Episode 452 - Ian Zumback - Hey Jerry

Welcome to Voices in My Head, the official podcast of me, Rick Lee James. I'm a recording artist, a singer, a songwriter, an author, a worship leader, and an ordained minister in the Church of the Nazarene. The Voices in My Head podcast is where I discuss music, movies, books, pop culture, theology, and more with friends, colleagues, and sometimes just by myself. Now make sure to let me know what you think of today's episode by leaving me a review on iTunes or by tweeting at me @RickLeeJames on Twitter. And please join my mailing list at RickLeeJames.com where you can receive an email every time a new episode is released. By the way, in case you're interested in a daily dose of kindness and encouragement beyond this podcast, I also run the Twitter account @MrRogersSay where I post daily quotes from Fred Rogers, one of the voices in my head. Well, I guess that's it for the intro, so sit back, relax, and listen to the latest episode of Voices in My Head.

Welcome back to Voices in My Head. As always, I'm your host Rick Lee James, and I'm so glad that you could be here with us again this week. Week for this very special podcast. Sorry I wasn't around for last week's episode. We didn't have an episode. Things have been very busy. Listeners will know that I'm back in class again with Loyola University through Chicago, working on my master's. And so things are busy, and that's just an understatement. Things are very, very busy. So that means that every now and then there are weeks when I don't do a podcast. But thankfully this week we do have a podcast, and it's not going to be be a very long one this week, but I am so honored to have my friend Ian Zumback back here with us again this week. He's on the line right now. He has a wonderful new single called Hey Jerry. We're going to be playing the song for you at the end of the podcast today. I think it's one of the best songs that he has ever released. He's an Old Bear Records recording artist, and we're going to introduce him right now. So say hello, Ian.

Hey Rick, thanks for having me on today and thanks for those kind words. It really means so much.

Well, it means a lot to have you here with me and it's been too long since we had a chance to connect, so I'm glad that even just for a few minutes tonight we have a chance to, to be able to visit. Um, the song is really wonderful and if I know you, and, and I honestly, I haven't done a ton of research about this song. Life has just been unusually busy for me because I've been back in school again and, and just life any— life is just busy anyway these days, um, in spite of that fact, just with family and everything else going on. So I haven't done like a ton of research, uh, about the song and the backstory. But just knowing you, I know it's based in reality, and I know that the story you're telling is probably a story that's based on a real person. And I'm— and I can see the real Jerry, um, even in the album artwork that you have, uh, for the single artwork. So I wonder if you could start Tonight, as we're talking, tell us a little bit about Jerry and the person that this actual song is based on, because I'd love to hear more.

Sure. So Jerry is a, is a friend that I made through the fence industry. I build fences as, as part of my livelihood and have a fence contracting business, and I had worked for a company for a period of time that wholesaled product. And Jerry was the father of the manager of that branch. And so I had randomly picked up the phone one day and he introduced himself. And it was almost an immediate, almost an immediate sort of friendship. Somehow I just feel like God connects dots in a way that you recognize Christ in another person and mutually, and we just hit it off. And over the period of the next few months, we would talk and encourage one another. And every time we talked on the phone and pray, and then eventually when he moved up to Tennessee from Louisiana, we got together for lunch and just continued in our friendship. Fast forward a little bit, I ended up leaving that company to start my business. And when I did, I would purchase product from that company. So I would see him when I'd come and pick up that product.. And on one particular day, just like any other startup company, initially it's pretty lean and you have to hustle a little bit more and do different things to make ends meet, you know, and it was a season where it was tough to make ends meet. And I came to Jerry that day to have him load up my product, but before he did, we had Christian fellowship and I actually asked him for prayer. That he would pray for the weather to hold off and for it not to rain so I could complete my job and get paid. And he actually gave me a very different perspective that I share in the song that was actually revolutionary to my faith, actually.

Well, and it's a great story. Without giving away too much of the song, I think it's one of the best lines that I've heard in a while. Your rainy day's the end of someone else's drought is a really great line and such good advice when you're thinking about it. And and we're going to play the song at the end of the show, but there's a lot of rich wisdom in the song. And I don't know exactly how long the song is, maybe 3 and a half minutes, something like that, but it's one of those songs that you hear it and it really feels like there's such maturity in the writing of this song. And you've always had, you've always had rich lyrics, but I feel like this one, maybe it's because of the wisdom of Jerry um, based on this real person that he has packed into it. But it feels like there's, um, a whole mountain of wisdom that's packed into this, whatever it is, 3 and a half, 4 minutes of music that's come down the road. And it just feels like a life of discipleship packed into a song, for sure, whenever I hear it. So it's so well done. Um, now let me ask you this question. Did you— I know you've released it as, as usual with, uh, with our friends at Old Bear Records. So, uh, you can definitely, um, hear the Old Bear touch on the, on the album. Um, did you record it up in Buffalo, or was it kind of a mix of like record some in Nashville and, and some was recorded remotely, or how was it done this time?

So on this time, because I recorded it in the middle of a lot of the, um, COVID stuff. I actually recorded it entirely here in Nashville.

Wow.

