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- [Steven] American poet
Ron Rash is quoted as saying,

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Downloaded from
YTS.MX

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Appalachia is a region of contrasts,

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beauty and desolation, wealth and poverty,

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Official YIFY movies site:
YTS.MX

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culture and isolation.

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It is a land that is both real and mythic,

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inspiring the imagination
and challenging the soul.

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I have always felt this
quote spoke to the heart

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of not just the mountains,

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but the creative people inside of them.

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While Eastern Kentucky gets a negative view

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from the national media,

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one cannot undermine
the amount of musical talent

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that has come from these hills.

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From the high mountains to the foothills,

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Appalachia's produced
so many prolific songwriters

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and musicians, one
cannot view, travel through,

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or think of the hills of Appalachia

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without thinking of a song.

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I was always inspired by
writers, travelers and singers

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for as long as I can remember.

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I still remember the first time

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I heard the song "Cowboy Boot Heel."

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The song was filled with such heart,

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and the singer was right
out of a Western novel.

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This singer was known
other than Rob McNurlin.

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For the past 30 years,

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Rob McNurlin and his Beatnik Cowboys

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have performed over 1000 shows,

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providing a backdrop in
song to all those that listen.

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I first met Rob in the year 2004

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when Rob would play in
the coffee shop I worked at

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in Morehead, Kentucky.

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Rob always had time to
talk to me about harmonicas,

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Bob Dylan, Western poets,

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and of course great Western wear.

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His music spoke to others.

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I even had the chance to have

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Rob on my old TV show, "Art This."

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Rob's songs tugged on heartstrings

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and spoke to me as a fellow Appalachian.

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I have seen Rob perform less
and less as I have grown older

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and have had less time
to travel because of work.

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I was surprised in 2024

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when I saw a post on Rob's social media

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about Rob stepping away from playing music.

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I immediately reached out to Rob

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and asked him if I could
tell his story in a film.

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So here we are, and this is my take.

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My name is Steven Middleton,

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and for the past 20 years
I've been fortunate enough

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to make documentary films.

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Through highs and lows,

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I have told the story of people, places,

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and remarkably interesting things.

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(bright music)

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This is a film about a poet, a songwriter,

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a trailblazer, a troubadour,

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and, most importantly, my friend.

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This is From the Cowboy's Boot Heel,

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the musical journey of Rob McNurlin.

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♪ Early morning, almost gone ♪

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(bright music)

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♪ The sad old pony I rode in on ♪

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♪ You know I told you I must go ♪

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♪ As my cowboy boot heel
taps out the rhythm of my soul ♪

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(bright music)

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- [Interviewer] Then
let's go ahead and do it.

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Okay.

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My name is Steven Middleton,

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and for the past 20 years I've
produced documentary films.

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In 2004, I worked at a coffee shop,

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and in that coffee shop, I had a job

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of making drinks, food and running sound.

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And I worked with a lot of
musicians running sound,

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some who weren't so kind to
me, others who were very nice.

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And it was there that I met

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this very tall, very interesting,

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and very kind man named Rob McNurlin.

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He had a post about a
year ago on his social media

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that he was gonna retire

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and he was hanging
up the hat and the guitar.

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So I wrote him and asked him

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if I could produce this
piece on his life and career.

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He said yes.

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So I hope this lets the audience,

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people, especially younger people,

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understand who Rob is and
his music and his contributions,

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especially to all of the
current people in the business,

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not only just Nashville

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but all over the U.S. that Rob inspired.

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But to understand Rob's music

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and his value and his worth in this field

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after all these years.

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- [[Announcer]] Now here's the
cowboy himself, Rob McNurlin.

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(upbeat music)

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Well, I grew up in West Bridge,

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right outside of Ashland here.

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And music was all my mom and dad's fault.

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They had the greatest record collection.

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Mom had a whole box of 45s from the '50's

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with Elvis and Chuck
Berry and Little Richard,

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and especially those
Sun Johnny Cash records.

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That's what really got me.

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And dad had Hank Williams
albums and Tex Ritter,

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and they played 'em all the time.

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And dad got one of
those big furniture stereos.

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And at night we would go to bed,

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and however many albums
they would hold, five or six,

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and I remember going to
sleep listening to Johnny Cash.

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And at Christmas of
'69, I asked for a guitar.

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Started taking lessons.

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And it's so funny because for some reason

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I ended up with an electric guitar.

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Which was weird

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because Johnny Cash
didn't play electric guitar.

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But, so when I started lessons,

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the teacher's like, what
do you wanna learn?

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And I said, Johnny Cash.

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And so he was trying to
teach me the Luther stuff.

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(Rob hums)

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And after two or three
lessons, I told him, I said,

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look, Johnny Cash is
hitting all the strings at once.

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And he goes, oh, you wanna play chords?

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And I said, I don't know,

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I wanna play like Johnny Cash, you know?

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It was after high school that I really,

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probably during high school,

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me and some friends started playing.

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We never played out anywhere.

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We weren't good enough to play out.

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We weren't even really good
enough to play in the basement.

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But we were having fun.

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And that's why it's called playing.

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And it was probably the early '90's

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before I really started playing a lot.

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And then in '93 is when I
went, you know, full-time music.

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And that's what I was doing for a living.

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It was the Beatnik Cowboys.

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I just put out my first CD.

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And it was pretty much those guys.

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Darrell James played
guitar and produced the CD.

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And later, he just wanted to play blues.

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Great blues musician.

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So when he left,

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Dave Prince moved from bass to guitar

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and John Gostovich took over bass.

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And that was the lineup

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for, gosh, probably 10 years maybe.

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Or close to it, anyway.

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(upbeat music)

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- There was a music
store in Ashland, Kentucky

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called The Guitar Store.

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And I was going down there

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to try to find some cool instruments.

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And there was a guy down there,

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kind of a cowboy-looking dude.

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He was very tall.

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And he was off to one side,

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and he was playing a song by The Band.

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I think he was playing "The Weight."

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And, you know, people were
just kind of listening to him,

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and maybe somebody grabbed a guitar.

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And I thought, you know, I know that song.

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So I grabbed a guitar and jammed with him.

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And that was the first time I ever met Rob.

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Well, he was super nice.

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He was just the nicest guy.

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You know, you meet people,

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and it's hard to get to know 'em

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or they're standoffish

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or they don't attempt to get to know you.

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But I felt like I'd known
Rob for a long time

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from the first time I met him.

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And, you know, music was
a good connection for us.

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But, still, he was just a nice guy.

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You know, it was really interesting.

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We had been playing together
for probably a couple years.

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We had a pretty tight-run unit going.

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And the guy playing guitar at the time

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was a guy named Darrell Hall,

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and Darrell was also an engineer

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at the studio here in Louisa.

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So Darrell was like,

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hey, if you wanna come up after midnight,

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we can slip in, and we
can record your record.

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It won't cost you anything.

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And so we were slipping in
under the cover of darkness,

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and we would set our drums and stuff up

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and get everything sounding good,

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and just started playing.

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And most of the stuff on that first album,

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I mean, it was pretty much
the second or third take

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'cause we didn't want
to fool around too much.

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It was pretty much dead live too.

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So what you're hearing there
is pretty much what went down.

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Dave had an old Volkswagen hippie van.

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One morning, after setting up all night

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at Dave Prince's house, just having fun,

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in the early morning hours,

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we decided we were taking the hippie van

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on tour to California.

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And we did.

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We booked shows for the
way out and on the way back

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and had a blast.

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(upbeat music)

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Well I gotta tell you,

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you know, Rob and I
hung out a lot together.

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We'd just get together and ride around.

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And I had a Volkswagen van,

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which made me even more cool.

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And so we would get together

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and just cruise around in
that van, listen to music.

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And he comes up to my house one morning,

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he said, man, I got an idea.

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He said, let's get in your hippie van

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and let's go do a tour
out to California and back.

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And that was like getting the Apollo rocket

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and going to the other planets.

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I mean, it was so far away,

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and no one we knew that was playing music

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had ever tried anything like that.

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And, honestly, Rob just didn't know enough

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to know you can't do that.

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And it was great.

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So I said, well, let's do it.

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So I said, I rebuilt the motor
in the van and got it ready.

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Had a couple months.

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And Rob got on the phone,

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'cause this is pre-internet,

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and booked the tour.

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And one night, we just all got in the van,

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and we put all of our equipment in it,

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and we headed west.

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♪ Summer fanfare ♪

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♪ I'm looking through ♪

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We wanna hear anything.

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Your favorite song.

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- You like The Grateful Dead? - Yeah.

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[Dave] No way.

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Do a Grateful Dead tune, Rob.

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♪ I've been out in Amarillo ♪

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♪ Day by day now ♪

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♪ We didn't sleep until the sun go around ♪

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(traffic whooshing)

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Oh yeah.

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While we were out there,

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we visited Rambling Jack,
hung out at his house some,

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and you know, just, it
was all just living a dream.

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You know, we didn't have phones

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to tell us where the gigs were.

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We're just trying to find them.

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We didn't know how to
do anything, but it worked.

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And it's just because Rob, just, why not?

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Why can't we do that?

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And that was his
attitude with a lot of things.

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And it was great.

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We had one flat tire.

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I mean, the whole trip to California back

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00:09:53,653 --> 00:09:56,938
in a '71 VW van with
10 million miles on it.

262
00:09:56,980 --> 00:09:59,908
We had a flat tire and you
know, any tire can go flat.

263
00:09:59,950 --> 00:10:01,408
It wasn't the van's fault.

264
00:10:01,450 --> 00:10:03,088
And you know, I drove the whole way

265
00:10:03,130 --> 00:10:05,698
'cause I don't trust any of
those hooligans to drive my van.

266
00:10:05,740 --> 00:10:07,648
And Rob was the copilot.

267
00:10:07,690 --> 00:10:08,878
And you know, we'd traveled

268
00:10:08,920 --> 00:10:10,888
like the first time we left Ashland

269
00:10:10,930 --> 00:10:12,928
and our first show was in Omaha, Nebraska.

270
00:10:12,970 --> 00:10:14,968
And we drove straight through

271
00:10:15,010 --> 00:10:17,368
and it felt like it was about
24 hours worth of driving.

272
00:10:17,410 --> 00:10:19,528
And we had to play as soon as we got there.

273
00:10:19,570 --> 00:10:21,448
And we didn't know up from down.

274
00:10:21,490 --> 00:10:25,168
But again, none of us knew
enough to know not to do this.

275
00:10:25,210 --> 00:10:27,898
And Rob had a vision, Rob
was always a step ahead.

276
00:10:27,940 --> 00:10:29,398
When you would talk to Rob, he's like, man,

277
00:10:29,440 --> 00:10:32,368
I'm gonna make a record and
we're gonna make a video for it,

278
00:10:32,410 --> 00:10:33,448
and then we're gonna do this tour.

279
00:10:33,490 --> 00:10:34,918
And he would plan things out.

280
00:10:34,960 --> 00:10:37,458
And I never really met anyone who did that.

281
00:10:37,500 --> 00:10:39,868
You know, he did the first
music video I'd ever seen

282
00:10:39,910 --> 00:10:42,748
and he made friends with
a guy named Richard Friley.

283
00:10:42,790 --> 00:10:44,848
Rob goes, we'll get in to make his video.

284
00:10:44,890 --> 00:10:46,078
So he gets to know Friley

285
00:10:46,120 --> 00:10:48,238
and they put together a
video for "Lotta Good Men."

286
00:10:48,280 --> 00:10:50,818
And you know, he used a lot
of footage from us out West.

