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Chris Robinson
This is an iHeart podcast, Guaranteed Human.
Zoe Spencer
It's financial Literacy Month and the podcast Eating while Broke is bringing real conversations about money, growth and building your future. This month hear from top streamer Zoe Spencer and venture capitalist lakeisha Landrum Pierre as they share their journeys from starting out to leveling up.
Cheryl Strayed
There's an economic component to communities thriving. If there's not enough money and entrepreneurship happening in communities, they fail.
Zoe Spencer
Listen to Eating while Broke from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.
Earn Your Leisure Host
Earnest what's up? Look, money is something we all deal with, but financial literacy is what helps turn income into real wealth. On each episode of the podcast, earn your leisure, we break down the conversations you need to understand money, investing and entrepreneurship. From stocks and real estate to credit business and generational wealth. Our goal is simple. Make financial literacy accessible for everyone. Because when you understand the system, you can start to build within it. Open your free iHeartRadio app search, earn your leisure and listen now.
Donald and Zach (T-Mobile Ad)
On paper, the three hosts of the Nick Dickenpole show are geniuses. We can explain how AI works, data centers, but there are certain things that we don't necessarily understand.
Chris Robinson
Better version of play stupid games, win stupid prizes.
Donald and Zach (T-Mobile Ad)
Yes.
Chris Robinson
Which, by the way, wasn't Taylor Swift who said that for the first time. I actually, I thought it was. I got that wrong.
Donald and Zach (T-Mobile Ad)
But hey, no one's perfect. We're pretty close, though. Listen to the Nick, Dick and Paul show on the iHeartRadio app, app podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Bob Pittman
Hi, I'm Bob Pittman, chairman and CEO of iHeartMedia, and I'm kicking off a brand new season of my podcast, Math and stories from the frontiers of Marketing. Math and Magic takes you behind the scenes of the biggest businesses and industries while sharing insights from the smartest minds in marketing. Coming up this season on Math and Magic, CEO of Liquid Death, Mike Cesario.
Chris Robinson
People think that creative ideas are like these light bulb moments that happen when you're in the shower where it's really like a stone sculpture. You're constantly just chipping away and refining.
Bob Pittman
Take two Interactive CEO Strauss Selnick and our own Chief Business Officer, Lisa Coffee. Listen to Math and magic on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.
Chris Robinson
You know, it's funny, Steven Tyler called me after we sold 6 million albums. He's like, man, are you gonna put your money away? I'm like, put my money away. I'm 23 years old. I could care less.
Bobby Cast Host
Welcome to episode 590 of the Bobby Cast. Chris Robinson, the lead singer of the Black Crows. Yeah, she talks to angels. Damn. I think if you heard the last episode, they should be in the Rock and Roll hall of Fame. But Chris and his brother started the Black Crows in Atlanta back when they were teenagers. They were called Mr. Crow's Garden, which we talked about. They changed their name. You'll hear all this. They have a brand new album out called the Pound of Feathers. It's out now. They're also back on the road for their Southern hospitality tour with Whiskey Myers that kicks off May 17th in Austin. Get tickets@theblackcrows.com. so here he is, the lead singer. He's wearing a lot of jewelry too, just so you can visualize it. This is up on Netflix too, but here we go. Chris Robinson, the lead singer of the Black Crows. Chris, good to see you.
Chris Robinson
You too.
Bobby Cast Host
We've met before. You've been to Nashville. Massive fan, though. I want to say it again.
Chris Robinson
Been to Nashville. My 87 year old mom's a Nashville native. I spent a lot of time in Nashvill growing up.
Bobby Cast Host
Really?
Chris Robinson
Yeah.
Bobby Cast Host
Well, I'll say it again. I'm a massive fan of yours. I just want to make sure you hear that.
Chris Robinson
Oh, I heard you. Okay.
Bobby Cast Host
I'm a massive fan.
Chris Robinson
Don't take it lightly. I'm a Sagittarian. I. I take that. I always want to hear that.
Bobby Cast Host
So, you big astrology guy.
Chris Robinson
No, I, I. Typical Sagittarius. I'm only interested in Sagittarius. I think it does dictate some archetypes, you know, sort of aspects of who we are.
Bobby Cast Host
Do you do like ideogram? Do you do all. Any of that? All of that? Just. Just the stars.
Chris Robinson
My wife is a witch, so I let her deal with everything.
Bobby Cast Host
Like a literal one.
Chris Robinson
Pretty close. There's a witchiness to my wife that is undeniable, so. And she's a Piscean, so. So you.
Bobby Cast Host
Can you convince me astrology is real? Is there anything you can say? Because I am an. I'm not a believer.
Chris Robinson
It's like the occult. Everything is real that you put focus into.
Bobby Cast Host
Okay. Now that I can assign myself, you
Chris Robinson
know what I mean?
Bobby Cast Host
And that could be anything in any energy given. Yes. Okay. I believe in astrology then. It took almost no effort. You got me.
Chris Robinson
I mean, I wouldn't, I wouldn't put it above any other thing, you know what I mean? But like I said, I do believe in. There's like some archetypal things about people that seem to be real or. I guess it just really depends on your perspective of things.
Bobby Cast Host
I want to tell you a quick story, just so I don't forget. Growing up was listening to Shake youe Money Maker, which loved the record, by the way. When I was younger, listened to every song on it, Knew it all by heart. My grandma raised me, and so I would listen to that record. And she just wasn't into Black Rose, which what grandma was. Right.
Chris Robinson
Yeah. However. Well, a cool grandma. Well, cool. Okay, fair enough.
Bobby Cast Host
This was a very Pentecostal architect chainsaw grandma.
Chris Robinson
Yeah. Yeah. So as a matter of fact, no offense to your grandma, I hope that there was one of the things she hated the most.
Bobby Cast Host
Well, you know, a little bit. I think it was grinding her gears until I would play hard to handle. And she was like. She pulled a vinyl, like an old Otis Redding record. She had it.
Chris Robinson
Yeah. Because it was the B side and
Bobby Cast Host
it was a live version. The one. The ones. The record that she had. It was the live version of him performing that song. And I don't know, it kind of brought us together musically.
Chris Robinson
Yeah.
Bobby Cast Host
Yeah.
Chris Robinson
Like that.
Bobby Cast Host
That record that. I loved her loving that record. And you guys, are you sure it
Chris Robinson
was Otis Redding's version, not Tom Jones from the filming?
Bobby Cast Host
I'm probably, because they don't look the same. And I saw the vinyl.
Chris Robinson
Very powerful performers, though. I think Tom Jones's version actually is really good.
Bobby Cast Host
I was watching Tom Jones sing live. It was a club on social media. Because he was doing like. Like the Voice or something over in another country.
Chris Robinson
He was singing the English one, probably,
Bobby Cast Host
or Irish or whatever it is. That guy could sing like. I never saw Tom Jones in his real element. He was always an older guy to me, and he was a character and. Or a caricature. By the time that I got to be older.
Chris Robinson
Yeah, no, I mean, very. I mean. I mean, you know, he had the TV show and he would duet with all the guests and stuff. There's amazing stuff of him with Jerry Lee Lewis. He could wail. Yeah.
Bobby Cast Host
Even as an older guy, like, he could really go.
Chris Robinson
And he's still. It's funny, I have a friend who played guitar in his band for a while, and he was like, man, that guy is like. I mean, he's getting close to 90, but he. This was 10, 15 years ago. And he goes. He's still up in the hotel room drinking whiskey, big cigar. And like, my friend was like, it's four in the morning. I'm like, tom, I'm going to bed. He's like, you're a. He's like, when a 90 year old tells you, he's like, all right, I guess I'll have another one, you know. And when I was a kid, my mom's from a big family from Nashville. She's the 11th of 13. And I used to dance, you know, I was always a dancer. I had a dance. And my mom told me once that one of my cousins, they were like, they took me to her work and waited for Tom Jones to come on the radio and I would. And they were like, he's like a little Tom Jones.
Bobby Cast Host
Do you remember that or is it before your memories?
Chris Robinson
I don't remember. I don't remember being exploited by my mom for entertainment purposes. Oh, I would come to find out a lot about it later. No, I just. It's just funny. It's just funny about music, you know, I was. It always was. I have many interests. I have many very varied things in my life, but music has just always been one of the main things, you know, and especially I'm dyslexic. So growing up in the Deep south in that era, I'm. I'm 59. I don't know if that had something. You know what I mean? It always made. Music always made sense to me, even before I even attempted to. Not just an emotional thing, there would be some other element to it. You know what I mean? And then. And it is funny because, you know, there's plenty of people. There's plenty of people in the music industry who don't even like music. It's just another job that they have. You know, there's no connection at all. Visceral, cerebral, anyway, you know, so it's just funny.
