Susan Hickman: 0:05

Well, hello. How's it going, everybody? Make some noise out there. Come on now. Happy Tuesday. Welcome to Hooked. Stories and songs from Texas and beyond. Huge, huge thanks to Cocos on the Canal for... Helping this concert series and interview series and video series come to life. I do have with me right now Mr. Seth Candan, all the way from Alvin, Texas. Yeah, make some noise. I have been wanting to do something like this for a really, really long time. And we had our first episode last year. How's it going? Doing good. Good to see

Seth Candan: 0:59

you.

Susan Hickman: 1:09

When I decided to do this, you were like one of the first people that I thought of. I was like, we have to get Seth on the show. So back during quarantine, COVID, we did some illegal things. We got together and had more than six people in a garage. And we did something kind of like this from, whose garage was that?

Seth Candan: 1:29

It was Bryce and Brandon's. Busted String's live stream.

Susan Hickman: 1:33

Yes.

Seth Candan: 1:34

We didn't wear a mask either.

Susan Hickman: 1:36

No, definitely not. We only had at least four to six people on camera at a time, so technically, they can't say anything. But that was a thing.

Seth Candan: 1:46

That was weird, because when you... You know, you couldn't go to a bar, right? And everyone shoved all their... whiskey and they all created their own bars at their houses and that was it's weird to look back on it now but just to think that people had concerts or shows or everyone was home-bodied you couldn't go to a restaurant you know it just seems so weird now but it's to think about how that was even a thing is just not even that long ago it was just a half a what four five years ago five years ago yeah

Susan Hickman: 2:18

yeah five years ago it's kind of weird too because I mean, I hope nothing like that ever happens again, but for the first time in my whole life, I think I finally had a break. I had a vacation, and that was actually kind of fun. Oh,

Seth Candan: 2:32

yeah. Wake up every day and just wear pajamas and go to bed and wear pajamas. Oh, yeah.

Susan Hickman: 2:39

It was fantastic. But I remember doing that, and we did live streams. We teamed up with different... Radio stations, venues, all that kind of stuff. And it was cool. And even beyond that, I wanted to do something like this back 15 years ago. So it's cool to see it come into life. And thank you for being my second guest

Seth Candan: 3:02

ever. I'm honored. Thank you.

Susan Hickman: 3:04

Well, tell the lovely people about yourself. I know you're from Alvin, Texas.

Seth Candan: 3:10

From Alvin, yeah.

Susan Hickman: 3:11

Yeah, give them the rundown.

Seth Candan: 3:13

Yeah, Alvin folk out there. No, Susan and I have known each other for a long time. I grew up playing country music at a very early age. I was 14, 15 years old, and I recorded my first record called Life. I went to Arkansas. A guy named Doug Driesel produced it up there, and we had George Strait's drummer, which was cool, because at that time... I was a kid, and I was just writing these songs, and I co-wrote this one with Doug Driesel, and he invited me to the studio, and he had George Strait's drummer. I

Susan Hickman: 3:53

was just talking to Leo about that the other day, and remember he was deaf. Mikey Kennedy.

Seth Candan: 3:59

Mike Kennedy, yeah, yeah, yeah. Partial death, that's right. He passed away now.

Susan Hickman: 4:03

Yeah.

Seth Candan: 4:04

And I had Dolly Parton's fiddle player. So I'm with all these cool guys, and I'm in the studio, and I got to write this song. And Doug goes, man, that's a really cool song, Crawl. You know, we ought to pitch that out. I was like, well, do what you got to do. It wasn't even until like two years ago, I was at the Texas Music Awards with Sandy June and Ed Bradley, and I ran into Doug. He's like, man, you're one hard gotta find. I was like, why did he say that? He's like, dude. That song Crawley wrote, he's like, you know that Kenny Rogers wanted to cut that song and then we couldn't find you. We were looking for you on MySpace. I was like, God dang, MySpace was still a thing. Like, that tells you how old it was. It didn't happen, but I was like, well, that's still cool, though. I mean, just to know that kind of movement and stuff with those kind of guys. But no, then from there, after high school, I went to college, Zip and Blend. She had Aggies around. Went to College Station, and I started working on another record. And it so happened to be where I wasn't chasing the music. It just kind of just happened. I was playing guitar at the house, and my college roommates were the only ones listening to me, throwing beer cans out in the backyard late nights. And there was a bar called Shotzi's.

Susan Hickman: 5:24

Yeah.

Seth Candan: 5:25

And I remember

Susan Hickman: 5:25

Shotzi's. Uh-huh.

Seth Candan: 5:27

And old Corey owned it at the time, and he had, I guess it was an open mic night that night. It was, and Cade and Clayton said, hey, Seth, get up and play. I was like, I'm not going up there and playing. Sure enough, they signed me up, and I got up there, and I played. And mind you, I was underage, and I shouldn't probably be telling you this story, but I was underage.

Susan Hickman: 5:49

They can't do nothing about it

Seth Candan: 5:52

now. And I got up there, and I started... playing some songs, and I see this guy put his head up behind the bar, and I got done, and he goes, hey, man, are you from around here? I said, yeah, I live here. He goes, how old are you? I said, I'm 19. He goes, well, I'm Corey. I own this bar. He said, if you want to come up here and play any time, he's like, I know you're underage, but I could give you a couple beers, but you're going to have to be in the office. We're a freshman in college. That was like hearing, like, that's gold ring. That's the angels singing. From ramen noodles and free beer, that's what you want, okay? So that was a golden ticket. So now I started playing, and there's a guy named Brandon Scott Turner. I still keep up with him to this day. But we started up a band, and it just happened. He just started playing, you know? And then from that time, there was the Hall of Fame, and then Hurricane Harry's was kicking.

Susan Hickman: 6:43

Yeah.

Seth Candan: 6:44

And that was kind of like a go-to place. You had your ten staples of college towns in Texas. You had Nacogdoches, SFA. You had UT. You had your six streets. But, you know, when you get to the small secluded towns of like West Texas or College Station, you only listen to what you had on the radio. Mind you, in 2005 and 6 and 7, 8, it wasn't like your phone, you know, where you could just put it in and download. It wasn't Apple or so.

Susan Hickman: 7:12

You had to search it out.

Seth Candan: 7:14

Uh-huh. Yeah. But I started up a band, and it just got to the point where we were playing shows here, and then that time it was Whiskey Myers and Cody Johnson, and all those guys were just now starting off. Everyone was at the same age as kicking off, and there was an energy drink called Red Dirt Hurricane.

Susan Hickman: 7:33

I remember them. You remember that? Yeah.

Seth Candan: 7:35

And they would host these things in College Station at the taproom. So Cody would come over, and Nick Frasoso was managing everybody.

Unknown: 7:44

Yep.

