You always need someone in your corner. It can be a friend, a family member, whatever. This is especially true in the music industry. Some of the politics involved can make it hard to operate and thrive without people willing to help. The powers that be will go to drastic lengths to make sure they receive their investment back tenfold and then some. This is something Charley Crockett knows far too well.
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Thankfully, he has someone he could call an ally in his music industry operations. Recently, Charley spoke on the Joe Rogan Podcast to encapsulate his life and music career. One moment in particular sees him laud Colter Wall. Not only does he love his music itself but he also cherishes who he is as a man. He highlights how, when Wall was leaving his label, it paved the way for Crockett to gain creative liberty on his own right. In that sense, Colter was a trail blazer. The way Charley sees it, it's not too dissimilar to how Willie Nelson helped Waylon Jennings in his own record deal headaches.
"Man, you mentioned Colter... this is something I wanted to bring up with the Willie and Waylon thing and I've been meaning to tell Colter this, so I'll just tell him on your show. So we were both on the Thirty Tigers roster for years." Crockett tells Rogan.
"I started way down at the back of the line and made a lot of records. More and more of the labels are calling, and each record I'm putting out is doing better than the previous one. There's more money and promotion going into album. But a lot of outside guys are calling... New York and LA are all over me. Colter ends up pulling up stakes and going to RCA," Crockett continues.
Charley Crockett Credits Colter Wall in Helping Him Land Creative Control in His Own Record Deal
It's one thing to leave though. It's another thing entirely to take all of your music with you too. So the label lost everything. His example incentivized a lot of other people to leave too. RCA was also eyeballing Crockett, one of the last prominent acts on Thirty Tigers. Consequently, they went above and beyond to retain their guy. That meant giving into a lot of demands that put Charley in a strong position to succeed.
"What I'm saying is, Colter to me is kind of like Willie left RCA back in the day, and when he left, all the sudden, those guys because he took everything with them, were about to lose me. And they f******* handed the keys over to me. You know what I mean? I think a lot of it had to do with the fact that Colter had left and just took everything," Crockett explains.
"And so that ended up happening on a record cycle for me for an album called '$10 Cowboy.' And I was this close to going to the New York boys, and Macias comes in last minute and beats them all on the royalty rate, on the money, on everything. So I guess what I'm saying is, Colter is kind of my Willie Nelson. Appreciate you, bud. You're doing good," Crockett concludes.