287
00:10:50,860 --> 00:10:51,808
Man, this is awesome.

288
00:10:51,850 --> 00:10:54,058
Rob has a legit music video

289
00:10:54,100 --> 00:10:55,650
and that's just the way Rob was

290
00:10:56,761 --> 00:10:59,758
Oh, I was just completely ate up with it.

291
00:10:59,800 --> 00:11:04,800
I played and wrote and thought
about music 24 hours day.

292
00:11:06,700 --> 00:11:08,518
But Rob had really transitioned a lot

293
00:11:08,560 --> 00:11:10,078
because when we made the first album,

294
00:11:10,120 --> 00:11:12,025
we're a rock and roll band.

295
00:11:12,067 --> 00:11:15,238
And a lot of nights we just
sounded like Neil Young

296
00:11:15,280 --> 00:11:17,008
and Rob was writing a lot of real powerful,

297
00:11:17,050 --> 00:11:19,528
just what I call rock and roll songs.

298
00:11:19,570 --> 00:11:23,338
But over time Rob transitions
more into that Johnny Cash,

299
00:11:23,380 --> 00:11:25,485
you know, Tennessee Two thing.

300
00:11:25,527 --> 00:11:28,860
♪ Your season's through ♪

301
00:11:31,780 --> 00:11:33,268
I played acoustic, you put the paper

302
00:11:33,310 --> 00:11:36,208
and string so you can get that
Johnny Cash quick, you know,

303
00:11:36,250 --> 00:11:39,118
and I understand for Rob,
it's fewer moving parts.

304
00:11:39,160 --> 00:11:40,948
And when you're trying
to keep a band together

305
00:11:40,990 --> 00:11:42,836
and get people to go play,

306
00:11:42,878 --> 00:11:44,368
the more people you have,
the more problems you have.

307
00:11:44,410 --> 00:11:46,639
So he'd really part it down.

308
00:11:46,681 --> 00:11:48,277
♪ Buffalo trail ♪

309
00:11:48,319 --> 00:11:50,218
♪ And also lose your day ♪

310
00:11:50,260 --> 00:11:52,727
[Crew] On the Rob McNurlin folkumentary.

311
00:11:54,523 --> 00:11:56,218
Mr. Nashville here.

312
00:11:56,260 --> 00:11:59,188
The next record didn't
come along until 2000.

313
00:11:59,230 --> 00:12:00,673
I had a stockpile of songs.

314
00:12:01,540 --> 00:12:02,338
[Cameraman] Getting ready to go back

315
00:12:02,380 --> 00:12:05,353
to Nashville, Tennessee,
hang out with John Cash.

316
00:12:08,717 --> 00:12:11,728
We're gonna be with Johnny
Cash on Grammy Day.

317
00:12:11,770 --> 00:12:14,533
- John Carter Cash at
the Cash Cabin Studio.

318
00:12:16,273 --> 00:12:17,458
- Wave to the camera. - Hey.

319
00:12:17,500 --> 00:12:19,558
- That's John Carter.
- The door kind of opened

320
00:12:19,600 --> 00:12:21,228
that I could go to,

321
00:12:21,270 --> 00:12:22,061
to the Cash Cabin.

322
00:12:22,103 --> 00:12:24,440
And I thought, well this is
a once in a lifetime chance.

323
00:12:25,360 --> 00:12:26,883
[Cameraman] All kinds of cool toys.

324
00:12:31,058 --> 00:12:32,518
- You know and there's
another example, it's like,

325
00:12:32,560 --> 00:12:35,428
well we're gonna go record
at Johnny Cash's studio,

326
00:12:35,470 --> 00:12:36,838
so, you know, whatever, nobody goes

327
00:12:36,880 --> 00:12:39,838
and records at Johnny Cash's
studio unless you're somebody.

328
00:12:39,880 --> 00:12:41,518
We drive down to Hendersonville

329
00:12:41,560 --> 00:12:43,318
and we're on Johnny Cash's property

330
00:12:43,360 --> 00:12:45,148
and there's Johnny Cash's car

331
00:12:45,190 --> 00:12:46,858
and we're going in his studio to record.

332
00:12:46,900 --> 00:12:49,228
And I'll tell you what,
I was scared to death.

333
00:12:49,270 --> 00:12:51,778
It's one thing to slip in and
record in Louisa, Kentucky,

334
00:12:51,820 --> 00:12:55,798
but now we're at Johnny Cash's
house and we're gonna record.

335
00:12:55,840 --> 00:12:56,878
And you know, it said the same thing.

336
00:12:56,920 --> 00:13:00,628
We're playing live like John
Carter, turn it on and say go.

337
00:13:00,670 --> 00:13:03,730
And man, I've never
experienced anything like that.

338
00:13:05,991 --> 00:13:07,768
- [Rob] This is Dave Prince
and our photographer John Flava

339
00:13:07,810 --> 00:13:09,898
walking down the road
at Johnny Cash's cabin.

340
00:13:09,940 --> 00:13:10,947
Ain't this cool?

341
00:13:10,989 --> 00:13:13,168
- We just cut a hit record
that nobody will ever hear.

342
00:13:13,210 --> 00:13:14,533
Hear about this RC Cola?

343
00:13:16,510 --> 00:13:18,238
Johnny Cash's RC Cola

344
00:13:18,280 --> 00:13:21,418
direct from Johnny Cash's refrigerator,

345
00:13:21,460 --> 00:13:23,233
in Johnny Cash's cabin.

346
00:13:24,370 --> 00:13:25,948
On Johnny Cash's land

347
00:13:25,990 --> 00:13:29,818
in Hendersonville, Tennessee,
United States of America.

348
00:13:29,860 --> 00:13:31,468
Oh yeah.

349
00:13:31,510 --> 00:13:34,209
I thought I was king of
the world at that moment.

350
00:13:34,251 --> 00:13:37,318
Johnny Cash should be the
fifth head on Mount Rushmore.

351
00:13:37,360 --> 00:13:39,373
Johnny Cash is the father of my country.

352
00:13:41,350 --> 00:13:42,800
[Dave] Amen.

353
00:13:42,842 --> 00:13:45,425
(bright music)

354
00:13:51,340 --> 00:13:52,288
They should have left it that way,

355
00:13:52,330 --> 00:13:53,728
then people that misspelled it

356
00:13:53,770 --> 00:13:55,918
can still get a hold of the record.

357
00:13:55,960 --> 00:13:58,127
[Rob] Yeah, that's true.

358
00:13:59,164 --> 00:14:02,969
♪ I'm working on a building for my Lord ♪

359
00:14:03,011 --> 00:14:08,011
♪ For my Lord ♪

360
00:14:08,536 --> 00:14:12,369
♪ I know I told you I must go ♪

361
00:14:14,320 --> 00:14:15,645
Hillbilly music's country music.

362
00:14:15,687 --> 00:14:18,118
And I, you know, used to be
growing up I thought hillbilly

363
00:14:18,160 --> 00:14:19,678
was a derogatory term,

364
00:14:19,720 --> 00:14:22,138
but it's not, you know, it's like Cajun

365
00:14:22,180 --> 00:14:26,005
or anything, you know, it's
something to be looked up to

366
00:14:26,047 --> 00:14:27,373
and it's real music.

367
00:14:28,529 --> 00:14:31,859
♪ Sometimes up and I'm sometimes down ♪

368
00:14:31,901 --> 00:14:36,068
♪ Coming forward to carry me home ♪

369
00:14:38,219 --> 00:14:40,018
- [Steven] He just was
part of your life all at once?

370
00:14:40,060 --> 00:14:41,475
Yeah.

371
00:14:41,517 --> 00:14:43,498
And it was like, I don't
know, there's something

372
00:14:43,540 --> 00:14:46,198
that happened and then all
of a sudden Rob's in my life

373
00:14:46,240 --> 00:14:51,240
and we hit it off pretty well

374
00:14:51,400 --> 00:14:53,293
being both from eastern Kentucky.

375
00:14:56,200 --> 00:14:59,848
He was so

376
00:14:59,890 --> 00:15:04,890
sweet of a guy and loved music

377
00:15:06,850 --> 00:15:09,628
as much as anybody I'd ever met.

378
00:15:09,670 --> 00:15:14,670
And we got to end up
playing music a lot together

379
00:15:14,860 --> 00:15:16,243
in the coming years.

380
00:15:18,040 --> 00:15:21,433
He called me up, asked me
if I wanted to play in prison,

381
00:15:22,560 --> 00:15:23,748
like, you know,

382
00:15:23,790 --> 00:15:26,640
at the time I was taking
every gig I could get, you know,

383
00:15:27,513 --> 00:15:30,478
and the first gate opens
up, like he talks to somebody,

384
00:15:30,520 --> 00:15:32,728
they buzz us through
the first gate, we're in,

385
00:15:32,770 --> 00:15:34,618
the gate closes behind us,

386
00:15:34,660 --> 00:15:39,058
and then the next gate opens up

387
00:15:39,100 --> 00:15:41,098
and we're just driving through the prison

388
00:15:41,140 --> 00:15:43,168
like kind of yards at that point.

389
00:15:43,210 --> 00:15:44,278
And we get out

390
00:15:44,320 --> 00:15:47,188
and we are just in the middle
of the general population

391
00:15:47,230 --> 00:15:50,638
of the prison and getting the PA out,

392
00:15:50,680 --> 00:15:51,928
setting everything up

393
00:15:51,970 --> 00:15:54,120
and people are coming up and talking to us.

394
00:15:55,078 --> 00:15:57,292
All this stuff is going on.

395
00:15:57,334 --> 00:15:58,167
It's like.

396
00:16:00,449 --> 00:16:04,915
♪ Six inches of snow ♪

397
00:16:04,957 --> 00:16:08,068
♪ Two hours the cock will be crowing ♪

398
00:16:08,110 --> 00:16:11,638
- I hit a point where I'd
stopped playing in my rock band.

399
00:16:11,680 --> 00:16:13,848
I was playing my wife Theresa's band called

400
00:16:13,890 --> 00:16:15,868
In the Mountain Jets
and we were doing that,

401
00:16:15,910 --> 00:16:17,608
but I just wanted to do something.

402
00:16:17,650 --> 00:16:20,818
I just felt like I had something
I needed to accomplish.

403
00:16:20,860 --> 00:16:22,405
So, you know, I told Rob
one time, I said, you know,

404
00:16:22,447 --> 00:16:24,988
I'm probably not gonna play
with you a whole lot anymore

405
00:16:25,030 --> 00:16:27,714
'cause I'm gonna try
and get something going.

406
00:16:27,756 --> 00:16:29,161
And to not be doing that,

407
00:16:29,203 --> 00:16:30,058
and, you know, it was kind of tough

408
00:16:30,100 --> 00:16:33,508
'cause I was proud to
be Rob's guitar player

409
00:16:33,550 --> 00:16:35,488
and I go back and listen
to those records, like, man,

410
00:16:35,530 --> 00:16:36,538
that's me playing with Rob

411
00:16:36,580 --> 00:16:39,418
and I'm really proud of the
work we did and I missed it.

412
00:16:39,460 --> 00:16:40,558
I miss playing with Rob,

413
00:16:40,600 --> 00:16:42,748
but I just really thought I
needed to focus on trying

414
00:16:42,790 --> 00:16:44,331
to do something I wanted to do.

415
00:16:44,373 --> 00:16:46,956
(bright music)

416
00:16:53,610 --> 00:16:56,758
- In 2009, I moved to
Nashville in the spring.

