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All right, gentlemen, coming to main stage next, this is Bunny. Get up there. She's got a tornado of titties coming your way. Get those dollar bills ready. She's got an ass that shakes like Michael J. Fox. So get up there and throw, throw, throw them dollars. Dude, that is fucking iconic. What's up, you sexy motherfuckers? Welcome to another episode of Dumb Blonde. Our guest today, if you don't know who he is, he must have been living under a rock in fucking 2020 because...
I feel like you had like the national anthem for 2020. It was crazy. It was Dick Down in Dallas. Trey Lewis, baby. What's up? Thanks for having me on today. Dude, I'm so happy you're here. I've been wanting to get you on.
since Dig Down in Dallas dropped. I loved the song so much that I did a girl version of it. Oh, nice. But I never released it. I want to hear it. Oh, God. I sound like a cat fucking screaming and screeching and clawing up a wall. It was in the wrong pitch. Well, there was a lot of like girl versions of that song. Yeah. And like,
Some of them were like mad and it's like, I'm not, I was never hating on women, you know what I'm saying? Not at all. I think the line that saved us was is that pray in that she comes back and gives you that sweet ass, you know? I feel like the world is so fucking sensitive now. Yeah. Like you can say fucking the grass is green and somebody's gonna be like, it's not fucking green, it's emerald. Yeah, I mean, I really do.
I really do feel like that we got lucky in that sense that nobody like really hated on me for that. Yeah. I mean, I think it can't... That song came at a time that the world needed some fucking comic relief. Yeah. You know, like it was just...
we were going through the whole Rona situation and everybody was being so serious. So, you know, you dropped, Oh, actually my husband told me that you had Dick down in Dallas for a long time. So the story goes, so I, you know, I've been playing music for like 10 years. Yeah. That's what he said. And you, we have a mutual friend, Ryan. Yeah. We call him Ronnie in our, in our camp. He's hilarious. Our LD, which, uh, uh,
I don't know. He runs lights for us. But anyways, he didn't know Ryan's name. And one day he was like, Ronnie, get up here or whatever. And we just started calling him Ronnie. Yeah. So sorry. Somebody just walked in. Who is it? It's Kate. Oh, hi, baby. Sorry, I thought that was the start of it.
No, you're good. My husband just comes in and boomers Trey's fucking podcast. We were like, who's walking in here right now? Hi, Daddy. It's okay. Come say hi. Introduce yourself. We're just talking about Ronnie Nelson. We call him Ronnie in our camp. Love you so much. It's okay. Say hi to Trey, though. I'm okay.
so sorry we didn't this is not planned yeah man for sure i was just telling him how you had told me about the um about dick down in dallas how he had had that song out for a while before yeah it was uh it was kind of wild how it happened so i played covers for like
For a living. You know, that was my job. Yeah. Four nights a week, four hours straight, you know, no breaks. And I did that forever. And then I went through a divorce. And then I was like, I was like 30. I was like, screw it. I'm just going to move to Nashville. See what happens. Did she get dicked down in Dallas? I don't know. But I did find out last week that she is getting dicked down by one of my old friends. Oh, that's a fucking. But, you know, it's all good because.
you know, everything worked out for me. Yeah, everything worked out. I was telling her the story that we were at Live Oak one night drunk and we were playing and I was like, this is months before Dig Down Dallas came and you sang it and everybody did the Dig Down, Dig Down and Dallas probably had people in the crowd and Brian Nelson was like, I fucking love this. I don't mind. I fucking love this.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It was kind of crazy. So like playing the covers and everything. I was playing in Auburn, Alabama at this place called Sky Bar one night.
And this guy walked in. He's taller than me. And I was up on the stage singing Big Green Tractor. And I was changing the words to take you for a ride on my big tally whacker. After you play covers for so long, it's like you got to make it interesting for yourself. Because nobody's really listening. Right. You know what I mean? They're just vibing. Yeah. Drunk as shit, just vibing. Play some. Like, whatever, you know? Yeah. And anyways, yeah.
Matt McKinney he came up to me and he like shook my hand he was like dude that was hilarious and then so I moved to Nashville and I'm at Revival one night and this guy comes walking up to me he's like dude I met you at in Auburn you were changing the words that was hilarious and
And then me and him just became boys right then. We were just hanging out all the time, playing Madden together. You sound like my husband. He's like instant BFFs with people, and they just are like friends for life. He was like one of the first hands I shook in Nashville. We just became friends. And then, you know, and then just as like naturally as songwriters, we just, you know, like as I got here, I would just, you know, I was meeting people and writing with people. And sometimes it would be with him. Sometimes it would be with other people, you know, and...
And we would just send each other work tapes back and forth. Like, what do you think about this? What do you think about that? And then one day he sent me this song called Dick Down in Dallas. But it was just like a verse and a chorus. There was nothing else. I didn't think anything of it. And then...
going into 2020, it's supposed to be like one of my best years, like financially, like I had a lot of like weddings and like corporate events lined up. You were a wedding singer. Yeah, I did it all. I did whatever I had to, to make a living, you know, and I moved to Nashville cause I wanted to learn how to write songs better. And, and, uh,
It was going to be a good year for me. And then COVID happened and then everything shut down. And that allowed me more time to write and actually get to hang out with my co-writers and things like that. That's what I was going to say. I feel like 2020 divided the herd. It was more like...
if you were a creator or an artist, you either let it make you or break you. You know, that was your time to either shine and figure out how to evolve with the times or just let it, it's like sink or swim, you know, cause that's how our family was. We sat down and had a family meeting and we were like, okay, so we can't tour, you can't do this. So what, what are we going to do? And we just pumped out content left and right. So. Yeah. And then, and then, uh, yeah. Nice to meet you, man.