Bobby Cast Host
Was there a lot of music in your house growing up?
Chris Robinson
My dad. My dad had a top 40. It's funny, phonolux Records in Nashville, the guy who owns that, he gave me one of my dad's singles last time I was in there a few months ago when we were making the record, and my dad had a top 40 hit with a record called Boom a Dip dip in the 1958.
Bobby Cast Host
That's wild.
Chris Robinson
Yeah, it's on. It's on streaming services. And it was kind of like my dad's, you know, he wasn't a. He wasn't like a songwriter or anything, but he had a good voice. And the song's like, Boom. You know, he was on American Bandstand, Alan Freed, he did all that stuff. And then in the early 60s, he. That kind of didn't happen for him and he found himself on the folk circuit, signed to ABC Paramount Records with a folk duo called the Appalachians. And they would do like those Saturday night folk hoot nannies at the Ryman and stuff. Yeah. So, you know, my brother, you know, the guitar that Rich played, she Talks to Angels and wrote she Talks to Angels on was my dad's 53 Martin D28.
Bobby Cast Host
And did you get to see any of that?
Chris Robinson
I didn't. Well, the only bit I got to see of that coming around when I did was my dad was still involved a little bit, like in the folk scene. So some of my earliest memories of music, besides him playing records and singing songs, I mean, him picking up the guitar and singing around the house is still ultimately the vision I have of my youth. But it wasn't just my dad singing, although he had a really nice picking style and he had a very good voice. It was the stories and I loved and my dad was really good about, like, well, this song is from Scotland from the, you know, 17th century. And then when people came here, it changed to this. Whether it's the Cuckoo or Shady Grove
Bobby Cast Host
or He's a student.
Chris Robinson
Oh, yeah. Especially if you were gonna play folk music, you had to really know what it was. And I think it was also important that he just had the guitar out in the house. Like, it wasn't weird for me, but he would take me to. Some of my other earliest memories are going to hoot Nanny. It was like the first time I saw a guy play a banjo. First time I saw a guy play a pedal steel, you know, electric bass, a little drum kit, and they would share songs, you know, it's like a real hoot Nanny. And as a kid, I just, you know, it was just magical. And. And. And it's funny because I tell people all the time my obsession with not. Not making music, but listening to music. My mom. My mom, they also, between the two of them, they probably had about 250, 300 records, you know, when I was a kid, which was a lot of records for the average American household. So whether it was Mo's Allison Records or Jimmy Reed Records or my dad would have Lester Flatten, Earl Scruggs, and Jimmy Driftwood, Doc Watson. But in, you know, the late 60s, early 70s, my dad loves Crosby, Stills and Nash, and my dad loves, like, Leon Russell, Mad Dog's An Englishman, Sly and the Family Stun. I mean, that's my earliest memories are, you know, they have that. My dad's name was Stan Robinson and there's that slide song Stand in the end. And I used to think they were saying, Stan. I was like, he must. They must be friends with my dad. They must know him, you know. And my mom's family, funny enough, because when I'm at Arnold's in Nashville, they have the pictures up on the wall and there's the Spear family, very famous gospel singing group. And my mom's sister Mildred married Ben Speer and he played on Elvis records and stuff. So some of my first. I remember they were a gospel. You know, the old jubilee. You're invited to the gospel jubilee and on that rock and all that kind of stuff. But I took a tour. The first time I was on a tour bus, I must have been six or seven, seven or eight. And we. They had a gig down at like the Holiday Inn in Daytona beach in 1972 or something. And I remember going with them and again, like the instruments, you know, and being on a tour bus. Just funny stuff, you know, that come. That I remember. But that. It's funny that I, I. When I went to Arnold, this is years ago, and I went to Arnold's and, and Khalil's in there, I was like, that's. That's my uncle. I didn' know him very well.
Bobby Cast Host
But a lot of families that grow up with music don't want their kids to do music because they've seen the nature of the music business.
Chris Robinson
Yeah, my father was one of. Well, on top of him knowing about that, my. I mean, to all transparency, my father just thought I was talentless. You know what I mean? He. He hated. Because Rich and myself weren't, you know, we. Some of the first songs we ever learned were like Bob Dylan songs. So he would be appreciative of that. But then by the time, like, you know, I'm listening to X and the Gun Club, Circle Jerks, Black Flag, you know, the Clash, the Pistols, even later, the Echo and the Bunnyman and the Cure, Susie and the Banshees. I mean, they're not. Not feeling that my dad's not understanding of that kind of part of music.
Bobby Cast Host
Did that happen with him and his dad, though? Did he. Was his dad in his life, your grandpa? No, because generationally, I mean, every generation
Chris Robinson
very supportive of my. Of my dad.
Bobby Cast Host
It's like every generation hates the music that the younger generation likes.
Chris Robinson
I think so. I mean, I personally, I. Again, it's such a huge part of my life was having a record collection like that to go through. I mean, it was. Are you kidding? I mean, and it's funny because it'll come back around to the roots music, you know. My dad didn't like country music, though. My mom loved George Jones. My dad later liked the outlaw country stuff like Jerry, Jeff Walker and Willie, and he liked that kind of stuff. But it was. It's just weird. And I. My. My dad, he passed away in 2013. My mom's still in Franklin. But it wasn't even when I was like a little indie rocker. Even when I was listening before that, when all I listened to was V103FM in Atlanta, you know, And I was a huge, huge Funkadelic, Parliament fan. Prince, I mean, my. I mean, maybe Prince upset my dad more than anyone.
Bobby Cast Host
Why is that?
Chris Robinson
Because I had a poster on my wall of, like, this, like, beautiful, kind
Bobby Cast Host
of feminine guy in his girl's underwear
Chris Robinson
in a shower, you know, And I was like, dad, you know, I mean, I wouldn't. I don't know why I would upset you if I had been gay, but I'm not. But this is the only picture of Prince you could get. It's from the album, so it's going up on my wall and I'm like, By the way, also, like, the sort of androgyny of it all. I mean, I. I was like, dad, if I didn't have eye makeup on, no girl would talk to me. You know what I mean? I think that's his generation. That was them. They were more fearful. As a matter of fact, I think it's one of the bad. I mean, it is what it is. So I can't necessarily put it in a negative connotation, but I see a lot. I love a lot of young bands. I mean, we go see, my wife and I. I have a little record label. I work with amazing kids and. But one thing is funny when you see a lot of modern music, whereas my dad didn't want us to do that. Rich is different. They kind of supported Rich, but I was the crazy one, you know? But this is the first couple of generations of kids whose parents were like, yeah, you can do. Get out there. We'll get you the newest guitar you can use. You will get you a van. We'll.
T-Mobile Ad Voice
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Chris Robinson
You know what I mean? That wasn't a part of it when we were kids. And as a matter of fact, I think part of the energy and part of the real commitment and sacrifice, if you will, was that it was something that wasn't my. My. You know, if I had chosen to be a visual artist, I think my parents would have been more acceptive If I. If my life, if I had gone into my other deep interest in literature, if I tried to write novel, if I ended up teaching French literature at a small college in the Midwest or something, they would have been happier. And I think a lot of it is where you were kind of going with the. The business part. Show business, you know, it's. It's nasty. Nasty people.
Bobby Cast Host
Not everyone, but enough to really make it toxic in general.
Chris Robinson
Yeah. And. And I would. I would say there's a darkness about, you know, that's the Faustian sort of thing, you know.
Bobby Cast Host
What about, like, when you dance? There's an androgynous element to how you move. What did your dad think about your performance?
Chris Robinson
Well, I think, you know, by the time we make Shake youe money maker. You know, this is a funny story. So we start off as Mr. Crow's Garden. That's why there's the E in the crows. You know, we kept the. The name, the proper name. And we were more kind of indie rock. Had a little psychedelic kind of vibes. There was a guy in Atlanta named Larry T. He was a club promoter and had a band with RuPaul. They were called the Now Explosion. Their big song on the. Was it the Now Explosion or Wee Wee pole? There were two bands, amazing. And RuPaul's one of superstar RuPaul. Their song that was on the college radio was Put your hands in the air, wave your underarm hair. And like all this super druggie art school gay, amazing. So cool. So happy to have been adjacent to that. But Larry T. Is still around. Larry T. Was later moves to New York and I think he's in like the Groove is in the heart video. Larry T's one of the best DJs ever too.
