the song included. And yeah, it's been probably one of my yeah you know most popular songs and still to this day as soon as you play it live you know the whole place goes mad. So. The gene in the Jim Beam bottle but

Brad: It' yeah here we go I mean it's not to be confused with the Christina Christina agura song in 2009 june genie in the bottle I was half expecting you'd pick to that one for us to listen to together. So.

Adam: Not this's ah ah, no, not quite um, no um I haven't I don't listen to a lot of Christine and to be honest, ah.

Brad: That surprises me all right? Let's get let's get it on before here. Let's have listen this one Harvey's backyard bar from your Twelfth album.

Adam: I up goes a roller door.

Brad: So Harvey's backyard bar as I said your Twelfth album 2015 tell us how this project and this idea came about for this song and then why it's on this this list today. So.

Adam: Um, ah, yeah, well, the whole idea was so my wife came up with this wonderful idea to to convert our double garage into a bar and I ran with it and yeah we got carried away and we've got this incredible bar at our place and it's pretty well known. Ah, around the place and I've had so many people say geez I'd love to come and spend a night in that bar with you god it looks like you get up. There's some fun and games in there and so I thought well what about what about actually recording an album in in the bar and we'll you know do some video clips and stuff and actually try and capture. What a night in Harvey's bar is like so that when people listen to that album. They get to feel like they're almost there you know and that was that was the the idea behind it and Harvey's backyard bar I I was driving along one day and I had a young songwriter on the road with me called luco shaa very talented songwriter. And we were driving line and I think he was sitting in the back seat I'm driving along and said oh I've got this idea I'm going to write this harvey's bar and he said oh what What's so special about Harvey's bar and I said oh I made it like all the locals know as soon as they hear the music and the roller door goes up. Everyone knows to come on in and I said it's my it's my space it's my safe space. It's where I go to relax and it's you know my little my little headquarters and yeah, yeah, it's my cheers exactly right? and and you know I started telling him all about it and.

Brad: It's your cheers. It's your cheers.

Adam: And what goes on and some of the characters in there. You know about Pete who loves to take his clothes off after he's had a few drinks and how we solve the problems of the world and and then I told him about how my wife you know when she gives me the loving look which is usually ah a desk there and a snarl it's time for everyone to leave.

Adam: Anyway, so we arrived in the next town where we had the gig that night and and when Luke got out of the car. He said mate I've written down on a piece of paper all of the the things you've just been talking about about your bar. He said I think you've basically got your song there and so we look through that and yeah, the song.

Adam: There it was you know after me just telling this great story about everything. That's so great about Harvey's bar and we still get a lot of request for it at the shows and yeah it was a lot of fun that album I think we all had a few headaches too the next morning just quietly.

Brad: Do you think? Yeah I'd love to sort of ask you here just a quick say before we go to number 5 about you know, um co-writing it seems to be a big part of your practice about finding the right writer that you're going to write with or kind of. Um, that process and I'm I'm sure you write a lot on your own as well. But like can you just speak to that a little bit in terms of how you frame that and how um I think this is more I guess for songwriters listening I know we have a lot of you know we've got. We've got some people that just love music. We've got some you know, but sometimes songwriters so say to me can you ask some more questions some more pointed questions. So.

Adam: Um, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Brad: Have you got any advice I guess for songwriters or or people that are looking to collaborate and and what to look for or or some signs or any tricks that have worked for you in the past.

Adam: Yeah I can I love talking about that because a lot of songwriters are very private and they don't want to co-write you know and I know Casey's a great friend of mine casey chambers she she's very private and personal when she writes a songs whereas I love to co-writ with other people and.

Adam: And when I first started out I couldn't blood write my own name. Ah you know I was a hopeless songwriter and um, ah don't think I'm much better now. But the point is what I thought I'd do was surround myself with really great songwriters and and every time you co-write with someone. You always learn something and and then the other thing I've learned through co-writing is you've got to go in there with your ideas. You've got to know what you want to write about what your project is about what songs you're missing or what you need for your next album and it's It's no good sort of going in there I've had people come around to my place you know songwriters that want to write songs and. And they walk in and we sit down and I say Okay, what do you want to write about and they say oh I don't know and Ill say well what?? what's your next album album about what's you know? But oh I ah don't know and like it's system. It's a total waste of time so it is it is it is yeah and because.

Brad: It's like pulling teeth isn't It's just just trying to sort of draw ideas out of them as opposed to it being a ah bouncing inspiring process I guess.

Adam: So true. So true. So I always go to my writers and what I find is particular writers are really good at writing specific styles of songs and I learnt that from when I used to go over to Nashville and write songs because you only get.

Adam: Generally generally you only get one day with each writer. So for example, I'll go and write a song with David Lee Murphy who writes all those big hits for Kenny Chesney and the big drink and songs in the party songs. That's his thing so you you aim your ideas your party ideas at him you walk in there on the day he says what have you got. Because he's not going to give you his ideas. He keeps them for Kenny Chesney and everyone else you know what have you got and I say okay I've got oh idea a you know I think it should be a party at the Harveys or whatever I've got I idea b you have and it's okay so all of a sudden you you're halfway there and then I'll go to someone? yeah.

Brad: And yeah, the trains Wreck Delay and the trains heading off to the station. Yeah.

Adam: Yeah, exactly you know and you're not wasting any time whereas I'll go to someone else like Jerry Sally who's written a lot of big hits for people like Reba Mcintyre and people like that and he loves his sentimental songs. That's his thing. He's a real sentimental fellow. So I'll go and aim my really sentimental ballads. Whether it's a love song or it's a shake of a hand or it's a something I'll aim those ideas specifically at him because I know that's what he loves and so it really it really makes the process so much easier when you you know what? you want to write about you know what your ideas are and you pitch them to the right people.

Adam: All of a sudden the process becomes so much easier and quicker.