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00:00I was really nervous. There was no audition process or rehearsal or anything. It was just
00:06they flew me out and my rehearsal and everything was was soundcheck.
00:11Rock, metal, prog, and everything in between. Welcome to this episode of Talkin' Rock with
00:17Meltdown. Don't forget to follow the audio only Talkin' Rock podcast on all podcast platforms.
00:23And now it's time for today's conversation. Here's Meltdown.
00:27Hey, Nate. Good to see you, man. How's things with you?
00:29Hey, good. Hey, thanks for having me, buddy.
00:32Yeah, awesome. You got a lot of things happening this year. Let's talk about Firehouse first. Of
00:37course, the new single Mighty Fine Lady. So tell me about that.
00:41Yeah, so that song came about. I hit up Bill Leverty one day. I was like, hey, man, let's
00:47work on a song. And he has all these riffs that he's put down into his computer.
00:55And he sent me over a riff and I came up with the first verse. And the song was written rather
01:03quickly. But we're really excited about the song. We're excited to play live.
01:08Yeah. When was this?
01:10Oh, this was earlier this year, a few months ago.
01:14Okay. So it came. Yeah. So it came. Like you said, it came quickly.
01:18Yes. Yep.
01:19Now, were you guys in the same room working together? Was this one of those things where
01:23you were somewhere and he was, you know, and you guys are kind of, you know, trading files?
01:26Yeah, this was kind of over the phone, kind of. I'd send a voice memo, you know, on the
01:31iPhone. I'd send him over kind of like the melody and everything singing. And he would
01:36send a guitar track back through the through the phone and just kind of over the the internet.
01:42Yeah. Yeah. He hop in his studio and whatnot. So this is obviously the first song you guys
01:47written together. Yeah. Yeah. Have you been working on any other ones?
01:52We would like to work on some more. I think we've got a couple more in the works, but kind
01:58of let this one ride out a little bit and see what happens.
02:01Yeah. Hey, let's get into your past here real fast, because as I was telling you before
02:04we started, I don't really know a whole lot about the American Idol thing, but you were
02:08on there two years ago, correct?
02:10Yep. Yep.
02:12And I read that you got a golden buzzer. And I'm not really exactly sure what that means,
02:17but that's where like you just, you, you, you kind of bypass all the, all the, all the
02:22things to get to wherever somebody else has to, I don't know. How does, how does it work?
02:26Yeah. So American Idol, they do the open kind of door auditions, you know, where they have
02:30everybody line up. I was fortunate enough. I knew somebody, like an AR, somebody in LA had
02:41set me up with this thing and he's like, Hey, you know, we can, we can get you kind of through
02:46the back door. And, uh, I was like, Oh, well, that's great. And the next thing you know,
02:51and I'm on a zoom call, um, kind of doing the pre auditions before we go on to, you know,
02:58to kind of determine if, if they're going to put you on the show or not. So, um, I had
03:02three songs. It was, um, it was a foreigner song, a dock and song and a great white song.
03:09And they wanted the lightning strikes again by docking. Cause it's, you know, high energy.
03:15Um, but yeah, I passed that pre kind of audition, um, phase and I, they flew me out to Nashville
03:22to record.
03:23So are you one of these guys? And I've talked about this before in my shows. Uh, are you
03:26one of these guys who was born in the wrong decade?
03:30You know, I'm so jealous of you guys. You guys have the greatest generation. I, I missed
03:34out. Yeah. I see guys of your, what are you? 25, 24, 24. I see guys like you with, uh, with
03:42the denim jackets and all the bands. I'm like, yeah, I did that a million years ago.
03:49Yeah. So that's pretty cool. So then, uh, so you, you, you get slipped into the back door,
03:53but I'm, I'm still a little bit. So who do you know? And how do you get in? What, what were
03:57you doing? Were you playing around in bands or just singing? It's just stuff on the internet.