Bobby Cast Host
Like D Light.
Chris Robinson
Yeah. Yeah. So he was in that kind of scene. But when we were kids, we. There was a place called the Celebrity Club and it was on Ponce. And we got a gig. Two sets on a Sunday afternoon. We're so. We don't know what's going on, but they're not serving alcohol. What I didn't know is. And we. So we played our set. We look like the Birds on the first Birds album. We have vox amps and my brother's playing a teardrop vox guitar. And we're really into 60s stuff, you know, pinning our pants, you know, so have stove pipes because you couldn't buy them. And we played two sets in between like a really whacked out drag queen floor show, you know, like suit, you know, and. And I Didn't know at the time, but you could get little Dixie cups of, like, Kool Aid or whatever. But it was acid. They were all on acid. We did it. They wouldn't give it to us. You know, Larry, we were little kids and they weren't. And I would have. Oh, my God. Taking LSD at that time in my life. How old were you? I was prob. 17, 18. I still would be in the hospital. I mean, later I would get far more accustomed to that experience. But my dad came to this gig, you know what I mean? So it's like, here we are, and we're up there, and, you know, we'd written some songs, but our repertoire included, like, you know, we would play There She Goes Again by the Velvet Underground, or we would play a big star song or, you know, some kind of things like that. And. And then it would be this wild acid Southern drag queen thing. And my dad was like, what. What are you guys doing? He just was so confused. I would give anything to, like, remember the look on his face, you know, to see him again, you know, but. So he was kind of supportive, but he didn't like. My dad didn't like strange or bizarre. He didn't like things that were uncomfortable to him, and I sought them out. I never cared about your sexuality. As long as you had cool records and you were, you know, you had a good heart and soul, you could be wild. I didn't care about any. About your background and you know what I mean, it was only about art. It was really art driven and. And my aesthetic and my taste ran towards, you know, the films I like, the books. I was reading, the records. I guess in a. In a simplified way, it was about counterculture, and my dad wasn't a counterculture figure.
Bobby Cast Host
Did you guys. You moved down to Atlanta, right?
Chris Robinson
I'm Atlanta native. I'm third generation. Yeah.
Bobby Cast Host
So, yeah, I know you guys.
Chris Robinson
My mom was from Nashville. My dad's Atlanta native as well.
Bobby Cast Host
Got it.
Chris Robinson
And his dad.
Bobby Cast Host
Did you. Once you guys hit, did you guys stay in Atlanta?
Chris Robinson
I left before we even hit.
Bobby Cast Host
You did?
Chris Robinson
Not out of any. Not out of anything bad. I mean, I'm. I think if. If anything, that the climate in our country is teaching us right now is that the south isn't the only place with people driven by fear and ignorance. But being I'm a proud Atlantan, Atlanta is a really unique place in the. We're not just in the south or America, but in the world in terms of how progressive it has been.
Bobby Cast Host
Did you guys go to la.
Chris Robinson
I moved to New York first.
Bobby Cast Host
And how. Okay, how. How was New York coming from where you were in Atlanta musically? Like, what did you. What did you find there?
Chris Robinson
This was after we'd made it. So, like, we have not made it, but, you know, shaker money makers out and like, the. When we start to do okay, I got a check and I was like. Like, boom. You know, I moved to. I had an apartment with a girl that used to dance on Club mtv, and she danced in a cage at Limelight. So, you know, these are showbiz things. Maybe this is what my dad was worried about, I hardly think. But did your brother move with you? No, he stayed in Atlanta for a lot longer, you know, and again, like I said, it wasn't like I was running away from Atlanta, but I had this, like, innate understanding and feeling that the world was out there for me, you know, I knew I had this weird thing, you know, a lot of bands, whether you're from Seattle or whether you were from, you know, Austin or New York, whatever. Not big, big New York, L.A. entertainment cities. I just knew my life. I wasn't going to stay in my hometown. I knew it from even before we got in a band. I just knew that I was deeply, deeply influenced by beat literature, you know, and like millions of us on the road, Jack Kerouac was a real inspiration in terms of, wow, okay, so if I want adventure, if I want to, you know, that whole idea that he says in the novel, I wanted to be with the mad people. That's what I wanted too. And I wasn't copying him. That was just. In all sincerity, that's. I knew where my interests were. I had a wanderlust that is still yet to be quenched, you know, and it's. It is what it is, you know, it's caused issues in your life, it causes issues with relationships, it causes issues. It caused issues with the band or whatever sometimes, you know, that I. But that's just. That's just what it is. There's too much adventure out there. There's too much inspiration. There's too many dreams to have.
Bobby Cast Host
You know, you guys recorded that whole album, the first album in Atlanta though, right?
Chris Robinson
Yeah, the first two, actually.
Bobby Cast Host
So. So you went back to record the second album. You were living in New York, you went back down.
Chris Robinson
Yeah, by then, believe it or not. I can't believe a. A relationship with a girl who danced in a cage at Limelight didn't work out. No, I'm just kidding. Yeah. So, you know, another weird thing that I think the, you know, all the parents that tell their kids they should do this. The first Black Crows tour for Shaker money maker was 350 shows in 18 months.
Bobby Cast Host
Wow.
Chris Robinson
So that's a really weird thing. And, you know, we were young, you know, I had just turned 22, 23. Rich was turning 20, 21.
Bobby Cast Host
Do you forget where you are whenever you're doing, you know, that many shows?
Chris Robinson
I wasn't. I never was the kind of person to have to look at the set list and go, all right, you know, Birmingham, Alabama, you know, for some reason I knew where I was. Even later in this super drugged out stuff, I always have known where I am.
Bobby Cast Host
Let's take a quick pause for a message from our sponsor.
Donald and Zach (T-Mobile Ad)
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Chris Robinson
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Donald and Zach (T-Mobile Ad)
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Chris Robinson
Really? How's this?
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Chris Robinson
No.
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Chris Robinson
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Chris Robinson
Hey, whoa, whoa. That's too fast.
Donald and Zach (T-Mobile Ad)
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Zoe Spencer
like it was a little bit unbelievable until I really start making money.
It's financial literacy month and the podcast Eating While Broke is bringing real conversations about money, growth and building your future. This month, hair flower from top streamer Zoe Spencer and venture capitalist Lakeisha Landrum Pierre as they share their journeys from starting out to leveling up.
If I'm outside with my parents and they're seeing all these people come up to me for pictures, it's like what today? Now, Obviously it's like 100%. They believe everything, but at first it was just like, you gotta go get a real job.
Cheryl Strayed
There's an economic component to communities thriving. If there's not enough money and entrepreneurship happening in communities, they fail. And what I mean by fails? They don't have money to pay for food. They cannot feed their kids. They do not have homes. Communities don't work unless there's money flowing through them.
Zoe Spencer
Listen to eating while Brooke from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.
Earn Your Leisure Host
Hey, earners, what's up? Look, money is something we all deal with, but financial literacy is what helps turn income into real wealth. On each episode of the podcast, earn your Leisure, we break down the conversations you need to understand money investing and entrepreneurship. From stocks and real estate to credit business and generational wealth, we translate complex financial topics into real conversations everyone can understand. Because the truth is, most people were never taught how money really works. But once you understand a system, you can start to build within it. That means ownership, smarter investing, and creating opportunities not just for yourself, but for the next generation. If you want to learn how to build wealth, understand the markets, and think like an owner, earn your leisure is the podcast for you. Listen to earn your leisure on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.
Cheryl Strayed
Hi, everyone. I'm Cheryl Strayed, author of Wild and Tiny Beautiful Things. I'm excited to share that I have a new podcast called Mind over Mountain. In each episode, I interview athletes, adventurers, and adrenaline seekers to discuss the inner landscapes and life experiences that informed and inspired their extraordinary feats. I also bring a bit of advice into the mix so we, too, can better understand how to face our own seemingly insurmountable challenges.
Chris Robinson
Do you know what I'm gonna do?
Zoe Spencer
I'm gonna pull out what you already have inside.
Chris Robinson
We come into this world fighting for our lives. All I'm gonna do is is pull out what you already got inside.
Cheryl Strayed
We're there to support and celebrate each other, and that is not like a your story versus my story. You're gonna walk up and over that dang mountain. You're not just gonna put your mind over it?
Donald and Zach (T-Mobile Ad)
Yep.
Chris Robinson
Yep. Exactly. And if I can't walk up and over it, I'm gonna go through it.
Cheryl Strayed
Listen to Mind over Mountain every Thursday on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Bobby Cast Host
We're back on the Bobby cast. Can I ask you a question about drugs?
