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Official Transcript
[3:01] I’m sitting here with Don Rollins and Jim “Moose” Brown, songwriters, musicians and they’re going to tell us a little bit about their lives and a little bit about their songwriting. So I’d like to first of all thank you guys for making the time to do this and thank you for taking the time to talk to me.
(Both express gratitude)
First I’d like to start with to my immediate right, Mr. Jim “Moose” Brown, I wanted to know how you got started with the songwriting end of the business?
Jim “Moose” Brown:
Well, I moved to Nashville in 1982 and I moved here to be a session musician which is currently what I still do for the most part and I songwrite around that and I play on a lot of country music records as a piano player and, I started, you know doing playing piano on songwriters demo sessions when they would go in the studio to demo their songs to pitch them and, Several of the writers through the years asked me to start writing with them. and Don being one of them and thank God he did, But I’ve known Don I used to play on his songwriting demos early on when he started coming to Nashville and we started writing together probably what about six years ago five six years ago Something like that. Yeah.
[4:18] So that’s how I broke into the writing world kind of through the back door as a musician already established, you know.
And Mr. Rollins.
Don Rollins:
Well, I really came at this from a strange viewpoint. I was a saxophone player of all things in Texas and, Have a music ed degree and was teaching high school music and doing that thing and playing a lot of really good blues bands and you know doing the Texas music scene and ended up with a lot of of friends and cohorts in the music business down there that had record deals up here or writing deals up here. So I got really fascinated with the songwriting end of things. So I really started paying attention to that and started writing for some bands I was playing with down there. One of the last bands that I was in before I moved to town was a band where Dee Vincent Williams, he wrote “I’m Moving On” for Rascal Flatts, was the piano player.
And you know, we wrote together back in those days when we would try out, uh, songs, um, in front of the audience and and see how that went.
And, and so even though I never sang a note, I was always, you know, involved in the, in the writing end of whatever band I was in. And that just naturally translated to coming up here.
[5:33] Growing up, I was wondering what kind of music did you guys listening to listen to and I’m going to start with Mr. Moose.
Jim “Moose” Brown
I actually grew up in the Detroit area and so I listened to a lot of Motown, you know Marvin Gaye and Aretha Franklin and that kind of stuff and and Elton John and, My parents were from the south. My parents were from Arkansas and so I was also exposed to country music and I actually grew to love country music when I got into my teens and I knew from probably about the time I was 14 or 15 that I would love to be involved in that. In the making of that. You know so I moved to Nashville with that dream like a lot of other people to to be a studio musician and I worked out on the road, with a lot of people when I first moved here and worked in a lot of clubs and did a lot of different things. It took a while to get established as a studio musician, but I’ve been doing that pretty much since about 1993, you know, just being a studio musician, not traveling, and songwriting.
[6:40] And Mr. Rollins, what kind of music did you listen to growing up?
Don Rollins:
Well this is kind of strange, I started actually on guitar, it was my first instrument. I got a little Gibson guitar for my seventh birthday and learned all the Hank Williams songs and all the stuff that you can learn pretty easily. My dad was into country music.
And when I started playing saxophone, I really started getting into jazz. And so going from Hank Williams to John Coltrane is kind of a swing, but that’s kind of what I did.
And then when I was in college, I started playing with bar bands. And my first bar band that I was involved with was playing behind Katie Webster, who, was one of Otis Redding’s former keyboard players. So that really woke me up to the Stax, the old 60s soul stuff.
And that kind of formed a bridge for me between the jazz stuff that I’d been doing and the country stuff that I grew up on. And that definitely made a link between all of that and made it all make sense and work together.
So, and then I have a classical background and I mean, I play with everything from symphonies to, I did a short run with Ringling Brothers, Barnum & Bailey Circus one time. So I have a pretty diverse set of musical influences, but really from country to jazz to old soul kind of my major stopping points.
[7:58] So how did you guys meet?
Don Rollins:
The first time I met Jim was in 1997.
I had just signed a writing deal with Warner Chappell. I was still actually teaching band in Texas.
And I was doing songwriter demos up here at a studio called Germantown. And Moose came in and played piano for me on that session that I remember very distinctly.
That was the first time I ever met Jim.
[8:22] And what was your first impression?
Don Rollins:
Of Jim? That he was a good keyboard player.