I love you, baby. I think it'll be awesome for the interview. It's okay. I love you, baby. Of course, man. Yeah, of course. I love you. It's okay. It's okay. He's so embarrassed right now. I know my husband. Um, but then, uh, so like,
everything just kind of like shut down and I started hanging out with my co-writers and like having bonfires at each other's houses and just like really getting to know other than Matt you know Matt was like my good buddy but like starting to really get to know people I like put out some small projects like I think I recorded some like quarantine songs that I recorded on my phone and I just put those out and then I did some like acoustic stuff that I like put out and then um
I decided that, you know, like I was going to record Dick Down in Dallas. We went to Chili's one day or something. We were coming back and McKinney had finished the song with the other two writers, Brent Gafford and Drew Trostclair. And I was like,
And he played it in the car. And then my other roommate, Mitch, was like, dude, if this song was out right now, I would buy it. Yeah. And then I just had the thought. I was like, you know what, man? I've been putting out music since 2012. Nobody, like maybe like my mom and my cousins have listened to it. Right. And like a few of those people that died bar in Birmingham that I play at. Right. I was like, I'll do it.
So then I learned it, and then I started playing it like dive bars. So did you write it besides the verse? No, I didn't write any of it. Oh, okay. Gotcha. My friends wrote it, and I was just like, none of y'all are ever going to put this out. Yeah. So like...
I'm going to do it. McKinney grew up, he was in the ministry as a kid, and his parents would just not be cool with that. Right. I feel like that's how a lot of country artists are. They're so scared to cross that line. Yeah. So it's like...
they, they want to do things, but because of their image or because of their upbringing and stuff like that, like it, it keeps them. And then like Brent, he's in a duo with his wife. So that's not going to work. And then, and then Drew's a guitar player. So I was like, screw it. I'll do it. You know, I've written a lot of good songs, you know, in the years that I've been here and,
I'm not afraid to put out something else. I mean, it has a lot to do with my personality, but I started playing it at these bonfire parties and all these things that we were doing. And then Matt Burrill, which is now my tour manager, has a podcast called In The Round, and then they have a round that they have in Nashville. And he was like, I want you to come play the round. I want you to play your music, but at the end, I want you to do a bonus song and play Dick Down in Dallas. Yeah. And so that night, I showed up and I played Dick Down in Dallas. Wow.
And by then, all our friends were in the bar, so everybody knew the song. So everybody was singing it. And Nikki T, Raised Rowdy, took a video of it, put it on Raised Rowdy. From there, Trey Bonner, my content guy, got it put on Call Her Daddy's Facebook group, I think. And then from there, McKinney got it put on Old Row. And then I just started posting TikTok videos. Yeah. TikTok is where it's at, man. Yeah. And then I think after...
TikTok, after the TikTok video, or no, after that night at Live Oak, I called Ryan Nelson. I was like, what do you think I should do, dude? Do you think I should do like a Corey Smith vibe and just like keep it acoustic? Or, you know, so like I definitely called, you know, and asked him what he thought about it. Yeah. And then that night I was dating a girl at the time and I was...
Which I do that a lot. That was my next question. I was going to be like, how much pussy has Dick down in Dallas gotten you? Well, I had a girlfriend the entire time. Oh, did you? Yeah, during that. Damn it. No, I'm just kidding. I'm totally kidding. But it was fun. Yeah. But anyways, so I don't know. I feel like we can get into that later. Yeah, totally. But I honestly feel like I did all that getting laid and getting pussy on the road thing.
before all this happened. Yeah. You got it out of your system. After a while, that just doesn't... Yeah. You know what I mean? No, I totally get it. Eventually, at some point, you have to quit using that for validation. Yeah. It's really an ego stroke. I mean, I'm married to a musician, so I get it. We totally go on little escapades on the road and stuff like that. So...
After Dick Down in Dallas dropped and all this fame started coming to you and all this attention, how did that make you feel? Because you're very open about mental illness, and I love that about you because I suffer with depression and anxiety. I had a meeting with my therapist this morning before I came over here. Aw, I love that.
We stan a king who gets therapy. I think that's so awesome, dude. Not enough people talk about it, and I'm so open about it. I talk about it all the time, but to hear men talk about it, I think is such a rarity. I think that's really awesome that you embrace it. It's definitely a huge thing for me to really stay on top of it. One thing I was talking about today is that people that...
see me as Trey Lewis and then people that just see me as Trey. You know what I mean? Oh, yeah. So, I mean, I'll never forget the night that Dictown Dallas came out and it was number one on the iTunes charts. To me, you know, I'm an independent artist, so a number one song on iTunes chart is a big deal. Huge. Like, never, you know. And I'll just never forget, I went in my room and I got out on my knees and I was just like, thanks God, I'll never question you again. Because I'll never forget, like a year and a half ago, I was in my van
um and i was driving down the road and i just like remember telling god i was like look man if all you want me to do is just like play these cover gigs on the weekends uh you know get to write songs with my friends during the week i'll do that but like don't you think it would be cool just to like have like a little bit of success to like show people that i've been sober for 14 years i got yeah i definitely wanted to talk about i got sober in alabama
What was your addiction of choice? Alcohol? I mean, I really liked it all. He was like, my choice was more. Cocaine, Xanax, alcohol. Oh, me too. Just like blackout or get out. I was the same way. So you must suffer from anxiety and social anxiety. Yeah, for sure. Even still. Yeah. Oh, no, me too. It's hard for me to even do podcasts someday. And this has been my therapy doing this podcast because it's so hard for me sometimes to even just...
be around big crowds. So I totally understand what you say whenever you say people know you as Trey Lewis and they know you as Trey because, you know, people see my persona online and it's like, oh, she's half naked, she's loud, she's outspoken. And then when you meet me in person, I'm kind of like, hey. Yeah. But I mean, a lot of that, like,
you know, what I put on the internet. That is my personality. Yeah. That is totally who I am. Yeah, totally. In my comfort zone. Right. Exactly. Yes. But it's like, if I'm just like at a bar with my friends, like I'm just trying to chill. You know what I mean? It's like, I don't want to talk about my DM Monday that I posted Monday. You know what I mean? Right. Yeah. Um,
So when you say that you got sober, let's take this back to how old were you? I was 19 years old. When you decided to get sober? Yeah. Wow. So I started using drugs when I was 12. Oh my goodness. Yeah. How did that happen? Um...