04:01How'd you do this? Um, I was in a previous band, uh, they're out of Leonard, Michigan,
04:07uh, wanted, uh, fronting that band for a while. I had left that band to pursue the American
04:14Idol thing. Um, I was just doing covers and put myself out there and it just happened.
04:24It just, some guy hit me up. He's like, Hey man, I really love what you're doing. Would
04:28you, would you like to possibly be on American Idol? I was like, yeah, let's do it.
04:33Now I, I forgot you're from here, right? Yeah. I grew up in Linden and Linden. Okay,
04:38man, you should have just come by the station. I totally forgot all about that. Yeah, that's
04:43wicked. So, so who gave you the, uh, the golden buzzer? Yeah, it was, uh, Lionel Richie,
04:49Katy Perry, and Luke Bryan. Okay. But they all do it at the same time.
04:52So, so it's the, it's the golden ticket. So, um, they both vote and, um, you know,
05:01oh, you're, it's a yes for me. Yes for me. They got a three outstanding judge, you know,
05:07yeses, but, uh, um, that was nervous. I was so nervous during that. Oh my God. Um, it was
05:15a good time though. Luke, Luke came up, Luke Bryan and saying, uh, here I go again with
05:20me. That was great. Tall guy. Yeah. One of my friends, uh, Nashville was his neighbor
05:26for the longest time until a few years ago. They're still good friends, I guess. But
05:29so you sing, uh, here I go again. And has, uh, have you ever reached out to David Coverdale
05:33or anything to see what he thought about it? No, no, he's, he's on a whole nother level
05:37than me, but, um, I know that, but the dudes on Twitter, like 24 seven. Yeah. I, I would,
05:43I would hope he, he watched it, but, um, it'd be nice to talk to him or meet him one
05:48day. Yeah. Yeah. So you've met a lot of the eighties, uh, rock idols, haven't you?
05:53Oh yeah. Oh yeah. You were talking before you got on that, um, you know, you, you, you
05:57hung out and, and, and sang a lot with, uh, with Jack Russell. When was the last time
06:01you saw him? Um, April 5th, 2024. Yeah. The day CJ, we lost CJ. That was the last time
06:10I saw him. Is that right? Yeah. Yeah. That's crazy. I, I saw him, I think it was November
06:18of 2023 as I was telling you just before. And, uh, I don't know how many shows he played
06:21after that, but it wasn't many, but, uh, uh, Jack was a good dude. So you, um, you do the
06:28American idol thing, obviously, you know, you're a rocker and stuff. And then, uh, who, who
06:32notices you and how do you get hooked up with the, uh, with the firehouse camp? Is that
06:36through, uh, through Robbie Locker from, uh, yeah, sure is. Yeah. I was living in Nashville
06:41at the time and just kind of going through a kind of like a silent period of where I wasn't
06:46having any, any, um, gigs or anything or going out with Jack. And, uh, Robbie had called me
06:54up one day. He's like, Hey man, this is what's going on with CJ. Um, he's going to be out for
06:59a little bit, undergoing some surgery. He's like, would you, uh, would you be interested
07:02in filling in for, for the time being? And I said, yeah. So the next, next morning, Bill
07:07called me. He's like, Hey, it's Bill from firehouse. And he explained to me what was going on.
07:12Um, and, um, would you like to, to fill in for a little bit? And the only song I knew
07:17was love of a lifetime. So I had to learn, uh, I had to learn 14 songs in about a week
07:23and a half. Yeah. And that's, that's CJ's range is, is way up there. Oh, it's unmatched.
07:32He's incredible. Yeah. He was a good dude. I only had a chance to meet him a few times.
07:36I know Bill a little bit. Uh, of course I, I believe his wife is from here. Yeah. Monroe.
07:42So, uh, and I've talked to Bill a bunch of times about that. Uh, but, um, yeah, CJ was,
07:48uh, was a good guy and this is a couple of years ago. So obviously, you know, you're only
07:5224 now. I mean, you're just a kid singing in this, in this band that was, that was that,
07:58you know, had their heyday before, even before you were thought of.
