Live from Music Row Thursday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. – host Leahy welcomed MAGA Rapper Bryson Gray to talk about his new album release, US Versus the Industry.
Leahy: We are joined on a newsmaker line by our favorite MAGA rapper who lives in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, Bryson Gray! Good morning, Bryson.
Gray: Good morning. How are you, man? Thank you for having me on.
Leahy: You got another top rated video video song you’re releasing. What is it and how’s it doing?
Gray: My album called US Versus the Industry. It had a real hot start. We jumped up to the number one rap album on itunes within 24 hours. We were number three within all genres.
After like two days it slowed down a little bit now because it’s hard for us because we don’t have any resources, so it’s really just all organic. But it’s still doing great.
Leahy: US Versus the Industry. How many songs are on it and how do people get it?
Gray: There are 20 songs on it, which is the largest album I’ve ever released. You can get it on itunes, you can get it on Amazon. You can get a signed copy on brysongraymusic.com. You can get it pretty much everywhere.
Leahy: What are some of the tunes on it that I might recognize?
Gray: Let’s Go, Brandon, of course.
Leahy: Let’s go, Brandon!
Simon: I’ll sing that tune. This is Roger Simon.
Leahy: Roger Simon a big fan of yours as well.
Simon: A big fan and a very famous rapper. (Laughter)
Gray: Thank you so much.
Simon: More like a candy bar rapper.
Leahy: You’re talking about yourself as a rapper, right, Roger? (Gray bellows) Are you like the number one rapper in the country today or just the number one MAGA rapper? You’re a pretty big deal.
Gray: Yes, I would say as far as Christian conservative rappers, I’m probably the most popular. I’m not on the level of the demonic rappers yet. (Laughter)
Leahy: I don’t think you’re going to change your tune are you?
Simon: Would you call Kid Rock really a rapper or not?
Gray: I call him a rocker. I call Kid Rocker a rocker.
Leahy: Kid Rock rocker. Have you met Kid Rock, by the way?
Gray: No, I have never met him.
Leahy: I’m told he lives in Nashville. There was a rumor that he was considering running for the Fifth Congressional District. (Laughter)
Simon: I’d vote for him.
Leahy: But politics aside, tell us what you’ve done now, when did you release this album? How long ago?
Gray: Friday.
Leahy: So last Friday.
Gray: Yes.
Leahy: It’s almost like six days or something. We are on the cutting edge of entertainment news here. Tell us what you do. Do you go and do performances? How do you promote your music, Bryson?
Gray: Like I said, as an independent artist with no real resources, because the type of music I make, I pretty much just post it and try to get as many people to share it as possible and post it on my pages. That’s pretty much all we got.
Leahy: Do you have concerts or anything like that or do you just produce the songs and put them out?
Gray: So you got the videos, you got the YouTube. I do things like contact you guys and thank you for so much for bringing me on. But outside that I’m trying to set up concerts. It’s even hard to do that in the current state.
Leahy: With the COVID stuff and all that.
Gray: Yes.
Leahy: So what’s your website again Bryson?
Gray: Brysongraymusic.com. I think we have like 50 signed copies left.
Leahy: Brysongraymusic.com.
Simon: Maybe you should get in contact with Kid Rock and do a set at his club. And that would probably bring down a lot of people.
Gray: That sounds like a plan. I’m down. I’ll have to find a way.
Leahy: We have another idea for collaboration. Have you ever met John Rich?
Gray: No, but I have talked to him on Twitter before.
Leahy: Oh, you have? So he was the featured entertainer along with Larry Gatlin at the event Carol Swain did here about education a couple of weeks ago. I was the master of ceremonies there.
John Rich is a great guy and he’s got a lot of musical cooperation that he does. He did that great song with Mike Rowe bout Santa Claus Christmas. It did very well. We’ll reach out to John Rich on your behalf.
Gray: Please do.
Leahy: Something could happen there.
Simon: He’s also got a club.
Leahy: He’s got a club and he’s a great guy. I literally was watching him the other night on his program on Fox Nation and he’s really good. I think maybe you’d be a great guest there.
Tell us a little bit, Bryson, you are a recent arrival in Tennessee, although I don’t think you would necessarily be a subject for Roger Simon’s new book, The Southbound Train because you came from North Carolina. You must have come on a westbound train. Is that right? (Simon chuckles)
Simon: It’s still south.
Gray: It was getting too blue for me and I said, listen, I am out of here. And Tennessee seemed like the safest bet, even though a lot of people are starting to move here also now. But I think Tennessee will be the last to get the big ship of liberals.
Leahy: I don’t disagree. But tell me why you think that?
Gray: Because I think a lot of people choose Florida and Texas first. And I chose Tennessee because coming down here there is more so the culture. The culture in Florida and like most places, is very liberal.
Even when you go to Nashville, the culture is still more conservative than all these other big cities. And I like Texas. I like Texas, but people don’t realize that was a liberal place like 30 years ago.