417
00:16:56,800 --> 00:16:59,638
Well, I was going through
a bad spot myself, which is,

418
00:16:59,680 --> 00:17:01,258
we won't go into that detail,

419
00:17:01,300 --> 00:17:02,938
but that's why I moved to Nashville

420
00:17:02,980 --> 00:17:05,628
just to kind of get away from everything.

421
00:17:05,670 --> 00:17:08,458
And I was living with JT
Cure for a couple of months

422
00:17:08,500 --> 00:17:10,558
and we really helped each other

423
00:17:10,600 --> 00:17:12,950
and it was just such an
honor to be around him.

424
00:17:14,140 --> 00:17:17,053
It was good for him and good for me too.

425
00:17:18,187 --> 00:17:22,108
You know, it was fun
having him around, getting up

426
00:17:22,150 --> 00:17:23,818
and, you know, going having some coffee

427
00:17:23,860 --> 00:17:27,418
and just, it's interesting

428
00:17:27,460 --> 00:17:32,278
to see him, you know,
as to see that side of him

429
00:17:32,320 --> 00:17:36,508
because I had known him, he
had always had the get up on,

430
00:17:36,550 --> 00:17:38,518
you know, he's always dressed to the nines,

431
00:17:38,560 --> 00:17:40,738
you know, shows up like he's in a show.

432
00:17:40,780 --> 00:17:44,458
But then seeing the Rob
McNurlin as he's about to go to bed,

433
00:17:44,500 --> 00:17:47,491
you know, like just in his
pajamas and stuff like that.

434
00:17:47,533 --> 00:17:49,768
It's an interesting perspective.

435
00:17:49,810 --> 00:17:52,318
And in the morning, you
know, it's like crazy hair

436
00:17:52,360 --> 00:17:53,353
and you know?

437
00:17:56,290 --> 00:17:57,596
For a long time,

438
00:17:57,638 --> 00:17:59,404
and we played music all the time.

439
00:17:59,446 --> 00:18:01,366
I mean all the time.

440
00:18:01,408 --> 00:18:04,273
That's all we did, just played music.

441
00:18:04,315 --> 00:18:09,315
♪ One little boy at the big Rodeo ♪

442
00:18:09,383 --> 00:18:11,456
♪ The props were all busted ♪

443
00:18:11,498 --> 00:18:15,456
♪ The lights dimmed low ♪

444
00:18:15,498 --> 00:18:18,470
- Live hillbillies. - Live on stage.

445
00:18:18,512 --> 00:18:21,095
(upbeat music)

446
00:18:27,701 --> 00:18:28,648
- Well, me, my dad and
a good friend of ours,

447
00:18:28,690 --> 00:18:30,388
Gerald McCormick, went to almost every

448
00:18:30,430 --> 00:18:32,848
Marty Stuart TV show taping.

449
00:18:32,890 --> 00:18:36,268
And one day this guy came in

450
00:18:36,310 --> 00:18:38,698
and Rob kind of, you know,
he always looks like stage ready,

451
00:18:38,740 --> 00:18:40,108
you know, and he walked in,

452
00:18:40,150 --> 00:18:41,848
we all kinda looked at
him like, who's this guy?

453
00:18:41,890 --> 00:18:43,440
You know, we never had met him.

454
00:18:45,133 --> 00:18:47,731
And so a few minutes
later Marty came through

455
00:18:47,773 --> 00:18:48,564
and Marty asked Rob said, hey,

456
00:18:48,606 --> 00:18:51,118
do you have a rhinestone coat in your van?

457
00:18:51,160 --> 00:18:52,497
You know?

458
00:18:52,539 --> 00:18:53,330
And he said, put it on.

459
00:18:53,372 --> 00:18:55,198
Said that'd look cool sitting
in the audience, you know,

460
00:18:55,240 --> 00:18:56,990
so we thought that's kind of weird.

461
00:18:57,886 --> 00:18:58,677
And so Rob went out

462
00:18:58,719 --> 00:18:59,510
and he came back in, had like a real

463
00:18:59,552 --> 00:19:01,075
Manuel coat on, you know?

464
00:19:01,117 --> 00:19:03,208
I said, wow, this guy must
be somebody, you know?

465
00:19:03,250 --> 00:19:07,408
And so anyway, and Rob
came to almost every taping too.

466
00:19:07,450 --> 00:19:09,298
He lived here then at that time.

467
00:19:09,340 --> 00:19:11,368
And so we just kind of got to be buddies

468
00:19:11,410 --> 00:19:13,408
hanging out at Marty Stuart TV tapings.

469
00:19:13,450 --> 00:19:16,408
And he pretty much came
one of my very best friends,

470
00:19:16,450 --> 00:19:20,353
you know, so, and yeah,
he actually, our last house,

471
00:19:21,190 --> 00:19:23,548
he actually recorded a
couple albums in our basement,

472
00:19:23,590 --> 00:19:28,590
you know, and JT Cure and
Kayton and Kenny Vaughn

473
00:19:29,170 --> 00:19:30,628
and those guys come over and played on it.

474
00:19:30,670 --> 00:19:32,698
And it was just, yeah, everything he does,

475
00:19:32,740 --> 00:19:34,753
he keeps it simple, but quality.

476
00:19:37,054 --> 00:19:40,468
- So I'd had Manuel start
making me some rhinestone outfits

477
00:19:40,510 --> 00:19:43,423
and I get invited to his birthday party,

478
00:19:44,323 --> 00:19:46,828
but there was Kayton kind
of playing in the house band.

479
00:19:46,870 --> 00:19:49,747
I concocted the idea, well
I'm gonna do a new record.

480
00:19:49,789 --> 00:19:51,538
I want Kayton play steel guitar on it.

481
00:19:51,580 --> 00:19:53,158
And Kayton's wife had passed away

482
00:19:53,200 --> 00:19:55,648
and Kayton told me, he said,
where are you living down here?

483
00:19:55,690 --> 00:19:57,238
'Cause we were playing
a lot of music together.

484
00:19:57,280 --> 00:19:58,648
But then, and I told him, he said, well,

485
00:19:58,690 --> 00:20:00,208
anytime he said, I got plenty of room.

486
00:20:00,250 --> 00:20:01,708
My wife passed away.

487
00:20:01,750 --> 00:20:03,600
And so I ended up living at Kayton's.

488
00:20:04,630 --> 00:20:07,018
- [Steven] He got into
playing with Kayton Roberts.

489
00:20:07,060 --> 00:20:09,881
And then you joined in
with them at that time, right?

490
00:20:09,923 --> 00:20:11,338
I did, yeah.

491
00:20:11,380 --> 00:20:13,378
Kenny was playing with us some.

492
00:20:13,420 --> 00:20:16,558
Chris Gruggs would be in and out with us.

493
00:20:16,600 --> 00:20:19,168
We've got these great
photos of us playing down

494
00:20:19,210 --> 00:20:24,194
at Layla's all together.

495
00:20:24,236 --> 00:20:28,378
And it was awesome for
me to get to meet Kayton

496
00:20:28,420 --> 00:20:33,028
and to have that experience, you know,

497
00:20:33,070 --> 00:20:37,663
as a musician, to get to
play with somebody like that

498
00:20:39,670 --> 00:20:44,030
and a link to the history
of the music that you love

499
00:20:44,890 --> 00:20:46,513
was really cool.

500
00:20:47,620 --> 00:20:50,593
And on top of that, he was
just such an awesome guy,

501
00:20:52,450 --> 00:20:54,553
one of the funniest guys I'd ever met.

502
00:20:56,377 --> 00:20:58,318
And to travel with him

503
00:20:58,360 --> 00:21:01,423
because we traveled a little bit together.

504
00:21:02,963 --> 00:21:04,678
It was always a good time.

505
00:21:04,720 --> 00:21:06,513
Always looked forward to those shows.

506
00:21:09,880 --> 00:21:11,788
Rob had sort of moved into Kayton's house

507
00:21:11,830 --> 00:21:15,568
sort of as a roommate
and musical co-conspirator,

508
00:21:15,610 --> 00:21:17,218
which I think was great for Kayton.

509
00:21:17,260 --> 00:21:19,708
You know, his wife, Iva Lee, and he

510
00:21:19,750 --> 00:21:21,600
had played music together for so long

511
00:21:23,223 --> 00:21:25,678
and one of my concerns for
Kayton when she passed away

512
00:21:25,720 --> 00:21:29,758
was, you know, losing
that musical connection.

513
00:21:29,800 --> 00:21:32,518
And it seemed that when
that door kind of closed,

514
00:21:32,560 --> 00:21:35,248
this door opened up with Rob

515
00:21:35,290 --> 00:21:36,898
and Kayton hadn't really been on the road

516
00:21:36,940 --> 00:21:40,828
or toured since, you know,
Hank Snow had passed away,

517
00:21:40,870 --> 00:21:43,813
which had been, you know,
maybe 10 years at this point.

518
00:21:45,346 --> 00:21:48,118
And I feel that that
friendship between Kayton

519
00:21:48,160 --> 00:21:53,160
and Rob McNurlin sort of gave
Kayton a sort of second wind

520
00:21:54,310 --> 00:21:57,208
and a new chapter in his career.

521
00:21:57,250 --> 00:21:59,848
All of a sudden Kayton
was out working the road

522
00:21:59,890 --> 00:22:01,690
and he was playing shows around town

523
00:22:02,685 --> 00:22:04,798
and it was, you know, usually him and Rob

524
00:22:04,840 --> 00:22:07,858
and early on JT Cure,
Kentucky Boy who plays

525
00:22:07,900 --> 00:22:09,898
with Chris Stapleton on bass.

526
00:22:09,940 --> 00:22:12,688
And then a little later
on it was Roger Carroll

527
00:22:12,730 --> 00:22:14,533
from Hank Snow's Rainbow Ranch Boys.

528
00:22:15,400 --> 00:22:18,403
So that was through
Kayton that I got to know Rob.

529
00:22:19,570 --> 00:22:21,508
He taught me, I know the first time

530
00:22:21,550 --> 00:22:23,758
we actually sat not recording on my album,

531
00:22:23,800 --> 00:22:25,078
just sat down to Jam.

532
00:22:25,120 --> 00:22:26,968
I started playing some Hank Snow song

533
00:22:27,010 --> 00:22:28,768
and I didn't make it
through half the verse.

534
00:22:28,810 --> 00:22:31,918
And he goes, now son, and
real nice in a very kind way.

535
00:22:31,960 --> 00:22:33,960
He said, you're leaving out some chords.

536
00:22:34,900 --> 00:22:37,408
And I said, well, you're
gonna have to teach 'em to me.

537
00:22:37,450 --> 00:22:38,758
And he just perked up.

538
00:22:38,800 --> 00:22:39,950
He just knew if I was willing

539
00:22:39,992 --> 00:22:42,568
to learn, you know, that was great.

540
00:22:42,610 --> 00:22:44,308
And he did, he taught me passing chords

541
00:22:44,350 --> 00:22:46,228
that I'd never even heard of or thought of.

542
00:22:46,270 --> 00:22:48,838
And I know I came back up here,

543
00:22:48,880 --> 00:22:52,168
they had a guitar show on this stage here,

544
00:22:52,210 --> 00:22:54,688
and I came back up for it

545
00:22:54,730 --> 00:22:56,188
and I was just sitting behind the booth

546
00:22:56,230 --> 00:22:59,818
and one of my friends,
Richie Collins was sitting there

547
00:22:59,860 --> 00:23:02,095
with me and I was playing
something and he looked at me

548
00:23:02,137 --> 00:23:03,718
and goes, wait a minute.