Chris Robinson
Yeah.
Bobby Cast Host
Because I. I've never had a drink of alcohol, never done anything, but I would love to.
Chris Robinson
Your grandmother would be so upset if you did.
Bobby Cast Host
I know she would. I would love to, but I've come from a long line of, like, hyper super addiction where everybody's died. Right. I think I'd be great at it, but I think I'd want to win too. I think I'd want to be the best at it.
Chris Robinson
Yeah, I don't. Yeah, it's weird, you know what I mean? Because I was, I was afraid of them. I mean, I started drinking. I mean, I had my first hangover, like adult hangover at 15. But that was kind of par for the course, I think as a young guy in, in Atlanta. And then, and then, then we're musicians and now we're with crazy people all the time and you know, you can't. How do we get even more crazy? So many of my heroes are crazy people.
Bobby Cast Host
Did you feel like it opened you up, made you more creative?
Chris Robinson
No, I don't, but I, I, and I still don't. I still, you know, my only real vice for the last 40 years is, is cannabis. But I think cannabis adds to my. Some people get really stoned and they fall asleep or they can't concentrate. I, my chemistry is completely different. As a matter of fact, when I want to concentrate, I will get more stoned. And I don't know if this is because I'm dyslexic or whatever, but I've written song. Most of the songs I've ever written, I'm completely sober, maybe stoned, but not. I couldn't. I never did hard drugs in, you know, like to do a gig.
Bobby Cast Host
Think I'm really curious about hallucinogenics because I think I could, that that would open me up and you and I read stories about certain people that would take them at certain times or to remove like symptoms of ptsd. I think there are a lot, I
Chris Robinson
think that's an interesting part of it, you know what I mean? I think the, you know, I'm one of these old sort of heads that I, I don't know. A mind blown is a mind shown, is what they used to say in the acid revolution.
Bobby Cast Host
I just don't want to get attacked by like a ten foot starfish. Like I'm tripping out so hard.
Chris Robinson
What if the ten foot starfish is your best friend and you're right, you can cuddle up with it.
Bobby Cast Host
It's Patrick Star. You're right.
Chris Robinson
You know what I mean?
Bobby Cast Host
I'm SpongeBob.
Chris Robinson
I get it. I don't think it's something if, if any trepidation about it, I think dictates already where you are, you know? Are you kidding, man? At one time in my life, when you're a kid, you're like, heroin's the scariest thing in the world. Well, fast forward a decade and a half and like, oh, wow. I. You know, my kids are 16 and 22. They know that I've done these things, and I did these things in the 90s. But I also. I've also. In the same way that I knew where I was, I also knew, in a sense, where. Without sounding funny, I knew where the line was drawn.
Bobby Cast Host
That's not something everyone has.
Chris Robinson
No. I read a book called and I've Had Moments. By the way, don't get me wrong, I'm not being that cool. I know that I've had moments that scared people around me. I've known that. I've had moments where I'm like, okay, I'm pushing this. In the end of the 90s, I wake up, we're on Columbia Records. I. I'm so miserable and I'm so sad. I'm so lonely that our. That. That this is where our band is, that this is what's happening. There may have been some times where I maybe would have really. If. What would have happened if I didn't wake up? We would have. You know, our catalog would have been worth more, maybe. I. I mean, I. I hate to sound bleak and I'm not Roman it. But even then. And it's funny because I think, you know, in my lyrics, there's always a. A light at the end of the tunnel. And I've lost dear, dear friends. Beautiful, tortured souls. Are you kidding, man? Like, I've been telling, you know, talking about this new record, Todd Schneider passing away. My. I mean, I. We had such a. I had such a unique and amazing friendship with him. Todd came to the studio. We were only in the studio eight days or whatever, but Todd coming down to the studio, and he's like, are you cool if I hang? I'm like, I'm cool if you do whatever. It makes this last album so poignant to me that those are the last few days I got to spend with him. But let's be honest, he might have passed away from other stuff, but I don't think Todd ever hid the fact that he was a drug person person. And ultimately, I think a lot of the things that happen, as tragic and horrible as they are, are add up to drugs now. I'm a drug person who doesn't live that life anymore, so I would never judge anyone for that.
Bobby Cast Host
I think I'm a drug person that's never done drugs.
Chris Robinson
Yeah.
Bobby Cast Host
I mean, because I judge nobody for it at all. I'm just so curious about it.
Chris Robinson
Yeah.
Bobby Cast Host
Yeah, I would love to do them.
Chris Robinson
Are you? But maybe, you know, my brother's never done drugs. But Rich also is a level of control that he. That I have never really found. I've never really found it to be again. It's different. I'm 59 years old. I have responsibilities. I have a lovely. I have beautiful. Two beautiful kids. My. Their stepmom. My wife is everything. You know what I mean? We still, you know, I still get a hangover every once in a while. Whatever. I'm not interested in sobriety and the way it looks. I'm not interested. I'm happy for you. Not. You know what I mean? Like, you never dabbled. But I also think doing drugs and alcohol isn't an excuse for your behavior. And I take responsibility for everything I've ever done, and I can live with that.
Bobby Cast Host
Did you have a point where you had to kind of reconcile with yourself?
Chris Robinson
No, because I don't have that same. There's not a moral issue there. To me now, if I had done something horrendous like been inebriated and killed someone in a car crash. Whoa. I mean, that's a whole nother level of. But when I was in my height of my decadent behavior, I didn't have a driver's license for a decade. And luckily for me, in success, I had a kind of life where I always had somebody with me to drive the car or, you know, to go get more drugs.
Bobby Cast Host
What was it like to be famous in the 90s whenever people. They had to find the videos because it was, you know, MTV was massive.
Chris Robinson
It was rock and roll fame. It wasn't celebrity fame.
Bobby Cast Host
What's okay, then? We define the difference in rock and roll fame and celebrity fame.
Chris Robinson
Well, okay, so it is a little bit different because of mtv, right? So MTV is driving the visual part of your success. It's not like you were just famous for making records and people saw you in a magazine or they saw you in concert or they you that way. So you're. You know, I was. I was telling somebody, I remember. And, you know, we have the number one album in the country. They're playing Remedy eight times a day. They've been playing. We sold 6 million albums on Shake your money Maker. I go see Jane's Addiction at Madison Square Garden, and I want to wait till the lights go down, but the people I'm with like, let's go to our seats. And I'm like, I don't want to go to the seats. And then They I go and like, you suck. Black girls suck. You know, like. So there's lots of people who don't like your band who now see you on TV with the bands they do like, you know what I mean?
Bobby Cast Host
Was that a game changer when MTV started showing your video?
Chris Robinson
Of course. For anybody? No one. No one was famous. Rock and roll. No one was successful without being on MTV at that time. Time. It just didn't happen. I mean, it also worked hand in hand with radio when rock radio drove the sales, when everyone listened to the local rock station, depending on. You had more than one station, depending on what market you're in, to have big hit records on the radio and to be on MTV all the time. That's why you had people. That's why we sold millions of records.
Bobby Cast Host
What about Rolling Stones?
Chris Robinson
Maybe I'm at the very end of Rolling Stone, meaning something, you know. But then Rolling Stone just turns into People magazine or celebrity shit. Like anything else. Like, how are you talking about a band that is serious or a band whose music is of this kind of quality, but then you have NSYNC in there or some boy band shit, corporate put together pop stuff. It's not the same. Yeah, everyone's singing and dancing, but it's, it's. You know what I mean? We're out there on our own. We're living by our creative impetus, you know what I mean? It's a visceral experience. We have to be outsider people. Not to be cute and do good in the audition.
Bobby Cast Host
Was it weird when they would portray you as like the good looking cute? Because, because you guys would.
Chris Robinson
If you can find someone portraying.
Bobby Cast Host
Well, you got so famous though. You got so famous. They would just be like, these are the hot guys now. Of.
Chris Robinson
No, there was a moment where we were like, oh, they're like the rock and roll boy band. Or I'm like, what in a million years, you know what I mean? Like. And hey, those guys just wanted to be in showbiz. But see the difference between rock and roll and pop music. And you see it today, you see a lot of people run their mouths like, well, you don't do. You do what you're told. Old Sonny Jim. And we were trying. That was the difference. We were celebrated for to be horrible. And I mean, I don't mean horrible to people or to whatever. I mean, we just didn't give a fuck, really. Were you different? You couldn't tell us? I mean, the record company management, they were always trying to tell us what to do. And we were like, I didn't. How did I get here? If I did what I was told, then I would be in a boy band, then I'd be a pop star, then it would be a big act, which is cool too because that's showbiz, right? But we were just naive and. Or ignorant enough to believe that you could do it some other way. I mean, you know, I'm from Atlanta in the late 80s and our local music scene, which was. Looking back on it now, it was just like the days of Camelot, you know what I mean? Like we had nothing. No one cared. But all the bands, and I try to explain to like younger people like you guys, like it was, was every day was bands and gigs and your friends and the, the national touring acts that would come and would be a big event. But you know, people, you know, I'm seeing you go see bands now that are, Well, I don't know. Black Flag. Let's take Black Flag. They. I see them at a all ages show at the 688. There's 300 people there.