Leahy: That’s a very interesting point. And by the way, Roger, this would be an excellent opportunity to plug your new book, The Southbound Train. Roger, why don’t you tell Bryson how he and other listeners can tell their stories about why they came to Tennessee.
Simon: Yes. Bryson, by the way, I want to talk to you. I’m starting a book called The Southbound Train that comes from the lyrics of Wagon Wheel, if you remember. Anyway, it’s a book about people moving from blue states to red states. North Carolina is much bluer than Tennessee.
So you certainly came in that direction. And I’m telling the listeners and readers of the other times that if they want to tell their stories for the book, they could please write me at thesouthboundtrain@protonmail.com. It’s an extremely good service because it’s very confidential. That’s thesouthboundtrain@protonmail.com.
Leahy: Now, Bryson, would you like some breaking news?
Gray: Yes, sir.
Leahy: We have a gig for you. One of our listeners wants to invite you to perform at a gig. Are you ready?
Gray: Yes, sir.
Leahy: It’s a group called Williamson Families in Franklin. They have an event on March 8 and they want to invite you to perform there.
Gray: Of course, if I’m in town, I have to check my schedule.
Leahy: Guess who’s on the lineup there that night?
Gray: Who is it?
Leahy: John Rich is also on the lineup that night.
Gray: Ohhh, that would be so awesome.
Leahy: It’s the Williamson County election kick-off event. And so there you have it. Offline, I’ll put you in touch with the organizers of the Williamson Families group. But you have an invitation to appear as a performer and you can perform all your great MAGA rap hits at the Williamson Families event. I think it’s going to be in Franklin on March 8. How about that?
Simon: I’ll be there for sure.
Leahy: So now I’m your booking agent, Bryson.
Gray: Yes, sir.
Simon: He gets a percentage for that?
Leahy: (Chuckles) No, no, no, I do it out of love for Bryson’s music and love for Bryson. How about that?
Gray: Thank you so much, man. That’s amazing.
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Tune in weekdays from 5:00 – 8:00 a.m. to the Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy on Talk Radio 98.3 FM WLAC 1510. Listen online at iHeart Radio.
Photo “Bryson Gray” by Bryson Gray.
Live from Music Row Monday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. – host Leahy welcomed U.S. (R-TN-07), Rep. Mark Green, to the newsmaker line to discuss Biden’s no show at annual Army-Navy football game, the destruction of tornadoes in Tennessee, and the Democrats quest for authoritarianism.
Leahy: On the newsmaker line, our good friend, Representative Mark Green, a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy, served in combat in Iraq and decorated. H also left the army, was a major, I think when he left the army. Welcome to The Tennessee Star Report, Congressman Green.
Green: Hey! Thanks for having me on.
Leahy: Did you watch the Army-Navy game? Who won that game? Oh, that would be Navy. 17 to 13. What was your reaction to that?
Green: (Chuckles) Well, I think the Navy wanted it more. I think the Army went in a little too confident. They had a great season so far. And, of course, we had a few of our better players on injured reserve, but we just didn’t look like we wanted it. And Navy did.
Leahy: What’s it like being a cadet going to the Army-Navy game?
Green: Oh, it’s pretty amazing. Of course, you’ve got always in the background the life of being a cadet. So it’s sort of like you’re out of prison for four hours or five hours for the weekend. And you’re there in Philadelphia most of the time. In all my years at West Point, except for one when we went out to Anaheim. But, yeah, it’s a great game. A great American tradition.
Leahy: Well, I noticed that the current President, Joe Biden, broke with tradition. Former President Donald Trump went to every single Army-Navy game.
Joe Biden didn’t go. I don’t know. I mean, if I were a cadet or a Midshipman, I don’t think I would be very pleased with that. What’s your reaction to Biden’s not showing up?
Green: I really don’t know. I didn’t give it much thought. The only thing when I think about Joe Biden, I think about the destruction to the country. I don’t think about whether he goes to the football game or not. But it is a little bit of a slap in the face I suppose.
Leahy: One of your colleagues, Lee Zeldin from New York. I’ll just throw this out there. Said the reason the White House staff didn’t want him to go there was because they were afraid the crowd would break out in chance of Let’s Go Brandon!
Green: I don’t doubt that there’s a reason why Kamala Harris doesn’t go to the border, even though she’s the border czar. It’s because the cameras go there and they see things they don’t want to see. So in that case, they would hear things they don’t want to hear.
Leahy: Well, parts of your district had very, very I think it was parts of your district were affected by these tornadoes late Friday night, early Saturday morning. What’s the status? What can you report on that?
Green: Well, obviously, just like the floods in Waverley, just like the floods in Hardin County. I mean, Tennessee and rally to each other. People are all over the district helping those who’ve lost property damage and things like that.