549
00:23:03,760 --> 00:23:05,578
He said, Rob McNurlin
don't know those chords,

550
00:23:05,620 --> 00:23:07,468
what happened to Rob McNurlin?

551
00:23:07,510 --> 00:23:09,760
And I said, well,
Kayton's teaching me a lot.

552
00:23:11,410 --> 00:23:13,375
They had a really special bond and just,

553
00:23:13,417 --> 00:23:15,208
and it was great for Kayton too, you know,

554
00:23:15,250 --> 00:23:17,758
after Hank died, Rob
kind of kept him on the road

555
00:23:17,800 --> 00:23:20,458
and kept him going and kept him lively.

556
00:23:20,500 --> 00:23:23,998
You know, I think Kayton
probably wouldn't have lived near

557
00:23:24,040 --> 00:23:27,088
as long as he did if he
hadn't been out with Rob

558
00:23:27,130 --> 00:23:28,678
and Rob keeping him playing

559
00:23:28,720 --> 00:23:31,708
and keeping him in the
music business, you know?

560
00:23:31,750 --> 00:23:33,971
And I think Rob was, you know,

561
00:23:34,013 --> 00:23:35,398
a really good friend to Kayton

562
00:23:35,440 --> 00:23:37,690
and really helped him
out a lot, a whole lot.

563
00:23:38,803 --> 00:23:41,076
And Kayton knew that
and Kayton appreciated it

564
00:23:41,118 --> 00:23:43,758
and so did Kayton's
family, I think, you know,

565
00:23:43,800 --> 00:23:45,088
and they had a really special bond

566
00:23:45,130 --> 00:23:47,248
and they did a lot of great music together.

567
00:23:47,290 --> 00:23:49,228
And Rob even, I'm sure
you've probably heard about,

568
00:23:49,270 --> 00:23:52,915
but he even produced a record on Kayton

569
00:23:52,957 --> 00:23:54,808
and I had Marty Stuart
come in and play on it.

570
00:23:54,850 --> 00:23:57,838
And me and Marty got
together and collaborated

571
00:23:57,880 --> 00:23:59,908
and I do some graphic design stuff

572
00:23:59,950 --> 00:24:01,468
and we did the cover for it

573
00:24:01,510 --> 00:24:03,178
and all the artwork for
the CD and everything.

574
00:24:03,220 --> 00:24:05,728
And Marty took the pictures
for the cover, you know,

575
00:24:05,770 --> 00:24:07,303
he's a great photographer too.

576
00:24:08,883 --> 00:24:10,408
And Rob really stepped up

577
00:24:10,450 --> 00:24:12,898
and just really took care of
Kayton in the last few years

578
00:24:12,940 --> 00:24:15,928
with a lot of, you know, kept his legacy.

579
00:24:15,970 --> 00:24:18,028
Really helped with it, you know.

580
00:24:18,070 --> 00:24:19,468
Hello, this is Rob NcNurlin.

581
00:24:19,510 --> 00:24:22,348
Thanks for tuning into the
Rob McNurlin Ranch Party.

582
00:24:22,390 --> 00:24:24,328
Just wanted to let you know
that starting in November,

583
00:24:24,370 --> 00:24:26,278
we got some all new episodes,

584
00:24:26,320 --> 00:24:28,708
one even featuring
the legendary folk singer

585
00:24:28,750 --> 00:24:30,268
Rambling Jack Elliot.

586
00:24:30,310 --> 00:24:31,918
Lot more surprises for you.

587
00:24:31,960 --> 00:24:34,558
Log into RobMcNurlin.com to learn more.

588
00:24:34,600 --> 00:24:35,433
Thanks again.

589
00:24:36,940 --> 00:24:40,078
Me and Richard stayed friends all the time

590
00:24:40,120 --> 00:24:42,770
and so we wanted to do a TV show

591
00:24:43,720 --> 00:24:45,800
and we made a couple of pilots

592
00:24:46,780 --> 00:24:51,020
and so we started trying to get
some sponsors for some money

593
00:24:52,540 --> 00:24:56,638
and we did, Richard and
also a guy named Brad Bearer

594
00:24:56,680 --> 00:24:59,068
helped film when Richard was out of town.

595
00:24:59,110 --> 00:25:02,621
And we put the TV show, you know,

596
00:25:02,663 --> 00:25:05,047
it was on three years, I think.

597
00:25:05,089 --> 00:25:07,672
(bright music)

598
00:25:09,610 --> 00:25:11,608
- [Chance] From the
Country Music Heritage Hall,

599
00:25:11,650 --> 00:25:12,958
It's a Highlands Museum

600
00:25:13,000 --> 00:25:15,958
and Discovery Center in Ashland, Kentucky

601
00:25:16,000 --> 00:25:19,858
on the Country Music Highway, Route 23.

602
00:25:19,900 --> 00:25:22,318
It's the Rob McNurlin Ranch Party

603
00:25:22,360 --> 00:25:26,203
starring Rob McNurlin
and his Beatnik Cowboys,

604
00:25:27,040 --> 00:25:30,628
Kayton Roberts, Kenny Vaughan, JT Cure

605
00:25:30,670 --> 00:25:33,028
with Kim Johnson, Bobby Taylor,

606
00:25:33,070 --> 00:25:34,678
Andrew Dunlap,

607
00:25:34,720 --> 00:25:38,788
and Les Worley, plus today's special guest.

608
00:25:38,830 --> 00:25:41,338
I'm your announcer Chance Martin.

609
00:25:41,380 --> 00:25:45,793
And now here's the star
of the show, Rob McNurlin.

610
00:25:48,828 --> 00:25:51,411
(bright music)

611
00:25:52,263 --> 00:25:56,524
♪ There's no rules on the road ♪

612
00:25:56,566 --> 00:26:01,566
♪ That's why the road rules ♪

613
00:26:02,514 --> 00:26:06,557
♪ Now there's rules on the road ♪

614
00:26:06,599 --> 00:26:10,188
♪ But the road can't be ruled ♪

615
00:26:10,230 --> 00:26:11,430
But you know who else?

616
00:26:13,270 --> 00:26:14,278
It's so foreign

617
00:26:14,320 --> 00:26:17,143
of a thing to me to be like,

618
00:26:18,700 --> 00:26:23,700
I'm gonna make a TV show
or I might have that idea,

619
00:26:24,340 --> 00:26:26,188
but nothing ever happens to it.

620
00:26:26,230 --> 00:26:30,838
He saw the whole thing
through, he just did it all.

621
00:26:30,880 --> 00:26:33,917
And it was a really
cool thing to be a part of

622
00:26:33,959 --> 00:26:36,178
and to see it, you know,

623
00:26:36,220 --> 00:26:38,863
and Kayton was involved with some of those,

624
00:26:40,060 --> 00:26:42,358
it's almost like he could see

625
00:26:42,400 --> 00:26:45,285
the whole thing from beginning to end.

626
00:26:45,327 --> 00:26:48,028
And from our perspective,
we just kind of showed up

627
00:26:48,070 --> 00:26:49,675
and he's like, okay, let's play this song.

628
00:26:49,717 --> 00:26:51,043
And we'd play that.

629
00:26:51,910 --> 00:26:53,728
Good take, good take, yep.

630
00:26:53,770 --> 00:26:55,348
All right, then we'd play another song,

631
00:26:55,390 --> 00:26:57,388
then we'd maybe change clothes.

632
00:26:57,430 --> 00:27:01,918
And then he just knew all this stuff

633
00:27:01,960 --> 00:27:04,138
to make it work.

634
00:27:04,180 --> 00:27:07,768
But he is always in, you know,
he was always making films

635
00:27:07,810 --> 00:27:11,848
and had an eye for that kind of thing too.

636
00:27:11,890 --> 00:27:13,228
Why is the phone ringing?

637
00:27:13,270 --> 00:27:14,979
I'm busy, I'm trying to do a show.

638
00:27:15,021 --> 00:27:16,768
(phone ringing)

639
00:27:16,810 --> 00:27:19,063
Hello, Ranch Party, Rob speaking.

640
00:27:20,050 --> 00:27:21,628
Well, hey baby, how are you?

641
00:27:21,670 --> 00:27:23,398
What are you into today?

642
00:27:23,440 --> 00:27:25,258
Oh, well that's good, that's good.

643
00:27:25,300 --> 00:27:26,968
Yeah, we're having a good time down here

644
00:27:27,010 --> 00:27:28,705
playing a little bit of music.

645
00:27:28,747 --> 00:27:30,598
Oh, the show went fine last night.

646
00:27:30,640 --> 00:27:31,708
It went fine.

647
00:27:31,750 --> 00:27:33,628
While we were playing,
this three-legged dog

648
00:27:33,670 --> 00:27:35,848
walked into the bar and
said, I'm looking for the man

649
00:27:35,890 --> 00:27:37,359
who shot my paw.

650
00:27:37,401 --> 00:27:39,621
(donkey hawing)

651
00:27:39,663 --> 00:27:42,261
Yeah, I love you too,
baby, I'll see you later.

652
00:27:42,303 --> 00:27:44,098
(donkey hawing)

653
00:27:44,140 --> 00:27:46,918
All right, welcome back to
the Rob McNurlin Ranch Party.

654
00:27:46,960 --> 00:27:47,908
Thanks for tuning in

655
00:27:47,950 --> 00:27:50,878
and we have a very special
guest today, Mr. Marty Stuart.

656
00:27:50,920 --> 00:27:52,018
Marty, thanks for being here.

657
00:27:52,060 --> 00:27:54,178
- My pleasure, Rob,
heard all about your show,

658
00:27:54,220 --> 00:27:55,936
cousin Kenny's been telling me about it.

659
00:27:55,978 --> 00:27:56,769
Well bless you, sir.

660
00:27:56,811 --> 00:27:58,224
I saw one of your DVDs

661
00:27:58,266 --> 00:27:59,524
and I had to get in on it.

662
00:27:59,566 --> 00:28:00,669
Well, I appreciate it.

663
00:28:00,711 --> 00:28:01,502
Thank you so much. - You stylized.

664
00:28:01,544 --> 00:28:03,133
Oh yeah, we're sparkling today.

665
00:28:04,027 --> 00:28:06,610
(upbeat music)

666
00:28:12,131 --> 00:28:13,758
♪ Then he went ♪

667
00:28:13,800 --> 00:28:16,633
(Marty whistling)

668
00:28:24,400 --> 00:28:27,964
Yeah, we worked hard on those shows

669
00:28:28,006 --> 00:28:29,892
and I think they came out pretty good.

670
00:28:29,934 --> 00:28:30,725
You know, I really enjoyed it.

671
00:28:30,767 --> 00:28:32,758
It was me and Kayton and JT Cure

672
00:28:32,800 --> 00:28:34,258
and Rob, I think just the four of us.

673
00:28:34,300 --> 00:28:35,428
It was really fun.

674
00:28:35,470 --> 00:28:37,950
And he had some good guests on there,

675
00:28:37,992 --> 00:28:38,968
you know, he had Marty Stuart

676
00:28:39,010 --> 00:28:41,263
and Larry Cordle and all kinds of folks.

677
00:28:44,200 --> 00:28:46,258
Well, I was playing with Marty Stuart

678
00:28:46,300 --> 00:28:48,598
and His Fabulous Superlatives

679
00:28:48,640 --> 00:28:52,370
in some outdoor show in East Kentucky

680
00:28:53,320 --> 00:28:54,568
on a nice night.

681
00:28:54,610 --> 00:28:59,398
It was well attended,
lots of hillbillies there.

