Dallas Wayne, singer-songwriter: We're 'blessed' in America, need to remember 'the basics'

Dallas Wayne — a veteran country music artist, DJ, voiceover artist and music producer who recently left Dallas, Texas, for Bristol, Tennessee — considers himself "lucky to be able to make a living" doing work he "loves."

He's also grateful for America, as he shared in a recent interview with Fox News Digital just as a new single from his forthcoming April 2022 album, "Coldwater, Tennessee," is set for release on Feb. 25, 2022. The new single is "I Hit The Road (And The Road Hit Back)."

"Even though we’ve been through a lot over the past couple of years, we’re still blessed," he told Fox News Digital, referring to the pandemic. "Our lives are still excellent in so many ways. We’re still hanging in there."

Wayne acknowledged the tremendous losses the country has faced and the personal suffering so many citizens have endured. "I just hope people don’t let things overwhelm them," he said. "Let's just put one foot in front of the other."

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"I think our world can get far too complicated," he also said. 

"We've got to all learn the basics. We need to learn how to treat people the way we want to be treated." 

The native of Springfield, Missouri, chatted with Fox News Digital before getting out on the road again this year after COVID-19 interrupted a busy touring schedule. 

How busy, one might ask? In 2019, Dallas Wayne did 110 gigs. In 2020, because of lockdowns and restrictions, he was able to do just three. 

Prior to "Coldwater, Tennessee," Wayne's most recent album was "Songs the Jukebox Taught Me, Volume 2," which came out in June 2018 on the Heart of Texas Records label. 

Throughout his career, Dallas Wayne has done commercial voiceovers for TV and radio, including for United Airlines, Delta Airlines, Oldsmobile, Chevrolet, Ford, Suzuki, McDonald's, Nintendo, Miller Brewing Co., Old El Paso and Avis Rental Cars. He's also a broadcaster on Sirius XM’s Willie’s Roadhouse channel. 

In an interview, Wayne shared a selection of life lessons and observations.

Fox News Digital: You've toured all across the country and much of the world. What stands out in your mind about people you've encountered along the way? 

Dallas Wayne: People are pretty much the same. They want to raise their families, they want to be safe and secure in their homes, they want to have a roof over their heads, and they want to have a future. Those things are universal.

As soon as we realize that people are all the same, all over the world — that people basically have the same wants, needs and desires — the sooner we'll get along with everybody. And get an understanding of folks.

Fox News Digital: Share an unusual encounter or two you might've had in your career over the years.

Wayne: There have been a lot, of course — some funny ones, too. 

One night I was playing in Switzerland, and a lady came up to me with a bouquet of flowers. She brought them up to the stage and handed them up to me, and I said, "Oh, thank you. They smell wonderful!" 

And she said, "They’re plastic, you idiot!" 

I didn’t know quite what to say after that [laughing] — and I was right in the middle of a song. Those kinds of interactions are interesting.

Another time, the father of one of my longtime radio listeners had gone into hospice. And she had on the Willie’s Roadhouse channel 24/7 for him — the channel I work for on Sirius XM. 

It was her dad's favorite channel, and I was kind of getting reports [about the listener's dad] throughout the day. She told me he would smile when I played this song or that song. Being right there in the middle of a situation like that, even though it was remote — that meant a lot. 

You have to treat those kinds of situations with a certain amount of importance. Music is a universal language to people. Music means things to people. 

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It’s important to people, no matter what genre it is. 

I’ve played all over the world, thankfully, and I've never had any problems communicating with people musically.

The only times I've ever had issues communicating around the globe was when I've been in restaurants trying to order supper!

Fox News Digital: In this new year of 2022, how much is your schedule opening up again?

Wayne: I’m getting out more this year as things have gotten a little better. [The pandemic has] been a blow to everybody in the touring business, not just the artists themselves but the musicians, crew members and others. It’s been tough for them to survive over the last couple of years.

Some artists have changed the work they do, and some have announced they’re not going to tour anymore. They spent the last year-and-a-half at home and realized how much they missed their families and how much they loved it. 

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The one silver lining — if there has been one through all of COVID — is that it's given people a chance to reassess and take stock of their world. 

Usually we’re so busy all the time. Then, suddenly, we’re not. 

For me, I was able to relocate from Austin, Texas, to Bristol, Tennessee. For a year I worked on this 130-year-old house that we bought. 

And I've finally gotten all the boxes unpacked, every single box. Usually, when I move, I'd take stuff through three or four moves, and I'd finally open up the boxes. This time, we were able to get settled into a new place and a new way of life.

Fox News Digital: Tell us about Bristol, Tennessee: Had you been wanting to move there for some time?

Wayne: We fell in love with the area a long time ago. That’s where [my wife Jo and I] spent our honeymoon, near Gatlinburg, which is a big honeymoon spot for hillbillies like myself! 

And we’ve always liked the area. We love the climate and the people, and the scenery is just stunning.

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Fox News Digital: You've now had the chance, you've said, to go back into the studio and record original music. 

Wayne: My last two projects were basically cover albums, "Songs the Jukebox Taught Me," volumes 1 and 2 [released in 2016 and 2018, respectively]. This period of time has given me the opportunity to sit down and think about an all-original album, and really take the time to do it right. 

It's hard, when a person is wearing a lot of hats, to really have the time to focus on just that. So I'm grateful.

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Fox News Digital: What's on your bucket list for the year ahead?

Wayne: It may be a new normal, and that’s fine — at this point I’ll take any kind of normal it can be. But I'm looking forward to getting out and playing for people in concert again. 

In terms of a bucket list, I’ve been fortunate. So I think I’m going to have to get me a new bucket, for my bucket list. 

There’s a lot of stuff that’s already been fulfilled.

I've loved working with Willie [Nelson], Ray Price, Merle Haggard. All those guys were heroes to me growing up, so to have them become friends and mentors to me has been priceless. Several of them, sadly, are no longer with us [Price died in 2013, Haggard in 2016]. 

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But the ones that are still here — I adore, for example, Jamey Johnson. What a great singer and songwriter. 

And Marty Stuart really floats my boat. 

He’s my Beatles … I love working with those folks when I get the chance to. 

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Classic country is alive and well. 

You just gotta go find it.