Tommy Townsend Talks About His Long-Awaited Album, Southern Man, Releasing in April
“He looked at me with a smirk on his face and said, ‘This friendship shit has gone way too far.’ He started laughing and handed me his guitar and said, ‘Here ya go, Hoss. Have fun.’”
As Tommy Townsend prepares to release his new album, Southern Man, he reflects on who and what has influenced the album he began recording in 1987 and circled back around to in 1997.
The Grandaddy Mimm’s Founder sat down with his daughter and Grandaddy Mimm’s General Manager, Megan Kimsey, to talk about his favorite memories with Waylon Jennings, what life was like growing up as a country music singer, and his new album coming in April.
GDM General Manager Megan Kimsey interviewed her dad, Tommy Townsend, on his upcoming album. They sat together over a bottle of Handcrafted Peach Moonshine and chatted about:
- How many drinks it takes to write the perfect country song.
- Why this new album is so special to Tommy.
- What it was like raising a family and pursuing music.
- How Tommy’s music career has evolved.
- Tommy’s favorite memory of Waylon Jennings.
- What Waylon Jennings would order if he walked into Grandaddy Mimm’s today.
- How Tommy feels about his grandkids being raised in a moonshine distillery.
First question… How many drinks does it take to write a country hit?
Three drinks. No, I don’t know from personal experience, but some of my friends could attest to that. We always say drink when you’re creating but edit when you’re sober.
What makes this album meaningful to you?
Well, you know, my musical heroes and mentors produced it.
I was able to work closely with Waylon on this one before he passed, and it was just an awesome experience to be in the studio doing what we both loved together.
Now it’s coming out 25 years later and the timing is perfect because I’ve been able to ‘live’ some of the moments I’m singing about. Back then I sang about it, but it was neither here nor there to me. It just made good country music. Now I can say I have lived pieces of each song and it just hits harder, ya know?
Moonshine Cocktails You Can Make At Home:
How did you try to involve us, your family, in your music career?
I tried to involve you guys as much as I could. Some things weren’t appropriate for you to be at, like the bar scene and whatnot, so we kept y’all out of that until you were old enough to understand those places.
Anything fun I was able to do, we made sure you were there having fun, too. When you were in the 3rd grade, I had this late-night radio interview I was doing and asked you to come with me to be interviewed. I think we didn’t even start until 11PM and we were there for a few hours, but you were right there with me. Struggling to stay awake, but you did it.
One of the coolest moments was when we were at a Waylon concert and he took you out on stage to sing happy birthday to you. There was probably 5,000 people or more there. They all sang and it was just a cool memory.
How have you and your music evolved? I mean, I obviously didn’t know you as a kid, so I’m curious to know how far you’ve really come.
I mean, I started out playing at bars and honky tonks in North Georgia as a kid, just wherever I could let people hear me. Moving to Nashville to play those honky tonks was a bit of a step up. I think everyone moves there thinking they have what it takes, and most do, but it’s just timing. And that was a point where it wasn’t my time yet, but it was fun.
With the Waymore’s, it grew to playing in front of a couple of hundred people at venues, and then playing in front of tens of thousands of people at festivals. It was some of the most fun I have ever had. Being able to play with legends like those guys…it’s just something you can’t even put into words.
It’s just fun to see how far we have come. From this dream as a kid, to getting to actually live it day-to-day now. The growth is just incredible when you think about it. And, I’ve been able to find my passion in songwriting, which has been another door that has opened and evolved. Getting to write with some incredibly talented people has been one of the best experiences, too.
What is your favorite memory of Waylon? I feel like I know the answer to this, but for interview purposes, go ahead and tell me again.
Well, yeah, it’s the one I always tell about the guitar.
We were at one of his concerts and he told me he would bring me out there to sing for a bit. We all assumed it would be halfway through the show or later, so the guitar tech was going to string my guitar before Waylon called me out to sing. Well, about 3 songs in, I hear Waylon say that I need to come to the stage, but I only had about 4 strings on my guitar. The tech just told me to use Waylon’s guitar, like it wasn’t that big of a deal, so I walked out there and I asked Waylon to use his guitar.
He looked at me with a smirk on his face and said, “This friendship shit has gone way too far.” He started laughing and handed me his guitar and said, “Here ya go, Hoss. Have fun.”
What drink would Waylon order if he walked into Grandaddy Mimm’s?
A Salty Dog.
That was all he would ever drink, but I’m sure we could mix up a dang good one with our shine. But he would probably drink only one because he wasn’t a big drinker. As long as I knew him, I would only see him sip on one drink a night.
Are you prepared for your grandkids to know way too much about moonshine?
Start ‘em young! The more they know about it now, the more they will know in the future.
We hope that this thing is something we can continue to pass down. You know, when we started this thing, it was just a hobby, but now I’ve been able to watch you and Michael come in and help run the place. The girls are in here a bunch and I can just see this being something you pass down to them at some point, too. I know Lawsen already knows the word ‘moonshine’ because she pointed to some and told me that’s what it was the other day. And Piper is just so friendly that she is going to make an excellent sales rep or bartender one day if she wants to be. She already greets everyone that comes in when she’s here.
It is cool to know that these great, great grandkids of Mimm have a family legacy here for them, if that’s what they want.