682
00:28:59,440 --> 00:29:03,898
And he kind of appeared
into my world there.

683
00:29:03,940 --> 00:29:07,416
And I remember, you know, I saw, you know,

684
00:29:07,458 --> 00:29:10,777
I saw this guy's cool, you
know, just, he cuts a, you know,

685
00:29:11,860 --> 00:29:15,085
when he walks in to
wherever you are, you know,

686
00:29:15,127 --> 00:29:15,918
you immediately notice him.

687
00:29:15,960 --> 00:29:17,398
'Cause you know, he's put together

688
00:29:17,440 --> 00:29:21,025
and he's has his own sort
of aura about him, you know?

689
00:29:21,067 --> 00:29:22,498
And I thought, this cat's cool.

690
00:29:22,540 --> 00:29:26,098
And then Marty must have
known him, I'm not sure,

691
00:29:26,140 --> 00:29:28,526
but Marty got him up on stage that night.

692
00:29:28,568 --> 00:29:29,401
Where are you Robert?

693
00:29:30,490 --> 00:29:31,573
Come on son.

694
00:29:35,170 --> 00:29:37,243
Got a fine looking cowboy suit on.

695
00:29:39,807 --> 00:29:42,390
(upbeat music)

696
00:29:56,890 --> 00:29:59,405
They played a song by Rob called,

697
00:29:59,447 --> 00:30:02,188
"Is Your Name on the Rock and the Roll?"

698
00:30:02,230 --> 00:30:03,388
And they tore it up.

699
00:30:03,430 --> 00:30:05,965
Marty played the mandolin and
Rob played his acoustic guitar

700
00:30:06,007 --> 00:30:09,178
and Rob sang and the
audience went crazy, you know?

701
00:30:09,220 --> 00:30:12,628
And I was like, hm, this guy's different.

702
00:30:12,670 --> 00:30:15,613
And then, you know, the more
I got to know him, you know,

703
00:30:17,710 --> 00:30:21,388
I realized that not only was
he into old country music

704
00:30:21,430 --> 00:30:24,328
and bluegrass music and
knew a lot about all that stuff,

705
00:30:24,370 --> 00:30:26,878
but he was also into Jerry
Garcia and Bob Dylan.

706
00:30:26,920 --> 00:30:28,168
He knew a lot about that stuff.

707
00:30:28,210 --> 00:30:30,718
And I said, oh, all right,
I can relate to this dude.

708
00:30:30,760 --> 00:30:32,008
I like him.

709
00:30:32,050 --> 00:30:34,033
And we've been friends ever since.

710
00:30:35,920 --> 00:30:38,758
I think it was JT Cure on bass

711
00:30:38,800 --> 00:30:41,308
and Kate and Robertson Seal

712
00:30:41,350 --> 00:30:44,695
and me on electric, Rob,

713
00:30:44,737 --> 00:30:47,263
and sometimes Chris Scruggs played with us,

714
00:30:48,340 --> 00:30:49,798
various instruments, I'm sure.

715
00:30:49,840 --> 00:30:53,218
And, you know, we played some shows

716
00:30:53,260 --> 00:30:58,168
and yeah, we've worked
together in the studio.

717
00:30:58,210 --> 00:30:59,578
[Steven] Has Rob been easy to work with?

718
00:30:59,620 --> 00:31:01,108
Oh, what do you think?

719
00:31:01,150 --> 00:31:02,818
Yeah, he's the easiest to work with.

720
00:31:02,860 --> 00:31:07,528
Well, you know, the thing
about Rob is he knows his music.

721
00:31:07,570 --> 00:31:08,870
He has his style

722
00:31:10,152 --> 00:31:13,013
and when he steps up
to the mic in the studio

723
00:31:13,055 --> 00:31:16,573
with his guitar and to sing, he's ready.

724
00:31:19,394 --> 00:31:20,185
There's no guesswork there.

725
00:31:20,227 --> 00:31:21,598
He's already ready to go.

726
00:31:21,640 --> 00:31:24,958
You hit the button and he
lays his part down and it's done.

727
00:31:25,000 --> 00:31:27,538
And so it's pretty easy to work with him

728
00:31:27,580 --> 00:31:30,718
because he knows his style

729
00:31:30,760 --> 00:31:33,778
and he understands what, you
know, his own music really well

730
00:31:33,820 --> 00:31:36,508
and it's fun and it's easy

731
00:31:36,550 --> 00:31:39,103
and it always sounds
good because he's good.

732
00:31:41,590 --> 00:31:43,438
Yeah, Kenny played,

733
00:31:43,480 --> 00:31:47,818
he's played on my most recent three albums

734
00:31:47,860 --> 00:31:51,778
and he produced the two latest albums,

735
00:31:51,820 --> 00:31:52,858
he produced, played on 'em.

736
00:31:52,900 --> 00:31:54,538
And actually all of Marty's band played on

737
00:31:54,580 --> 00:31:56,188
the two most recent ones, you know,

738
00:31:56,230 --> 00:31:59,308
but that "Tent of the Wicked"
I was just talking about,

739
00:31:59,350 --> 00:32:01,341
may be my best record.

740
00:32:01,383 --> 00:32:03,928
I mean, I really love the songs on there

741
00:32:03,970 --> 00:32:06,570
and the the musicianship
on it is just unbelievable.

742
00:32:08,170 --> 00:32:09,388
I mean, I think it's human nature

743
00:32:09,430 --> 00:32:11,398
that if you played in a band

744
00:32:11,440 --> 00:32:13,858
and someone takes your
place, you're gonna go look at him

745
00:32:13,900 --> 00:32:15,448
and go, well, how good's that guy?

746
00:32:15,490 --> 00:32:17,158
Well, I look over and it's Kenny Vaughan.

747
00:32:17,200 --> 00:32:19,618
It's like, well, that guy's
pretty doggone good.

748
00:32:19,660 --> 00:32:21,148
I couldn't tune Kenny's guitar.

749
00:32:21,190 --> 00:32:23,158
He went to Nashville and again,

750
00:32:23,200 --> 00:32:26,008
his way of getting in with people.

751
00:32:26,050 --> 00:32:28,798
And all of a sudden he and
Marty Stuart are best friends

752
00:32:28,840 --> 00:32:30,238
and he's got Kenny Vaughan

753
00:32:30,280 --> 00:32:32,488
and he's got JT Cure playing,

754
00:32:32,530 --> 00:32:34,978
which he knew JT from
back in the Moorhead days.

755
00:32:35,020 --> 00:32:37,138
He'd known JT for a long time.

756
00:32:37,180 --> 00:32:38,668
But Rob had just continued

757
00:32:38,710 --> 00:32:40,948
to play with better and better people.

758
00:32:40,990 --> 00:32:44,518
- I remember being in
a building in Nashville,

759
00:32:44,560 --> 00:32:46,408
I looked out the window
and there was this guy

760
00:32:46,450 --> 00:32:49,078
all by himself just walking down the street

761
00:32:49,120 --> 00:32:52,888
and he had on the most gorgeous coat,

762
00:32:52,930 --> 00:32:54,618
Porter Wagner would've been jealous of it.

763
00:32:54,660 --> 00:32:58,108
It was fully rhinestone,
beautiful, just by himself.

764
00:32:58,150 --> 00:32:59,008
Who's that character?

765
00:32:59,050 --> 00:33:01,348
And then come to find
out, it was Rob McNurlin.

766
00:33:01,390 --> 00:33:04,408
I remember we did an old Johnny Cash song,

767
00:33:04,450 --> 00:33:07,708
a song that John and Bob
Dylan wrote called "Wanted Man"

768
00:33:07,750 --> 00:33:08,758
on Rob's TV show.

769
00:33:08,800 --> 00:33:10,183
So I love that performance.

770
00:33:11,974 --> 00:33:14,339
♪ This next time go ahead ♪

771
00:33:14,381 --> 00:33:16,645
♪ Had all that I wanted ♪

772
00:33:16,687 --> 00:33:19,062
♪ Moved a lot of things I've had ♪

773
00:33:19,104 --> 00:33:21,618
♪ And a lot more than I needed ♪

774
00:33:21,660 --> 00:33:24,723
♪ Of some things that turned out bad ♪

775
00:33:24,765 --> 00:33:27,348
(upbeat music)

776
00:33:35,197 --> 00:33:36,658
And sometimes it was reruns,

777
00:33:36,700 --> 00:33:39,118
we didn't have three years worth of shows.

778
00:33:39,160 --> 00:33:43,018
But yeah, we had some,
you know, great stuff.

779
00:33:43,060 --> 00:33:45,988
I mean, and there again,
I was blessed with guests.

780
00:33:46,030 --> 00:33:48,140
I mean, Marty Stuart and Larry Cordle

781
00:33:49,952 --> 00:33:51,148
and John Carter Cash,

782
00:33:51,190 --> 00:33:53,518
just blessed with such great guests.

783
00:33:53,560 --> 00:33:54,478
And there's a whole list of 'em

784
00:33:54,520 --> 00:33:56,173
that I'm drawing blanks on now.

785
00:33:58,990 --> 00:34:01,117
- [Steven] So when I
first reached out to you,

786
00:34:01,159 --> 00:34:02,998
you had a Facebook post

787
00:34:03,040 --> 00:34:05,653
that made me think you
were retiring from music.

788
00:34:07,060 --> 00:34:10,198
Well, I probably wrote the post wrong,

789
00:34:10,240 --> 00:34:14,128
but just because of some family situation,

790
00:34:14,170 --> 00:34:15,500
my dad passed away

791
00:34:16,420 --> 00:34:18,238
and somebody needs to
take care of the property

792
00:34:18,280 --> 00:34:19,918
'cause mom's in a rest home.

793
00:34:19,960 --> 00:34:22,678
And plus they were raising my great nephew.

794
00:34:22,720 --> 00:34:27,718
Now, you know, I could abandon all of that

795
00:34:27,760 --> 00:34:29,038
and go on the road playing music,

796
00:34:29,080 --> 00:34:31,498
but I wouldn't feel good
about myself if I did that.

797
00:34:31,540 --> 00:34:35,608
So I'm gonna play music around
here and occasionally travel,

798
00:34:35,650 --> 00:34:36,988
but I just can't like I used to.

799
00:34:37,030 --> 00:34:38,578
I can't be on the road
for three or four weeks

800
00:34:38,620 --> 00:34:40,948
'cause I wanna be able to visit my mom

801
00:34:40,990 --> 00:34:43,618
as long as I can, help my
little nephew with all he needs

802
00:34:43,660 --> 00:34:45,260
and take care of the home place.

803
00:34:46,331 --> 00:34:51,331
♪ In the courtroom for
the judge's gavel falls ♪

804
00:34:52,069 --> 00:34:57,069
♪ Defended the innocent
and righted many wrongs ♪

805
00:35:00,017 --> 00:35:05,017
♪ But my books of law
were traded for these songs ♪

806
00:35:09,942 --> 00:35:14,942
♪ I might've studied medicine
and healed my fellow man ♪

807
00:35:17,812 --> 00:35:20,890
♪ Picked the lame and crippled up ♪

808
00:35:20,932 --> 00:35:25,064
♪ Helped make 'em stand ♪

809
00:35:25,106 --> 00:35:30,106
♪ Is there someone dying
that should be standing strong ♪

810
00:35:32,591 --> 00:35:37,591
♪ 'Cause my healing powers
were traded for a song ♪

811
00:35:44,931 --> 00:35:47,767
♪ Do you remember ♪

812
00:35:47,809 --> 00:35:50,392
(bright music)

813
00:35:52,510 --> 00:35:53,728
My dad worked in a Steel Mill

814
00:35:53,770 --> 00:35:55,318
and Johnny Cash sang, man, you know,

815
00:35:55,360 --> 00:35:57,898
to me they were like the same though.