My parents... I'm not going to sit here and blame my parents. Definitely not. It's not about blaming parents, but childhood trauma is a huge staple in people's mental health. Yeah, definitely some childhood trauma and...
They say that trauma starts in the womb, from the moment of conception, how you were conceived. There's this book that I'm reading. I forget the name of it, if you're interested in it. But it says that even like how you were conceived, like how your mom felt at the moment of conception during her pregnancy, that's when trauma starts too. Yeah. Insane, right? Yeah. Lucky us. Yeah. I mean, there's other things. I was molested when I was younger. I'm a babysitter.
which she was a female. So like, I never said nothing to anybody about it. I'm so glad that you're talking about that though, because a lot of men won't come forward and say stuff like that, you know? And I don't care what anybody says. Molestation is molestation. It doesn't matter if it's a girl and a boy or a boy or a girl, you know, like that doesn't minimize the trauma that you went through. How old were you?
Um, I was, I mean, I was young, six, seven. I barely, I mean, I barely even, I didn't even remember it until I was like two or three years sober. How old was she? Cause you were black, you were self-medicating. Yeah. I was just so, you know, so young. I don't know. She was like my babysitter. She was, she was probably underage too. Yeah. But still, Oh my God. Yeah. That's still, it was wrong. She knew what she was doing. Yeah. Yeah. Um, but you know, I mean, it's, it is what it is. And, and, uh,
How were you introduced to drugs at such a young age? So I have a sister that's two years older than me. She was like, I remember being young and like waking up in the middle of the night and there being like police at my house, like my mom and her, like getting into it, you know, some good old domestic violence. Yeah. So like right then and there, I made the decision that I was never going to smoke weed because I figured that's all she was doing. I'm sure there's more to the story, but I was like, that ruins families. Yeah.
But as I got older and started getting curious and skateboarding and doing all that, I played football and stuff, but also skateboarded. And I was always the kind of guy that could get along with every little crowd in school. Yeah. I think that's just part of my addictive behavior, being...
Being like somebody that can get along with... You learned how to read a room at a young age. Yeah, read a room and all that stuff. I understand that. But anyways, I...
I made the decision. I started hanging out with some kids, and I was like, well, I'm not going to smoke pot, but my parents drink, so I can drink. Twelve is so young, though, to even start experimenting. We have a 13-year-old, and I'll kill her, even though I was a wild one when I was younger. It's crazy when you look back now, and you're like, God, 12 and 13, that's just crazy. I decided to get drunk for the first time. I drank nine beers.
The first time I ever got drunk was off a 40 of Old English. Yeah. Beer. Why do we all get drunk off beer? I used to drink Old English. King Cobra. Oh, Mad Dog 2020. Yeah, I had some friends, this Asian family in Birmingham. Yeah.
They have Asians in Birmingham? Yeah. Crazy. There's like brothers and sisters. I actually talked to them the other day. But anyways, they own gas stations in like the hood of Birmingham. So it was like at 17, 16, it was like being 21. You could just have whatever you wanted. I could just go down there like I was 21, you know, and just get Mad Dog 2020, you know. Yeah. Wild Hearts Rose. I peeped that up so many times. So I think it definitely contributed to...
maybe some of my alcoholism uh tendencies but um what was the first hard drug you ever tried um hard drug let's see uh probably xanax or percocet or something like that yeah we grew up in the pill popping era yeah thankfully yeah like sometimes when i go to these treatment centers and speak i'll talk about doing oxycontin and they look at me like i'm talking about doing quaaludes or something you know yeah yeah yeah because it doesn't exist now i mean it's heroin now but that
That's what I was saying. When I was joking around saying, thankfully, we grew up in the pill-popping era because now it's like fentanyl, heroin. They're doing crazy shit now. And I'm just like, how the fuck? It's insane. So you made the conscious decision at such a young age to get sober. What brought that about? What happened with me is I got drunk and then from there I was like,
you know, never do that again. I'm sorry. You know, but like in the back of my mind, it was on, like, that was an important day in my life. That nervous disposition that I had my entire life was gone. Yeah. Like I knew the kind of person that I wanted to be. I quit all my sports. I quit everything. Like it was like, it became my lifestyle. Like all it mattered was like listening to some UGK and like, his brother was going to buy me some, some alcohol, you know what I mean? And like,
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
With other things, they're just life in general and just have more balanced life. But that's how my drug addiction was. It was just like... Oh, yeah. More. It was just all downhill. And it eventually came to a point to me where I went to military school for a little while. By the time I was 17, I had...
a felony DUI. Oh, so you did start getting in trouble with the law. I had like a felony theft charge and DUI in two different counties. Xanax will make you a klepto. Oh yeah. I mean, I stole so much shit when I was fucking Xanied out, bro. Yeah, I have this friend, like we're still friends to this day. And like we've, you know, he lives up in Charlotte now or somewhere up there when we played at Coyote Joe's, he came out and hung out with us. But I'll never forget, we were at his house one time and like,
I was selling weed at the time, so I sold weed to everybody at the party. And then I took a bunch of Xanax that night, and I just filled my car up with baseball cards, old coins. At one point, somebody came upstairs and asked me what I was doing. They said I just looked at them and said, I'm shopping, man. Yeah, no, it's something about Xanax. But it's like Xanax, you never hear a story that ends well with like,
I took Xanax and then, you know, and like nobody likes the gallon pills except for the gallon pills. Oh yeah, no. The lights are on, but nobody's home. Yeah. Like you're just like on autopilot. Yeah. It's just not like you wake up with like,
Somebody else's phone, somebody else's wallet, and none of it's yours. And you don't know how you did it. I used to think it was cute. I would wake up and my friends would tell me things that I did the night before. And then you get to a point in your addiction where you're just like, this shit's not cute anymore. It gets to a point where it's like you're ruining friendships. I overdosed on Xanax twice.
