#009: Rich Redmond

Speaker 1: 0:00

You're listening to the groove with Devin Pence and Reggie ham.

Speaker 2: 0:07

You have to take risks that will be disappointments and failures and disasters as a result of taking these risks. This task was acquainted to you and if you do not find a way, red moments are born, great opportunity and that's what you have here in the end. That's all we really are. I just stories. Stories are what our lives are made up of. Stories, how we remember people and stories make us feel a little less alone in the world.

Speaker 3: 0:45

Welcome to the group podcasts. This is Devin pin.

Speaker 4: 0:48

Dan, this is Reggie ham here on the groove. We talked to people from all walks of life to share their stories about pivotal moments, struggles. We all face what it takes to rise above those challenging circumstances and heartbreaking setbacks and find what we call the group.

Speaker 3: 1:06

Yeah, we bring you these stories to not only inspire you, but we also talk about specific ways that you can find your groove. Um, you can, speaking of finding, you can find me on instagram@devinpenceandonmywebsiteatdevinpence.com

Speaker 4: 1:22

and you can find me on Facebook at Reggie. That's R E one G I. E. am. I'm on there way more than my wife wants me to be

Speaker 3: 1:33

and be sure to head over to the groove, podcast.com for more info about us and to check out the show notes from this episode.

Speaker 4: 1:41

And you could do us a huge favor by subscribing and hitting that five star rating wherever you listen to your podcast. Also, if you want to help support our currently sponsor list podcasts, join our Patrion page. Any love will be most appreciated. Most dev, I am like really excited about this show we have rich Redmond on today. Rich is one of these guys that we like. When you find out about him, you're seeing a real live person who's living out all of the living your greatest life memes on Facebook. Okay. He's a drummer like you and me, me ish. This guy tours with Jason Aldean. He's played for ludicrous and Kelly Clarkson and Brian Adams and Bob Seger and Joe Perry and Garth Brooks and Chris Stapleton and jewel and Miranda Lambert and Luke Bryan and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. The list goes on, but he's not just a drummer. This guy is an author, an actor, a podcast host. He's this dynamic speaker. His book crash, C, R, a. S. H. it's an acronym. We'll talk about that. It's a course for success, five ways to supercharge your personal and professional life. And it's amazing. And we'll be talking more about all of that, you know, as the show unfolds. Yeah. This guy is

Speaker 3: 3:00

like a dynamic, a person. I mean, dude, he's got his own whole line of merge. He's got his own line of drumsticks, man right there. That's when you've made a, did you ever have your own line of drumsticks, drumsticks, man. And so[inaudible] does, you'll hear further down. I, I kinda like immediately thought as soon as he started kinda talking slow, I'm like, this guy's like the drummer version of Tony Robbins. Um, it was pretty spectacular. Um, so just as a reminder, be sure to check the show notes, um, on the website that I said, uh, the groove, podcast.com to get more info on the show that we're going to be talking about today. And a, Hey, let's just get to it. Rich Redmond,

Speaker 5: 3:45

welcome to the groove podcast. Well, thanks guys for having me. I love this angle the groove man. And you know, the more specific you are in the podcast world, the better. So I think you guys are around to something, you know, overcoming adversity.

Speaker 6: 3:58

Yeah, man. Well, I, uh, I'll just jump in here. Dev. I, uh, w we talked when Deb and I were taught are talking about guests and we, we, we talk extensively about, you know, why we would have someone on this. This, this podcast is a, is a kind of a specific thing. I mean, and so rich, I really wanted you on the show because, um, I look at, look, I've got a lot of friends who play instruments for famous people and devs. Got a lot of friends who play instruments or have shot famous people with cameras or directed famous people or whatever. And a lot of these people end up, you know, kind of in the shadows kind of behind the scenes. It's like, you know who the superstar on stages, you don't necessarily know who the guitar player is beside him or the drummer behind him. You my friend have turned that position into its own thing in a way that I really have never seen. I think. I think that what you're doing, I don't know if you feel this way, but I feel like that what you're doing is kind of revolutionary. It's like something I really haven't seen anybody do before. If first of all, I, I think as a, as a player it's like ingenious way to like to keep job security. Uh, but secondly, you're really impacting people and you're really affecting people and, and more than just sitting at the drum kit, you're, you're, you're a social media mogul. You're, you're writing books, you're doing corporate events. You're, you're just really have turned this into something bigger than just sitting on the drum throne. Tell me about that. It's just, just talk about that. Is that, is that something you set out to do or is that something that happened organically? How, how did rich Redmond come to be