Zoe Spencer
There.
Chris Robinson
You know what I mean? Like, it's nothing. It's. The club is the size of this. And so when people are like moshing and slam dancing. It was still called slam dancing at the time. It wasn't at a giant place with Rage against the Machine or Primus up there. It was a little clandestine thing that everyone knew what, what that was going on, you know. And I. The big shows would be at center stage, you know, I saw Pil at center stage with Peter Murphy and it's. That show was 700 people. And to us that was like an arena, you know. So it's just funny how the scale of things, you know, that you would sign with a major label caused. I mean everyone at the bar where all the bands like I'll never sell out. I'll never. But we all wanted a record deal, you know, so bad because we wanted to. We wanted our records to be out there.
Bobby Cast Host
Yeah, that's what a record deal does, right? Distribution, like gets the records.
Chris Robinson
That was the.
Bobby Cast Host
To radio and to stores and that's the. That was a game changer.
Chris Robinson
Have a. You know when you have nothing, they have, you know, 1990, we get the call to go open for Aerosmith, who are huge. Pump is the biggest thing in the world. They're back. They're bigger than a permanent vacation. They're. We're still toiling away playing. We now we get back from Europe, we have our first tour bus. We have a couple new guitars. We have A crew. We made $500 a night. Even in 1990, that wasn't a lot of money when you're renting a tour bus and you have all this accoutrement, you know, so. But by the way, luckily for us, you're on a major label who could. Could put money behind you that you ended up owing. Of course. I mean, we signed to one of the worst record deals of all the worst record deals. You hear that story a lot. But what were we going to do? Not sign it?
Bobby Cast Host
So it was all in advance. You had to pay everything back.
Chris Robinson
Oh, my God. Talking about the videos. Yeah. Jesus, they were so expensive. I mean, that was the one thing about. Or the one thing that I do appreciate about today is seemingly your financial reality is so much more in your control.
Bobby Cast Host
It's a great point, because, look, this show's on Netflix. We got a couple thousand bucks in camera gear and we can shoot 50 episodes.
Chris Robinson
Yeah, yeah.
Bobby Cast Host
And it can be high, as high
Chris Robinson
quality, having to go to a TV
Bobby Cast Host
studio or spend $200,000 on a music video or.
Chris Robinson
Or more than that. And I've never been savvy. You know, my life and my interest and my passions are all art. And as a matter of fact, that's been difficult for people because, you know, there's this idea too, that you're a rock star. So you should know about. First off, not only is it, am I incapable, it's just the most boring thing in the world. I mean, luckily, I'm older now and I. We're. We have a. A team, and I'm surrounded by people who are nurturing and can help. But, you know, if you think, you know, we were talking about 1991, 92. You know, it's funny, Steven Tyler called me after we sold 6 million albums. He's like, man, are you going to put your money away? I'm like, put my money away? I'm 23 years old. I could care less. What, am I supposed to put this away for the rest of my life? I mean, I appreciate him calling, but also, who would have had time? I mean, other people, clever people, wealthier people, who would have had time to deal with that? I was dealing with the next album and, you know, being in this band and what I do for the Black Crows and what I've done, no matter what other people want to say, is I'm the guy who had the idea to be in a band in the first place. Yes. Rich. And I write the songs. Yes. It's impossible to be in a band without the material you play, and that's me and Rich and. And of course, Rich's influence and input is equal to mine. But how we look. What it. What it. You know, naming the albums, designing stages, designing album covers, artwork, T shirts. I remember, you know, I tell the story we put on. I. We went to England for the first time, and we maybe still we looked a different. But I still had jeans tucked into a cowboy boot like Guns N Roses. But I went to the. A magical place that doesn't exist anymore called Kensington Market. And I walked down there, and there's a maroon pair of velvet, crushed velvet bell bottoms, the kind Keith Richards had in Night on Exile, Main street era. And I was like, I want those. And then I had this Indian sort of shirt. And I remember we came back and, like, we did this festival, and people were laughing like the other bands. Like a band like Warrant who looked like the Osmond, you know, Crazy Horse, you know, they had, like, matching leather. I was like, okay, all right. You guys are like, if Evel Knievel wasn't cool, no offense to them, I'm sure they're cool people. And bless them. I'm not bagging on Warrant. I mean, but when y' all are laughing at me because I look like this, and then, you know, six months later, Vogue magazine is like, that's how. How cool people look now. You know, I mean, us and Lenny Kravitz really were the first ones to start looking, like, Bringing back a 70s aesthetic, you know what I mean? So. But you have to have. It's about. Not only is about writing, but it's about ideas and having imagination and being able to put it. It's about an aesthetic, really. And we didn't. In all those years, we never had a stylist. We never had someone come to the video shoot and say, well, you would look cool. And we would have laughed at that. Them, because that's. We wanted it to be. That. We wanted it to be real. You know, I remember one time when we were. We were one of the first rock bands. And I see be. Speaking of real, I see be real a couple years ago from Cypress Hill, and he's like, we were you. We were in hip hop and the Black Crows, and we were the, like, legalized weed people. And I remember one time, this guy. This guy wrote an article. He's like, you know, these guys get stoned and they think that they're the first ones to do it. And I said, no, I don't think we're the first people to get Stoned. I just don't know why we can't, you know what I mean? I, I, that was my whole point, always, you know, even by the time Shaker Moneymaker comes out, I mean, Southern Harmony, people are like, they're retro rock. I mean, I get it, maybe our look, but Remedy doesn't sound like the Rolling Stones. Sometimes Salvation most assuredly doesn't sound like the Faces. I mean, I think you could look at us because our influences are roots based. And the rock music that we liked, whether it was the Stones, the Faces or the Band or Little Feed or whatever, I won't even get into some of the other like, kind of influences. Those, those are records that are all inspired by the origins of rock and roll and, and the blues music, the country music, in our case, a lot of funk music and gospel, R B music, which comes from the blues. I mean, somehow in there there's jazz music, but then somehow in there there's punk and somehow they're in there, there's indie rock. Right? You know what I mean? So people always, you know, one of the reasons Jimmy Page wants to play with the Black Crows is he heard us play. But the other reason is he liked that we, we had a lot of the same influences, even though he's a generation removed, you know, and that's been the, it was funny because I wish we would have been hanging out with Guns N Roses, you know what I mean? Hanging out with Joe Cocker, you know, because, or whatever. You know, the first rock stars I meet are like Ian Hunter from Mott the Hoople came to the Black Crow show in our first show in New York, and there he is, he's standing there and I love Mot the Hoople. He's one of the great rock lyricists of all time. You know, I mean, once bitten, twice shy. Incredible, incredible lyrics. And he was like, I just wanted to meet you guys. I'm like, what? You know, how cool. But I don't think if we'd sounded, if we hadn't been true to what we were and what influenced us and how that inspired us. I don't know if I'm meeting him in the same way, you know, I tell the story. The great Ronnie Lane from the Faces is in his wheelchair with Ms. On his last days. And there's, we're opening for a band from Los Angeles called Junkyard. This is our very first tour and we're in Austin, Texas, and we're not even in a dressing room. They got the dressing room. We're in the room with the ice cooler. And so like, while we're getting dressed, the bar backs are filling the ice for the bar and there's a knock on the door and this like, dipshit security goes, hey, there's some guy in a wheelchair out here named Ronnie Lane who wants to say hello. And like we, the great Ronnie Lane is here. And he came in with his girl that was, you know, and he was like, I just, I just wanted to say hello. You guys have said so many nice things about my music.
Bobby Cast Host
That's cool.
Chris Robinson
And I'll remember it my whole life. I mean, those are the things to me that are the real special things. You know what I mean? That, that happens. And they still happen. They happen all the time.
Bobby Cast Host
The Bobby cast. We'll be right back.
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Chris Robinson
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Chris Robinson
Really? How's this?
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Miles Turner
No.
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Chris Robinson
How can I go any faster?