People say you can't overdose on Xanax. I'm like, yes, you can. I'm like, I did it twice and I don't know how I fucking survived, but I'm here by the grace of God. But I guess what the jumping off point for me was is I went to military school and then the day after all that court stuff got like thrown out, I got kicked out and I came back home and then I really started like selling drugs like really hard and
I can't see you being a drug dealer. Yeah, I mean, I'm talking about I had the black Dickies. Really? I love a man in Dickies. I had the, my nickname was T-Bird. Oh, I love that. You're a T-Bird from now on. But I had like this green like pinstripe.
striped Atlanta hat and I had Birdman stitched in the back. Oh, that is hilarious. Yeah. Like I, I, I shopped at like city trends and stuff, you know, I think all of you, the tall tees, like that was me. I feel like all of you guys that are like in the country realm now had a, I had a hood phase. Yeah. Yeah. I was definitely hood all the way. Um, anyway, so I, um,
I was just thinking about that. It's funny. But what really... Where I hit the jumping off place was... After all that, I was really involved with selling drugs and doing them. And then I ended up getting arrested. And in between getting in trouble when I was 17, I went to the insane asylum a bunch of times. Not because I was insane or like... No. I was...
I would have to go to the emergency room because I was just so messed up. They would think that I was trying to kill myself, so they put me in the underage psych ward. Was it the pills that you were on that was making you look like that? Yeah, just whatever I was doing. I had a 10th grade summer where I just did 5 to 10 hits of acid every day, just off the rails. Savage. So I was just like... It was just crazy. But I get arrested...
When I'm living in Tuscaloosa, I go to jail, and I'll never forget it was my turn to have my phone call. And I remember I just wanted to go to the phone and call somebody that could tell me, like, it's going to be okay. You're going to get out of this. You're a good person. But there was just nobody to call. I'd screwed everybody over that was closest to me.
And, you know, I feel like that's what my addiction and my alcoholism did. It pushed everybody. I hurt everybody that was closest to me or gave a shit or anything about me. And so there's nobody to call. So I sit in jail for like...
you know, 30 days, my cellmate is, uh, had been on the run for like 10 years for attempted murder. You know, I'm like 19 years old, but I'm like, at this point, I'm like, I really want to stop using drugs and I really want to stop drinking. I'd said it before, but it was always in the back of my mind. I knew it was going to do it again. I was telling people that to get them off my back, to earn their trust, you know? And I'll never forget that.
I got out of jail finally. My Asian friends bailed me out. And I remember I went back to their house, and I remember I was in love with their little sister at the time. And I was like, I promise I'm never doing this again. And I really meant it. And there was tears in my eyes. It wasn't like to get anybody off my back. And then that night when everybody went to sleep, I saw a blunt roach in the ashtray. And I picked it up and I smoked it.
And then I sat there all night watching Locked Up and just freaked out the entire night thinking that I was going to prison. But that started it all for me. Like, that's, you know, it's just like once too many, a thousand is never enough. Like, that was like picture, you know, of that saying. Yeah. And from there, I went from...
When I got arrested, they took all my money from me. So I went from having all this money to do whatever I wanted to, to get this bottle or do that or whatever, to having nothing. So from that, for another three months, it was just like I would wake up, find a way to get messed up, black out, go to sleep, wake up, do it again. I wasn't welcome at home. I was sleeping on people's couches. They were kicking me out. My mom was a nurse.
there is a nurse at UAB in Birmingham. I would go sleep in her car when she was at work. Did she know you were sleeping in her car? Yeah, she would let me. Mom's the ace in the hole. I always have been. That's so good. Or number one enabler. Who knows? What do you call it? But no, she's awesome. Me and my mom are cool. But yeah, it just got to a point to where I was just like, I'm sick of doing this.
And I called my mom up and then finally three months later, that was always my thing. I was make all these resolutions, but I would never make a decision to actually go through with it. So yeah,
I finally went to treatment. It's almost like you had to psych yourself out. Yeah, I was like waking up every day like with the shakes, like throwing up blood. Oh my God. My skin was kind of like gross looking. Brutal. Yeah, it was just time for me to go to rehab. You were just hurting yourself because you were hurting inside. Exactly. And I went for, I was in treatment for two weeks and then I did a halfway house for six months and
When I was nine months sober, I bought a guitar and taught myself how to play it. That was my next question. I was like, when did music come into play for you? I bought a guitar. I think I was six months sober. I was working. I was making smoothies. Tropical smoothie. Oh, I love me a tropical smoothie. Me too. Sometimes they'd be canceling my order, though. You know what I mean? When I overeat. P.F. Chang's does that to me all the time. It's bullshit. Yeah. But...
Anyway, so I bought a guitar. I moved in with my dad. I made amends to my father. I was about to say, how was your relationship with your dad? Because I heard you say mom was the ace in the hole. So growing up, me and my dad were super close. And then when I started doing drugs and stuff, we became not so close. Tough love. I stole money from him. He pressed charges on me. It was screwed up. He just tried to give you that tough love. Yeah, my dad ended up becoming my best friend, though. And...