Speaker 5: 5:42

being a drummer? Like a lot of people just say, Hey, do you play any other instruments or do you just play the drums? It's really interesting to hear that my entire life. But it's like, it is such a wonderful thing and you could devote your life to it and you'll never master it. It's an incredible instrument that we've had. You know, it hearkens back to the Dawn of man. It playing the drums is in our DNA and it really resonates, you know, with all humans. And then, you know, about a hundred years ago, you know, from the birth of jazz and vaudeville, we create this instrument that's a combination of like the China that Tom's from China and the snare drum and the bass drum from the European marching thing. And then you have these symbols from Turkey and you kind of put them all together and you know, we've elevated it to high art and there's a, there's so many people that just, they devote their entire life to that. And that was my plan. You know, when I get up in the morning, I'm a drummer, my role is to help bring songs to life and make musicians sound better and make their job easier. I love that role. And chase girls. You forgot chase girls. Yeah. It's a great way to meet girls. You know, when you're learning to draw and like chicks love musicians, they just do. Um, but you know, it's funny to think, but like I have like I have a front man personality. I just don't have the pipes to, to back it up because believe me, if I had the pipes to be a front man, I would not be on the drums and we would never be able to get you on this path. I didn't have him what I had just kind of have, I have an outgoing personality, so it's like, even when I'm on the drums, it's like, you know, look at me, look at me, I'm doing whatever I can to steal a little thunder when it's appropriate. But a lot of most drummers are that. I mean, I find most drummers are shown showmance to a certain extent. I mean, a little bit. Yeah. My girlfriend calls it a show pony. She goes, you're my little show pony. She's a fashion designer. So she likes being behind the scenes and like dressing people. But she's like, you know, you're a show pony. You're always looking for a way to shine and you're always flirting with people. I'm like, I'm not always flirting. She goes, no, you're just, you're just you. And then you just, naturally, it comes off as like you're talking to the girl at the checkout counter at Walgreens and you're flirting. I was like, no, I'm influencing. That's what you're doing. It's crazy. But no, I just, um, I just, you know, I've always had a teacher's heart. And when you have a teacher's heart and it's all about people and it's about effecting people and helping people and passing on information to a new generation. And that was education was kinda like my, uh, my gateway to expanding my brand towards like, well, Hey, I'm pretty comfortable with a microphone in my hand and I have the gift of gab. So let me take this educational offering that I have and expand it to, you know, keynote speaking. And, and now I'm actually getting paid real money to, um, uh, host corporate events and, you know, charity events and things like that. And, and so just trying to like, uh, you know, do other creative things that satisfy me in my mid life. So when I come back to the drums, it's a real, it's a special because I miss them, you know, let's talk about that for a second. So your program that

Speaker 7: 8:55

you have with your speaking, um, side is called crash. Um, can you talk about that, what it stands for and maybe give us a little bullet point of, of what that, what it stands for?

Speaker 5: 9:07

Well, well, thank you. Yeah, it's so crashes. Everything that I tried to do is as acronym based. So, um, crash stands for commitment, relationships, attitude, skill and hunger. So these are five things that you can use individually, but if you use them all together, it's a perfect formula to attract more success to your personal and professional life. And let's face it, you know, we take our personal life into the classroom, in the board room and onto the stage. So these are just kinda like some life hacks that I've figured out along the way and it's kind of easy to remember. And I, you know, it's the basis for all of my, uh, music talks and my corporate talks and I put it into a book format on Amazon. So a crash course for success, five ways to supercharge your personal and professional life. And my goal is to write a new book every two years, you know, one to two years, probably ended up being two years as busy as I am. But the next book will probably be something based on power, you know, and power will be something like people, opportunities, work ethic, experience, rhythm, rhythm of life, you know, and they're hopefully all going to be kind of like short reads that you can read on a Southwest airlines flight and, you know, feel good about yourself and learn something and something that's practical that you can use in your own words.

Speaker 7: 10:21

Yeah, I've seen some of your videos and you know, the energy it is the first thing that came to mind. You know, I don't know if this is going to be an insult or a compliment and nothing in between, but I just kind of immediately thought about, um, uh, Tony Robbins, like, this guy's a drummer, but he's kinda, he's like Tony Robbins. So a lot of energy. Um, you know, you, you have drums up on the stage. Uh, and the one thing that kind of struck me as, you know, being a drummer in general, I think, you know, I don't, I don't do it anymore, but like, you know, it was fun. I mean, to me it was fun and most people rarely even just, I can always remember like just sitting behind my kit and just kind of just looking at it, Oh God, you know, adjust this here. Most people don't even get the chance to sit behind a set of drums. And I guess part of your show is you bring people up, right. And let them set behind, you know, you're sitting on your kit on your throwing there and like play. Right?

Speaker 5: 11:20

Totally. Yeah. I usually, I try to get to the, uh, the highest person on the ladder I can get, a lot of times it's the CEO or the CFO or I may bring the person that actually booked me on the speech up or I'll just say, Hey, it was a person that likes to be lightly roasted or has like a, you know, a good sense of humor and, you know, usually, hopefully it's somebody that has never played the drums for. So they're sitting down behind the instrument for the first time and they're feeling not, not only that power, but that responsibility. You know, cause I say, look at these people, there's 80,000 people in this stadium. They paid$500 for tickets and$20 an hour for a babysitter and$20 to park and$20 a beer. And you can be jet lagged and you can be dehydrated. You can have explosive diarrhea, you could be hung over. It doesn't matter. The show must go on and you have to just describe my average. You have so much responsibility. So you have to commit to that. And then you have to honor that relationship with the people that you have on stage. And you have to have that positive attitude because let's face it, you know, positive people are happier, healthier, they live longer, they make more money. Um, you know, and then you have to have the skill, you know, to do your job and hopefully you stay hungry that for that success and you keep tapped into that flame that burns in your belly to be successful through all the seasons of your life. So, you know, that's crash. And when you say Tony Robbins, that's a big, um, that's a big compliment because I tell everybody my event is like a combination of Tony Robbins meets Jerry Lewis meets animal from the Muppets. So, um, hopefully valuable content presented in a humorous, um, entertaining manner. And then, you know, I don't care if you swing, swam the English channel or you only have one leg or you walked on the moon, people are going to start to check out with if you're, if you have a headset, Mike and death by PowerPoint at about minute 15. So I get to wake everybody up with the drums and, and it kind of like levels the playing field and they're more apt to actually listen to what I have to say because I think people love to drums, um, in their DNA.