Seth Candan: 7:44

So like all the guys from Whiskey Myers would come stay at my house. And they'd be playing at the bar for like a hundred bucks, you know, and I'd go hang out with them in Palestine. And we were going back and forth until the point like, hey, we're playing and Waco come up and up for us. And then when I ended up moving to New Braunfels, I signed with Gino on Rest Music. I started playing, we were centralized in Central Texas, and started touring and playing around, and then Whiskey Myers was like, hey, we're playing here. Cody Johnson's like, I'm playing there. Do you want to open up for me here? I got to open up for Randy Rogers. That was a cool thing back then. But you were in that all night. Yeah,

Susan Hickman: 8:23

and it's cool, too. That whole, you know, when that Texas music revolution was kind of coming up, right? It's like everybody... Everybody that really worked well together, we're all friends, right? And so it's like, hey, you come open for me, I come open for you. Or we team up and do these things together. And when you lock arms, it's like you have power with numbers. And you can get everybody. I miss song swaps. And I miss just getting a bunch of your buddies on a stage and just having a show, right?

Seth Candan: 8:59

Yeah. Because how it works is that you have your friends and your fans, people you meet back then, because it wasn't the big social media. Remember, social media wasn't that big. Facebook, you had to be in college just to have it, right? So that was that time where you went out and played and got as many fans as you did, and these people had as many fans as you got. And so we would all get together on stage and collaborate. It was like a family affair.

Susan Hickman: 9:23

I wish it was a little bit more like that. I mean, it is to a certain extent, but back then it was like, we're doing this together. I thought that was really cool.

Seth Candan: 9:32

It was a movement.

Susan Hickman: 9:33

Yeah, for sure. So how long have we known each other? At

Seth Candan: 9:38

least 20 years. Yeah. At least 20 years, yeah.

Susan Hickman: 9:42

I remember this kid, back then you were a kid. I mean, he's actually younger than me, and I don't like to tell that story at all. But I remember starting, like, seeing you around, and you were, like, skinny. You were, like, clean-shaven. And I was like, who is this kid? And I was like, oh, he's, like, swampy. He's, like... Cool. Like, he just grooves. But speaking of Swampy, so what is that song that you were talking about that Kenny Rogers wanted to record?

Seth Candan: 10:15

So that was completely not Swampy at all. Well, not that. But it was called Crawl. I was a 16. It was a very soft love song. Oh. I don't think I got into more of the blues and the southern feel until you kind of find your way, you know?

Susan Hickman: 10:32

Yeah.

Seth Candan: 10:33

But it was on my sophomore record was when I was in college. And I would really technically say that that was actually a pre-trial record. You know how some people, when they record a record, it's like you're so hard on yourself. It's kind of like when you take a picture, you look at yourself like, take another one. Some people do that. I don't know. I don't. It looks just like me, but... The record, I just took it how it went. But no, yeah, just a little bit about myself. Yeah, so from there, I went to New Braunfels and toured around and got on the management label with Gina with Unrest Music. And at that time... Mike McClure, he was a big producer at the time with Red Dirt Music. He produced all the Ragweed and Stoney and Turnpike Troubadours. I really wanted to get into his studio in Oklahoma.

Susan Hickman: 11:23

He's a cool dude.

Seth Candan: 11:25

Very cool, weird dude. Very weird. If you could describe his house in Oklahoma, it would look like a serial killer's playground, dude. Does that make sense? Yeah. But every one of Garth Brooks' records that he came out with, he covered a Mike McClure song, so did Turnpike, and many more. But everyone wanted to get on his record. Everyone wanted him to produce them. And we had the chance to go to Oklahoma, and it clicked. It worked out. And from there, it was a pretty cool deal. We got to tour around, did stuff with Eli Young and Jamie Johnson, and I was asked by, at that time, Gino, have I ever heard of a Louisiana music? And I said, no, I don't know anything about Louisiana music. He said, well, we want to get you to go on this cruise. And he said, this guy's kind of like a Robert O'Keen in Louisiana. And I said, what's his name? He said, Wayne Toops.

Susan Hickman: 12:25

Yes.

Seth Candan: 12:26

I said, okay. I said, all right, so.

Susan Hickman: 12:27

Y'all know Wayne around these parts.

Seth Candan: 12:29

So I went on the cruise, didn't know Wayne at the time, and By the end, I was playing my harmonica, and he was playing that accordion. The time we got off the ship, he was asked to go to the Grammys. We became good friends, and he came and visited me in Houston and my buddy Trixie's ranch. He asked me to go to L.A. with him to the Grammys. That was a really cool experience and a cool time to be a part of something so special. Just little time and friendship that I got to know him on.

Susan Hickman: 13:00

That is so cool. I love that. I remember when you told me that story, I was like, oh, that's so cool. You were Wayne Toop's date for the Grammys.

Seth Candan: 13:08

I remember it hitting next to... Because you go on these Grammys, and I was like, you can't take your phone, first off, right? You can't take your phone, because if you take your phone and take a picture, they'll keep it at the front desk, because they'll hold it for you to write your pictures. Well, I'm from Texas, so that shit went right out the window. I had my phone out taking pictures of everything. Because to me... That was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to go. I remember walking from when you leave the stadium and you're walking back to where the after party is going to be at. And this lady was like, oh, she should have won, talking like she's from England. I was like, oh, do you know someone here? She's like, yeah, my daughter is Adele. And I was like, oh, no kidding. Cool.

Susan Hickman: 13:51

Oh, my

Seth Candan: 13:52

gosh. Bumped to the left and Jennifer Lopez hits my arm and just, okay. My mouth's dropping. I was like... So it was such a surreal moment to do something cool like that. And then getting to play, and at that time I was 24 years old, and I was coming to 25, and I started touring around pretty heavily. I was doing about 200 shows a year.

Susan Hickman: 14:11

That's a grind, right? It's a grind. It's

Seth Candan: 14:16

a grind. And we were about to come out with our sophomore record, and it was the one where we're going to every radio station, every show, playing live. Every every arena open up for either big names big acts get paid crap money But it was just fun and we're hustling and bustling and they caught fake it till you make it and It was rough. It was rough and we were just not getting successes through the radio stations and stuff and Through all of it we finished the record and And everything was just perfect. We got everything going. And then I found out I was going to have a beautiful little girl named Selah. And so in Houston, my family, we do construction development. And I knew I was going to come back home. And at that time, I didn't know really where I was at. My band had just came. Through all this traveling and hustling, remember, we're all made crap money to make it big. And I think they're still mad at me to this day, which they should be. But

Susan Hickman: 15:18

you did what was right for you, for your family, for her.

Seth Candan: 15:22

I didn't just want to be on the road. When I knew I was having my daughter, it wasn't about me anymore. So I took a leave from that, and I said, look. Hey, shoot, seven, eight years down the road when she can walk and talk, maybe I can get back and play music again. And so I did it. I stepped away from everything at the most hottest time of my life for music. And it was a blessing because she's the most amazing little girl. And so from there, it all kind of dials back into why I'm here now. A couple years ago, I got a phone call from Tom Ember. You remember Tom?

Susan Hickman: 15:57

Yeah. Oh, yeah.

Unknown: 15:58

Yeah.

Seth Candan: 15:58

From the firehouse.