I mean, I never really thought about any of the session players that worked on my demos as songwriters.
Of course, I was coming from Texas, so I didn’t really get to know the guys that well, and it was like, you come up and recording demos is a very fast-paced thing.
I mean, you try to do five songs in three hours, and everybody’s going really quickly, and they were great guys, but I never really got the chance to know them much.
So it was after that I moved to town in 2001 that we actually got to sit down and talk enough to find out that Jim was a writer and that we probably ought to sit down together and try this. I’m really glad we did.
So Mr. Brown, what did you think when you met, what was the first impression of Don Rollins?
Jim “Moose” Brown:
Well, Don has a lot better memory than I do because I kind of remember those days, but as a musician I play on so many songwriters demo sessions that they all kind of run together a little bit. I do remember that, but I think his memory is a lot better than mine. I don’t remember a whole lot about those days, but at that time…
[9:33] I wasn’t I wasn’t writing at all Don said that he didn’t know, you know if I was a songwriter or not at that time. I actually wasn’t I don’t think I wrote my first song until about 1998 or 99 and.
[9:50] So his impression of me as a piano player was probably the only the only thing he had to go by because I wasn’t writing songs at that time. I remember early on meeting Don. I really got into his lyrics He’s a very, very, very brilliant lyricist and that was probably my first memory of those sessions that we did together back then, is just what a strong lyricist he is.
You have had the opportunity to play on a lot of albums with your keyboard playing. And I was talking to John Goodwin earlier and he said, “man, Jim is one of the best keyboard players in town.” And I was wondering, out of all the session work you’ve done, is there any in particular that really stands out in your mind as being a particularly memorable or a special album to you personally?
Well, I’ve played on three of Brad Paisley’s records, and those always stand out to me because he is such an incredible musician. I remember the album that we did, the last album that we did last year, well actually we just finished one up, but it’s not out yet, but we did an album for him last year called “Time Well Wasted” and we did an instrumental on there called “Time Warp” and it was the fastest thing I’ve ever, not only ever played it. So I think it’s the fastest thing I’ve ever heard That’s one of the that’s one of the highlights, recent highlights anyway.
[11:16] You know, I don’t know they’re all kind of special in their own way. Artists, you know true artists bring a lot to the table and it’s they all bring something special. So I don’t know if I can narrow it down to just one or two experiences. It’s just a neat thing I get to do.
One song that you guys wrote that all of our listeners know is “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere.” I was wondering, how and I’m sure you guys get to ask this question all the time: How did you guys get the idea to have a song about how this one particular time of the day, [11:50] No matter where you are. You can kick back and have a cocktail. Who came up with the initial idea?
Don Rollins:
I actually got that idea. I wish I could claim credit for it. But I mean, it’s obviously it’s an old saying. My first teaching job back in 1983 when I graduated from college, I was an assistant band director at Humble High School in Texas. And Jim Blacksher, who was my boss, was, you know, he was just an East Texas guy from Nacogdoches and very, very colorful in the things he would say.
And we would leave school at 3.30 or so together every day. And I’d say, of course, I’m 22 years old, so of course I want to go have a beer. So I would say, Jim, you want to go have a beer? And he’d look at his watch and say, “well, it’s 5 o’clock somewhere.” And he said that every day for so long that I think it imprinted on some brain cell, that I didn’t kill back in those days. It came out when it needed to.
But as I remember, Jim was playing the piano on a record by an artist who was on Sony at the time, who I don’t think his record ever came out, and just mentioned that he was looking for a Buffett-vibe kind of a thing.
[13:00] And I said, you know, I have a title that I’ve been wanting to write that would work really well with that groove, and threw out “It’s 5 O’Clock Somewhere,” and it was written very quickly. And I remember saying somewhere, probably in the bridge, I want to put the line, “what would Jimmy Buffett do?”
And all I was doing was just with my evil, sarcastic sense of humor was poking a little fun of the Jesus bumper stickers. We had no inkling that that would actually be a record that Jimmy Buffett sang on. That was just one of those miracles that happen up here In fact.
And I’ve seen so many places, you know, signs, little stickers on people’s car. Now that say “WWJBD,” what would Jimmy Buffett do? And, uh, you know, this is, this song has kind of become like an anthem now. And, you know, it’s becoming a song that Buffett is doing every, almost every Concert and it’s like a cry, you know a rallying cry that people you know, it’s like it’s Friday. [14:05] “Thank God,” you know And I was wondering and I’m gonna ask Jim this one when you guys had put the song together: Did you have a good feeling behind it? Do you think well, this is a real, This is a killer cut.
