← Takin' A Walk - Music History with Buzz Knight
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- [00:00]
Host
This is an iHeart podcast.
- [00:05]
Trey Farrow
This season Let yout Shoes do the Talking Designer Shoe Warehouse is packed with fresh styles that speak to your whole vibe without saying a word. From cool sneakers that look good with.
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Sandy Knox
Everything to easy sandals you'll want to.
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Trey Farrow
Wear on repeat, DSW has you covered. Find a shoe for everyhue from the brands you love like Birkenstock, Nike, Adidas, New Balance and more.
- [00:27]
Sandy Knox
Head to your DSW store or visit dsw.com today.
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Trey Farrow
Think advertising on TikTok isn't for your business? Think again. We've generated over 100,000 leads which has converted into over 40,000 sales for our pet insurance policies. My name is Trey Farrow. I am the CEO of Spot Pet Insurance. TikTok's smart AI powered automation takes the guesswork out of targeting, bidding and optimizing creative. If I can advertise on TikTok, you can too. Drive more leads and scale your business. Today only on TikTok. Head over to get started.TikTok.com TikTok rock ads.
- [01:05]
Sandy Knox
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Host
Megan.
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Sandy Knox
Megan.
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Trey Farrow
Megan.
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Host
Megan.
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Trey Farrow
Would you prefer that I give you.
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Sandy Knox
A printout that you can read at your own pace? Megan, yes, it's me. What a shock. Etc.
- [02:10]
Host
On June 27.
- [02:12]
Trey Farrow
She is a smoking hot warrior princess.
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Sandy Knox
All right meat sacks, let's get to work. Are you going to stand in my way?
- [02:19]
Host
The bee is back.
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Sandy Knox
You think you learned your lesson the first time?
- [02:24]
Host
Megan Megan 2.0 only in theaters June.
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Sandy Knox
27 with APT13 Clorox Scentiva smells like lavender.
- [02:36]
Trey Farrow
Cleans like Clorox, and feels like.
- [02:48]
Sandy Knox
Alright. That could go on for a while. Experience the long lasting freshness of Clorox Scentiva. Available in Clorox Scentiva Lavender Scented Bleach. Use as directed.
- [02:59]
Trey Farrow
Music Saved Me I moved here in 1983 with $1,500 in my pocket and not even knowing a soul in this town. But music was just, it was just, it was all I could think about. And it was also no matter if I never, if I never ever got paid, this is what I was going to do. It was that important to me.
- [03:20]
Host
Welcome to another episode of Music Saved Me the podcast where we explore the transformative power of music through the stories of art songwriters and fans whose lives have been changed by song. Today we are honored to welcome Sandy Knox, a Grammy nominated songwriter and recording artist known for her heartfelt lyrics and enduring contributions to country music. Writing hit songs for, oh, just some unknown artists like Reba McEntire, Dolly Parton, Neil Diamond, Dionne Warwick and Donna Summer. One of my personal favorites, just to name a few. Sandy Knox's journey in the music industry is marked by resilience, creativity and a deep connection to the healing power of music. With a career spanning decades, Sandy has penned hits for legendary artists like I mentioned and faced personal challenges that have shaped her unique perspective on life and songwriting. Her story is one of overcoming adversity, finding hope in melody, and using music as a lifeline during the toughest moments. And in this episode, Sandy shares her experiences of how music has been both a sanctuary and a source of strength, offering insight into the ways songwriting can help us process grief, celebrate joy, and even connect with others on a profound level. Now she also has something really cool. It's a first hybrid musical that we're going to get into and talk about, which I can't wait to hear all about. It's. It's the first of its kind too, so she's once again groundbreaking. So hopefully you are in for this amazing ride that we're about to dive into Sandy Knox's inspiring journey and discover how for her, music truly saved the day. Sandy Knox, welcome to Music Saved Me. It's so great to have you here.
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Trey Farrow
Thank you so much. I'm so glad to be here. You're my first podcast interview about this project, so this is exciting.