Susan Hickman: 15:59

Yeah, he owned Firehouse Saloon, historic venue in Texas. It's not there anymore, and it's real sad.

Seth Candan: 16:05

The irony behind it burned down.

Susan Hickman: 16:07

Yeah. During, yeah. Like right during kind of quarantine or right around that time during 2020. And yeah, I'm still an admin on their Facebook page.

Seth Candan: 16:19

You'd never think that a place called the firehouse would burn down from a fire, but it did. No, so Neil came down from Tennessee and it was a friend's pub and he said hey Do you want to play and I said what? I'm really not playing right now. You know I've been right now during that time I've been songwriting, you know, I just couldn't put the couldn't put the pencil down I think you know, they always say you can leave music but music will never leave you and I'll find you You don't really miss you don't realize how much you miss something till it's gone but I got that phone call. Hey, you want to come play? I said, OK, sure, I'll do it. I'll come play up there. So I played. And in that time, it was August of 2023. And someone, I guess, was recording me when I was playing. And I got a phone call because that next Monday I was on a skid steer, mind you. And I said, this is Seth. They said, Candan. And I knew that if they said the last in Carrasco, because my name is Seth Cannon Carrasco, that it had to have been due with construction or work or development. And he goes, is this Cannon? And I said, yes. And he goes, hey, my name is Jeremy Jeffers. I'm Alex Bregman's business partner. And we're doing an HEB promo video at the Rusty Hook Ranch. We saw a video of you and would love for you to come down. And I said... Cool. What's the details on this?

Susan Hickman: 17:42

Talk about the luckiest guy in the whole world.

Seth Candan: 17:45

So two days later, I'm down at the ranch and we're doing these promo videos with Alex Bregman for his breggy bomb sauces and stuff. Yeah, throughout that, it was pretty cool to kind of meet some of the guys there and the people who cook and the guys, RC Ranch, who makes the beef and the cattle. And that's another story we'll get in later in

Susan Hickman: 18:05

the segment. So they saw a video. What did they see? What song did they see?

Seth Candan: 18:10

It's a new one I wrote called Throw Out a Line. I actually don't even have a title. Maybe one of you guys could help me. I think I've said this the last three shows. I still haven't figured out the name of the song.

Susan Hickman: 18:21

Can you play it?

Unknown: 18:23

Ooh.

Seth Candan: 18:23

It's a pretty hard one to hit

Susan Hickman: 18:24

on. Is it? Well, son of a gun. Well, can you play something for us?

Seth Candan: 18:29

Yeah.

Susan Hickman: 18:29

Yeah?

Seth Candan: 18:30

I'm going to talk or you're

Susan Hickman: 18:31

going to have to stop. No, no, you are good. You're good. No, seriously. Like, I would rather you talk than us go, what are we going to talk about next? Because that's awkward. No, I seriously love, like, this man has all the stories and all the things. And like when I said, like, you're the luckiest guy in the whole world. Like, you are always, like, right place, right time. But I feel... That the reason good things happen to you, because you're just a good dude. Like, you're such a good dude, and I've always thought that about you. And I just, I love you to pieces, and I appreciate our friendship, and I'm glad you're here. And I'm just excited for all of these people that don't know you yet to get to know you and dive into your music. And, yeah, so play us whatever you want, man. Like, he's got all the good songs, so.

Seth Candan: 19:17

Before we do Throttle Line, I'll do something a little bit slower for you. guitar solo If I fail At your feet Oh baby Will you notice me Oh baby Would you just pass me by And if I was searching In the deep of the night Oh baby Ask me why Let me and my mom Y'all take it real slow I saw your thing Yeah, baby Just gotta let it go And all I want is to keep you satisfied Is

Susan Hickman: 22:11

that out on streaming platforms and all the things? No, it should be. I know. I love that song. I love a lot of your songs, but I think a lot of the ones that I really, really love, you haven't even recorded yet.

Seth Candan: 22:27

So that one is actually, I just warmed up for you as a guy from Oklahoma that I've been wanting to put on a record. But I'm going to sing you a couple that I have written recently. But to lead back off though, Susan, on our embark of our guest past friendships and tours and All the things. Ups and downs of music industry. Tell me a little bit about what's been going on. I know you just recently just got on a big TV show.

Susan Hickman: 22:58

I did. I did. I was on The Voice. Yes. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. And actually, there was some questions that we didn't get to last week. And I don't even know where those are. They're probably in my box somewhere. But there was a couple of questions about The Voice and all that kind of stuff. But yeah, it was a great experience. I mean, it was... It was fantastic. Like, I met so many incredible singers, songwriters, just people that I know were going to be friends for life. You know, we've been texting back and forth, and some of them are still, you know, going through the show, because the show's still on right now, my season at least. And, yeah, they, yeah, incredible. And, like, even, like, the producers were amazing. I mean, all the way down to, like, the guys going back and forth, like, delivering us water. They just had, like... like a very good spirit and a very good, um, just to, you know, they were like giving us pep talks and like just hyping us up and it was very cool. But, uh, yeah, yeah, that's been going on. We're, uh, we're actually getting ready to, to move. We started backing yesterday. We closed on a, on a house on, uh, The 18th of April. And so by the time this episode comes out on all the podcast streaming platforms and on YouTube, we'll probably already be in our house for about a month. But yeah, we're doing that. And yeah, life is good. Life is really good. Married life is good. We've been married for six months so far. So yeah, we're doing very good. That's the...

Seth Candan: 24:32

Chrissy and I are going to have to come in over there and break a bottle of wine.

Susan Hickman: 24:35

I know. I thought you were about to say Chrissy and I are about to get married too. I'm like, oh, okay. I'll be the flower girl. Sorry, I'm not putting you on the spot, but I know I love your girl. She's amazing.

Seth Candan: 24:48

She's a hard worker.

Susan Hickman: 24:49

Yeah. She's good for you.

Seth Candan: 24:52

So over the past year, I don't know if a lot of y'all don't know me, I've lost almost 100 pounds. So it's been, she got me back into health and church and all the good things. So I'm very blessed and happy. She's an awesome woman.

Susan Hickman: 25:09

You're more well-rounded now, but just less rounded.

Seth Candan: 25:12

That could be a song.

Susan Hickman: 25:16

That could, Donna. Where's my drummer at? Come on now. Oh goodness. Well, so, so we kind of reconnect because like you, you know, you, you had your daughter and you, you're going through that, you know, uh, journey of your life, that chapter and all, you know, obviously that's a continuation chapter, but, uh, like I didn't see you for a really long time and it was probably in what, like 20, it was like 2020 when we kind of like you know, got back, reconnected, and then you started kind of doing some shows with, you know, you were saying, you know, you had, you know, like, RC Ranch guys, you know, talking to them, and then, you know, bringing me out, like... When did you, like, you did the Friends Pub thing, but when did you kind of start actually playing shows, if you will?

