-[Narrator 1 VO] This program is brought to you, in part, by Santa Cruz Guitar Company and Santa Cruz Parabolic Tension Strings.

-[Narrator 2 VO] Also brought to you by Paige Capos, and by Peluso Microphone Lab.

Additional support provided by these sponsors.

Hello, and welcome to The Life Of A Musician.

Tonight's episode is recorded live from MerleFest at Wilkes Community College in Wilkesboro, North Carolina.

Let's step inside and listen.

-Hello, folks, and welcome to The Life Of A Musician , live from MerleFest.

And this has just been such a cool experience.

We've had so many great artists here, and one of my absolute favorite, you know, group of singers, you know, period, the end-- I've been listening to these guys and their insane harmony for, I don't know, ever since you came out, you know, ever since you hit the scene--was like, “Whoa.

They're really good.

"I bet they're going to go somewhere.

"I bet something's going to happen with these guys, "and it's going to be big.

I bet they'll end up on the Grand Ole Opry someday.” But that was literally kind of like the train of thought when I heard your guys' harmonies together, and I know, like, you are an insanely amazing, studly musician-- period, the end.

-[Darin] Well, thank you, sir.

-I've seen you guys with, like, Matt Menifee and doing all those, you know, -those old New Grass Revival-- -[Darin] Oh yeah.

-Darin can play, man.

-Had fun time with Matt and John and all the guys.

-Yeah, you guys were fantastic.

And I was--when I saw you on the docket here for MerleFest-- I was like, okay, we got to get Darin and Brooke.

You know, we got to hear those guys sing.

And thank you so much.

I'm just waxing on because I'm a little starstruck right now.

-[laughs] You're so sweet.

-Thank you for having us.

-Yes, we're honored to be here.

Thank you so much.

-I know, guys, I mean, like I said, we don't script the show, so I don't want to, you know, delve into, like, the questions everybody else asks.

But what is something that you would want folks to know about you, your music, whatever-- -you know, your favorite puppy, -[both laughs] -[Brandon] stuff like that, you know?

-Well-- -Funny, you should have.

-I know.

We have a little 16-year-old Yorkie.

-He's our puppy, [chuckles] -That's right.

and he's been our baby.

So he's a great little dog.

But something about our music, I guess, is that, you know, we've always tried to put out positive and uplifting music, no matter what we're singing about.

And I think we've managed to do that in the 15 years that we've been playing and kind of established who we are as Darin and Brooke.

And that's what we always wanted to do.

-Well, it does not seem like 15 years.

That just kind of blew me away.

You know, that kind of dates me as well, like-- because, oh yeah, it was-- I really--I heard you guys the first time, IBMA, and it was just like, whoa.

It's crazy.

So what, you know, how's the journey been like?

You know, did you guys expect to-- you be staring at the opposite end of the Opry stage?

You know, where...?

-Well, we'd set goals for that early.

When I first met Brooke and heard her sing-- and, you know, I met her right after Charlie Waller passed, and I was with Charlie for five years and I really wanted to pursue music.

And I was in a band called “The Circuit Riders” right after Charlie, and she was in another local band from around Avery County.

And when we got together and started singing and started showing up at the same place, and I took her out to a couple festivals, and you know, it turned a lot of people's heads at the big voice that she had, you know.

And then our duets got together, and we sat down and talked about it and set things that-- like Brooke always says now-- if you really want to do this, we'll be serious about it and try it.

And so that was one of the early things we wanted to do after we played for about a year, is, you know, we want to play the Opry and be part of that someday.

You know, we want to do a variety of country music, gospel music, and blend bluegrass in there with-- and how we listened to some of our favorite artists growing up, like Ricky Skaggs and Emmylou Harris and others.

Because we both listened to music through the '80s, through our childhood, and that was huge at that time.

And I think we've just stuck with that all this time.

-Wow.

Well, and it shows.

And we'll segue into, like, other questions, because, like, when you brought that up, like-- oh, I gotta talk to Brooke about that.

-[laughter] -But I really want to try to get the songs on, you know, on this episode, because, you know, every song that you guys sent me that I did my best to learn and say, “Oh, don't mess it up when you play it with them.” -[Darin] You'll know it fine.

-But you guys wrote these songs, you know, and you're stepping out-- hey, we're the songwriters.

And, you know, that's really cool.

And then it's an artist thing.

-We've always wrote a couple tunes on a record that we've done every time.

But, you know, since 2020 and COVID, and everybody was stuck at home, we had more time.