When I got seven years, I gave him my seven-year chip. Oh. And I told him how much I loved him. And, you know, he would come to my Mexican restaurant gigs and everything. But anyways, after I gave him my seven-year chip, I went to the beach with my family and I came back home. And when I came back home, I got a call that he had had a heart attack. He passed away. Oh, my God. Yeah, so that was, like, definitely a hard thing to deal with in my sobriety because it was so, like, abrupt. But, I mean, looking back on it now, I can't.
think of another you know picture perfect goodbye and the relationship that we had from day one of sobriety to you know seven years of sobriety i mean he got to see me grow up yeah in a major way you know so still with you though and he's still like oh yeah he's looking down proud as hell right now yeah yeah i mean he loves it that get down in dallas is the song that did it that's awesome yeah i mean he was he was there in the beginning and
you know, we used to write funny songs together and have a good time together. So pretty cool. Um,
But yeah, I just think it's funny that like, you know, we're here talking about Dick Down in Dallas. Yeah. And it's a great song. It's a party, you know what I mean? But like... I like your other song more, the one that you wrote about depression. Oh, The Little Tired? Mm-hmm. I love that song. We actually listened to it today and I was just like, this song is amazing. Thank you. Thank you. Yeah. I just think it's like, to me, it's cool. It's like, it's... Dick Down in Dallas is my gift to like share with the world, but to show you that like...
If you look deeper into it, there's more there. Oh, absolutely. There's more out of life. That's what my whole podcast is about. I love bringing people on with stories, like you that have stories to tell that like, yeah, we only know you from Dick down in Dallas, but there's just so much more to know. Yeah.
So after you got sober, you picked up a guitar and what, what were your thoughts then? Were you like, okay, I want to do music or was this just a way of like therapy for you? I just remember first time I played a G chord, I didn't know what I was doing, but I was like, damn, that feels like really good. You know? And, um,
I was, I went back to, I dropped out of high school and, um, I went back and got my GED. I was taking some college classes at like the community college in Alabama. GED gang. Good enough. Good enough diploma. Yeah. And, um, I, uh, was doing the classes. I had a job, you know, this is the first time in my life where I actually felt like I was like growing up. Right. Yeah.
Part of my recovery is that I sponsor other people through the steps of 12-step programs. And I was working with this guy. He was a young guy. He was a musician, too. He was in a rock and roll band in Nashville. And he was like, I'm going to Nashville. You want to go with me? Kind of like be my sober companion or whatever. So I come up here to Nashville. We're hanging out over on Edge Hill. Oh, yeah. I love that area. Yeah.
and uh i'm in the studio and this producer guy hands me a guitar he's like play me a song and i play him the song that i wrote this i wrote it about my best friend it's called frankie didn't die out montana it's terrible but you know like it's my first song but the guy liked my voice and he was like man if you move up here to nashville like i'll do an ep like we'll you know we'll figure it out and um
I had to, like, really honestly think about, like, leaving my... Comfort zone. Comfort zone, you know? Because I was, like, first time I ever felt like an adult. So, I eventually did, and I moved up here, and I lived up here for, like, six months. How long have you been here? Well, I've only been here three years this time. Okay, gotcha. But I lived here for, like, six months, and we did a whole EP, and, you know, I mean, at this point, I had not even played a gig. So...
But one of my longtime songwriter friends, his name's Aaron Lee, I told him I was thinking about moving up to Nashville. He was like, don't move up here. He was like, you need to go play gigs, get your chops up, come to Big Fish and Small Pond, and then move up here. Aw. That's actually good advice. Yeah. I mean, honestly, when I... I mean, my advice to anybody thinking about wanting to be a songwriter, I'm just like, get here as fast as you can. But...
Um, I think that, you know, when I first moved here, I was like, man, all my friends are like 22, 23, you know, like I'm just, yeah, I'm definitely going to be playing covers for the rest of my life. Like career's over, but you know, you just never give up and you just keep going. Um,
And then everything's, you know, transpired as it is. So how did you get into, like, even playing covers and getting into bars and stuff like that? Well, I got my first gig. My dad got it for me at this small bar that's probably two of these rooms put together. And I play there every Friday and Saturday night for three years. Like, I might miss it every now and then if there's, like, a football game or something going on. Yeah. But...
So I played there for every, you know, just me and my acoustic guitar, no monitor, like didn't even know what a monitor was, you know? Yeah. And then I decided that I wanted to start branching out. I started playing at the Mexican restaurant called Pablo's and there's three Pablo's in Birmingham. So after I played there for like two months, I was like, you think I could get on the other two? They put me on the other two. So I started playing those and then I decided I wanted to start a band.
and i put a band together and we started playing at all the little bars and then my dad passed away and then after my dad passed away i was like man something's gotta give i gotta do something you know because my dad is really my ins was my inspiration you know after my dad passed away i ran off an ambition that's all i had i felt like kind of because my dad used to tell me all the time he was like i'm an accountant i hate my life i hate my job uh do what you love for a living
That's awesome. Because most parents aren't supportive like that. He was like, I know that music's going to work out for you, so just do it. And that's what I held on to for forever. Yeah. And I called this guy that was managing this local jam band in Birmingham. And we met every day for like three months. Not every day, but once a month for like three months or once a week or something. And that's my manager. He's been with me for...
seven years now. Oh, that's amazing. It's just really cool because like,
I have a team. I have a social media guy. But all those people have been with me before Dick Down and Down. I love that. That says a lot about you. Yeah. As a person. Like my guitar player that's been with me. Is that the one who you filmed with his wife in bed the other day? Big Dick Terry? No, that's Ben. Ben's been with me for a year. But Ben used to play with Riley Green. I opened for Riley two or three years ago. And I met Ben. And I knew that if I ever had success...
to where I could bring in a musical director and somebody that was going to be Ben. Yeah. Because when I first moved to town, we used to ride together. I love that you brought your... But Big Dick Terry is... We have a Big Dick Dave in our crew. Yeah. It's really big. I mean, it's huge. What is it? He's like a tripod? Yeah. I mean, it's massive. How do we know this? I'm proud of it like it's mine. Have you seen it? Yeah, I've seen it.
I got videos and pictures. He just walks around. Well, what happened was we played a show in Arkansas. This is the kind of stuff that perks my ears up. My crew's pretty rowdy. Yeah. No, I love that. I might not drink, but they drink enough for me. Have you met my husband? Okay. Like, he's a nut, dude. So I know how you boys are when you guys get together. We played in Arkansas, and Terry drank like...