Jim “Moose” Brown
Yeah, we did I think we we thought we after we wrote it that we had hooked one, you know. But you know, it’s such a funny business. You just never know It’s there’s a lot of variables and it’s a lot of luck. It’s a lot of timing. It’s a lot of a lot of things that are out of your control, So, I mean, I think Don and I have written some some great songs together. And I don’t know that I would have picked that one at the top of the list. You know I think we we had an artist in mind and we had like he said I can’t remember the artist’s name now but the album never came out thank goodness, but, we pitched him that song and they passed on it and. So I remember talking to Don and I I kind of thought to myself maybe we didn’t hook it as good as I thought we did but, There’s just like I said, there’s just so many variables that you can’t control. You just have to write them the best you can and throw them out there and hopefully they take you know.
[15:15] When did you guys first realize that this song was going to be a full head-on success, Don Rollins is gonna take this one.
Don Rollins:
Well, I think, when Alan cut it and went ahead and put Jimmy’s vocal on there. And and it was obviously destined to be on the greatest hits package, one of two new songs on the greatest hits package and that pretty much is a guaranteed single. I mean, that’s what happens. It’s like when an artist puts a Greatest Hits package together, they put a couple of new songs on there and those are singles to sort of help promote the Greatest Hits package. So, you know we really didn’t have any doubt that it was going to be a hit.
Since it was an Alan Jackson single and then Jimmy Buffett on it would make it a hit on another level. I don’t think that you one of us really thought it was going to do everything that it did. I mean eight weeks of number one and a Grammy and I mean that’s pretty over-the-top I mean, you know, I certainly didn’t think like that. But I’ve really figured to be a successful single for sure once once it was, you know Well, it was cut by who it was cut by.
I’ve seen pictures of you guys with with Jimmy Buffett and I’m wondering have you guys also had interactions with Alan Jackson?
Jim “Moose” Brown:
[16:26] Yeah, we’ve had a few I took my son to see him my son became an Alan Jackson fan through all this and we went down to, Huntsville, Alabama and saw one of his concerts. And then Don and I went out to see him when he performed here at the Wild Horse Saloon in Nashville. I’ve probably actually been exposed to Buffett a little bit more than Alan. Jimmy Buffett has just been really, really nice through all this.
First of all, I think he’s genuinely enjoyed this. I know that he didn’t need it, but I think he kind of missed being on radio, and he’s just really seemed to genuinely enjoy it.
It’s been a neat thing to watch, and I’ve got to tell you something. He did one of the nicest things I’ve ever had anybody do for me since I’ve been in town.
That song, “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere,” it won the ASCAP Nashville Song of the Year, which is the award they give to the song that I guess has the most airplay in that year. Jimmy Buffett is a BMI writer, which is kind of the opposite. They’re kind of competing [17:36] performing right organizations. When he heard that he was going to win the ASCAP Song of the Year, he made a special trip to Nashville and came to the ASCAP Awards. As I was performing it on stage, I had no idea that he was there.
When I got to the part where I said, “what would Jimmy Buffett do?” he snuck up on stage and sat down at the piano next to me and started singing with me. It was a special, special thing. That’s just a small example of what kind of human being he is.
He’s a very gracious, caring person.
I wanted to ask you guys what what’s on the horizon with you guys? What what kind of stuff are you doing right now? I imagine you’re continuing with your songwriting, but are there any projects right now that both of you are working on either together or separately? And I’ll start with Mr. Rollins.
Don Rollins:
Well just for myself as a writer I’ve just been lucky enough to get two songs on the upcoming Reba McEntire duets project. [18:33] Which is, I mean, just it’s amazing to get on that record and to get two on there is really over the top. But I’m really excited about that coming out. And that’s really, I guess, the thing that’s been taking up most of my attention for the last few months is just writing for that record. And just before we met this afternoon, I came out of the studio trying to to get another song ready to hopefully get a third one on that record. So we’ll see how that goes. But that’s been consuming a lot of my attention these days.
Jim “Moose” Brown:
So tell him about the duet part of it.