You know, everybody slowed down, and, you know, Zoom come available to everybody, and we could write with other people just for the passing time.

And so, since then, the last two records we've put out, half of the material has been original songs on there.

-We got a little more serious about it, I suppose.

-We kept up with that.

-Yeah, we've always wrote, but just more so on these last couple of records.

-And I'm an even bigger fan now that I know.

For me, when I hear the album and I see the artists who are performing also wrote the song-- man, to me, that's like, okay, that's a next-level kind of step.

That's a full-artist kind of thing.

So, you know, without going too, too much into that-- what's the first song you want to do for us?

-We're going to do a song that we wrote about one of our most favorite stages in the whole wide world, the Grand Ole Opry.

And we've got to grace that stage over 50-some times now, which is hard to believe.

But we sat down with our good friend Bill White during the pandemic-- because we did have time on our hands, right?

--and so we come up with this tune about the circle, and so we could share it everywhere we went, just not while we were at the Opry.

We wanted to honor the Opry in that kind of way.

And I think we definitely captured that -in that song.

-Just tell our story of how we went there, you know, before as just guests backstage and looking on stage and hoping we'd get to step out there one day.

And then all of a sudden, we've been frequent guests.

And Bill said, “We need to capture that in a song.” -Yeah.

-It's called "The Grand Ole Circle".

-Yeah, lay it on us, man.

[“The Grand Ole Circle” intro] ♪ They cut it from The Ryman stage in 1974 ♪ ♪ Roy Acuff helped to place it ♪ ♪ Just right on the Opry floor ♪ ♪ There's a microphone Standing ♪ ♪ In the middle where The chosen get to sing ♪ ♪ Boots and heels Have walked into it ♪ ♪ Left some scuffs and scars ♪ ♪ You can feel The ghost of Hank ♪ ♪ Singing "Your Cheating Heart" ♪ ♪ It survived a flood in 2010 ♪ ♪ There's not one show Where it's gone missing ♪ ♪ That circle can't be broken ♪ ♪ It's always there and open ♪ ♪ With a light on it for those Who sing their songs ♪ ♪ From Bill Monroe to Ricky ♪ ♪ To Flatt and Scruggs And Minnie ♪ ♪ Six feet of wood, It's been there all along ♪ ♪ God bless that Grand Ole Circle ♪ ♪ For all the years it's been ♪ ♪ For dreamers just like us To stand in ♪ ♪ We saw it from the wings ♪ ♪ Behind the ropes And were amazed ♪ ♪ At all the stars That it held up ♪ ♪ Never thought There'd be a day ♪ ♪ That we'd walk Into that circle ♪ ♪ And hear Eddie Stubbs Call our names ♪ ♪ That circle can't be broken ♪ ♪ It's always there and open ♪ ♪ With a light on it for those Who sing their songs ♪ ♪ From Marty Vince and Patty ♪ ♪ To Tater, George and Tammy ♪ ♪ Six feet of wood It's been there all along ♪ ♪ God bless that Grand Ole Circle ♪ ♪ For all the years it's been ♪ ♪ For dreamers just like us To stand in ♪ ♪ It will always be there ♪ ♪ It'll live on and on ♪ ♪ Other dreamers Will stand on it ♪ ♪ Long after we're gone ♪ ♪ That circle can't be broken ♪ ♪ It's always there and open ♪ ♪ With a light on it for those Who sing their songs ♪ ♪ Whisperin' Bill And Jeannie Seely ♪ ♪ Loretta, Dolly, Emmy ♪ ♪ Six feet of wood It's been there all along ♪ ♪ God bless that Grand Ole Circle♪ ♪ For all the years it's been ♪ ♪ For dreamers just like us To stand in ♪ ♪ For all the years it's been ♪ ♪ For dreamers just like us To stand in ♪ [♪ ♪ ♪] -Guys, that was fantastic.

And it was actually one of those things where I'm listening like-- I kind of don't want to play.

-[laughter] -[Darin] You play along, man.

-[Brooke] You did great.

-Well, thank you very much for being kind.

It's--you just got some-- just great-- you just got that great rhythm.

-Well, thank you, sir.

I'll just try to back her up and follow her, you know, put the right little chord in there at all sometimes.

-Yeah, man.

That's a smart man.

-[laughter] -That's a smart man.

-Well, one of the things I was-- we were talking about before we started rolling-- is I want to talk about you.

We'll spotlight you here for just a minute.

-Okay.

-I have totally noticed you have this powerful voice.