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Host
I am so excited to talk to you about it. Before we get into that, I want to kind of roll back a bit and go back to sort of the beginning and some of your early inspirations.
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Trey Farrow
All right.
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Host
And maybe have you share with our audience a little bit about your early experiences with music. And I want to know what. What first drew you to songwriting?
- [05:41]
Trey Farrow
You know, my parents had a very eclectic music collection. Music was very prevalent in our home, and I just gravitated toward it. It was just something that was always there in my ear. I memorized lyrics. I knew songs. You know, I was really, as very young, I was studying lyrics. When I say studying them, I mean, like, looking at them and reading them and wondering, you know, and also, I'll just say this. One of the first inspirations probably for me for meter and rhyme were Dr. Seuss books.
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Host
Oh, interesting.
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Trey Farrow
As he rhymed everything, there was a pattern. There was a meter to his books and how they were when someone was reading them out loud to you. And I think that had something to do with. With me going in that direction also toward music.
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Host
Yeah, that's so cool. You know, a lot of people do say that it's their parents music, and of course, it would make sense. The albums, putting them on and hearing them and learning them all was. Was there a moment that you realized or an event in your life where music was sort of more than just entertainment and that it could actually help to save you?
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Trey Farrow
Yes. I will tell you that when I was in about seventh grade, well, first off, I wanted to be in the choir. I wanted to be. Played the drums in the marching band. And in order to do that in the junior high school that I went to in Houston, you had to have a year of choir. So I was like, I got to take a year of choir, but all I want count on those big drums. And so I had to go in and take a year choir and sixth grade. You had to sing the choir teacher, Mrs. Hinkle, you always remember the teachers. That meant something. Mrs. Hinkle, in order to. So she would know where to place you in the choir, you had to sing My Bonnie Lies over the Ocean, because that has. That's a pretty little rangy little couple of notes. So I sang it, and I remember her turning and looking at me, and she said, sing it again. And she went up. You know, you went up a half step. I matched her. She kept going up. She kept going up. And that day I'm going to tear up while I'm saying this. She called my mother and said, do you know your daughter can sing? And I didn't want to play the drums in that marching band anymore. I just wanted to be in the choir. And there was just instant acceptance and all Of a sudden, music meant so much more. And I also that year. So my parents bought me a guitar and I started learning the chords. And the first song that I wrote was called oh, since we broke up, Chuck. And I called it up Chuck, and.
- [08:40]
Host
The Comical Sensibility comes right out already.
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Trey Farrow
And my parents, believe it or not, said, wow, that's actually pretty clever for an 11 year old. And so from that point on, songwriting was something I was really interested in. And they supported it. They continued to support it all my life.
- [09:01]
Host
That's a big thing. What you said about the chorus teacher. When someone you look up to tells you that you're good at something, that's huge. Oh, sorry about that.
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Trey Farrow
I know. Sorry I'm crying. I'm still. You know, I always sang around the house and everything. And like I said, there was lots of music in our household, and neither of my parents played an instrument or sang or anything, but music was always being listened to. But, yeah, when Mrs. Hinkle called my mother that day and said, you need to. Your daughter can sing. Really can sing, and you need to maybe get her into voice lessons.
- [09:42]
Host
Wow. Wow.
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Trey Farrow
So I started taking voice lessons. So. Yeah.
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Host
Have you ever talked to her again since then or.
- [09:51]
Trey Farrow
Not since then, but you only had Mrs. Sinkle for one year, and then you went into the next level of choir with Mrs. Scandret. And Mrs. Scandret. And I kept in touch until she passed away.
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Host
Wow. It's amazing that. I bet they're just filled with such joy hearing that they had such an impact on your life.
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Trey Farrow
Yeah. And fortunately, they both lived long enough to see my early success with. With my songs.
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Host
That's so great. Well, I wonder how songwriting helped you sort of navigate through your life once you realized that was what you wanted to do. Perhaps during maybe difficult times, did you sort of grab the pen and just start writing or is that, you know, is that part of your process?
- [10:40]
Trey Farrow
Oh, gosh, yes. And I tell you, my publisher loved it when I broke up with a boyfriend.
