00:00We are so excited that Stephen Wilson Jr. is with us.
00:04Our headliner, finally, for KSO and NASCAR Country Festival.
00:07You guys, what's happening?
00:08Well, he's like my husband, who I've been married to for over 30 years, right?
00:12And I've recorded with him a million times, and every time I go to do it, he does this.
00:15I'm like, dude, and he's...
00:17But Stephen was holding his mic down here.
00:19I'm like, you've got to hold it up.
00:20Waiting to get my permission.
00:22I was born awkward.
00:24That's okay.
00:25I love awkward.
00:26I'm trying to brand it.
00:27So there are so many people out there ready to sing every word to every song that you write, man.
00:31I'm so excited to watch you do your live thing.
00:34Oh, well, we really can't wait to play.
00:36So, yeah, I hope they enjoy it.
00:38And, yeah, if they sing along, that'll blow my mind.
00:40It always does.
00:42So many questions I want to ask you.
00:43Tammy, first of all, do you want to say something?
00:45Because I can sit here for all night.
00:46Okay, so is your wife here tonight?
00:48She's not.
00:48Oh, dang it.
00:49Okay, because I wanted to compliment her on picking a man who couldn't love her any more
00:55than what I witnessed in a YouTube video.
00:57It was something I came across when I was searching for something, and I saw you two
01:01together.
01:02It's a couple years old, I'm imagining.
01:04And there's a moment where you turn and you look at her, and the love that comes out of
01:08your eyes, dude, it's like, it blew my mind.
01:12And you can ask John.
01:13I made him come look at it.
01:14I'm like, look at this.
01:14Look how much he loves his wife.
01:16It was so beautiful.
01:18She's so incredible.
01:20And she taught me everything I know.
01:22Oh.
01:23So yeah, she's a far better singer than I will ever dream of being.
01:26She's a beautiful singer.
01:28Yeah, I've always had the best seat in the house.
01:31I played guitar with her a long time, so yeah, she always just, yeah.
01:35Well, you could see the love.
01:36It was a wonderful thing to witness.
01:39Yeah, I guess that was a candid moment.
01:41I'll go back and look at it.
01:43Steven, you write the kind of music that speaks to people, touches them, helps them deal with
01:49something they're dealing with.
01:51Did you know that you had that skill when you sat down and said, I want to do this for
01:54a living now?
01:55Did you know that it's more than just, nothing against the party anthem or rock tunes or the
02:00jukebox sing-alongs, but you write music that, again, touches something really deep inside
02:06a person.
02:07Did you know that when you started writing stuff, or did you like, wow, I can do this?
02:11No, I had a lot of people that, I guess, breathed a lot of wind in my sails early on.
02:20But yeah, when I first showed up to town, I quit my job as a scientist to go write songs
02:25for nobody, for no money.
02:27But like you said, the party songs were very popular, and I certainly wasn't writing those.
02:34But I remember my publisher, who is my publisher still to this day, he heard my songs, and he
02:43said, Steven, I'm, you know, what you're writing today is, he said, I think you're seven years
02:49ahead of the game.
02:51And he literally had like a time limit on it.
02:55And he was really very accurate.
02:58Wow.
02:59I call him, his name is Chris Oglesby, I call him Oglesby Juan Kenobi, because he's like,
03:04he's just like a sage, and he's such a veteran in the business.
03:07And he heard a couple of my weird songs, but I called them weird, because they were really
03:13real, and they were very emotional.
03:15And he latched onto them, and really, I think just supported me in that one.
03:21And I think a lot of people could have said, hey man, maybe write different songs, you'll
03:25have better success immediately.
03:27But, you know, I think he saw the reward much farther down the road.
03:32And having believers like that early on in your career is so important.
03:37So, no, I didn't, I never sang a song in my life until 2015.
03:42And I, so I was very insecure, I still am about singing, you know, I'm still very new to
03:48it, and, but he was, I came into the game to be a songwriter, and, because the song is
03:54the most important band member on stage, always will be.
03:58And, and I, I accidentally became a singer.
04:01And so, and I didn't realize that I was going to be the vessel.
04:05And when my dad died, and I remember when I first, I started singing songs after he died,
04:10like everything changed.
04:11Like, my intentionality and the source from which the music came, it, it all changed.
04:17And therefore, the reaction to it changed.
04:21So, my, my life changing and, and kind of having a lot of loss and a lot of tragedy and,
04:27and kind of picking myself back up and just trying to look up to the sky and sing as loud
04:33as I can, really just managed to find some ears and hearts and an audience.
04:38Okay, so we're deep, and it's real, and all of that, and we know that about you, but tell
04:44us the silliest, goofiest thing that you love.
04:49The silliest, goofiest thing that I love.
04:51Yeah, I mean, everybody's got something, right?
04:57We're all staring at you, too.
05:01Yeah, when I get gas, the number has to end in 37 or 73.
05:08I will settle for 79, but I've had gas, like, run out of my tank because I've overfilled it
05:14because, you know, it went over 73.
05:17I'm pretty sure they call it, they have a diagnosis for this, but, so I have to go over
05:25to 30, you know, I have to go over to 37, or, and if I go past 37, I got
05:3073.
05:31Okay, well, I'm going to.
05:32I got, I got only a few shots within the dollar to get this right, or I have to just
05:36keep putting
05:36gas in my car.
05:37All right.
05:38And I won't stop.
05:39That's awesome.
05:40I love that you shared that.
05:41I'm pretty sure that's an illness.
05:42All right, we have something very special for you, if you don't mind.
05:46We want to present this to you, and I got to put my readers on because I want to read
05:48the end of it, but the city of San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria has declared today Gary Day in
05:56honor of, obviously, your song and you, and the thing that I think that is most important
06:02to read out loud here, and there's a lot of where as's and what is's and, you know, all
06:06the governmental crap, but anyway, whereas the city of San Diego recognizes and honors the
06:11hardworking men and women whose labor, skill, and commitment strengthen our neighborhoods,
06:16support our community, and improve the quality of life for all residents.
06:20So, in your honor, Stephen, it is San Diego's Gary Day.
06:24Gary Day!
06:27Wow.
06:28I am a, I'm Gary honored, and Gary speechless, I guess.
06:37Oh, man, that is awesome.
06:38This is, this is incredible.
06:41I think Gary deserves it.
06:42I do, too.
06:43He's worked Gary hard for this.
06:44And, uh, this is for all the Garys out there.
06:47I've, I was raised in a body shop in a town full of Garys, and, um, they've been such
06:52an inspiration, you know, of kind of generally a simple character on the outside, but far
06:58more underneath the layers.
07:01So, uh, yeah, this is, this is art, and this is life, and, um, thank you for Gary Day, and
07:07most importantly, thank you, Gary, and all you Garys out there, literal and metaphorical,
07:13will I get life back on track when it falls off.
07:17All right.
07:18You, Wilson Jr.
07:19Aw, thank you.
07:21Wow.
07:22Sadly, it's three in the morning now.
07:23The show is over, but, uh, we all agree.
07:25Love you, Gary.
07:26Aw.
07:27We love you, Gary.
07:28Beautiful.
07:28Beautiful.
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