Seth Candan: 26:06

Yeah, so it was back in, we did the Busted Strings live stream. That's kind of how when we first approached some of my friends, we're saying, hey, let's call some of the guys that you know and let's bring some people out. So we had you come out to the show and Parker McCollum's brother and Tyler and Some cool songwriters for us just to kind of adventure in and have discussions, right? So it was after I got done doing that promo video, it seemed to be a domino effect. It seemed like after 2022 or 2023, it went from one thing to another. So I went to go do this thing at the Rusty Hook Ranch with Bregman and then these guys at the HEB promo deal. And then Ryan Cade, who's our Brazoria County Commissioner, said, hey, you know, I'm doing this thing with the RC Ranch. And his business partner is Blake Robertson, who's the founder and his family of the Carbock Brewery here in Houston. And so I got to do all the stuff with those guys at Carbock and the RC Ranch and then go on the rodeo. So I went to go play at that ranch, and I got a phone call from Jason Allen and said, hey, are you playing again? I said... I guess. I guess so. He goes, well, I'm going to Indian Head Ranch in New Mexico. This guy named Steve Alvis bought Patrick Swayze's ranch. And it was where the movie Red Dawn was recorded. And so I went up there, and it's a bunch of cool guys, a bunch of congressmen, senators, all different people. Walks of Life Development, and these guys are a cool group of guys. They own New Quest Properties, so Tower Gets, Dick's Sporting Goods, the Whiskey Cakes. He owns all that, but leases these buildings out. So I got to meet them up there, and I was playing. He's like, well, you know, he owns the Houston Oaks, so I went to his place over at the Houston Oaks. At that time, Governor Abbott appointed him as chairman of all tech stock, the roadways and highways. So these events he started playing out of play at that and I meet someone else and so I was hey Well, why don't you come play over here? And so then I met these guys at this dove hunt we went to Christian I went down they invite us to Lytle, Texas and a bunch of cool people from Friendswood And we did this cool hunt and then I met this doctor he said hey We're doing this cool thing and Lake Charles come play here So it's just kind of been a domino effect is meet people and then you calling me and saying to come out and play and I So I decided that this year, life's been good, work's been good, health's been good, Christ has been good. I'm going to come out with a good record this year finally. So put some of this lyric songs and stuff out for folks to hear. Yes.

Susan Hickman: 28:42

That is very exciting. Because I've been waiting for a lot of songs from you. Because some of your other stuff is on the streaming platforms and all that good stuff. But a lot of the ones that you do, I like... Whenever we play together, I can't go listen to those. And if you've never heard his music before, it gets stuck in your head. It's swampy, just cool, different. And I love that because in a world with a lot of cookie cutter boxes, you don't fit in any of the boxes. And I think that's okay. And I always thought... You had to fit yourself somehow into a box or a mold. Did you ever get that when you started playing music? Did you ever feel like, I have to tell people how to consume my music, otherwise they're not going to understand it?

Seth Candan: 29:33

Well, I got really fat, so I wasn't going to fit in any box. I wasn't going to get in any box. But no, I just always did me. I don't know. That was... I grew up listening to everything. Of course, my parents listened to Credence and Eagles and then from Willie to Waylon to everything. I listened to all kinds of music, Beatles to all of it.

Susan Hickman: 29:56

And so it's like a conglomeration, right? All of it. Yeah. I think that's important to draw from your influences and draw from what you really like to listen to and like to sing and then just try to incorporate those little things into... Whatever mixture you're trying to come up with.

Seth Candan: 30:13

Yeah, though I still don't know, like, even, like, listening to country. I mean, because I grew up listening to stuff from rock to things kids listen to, Backstreet to Shaggy. So how do you come up to listening and writing the things that I do? I don't know, but...

Susan Hickman: 30:27

What's, like, the weirdest song that you've ever written?

Seth Candan: 30:31

Ooh. Well, weird wouldn't be a weird, wouldn't be the word.

Susan Hickman: 30:35

Well, like, off the wall. Like, something that... You wouldn't really expect from you.

Seth Candan: 30:41

I typically like to write upbeat, swampy stuff. There is a time when I was going up to Oklahoma. Oklahoma City. And I usually like to write my music first on piano or guitar. And I have a song I wrote about a Vietnam vet. He was on the side of the road. And I've never... Performed this live for anybody or if you want me to play I'll play it for you But uh, this guy had a sign on the side of the road and said one more dollar could save my life And I went to the gas station pump and we pulled in and he was sitting there and uh As I was pumping jordan went in he used to get a red bull And he came up to me and he said hey man, you got any spirit change and he just reeked of just booze you know, he's kind of just gritting his teeth a little bit and And as I could answer, Jordan was coming back, and he said, hey, what are you going to do if we give you some money? I was like, man, I'm just trying to get my next fix. I'll be honest with you. But I could tell that he had a wedding ring on his finger, and he had a rosary, and it just mixed me with emotions. And I was going up to Oklahoma, and I wrote out a song thinking about this guy's life. So it would probably be one of the... I want to say weird songs, but a song that I didn't really naturally just write music first and then wrote a song about something personally with my life. You want me to share it

Susan Hickman: 32:10

with you? I want you to share it. How about y'all? You want to hear it?

Seth Candan: 32:13

I've never played it. I

Susan Hickman: 32:16

think I've heard you talk about this song before. I think when we talk about our deep dive conversations...

Seth Candan: 32:44

¶¶ ¶¶ ¶¶ I'm a fellow. I guess you learn a lot of shit by the time you grow cold. Devil takes away his pain for a needle to ease his soul. And I sit here wondering, how can a man live like that? Fighting demons from his past Oh, he's shifting away Oh, he's slipping away An angel covered in ash a seat on a sidewalk corner with a rosary I sit next to a cardboard sign that said one more dollar to save my life but the feeling that I get when old Williams gets a tip at a four way light he'll soon forget cause the only little thing upon his mind is just one more dollar for a needle in a line I sit in So that's typically not the kind of music I would play.

Susan Hickman: 35:30

I know, but I like it. That's so good. The stuff that makes you feel. I don't know. I write a lot of breakup songs or slow songs and stuff like that. So it's hard for me to do the upbeat kind of stuff. So I love it. That was good. That was real good.

Seth Candan: 35:48

Thank you.

Susan Hickman: 35:49

Yeah. And when did you write that?

Seth Candan: 35:52

Shoot, that was in 2014, 13, 14.

Susan Hickman: 35:56

You see, you need to record that.

Seth Candan: 35:58

Yeah, so there's a lot still I've got to... Chew the dust off those papers and

Susan Hickman: 36:03

kind of

Seth Candan: 36:03

pull them out.

Susan Hickman: 36:04

How many do you think you have? Oh,

Seth Candan: 36:06

man. A lot. A lot.

Susan Hickman: 36:09

A lot that are probably finished or, like, this close to being finished?

Seth Candan: 36:13

That's hard. So there's so many songs that I always seem to have the first verse, the chorus, the second verse, the chorus is, of course, but... It always seems like that final chapter, I can never shut the door. To

Susan Hickman: 36:26

bridge or not to bridge.