- [10:49]
Host
The original Taylor Swift.
- [10:50]
Trey Farrow
Yeah. The great songs were going to be coming forth, you know, so, yeah, I do write about what I know. Except in one instance, I will tell you this. Does he love you? I get asked all the time if I ever had an affair with a married man, and that's where it came from. I never have had an affair with a married man. That song came about because of something else totally different, which, you know, maybe we'll get to that. Or not, but. But for the most part, I do pull from things in my Life or some. Something somebody said or maybe something I read. Then I went, oof. That could be a song, you know, in there. So there's a hook is always somewhere, you know, it's always spinning around just somewhere.
- [11:35]
Host
That's true. And you've worked with so many incredible artists. Is there any one favorite or collaboration that you had and something that really made it extra special that you could share with the audience?
- [11:47]
Trey Farrow
You know, Neil diamond did a tune of mine called like youe Do. It was on his Tennessee Moon album. And I got to know Neil a little bit, and I actually, he invited. I'll tell you what, he came to one of my gigs, which, let me tell you, singing along, doing your gig with your band, and looking out and seeing Neil diamond sitting front row and center. Wow. I don't think he was as nervous to see me as I was to see him.
- [12:15]
Host
I bet.
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Trey Farrow
But he invited me to come into the studio. He wanted to try the song out as a duet, and he was going to pitch it to Barbra Streisand. So he said, well, Sandy, will you come out to the studio and sing it? You know, let's try it as a duet. So I did. And so that was pretty fun, going in the studio and just, you know, just hanging with Neil, you know, singing with Neil Diamond. He didn't end up doing it as a duet. He did record it, but he did it, you know, as a solo. Yeah, but that was. That was pretty cool.
- [12:47]
Host
You mentioned that. And I mean that. I can't imagine that it gets much bigger than that. But say, for example, you're, you know, driving in the car and you hear a song that you wrote for an artist or you're at a show, you know, what does it feel like when you see Dolly Parton singing one of your songs or Donna Summer? You know, that means maybe. Is there anything personal that in there that it's. I can't even imagine what goes through your mind. Yeah.
- [13:13]
Trey Farrow
You know, Dolly did a remix of Does He Love youe with Reba, so that's that cut. You know, there is a. This career. You know, we were rolling the dice when we decide we're going to move to Nashville or wherever and pursue songwriting. And when you hear one of your tunes on the radio for the first time, it is such a stamp of approval. I made it. Oh, my gosh. I can't believe this. I can't believe I did this. It's a huge deal. The day that my first cut on Reba, which was an album cut song called He Wants to Get Married was also the first day that a single Dionne Warwick came out called Where My Lips have Been. I sat on the floor of my apartment with the cassettes. I don't know if I had CDs or cassettes, but I'd play one, then I'd play the other. I just kept going, pinging back and forth. Listening to both of these songs with these iconic artists singing them, that was a big day. And I'll never forget that moment.
- [14:19]
Host
I can't even imagine. And did you ever see the role of music? Sort of. And how it connected with mental health and understanding that how songs can help us emotionally in terms of healing not just for yourself, but also for those of us listening to these incredible songs. Did you realize that that was going to be a side effect of what you were doing?
- [14:43]
Trey Farrow
Not really. I will tell you, I've had a lot of people tell me that certain songs affected them greatly, like caused them to stop and think or to put things in a different perspective. The first time I did Does He Love youe, it had just been released and I was performing at Harlan Howard's birthday bash, you know, which was a great honor to be asked to come sing on that stage. And I got off the stage, the song had only been on the radio, I'm going to say, maybe three weeks. And I sang it with a dear friend of mine, got off the stage, and I remember this youngish woman stopped me and said, because of that song, I stopped having an affair with a married man that has been breaking my heart for years. I'll never forget that that song had affected her in that manner. As far as mental health, she mentioned mental health. One of the ways that music saved me was I was a pretty fun kid, a little mischievous, got into trouble here and there. When I was in junior high, one of the people at the school, I don't know, I think it was the vice principal, called my. My parents and suggested that because I. One of my conduct cards said, if there's ever a distraction in the class, we can pretty much bank. Sandy will be in the middle of.