Speaker 6: 13:31

Man, that is one of the things that comes to mind with drumming rich. When once you, when you sit behind a drum kit and you, and you actually do it, uh, you know, you are, you're a, you're actually working with a band and particularly when you hear it back in a recording session, one of the things you realize it dawns on you and if it doesn't Dawn on you early, you're not cut out to be a drummer. But one of the things that you realize is that the weight of the foundation of this musical piece is on your shoulders. Like if you're not there, nobody, if the, if the kick ain't on one and three in the snaring on two and four, then the base can't lock down. And if the base can't lock down, the guitar can't lock down. And you know, all of that stuff. Um, that I, I would say personally for me, that kind of informs almost everything about my life. Understanding foundational principles. Is that something that you have found the drums have helped you do?

Speaker 5: 14:30

Well, it's, yeah, it's definitely the cake. And, um, it's definitely the base of the pyramid. You know, you have to, your, your drummer can make or break your organization. And usually we're, um, you know, we, people kind of take the drummer for granted and they go like, well, what does that, anybody can do that. But you know, anybody that does it at the high, high level and elevates it to heart, high art realizes just, you know, that level of responsibility. So you have to be fully present and committed at all times. And I, I guess I would say that there's that, there's that um, ah, the basis of everything, that responsibility in that, that, um, level of preparedness. Because when I go into, um, like last night I played the loud jams. My friend Tom Hurst invites me and you know, I'm, sometimes I'm meeting the musicians I'm playing with on stage for just this one song for the very first time. So I meet him backstage and I shake everybody's hand and I say, I'm going to count you guys off. It's at 90 BPM. We're going to do the arrangement. Just like the record. Let's end it. Just like the record, you know, surprises. I say, Hey, let's treat everybody to bringing the verses down in volume a little bit. We go out there and make sure I see the whites of everybody's eyes. I've transcribed the song, note for note, and I'm doing this for free. But the thing is, is that the world is watching in every time we do what we do. We can't have a bad day because the world is moving so fast. We have to run just to stand still. And a million people would trade places with us. So I have a responsibility to hold the standards of excellence for everything I do and whether it's me offering a book or teaching a one-on-one drum lesson, doing my speech, taking my acting lessons in Los Angeles. I mean, I, um, in the last five years I made my dreams come true. I got my sag card as an actor and it was at great expense. I mean we're talking, um, flights sitting in the middle seat on Southwest airlines and renting Toyota URS is in Airbnbs and updating headshots and studying with teachers and it's like never ending. But I invest in myself and when I'm given an opportunity, man, I know those lines. I know my character, I step onto the set, very prepared so I can take direction and be in the moment and be fun and be a pro. And, and I think people remember that stuff. I mean, there's always going to be people that are better than what, than what we do. But if you come with a, an approachable personality and you are over prepared, people will always remember that and then you'll get repeat business.

Speaker 6: 17:08

Man, I love that rich ma. The piece I wrote this morning, the blog that I wrote this morning was called the tinkerer. And it was about, uh, you know, kind of watching what's happening with the Iowa caucus in, you know, the, the chaos that's happening. And my theory is that someone was up too late the night before when they wrote that app that they're using and they, you know, they transcribed an eight into a three or whatever, and it's like blowing up the world. Um, and, and I had this, you know, I just have this theory as a, as an observer, as a songwriter, as an observer of, of humans, that, that what you said, taking everything you do seriously and, and showing up. Like, you know, my dad used to tell us when we'd walk out to a crowd and there were 30 people there instead of 3000. I don't blame the people who came here for the people who didn't, and taking it all serious and, and respecting what you're allowed to do. That you're right, there's a thousand people behind us that want to do this. And, and when you walk on that stage, nobody paid to see you say, sorry, I'm not in good voice tonight. Nobody paid to see you go. Um, I feel a little under the weather. That's not where they came. They came to see you give 110%. My wife, uh, tells a story of going to see Michael bublé and he had, he had the flu, he had a hundred, three temperature. She says the best concert she'd ever seen. And he walked out there and listen to his tie and sang his ass off. Um, and because that's what you're supposed to do, you're supposed to put that kind of commitment into your life and it, it makes a difference. I really do believe that. I really believe that it makes a difference. And I love that about you, rich. And I love that you're going around telling people that now you're from the East coast. Um, how did an East coast G end up backing up a Georgia good old boy, you know, Nashville based country star. Tell us how that happened.