You know, you, like, you sing-- like Chet Atkins used to say about, like, Suzy Bogguss-- you sing in the middle of the note.

-Well, thank you.

-You know, it's right in tune.

Got any secrets to that, or, you know, want to share with us?

-I don't really.

I mean, I've listened to Suzy and Patty Loveless and Sonya Isaacs and Becky Isaacs, you know, growing up.

Their music was just inspirational to me, and I feel like their influence has kind of come out in my voice over the years-- where I've learned what I wanted to sound like, kind of.

-[Brandon] Right.

-And probably where I grew up.

I grew up in Avery County and the church where I used to go to as a kid, like, you know, everybody just got up and sang, and everybody could sing good.

It was the weirdest thing.

But, yeah, I think a lot of that came from that.

And my Meemaw and my mom and sisters were really good singers.

So it's just the area that I'm from, I think, and the way we've just sang.

You know, it's just kind of rear back and let her fly kind of thing.

So I think that's where my power comes from in my voice.

-And you've definitely got it.

But also something that I noticed-- and I started noticing this about, like, Russell Moore-- I was saying, you know, Russell: killer, great, powerful, huge voice, but he knows how to work a mic.

And, like, you know how to work a mic.

-Well, thank you.

Yeah, I try to be careful because I can distort a mic.

Darin, he laughs at me sometimes because I do have such a-- -Early on in her career, yes, she had hurt a soundman before we started traveling with our own, you know?

Yes, she'd go up there and red light 'em pretty good start with.

[laughs] -Well, you know, it's just trial and error.

-You know, you learn by doing.

-[Brooke] Yeah.

Yeah, sure.

-Well, and that's--you know, it's just prevalent.

It's just those things that stick out because I'm a music nerd, so I'm always-- those little things like, "Whoa, that's really good.

They do that well."

You guys want to lay another one on us?

-[Darin] Sure.

-Tell us a little bit -about it or--?

-“Wildflower Too”?

-Yeah.

So this is a song that we wrote while we were-- well, we had the idea for it when we were in Texas, and the bluebonnets were blooming this time of year when we were down there.

It was around April, I think--late March.

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

And so we came home, and I told Darin, I said, "Man, "you know, the bluebonnets were blooming down there, "and people were pulling off on the interstates "getting their pictures made in it.

I had to get my picture made in it."

And I wanted to kind of have a song that made me think of something that The Trio might have cut-- which was Emmylou Harris, Linda Ronstadt, and Dolly Parton back in their time.

And I said, "Let's try to write a song like that."

So once again, we got with our good friend Bill White and came up with a tune that had that Dolly kind of feel to it, and kind of put our spin on it with the mountains-- us being from the mountains, or at least close by growing up.

And then, of course, just the idea of the wildflower -Yeah, just the melody.

-blowing in the wind-- Instrumentation of passing the melody back and forth, a little bit of picking.

It was just our idea for that.

-It was--and it turned out to be a great little song.

A lot of people, I think, have connected with this song, and it really takes them home.

So this one's called “Wildflower Too”.

[“Wildflower Too” intro] ♪ Wildflowers are not planted ♪ ♪ They grow wild ♪ ♪ And then they bloom ♪ ♪ High in the mountains ♪ ♪ And down in a meadow ♪ ♪ Guess that makes me ♪ ♪ A wildflower too ♪ ♪ Grew up in Carolina ♪ ♪ But I love To follow the wind ♪ ♪ And go wherever it blows me ♪ ♪ Again and again and again ♪ ♪ Wildflowers love it out ♪ ♪ In the country ♪ ♪ Guess that makes me ♪ ♪ A wildflower too ♪ [♪ ♪ ♪] ♪ Might be a daisy ♪ ♪ Cause I'm not rooted ♪ ♪ Might be a bonnet ♪ ♪ God colored blue ♪ ♪ I'm always looking ♪ ♪ For the sunshine ♪ ♪ Guess that makes me ♪ ♪ A wildflower too ♪ ♪ Grew up in Carolina ♪ ♪ But I love To follow the wind ♪ ♪ And go wherever it blows me ♪ ♪ Again and again and again ♪ ♪ Wildflowers love it out ♪ ♪ In the country ♪ ♪ Guess that makes me ♪ ♪ A wildflower too ♪ [♪ ♪ ♪] ♪ Grew up in Carolina ♪ ♪ But I love To follow the wind ♪ ♪ And go wherever it blows me ♪ ♪ Again and again and again ♪ ♪ Wildflowers love it out In the country ♪ ♪ Guess that makes me ♪ ♪ A wildflower too ♪ ♪ Wildflowers love it out ♪ ♪ In the country ♪ ♪ Guess that makes me ♪ ♪ A wildflower too ♪ [♪ ♪ ♪] -Well, one thing I'm sitting up here and I'm noticing, and it's always so cool for me-- like, I have the coolest gig in the world, because I get to see it happen in real life.