Don Rollins:
Well, the first one was a song called “Sleeping With a Telephone” with Faith Hill. And the second one was a song called “Everyday People” with Reba and Carole King. So, so yeah, that’s pretty. For songwriter Carole King is like one of the icons of that business.
So that’s really, that’s really flattering.
[19:25] Yes, sir. And Mr. Brown, what about you?
Well, I actually have not been writing at all. I’m just diving back into it. I got a strange call about six months ago. My phone rang at 10 o’clock at night and I answered the phone and he said, “Moose?” And I said, yeah. And he said, “This is Bob Seeger.” And, I went, “Yeah, right.” And then I looked at caller ID and it said Michigan. And I said, Holy cow, this is Bob Seeger, you know, so I had been recommended to him. I’m primarily in Nashville known as a keyboard player. But years ago, I used to play electric guitar and I kind of gave it up when I started doing recording sessions and just focused on piano quite a bit.
Anyway, somebody had recommended me to Bob.[20:09] Brent Rowan actually who’s a session player here in Nashville recommended me Bob was looking for somebody who could play guitar and keyboards and sing and And so he invited me up to Detroit and hang out with him for a little bit. And the next thing I knew I was part of the Silver Bullet Band. So that’s what I’ve been doing for the last five or six months is I’ve been on tour with Bob and that tour just finished up In Detroit. We did three shows in Detroit and they recorded the last two and had a film crew out and everything. So I think they’re gonna be a live album that comes out of that. But anyway, it’s been a really that’s what I’ve been involved with the last six months. And I’m so I’m just diving back into songwriting right now.
when you guys aren’t writing songs or performing music or recording music. I was wondering what you guys do in your downtime if you have any?
Don Rollins:
[20:55] Downtime, what’s that? Well, I’m personally, I mean Jim mentioned that I’m a lyric writer. The fuel for that is that I read a lot and that’s really I mean if I find myself with a few hours and nothing to do that typically is what I do.
I read. My daughter is a really fine oboist, a high school oboist. She just turned 17 yesterday.
And so I still pull out the teaching chops and go work with her school groups occasionally, just as a guest and do some of that here and there.
And I love to hunt and fish when I get the chance, but it’s been actually quite some time since I’ve had the chance to slow down that much.
But I’m actually going to North Carolina to the beach over Labor Day and going to go chase the fish around a while. But I have to like really deliberately block off chunks of my calendar to do anything like that because this business will consume you.
If things are going well and if things are going horribly, then your phone never rings and you’re really miserable. But all in all, I really shouldn’t complain, but I’m very busy with what I do and I love what I do.
Jim “Moose” Brown:
Ah, downtime. You know, I don’t really have a lot of downtime either. I try to set aside [22:14] weekends to be with my youngest son. My older son is in college, Jeremy, he’s 19, and my younger son is 14, Josh. And so we do a lot of stuff together on the weekends. I’ve got a Harley, we ride some together, and I try to get caught up in the yard work and that kind of stuff, you know. I just try to stay around the house and be with the family.
My last question for you guys, given that this program goes out all over the world, it’s kind of a philosophical question, but what would you like to say to the world?
[22:46] And I’d first like to ask you, Don Rollins.
Don Rollins:
What I’d like to say to the world? That’s a really loaded question. I don’t know if the world would like to hear what I’d like to say to it. Man, all I can say is lighten up. You know, you know, I think we we really are just as a as a planet emphasizing our differences a lot these days. And I think there are people that are making a really good living off of helping us emphasize our differences. And and I, you know, I really wish that she would learn how to read beyond the headlines a little bit and think beyond the sound bites and spin.
And realize that we definitely all have more in common than we have not in common. So that was what I would say.
And Jim Moose Brown.
Jim “Moose” Brown:
Well, I think that was some pretty good comments right there. I feel the same way. I also feel that along with lighting up, we should not, like Don said, believe everything.There’s always two sides to everything. And I think that you shouldn’t believe everything that you see on television. I think that there’s such a thing now on television that you got to search out for the truth a little bit, you know, and. [24:05] I think also, you know, sometimes you need to look upward for the answers instead of to the television, you know, I’ll try to do that as much as I can.
Well guys, thank you so much for making the time to do this. I really appreciate it. Thank you.
(Both thanking. “We had a good time.”
Pat O’Briens Bar owes you guys a lot of money.