Speaker 5: 19:01

Yeah, man, I am in. I am. Well, I am lucky in the sense that I've been gainfully employed in this incredibly difficult industry for 20 years. And, you know, um, you know, thank God my boss who is a very loyal individual and, and allows us to bring out our creativity on the stage and be ourselves and dress the way we want to dress. Um, you know, he, uh, you know, has given us that, that platform and it's been really, really amazing to, um, you have to be there. So, uh, yeah, I'm from Connecticut and then when I was 11, I moved to El Paso, Texas, which is the furthest corner of Texas, very multicultural, but they have an amazing music education culture in Texas and they still do. And, uh, I really benefited from that. And I ended up, um, over educating myself. I ended up getting a master's degree, um, in music education and, and with an emphasis in jazz and classical percussion from the university of North Texas. So by the time I was 25, I played so many different kinds of music and I probably played some of the most difficult musical I'll ever play in my life. Um, but it trained me and then I, and then I said to myself, okay, it's going to be New York or LA. And I love the sunshine and I was really into smooth jazz at the time and a lot of the music that was coming out of Los Angeles, but ended up getting an audition to audition for Trisha Yearwood. And then a week later, Dina Carter and then week later, Barbara Mandrell and I didn't get any of the gigs, but all the band leaders told me, man, you are a lot of times you were our first choice, but you didn't live in Nashville. So you know that, that, that didn't make sense. So as soon as I found that out, I was like, all right, I gave my cool top 40 band in Dallas, Texas, my two weeks and I packed up and I, I moved to Nashville cause they said no one knows me in New York. No one knows me in Los Angeles. But there's these people that are reacting positively to my, my drumming in Nashville. So we went boldly into the night and I'm two years into my journey. I met a young Jason Aldeen and we showcased and did demos and probably did about 40 showcases until the cigars chomping suits, you know, finally, you know, we found the right guy, Benny Brown, you know, signed, signed Jason, and we cut that record in 2004 and it's been 16 years of nonstop touring. So yeah. Wow,

Speaker 6: 21:26

that's amazing. And that I, I love the, the, uh, the idea of coming up together. I always tell young writers, they always ask, you know, Hey, you know, how can, how can I become, you know, this or that. And I always tell people, start with the people around you. Uh, if you're waiting tables and you're 22 years old, there's a really good chance that some other 22 year old waiter or waitress next to you is, is probably going to be the next superstar. And you guys come up together, man, go, go fight those battles and slay those dragons together. And there's nothing better, I think, than a, that have an old friends that you've kind of, you know, share battles with and, and, and gone through things with. And you have a shorthand. I mean that's, that's really a lot of what this podcast is about for Devin and me. Um, speaking of going through difficult things, uh, talk as much or as little as you want about, uh, the thing that happened in Vegas a few years ago and, and how that, how that affected you. Rich?

Speaker 5: 22:31

Yeah, I was a man. I was probably one of the last musicians on that stage there during the route 91 thing. My, my, my band, you know, we were thick as thieves. We finished each other's sentences, had been playing together for 20 years. But you know, in a situation like that, everyone's kind of scattering and, and uh, my drum tech, John Holt, he and I hid behind a road case of course that was made of wood that wasn't going to offer us much protection. And then we kind of, um, scattered and made it to a crew bus. I spent the entire night with the crew bus and let's face it, they're always the smartest guys and they could go. I ended up in the, I got separated from my van, which was sad, but we, um, you know, I was with the right people that I needed to be with and it's a horrific day in, in human history, but it's, it definitely reframes your, uh, and deepens your gratitude about, you know, all 60 members of our organization being OK and, and spared and we can live another 20. I can hopefully live another 20, 30 years of my life. And I say to myself, what am I going to do with my time? I have, I have this time that is a gift for me to continue to do great things and affect people in a positive way then that's always been my purpose. You know, encourage everybody to find that, that, that purpose statement or that mantra or that elevator pitch. You know, for me, it's my purpose in life and it gets real when you write it down. And my purpose in life is to affect people in a positive way and change lives. And so I can do that through drumming. I could do that through motivation. I could do that through education. And so now I have this gift where I can do that for hopefully another 20, 30 years. So some of my, I call that the groove we're in, we're in a group for groove now. You know,

Speaker 7: 24:19

and I, I think it speaks a lot to, uh, your character and the character of your, of your crew. And, and as you said, and unfortunately at times in some of these events happen, uh, I, I can only imagine what it might be like getting back up on the stage again. Um, just, you know, again, every night backup their backup, their backup there. Um, so it's, you know, it's, it's, it's a, it says a whole lot about the dedication of, um, what you guys do, uh, every night, every night. Um, yeah. One thing I wanted to talk about, cause I heard you talk about, you know, you've, you had to fall in love with rejection or failure, uh, at some point in your, at your life. And you know, we, we hear that a lot lately, kind of everything and you know, people kinda have kind of embraced that. You know, that's kind of the, you know, one of the whatever's, you know, Oh yeah, you know, let's fail fast and fail first and then that kind of thing. And yeah. And what a lot of people don't know. I mean, I certainly have had more than my fair share of, uh, failure failures and rejection. Um, and it's not fun. It hurts it, it is not easy to fall in love with. Can you talk about that and, and your process of, of, of that?