Our district fared better than David Kustoff’s district. The tornado actually started out there in West Tennessee. The big tornado that ripped through Kentucky. And of course, the images from Kentucky are just grieving everyone.
Leahy: I want to follow up on another question. I call this Build Back Broker bill. What’s the status of that bill?
Green: So it looks like the Senate is going to hold it. I mean, so far Manchin has done what he said he was going to do and pushed back. Now, both he and Kyrsten Sinema have said that they aren’t supportive of the bill.
And I think after Virginia, both of those folks saw what happened there and realized this kind of woke craziness that’s going on and I would even say Marxist stuff that’s going on in the far-left Democrat Party are not going to be a part of it. And they know it’s not very good for their political lifespan.
Leahy: Crom Carmichael has a question for you, Mark.
Carmichael: Congressman, on the Build Back Better, his bill. Whatever you want to call it. I’m of the opinion that there are at least a half dozen other Senate Democrats that do not want it to come to the floor for a vote, but they don’t want to be vocal against the bill.
They just want it to die and never come to the floor. And among those would be Mark Kelly, Hassan in New Hampshire and the Senator from Nevada, and then also Tester who’s not up for reelection this time but still does not want to have to vote for that bill. Your comment on that?
Green: Well, I can only share what our senators say with me or say to me. And Marsha has made it very clear that there are five to six over there who definitely will not vote for it if it comes to the floor. And so that kind of confirms your suspicion. But yeah, Marsha has said that there’s more than just Manchin incentive.
Leahy: Congressman Green, I have a question on a breaking story to see if you can give us some insight into this. So the January 6th ‘select committee’ that is looking into the breach of the Capitol on January 6, 2021, subpoenaed Steve Bannon. He said he wouldn’t comply with the subpoena due to executive privilege.
The committee wanted to hold him in contempt. The House voted yes to hold him in contempt. And now the Justice Department is prosecuting him. Just yesterday, apparently, or Friday, the committee then also said they want to hold former Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, also a former congressman in contempt.
That’s going to the House for a vote. Do you think that House vote will have the same result as the recommendation to hold Bannon in contempt, or will it be different because he’s Mark Meadows?
Green: It’s very interesting. Mark Meadows was a member of the Freedom Caucus. He was a very conservative member of Congress, and Democrats liked him. It’s very interesting. He would always get extra courtesy when debated in committee beyond what others would get.
And I think it’s because he just was a very nice person and worked very diligently for compromise at times. And so I think there’ll be some Democrats who do not vote to hold Meadows in contempt. Now we’ll see. Pelosi is the master at whipping her caucus. So we’ll see.
Carmichael: Is that literally or figuratively?
Leahy: She’s got the whip. Boom! (Laughter)
Carmichael: I just want to be clear, because it could be either. (Laughs)
Leahy: When will that vote come up?
Green: That’s a hard question. So we may be voting Tuesday or Wednesday this week and that’s on passage of some budget-related stuff. But if we go for that, they’ll put the Meadows thing on. If not, it’s going to be the first week of January.
Leahy: You had a piece at the Washington Examiner. I think recently talking about the triangle of tyranny. I thought that was quite profound.
In the minute and a half we have, describe the triangle of tyranny and what reaction people have had to that piece that you wrote.
Green: Basically, if you look at the Os Guinness Freedom Triangle or Golden Triangle, where freedom is the objective to get there, you have to have a virtuous society. To get a virtuous society. You have to have a fixed moral right.
And to get faith or a fixed moral right, you have to have freedom. So there’s this circular. And I wondered, what is it that’s driving the Democrats? Not all Democrats, but at least these Marxists.
And instead of freedom, they want authoritarianism with themselves in control, dictating to everybody else. And in order to get everyone to want authoritarianism, you have to have chaos.
So when there are riots in the streets, people will even accept martial law when there are riots. So to get authoritarianism, you have to have chaos. And to get chaos, you have to have moral relativity. And you can see moral relativity and the best example, of course, is their views on abortion.
And of course, once you get moral relativity and morality is relative, the authoritarians can tell you what’s right and wrong. They can tell you what they want to say and what you can say. So that is my vision of what the leftists and the Democrats want.
Leahy: What’s been the reaction to people who have thought about that?
Green: People really go, wow, that’s pretty deep thinking.
Leahy: Something profound from a member of Congress. It rarely happens. Congratulations on getting something profound out there.
Green: I’m a reader. I love to read and to think about these kinds of things.
Leahy: We’re out of time. But thanks so much. We got so much more to talk about. Come in studio sometime, if you would please. We’ll have a full hour. All right?
Green: I will. Absolutely.
Leahy: Congressman Mark Green, always interesting to talk to you.
Carmichael: It sure is. It sure is.
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Tune in weekdays from 5:00 – 8:00 a.m. to the Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy on Talk Radio 98.3 FM WLAC 1510. Listen online at iHeart Radio.