And, you know, I'm right next to it listening to it.

It's like, when I'm watching Tim O'Brien's right hand.

-[Darin] Oh yeah.

-You know?

-[Darin] And he's got one of the best.

-Oh yeah.

It's insane.

I was like, "Oh."

But beside that, I'm listening to you guys.

Your blend is so disciplined and so--wow--just spot on.

Like, you know, we've got some mics on, but we don't have any monitors, anything like that.

And you guys have got your voices just at the perfect volume, and the perfect blend.

Give me some kind of secret so I can steal it, you know?

Where does that come from?

-I've always been a harmony singer, you know, pretty much.

I mean, I sang some leads on the records and stuff, and always loved that--but always loved hearing harmony, and tried to fit that in.

You know, I sang a lot to my mom when I was younger, hearing her around the house, play piano and autoharp.

And my grandpa was a great singer-- had a tenor voice.

That's where I kind of get the high-end type of thing, you know.

But I just love to sing with people.

That was our job when I was with the Country Gentlemen-- was to sing with Charlie, you know.

And I got to play with him at an older age for him, so he didn't have the power he had in the '50s and the '60s.

So Greg Corbett was in the trio with us, with that band.

We decided to, you know, not overshadow Charlie.

We helped carry him a lot on stage-- sometimes not physically-- but, you know, remembering words and singing.

And so I learned to really sing with the vocalist at whatever power that might be, you know, and how to blend that certain thing.

You know, and it's different with artists.

You know, it's--with Cowan that we do a lot with-- you know, it's all on.

You know, Jimmy Fortune, same thing, you know.

Vince--when we sung with him a bunch-- it's, you know, he knows how to put the power out there and seem, like, soft-sweet as well.

So I think it's just following that lead vocalist to what will suit for that.

-Yeah, it definitely shows.

You guys are students of the game, as they say.

-[Brooke chuckles] -You know?

But, you know, do you practice your phrasing?

Because, like, it's not just that-- your phrasing is perfect.

-Yeah, we do.

Especially, you know, singing in the studio, of course, and we work something up.

But it's always come pretty natural to Brooke and I.

-[Brandon] See now--I'm jealous.

-[laughter] -Well, I think it's what she said.

You know, our families all came from western North Carolina and pretty much the same county.

And how, you know, my mom and grandpa were-- she was from-- and growing up in church and singing, that type of thing all the time.

I think it's really been a blessing for us to carry that together.

-Guys, you know, you've been doing this now for--what?

Darin said, does not believe--15 years?

That's crazy.

Seems like, you know, a few months-- it's kind of like, as a listener, as a fan.

-[Darin] It's went by real quick, haven't it?

-But, so, you know, what are-- have you reached all the goals?

Or, you know, is there--there's...?

-There's still--you know, a bunch that we'd love to achieve at some point.

We've been real close, we've been told, but we'd love to get nominated for a Grammy sometime for some piece of our work.

I think that's every artist's major goal, you know.

-[Brandon] Oh, absolutely, yeah.

-And to become Opry members one day-- maybe when another 30 years passes-- we can maybe get that.

-I don't think that's too far off, y'all.

I mean, you know, if anybody's on the path, it's definitely you guys.

-Well, we're honored every time they call.

And, you know, regardless if they ever ask us to be members or not, we just-- -We love just being part of that tradition, and they treat us like family already, so.

-Yeah, well, it's gotta be awesome.

It's, you know, every kid's dream.

My dream was to be able to play, you know.

But they kind of grow, and after that it was, "Let's do a show, "and let's get Darin and Brooke on-- -[laughter] -and all these cool folks."

I mean, I'm kind of at a loss, because really-- I'm saying it over and over again-- just, you're just so dang good.

And you're so right there.

Do you ever mess up?

Like, do you ever make a mistake, you know?

And who kicks who when that happens?

-She's always kicking me.

-[chuckles] -No.

It's funny on stage, or like--regardless, like, even if we're just practicing at home-- like, I can always tell if he doesn't know the song that well that we're going over, and I'll kind of correct him, which is kind of funny, because I don't play guitar that great.