Speaker 5: 25:36

Yeah. I think the idea is to be happily in a place of rejection and to be happy you're getting your nose because you're going to get closer to getting the yes. I mean, everything I do creatively is a failure business. I mean, playing the drums professionally failure business. I mean, I'm probably just from pure tenacity, persistence, determination and laser focus. I'm one of the 1e-05% of the people that own a drum set that say, yeah, I'd like to be a rock star. I mean I wanted to have gold records on my wall and play at the Hollywood bowl and Madison square garden when I was 21 years old. But I didn't do any of those things till I was 41 years old. And that's hearing a lot of nos and never stopping and just believing in yourself and going every day getting up and just realizing how lucky you are to be in a creative pursuit and just finding that right opportunity and shaking that right hand. And if you're showing up with a good attitude and you're prepared, there's opportunities will come to you. Speaking business failure business, being an author, fail your business. There's so podcast host failure business. I mean everybody's got a podcast, right? How are we going to break through? We've got to have an incredible product and we just have to be patient and give a time that people are going to say, have you checked out that podcast? You really need to listen to it on your way to work. Or when you work out, you know, acting the biggest failure business of all time. And I don't even worry about anymore. I was on vacation in Mexico or four days and my sweet girlfriend, I got an opportunity for my agent and I had to do a self table on vacation. I said like, look it, I can say no to this role, but if you want me to do this audition, I just got to go give me an hour to study my lines. I got to get in my outfit and then you've got to just fill me on the iPhone. So I said, let's do it. It's perfect thing for me. It's a mu, it's a, it's a music based movie. I sent it off. No news is no news. I didn't get the job, but that's okay because until that right opportunity comes from me, I'm just going to continue to invest in myself and educate myself and, and swim with the sharks. So when I studied the craft of acting, I'm not, you know, in some strip mall acting studio out in Smyrna. Like I go to Hollywood and like I'm with people that are on series regulars, on CSI and on sitcoms, and they're in films. And it's like, that's gonna push me to be better and then I'll be prepared when that right opportunity finds me. So yeah, it's just, it's all a failure business and you have to figure out a way to separate yourself from the pack. And the cream will always rise. It always rises, but you just have to not quit.

Speaker 6: 28:28

That's the, that's the key man. And I, I listen and look at a guy like you, rich and I, I just know in my heart, it's like you can walk in a room and see people and go, that's got, that guy's going to be okay, that guy, he's going to be all right. She may not be right. I look, I look like I look at a guy like, you don't go, that guy's going to be okay. And even though, even if he's not, and that's the key. I mean, I think that's personally, I think that's the key to kind of finding the groove in your life is, is not accepting. Uh, well let's, let's, let me say something about Devin. I, we, we laughed a few years ago. We had a college, there was a college reunion and they sent out these, these invitations and we didn't really even know about it, but Devin[inaudible] you remember this? But they used us as like the bit we're, we're both dropouts. Like neither one of us graduated. They used us as stories and, and we were like cracking up about it. And w what we kind of came to the, the realization was we're just the guys who wouldn't quit. You know what I mean? It's like we didn't, we, we didn't really have anything going on other than we just wouldn't quit. And the other, I think, and you've tapped on this without, without actually putting a fine point on it, but you've been all over this and that is don't settle. I, I've always said that the best producers aren't necessarily most talented ones. They're not necessarily the most brilliant ones. They're the ones that won't settle for sub par. And you may listen to a track and go, man, I don't know what it is. That's not working, but it isn't working. And that's the one that's the one that works. That's, that's the person who gets it right, is the person who won't stop until they get it. Right. And that's what you're, that's what I hear you saying and everything, and you're acting and you're, and you're playing and you're, uh, you know, obviously in your playing, I mean, you're, you're, you're playing at the highest level. You're playing on those records, you're playing on hit records, uh, and then you're going out and playing those hit records live to thousands of people. Uh, so I, I, I love that idea and that attitude. I think that's a very key component to any, any endeavor you're in, whether you're doing a podcast, whether you're writing a song, whether you're writing a book, whether you're, uh, you know, delivering Amazon packages. I mean, it doesn't matter. I, I don't think there's anything that's menial. I, I was at a restaurant one time and this guy was like serving ice tea and he was, man, his game was tight. He had, he had the ice right there. He had, he had the T. I mean he had this little cart and it was like, and he loved it. And it was like, man, I watched this dude probably 20 minutes walk around the restaurant servanty and he was like in it. And I, and I told my wife, I said, that's the guy right there. I love this guy. He has not taken this, you know, this job and gone, man, I hate doing this job. I wish I was doing something else. He is like in this thing, man. He is, he's all about your eyes.