Terry, my drummer, Matt, and bass player, they drank like a, I don't know, like a full bottle of Fireball and then a small bottle of Fireball within like three hours. Oh, Fireball's brutal. And Matt didn't grow up with brothers, our drummer. So if he grabbed his ass or something, he freaks out. He can't handle it. He doesn't know what to do. But he got drunk and was messing with Terry. So Terry just pulled his dick out and started chasing him around the hotel room a little bit.
And I had my phone and I just recorded the entire thing, put it on my Snapchat. It just like became this thing. I love that. That is so fucking funny. So, so I want to ask you what, when you walked out to the biggest crowd that you've ever performed for, how many people was it?
I think it was 25,000 people. What the fuck does that feel like? Opening for Morgan Wallen in Auburn. We love Morgan. We love Ernest, Morgan, all of them. And then the other thing, too, that was really cool was we played Rock the South, which is in my home state. Oh, awesome. In Coleman.
And my set kind of got rained out. And then they made me play Dick Down in Dallas Acoustic. In the rain? Yeah. What a vibe, though. They were like, your band can't come back on. But I met DJ Silver earlier that day. Aw. And he was like, man, I think that's bullshit, dude. I'm going to get you up during my set. And he played in between Miranda. So the most people that were going to be there were there. Yeah. That's amazing. What does that feel like when you walk out on that? Honestly, like...
That's so much energy, dude. It's a lot of energy, and I wish that I would have enjoyed it more, to be honest. I understand that. Like, when I walk out there, like, in which I have learned to enjoy those kind of moments more. But, you know, for a while there, I was, we were just, I mean, we played 120-something shows last year. Yeah. Which was basically unheard of. Yeah. Yeah.
from December of 2020 to 2021. But a lot of the times, I know that when we did the...
one of those shows, I remember being on stage just thinking the whole time, I hope I can do this again. You know, and just being in my head the entire time and not even enjoying the moment. Right. You know? And that's a real thing. But like, it's like now I have those memories and I have those videos and I look back on them and I'm just like, 25,000 people screaming Dick down in Dallas. We played this show up in, um,
Wisconsin or something like that. It was like with Jake Owen and Travis Denning and like one other artist, but we were like the first of four artists.
And, like, I'm talking, like, little kids on top of their dad's shoulders screaming every word to Dick Donald Dallas. It's like, I've never been to a show where, you know, the first of four, everybody in the crowd knows their song. Yeah. You know? No, it's insane. I don't even... So, it's been really cool. Done a lot of cool things. I honestly, like, I like opening for artists, and that's cool. But, like, my favorite thing is going to these, like, smaller clubs and selling, you
you know, tickets to people that are there to come see me and then doing a free meet and greet after the show. That's what I do. Cause I, I'm just like at the point where like, I still feel like a normal person. Yes. And I'm just like, if you're going to like buy a ticket, if you're going to stream my music, if you're going to share my shit, like, you know, like I have a song coming out, like, uh, on the 14th and, uh,
People are going to actually buy that song. They're buying it. Yeah, totally. People actually bought Dig Down in Dallas to make it go number one. Nobody buys music anymore. Yeah, because you get to stream. It's just like my thing is if you're going to do that for me, if you're going to believe in me that much, I'm at least going to shake your damn hand. Yeah. You know what I mean? You build your empire and your fan base one by one. Yeah, and it's just like I don't care. Like I said, I used to play –
for four hours straight. I don't help with load in and load out anymore. I mean, you shouldn't have to, you know what I mean? You are in that, right? I mean, I don't do that anymore, but I will if it needs to be. The way I look at it is I used to play for four hours straight. I can go to soundcheck and,
I can go play my 90-minute set. I can get done. I can get off stage, change my shirt. Usually, if the crowd earns it, I take my shirt off and throw it out to the crowd. Yeah. So find a shirt, go to the merch booth, shake everybody's hand. I don't care if it takes an hour and a half, but that's my work. You know what I mean? Absolutely. That's what I'm doing. It's definitely been fun. There's been shows where we've showed up to places and there wasn't –
you know, 20 people there, you know, that's part of it, but that's just part of it. You know, you never know. Like, no, my husband, when my husband and I first got together, I remember we did a show and I think it was like Delaware in the middle of fucking nowhere. And there was 10 people there. Yeah. And he still put on a show. Like it was fucking 8,000 people there, you know, now he's selling out arenas. So I mean, that shit is, I see him. He's my baby. Just that Opry thing was like, so awesome. That was like, dude,
I got to go. That's one of my goals in my life is to play the Opry. You will. Put it in the air. You're going to. And I know that it's probably not going to happen with the Dick Down in Dallas thing. It will happen. My husband fucking used to be a trap rapper. Yeah. You know, like, please. You're definitely going to get there. I don't know. I got to go.
to the Opry and hang out with my... Do you know Dylan Carmichael? I've heard the name. I don't know who he is though. I got to hang out with him. We met over quarantine. We're good buddies. I'm a West Coast girl, so all this country shit is like... I'm not in that scene. But I got to watch him like...
He played the Opry and his mom got up there and sang a song with him. He got a standing ovation. Yeah. And it was just like... No, it was... Something about that place is like... Spiritual. Spiritual, yeah. And the Ryman, too. Yeah. The Ryman is fucking like... You just walk in there and you can just feel the energy there. It's just insane. It's overwhelming. So, like, that... There's a video of Chris Jansen, like, getting asked to join the Opry. And he, like, belts down, you know, like, starts crying. But when they told...
your husband that he was going to be, you know, when he played, he was like, couldn't believe it. Yeah. No, he started crying too. You can't explain that moment until that happens. No, because they really blindsided him. He didn't expect it at all. But your time is coming too. We'll see. We'll see, you know. Well, what can we expect from Trey Lewis this next coming year? So I got a fight with my ex-girlfriend. We were dating at the time a few weeks ago and
And I went to my right the next day and I wrote this song and I put it on TikTok and it's like popping off right now. What's it? It's called single again. It's got like the middle finger and the kiss my ass. Yeah. Like it's like a total TikTok thing. So are you guys, so are you single again? I'm single. Right now. But are you, is it a toxic relationship? Are you guys like going back and forth? It was definitely not a toxic relationship. I think I definitely pushed her away. When's your birthday? I'm just going to.