- [16:09]
Host
That now, you know, that means that you were intelligent because you, you. It really does. A lot of the ones that didn't pay attention because they were bored by all of it, because they knew it already. I get that.
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Trey Farrow
And this, this, like I said, I think it was the vice principal, he suggested that maybe my parents should entertain the idea of putting me on Ritalin. I think Ritalin was just starting to come out or something. It was just. And you know, a drug to tap me down. And my mother, who was not a pill popper, she barely took Tylenol. She said, we will not tap down her imagination or her creativity. Sandy's not going to go on drugs in order to come to school and be calmer. I thank my mother for that so much. I think about that. Thank God she didn't say, oh, of course. She said, no, we're not going to give her a pill to tap her down. But what ended up happening is I really started channeling my. My energy toward music and writing songs and being in shows at school and trying out for things. And then my clique of friends started becoming more music oriented or theater. I was very involved in theater, and that ended up being what I took in college. But it drove me to a different group of friends who were healthier for me to be around because I could have gone a different direction. I had a couple of friends who. Yeah, for inviting me to be in. Get into trouble.
- [17:40]
Host
I bet you remember their names, too.
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Trey Farrow
I still had contact with them. Are you.
- [17:46]
Host
That's so fun.
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Trey Farrow
One of them became a police officer.
- [17:50]
Host
Oh, interesting. Isn't that funny? Well, you know, focus sounds to me more like what you really needed, which is what you found in getting into that music thing. And, you know, I always like to ask my guests what advice they would give to those who want to get into this and also to use it as a way of sort of coping or healing, especially if they dream of a career in. In songwriting. What kind of advice would you give them?
- [18:21]
Trey Farrow
Wow. You know, the terrain has changed a great deal since I entered in. Since I moved here in 1983 with $1,500 in my pocket and not even knowing a soul in this town. But music was just. It was just. It was all I could think about. And it was also, no matter if I never. If I never, ever got paid, this is what I was gonna do. It was that important to me. I think, you know, for God, giving advice to young people about this career, I think you've got. You have to believe in yourself. I think it's very important to research the history of songwriters in their lives and learn and who went before you. I think that's crazy important. I would love it if a couple of the schools here, a couple of the universities that have music industry programs would have a class in the history of, like, songwriters and stuff in their journey. I think that's very important. And I did that before I moved here. I read every hardback book I could find on the on songwriters bios, on music industry, on people's journey, and to find out that a lot of them stumbled and fell several times. Okay, then I can stumble and fall. I can get back up too then, because look what they did. So I think that that's an important part of the music. But, you know, I just think I go to the old adage, write what you know. I would not write a song about being a golden Nettle Olympia, because I don't know anything about that, but I think that's important. Write what you know. And you gotta stay true to your star. And I tell you what, continuing to believe in yourself, that's a hard road. Sometimes that's a really hard road. But as my mother said, because there were a couple times I wanted to bail, I wanted to give up. And my mother would say, well, you know, if, if you keep trying, if you give up, you have a hundred percent chance of not making it. If you keep trying, at least you got a 50% chance.
- [20:42]
Host
That's great advice.
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Trey Farrow
And I, I'll never forget that because there were times when I just wanted.
- [20:47]
Host
To throw in the towel. Oh, there's times, I'm sure even up until this moment, that there have been. But, you know, what you said really hits home to me because I moved to New York with six months disposable income and if I didn't make it, I was gonna go home. So one of those things is to be fearless, take a calculated risk and do your homework on the history of what you want to do. I think that that's probably the first time I've ever heard anyone give that kind of advice. And it's such great advice.
- [21:21]
Trey Farrow
Study the. Especially because this industry, you know, at that point when I was making my journey into, there weren't. There wasn't colleges where you could go take classes in the music industry and such. Now there are kids have a little bit more of an opportunity to go study. And there's several colleges. But, you know, all I had was to be able to read and try to dive into stuff. And you know, I had so many books on the music industry and on Elvis. I loved Elvis.