Speaker 5: 31:26

I love that. And you know what, he'll probably end up owning the restaurant, you know, there's that hustle and that follow through and that it's a work ethic and it's pride in one's work. I mean, I waited tables and, um, I just wanted to be the best dang server I could possibly be. And I knew, I knew that was temporary, but I knew I was affecting people's lives. I mean, I don't settle. I hate bad customer service and I will not settle for it. So like if I go to a place and I pay$20 for a case of DHEA, it's not so much the case of DIA, I'm paying for that experience and is my diet Coke empty? Like it's like I don't want to have to ask for things. It's like I have an expectation now I will tip always well over 20% because I know how difficult it is to make a living being a server. But you're going to have to give me the goods for the 20%

Speaker 6: 32:15

yeah, that's right. I mean that's, that's the point. And I think, I think that that kind of permeate, that can permeate your life. That can spill into your life as a dad, as a husband, as a wife, as a mom, as a, as a just a student or whatever. If you take that attitude, and I, I see, I see a lot of people, I think, I think there's a, an attitude, we live in this really hyper and we're in the entertainment business. So, you know, so it's a little bit like the pot calling the kettle black. However, I, we do live in this hyper, um, uh, entertainment eyes. If I may coin a phrase world where everybody wants, everybody thinks they're, you know, the next entertainer of the year. Everybody believes that about themselves. And you have to believe that about yourself. And you know, we have, we're just inundated with these shows where people are showing up out of the woodwork and they're the next, you know, whatever. Um, and along the way, I, and it's funny because they'll show you the backstory of this guy on whatever the voice or American idol, and you know, he's a dental hygienist assistant in a Poughkeepsie and, but he feels like there's more for his life. And I always tell my wife, I'm like, what's wrong with being a dental home?

Speaker 5: 33:27

Yeah. Especially when they're good and they already, what is wrong with it? There's nothing. Yes, that's a great job.

Speaker 7: 33:35

And I th I think that a lot of people take, they'll, they'll look at other people, especially when we live in a world now with social media and we're just inundated, you know, people are just, I saw a stat the other day that talked about how many miles the average person thumbs on their screen. Wow. Like over a period of time. But I think a lot of people see other sick people doing things like traveling around or whatever it may be. You know, you know, we're talking about, you know, entertainment stuff, but whatever it may be. And, and you know, it doesn't always have to be something. So, um, exciting if you will. You know, I, I often kind of refer back to, I think it was, uh, I think this will, uh, Admiral, uh, William McRaven, uh, in the speech that he gave about if, if you want to change the world, get up and make your bed.

Speaker 5: 34:28

You know, I think about that all the time. I say to myself, make the damn bed rich. And when that happens, usually it creates a, a windfall of positive events because I've already accomplished something before I even have my coffee. That's right. That's the thing. Another human being, you know, and you know when you get your workout in first thing in the morning and then you go on with your, your day, you, you walk a foot taller because you already, um, accomplish that thing that usually is hanging over your head and you feel better and you walk a foot taller and you're more confident before you even see another human being. It's incredible.

Speaker 6: 35:09

That's right. In our, in our house it's, uh, it's my wife saying, make the damn[inaudible].

Speaker 5: 35:16

You know, and I don't, I've got to tell ya, like a lot of people, they'll Pat me on the back and say, how are you doing all these things? When do you sleep? It's, you know, I, you guys that have kids and families and responsibilities. Like when I come home, beat it at the end of an 18 hour day and I still got to stay up and like research my podcast guests or chart out 10 for the session that for 10:00 AM the next morning, I think to myself, how are the guys doing this that have daddy read me a story or you got to pack them a lunch and get them out the door. Like, how will you guys do that? How do you bow? I mean, I am like, like a a shellfish dude because I only have to worry about me.

Speaker 6: 35:58

Well, I can tell you rich, we don't, we don't, we just, we don't, uh, we probably don't end up getting that session or we don't do it. You know, w well, I'll tell it, let me, let me put it this way. A friend of mine put this perfectly when I had kids. He said, you'll never be weaker in your life and you'll never be stronger. And you find, you find this really weird gear that you didn't know you had a, you, first of all, you find love that you didn't know you had. And I'm sure Devin can attest to that.[inaudible] these doors of love open and you're like, man, I did not even know that existed in me. And then you also find this kind of weird strength that you're like, man, I don't know how that came together, but, um, your kids bring you, uh, this really weird luck. That's all I can say. And then they also kill you at the same time.