Seth Candan: 36:28

Or to bridge it or not to bridge it, yeah. Because at the end, should I make it a third verse or not? You know, there was a song called... Well, I'll tell you another little story. So I grew up Southern Baptist. I'm from Alvin. But my family is what I like to call hypocrite Baptists, okay? Mm-hmm. And I'll tell you right now, so I've been talking a lot, and I'm running for city council now in politics. That's a whole different subject we'll get into later on.

Susan Hickman: 37:00

Drink your hot toddy.

Seth Candan: 37:01

So I'm drinking a hot toddy. I've been talking and talking and walking and knocking.

Susan Hickman: 37:06

No, it's okay. It's good. It's good. I know the story you're about to tell, and seriously, this is one of my favorite songs, favorite stories.

Seth Candan: 37:15

We used to go to Huntsville, and my cousins and I, we used to go to Huntsville, Texas, and... My grandma, when we'd get there as kids, she didn't have a lot of money, but we had all the grandchildren, you know, and all the cousins. So she'd make us go for arts and crafts, go get a twig off the tree, and then we would paint it. Little did we know, that was switches for our ass, okay? But she was a Baptist, and she followed the rules, and she did not drink. But inside the refrigerator in my grandma's house... It looked like a peroxide bottle, almost a vanilla extract bottle. And inside of it was whiskey, honey, and lemon. But that was her cough syrup, honey. And she doesn't drink because she's Baptist, but she was sick 365 days a year. Oh,

Susan Hickman: 38:12

my gosh. That's amazing.

Seth Candan: 38:14

And she wouldn't dance, but she would stand up and she'd wiggle her hips if she liked the music. But she did move her feet, so she wasn't dancing. She always walked that fine line.

Susan Hickman: 38:26

It's like the technicality, right? Oh, my gosh. So you wrote that song, but it wasn't quite finished. And Sandy June ended up recording it.

Seth Candan: 38:37

So Sandy June came. She's awesome. Her and Ed Bradley invited me to their house, and they said, Seth, is there any kind of songs that you've been working on? We're going to get Sandy a new... We're coming out with a new record, and... I told him that story. I said, here's one that I just started working on about my cousins and I. It's called Homemade Remedy. It just kind of talks about how no one's perfect. Don't be afraid of who you are. Just be you in life, whatever you do. And if you believe in God, you believe in God. I was saying this one time after a show and A guy walked up to me and said, you know, Jesus didn't hang out with the best of the best in the world. He hung out with the sinners and the tax collectors and prostitute. And that's, you know, who Jesus surrounded himself with. So don't worry about what you do. That's what you, if you follow the good Lord, you follow the good Lord. Amen to that. So I wrote this song called Homemade Remedy. And she helped me finish off the rest of the song. And it got up to, I think, 16 on the Texas music charts on the radio.

Susan Hickman: 39:45

Yeah.

Seth Candan: 39:54

It's the cousins and I that go to church on Sunday Drunk as a loop, our cops serve honey On Grandma's homemade remedy I'm a late night gamblin' with the drunks and junkies Find me out back, smoke some funky Live a life just as happy as I can be I'm not the kind of guy ¶¶ ¶¶ ¶¶ We'll be right back. Southern bells and hippies And good old country boys Hell raised in the Dixie Where the pastors greet the gold We love barbecue and Jesus And cold beer, tea and wine My faith won't crucify me If I sin, hell, I'll be fine I testify I go to church on Sunday, drunk as a loop, cops are punting, I'm grandma's homemade remedy. I'm a late night gambling with the drunks and the junkies, they find me out bad, smoking something funky, living life just as happy as I can be. This is because of yeah

Susan Hickman: 42:47

that's what I'm talking about so you mentioned you know Sandy June she you know she recorded that and she put it out and she you know wrote a verse right didn't she write a verse to it yeah

Seth Candan: 42:59

I didn't do it on this one

Susan Hickman: 43:00

yeah yeah but are you gonna are you gonna record that one

Seth Candan: 43:03

I don't know. I don't think so.

Susan Hickman: 43:05

Really? I'm surprised, because, I mean, you do that so well, and that's, like, something that you, like, wrote from, like, personal experience. I don't know. It's weird. Like, you write songs, you know, that you don't necessarily think you're ever going to really do something with them, and then, you know, if you have somebody that's, you know, comes along and wants to take that story and run with it, that's really cool, but I don't know. I... I think that there's a lot of people that would want to hear that.

Seth Candan: 43:34

I know. Yeah. That's why I'm thinking Susan Hickman should record this one, huh? I found after leaving the music industry for a while and working, and I found true happiness is just, it's not always about being a chicken on the stage or just trying to go out there and play. To me, I found really joy, to me, it was just music in itself. Because when I came back to play again, it wasn't about chasing or going to the Grammys or putting stuff on my Facebook or going... It was because I truly, truly missed it. And I really love writing and playing music. And to me, that's all I love. And songwriting, to me, it's therapeutic. I like to write. Jim's a hell of a writer, too, right there. That's a hidden gem right there in Alvin. I'm telling you. And... Trey over here too just showed me a cool song he's in the audience just showed me some really cool idea just about how intertwining with social media and life and how love these days how people approach I said man that's just a genuine genius idea so there's so much talent out there you know so just embark it chase it and ride it just because if you don't it's just going to get lost right so

Susan Hickman: 44:54

when there's a lot of people that never even put their thoughts down on paper or you know say them out loud into existence and it's like man what a shame right like if you have it I mean I'm not saying that you know go pursue something that you don't want to pursue if that's not your thing but I know so many talented people that either can write or they can sing and they don't do anything with it and to each their own But I know I would be absolutely devastated if I couldn't do what I love every single day. And you know, everybody has their own thing, right? Like my sister, for instance. My sister is an amazing singer. She's a really good writer. Beautiful piano player. And she has no desire to do that whatsoever. Her calling in life is working with animals. But it's so baffling to me. It's like, you have this gift. And she's like, but my gift is over here. And I'm like... okay, all right, all right, just teach me things. I don't know, but it's weird to think about, right? Because it's like, man, people have so many different facets, and they have so many different gifts, and I just want everybody to, like, full potential, like, just do everything. But, yeah, you're not supposed to have to do everything.

Seth Candan: 46:09

No, I...

Susan Hickman: 46:12

There is a song in all the animals. Yes, there is. There is song in all the animals, for sure.