- [21:52]
Host
Oh, my gosh. Who doesn't love Elvis?
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Trey Farrow
I saw him live three times before I was. Gosh, before I was 18 years old.
- [22:00]
Host
Wow. I never got to see him. I wish I did, you know. And that brings me to my next question about funny or surprising stories from your time that off the top of your head you've always wanted to tell that you haven't been able to Tell nothing salacious, but just something spectacular. Well, if you want to get salacious, you know what I mean.
- [22:23]
Trey Farrow
Here's a story. When I first moved here in 1983, and I can tell you, August 13, 1983, is the day that the U Haul pulled up because my dad drove the U Haul and I drove my car. The next day he flew back to Houston and I went to the grocery store because I had my first apartment all by myself. I was scared to death. And I loaded up the cart with food because I was, you know, putting stuff in my brand new apartment. And all of a sudden it dawned on me that I was very much alone in the city I'd never been to, and I didn't know anybody and I needed to get a job and blah, blah. And I just burst into tears in the. I think it was the spice aisle of the Kroger. And I just left my cart and in the middle of the aisle and went home to cry because it was. It. It was so scary. But I don't know where we are on time. But I will tell you this story. When I moved here, we were. Nashville was in the middle of a phone strike, so I couldn't get a new phone. So I am delivering cassette tapes at publishers with no contact information because I didn't have a phone. So I had my name and I think I wrote my address. And so somebody had told me, a neighbor had said, you know, to go. And this is the funny thing about Nashville. You know, it's a lot about who you know and networking and whatever. But I took. I dropped off a tape a couple of days later. I decided to call and follow up. I call and follow up. I said, you know, the woman said, can I ask for Roger Sovine? Can I tell him he's calling Sandy Knox? Roger comes on the phone. He picks up and he goes, hey, where have you been? And I'm thinking that the receptionist said, tammy Wynette's online, line one. Sandy Knox, line two. And he's picked up the wrong line. I said, this is Sandy Knox. And he said, I know you didn't put your phone number on your cassette.
- [24:15]
Host
Goosebumps.
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Trey Farrow
Yeah. Wow. Yeah. So that was. That was a fun. I never forgot that moment that he actually wanted to pick up the phone, talk to me.
- [24:26]
Host
Isn't that amazing? And, you know, you wonder if that cassettes even ever get to the desk of the person you're sending it to to begin with. Yeah, that's great. Oh, my gosh. I don't want to let you Go. Because there's so much more I want to talk about with you. But let's get to something that we kind of teased up front, which is sort of you're groundbreaking. You're doing an audiobook musical, and it's called Waiting. And there was a quote that I had to read real quick from it. It says, we will all meet the love of our lives, reside in a perfect fairy tale existence, and achieve complete and total world peace just as soon as we lose £20. I mean, that's like going on a diet Monday, you know?
- [25:12]
Trey Farrow
Exactly.
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Host
Can you tell us about this exciting new chapter for you and what we can expect?
- [25:17]
Trey Farrow
Well, you know, it is a audiobook slash musical. So I call it a Boozical. That's what I've called it for the last several years I've been working on it. And it's about a place that I actually went to after breaking up with a bad boyfriend. It was kind of a diet place, an alternative to going, you know, on a cruise where you'd eat all the time. It was like a place where you went and kind of were healthy and watched your food and your intake. And I left that place thinking, man, there's something about this place and the people I met and everything else. And I started thinking about, is this a song? And then I realized it was much more than a song. And so through. And that was in 1996, 97. So a couple of years later, I really started thinking about it as something else. First it was going to be a musical. And then during COVID I started thinking when the lockdown happened and live venues and everything were on the down low, I started thinking, you know, I think I could write this as a audiobook and interweave songs, let the songs happen at the certain time. So that's how it was born. So, yeah, that's so cool.
- [26:26]
Host
If you could sort of. Is there any connection or. How can people get this and see it and hear it?