816
00:35:57,940 --> 00:36:00,508
And so when I got into
it, it was purely for music.

817
00:36:00,550 --> 00:36:02,578
And then of course I
started trying to make money

818
00:36:02,620 --> 00:36:07,438
and things, and eventually
you got the point, oh yeah,

819
00:36:07,480 --> 00:36:09,973
you wanna be a rock
star, like everybody does.

820
00:36:11,307 --> 00:36:13,693
And then common sense kinda drifts in

821
00:36:13,735 --> 00:36:16,160
that not many people make it as a rock star

822
00:36:17,899 --> 00:36:19,588
and especially the kind
of music that I picked

823
00:36:19,630 --> 00:36:22,858
because I can play it
with a rock and roll band,

824
00:36:22,900 --> 00:36:23,998
I can play it with a country band,

825
00:36:24,040 --> 00:36:26,968
but I'm really a folk singer pretty much.

826
00:36:27,010 --> 00:36:28,828
And I realized that there wasn't

827
00:36:28,870 --> 00:36:31,378
that many rockstar folk singers.

828
00:36:31,420 --> 00:36:33,355
So I was just trying
to make a living at it.

829
00:36:33,397 --> 00:36:35,301
And I did, I managed to do that.

830
00:36:35,343 --> 00:36:38,599
♪ You ain't gold ♪

831
00:36:38,641 --> 00:36:43,641
♪ All you are girl is flesh and bone ♪

832
00:36:45,212 --> 00:36:50,212
♪ You're the best at these eyes have seen ♪

833
00:36:50,650 --> 00:36:52,273
When I moved to Nashville,

834
00:36:53,740 --> 00:36:55,903
I never planned on moving back here,

835
00:36:56,800 --> 00:36:59,338
but circumstances brought
me back here and this is home.

836
00:36:59,380 --> 00:37:02,488
No matter where I've
ever went in the world,

837
00:37:02,530 --> 00:37:04,453
you know, this is still home.

838
00:37:05,357 --> 00:37:07,940
(bright music)

839
00:37:13,592 --> 00:37:14,728
I never could distinguish,

840
00:37:14,770 --> 00:37:17,848
and I run into this a lot
people, some people say,

841
00:37:17,890 --> 00:37:19,618
well you play secular music, you know,

842
00:37:19,660 --> 00:37:21,088
you don't play all gospel music

843
00:37:21,130 --> 00:37:25,618
and some people that,
you know, some Christians

844
00:37:25,660 --> 00:37:27,448
that's not right to them.

845
00:37:27,490 --> 00:37:29,038
But I don't see the difference in it.

846
00:37:29,080 --> 00:37:31,468
You know, when I read
the Bible, there's all kinds

847
00:37:31,510 --> 00:37:36,268
of stories about love,
hate, murders, you know?

848
00:37:36,310 --> 00:37:37,678
Yes, the gospel is there

849
00:37:37,720 --> 00:37:39,118
and that's the main reason that's there.

850
00:37:39,160 --> 00:37:42,748
But life is in those too,
just like in the songs,

851
00:37:42,790 --> 00:37:45,028
you know, those old folk songs have.

852
00:37:45,070 --> 00:37:48,178
So to me, I'm not saying
they're all gospel songs to me,

853
00:37:48,220 --> 00:37:49,348
but all of it's important.

854
00:37:49,390 --> 00:37:51,178
It all just deals with life.

855
00:37:51,220 --> 00:37:54,053
♪ Do you remember ♪

856
00:37:57,480 --> 00:38:00,118
If anybody remembers
it, it'll be amazing to me.

857
00:38:00,160 --> 00:38:02,038
It still amazes me if somebody shows up

858
00:38:02,080 --> 00:38:03,430
and knows one of the songs.

859
00:38:06,790 --> 00:38:08,788
The trick is, I mean, it's not gonna matter

860
00:38:08,830 --> 00:38:10,663
to us anyway, you know?

861
00:38:11,500 --> 00:38:14,338
I mean, I'm 60, I'll soon be 61.

862
00:38:14,380 --> 00:38:16,621
I had a long run, you
know, I'm closer to the end

863
00:38:16,663 --> 00:38:18,505
than I am to the beginning, you know,

864
00:38:18,547 --> 00:38:21,688
but now I'm just a hillbilly
on my way to heaven.

865
00:38:21,730 --> 00:38:24,313
(bright music)

866
00:38:26,527 --> 00:38:29,694
(audience applauding)

867
00:38:31,586 --> 00:38:34,169
(bright music)

868
00:38:39,831 --> 00:38:41,637
♪ I was born in the country ♪

869
00:38:41,679 --> 00:38:46,679
♪ Then I moved to town ♪

870
00:38:46,894 --> 00:38:49,396
♪ I was born in the country ♪

871
00:38:49,438 --> 00:38:52,688
♪ When I moved to town ♪

872
00:38:53,800 --> 00:38:56,750
The first ever Rob McNurlin promo picture.

873
00:38:56,792 --> 00:39:00,868
♪ Hillbillies hanging around ♪

874
00:39:00,910 --> 00:39:03,463
It's us recording at the Cash Cabin Studio.

875
00:39:05,560 --> 00:39:09,400
It was February 14th of 2000.

876
00:39:10,453 --> 00:39:13,138
So whole big spread in off-label photos

877
00:39:13,180 --> 00:39:16,970
and okay, here's what,
so I did the soundtrack

878
00:39:17,830 --> 00:39:20,998
to a movie about Bullfrogs in Kentucky.

879
00:39:21,040 --> 00:39:22,843
And so here's the promo for that.

880
00:39:25,384 --> 00:39:29,608
So I went to England with
Dave Prince and his wife Luna.

881
00:39:29,650 --> 00:39:31,050
Here's the poster from that.

882
00:39:32,590 --> 00:39:33,538
The Blue Cat what?

883
00:39:33,580 --> 00:39:36,326
The Blue Cat Cafe, wherever that was.

884
00:39:36,368 --> 00:39:38,820
(harmonica buzzing)

885
00:39:38,862 --> 00:39:40,558
You know, you just think
of the theme to Barney Miller

886
00:39:40,600 --> 00:39:42,764
or Sanford and Son or something.

887
00:39:42,806 --> 00:39:45,806
(harmonica buzzing)

888
00:39:48,280 --> 00:39:49,498
Hank Snow's toupee.

889
00:39:49,540 --> 00:39:50,788
What more can you say?

890
00:39:50,830 --> 00:39:53,398
You know, the reason I ended up

891
00:39:53,440 --> 00:39:55,948
with this when I was living in Nashville,

892
00:39:55,990 --> 00:40:00,418
I got wind that a lady
who ran an antique shop

893
00:40:00,460 --> 00:40:01,675
had some Hank Snow stuff.

894
00:40:01,717 --> 00:40:04,348
And I said, well, do you have
anything else Hank Snow?

895
00:40:04,390 --> 00:40:06,988
She looked at me really
weird and said, I got a toupee.

896
00:40:07,030 --> 00:40:09,388
And I went, now you're talking.

897
00:40:09,430 --> 00:40:13,198
And so the toupee came
in the original shipping box

898
00:40:13,240 --> 00:40:15,418
and it came with a box
of the little stick on things,

899
00:40:15,460 --> 00:40:16,738
the little double sided things

900
00:40:16,780 --> 00:40:18,208
you stick 'em to your head with.

901
00:40:18,250 --> 00:40:22,078
But also in the box was this unsigned check

902
00:40:22,120 --> 00:40:24,563
and these keys and bullets.

903
00:40:26,833 --> 00:40:28,078
And there's a couple of famous stories

904
00:40:28,120 --> 00:40:30,448
about Hank Snow using his gun.

905
00:40:30,490 --> 00:40:32,240
You have to look those up yourself,

906
00:40:33,700 --> 00:40:36,448
well he tried to shoot
his son one time too.

907
00:40:36,490 --> 00:40:39,418
But anyway, and so I got all that

908
00:40:39,460 --> 00:40:42,808
and since then, a good
friend of mine, Doug Hudson,

909
00:40:42,850 --> 00:40:45,883
who ended up with all the
paperwork from Hank's office,

910
00:40:46,720 --> 00:40:48,870
asked me, he said, you know
what year he bought the toupee?

911
00:40:48,912 --> 00:40:50,155
And I said, yeah, it's
got the mailing thing on it.

912
00:40:50,197 --> 00:40:55,108
And I gave, so he found me
the return, you know, the check.

913
00:40:55,150 --> 00:40:56,758
And so I have it, it's downstairs,

914
00:40:56,800 --> 00:40:59,000
I have the check where
he bought the toupee.

915
00:41:00,250 --> 00:41:04,310
- Yeah, and even a little
bit, kind of the odd part of

916
00:41:05,710 --> 00:41:08,232
history and leaning into that kinda stuff,

917
00:41:08,274 --> 00:41:11,698
stuff people don't really
necessarily think about

918
00:41:11,740 --> 00:41:16,378
the whole case that he had
made for the toupee lights up.

919
00:41:16,420 --> 00:41:18,268
And we played a show.

920
00:41:18,310 --> 00:41:19,678
I think the first time I saw that

921
00:41:19,720 --> 00:41:21,088
was when we played a show over

922
00:41:21,130 --> 00:41:23,728
at the American Legion here.

923
00:41:23,770 --> 00:41:27,403
And he brought it out
and had it sitting on stage.

924
00:41:28,570 --> 00:41:31,108
- But he does, he
collects all these real cool

925
00:41:31,150 --> 00:41:32,428
weird memorabilia pieces

926
00:41:32,470 --> 00:41:34,078
and I could absolutely see him having

927
00:41:34,120 --> 00:41:36,250
a little traveling freak show.

928
00:41:36,292 --> 00:41:38,875
(upbeat music)

929
00:41:45,393 --> 00:41:47,480
♪ Got the hillbilly blues ♪

930
00:41:47,522 --> 00:41:50,855
♪ No cure can be found ♪

931
00:41:53,080 --> 00:41:57,508
- A great, he makes these
big wooden Indians and bears

932
00:41:57,550 --> 00:42:01,644
and stuff, carves them, magnificent work.

933
00:42:01,686 --> 00:42:05,436
♪ Hillbillies hanging around ♪

934
00:42:07,637 --> 00:42:10,220
(bright music)

935
00:42:24,966 --> 00:42:29,463
♪ Gonna pick my guitar ♪

936
00:42:29,505 --> 00:42:34,505
♪ 'Til I break the strings ♪

937
00:42:36,189 --> 00:42:39,261
♪ Gonna pick my guitar ♪

938
00:42:39,303 --> 00:42:42,821
- [Host] Introduce one of
your own, Rob McNurlin.

939
00:42:42,863 --> 00:42:45,718
- And I don't remember
when I first met Rob,

940
00:42:45,760 --> 00:42:46,708
it's been that long.

941
00:42:46,750 --> 00:42:49,948
I do know that when I started Wood Songs,

942
00:42:49,990 --> 00:42:54,418
Rob was the very first
artist I brought on the show

943
00:42:54,460 --> 00:42:56,788
because, you know, we only had one station

944
00:42:56,830 --> 00:42:57,928
airing it at the time.

945
00:42:57,970 --> 00:42:59,038
And Rob was a friend.