Seth Candan: 46:18

There's just something always to be written about. And to me, I think two things that make me happy besides my daughter is, weird as it sounds, being in heavy equipment and playing piano or guitar. That's one of my getaways, right? Everyone has their getaway. May it be working on a car. May it be working in the garden. Shopping. Some girls love to go shopping. Everybody has their own thing. Just like every single person has a self-insecurity about themselves. No matter who you are, the most beautiful person in the world, everyone's going to have an insecurity about themselves, and they always got a safe place to go that they like to do and get away. Maybe trawling, riding, shopping, whatever. So mine is to write music and I love that and I love to be in heavy equipment and I love being a dad and I just didn't see that happening as much and being happy being on the road and touring. I am getting back to playing music on the weekends that I do want to play and meeting the people and doing things as of tonight but I don't see myself embarking on a tour in the future. I don't see that. I do see myself coming out with a record Let people listen to the music that I wrote. And if someone like yourself wants to cover something, I would be honored. I

Susan Hickman: 47:38

mean, we've talked so long about getting together and writing. We've never really done it. We've exchanged some ideas back and forth, but we've never actually said, we're going to meet at this place and this time, and we're going to write songs. And we really do need to, because between you and I and Leo and so many of the other people that we know, they're very talented people. There's no excuse. No excuse. Other than the fact that we are so busy that we can't even keep up with anything. But it's just, you make time for the things that you want to make time for, and I feel like we should make time for that, for sure. Because it's been heavy on my mind for a long time. And yeah, I think it'd be really cool. It looks like you found a balance, though. I'm really proud of you, and I'm glad that you... There's a lot of people that haven't found that balance. Like you have your work balance, your home life, your life with your daughter and your girl and the music. I mean, do you think you have, you know, now you're running for a public office. You have the stage, so you might as well talk about that and try to rally some votes.

Seth Candan: 48:49

No, so how politics happened, it was we were in Key West, and our commissioner, Ryan Cade for RC Ranch, was talking to me, and with us and our family being in construction development, and we started talking a little bit about dirt and retention ponds. And I do a lot of the stuff that we're doing on the dirt division now coming forward that he said, hey, I want to appoint you. You should be on the tourist board committee, which is tax increment reinforcement zoning. And right now in Houston, it's a big, pivotal, huge time right now where it's just, we grew up with the 610 around us. And then we had Bellway 8 in the 90s, you know, and then early 2000s. Then we have now Toll Road 99 coming through Alvin. That's wild. It was me playing all this music and guitar. I think in life, it's about who you know in this world. And right now, Alvin's such a small town. And it's sad to say that everyone in this town that's growing is shopping in Webster, Friendswood, Pearland. We only got a Home Depot there, just a Murdoch's, and we've got on the outskirts and everything in, 60,000 people, 27,000, 28,000 in this actual city limits, but so much on the outskirts. And we don't even have a liquor store. We don't have any shopping. Girls don't go anywhere to get Ulta products. And I was telling y'all a story earlier that my friend Steve Alvis owns New Quest Properties, and he does the same shopping centers as like Targets and Best Buys and TJ Maxx's, and he told me, Seth, hey, we would love to have something in Alvin to help produce sales tax revenue for you guys. And I talked to him, our mayor gave about it, and he said, Seth, I think you'd be perfect to run for city council. You know a lot of people, and it would be important. So I started working with our EDC director, our economic development coordinator. And it happened to be there's this little farm that's in our town called Froberg's. I don't know if you've ever heard of it. Yes. And Highway 6 is having this concrete medians that are going up and down Highway 6. And right between Chick-fil-A and Home Depot, they have these concrete medians. And Unfortunate for Mr. Froberg, they were going to put these concrete medians going all the way up to where it's called County Road 149 where Knights of Columbus is at. So everyone from Santa Fe coming into Alvin on Froberg's would have to go all the way up. and turn around, and I thought that was a big safety issue. So Froberg is a commissioner of Alvin, and he tried to get that passed to get a cutout, but they weren't going to give it to him because he wasn't a Home Depot or a big sector. And TxDOT and Angleton said it's protocol, you can't do it, plus you're an ag. There's a bunch of reasons why they wouldn't give him that cutout. So I happened to be just at Country Music. Tracy said, hey, Seth's good friends with the chairman of TxDOT. So I reached out to Steve Alvis and Andrew, and Andrew came down four days later, and he talked to the engineering department of the state of Texas and said, hey, this is more of a danger that if cars were lined up, someone's going to get killed and that they need a cutout. So then the tech stop people in Angleton reached back out, I guess, to the Foebergs and said, you know, how did you get that? You overrode the system. I don't even have the connections to our chairman. Well, some Texas country guy named Seth Cannon got that done for us, and he would have to pay for it. So I thought that right then and there, if I could do my music and have these relationships and connections to get things done in our city... then I'm going to utilize those connections. And with the mayor and the commissioner and a lot of strong people in our city backing me up, I think I'll do good for the city. So I'm happy to be involved. And I want it to grow in the right direction. And I'm excited to do so.

Susan Hickman: 52:51

Well,

Seth Candan: 52:51

congratulations.

Susan Hickman: 52:55

That's a very cool chapter that you've got going. I remember that when all of this kind of started and like, hey, you know, this is what's going on. And my man, you're really, you're making all the connections. And it really is about who, you know, like the, the older that I get, the more I realize, man, you know, just cultivating those relationships with people. I mean, all you got to do is just open your mouth and talk, you know, and people who want to know you are going to know you and you're going to figure out how to, you know, build your strengths up and you're, you know, oh, I'm weak over here. How can I help you over here? And it's not even like it's in music. It's in politics. It's in, you know, any kind of business. So it's very cool to see how that all works out because you never know if you don't just open your mouth and talk about it.

Seth Candan: 53:44

For sure. And I think we really do need businesses in our town because people always come in with ideas. Oh, let's fix these roads here. Let's do this. But really, we just have no money. There's no budget. And when I found out that talking to the councilman and the mayor that they live off any kind of job or any kind of household that they have bills like everybody else. And at the end of the year, it's dwindled down to what they have very little. So if you want for the first responders in these law enforcement to have better equipment, if you want the roads fixed, if you want property tax to be lower for what the city's to defecize the cost on those things, you need money. And the only way to get that is sales tax revenue. And we need to start having people shopping. And the houses keep coming up, and we need economic growth to sustain that. So it's important.

Susan Hickman: 54:37

Bringing those businesses back to your hometown.

Seth Candan: 54:41

To stay local, shopping Alvin. And I think we can get it done if I were to be elected. So

Susan Hickman: 54:48

with the connections. So when is the...

Seth Candan: 54:51

Shoot, we've been getting after it. So early election is April 22nd through the 29th, and then election day is May 3rd, also the same day as Kentucky Derby. So we're having a two-day race campaign election party in Alvin. We'll be there. And Alvin, I got a special surprise guest coming down from Austin to play at my election party. Yeah. To see what happens.

Susan Hickman: 55:16

That's exciting. And actually, Heather's on that one too, huh? She is.

Seth Candan: 55:21

Heather

Susan Hickman: 55:22

Raylene. That's my best friend. She's going to be over there. Yeah, she was telling me about it. She's like, Seth got me to play a show. I was like, yes, that's exciting. I

Seth Candan: 55:32

love it. Cool. You know, Danny and the parties we do for Christmas times and stuff.

Unknown: 55:37

Yeah.

Seth Candan: 55:39

Chrissy and Heather kind of just kicked it off, and we were just talking about Kentucky Derby, and we saw her and the horses. And at first, we were just going to do a Kentucky Derby party, and then I realized, oh, shoot, it's the election day too, so now we've got to collide them. But it's a play on play because it's a race, and it's a race.