- [26:34]
Trey Farrow
Well, it will be available across all audiobook platforms. And then we have a single. There's a single coming out called There Could Never Be Enough of youf. Yeah, we all want to hear, right? From everybody who says they love us. And then the whole SoundTrack of It's 28 chapters, 21 original songs, and it's. And the whole book is only five and a half hours. It's not a huge listening commitment, but. And then the SoundTrack drops on July 11, and that'll be on every music platform. Wherever you get your tunes, that's what they.
- [27:13]
Host
Wherever you get your tunes. I like that. Instead of your podcast, Sandy Knox, I could talk to you all day. It is just such an honor to meet you and I can't believe how much we actually have in common. Personally, I would love to talk to you when we're done with this and just compare notes. And I really appreciate you coming on the show and sharing all of this personal stuff with, with everyone because I think it's just so important because we're so much more alike than we are different. And, you know, if just one person listening takes the advice of someone who's been there, done that, then we've done our job. So, Sandy, thank you so much.
- [27:46]
Trey Farrow
Thank you so much. Are you still quoting 30 year old movies? Have you said cool beans in the past 90 days? Do you think Discover isn't widely accepted? If this sounds like you, you're stuck in the past. Discover is accepted at 99% of places that take credit cards nationwide.
- [28:06]
Sandy Knox
And every time you make a purchase.
- [28:07]
Trey Farrow
With your card, you automatically earn cash back. Welcome to the now it pays to Discover. Learn more@discover.com credit card based on the February 2024 Nielsen report. Hey, it's me, Earhart. Mind if I pick the next song?
- [28:24]
Host
Listen, even though we're eating better, people who've had one heart attack are at.
- [28:28]
Trey Farrow
Higher risk of another. But Repatha Evolocumab plus a statin lowers LDL C, our bad cholesterol and our heart attack risk.
- [28:35]
Host
So let's talk to our doctor about Repatha.
- [28:38]
Sandy Knox
Do not take Repatha if you're allergic to it. Serious allergic reactions can occur. Get medical help right away if you have trouble breathing or swallowing. Swelling of the face, lips, tongue, throat or arms. Common side effects include runny nose, sore throat, common cold symptoms, flu or flu like symptoms, back pain, high blood sugar and redness. Pain or bruising at the injection site. View the important safety information in our banner. Listen to your heart. Ask your doctor about Repatha.
- [29:05]
Trey Farrow
It's Megan.
- [29:06]
Sandy Knox
Are you ready for megansummer? Megan.
- [29:09]
Host
Megan.
- [29:10]
Sandy Knox
Megan.
- [29:10]
Trey Farrow
Megan.
- [29:10]
Host
Megan.
- [29:11]
Sandy Knox
Would you prefer that I give you a printout that you can read at your own pace?
- [29:14]
Host
Megan?
- [29:15]
Sandy Knox
Yes, it's me. What a shock.
- [29:16]
Host
Et cetera on June 27.
- [29:18]
Trey Farrow
She is a smoking hot warrior princess.
- [29:21]
Sandy Knox
All right, meat sacks, let's get to work. Are you going to stand in my way?
- [29:26]
Host
The bee is back.
- [29:28]
Sandy Knox
You think you learned your lesson the first time?
- [29:30]
Trey Farrow
Megan.
- [29:31]
Sandy Knox
Megan 2.0 only in theaters June 27th with APT13 this prime day July 8th through the 11th, you can get a great deal on a new foot spa, transforming you into the queen of kickin it. Wait, this has bubble jets? Okay, Shop Great Deals this prime day, July 8th through the 11th, it's summer time to enjoy long days, lazy nights, and great food. Because Uber Eats has deals all summer long. So when hunger strikes, don't sweat it. Delicious deals are just a tap away on Uber Eats. Enjoy all your favorite grocery items delivered straight to you. Get ice cream, soda and snacks from your favorite stores like Wegmans and cvs, and make the most of every moment. Now that sounds like a a good summer order. Now on UberEats Terms apply. Product availability varies by region. See app for details.
- [30:20]
Host
This is an iHeart podcast.