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Zoe Spencer
like it was a little bit unbelievable until I really start making money.
It's financially Literacy month and the podcast Eating While Broke is bringing real conversations about money, growth and building your future. This month hear from top streamer Zoe Spencer and venture capitalist Lakeisha Landrum Pierre as they share their journeys from starting out to leveling up.
If I'm outside with my parents and they're seeing all these people come up to me for pictures, it's like what today? Now Obviously it's like 100. They believe everything. But at first it was just like, you got to go get a real job.
Cheryl Strayed
There's an economic component to communities thriving. If there's not enough money and entrepreneurship happening in communities. They fail. And what I mean by fail is they don't have money to pay for food. They cannot feed their kids. They do not have homes. Communities don't work unless there's money flowing through them.
Zoe Spencer
Listen to eating while broke from the black effect podcast Network on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your pocket podcast.
Earn Your Leisure Host
Hey, earners, what's up? Look, money is something we all deal with, but financial literacy is what helps turn income into real wealth. On each episode of the podcast, earn your leisure, we break down the conversations you need to understand money investing and entrepreneurship. From stocks and real estate to credit business and generational wealth, we translate complex financial topics into real conversations. Everyone can understand. Because the truth is, most people were never taught how money really works. But once you understand the system, you can start to build within it. That means ownership, smarter, investing, and creating opportunities not just for yourself, but for the next generation. If you want to learn how to build wealth, understand the markets, and think like an owner, earn your leisure is the podcast for you. Listen to earn your leisure on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.
Miles Turner
What's up? I'm Miles Turner.
Brianna Stone
And I'm Brianna Stone.
Miles Turner
And our podcast game recognized game, has never been done before.
Brianna Stone
Two active players giving you a real look at our lives and what we actually think on and off the court.
Miles Turner
Nothing's off limits. We talk trade requests.
Brianna Stone
What's the vibe of that? When it's like your star player is like, well, I want to leave, and then actually now I'm going to stay. We talk tanking. I mean, honestly, like, I might get in trouble for this answer, but I think it's like, definitely happening in the wnba.
Miles Turner
And yeah, we talk about our mistakes, too. They pulled me to the side and was like, hey, man, we got a call last night, man, you can't be rolling around the city like this tonight before games. No, you know, doing this, doing whatever.
Brianna Stone
And of course, family stories. They'll be like, mommy, why did you miss that? Mommy, do you play basketball? Check out game recognized game with Stuy and miles on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.
Bobby Cast Host
This is the Bobby cast, the new record A pound of feathers. You and your brother wrote those songs. How are you writing songs differently now? Because it's got to be different, right?
Chris Robinson
Not really. Not to be honest. That's the one thing. I mean, it's a little bit different
Bobby Cast Host
because a little more delicate Deliberate with the writing.
Chris Robinson
No, there's nothing deliberate about what we do. It's all spontaneous at all. And especially this record, I think Happiness Bastards. Super proud of it. I love it. I was so. I think the life in it is. Is. Is. You can feel it. But, you know, when we ended up at Jay's Joyces in Nashville for that record, we had those songs worked out. You know, a song like Rats and Clown kind of had for a few months. And we knew, like, this is the song and this is the lyric and this is the chorus and blah, blah, blah. There were maybe some songs that weren't complete Wanting and Waiting. As an example, I didn't have that chorus. You know, I mean, we had the. The beat, but the main bit. But I wrote this song in Nashville, this record. We, you know, we knew where, you know, we knew we were getting geared up to go to the make a record. But I had told Rich, and Rich was here in la. He just moved to the East Coast. I said, I want. I don't. I don't want to have anything finished. I'm not going to do any lyrics until we get to Nashville, which is very different. I mean, I have shit, tons of lyrics. I write all the time. I have notebooks. I have notebooks for days. I have little pieces of a postcard that I wrote something or a match thing or whatever. But we were here in the Valley where we rehearse, and our guys said. I said, set up a drum kit, a bass amp and a guitar, and, like, let's just get out there. So Rich had some ideas, some rough things, so we, you know, I sit down at the drums and start to get a little vibes together and where I want the changes to go. And Rich is playing guitar and then play some bass. And one of the really cool things that really set this whole thing in motion was I was at a friend's birthday party in the Canyon, and Josh Freeze, the great, famous Josh Freeze, one of the best drummers of all time, was at the party, and we're friends. And he was like, what are you doing? I said, oh, Rich and Ira, he goes, can I come out and jam? I was like, but you don't have to get on a private jet to go play a stadium in South America with whatever giant band you're in. He's like, no, I'm home for a couple weeks. I said, all right, man, if you want to. So Josh comes out, he's not on the album, and he's there. None of the stuff that we did was we used. But it was this spark of like, oh, I could get up off the kit a little bit. Kind of told him like, oh, I like it like that, like this, like whatever. But you don't tell Josh Freeze what to do do. So Rich is playing and Josh is. And I went home and our mutual friend came over. I made dinner for us and, and I, I said, he goes, play me that. He goes, Josh said it was super fun. I said, I don't know, listen to this. And it was just funky and raw and cool, you know. And he goes, that should be the record. Like that. And I said, man, well, they're not going to let us get away with that. But, but it, it. But I felt the exact same thing.
Earn Your Leisure Host
Thing.
Chris Robinson
So when we got to Nashville, I, you know, I was like, Jay. I mean, I told Jay before we got there, I said, yeah, we're coming in with nothing and I want to keep it that way. And, and Jay, Jay's so cool and we have a really good rapport with him. And to be honest, I think Jay likes working with us too, because we're, we're. We're so not together, you know what I mean? We're still wild old. We're feral in the studio. And I don't even remember what we started with first. It was maybe profane prophecy or it's like that or something. But Cully, our drummer, lives in Nashville, so we had Cully so I could sit down at the kit, show him like kind of where I'm feeling it, and then that was it. And then Rich, you know, Rich plays all the guitars and bass. We have Cully, Eric, our keyboard player, came in at the last couple days and Leslie and Mackenzie, our backup singers sang in one day day. And it was eight days and we wrote all these songs and it was just heaven, you know what I mean? It's one of the moments I've been lucky enough to, you know, I. We love making records. It's one of the most satisfying things about our careers. I love records in general. I've been collecting records. I was 12 years old. I mean, I'm obsessed with records. It's a problem, you know what I mean? I moved out of my parents house in 1987 and all I had were a couple of T shirts and boxes and boxes of books and records and that's pretty much my life still. But when we got in there, it was just great, you know what I mean? Like, I. And it's funny, it gets back to Todd Schneider's there and he's like what? I've never seen anything like this. You and Rich don't even say anything and you just wrote three songs. What the fuck are that? That. And we have an esp. We have a telepathic weird thing. It also has to do with being brothers. It also has to do with writing many songs. But even when we were teenagers, still at mom and dad's and we start writing our first songs, it's the same. We just go with where the muse takes us and how it feels. And I believe in the muse. I believe in the muse in its full Greek myth, glory. And one thing that has never changed is I've never. And this gets back to the business sort of part of it. If I gave myself to something like the business or worrying about the money. I worry about money like anyone else because I'm almost 60 years old and I have responsibilities and I love French food and I love. I like my haberdashery as well. But that if you spent your time with that, then the muse is going to abandon me. And I really, honestly, I can only speak for myself, but I don't ever. And it's problem, you know, it's a problem always being half in a dream. And I understand that. And I'm lucky to. I'm lucky to have the wife that I have, you know, who will check me and when it's time to put my feet on the ground and I need to be here for her or for us, for whatever, I'm there to deal. But I'm also lucky that she understands that that's where all the fruit is. You know what I mean? That's truly the garden that we've been cultivating for over 40 years. And if I removed myself from it, I don't think it would be there for me. The way we're talking about it, the way Rich and I can sit down in a studio in a little more than eight, nine days and come up with this kind of music that personally I feel is so vibrant and alive. Music that's really representative of not only the celebration of life, life and how I feel, but that is also delves in, you know, I'm not political person, but I'm upset and. And it hurts right now for me to be in this country. It hurts. And I don't care about politics. I know morally what's right and wrong and what I see is wrong. And it just breaks my heart. Racism has always broken my heart. Heart. Seeing maligned people, it's. It's heartbreaking. And we. And some of, you know, and some of us feel that we could do better, you know, and, and, and I get it. I get that everyone has an agenda, but I. So this is. We're making this record in May. This is before, like these last couple of weeks. Yeah, but I think, you know, also, I don't write anything political ever. I'm a poet. And I, and I say that knowing that, you know, that's a very heavy word for me.