Speaker 7: 36:46

Well, having, having, you know, I have, my kids are grown and out and gone and, uh, but you know, I, I was an entertainment business when they were little. And I think it's, it's, it's always a push in a pool, um, because I feel like, you know, it's not like, Oh, you know, no one can explain what dad does. Like, you know, what does Devin do again? Like, you know, what, what's your job? And, and at school, and it's not like I was an accountant or whatever. Uh, but I sort of always felt this pushup pool of, you know, in order to make it, you do like do everything that we've been talking about. You've got to get up and you have to grind it out and you, you know, there does come a responsibility of to like, if I don't get up and do this, you know, I get to spend time with my kids. Of course I loved it. We played baseball, sports. I mean I'd love nothing more. You know, I had the opportunity to be able to drive my kids to school every morning and you have those special times, but there are those late, all nighters. And I don't know, I just always felt the responsibility that I still, and I know it was frustrating, you know, on my wife and, and many times with my kids. Uh, but if I didn't go out and I didn't do those things, you know, we don't eat when the lights go off and different things happen, you know, so, but it is, it's, it's everything in life. I think we have are the human, you know, our human brains have a way of readjusting and, and, and making us kind of be okay with whatever's happening at the time. And then you look back later, uh, Reggie and I, we had a, uh, a past podcast that we talked about holiday triggers. And for me it was always, cause you know, Reggie loves Christmas. I hate Christmas and I went on and on now and I say that kind of jokingly, but Christmas for me was, you know, it was kind of the stop down, you know, cause you know how it is in our, our business, most people, I mean they just stopped down and I would be going so hard all year long and during that stop down, that's when I would kind of like start asking myself questions like how am I doing this? What, what, why am I, you know, am I crazy? Like, and it would just kind of throw me into a, a bit of a deep dive depression that I had to kind of pull myself back out of that. I think we've all find ways to, you know, adjust and be okay with the crap and getting the crap kicked out of us. And then, you know, it is, it's like you said, the cream always rises, some people stay down and the whole thing is you just can't stay down. You gotta get back up.

Speaker 5: 39:24

Yeah. You could, you could do things to, you know, there's these tricks that we can use to, to lift our spirits again and, and, and it's like, you know, um, eating colorful food or surrounding yourself with family or friends who are like minded, you know, birds of a feather or, you know, treating yourself to that glass of wine or going to see a nice film or, you know, a little retail therapy or listening to great music or reading positive literature. You know, you can have these little hacks. Um, you can have a playlist on Spotify that only has super positive music. Like for me, it's like the theme to Rocky. It's like the pina coladas song from the 70s. It's like a Susa March. It's like, you know, uh, all these, uh, you know, Jeff Buckley's, hallelujah. Things that are, make me happy. And so you can, you can use these things as almost like a trick to get you to stay on the positive side of things.

Speaker 6: 40:17

Rich. Uh, it has been fantastic having you on. You're, you're just, you just light up the whatever you're light up the room, but you light up the computer, you light up the, uh, you know, the podcast. So I got a couple of questions to end with. First of all, first of all, how you hands

Speaker 5: 40:33

doing? Good. I, I, I try to go to, uh, get um, massages, you know, at least once a month. And I do some acupuncture, a lot of stretching and a good vitamins, a lot of water. Uh, so I think I have early me and all my friends that are like, come, I'm coming up on 50 in July. Um, we have like a little bit of early arthritis. I think that's, you know, I think it, yup. Yup.

Speaker 6: 40:58

A lot of people don't know how, how much damage a drummer's hands, uh, how much of a beating they take. And, uh, at some point, you know, drummers pants just get mangled. I've got arthritis in two fingers and, uh, it's just a, it's a difficult thing. So yeah, you, you really have to take care of that for any drummers listening. You gotta you gotta take care of your hands and really your body, I mean, the drums are the only instrument where you're literally using every limb and, and you've got to have core strength. It's an, it's an athletic endeavor to, so I'm sure you're, you're staying in shape and all that. And then I would say to finish us off rich, everybody's got, uh, every artist usually has a wound of some kind, some event in their life that sent them in a certain direction. Do you have anything like that? Do you have a, do you have a pivotal point where you go, you know what, when I was 13, this happened and that's why I'm rich Redmond today? Or, or was it a series of things? Is it, did you, you know, tell, tell us?

Speaker 5: 42:00

Well, I think I have. Um, I've been so lucky that I, you know, outside of Vegas, I haven't had a lot of tragedy in my life. My, my parents are the greatest role models ever. I mean, they're still married at 52 years and I'm sending them this year to the Ritz Carlton in Naples, Florida. My dad's going to play golf. He's already had two hole in ones in his life. He's an awesome over my mom. Can I have spa treatments and I'm going to pay for all their meals. It's just a way of me saying, Hey guys, you showed me what love was and you're still showing me what love is. And they're awesome. And they always believed in me. And my mom is a cancer survivor. She beat cancer in 1986 and six months later was running the New York city marathon. So

Speaker 6: 42:43

I think, I think we're starting to get why you are who you are.

Speaker 5: 42:46

You know, my dad is a, you know, went to school, um, worked in a bakery for six years and went to school for six years at night to become an accountant. And you know, they're just amazing people. Um, any, any kind of regrets I have is that, you know, I've, I believe in love and so I have tried to be a married man twice and I've sometimes, I don't know, I'm, I'm looking back figuring out like what went wrong. Um, but it's just very difficult to be in the creative arts and be gone all the time and try to preserve like a normal home life because nothing that we do in the entertainment business is normal. We have no normal hours. We're waking up in a different place. So there's a little bit of like, Oh I wish that had worked out. But, um, I think for the first time in my life I have a girlfriend and she is giving me back the same amount of love that I get. And that is an awesome thing.