08:02Yeah, that's true. Crazy. So what was, what was the first show like?
08:08Um, I was, I was really nervous. Um, you know, there was no audition process or rehearsal or
08:19anything. It was just, uh, they flew me out and my rehearsal and everything was, was soundcheck.
08:25So we had a, a long extended soundcheck and that we did the, we did the show.
08:31Wait a second. Hold on. So, so Robbie contacts Bill.
08:35Yeah. He contacts you. He sends you the song list and then you did a show without doing a rehearsal.
08:42Yep. Wow. So here's my question. Cause this is always, this is always fascinating to me. So
08:48when you're on stage, obviously you have to command the stage because you are the lead singer,
08:53but you're playing for this band that you're, you just kind of joined. How do you, how do you kind
08:58of, how do you, how do you balance that? Um,
09:04your stage presence kind of grows over time. And in the beginning, I didn't really, I'm still
09:09working on it. Um, cause I'm so, uh, uh, I would consider myself introverted. I don't really,
09:15not really good at, at talking to people, but I think the more shows you do, the better,
09:19um, you kind of vibe with the crowd, you can be able to talk to them a little better.
09:24Um, it just takes time. Yeah. Yeah. And then of course, not only vibe with the crowd,
09:30but vibe with the band as well. I'm sure there's like, there's visual cues and whatnot too, right?
09:34Yep. Yep. And so you have to learn those guys.
09:37Yeah. I kind of got to bounce off, off, off of them and feed off of their energy. And so it's good.
09:44Yeah. So, um, so do you, do you, do you ask them about road stories from back in the day?
09:50Always. Oh yeah. Pretty great stories. Yeah. I can imagine. Yeah. You're probably going to,
09:57you know, get a bunch of your own here, uh, coming up, but, uh, yeah, that was, uh, that was a
10:02different era, uh, for sure. Who, who, where did, where did you get your musical influences from?
10:06Um, you know, I, I grew up listening to, you know, my parents were always me and my sister,
10:15they would always have music playing in the house and it would be, you know, journey, Boston,
10:20sticks, foreigner, Ambrosia, you know, all the kind of the seventies, early rock stuff. And then
10:25in my, uh, teenage years kind of branched out into the Motley Crue. The, I was huge into Metallica.
10:33Um, I was fascinated with them, um, kind of branched out from that, got back into dock and,
10:41um, but there was always music, always music around.
10:46And so you'd say primarily you're, you're an eighties rock guy.
10:50I'd like to think so. Yeah. That's the greatest music ever. Yeah.
10:55Those are still some of your favorite bands. I mean, you mentioned them, obviously those are
10:59some of your favorites. Yep. Absolutely. And you've had a chance to go see and interact
11:04with some of these guys. Um, yeah, uh, met Don and I think it was Porta Plata or it might
11:12have been San Juan, Puerto Rico. We were, this is before we went on to the, uh, eighties cruise.
11:18Hmm. Um, met him, we were hanging out at the bar and he comes over and talks to me for an hour
11:27and a half. Great guy. He's hilarious. But, uh, yeah, I met, met Don. I think I've ever
11:33met, I wish I would have met, uh, Brad Dell, incredible vocalist, good Lord. Um, but I met
11:40some pretty, pretty cool people. Yeah. You went on the eighties rock cruise. Who else was
11:44on that cruise with you? Uh, there was faster pussy cat. There was Warren, um, Christopher Cross,
11:53Sheila E. Tiffany, uh, met at work, kind of the more kind of pop. Wow. Yeah. That was a,
12:02an eighties cruise. Was it great? It's great. The first time I ever met Don Dockin was three
12:09years after monsters of rock. And I was poor. And I just talked about this on the, on the
12:13air the other day that, um, uh, I had to go pick him up at his hotel and bring him to
12:17the radio station, uh, for an interview, but I, my car was always broken. So I was using
12:23the station vehicle, which was a 1967 hearse. So I picked him up in a hearse and he walked
12:30out of the hotel and he stopped and he said, I thought I'd only be in one of these things
12:35once in my life. Oh, I I've asked him about that in the past and he doesn't remember it,
12:42but I, I got that story going for me. That's great. So what do you got going on with the,
12:47with the band this year? Yeah. So we've got roughly right around 50 or so shows this year.