December 5th. Oh, you're a Sagittarius like my husband. He's December 4th. Yeah. Oh, okay. I already know your kind. You guys are wild. So I don't know. We're, we're, you know, we're cool. We're trying to figure it out. We'll see what happens. Yeah. Um, you know, but I feel like, I feel like I'm really working on myself and like, I feel like I'm, you know, with this new, I have a new therapist and I feel like with, uh, the work I'm doing, like,
some really groundbreaking shit. Like I feel like I'm getting. Have you ever been diagnosed with any, with any mental illness? No. I think all my, my shit's situational and trauma based. Right. Me too. I've not, I've, I've been diagnosed with anxiety and depression, but I won't go to a psychiatrist. Cause I've dated people that are like bipolar and I'm not like that. Yeah. Same. I just, I, the medication scares me. So I try to do everything naturally. Exactly. I love that you're putting in the work though, because most men don't know to do that.
I think that you're an amazing role model for men to know that it's okay to not be okay and it's okay to ask for help. Yeah, I just want to like, I want to, I want to like, I always want to do music and I know that like to be able to do that, I have to be the best version of myself. You're very self-aware. Because like without my sobriety, I'm nothing and I'm 110% convinced of that and I can be very miserable sometimes
in sobriety. So if I'm not keeping a check on those things and you know, it's like I am 34 and it's like, I feel like you're either growing or you're going backwards. So there's no like standstill for me, you know what I mean? And like, that's my like all or nothing kind of behavior, but it's like,
I feel like with almost a decade and a half of sobriety, like I've grown a lot. Yeah. And like a lot of what I've grown through and talked about, some people are like, are you kidding me? You're not railing a bitch every night on the road. You know what I mean? And like, it's like, there's that side of me that wants to say, yeah, man, like, yeah, I'm just out here getting it, you know, but like,
The real me, that ain't me. You know what I mean? That just ain't how I roll. I love that you're staying true to who you are. You were talking about the Singled again going viral on TikTok. Yeah. What do you plan on doing with that? Like just riding the wave? Yeah, I'm just going to put it out. I mean, hopefully enough people buy it to make it go number one again. Yeah. I think it's cool. Like, I mean, it's a real song. Yeah.
I mean, we got in a fight, and the next day I had a right, and we weren't broken up yet, but I, like...
I don't know. I didn't have any song ideas. And then on the way over there, I was like, looks like I'm single again. I started singing that. And they were like, y'all got any song ideas? And I was like, looks like I'm single again. They were like, love it. We wrote it in an hour and a half. And I like the little demo track that Matt McVie did on it so well. I was like, just produce it out, man. Because I've got too much shit going on in the studio. Just like, I trust you with it. Take care of it.
Isn't that amazing where inspiration can come from? And then, you know, he sent it and then I put it on TikTok like December 13th, just like a video of me singing the chorus.
And even that video doesn't have a ton of views, but I checked it this morning. It's like 24,000 videos made. Yeah, that's crazy. Yeah, that's awesome. And Dig Down in Dallas only had 20,000 videos made. Wow, that's amazing. Not that that's a gauge for anything because you can't compare anything to that. No, that's huge though. But it's still pretty cool. No, that's amazing. Listen, TikTok is what makes fucking artists go... Like YouTube is cool and all if you're a musician, but if you're a content creator, there's no money there. And nobody's getting...
picked up off of... I mean, they might still be getting picked up off YouTube, but it's TikTok now. TikTok has literally taken over. We're going to put that song out on the 14th, and then after that, I'm putting a song out every six weeks for the rest of the year. Good. For however long I want to. Are you going to tour this year? Yeah, so I got some really cool news today, but I can't share it. I really don't want to. I'll tell you when we turn the cameras off. Okay. But I'm going on tour with a big artist, which is really cool for me because...
This probably actually won't come out for a while. Cool. So if you want to say it, you can. Yeah, I don't want to say it. Okay. But I just like, I don't know. It was just for a while. It was hard to find an artist that would be willing to put me on a tour because a lot of
artists that were on labels didn't want to be associated with the dicks and the butt fucks. Which is really stupid. You know what I mean? I hate the whole Music Row thing. And that's one thing that my husband is, he's, you know, middle finger to Music Row because it's like they just want to box everybody in and make everybody cookie cutter. It's like, that's boring. You know, we played the 120 shows that we did last year, but eventually at some point you got to get on with like, you know, an artist that can really like
you know, shake shit up, you know, shake shit up for you. And, and, uh,
Nobody was willing to do that. Right now, up until today, we had two dates on the calendar for next year. I was like, fuck, we're going to have to get a new agent. I just told my agent, I was like, fuck Omnicron, I'm going to have a number one song. Then everything took off. Do you feel like Dick Down in Dallas has kind of pigeonholed you slightly? Not really. I signed a publishing deal with Sony Publishing. I feel like Rusty and all them, they all believe in
me enough to think that I could eventually have songs on the radio. Yeah. And, um,
I mean, they wouldn't just want some of my publishing for just never eating for streaming. Yeah, not for sure. They believe in me, so I think that that's cool. And I feel like labels don't ever... They don't build artists anymore. That's something you've got to do on your own. Yeah, they want you to come fully packaged. And I'm cool with that because my price tag is going to be a little bit higher than a 360 deal. Price went up. So if I'm going to build it...