And I recorded it with one of the, um, co-writers on the song, Joel Russo, um, who's been a longtime friend and used to be in a band, Carrollton. And another mutual friend of ours, Laura Guthrie, was also a writer on the song. But Joel and I had recorded a live version of a song, Wasted Years, months ago. So we did that. And because I knew I was going to be able to get up to Buffalo last year, I wanted to record another song and had been wanting to record the song for a long time. And so we, he and I recorded it in about a day and a half. First day, you know, recorded all the instruments and lead vocals, and then the second day we brought in my friend Delaney Ramsdell to sing background vocals on it. And so, um, yeah, I think I've been around Old Bear so much too, and it's just a part of my musical DNA at this point that, that, um, some of that influence and sound just seems to permeate some of what I'm continuing to do. Yeah, but I am going, going to record some music up there in March, so I'm looking forward to that as well.

Well, that, that is amazing because I would have thought that it was, it was done in Buffalo. I mean, the way that it sounds, so it really is amazing the way that, uh, it's so symbiotic the way that you guys, uh, record together or apart. Um, there's just kind of a, a, a sound that you have together, but this one does have its own unique flair too. And there's something about the way that your voice sounds in this one too that has its own unique. And I thought, I thought, uh, I thought Ian's voice has a little bit different tone to it this time too, which is, which was cool to hear. Um, so it was nice to hear some of those new inflections in this song as well. And I love that. I always get, I always love, um, getting to hear some, some different nuances throughout. So, well, we're not gonna, we're not gonna belabor it, uh, too long tonight because I intended for this to be a, a shorter podcast than sometimes that I do. Um, and, and hey, Jerry, is such a great song that it really speaks for itself. But one thing I love about the song, and I want people to just listen to it, is it's one of those songs that reminds us, you know, sometimes we can have pity parties and we could feel like our own perspective is the only one that there is. And yet sometimes the thing that we're going through is You know, there's just such wisdom in the song reminding us that maybe it's not all about me. You know, maybe somebody else's— is what I'm going through right now is exactly what somebody else needs. And, uh, and if I can open my eyes to see the bigger picture, maybe it's, it's not all about me and for me at this time. And so I just want to, uh, again, applaud you because the song is again so well written and, uh, it's, it's so well recorded. Um, everything about it is just so good. Um, before we end our conversation here tonight, I want you to tell listeners, if you don't mind, um, tell them a little bit about where they can find out more about you, because people who have listened for a long time to this show, um, they're going to be familiar with you, but we have a lot of new listeners as well, and we've actually gained a lot of international listeners. This might be their first time to come across Ian Zumbach, so maybe tell them, uh, the best way where they can find out more about you, the best way for them to hear the new single apart from this podcast and, and just give them the elevator pitch, I guess, on Ian Zumbach real quick.

Sure. Well, thank you. Thank you again for providing this platform and allowing the privilege to do it. Um, so, uh, listeners or potential listeners, they can find out more about me. I have an Instagram account which is— the handle's just my name, @ianzumbach. Uh, at that Instagram account, there's a link that'll take you to some of the most recent work that I've done with links to Hey Jerry video, uh, the song on Spotify, um, uh, behind the scenes featurette on the, on the song itself. And then also has links back to my previous, um, album The Table that came out on Old Bear Records. You can also find me on Facebook. My page is again @IanZumbach, so it's easy to find me there. Or you can locate my music and, and more information about what I'm doing at oldbearrecords.com.

Fantastic. Well, and we will make sure and have links in the show notes of voicesinmyheadpodcast.com as well, and on our Substack page. So we'll make it as easy as we can for people with just a click to be able to go to all of the Ian Zumbach links. So without any further ado, we're going to play this new song, Hey Jerry. So Ian Zumbach, thank you so much for being one of the voices in my head this week. We really appreciate it. Thank you, Rick Lee James.

When it rains, it pours. I'm late on my rent and I feel like my back's against the wall. Then Jerry smiled at me and he began to speak. He said, thank God for every gift and trust him in the doubt. Don't count the ways the world is going round. It's your rainy day. Louisiana, someone else's drought. When the sun is rising on your town, someone else's sky, it's going down. He said, hey, listen, let me explain. I've been around a while and I've learned some things along the way from Louisiana. To the hills of Tennessee. I've tried outrunning troubles and I've lost my share of sleep, but I began to see that this world is bigger than me. So I thank God for every gift and I trust him in the doubt. I don't count the ways the world is going round. 'Cause your rainy days easier than someone else's drought. And when the sun is rising on your town, someone else's sky, it's going down.

The down.

Don't count the ways the world is going round. Your rainy day is the end of someone else's drought. When the sun is rising on your town, when the sun is rising on your town, someone else's sky, it's going down.

Thank you for joining me here this week on Voices in My Head. I hope you'll visit me on my website at rickleejames.com where you can find out more about me, get my music on vinyl and CD, follow my blog, and even schedule me for a concert or a speaking engagement. Better yet, even a book signing. Signing in your neighborhood. You can find all that and more at rickleejames.com. Also, it would mean a great deal to me if you could write a review of this podcast on iTunes. The more positive reviews that we receive, the more visible this podcast will be online. And now for the benediction. May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, —so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. God bless you, and thank you for listening to Voices in My Head.