12:53Um, our next show coming up is next Friday in, uh, Pennsylvania,
13:00Timber Rock Amphitheater with Lita and Warren. Oh, awesome. Yeah. Yeah. So how many shows have
13:05you played with, uh, with, uh, firehouse? Oh, let's see. I don't know the exact number,
13:12but I'll kind of rough estimate it. Uh, I'd say probably around a hundred plus shows a little
13:19over. So it's been, it's been a lot. It's been a lot. Yeah. And obviously, you know,
13:24you knew CJ and, uh, from what, from all the accounts I, I saw CJ gave you complete blessings,
13:29didn't he? Yeah. Yeah. Me and him, we were constantly on the phone, you know, he would
13:33always be really supportive and give me pointers and, you know, um,
13:39take your time on stage. Uh, cause it's a lot of air, you know, breath control. You know,
13:47if you, if you blow it all out, you know, the first couple of songs and you've lost your voice,
13:52you kind of got to pace yourself and, uh, but he, he was a really, really great guy. Yeah.
13:58Yeah. How exciting is it going to be? Well, have you played the new song live yet?
14:01Yeah. That's coming up next Friday, probably. Huh? Um, we've got a 45 minute set, so I don't
14:08think we'll be able to fit it in the next show. Um, in Wisconsin or no, I'm sorry. You might see
14:15the Minnesota or Wisconsin. We're going to do a headlining show and we're going to throw
14:18it in for the first time. Yeah. That's great, man. So what do your parents think about all
14:24this? Um, my mom is, is thrilled. Um, it's a bummer. I, I lost my dad when I was six,
14:31so he's sure he's watching from above, but, um, yeah, they, I'm sure they'd be really happy
14:38or he would be really happy, but my mom's happy. Yeah. Does she, does she come on and see you play?
14:43Yeah. Yeah. She's been to a few shows. She, we had a show up at, uh, we're opening up for
14:47winger at the Capitol theater in Flint. That was cool. She came out to that one and that was a blast.
14:52Yeah. I saw winger back in the day and I took a, an ex-girlfriend of mine and she didn't want to
14:58look at me for the rest of the day. Oh, shoot. You know how that goes back in the day, back 30
15:06years ago. Yeah. He was, he was a stud. Have you, have you got, have you had a chance to meet the
15:10guys from Metallica or see them live since? Um, the last show I saw was hardwired tour 2019 at
15:19Van Andel Arena and Grand Rapids. That was, oh yeah. So you haven't seen the, uh, you haven't
15:24seen the, the, uh, the, the lightest one where they did no repeat stuff. No, no, not the 72
15:29seasons. I wish I, I wish I could meet, um, meet them. I'd like to meet James. He's that
15:36guitar tone is insane, but yeah, they, they say he's the best rhythm guitarist and metal and
15:43rock. Yep. So what do you, I mean, you're, you're obviously from a small town and stuff.
15:48Uh, and you, you, you're fresh out of school. I mean, for all practical purposes, uh, how
15:54did getting on American Idol and, um, and being in, and now it's we're in rock band with
15:59the guys from firehouse. How's, how's that changed your life, especially coming from a
16:02small town? Um, you know, it's, it has always been a dream of mine to, to pursue music. I had,
16:12you know, I had an option to either go up to be a lineman up in Alpena, Michigan, or, or
16:17take two years off from high school and, and, uh, and do TikTok and, and, and music. And I
16:23think I chose right, but the overall feeling of, of where I'm at now, um, I would say I feel
16:32pretty blessed. Um, it's a really fortunate thing that happened to me. Um, and I'm really
16:41grateful and I'm grateful for all the fans that continue to come out. Cause without
16:45you guys, there's no, there's no music, there's no live music, but I'm really, really
16:51happy. And I'm around really great bunch of guys who are super down to earth and it's,
16:58it's the best, best thing in the world.