Susan Hickman: 55:56

That's fantastic. I love that. I got called to do a Kentucky Derby party at the racetrack. It didn't work out, but I was thinking, man, how fun would it be to dress up and do the crazy hats? And I've never done anything like that before. I was like, oh, that sounds like so much fun. So hopefully I'll get another something for that. But yeah, I was like, that would be perfect at Sam Houston Race Park. And then, but... Didn't work out. It was going to be a full band show.

Seth Candan: 56:26

Are you booked on the 3rd?

Susan Hickman: 56:28

I don't know. I'll have to look.

Seth Candan: 56:30

We've got to talk about it after the show. Yeah. Because I thought I asked

Susan Hickman: 56:34

you. I don't know. I don't know. I don't think so. But anyway, we play together all the time. You've got to have some fresh blood in there. For sure. Play these people another song. What do you think?

Seth Candan: 56:46

Okay.

Susan Hickman: 56:47

And then we have some questions from the audience that we'll get to, and we'll see if we can stump Seth on any of these.

Seth Candan: 57:01

Excuse my throat. It is a little dry, but I'll do that one I was telling you about. I don't have a title on it yet.

Unknown: 57:14

Okay.

Seth Candan: 57:18

Go out of line Underneath the willow Break out the wine Let the night roll Down by the river Down where the river rolls So take our time Bye. All are silver lining If we're all just unwinding Down by the river Down where the river rolls Down where the muddy water washes All the darkness of my soul

Susan Hickman: 1:00:12

the one that always gets stuck in my head always

Seth Candan: 1:00:15

put it on the next record

Susan Hickman: 1:00:16

yes please please okay so we're gonna we're gonna okay so we're gonna ask some questions i can't read we're the you know what but i'm gonna try i'm blind too um okay so paula wants to know who is your biggest uh influence music wise um

Seth Candan: 1:00:38

J.J. Gray Mofro is a big influence that I like. He's an artist out of Louisiana. But at the same time, I would have to say Credence Clearwater Revival

Susan Hickman: 1:00:52

on the back side. There you go. So who was the first one you said?

Seth Candan: 1:00:56

J.J. Gray.

Susan Hickman: 1:00:57

I don't know who that is.

Seth Candan: 1:00:59

Changed my royalties from Louisiana. I came out with a record called Lackaloosa. And there's a song called The Wrong Side, Wrong Side of the Tracks, and I covered that song on my second record. And he's been my unicorn. Every time I've tried to see this guy perform, something's happened. I bought tickets in San Antonio. He canceled. I went to go see him down in Lake Jackson one time at this very rare private event, and I got crazy sick and I couldn't make it. And then there was a time when he was in Austin, and just things didn't work out. I bought the tickets and couldn't go. So still haven't got to see him play. He did confirm for me to cut his song on my last record, but really like him. Cool, cool, cool music. It's a very Louisiana, southern rock, blues, J.J. Gray.

Susan Hickman: 1:01:48

Is it somebody that you have been following for a really long time, or is it later on in your career that you kind of...

Seth Candan: 1:01:54

Not too long. I'd say probably like 15 years, 8 months, and 6 days.

Susan Hickman: 1:01:58

Okay. Not specific at all. That's funny. Let's see here. Trey wants to know, who are you most influenced by besides family when you start with lyrics... Oh, these are two separate... Who are you most influenced by besides? Well, that's kind of the same question. I didn't read these beforehand, as you can tell. Do you start with lyrics or music when songwriting?

Seth Candan: 1:02:27

Okay, yeah. So the song that I played for you tonight was the only song that I've ever played. First off, live. I've done it in a household, but I've never played that Angels Covered in Ash live at a bar. It's the only song I ever in my career wrote without music.

Susan Hickman: 1:02:44

Ooh.

Seth Candan: 1:02:45

So I always write music first. And the reason why is because when you write a melody to a song, then you know how you're feeling, right? You know, you're not going to sing a heartbroken song. You know, you're not going to just, you know, you want to have some...

Susan Hickman: 1:03:01

Set the tone, set the mood. Right, and then

Seth Candan: 1:03:03

you can kind of feel it.

Susan Hickman: 1:03:05

Yeah.

Seth Candan: 1:03:06

So I always write the melody first. And to me... I always try to write something that feels good or catchy because my grandma always used to tell me, you know, if you don't have your foot to it or you can't feel it, they ain't going to follow. And you got just that short window at the very beginning for them to catch that.

Susan Hickman: 1:03:23

Yeah, like that three seconds, right? I think that's what they say it is nowadays. Like everybody's got like the TikTok and the this and the that. Are

Seth Candan: 1:03:30

we talking about music?

Susan Hickman: 1:03:31

Yeah. Okay. Yeah. No, but like if you're listening to something, like they say... Back in the day when I was shopping records and trying to get a record deal, which, you know, that's crazy. They said if you can't capture somebody's attention in three seconds, they're just going to move on to the next thing.

Seth Candan: 1:03:50

That's right.

Susan Hickman: 1:03:50

But nowadays, I mean, I feel like it's just constant. I mean, people absorb music now from social media. A lot of that, they're finding that kind of... you know, what they like to listen to on social media because there's so much out there. But it's just constant scroll, scroll, scroll. And everybody's scrolling with the phone off or the sound off. And so it's interesting. Like, how do you... Like, back in the day, like, we always, you know, we had CDs and records and...

Seth Candan: 1:04:20

See, and to me on the radio...

Susan Hickman: 1:04:21

LimeWire. On

Seth Candan: 1:04:23

the radio, you hear the same stuff all the time. It's just that strumming, you know, people just singing. And so when I hear music... I want to feel, like that last song. So when you get that on radio, you hear that? You know, just that. I want to feel it, right? So you got that. That's how I like to write my music.

Susan Hickman: 1:04:44

That's cool.

Seth Candan: 1:04:45

Good question.

Susan Hickman: 1:04:45

I actually start with my lyrics first. Really? Well, so I'll hear, I'll play some songs. I know Leo does this too. I'll play little things in between so there's no dead air, because I hate dead air when you're trying to do a show. I'll play little things in between while I'm talking or whatnot, and a lot of times I do the same thing, and I'm like, I want to turn that into a song, but I never do, hardly ever. I mean, I have before, but very rarely do I actually turn it into a song. But it's interesting. I hear things like playing with Leo or playing with Don Vickers or playing with people that are just really monster guitar players. Even you, you're an awesome guitar player. Your vibe is very cool and it's very different. But when I hear those different things, it sparks something and I'm like, I want to write to that. But very rarely do I ever come up with the... Melody first, so that's interesting. Yeah, everybody has their own. Question for Seth. How do you know Heather Atwood? Did she write that? Did you write that, Heather? Where are you? I don't know. How

Seth Candan: 1:06:02

do I know Heather Atwood?

Susan Hickman: 1:06:03

Yeah, that's a question.

Seth Candan: 1:06:04

Heather Atwood is a long-time French. No, you

Susan Hickman: 1:06:09

know Heather. No, Mason McMurray. Wrote that. That's funny.