Speaker 7: 43:43

That definitely is, Oh, I just want to, as we do wrap up, um, cause I always try to get a little bit of an example where there are certain people that you want to follow around. I know early I brought up the Tony Robinson or you know, early I was young, I was probably, I don't know how long ago it was, he wrote a awaken the giant within, but it's a big thick book and it's wearing like, Oh my gosh. But I read that when I was young and it kind of set me on a course of, you know, finding people to follow around. Uh, you know, Tim Ferriss is good at that. He's got, you know, a couple of really good books about that. But I would encourage everyone to hop on the rich Redmond train and follow this guy around. It's, I it a little bit like I'm an NFL player or a pro basketball player. You're a drummer right now, but like you said, and you're like, reds just said, you know, by the time you're 60, 70 80 years old, you know, you need something else to fall back on. And I think people need to, I always try to encourage people to find that side hustle or find something else that, that you can do because you just never know. You have people all the time. Thinking, Oh, I'm in the most secure job ever, you know, at, at the law firm or whatever, whatever company it is. And then w you know, then one day, boom, black Friday and then, then, then you kind of sit around and, and you know, now what and it's so, um, I would encourage everybody go out and go to a rich redmond.com um, his, he's got check out his book. He's got, he's got merge, all kinds of cool stuff. His book is called crash course for success.

Speaker 6: 45:30

Yeah. Right? Yes. Yeah. And if you're a coach, if you're a corporate Booker book rich, and then book me, both of us on the same show and be very musical. I will love that. I'm with you on that. I, I do, when I do corporate events, I'd take the piano and I do basically, I basically do a song show, but it's a storytelling thing. And you're right, if you come out and you're walking around with a headset, Mike, you've lost him at a minute, 30 year. You're so right about that, rich. But this is a great, if I think it's gotta be so cool to walk into one of those, you think you're going to see another keynote speaker and there are a set, there's a set of drums on the stage. That's gotta be awesome. So if you're a corporate Booker, listen to this, find rich Redmond and book him. You'll, you will not. So Devin, are you here in Nashville too or no?

Speaker 7: 46:16

Right now I am in Dallas. I live in Dallas for the moment. Um, I've, I'm, I'm back and forth. Um, I was out in LA for several years. I raised my family and Franklin, um, in, you know, in Nashville. Um, but then made the, you know, made the leap, uh, for what I do, cause I'm, I'm in the, on the video side of things. Uh, so I kind of made my leap out to LA and uh, so I did, did my LA time and doing a little Dallas time right now. Um, but you know, it's like you said earlier, you go where you need to.

Speaker 6: 46:51

Man. I, I've lived many fun years in Dallas, my formative years, man. Yeah. Devin is being, uh, Devin is, is, uh, being, uh, um, humble, rich. Uh, the reason the Devin moved to LA was to build Oprah's network. That's incredible. So when he said he did his quote unquote time in LA. Yeah, I kept, I would get texts like literally every night. Hey man, I'm hanging out with the Snoop dog right now. He's really cool. Uh, and then I call, I'll never forget this, this like emblazoned in my brain. I called Devin one time, just in the middle of the afternoon and he's like, Hey rich, give me one second. And then I hear off the phone say, Hey Gwyneth, give us five minutes and we'll be right back. And I said, and he said, Hey man, what's up? And I said, you're talking to Gwyneth Paltrow, aren't you? Yeah. Film director. Yes. Yes. That's me following him. Thank you. Thank you for that follow. Thank you Raj for that. Uh, well some people don't know who the, who, who they're listening to on the group. I mean, they kinda know if they, if they listen to me, they probably know me from songs or, or some something like that or, or the American idol thing, then they'll know the guests. But they don't always know because Devin, you've always been behind the scenes, but they don't realize what kind of power, you know, player you have been in the entertainment business in your own right. So I gotta give you love man. I mean, you're[inaudible] you'd have some slacker as a friend. You know, I've, well now, now I have got some slackers, this friend Devin. Well that, Hey, thanks a lot rich for being with us, man. This has been a wonderful time for me. I know it has for dev three drummers. I mean, how many drummers does it take to do a podcast? Apparently three. So yeah, man, thanks for being on the show. Go look up rich and, and listen to Jason Aldeen. You're going to hear rich laying down the groove behind him. Check out his books, check out his podcast, and, uh, you guys are gonna love everything that you guys are having to do. Again, keep in touch and thanks everybody for listening.

Speaker 3: 49:00

You got it. And everybody just as a reminder, head over to the groove, podcast.com for the show notes from this show. Um, and we may be able to even throw some picks up of, uh, of rich doing his thing and uh, that's it. Thanks guys.

Speaker 6: 49:16

Man, that was great. I mean, I just really enjoyed that. Head over to the groove, podcast.com for the show notes and to learn more about rich.

Speaker 3: 49:25

And also don't forget to hit that five star rating and give us a thumbs up wherever you listen to your podcasts. Also, if you'd like to help support the show, head over to the group, podcast.com and click on the support tab and you'll be directed to our Patrion page.

Speaker 4: 49:41

Okay guys, thanks for joining us and remember, no matter what you're going through, no matter how bad things get, no matter where, where the twists and turns come, you can always refocus and you can find the group. Thanks everybody.[inaudible] you've been listening to the group with Devin Pence and Reggie ham.