17:00And you said you were down in a, you were down in Nashville. Uh, where are you right
17:04now? By the way, you in Michigan?
17:05I'm in Holly.
17:06Yeah.
17:07Okay. All right, cool. You should come to the station. What the heck, man?
17:11So anyways, uh, yeah. So you, you, you were in Nashville. Did you, did you live down
17:15there or were you just down there for a little while?
17:17Yeah, I was living, um, uh, 18th Avenue. Yeah. Right by, um, Music Row.
17:21Okay.
17:22Yeah.
17:23And were you playing gigs in the bars down there?
17:26Yeah. I would, I would skip around, uh, um, Kid Rock's place and, um, just a bunch of
17:32kind of smaller gigs around town, but, um, that's a hard town to break into. Um, cause
17:39it's kind of, you're divided up into, uh, you know, country and pop and, you know, all
17:44the other styles of music. Rock is kind of hard down there.
17:48Yeah. I've spent a few nights in the Cadillac Pussy Lounge.
17:52Yeah.
17:53Uh, but, uh, anyway, so, but when you, when you get an American Idol, do, do some, do, did
17:57the doors open up a little bit? Um, yeah. Um, some eyes were, were put on me. Um, I think,
18:06um, I think it, it helped boost, um, to where I would later be at. Um, I think it helped.
18:15Yeah.
18:16I mean, it can't hurt when you're on national television like that.
18:19Yeah. Yeah. It was a, it was a good, it was a good time. Met a lot of really cool friends,
18:23um, really talented, talented people. And, you know, of course meeting Katy Perry and
18:30Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan, that was really cool. That was cool.
18:34Yeah. Lionel Richie. Have you watched the, uh, the documentary about the, we are the
18:38world?
18:38I have.
18:39It's so cool. I mean, obviously eons before you were born, but that was like a, uh, that
18:44was monstrous back in the day.
18:46Yeah. It's crazy that, you know, they stayed up that late, uh, you know, three, four or
18:515am just to record, you know, over and over and over. Got to get it perfect. Uh, it's
18:56quite impressive. It's fantastic.
18:58Yeah. What do you do that? Um, like, like I, like I still collect like records. I shouldn't
19:03say I still, since I started back up at seven, you know, in 2017, is there anything old school
19:07you do?
19:10Um, man, I might be, I might be prehistoric with what I do. I used to do it. Uh, it's kind
19:17of not music related, but, uh, love history. I would go through the, uh, the rivers of,
19:23uh, Fenton and Linden and, uh, collect old 1800s medicine bottles.
19:27Oh yeah. That's cool.
19:29That's something a little different, but yeah, maybe we'll have to meet up at Leroy's lounge
19:33one day in Fenton.
19:34Yeah, that sounds good.
19:37Well, Nate, I'll tell you what, we'll cut you loose here. Uh, as far as firehouse is
19:41concerned though, just a single out right now touring for a 2025. That's kind of what you
19:45got in store. Yep. That's right. And the single is, is still, if I'm not mistaken, just on
19:50the website, correct?
19:51Just on the website. We, we did that so that, you know, no middle man can pick it up and
19:56then repost it. And then we've lost, uh, um, we, we would like to recoup, you know, Bill
20:02put in a lot of time, um, kind of mixing and mastering the whole thing. So we, um, we set
20:09it up like that so he could recoup, you know, some of the, some of the money that was, you
20:15know, we could use towards, you know, another song or more time or gear and stuff like that.
20:21Yeah. Well, good. A mighty fine lady that's on the firehouse website. Like you said, he
20:25got a bunch of dates this year and hopefully I'll be able to check you guys out somewhere,
20:30uh, coming up in the future, but, uh, we appreciate your time and a good luck with everything you
20:34do and say hi to the boys for me. Okay.
20:36I sure will. Thanks for having me, buddy. I really appreciate it.