946
00:42:59,080 --> 00:43:00,358
We were already friends at the time,

947
00:43:00,400 --> 00:43:02,818
and I was like, I want to
try this, what do you think?

948
00:43:02,860 --> 00:43:05,908
And so he came on the very
first broadcast of Wood Songs.

949
00:43:05,950 --> 00:43:08,668
Rob's music is sort of a
tapestry of many things,

950
00:43:08,710 --> 00:43:12,268
all threaded through
Appalachia in many ways.

951
00:43:12,310 --> 00:43:14,728
You know, he grew up in
the Appalachian Mountains,

952
00:43:14,770 --> 00:43:17,998
but he was heavily
influenced by the imagery

953
00:43:18,040 --> 00:43:21,041
of early Bob Dylan

954
00:43:21,083 --> 00:43:24,628
and the music of Johnny
Cash, Woody Guthrie especially.

955
00:43:24,670 --> 00:43:27,958
And all of this, I think
as many artists do,

956
00:43:28,000 --> 00:43:32,368
they allow that to gestate
inside their musical heart

957
00:43:32,410 --> 00:43:35,341
until they come out
with something original.

958
00:43:35,383 --> 00:43:38,938
And Rob was able to turn
all that into something original.

959
00:43:38,980 --> 00:43:41,308
- Couldn't forget the first
time I met Rob McNurlin.

960
00:43:41,350 --> 00:43:45,238
So we had Rambling Jack Elliot was playing,

961
00:43:45,280 --> 00:43:47,218
and Rob drove Rambling Jack up.

962
00:43:47,260 --> 00:43:52,260
Now, you know, Jack
had a horrible, horrible cold.

963
00:43:52,330 --> 00:43:53,773
Rob, of course being Rob,

964
00:43:54,700 --> 00:43:55,708
let me help out.

965
00:43:55,750 --> 00:43:56,923
And so he did the show.

966
00:43:57,760 --> 00:44:01,888
I'm not sure how Rob
would characterize himself,

967
00:44:01,930 --> 00:44:04,018
but to me he represents
a certain, you know,

968
00:44:04,060 --> 00:44:05,188
without putting a label on it,

969
00:44:05,230 --> 00:44:07,198
he certainly represents
a certain tradition.

970
00:44:07,240 --> 00:44:11,683
And I think that as an artist,
you know, he's a pure soul.

971
00:44:12,910 --> 00:44:15,568
There's never, just a pure soul.

972
00:44:15,610 --> 00:44:19,468
I mean, everything he
does, you know it's real.

973
00:44:19,510 --> 00:44:23,038
And I think that honesty,
I think honesty is an artist,

974
00:44:23,080 --> 00:44:25,588
is what I would describe him as.

975
00:44:25,630 --> 00:44:27,658
In a just world,

976
00:44:27,700 --> 00:44:29,713
Rob McNurlin would be a household name.

977
00:44:30,850 --> 00:44:34,378
I think, you know, in show business

978
00:44:34,420 --> 00:44:37,198
and probably I'd say in
any business, you know,

979
00:44:37,240 --> 00:44:39,208
there's moments where, you know,

980
00:44:39,250 --> 00:44:41,038
it comes at you in waves.

981
00:44:41,080 --> 00:44:43,648
And maybe better put with music

982
00:44:43,690 --> 00:44:45,178
because of the the cultural connection

983
00:44:45,220 --> 00:44:47,169
that music has for our lives.

984
00:44:47,211 --> 00:44:50,210
It comes at us in eras,
you know, Rob's career

985
00:44:52,300 --> 00:44:53,488
and who he plays for

986
00:44:53,530 --> 00:44:56,548
and then how he presents
his music to an audience

987
00:44:56,590 --> 00:44:58,498
sort of evolve over time.

988
00:44:58,540 --> 00:44:59,728
You know, there was that moment

989
00:44:59,770 --> 00:45:01,798
when he was talking about retiring

990
00:45:01,840 --> 00:45:05,338
and then sort of almost
denied making the claim, saying,

991
00:45:05,380 --> 00:45:08,008
well, what I meant was
I was gonna scale back

992
00:45:08,050 --> 00:45:08,841
and reorganize.

993
00:45:08,883 --> 00:45:11,638
But sometimes you gotta
do that to not be afraid

994
00:45:11,680 --> 00:45:12,868
to reinvent themselves.

995
00:45:12,910 --> 00:45:16,018
And sometimes you have to
burn it all down to the ground

996
00:45:16,060 --> 00:45:18,163
and rise from the ashes like a phoenix.

997
00:45:19,510 --> 00:45:21,448
- Well, you know, Rob
has always, like I said,

998
00:45:21,490 --> 00:45:22,588
he's been one of my heroes.

999
00:45:22,630 --> 00:45:23,788
He was one of the first heroes

1000
00:45:23,830 --> 00:45:25,648
that I had in the music business.

1001
00:45:25,690 --> 00:45:27,448
Like I said, I remember watching him on TV

1002
00:45:27,490 --> 00:45:29,938
from a really young age and thinking, man,

1003
00:45:29,980 --> 00:45:33,148
that's gotta be the
coolest job in the world.

1004
00:45:33,190 --> 00:45:35,278
He's left a big influence on my life

1005
00:45:35,320 --> 00:45:36,980
and my music in more ways

1006
00:45:38,135 --> 00:45:39,598
than one could probably realize.

1007
00:45:39,640 --> 00:45:42,508
Even outside of the music
though, Rob McNurlin as a man,

1008
00:45:42,550 --> 00:45:43,798
is a top shelf.

1009
00:45:43,840 --> 00:45:45,478
You're not gonna find a better human being

1010
00:45:45,520 --> 00:45:46,513
anywhere you look.

1011
00:45:48,333 --> 00:45:51,193
And that spoke volumes to
me even more than the music.

1012
00:45:52,600 --> 00:45:54,268
Rob's legacy is gonna be huge.

1013
00:45:54,310 --> 00:45:57,478
I mean, throughout this
region of Appalachia,

1014
00:45:57,520 --> 00:45:59,788
Eastern Kentucky, West
Virginia, Southern Ohio,

1015
00:45:59,830 --> 00:46:01,408
of course it's gonna be huge,

1016
00:46:01,450 --> 00:46:04,528
but he's also been so much
more in so many other places,

1017
00:46:04,570 --> 00:46:07,378
you know, all across the United States,

1018
00:46:07,420 --> 00:46:11,038
Rob McNurlin has toured,
traveled and performed,

1019
00:46:11,080 --> 00:46:13,378
bummed a meal here
and there and kept going.

1020
00:46:13,420 --> 00:46:14,253
You know?

1021
00:46:15,220 --> 00:46:18,433
I remember calling Rob a cowboy poet,

1022
00:46:20,710 --> 00:46:22,048
he just blew me away.

1023
00:46:22,090 --> 00:46:26,743
There was something about his authenticity,

1024
00:46:28,570 --> 00:46:32,758
the sound of his voice,
the way that he played,

1025
00:46:32,800 --> 00:46:36,013
the way that he told the
stories that he played.

1026
00:46:36,865 --> 00:46:41,038
It reminded me just like,
you know, Jack Kerouac

1027
00:46:41,080 --> 00:46:45,493
in a cowboy hat, and it was deep.

1028
00:46:46,503 --> 00:46:50,668
It was just deep just like reading Kerouac.

1029
00:46:50,710 --> 00:46:52,408
But there is something, yeah,

1030
00:46:52,450 --> 00:46:54,883
when you're around him, pay attention.

1031
00:46:56,350 --> 00:47:00,763
Like, I feel like when you're around him,

1032
00:47:02,560 --> 00:47:03,403
you're chosen,

1033
00:47:05,110 --> 00:47:06,298
hear whatever he has to say.

1034
00:47:06,340 --> 00:47:07,690
That's just what I believe.

1035
00:47:08,680 --> 00:47:10,033
Retirement's a big word.

1036
00:47:11,530 --> 00:47:12,480
I don't believe it.

1037
00:47:13,450 --> 00:47:14,518
He'll be back.

1038
00:47:14,560 --> 00:47:17,758
Well, you know, you know, I've got

1039
00:47:17,800 --> 00:47:20,150
to know him fairly well over the years

1040
00:47:21,641 --> 00:47:26,038
and you know, he always took
care of his mom and his dad

1041
00:47:26,080 --> 00:47:29,840
and, you know, still taking
care of his dad's mules

1042
00:47:33,040 --> 00:47:36,388
and he's the father figure for his nephew

1043
00:47:36,430 --> 00:47:38,548
and he takes care of him.

1044
00:47:38,590 --> 00:47:41,413
And he's a good influence
on his nephew, I do believe.

1045
00:47:42,505 --> 00:47:45,868
And, you know, he's
just a standup character.

1046
00:47:45,910 --> 00:47:47,218
He's kind of a spiritual advisor

1047
00:47:47,260 --> 00:47:48,808
to a lot of people, honestly.

1048
00:47:48,850 --> 00:47:51,718
I mean, he can, I wouldn't
say he's a preacher,

1049
00:47:51,760 --> 00:47:54,658
but he can lead a service at church

1050
00:47:54,700 --> 00:47:57,178
and everybody gets something out of it.

1051
00:47:57,220 --> 00:48:01,498
And even I've seen him
in honky tonks, dive places,

1052
00:48:01,540 --> 00:48:03,988
whatever, and he'll get
up and sing gospel songs

1053
00:48:04,030 --> 00:48:08,248
and when he does, it gets
quiet, they all stop dancing,

1054
00:48:08,290 --> 00:48:10,520
they stop and, you could hear a pin drop

1055
00:48:11,404 --> 00:48:13,404
and you know, he touches people with it.

1056
00:48:15,260 --> 00:48:17,248
- The thing I love about
Rob, when I first came

1057
00:48:17,290 --> 00:48:21,988
to Nashville, if you sat down at the table

1058
00:48:22,030 --> 00:48:25,138
of the family of country
music, it was important that you

1059
00:48:25,180 --> 00:48:27,298
at that time that you
bring your culture with you,

1060
00:48:27,340 --> 00:48:30,178
wherever you come from,
you had to bring who you were

1061
00:48:30,220 --> 00:48:33,058
to the table and add into
the spice of country music.

1062
00:48:33,100 --> 00:48:36,088
It's pretty much a
homogenized table these days.

1063
00:48:36,130 --> 00:48:39,088
The thing I love about Rob,
he carries that square piece

1064
00:48:39,130 --> 00:48:41,488
of Kentucky with him everywhere he goes.

1065
00:48:41,530 --> 00:48:43,348
And you cannot go out

1066
00:48:43,390 --> 00:48:46,798
and become a folk hero
for any amount of money.

1067
00:48:46,840 --> 00:48:48,328
You have to earn it, you have to live it.

1068
00:48:48,370 --> 00:48:50,938
And that's what you have to be every day

1069
00:48:50,980 --> 00:48:52,255
of your life to become that.

1070
00:48:52,297 --> 00:48:53,908
And when I think of Rob, I know

1071
00:48:53,950 --> 00:48:56,338
that in truth, he's a folk hero.

1072
00:48:56,380 --> 00:49:01,078
His music, his art, everything
from his chainsaw art

1073
00:49:01,120 --> 00:49:03,088
to the songs he writes,
to his performances,

1074
00:49:03,130 --> 00:49:05,848
to everything about the shows he stages

1075
00:49:05,890 --> 00:49:07,768
and the people he hangs out with,

1076
00:49:07,810 --> 00:49:09,613
you know, he's a folk hero.

1077
00:49:10,450 --> 00:49:11,998
He represents the best of Kentucky

1078
00:49:12,040 --> 00:49:13,790
and actually the best in all of us.