Seth Candan: 1:06:14

Mason McMurray. Mason, I met Heather a long time ago. Heather's always been a long-time good friend. She's a fun, outgoing, seems like she knows everybody. Very cool chick, yeah.

Susan Hickman: 1:06:27

I've known her for a little bit, too. She's awesome. Ashley wants to know, who inspires you? your sound or inspires you in general? Well, shoot. Y'all all have the same kind of questions. That's pretty similar. God, too.

Seth Candan: 1:06:43

I love

Susan Hickman: 1:06:44

good love. I'll read these beforehand so it doesn't look like I don't know what I'm doing. I don't know what I'm doing, actually. I'm just learning as I go.

Seth Candan: 1:06:51

Second

Susan Hickman: 1:06:51

podcast.

Seth Candan: 1:06:53

No, I'm just kidding.

Susan Hickman: 1:06:54

You know, I'm going to– so, Christina, back to your city council. What are your goals if you get elected to city council? Like, what would you do? What would you do first? What would you do second? Like, I know you talked about some of the stuff that you're trying to get done right now, but once you're in, like, what are your main goals?

Seth Candan: 1:07:12

Just start bringing in some restaurants and businesses, and I think that Alvin is very much lacking it, and we have a problem, which we have a forum on Thursday– But we've had a couple different businesses that left out, and they're coming in. There's a beer garden that's one next to the bar wash. Oh,

Susan Hickman: 1:07:31

yeah, we played there. Yeah. Yeah.

Seth Candan: 1:07:33

They were coming in, and they left. There was a couple of other things that just happened throughout the town. And don't get me wrong, the city council, the people that are in there now that are staying are awesome, and the mayor is really cool. He's good friends with Chrissy and I, and he's always at the house, and we're good buds. And we're all on the same page. We want the city to grow together, and I think that, like I said, it's very rare. that a person has a connection that actually knows a chairman of TxDOT, right? You might know someone who works at the office in Angleton, but there's one in every county in the state. But to know the main person who runs every highway and road in the whole state of Texas from El Paso to Orange to Amarillo to Laredo and go to his ranch and have that relationship is going to be crucial when Toll Road 99 comes in and business growth as well. So I think businesses and restaurants ask the question to answer it.

Susan Hickman: 1:08:24

Well, we do need more restaurants, that's for sure.

Seth Candan: 1:08:26

Everyone loves to eat. Everyone loves to eat and shop. Stay local.

Susan Hickman: 1:08:29

So are you still in Alvin? You're obviously, like, if you're...

Seth Candan: 1:08:32

Alvin District D.

Susan Hickman: 1:08:33

Yeah, very good. That's awesome. So how do all of these fine folks find you? Do you have a website? Do you have social media?

Seth Candan: 1:08:42

Social media, Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, Seth Candon, S-E-T-H, C-A-N-D-A-N. um good question i don't know if that i would think uh why do you have the last name carosco on there and and you go by seth cannon it's because when i was younger i uh i realized there was this awesome guitarist the 70s and 80s named joe king carosco and he used to play with all kinds of people stevie ray vaughn and did did his whole different things back in the day that for even cheatham street warehouse with kent finley and My dad happens to be Joe, not Joe King Carrasco, though he thinks he's a king, and I didn't want to have to explain that to a bunch of radio stations every time. Oh, are you related to Joe King Carrasco? My dad's Joe, but he's not. So I just stuck with Seth Candan. But now coming back in and doing politics is Seth Candan Carrasco.

Susan Hickman: 1:09:39

Where did Candan?

Seth Candan: 1:09:40

It's my middle name.

Susan Hickman: 1:09:41

Oh, it is? Okay.

Seth Candan: 1:09:43

I know a lot of people do that, you know, like Stoney LaRue Phillips or Bart Crowe Isaac or, yeah.

Susan Hickman: 1:09:49

Yeah, my middle name is Lynette, so that was really, really country. She's Lynette. Yeah, but then I've got Hickman, which is also really country, but it is what it is. Well, yeah, follow him on all the things. When this episode comes out, we're going to link all of your socials and all of that stuff so people can find you and they can find your music. And make sure that you– we do have a tip jar out here, so make sure– If you've enjoyed the show, all the tips go to Seth. And one more time, please give it up for Seth Candan. Coco's on the canal.

Seth Candan: 1:10:23

Thank you all so much.

Susan Hickman: 1:10:24

For partnering on this lovely endeavor that I so crazily decided to start in the middle of my crazy life. But do you want to close us out with a song?

Seth Candan: 1:10:35

Sure. Yeah,

Susan Hickman: 1:10:36

I would love to close it. One more time, Seth Candan, everybody. All right. Thank you so much for being here.

Seth Candan: 1:10:42

Thank you. Thank you, Coco on the Canal, and Drew for filming, and all you guys for hanging out.

Susan Hickman: 1:10:51

Yeah, Drew Mitchell, everybody. He's the man behind the camera. You don't see him on the camera, but he's here. He's making this happen.

Seth Candan: 1:11:02

So, my buddy Phillip Scalise was... He served three combat tours from Iraq and Afghanistan, and he was married to a girl named Colette Scalise, and she became a nurse. When she came home, they had a daughter named Kylan, and they ended up separating, and I was living in New Braunfels at the time. I shouldn't have probably said all the personal information or their names, but he came to New Braunfels, and he was kind of going through a rough patch, and I said, Phillip, why don't you get up here, come visit me for a couple days, and get away. And so he came up there, and as we were cruising around, going by Schlitterbahn in town and going up River Road, he just kept saying, man, everything I keep looking at, everything I keep seeing and doing, it's the same memories I've had with my family. You know, it's 100 miles away, and you still can't get away. You know, it's... And I told him, just pour you a drink, light up a smoke, and that was kind of it. And I knew right then and there I was going to write a song about it. I never recorded this or pitched it out to anybody, but I'll close this out for you guys. of my bags Moved on out of town Day by day I still see things that bring you around I guess I did it all I can't let you go All memories never fade A hundred miles from you I still can't get away. I'm gonna pull me a drink. It's like a romance. Yeah, the hardest part is always letting go Doing well, happiness and grace. Hope your heart calls the path to love. Jack.

Susan Hickman: 1:15:48

Seth Candan, everybody. Thank you so much. Coco's on the canal. Thank you all for being here. Just want to let you know that next Tuesday we have Trent Cowie here, and he's fantastic. He's from up north a little bit from here, about an hour and a half away, and he does some hard work. Hard Rock Country. If you've never heard him before, he's fantastic. So I highly recommend you be here every single Tuesday. But obviously, come back next Tuesday. And we are looking for sponsors. So put that out there to keep this going. It is pretty costly. So... We want to make sure that we're growing this, you know, the singer-songwriter community here. Not only just local, but, you know, we're wanting to bring in some other people. Maybe some that you've heard before. Maybe some that you haven't. But, yeah, once again, make sure you, you know, be here every Tuesday. And once again.

Seth Candan: 1:16:47

Thank you for having me, Susan. Yeah, love you, friend. Thank you, Coco. Yeah, we'll see you next time. Thank you guys for coming out. Thank you.