But I can hear stuff, so I'm like, "That ain't right."

-[laughter] -He's like, "She's telling me-- you're telling me?"

And I'm like, "Yeah."

And then he learns it really good, and then I don't have to-- I don't have to get on to him anymore.

-You don't have to fix it.

-She's got a perfect hear.

She does.

Yeah.

-Got the perfect pitch?

I mean--has to, has to.

When you guys aren't making music, you know, what are you doing?

Is it football?

Is it basketball?

-Well, we did watch a lot of basketball -this year.

-College basketball.

Yeah.

-That was good.

-Big Cardinal fans, so.

-We like to golf, kayak.

She hikes, and I follow her, and so that's always-- -I hike and I carry him.

-[laughter] -No, we live pretty close to a lake, and we go out there a lot.

It's pretty-- days we're not traveling, so.

And spend time with our little dog, you know?

-Yeah.

-We love that.

-Try to see our family as much as we can, too.

I love coming home to the mountains as often as I can to see my parents and my sisters and nephews and nieces and aunts and uncles.

So it's good to... -to always get back home.

-Being around family we can.

-[Brooke] Yeah.

-Yeah.

-Well, it's nice to know that--that no matter-- I think you're the kind of folks that, no matter what happens, you know--if you do get that Grammy or that, you know, Grand Ole Opry membership, and, you know, and you're playing on the moon-- sounds like you're the kind of folks who are going to always be who you are.

-[Brooke] That's right.

-That's what we try to be.

-Yeah.

-Just be us.

And, man, I heard Doyle Lawson say that years ago.

I was around Doyle a lot, and, you know, when I was young with Charlie and hearing his band-- and one of his guys had said that, you know, that's going on.

I think they were at a big gospel singing.

Well, no bluegrass artist was at-- and Doyle was there with his band, and I think some of the guys were pretty nervous to go out there with a lot of Gaither people and all that.

And he said, "Man, "boys, just go out there and do what we do, "because it's real what we do, "and we're going to get that across-- and just be ourselves."

And I thought that was great advice.

-[Brandon] Yeah.

-I've always remembered that.

And I was just about 20 years old -when I heard it at that time.

-[Brandon] Wow.

-So just always be yourself, you know?

-Yeah.

-[Darin] Do what you can do.

Well, that's good advice for anybody back home.

Do you have any other advice, you know, that you would pass on to the younger generation who maybe want to follow in your shoes, you know, and be who you guys are-- a facsimile of that?

-Well, in the business, you know--just, just don't let it bog you down, because it can be hard.

Just keep a positive attitude.

If it's really what you want to do, and your heart's really in it, then you're going to succeed.

And it's not about, you know, playing to these huge stadiums or audiences.

It's really--what it's about is playing to the audience that loves who you are and loves your music.

And so, don't ever forget that.

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

-It's great advice.

It's great advice.

Well, thank you, guys.

-[Darin] Thank you for having us today.

-Absolutely.

I mean, you're doing me the favor.

I really appreciate it, and I'm blown away, guys.

I'm an even bigger fan now than I was before.

Thank you so much.

Why don't you send us off with this one?

And you guys did it so good-- it's like, I don't really want to play on it.

So, you know, maybe I'll come in every now and then, but I don't want to mess up what you guys got going.

-All right, man.

You just-- -Lay it on.

-You'll know exactly what to do.

-All right.

-This is from Talk of the Town , our latest album.

It's called “It Can't Be Wrong”.

♪ I've been outside my window ♪ ♪ A bird in the willow tree ♪ ♪ I could hear him singing ♪ ♪ Singing something good For me ♪ ♪ Saw a penny on the sidewalk ♪ ♪ Picked it up along my way ♪ ♪ Found a tiny Four-leaf clover ♪ ♪ This could be my lucky day ♪ ♪ Cause love is in the air ♪ ♪ New as the morning sun ♪ -[Narrator 2 VO] Thank you for being a part of our show.

We look forward to seeing you on the next episode of The Life of a Musician.

♪ Now any hesitation ♪ ♪ I ever had is gone ♪ ♪ Everything that I've been feeling ♪ ♪ Now I know we can't be wrong ♪ -[Narrator 1 VO] This program is brought to you in part by Santa Cruz Guitar Company and Santa Cruz Parabolic Tension Strings.

-[Narrator 2 VO] Also brought to you by Paige Capos and by Peluso Microphone Lab.

Additional support provided by these sponsors.