Bobby Cast Host
Let's take a quick pause for a message from our sponsor.
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Chris Robinson
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Cheryl Strayed
Zach.
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Chris Robinson
Really? How stupid.
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Bobby Cast Host
No.
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Chris Robinson
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Zoe Spencer
like it was a little bit unbelievable until I really start making money.
It's Financial Literacy Month and the podcast Eating While Broke is bringing real conversations about money, growth and building your future. This month hear from top streamer Zoe Spencer and venture capitalist Lakeisha Landrum Pierre as they share their journeys from starting out to leveling up.
If I'm outside with my parents and they're seeing all these people come up to me for pictures, it's like, what today? Now, Obviously it's like 100% that they believe everything, but at first it was just like, you got to go get a real job.
Cheryl Strayed
There's an economic component to communities thriving. If there's not enough money and entrepreneurship happening in communities, they fail. And what I mean by fail is they don't have money to pay for food. They cannot feed their kids. They do not have homes. Communities don't work unless there's money flowing through them.
Zoe Spencer
Listen to eating While broke from the Black Effect podcast Network on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Podcast.
Earn Your Leisure Host
Hey, earners, what's up? Look, money is something we all deal with, but financial literacy is what helps turn income into real wealth. On each episode of the podcast, earn your leisure, we break down the conversations you need to understand money investing and entrepreneurship. From stocks and real estate to credit business and generational wealth, we translate complex financial topics into real conversations everyone can understand. Because the truth is, most people were never taught how money really works works. But once you understand the system, you can start to build within it. That means ownership, smarter investing, and creating opportunities not just for yourself, but for the next generation. If you want to learn how to build wealth, understand the markets, and think like an owner, earn your leisure is the podcast for you. Listen to earn your leisure on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.
Miles Turner
What's up? I'm Miles Turner.
Brianna Stone
And I'm Brianna Stevenson.
Miles Turner
And our podcast, game recognized Game, has never been done before.
Brianna Stone
Two active players giving you a real look at our lives and what we actually think on and off the court.
Miles Turner
Nothing's off limits. We talk trade requests.
Brianna Stone
What's the vibe of that? When it's like your star player is like, well, I want to leave, and then actually, now I'm going to stay. We talk tanking. I mean, honestly, like, I might get in trouble for this answer, but I think it's like, definitely happening in the wnba.
Miles Turner
And, yeah, we talk about our mistakes too. They pulled me to the side and was like, hey, man, we got a call last night, man, you can't be rolling around the city like this tonight before games. No. You know, doing this, doing whatever.
Brianna Stone
And of course, family stories. They'll be like, mommy, why did you miss that? Mommy, do you play basketball? Check out game recognized game with Stuy and miles on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Bobby Cast Host
And we're back on the Bobbycast. I've got three final questions. They're completely different questions.
Chris Robinson
We're gonna talk about Chelsea football.
Bobby Cast Host
We are not. We were talking about that beforehand, though.
Miles Turner
We were.
Bobby Cast Host
First question, was it annoying when Black, Rose, Sheryl Crow, and counting Crows all existed at the same time?
Chris Robinson
Yeah. Well, you throw Clint Black in there and you got a real problem. You know what I mean? Yeah.
Bobby Cast Host
That have been a tool. That would have been a tour right there. Clint Black, Cheryl Crow, the Counting Crows and Black Crows.
Chris Robinson
Yeah, yeah. I told Glenn Black that one Day I was like, man, everyone's ripping us off. Cheryl Crow, count of crows. Clint Black, our keyboard player Eddie said that one day. It was so funny. Cheryl really gets an excuse. Counting Crows. I mean, we live in such different worlds. At the time I was kind of annoyed, but whatever.
Bobby Cast Host
Were you before Counting Crows?
Chris Robinson
Yes.
Bobby Cast Host
And so how many crows bands are there? Right? Like that.
Chris Robinson
Yeah, I don't. I don't know. I mean, there's like an old R B group called.
Bobby Cast Host
Yeah, not many is my point. Like.
Chris Robinson
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, it's funny.
Bobby Cast Host
Would you. Did you guys ever talk about all toying together as a ruse or a show?
Chris Robinson
I think that would.
Bobby Cast Host
The ultimate.
Chris Robinson
I don't know any of the Counting Crows people. I know Cheryl pretty well.
Bobby Cast Host
I love Cheryl, by the way. She is.
Chris Robinson
She is, yeah, she's awesome. Sweetheart. And her band, I mean, oddly freed. Robert Kearns Strout. I mean, know.
Bobby Cast Host
So you're a little annoyed by all the crows. Okay, good. Second question.
Chris Robinson
Yeah, it's a lot of crows at
Donald and Zach (T-Mobile Ad)
once, all at the same time.
Chris Robinson
It doesn't matter. I mean, let. Let them have some more crows. How about the Velvetine crows or the Mayonnaise crows?
Bobby Cast Host
Now, as many crows as you can get.
Chris Robinson
Yeah.
Bobby Cast Host
Which one of you guys big hits fell out of you the fastest when writing it?
Chris Robinson
She talks to angels easily. Rich came up with that guitar intro. I mean, he was still at mom and dad's house.
Bobby Cast Host
How old were you guys when this happened?
Chris Robinson
Rich was 16 when he wrote that riff or whatever. Maybe 17.
Bobby Cast Host
And you were.
Chris Robinson
I was 19. 20. So that's one of the first. But you know, it's funny. We wrote that song and then it did. We didn't really have any way to play it. And when we meet George Draculius, who signs us and, and finds us and produces our first couple records, you know, I don't think we had that middle section, but I remember the, the first line of this. I mean, we. For. The reality is we wrote the bones of that song in about 25 minutes. 20 minutes. Because I, I, for whatever reason, she never mentioned the word. She never mentions the word addiction, so she's hiding something thing and she doesn't want to talk about it again. I'm writing this song way. You know, we. We're talking about drugs. I had never. I had. I had probably been stoned a handful of times. I definitely knew about alcohol, but I, I wasn't involved in anything like that. The subject matter would become a lot more familiar as the 90s roll on. But. But you know, the. The thing, the. The correlation between then and. And today and how I write is especially this record. I was saying the lyrics are darker. There's a lot of stuff and there's a lot of decadent stuff in there. So as I just told you, I'm in the only relationship that's ever had any gravity to me. You know, I mean, I'm in the only relationship that contains real, real dynamic love and. And passion and commitment. But who wants to hear about that? You know? So if I'm going to write a song and. And what really did. I mean, lots of people want to hear about that, but what really dictates to me the imagery and the lyric, the poetry of the song is. Could be anything. In the case of she Talks to Angels, Rich played me something that was really Melancholy Valley, you know what I mean? So I could access like a sort of story that. That. That. That was adjacent to me. I knew a girl in Atlanta who had a certain look, so I. And. And there had. I didn't know her that well. She was super rad goth chick, but maybe she was on heroin or something, which at the time would have been pretty deep. And you know what I mean, people, we were still kids, kids. So I romanticized about like, someone I didn't know. If someone loses a kid, you know what I mean? I just started Riff. You know, I. I didn't. I wrote one draft of the lyric too. It wasn't like I worked on it for days, you know, it just. The story came out in that form.
Bobby Cast Host
You held that song for a long time then, right?
Chris Robinson
Yeah, pretty. Yeah, for a couple years.
Bobby Cast Host
Like, you knew it was good then. You just were waiting for the right time.
Chris Robinson
Yeah, it was just like, how did it fit into what we were at the time?
Bobby Cast Host
Did it fit into what you were or was it someone good?
Chris Robinson
But later, you know, I think when we start to find ourselves, like, you know, you're also talking about the era of the power ballads of all these, like, hair metal bands and stuff. So we were. To me, I didn't. You know, to me, Sad Eyed lady of the Lowlands is a ballad. To me, Wild Horses is about, you know, the ballad. We loved Graham Parsons, you know, we love the Burrito Brothers, you know, so we're not afraid of ballads, but I think we would put it more in the context of. And I think a reason. One of the reasons that song has lived on and has a certain. I don't know, mystique about it is because it. It comes from that kind of place.
Bobby Cast Host
Do you still like playing that song?
Chris Robinson
Yes, of course. I mean, I, I, I mean, I think, think, I think we're so blessed to have a song like that.
Bobby Cast Host
Did you ever not like playing the song?
Chris Robinson
Maybe.
Bobby Cast Host
You know, because it got so big and I think anything that you're expected to do all the time, it doesn't matter what it is, you'd probably.