I honestly feel like at Sony publishing, like they're also building help. They're part of the bill too. They're part of the team, you know, helping me, you know, like setting me up with the riots or like, you know, helping me find songs because I'm willing to cut songs that I didn't write. You know what I mean? But I also like writing my own songs as well. But I don't know. It's just been, been a cool experience.
I'm grateful that I didn't sign a record deal straight out the rip because I was definitely offered a lot. Yep. But I wouldn't have learned everything that I've learned on my own. I wouldn't have been able to play as many shows as I have, you know. Yeah. It's been great.
So 2020, you have this big tour that's coming up, and then you have songs that you're going to be dropping every six weeks. What does your personal life look like, though? My personal life is I did tell my agent I want one weekend off a month so I can go fishing. Aw. Yeah. Kind of like brings you back down to size. Yeah, I love fishing. I bought a bass boat, paid cash for it. It was awesome. It's like the only nice thing that I really bought myself.
You're just like a sweet little down-home boy. Yeah, I mean, I'm still driving my dad's hand-me-down car. Like, I could go buy a new truck, but I just don't care about that stuff anymore. Yeah. What about dating, now that you're single again? Dating...
What is dating in Nashville like for guys? I always hear about it from all the IG models. You know, we're outnumbered and there's just a ton of horny girls out there that want to screw, you know. It's not true at all. Like, maybe for other people. I don't know, you know, it's weird for me because, like, sometimes I find myself talking to females that, like, I know that if my song wasn't Dick Down in Dallas, like...
you know, they wouldn't even be talking to me. So it's like, I just got to find somebody that's like, that's gotta be hard for men, you know, to like not be able to know like why women are in your life or what their intentions are. Yeah. It's gotta be fucking stressful. It's really easy. They weed themselves out really fast. Do they? Like,
Sometimes I'll meet a girl and think she's cool until she calls me at 2 in the morning and FaceTimes me to sing me Dick Down in Dallas. You know what I mean? That's got to be so old. Cool, deleted, blocked. But I'm grateful for it. Ladies, don't FaceTime Trey at 2 o'clock in the morning. I'm grateful for it. You know what I mean? Of course. It's cool. I'm glad you like the song. You know what I mean? Yeah, but if you're with me, be with me. Yeah, be with me. Yeah.
It's cool. So like, you know, I don't, I don't know. I don't, I mean, honestly, sometimes I got to the bar and like, I'll be like thinking a girl's hitting on me, but like, I'm just like at a point in my life where like, I'm, I'm cool with like being married to my career and being, being by myself. Like that's when level come along and you least expect it when you're doing yourself and just not focused on that. I'm just not, I don't even care anymore. Like I was, I was talking to my buddy about it the other day. I was like, dude, like,
I was like, you know, I have a lot of dreams that have came true. You know, maybe love's just not for me, man. It is. I'm just kidding around. But you know what I'm saying? You're a sweet guy and you're good looking and you have a fucking amazing voice and you're a Sagittarius. Women love Sagittarius men. Yeah, I've got that app on my phone, the horoscope. I paid for it. Yeah. You need an Aquarius woman? I need to read more about it.
You need an Aquarius woman. That's me because Jay and I are Sag in Aquarius. Or you need a Gemini woman. Gemini and Sag is like soulmate signs. Nice. Yeah. Well, Trey, I am so excited to see what you do in 2022. Like you've already fucking been kicking ass these past couple of years. So I can't wait till you can drop the announcement too and tell everybody who you're going to be on tour with. And you got to promise me that you're going to come back here and remember us little people. Of course. I'll always come back.
But are we allowed to talk about you starting your podcast? Yeah, I'm starting a podcast. It's going to be called DM Monday. Yay. So are you going to read the DMs and stuff like that? Yeah, we're going to read DMs. I think when we have guests on, we'll have them. They got to be people like, I'm sure you have crazy ass DMs. Oh, yeah. No, for sure. You should hear. I have a lot of IG models and porn stars that come on here, too. And the shit that fucking, the stories they have is just, they're hilarious. Yeah.
When do you think you're going to be launching it? So I think we're doing our... I'm not sure. I know we're doing our first episode like next month. Yay! Well, everybody be on the lookout and it's going to be called what again? DM Monday. DM Monday. And so I'm assuming you're going to be dropping on Mondays? Yeah.
Yeah. Okay. I think I'll be every other week. Oh, very cool. Cause I'll be busy with like tour and stuff. Yeah, for sure. Give me time to like, totally. Or you can do what we do and we literally just film for like weeks and then just that way you have a break. I advise everybody cause we've been, this is, this will be our fourth season and you just film like 25 episodes and then you don't have to even, yep. And then just do another run. Well, try to tell people where they can find you at your social media. Uh,
I mean, tour dates on my website, treylewismusic.com. We have merchandise on there as well. By the way, if you want some, I'll send you. Thank you. Same. We have tons of stuff too. So we'll trade. And then, and then my Instagram is at treylewismusic. TikTok's treylewismusic. Facebook, whatever.
which I mean, nobody gets on Facebook anymore except to like do paid promotions, but it's just Traylor. I'm going to talk to you about Facebook whenever we get off of here so I can tell you all about it. But yeah, that's where I'm at. Um, that's my social medias. Uh, I try to do Twitter, but I'm just not that good. Yeah. Twitter is just porn. But if you like tweet me or something, I will, you know, I might not like it day of, but I'll get on Twitter every few days and like, like stuff and retweet it. I just don't think about it that much. I only go on notifications. I only go on Twitter for porn.
Yeah. Literally, there's just porn everywhere on there. I mean, maybe it's just because of all the girls I follow, though. Well, during quarantine, they gave out a free Pornhub subscription. Did they? Yeah, and then you eventually had to pay for it, but I haven't. How the fuck did I miss that? How did I miss the Pornhub subscription? Yeah. Well, thank you, Trey, and thank you guys for tuning in to another episode of Dumb Blonde. I will see you guys next week. Bye.