1079
00:49:16,330 --> 00:49:21,330
Rob was a big influence on all of us,

1080
00:49:21,460 --> 00:49:26,458
and me in particular in that it was,

1081
00:49:26,500 --> 00:49:30,388
he was influential as
far as being a musician

1082
00:49:30,430 --> 00:49:34,378
and a songwriter and a performer.

1083
00:49:34,420 --> 00:49:38,818
But also he was influential
for me as just being a man

1084
00:49:38,860 --> 00:49:42,379
and being a good person
to, you know, you know,

1085
00:49:42,421 --> 00:49:47,421
call me for gigs when I
didn't have a lot going on.

1086
00:49:49,477 --> 00:49:52,970
And he always has kept in touch with me

1087
00:49:54,124 --> 00:49:58,083
on playing and he'll
still call me even though

1088
00:50:00,730 --> 00:50:01,978
he knows I can't play it.

1089
00:50:02,020 --> 00:50:04,033
He'll still call me on certain stuff.

1090
00:50:05,085 --> 00:50:06,763
And it's very sweet.

1091
00:50:07,840 --> 00:50:09,451
- And Rob's not trying
to play popular music.

1092
00:50:09,493 --> 00:50:11,638
He's just playing music he believes in.

1093
00:50:11,680 --> 00:50:14,128
And you know, and you limit
your crowd when you do that.

1094
00:50:14,170 --> 00:50:16,678
But I think the satisfaction
is much greater.

1095
00:50:16,720 --> 00:50:20,068
And I think Rob has played
the music he wants to play

1096
00:50:20,110 --> 00:50:23,218
and he doesn't care what
the consequence was of that.

1097
00:50:23,260 --> 00:50:26,428
And he struck, stuck to
what he thought was true.

1098
00:50:26,470 --> 00:50:27,868
And again, I've been in cover bands

1099
00:50:27,910 --> 00:50:30,688
where you play other people's
songs for four hours a night

1100
00:50:30,730 --> 00:50:32,488
and you might make X amount of dollars,

1101
00:50:32,530 --> 00:50:34,318
but if you go play for 60 minutes

1102
00:50:34,360 --> 00:50:36,238
and play songs that you help create,

1103
00:50:36,280 --> 00:50:37,858
that means a whole lot
more and it doesn't matter

1104
00:50:37,900 --> 00:50:39,298
what the money pays.

1105
00:50:39,340 --> 00:50:41,248
And Rob always gave me that opportunity.

1106
00:50:41,290 --> 00:50:43,940
And again, he never told
me what guitar parts to play

1107
00:50:45,588 --> 00:50:46,648
and it's just been a thrill.

1108
00:50:46,690 --> 00:50:48,868
And I learned a whole lot from Rob McNurlin

1109
00:50:48,910 --> 00:50:50,128
about not only music,

1110
00:50:50,170 --> 00:50:52,855
but just how to be a good person
and free people around him.

1111
00:50:52,897 --> 00:50:54,447
And Rob does that all the time.

1112
00:50:58,780 --> 00:51:00,928
I'll go back, I'm very blessed person.

1113
00:51:00,970 --> 00:51:04,618
I sure I wanted the tour
bus and the big tours

1114
00:51:04,660 --> 00:51:05,938
and Rich and famous and all that.

1115
00:51:05,980 --> 00:51:07,528
I didn't get that.

1116
00:51:07,570 --> 00:51:09,710
And now I have to think to myself

1117
00:51:11,050 --> 00:51:13,708
either that's not the
hand that God dealt me

1118
00:51:13,750 --> 00:51:16,100
or he dealt me that hand
and I played it wrong.

1119
00:51:16,977 --> 00:51:18,688
Now I don't know which that is.

1120
00:51:18,730 --> 00:51:21,058
I was always blessed
with all of these people

1121
00:51:21,100 --> 00:51:22,500
that were willing to help me

1122
00:51:24,310 --> 00:51:26,853
and most of the time I didn't
have any money to pay 'em.

1123
00:51:27,775 --> 00:51:31,913
But it just, so, I mean, if
you count success by friends,

1124
00:51:31,955 --> 00:51:33,778
I'm the wealthiest person in the world.

1125
00:51:33,820 --> 00:51:35,608
And so I'm proud of the records I've done.

1126
00:51:35,650 --> 00:51:38,098
I'm proud of the friends I've made,

1127
00:51:38,140 --> 00:51:39,718
the shows I've played

1128
00:51:39,760 --> 00:51:41,188
and I have, as far as a legacy,

1129
00:51:41,230 --> 00:51:42,208
I don't know that I have one.

1130
00:51:42,250 --> 00:51:44,950
It it still surprises me when
somebody knows who I am.

1131
00:51:50,370 --> 00:51:53,188
♪ Come to mind in the misery ♪

1132
00:51:53,230 --> 00:51:56,638
- [Steven] It is said that a
person's integrity is measured

1133
00:51:56,680 --> 00:51:58,018
when no one is watching.

1134
00:51:58,060 --> 00:52:01,168
This has been true for
the career of Rob McNurlin.

1135
00:52:01,210 --> 00:52:03,808
As the world keeps on spinning, time seems

1136
00:52:03,850 --> 00:52:06,208
to move at an even faster pace,

1137
00:52:06,250 --> 00:52:08,608
yet a few things remain the same.

1138
00:52:08,650 --> 00:52:11,248
Rob McNurlin and his music
is more than just carefully

1139
00:52:11,290 --> 00:52:13,198
crafted verses and melodies.

1140
00:52:13,240 --> 00:52:15,508
We are left with the
endearing spirit of a man

1141
00:52:15,550 --> 00:52:16,768
who carries his home

1142
00:52:16,810 --> 00:52:20,008
and everything he touches
from the Cowboy's Boot Heel

1143
00:52:20,050 --> 00:52:23,038
where the rugged hills of East
Kentucky meet the open plains

1144
00:52:23,080 --> 00:52:26,608
of the American West, Rob
has woven a tapestry of tradition,

1145
00:52:26,650 --> 00:52:29,008
storytelling and timeless sound.

1146
00:52:29,050 --> 00:52:30,328
Rob's journey reminds us

1147
00:52:30,370 --> 00:52:33,178
that music is more than
entertainment, it is connection.

1148
00:52:33,220 --> 00:52:35,548
It connects us to our
roots, to the struggles

1149
00:52:35,590 --> 00:52:37,948
and triumphs of those who came before us.

1150
00:52:37,990 --> 00:52:40,798
And to the unbroken
spirit of those who choose

1151
00:52:40,840 --> 00:52:42,268
to carry the torch forward.

1152
00:52:42,310 --> 00:52:44,638
His music is a bridge between worlds

1153
00:52:44,680 --> 00:52:47,308
blending the soul of
Appalachia with the dust

1154
00:52:47,350 --> 00:52:49,678
and grit of cowboy trails,

1155
00:52:49,720 --> 00:52:54,568
proving that authenticity
transcends borders.

1156
00:52:54,610 --> 00:52:57,058
In the entertainment world
where your success is measured

1157
00:52:57,100 --> 00:53:00,148
by album sales, streams and billboard fame,

1158
00:53:00,190 --> 00:53:03,328
Rob McNurlin did not
make the so-called big time.

1159
00:53:03,370 --> 00:53:05,548
What Rob did achieve
was something far larger

1160
00:53:05,590 --> 00:53:07,918
and greater as he blazed his own trail,

1161
00:53:07,960 --> 00:53:10,888
made lifelong friends
and has left an impression

1162
00:53:10,930 --> 00:53:12,448
on everyone.

1163
00:53:12,490 --> 00:53:15,238
The road Rob travels on
has not always been easy,

1164
00:53:15,280 --> 00:53:16,948
but it is honest.

1165
00:53:16,990 --> 00:53:19,468
His songs are a testament
to the power of staying true

1166
00:53:19,510 --> 00:53:22,618
to oneself, to honoring where you come from

1167
00:53:22,660 --> 00:53:24,958
while carving your own path.

1168
00:53:25,000 --> 00:53:26,068
As Rob has shown us,

1169
00:53:26,110 --> 00:53:29,818
the Cowboy's Boot Heel is
not just a place, it is an idea,

1170
00:53:29,860 --> 00:53:32,998
a rhythm, a heartbeat
that echoes in the hearts

1171
00:53:33,040 --> 00:53:35,938
of all who love and live by the music.

1172
00:53:35,980 --> 00:53:38,263
A career that has touched
many lives continues

1173
00:53:38,305 --> 00:53:39,838
to form a new story.

1174
00:53:39,880 --> 00:53:43,498
And so as the sun dips
below the Kentucky Hills,

1175
00:53:43,540 --> 00:53:46,408
we leave this story as
we began, with a man,

1176
00:53:46,450 --> 00:53:48,298
a guitar and a song.

1177
00:53:48,340 --> 00:53:51,445
A song that reminds us of who
we are, where we have been,

1178
00:53:51,487 --> 00:53:53,353
and the endless journey ahead.

1179
00:53:54,220 --> 00:53:57,658
Thank you Rob McNurlin for
sharing your honesty, your music

1180
00:53:57,700 --> 00:53:59,068
and your journey.

1181
00:53:59,110 --> 00:54:00,320
May the music play on

1182
00:54:01,180 --> 00:54:04,093
and be tapped out by
the rhythm of our souls.

1183
00:54:07,948 --> 00:54:10,778
♪ Just what I find there ♪

1184
00:54:10,820 --> 00:54:15,716
♪ I don't know ♪

1185
00:54:15,758 --> 00:54:20,758
♪ Is my cowboy' boot heel
taps the rhythm of my soul ♪

1186
00:54:25,016 --> 00:54:27,124
♪ May find danger ♪

1187
00:54:27,166 --> 00:54:30,016
♪ I may find strangers ♪

1188
00:54:30,058 --> 00:54:34,064
♪ Dressed as angels aware ♪

1189
00:54:34,106 --> 00:54:36,210
♪ I may find grief ♪

1190
00:54:36,252 --> 00:54:38,231
♪ I may find peace ♪

1191
00:54:38,273 --> 00:54:41,191
(phone ringing)

1192
00:54:41,233 --> 00:54:42,066
Hello?

1193
00:54:43,966 --> 00:54:45,466
Yeah, this is Rob.

1194
00:54:47,027 --> 00:54:49,393
Yeah, I'd love to play the
show if I got the date open.

1195
00:54:49,435 --> 00:54:50,562
Let me look here.

1196
00:54:50,604 --> 00:54:53,187
(bright music)

1197
00:54:54,548 --> 00:54:59,548
♪ God will protect me as I sleep ♪

1198
00:55:03,526 --> 00:55:08,526
♪ My Indian blankets will
keep me from the cold ♪

1199
00:55:12,513 --> 00:55:15,068
♪ As my cowboy boot heel ♪

1200
00:55:15,110 --> 00:55:20,110
♪ Taps out the rhythm of my soul. ♪

1201
00:55:22,086 --> 00:55:27,086
♪ Has it been a week or a day ♪

1202
00:55:31,091 --> 00:55:33,827
♪ Is this the trailer ♪

1203
00:55:33,869 --> 00:55:38,869
♪ Have I lost my way ♪

1204
00:55:41,284 --> 00:55:46,284
♪ Up ahead I see your ghost ♪

1205
00:55:49,025 --> 00:55:51,393
♪ As my cowboy boot heel ♪

1206
00:55:51,435 --> 00:55:55,518
♪ Taps out the rhythm of my soul ♪