Chris Robinson
Or if you're me, you're definitely hate that, you know, but, but that was youth too. Now I, I can't imagine not playing it, you know. And, you know, the other thing is, it's funny because if you're in a rock band, if we were in a certain kind of rock band, you know, I don't, you know, we get into this because we're songwriters and I meet pe. I will, I will go to the air, you know, I will go to the airport or walk down the street or sit in a restaurant, whatever. People share with me their stories of addiction and recovery. People share with me all sorts of things, but the amount of people I meet who tell me about the song, our songs that they play at weddings and funerals really means a lot, a lot to me because I'm the same, you know, there's certain songs I, I have to put on if I'm feeling a certain way, you know, something that is like an old friend, the only one who understands, you know.
Bobby Cast Host
I want to ask about Whiskey Myers. So you guys are going, you're touring
Chris Robinson
Whiskey, by the way, before I forget the other stuff about writing songs is a lot like the new record. There's a lot of lyrics that are, that are made me and there's a lot of lyrics that were me. But then it's like the Coen Brothers movie, Barton Fink, where Barton Fink's talking to the guy who's like the southern writer or whatever that he admires for. He goes, you've written so many things that touch the common man. Where do these come from? What's the inspiration? And he says, he's, he goes, well, Barton, sometimes I like to make things up.
Bobby Cast Host
How do you guys end up with Whiskey Myers? You're torn together. It's a co headlining tour. It's gonna be an awesome show.
Chris Robinson
Yeah, yeah, I'm super excited. You know, it's funny, my brother actually wrote some songs with Whiskey Myers a few years ago, so that's how I first hear about them. And I think we had played a show with them in Oklahoma a couple years ago. And, you know, although we are most assuredly a rock band because of Our roots, influences. And because of being a Southern, being Southern people. A lot of countries, country music artists have had the black crows in their lives. And Whiskey Myers definitely being one, being very open and vocal about it. And they're a country band who's kind of on the outside of the Nashville thing in Texas and everything. So I think that it, you know, it kind of fills in on both sides, you know, that both bands aren't exactly what you think they are, but both bands are exactly what you feel they are.
Bobby Cast Host
Yeah.
Chris Robinson
You know, and I think that really is going to make it a really special tour.
Bobby Cast Host
So the tour starts in May. Hope everybody that's watching this goes and watches a show. Both bands are awesome together. That's. That's pretty crazy. That'd be.
Chris Robinson
Yeah, I mean. I mean, I. We're very excited and I've heard they're very excited, so we're kind of just checking, chomping at the bit to get out there and. Yeah, I mean, I would hope things are going really well. I would love to have those. I mean, we haven't had a tour where like that since we were with Tedeschi Trucks band. And that tour ended up being lifelong friendships and, you know, really great jams at the end of the night, you know, encore kind of collabs and stuff. So I'm hoping all that stuff happens.
Bobby Cast Host
Well, massive fan. I appreciate the hour. I hope the new record does exactly what you want it to do. I always listen to the. To the old stuff. It still feels fresh and new. I feel like if it came out today, it would still be. And also the record label with the.
Chris Robinson
And you don't do drugs or you
Bobby Cast Host
like it, love it. Not like it, love it. And the pubic hair. That was. That was troublesome.
Chris Robinson
Yeah, yeah. Your grandma wouldn't have.
Bobby Cast Host
No, no, no. I hid that one. I hate explaining that we didn't. We hid that. We make sure she never saw that one.
Chris Robinson
It's not about sex as much as it's about gratuitous behavior in American culture. But I don't want to dig into the semant anticipating. Let's just stick with the pubic hair.
Bobby Cast Host
Chris, thank you.
Chris Robinson
Thank you, man.
Bobby Cast Host
Thanks for listening to a Bobby Cast production.
Zoe Spencer
It's financial literacy month and the podcast Eating while Broke is bringing real conversations about money, growth, and building your future. This month hear from top streamer Zo Spencer and venture capital capitalist Lakeisha Landrum Pierre as they share their journeys from starting out to leveling up.
Cheryl Strayed
There's an economic component to communities thriving. If there's not enough money and entrepreneurship happening in communities, they fail.
Zoe Spencer
Listen to eating while broke from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast.
Earn Your Leisure Host
Earnest what's up? Look, money is something we all deal with, but financial literacy is what helps turn income into real wealth.
Chris Robinson
Wealth.
Earn Your Leisure Host
On each episode of the podcast, earn your leisure, we break down the conversations you need to understand money investing and entrepreneurship. From stocks and real estate to credit business and generational wealth. Our goal is simple. Make financial literacy accessible for everyone. Because when you understand the system, you can start to build within it. Open your free iHeartRadio app search. Earn your leisure and listen now.
Bob Pittman
Hi, I'm Bob Pittman, chairman and CEO of iHeartMedia, and I'm kicking off a brand new season of my podcast, Math and Stories from the front. Math and Magic takes you behind the scenes of the biggest businesses and industries while sharing insights from the smartest minds in marketing. Coming up this season on Math and Magic, CEO of Liquid Death, Mike Cesario.
Chris Robinson
People think that creative ideas are like these light bulb moments that happen when you're in the shower where it's really like a stone sculpture. You're constantly just chipping away and refining.
Bob Pittman
Take two Interactive CEO Strauss Selnick and our own Chief Business Officer, Lisa Coffey. Listen to Math and Magic on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.
Cheryl Strayed
Then she says, have you seen a
Chris Robinson
photo of my son? And I'm like, who is this person? Welcome to the boys and girls podcast. Arranged marriage is basically a reality show and you're auditioning for your soulmate and who's judging only your entire family. I sacrificed myself to this ancient tradition, hoping to find love and the right way. And instead I found chaos, comedy, and a lot of cringe. Listen to boys and Girls on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.
Bobbycast – Chris Robinson (Black Crowes): Wild 90s Stories & “She Talks to Angels”
Episode Date: April 1, 2026
Host: Bobby Bones
Guest: Chris Robinson (Lead singer of The Black Crowes)
This episode of Bobbycast dives deep into the life and career of Chris Robinson, frontman of The Black Crowes. Chris shares vivid stories of his southern upbringing, the wild rides of the 1990s, the band’s roots and creative dynamics with his brother Rich, and the origins of classic hits like “She Talks to Angels.” With candor and humor, Chris reflects on navigating fame, the drug-fueled music business, evolving creative processes, and the legacy of The Black Crowes. The conversation is peppered with nostalgia, sharp observations about culture and music, and memorable tales of artistic risk-taking and Southern eccentricity.
Family Approval:
Influence of Prince & Personal Aesthetics:
Club Gigs & Early Scene:
Leaving Home & Pursuing Adventure:
On Fame and the 90s:
Drugs, Control, and Boundaries:
Reflecting on the Dark Side:
Writing “She Talks to Angels”:
New Album “A Pound of Feathers”:
Old Record Deals & Industry Hazards:
Major Label Realities:
On creativity and focus:
“People think that creative ideas are like these light bulb moments that happen when you’re in the shower where it’s really like a stone sculpture. You’re constantly just chipping away and refining.” (01:58, Chris Robinson)
On the role of drugs:
“I think cannabis adds to my… my chemistry is completely different. When I want to concentrate, I will get more stoned… Most of the songs I’ve ever written, I’m completely sober, maybe stoned, but not [on hard drugs].” (33:13, Chris Robinson)
On their 90s reputation:
“We were just naive and… ignorant enough to believe you could do it some other way.” (41:58)
On songwriting telepathy:
“You and Rich don’t even say anything and you just wrote three songs. What the fuck? … We have an ESP. We have a telepathic weird thing. It also has to do with being brothers.” (61:43)
On legacy and connection:
“The amount of people I meet who tell me about the song [‘She Talks to Angels’], songs they played at weddings and funerals, really means a lot… There’s certain songs I have to put on if I’m feeling a certain way… the only one who understands.” (77:13)
On not being savvier with money:
“Not only am I incapable [with money], it’s just the most boring thing in the world… Luckily I’m older now and I have a team, but you were dealing with the next album and being in the band.” (46:26)
Chris Robinson emerges as a thoughtful, humorous, and fiercely independent artist, deeply entwined with southern traditions yet always pushing against their boundaries. The episode is filled with stories of struggle, exuberance, and a lifelong search for authenticity—not only in music, but in every area of life. His reflections on the arc of musical fame, creativity under pressure, and the simple magic of collaboration are inspiring for anyone interested in musical artistry or the real story behind rock and roll legends.
For more, listen to the full episode or see The Black Crowes on tour with Whiskey Myers.