EXTRA! Huey Lewis

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Let's partner for all of it. Learn more@edwardjones.com this morning podcast featuring a memorable story so songs recorded by Huey Lewis and the new heart of rock 'n' roll square soundtrack wife is doing radically change as he told John Blackstone in this week's conversation. So whether the board 14th Valentine's Day is that while it is not by me and by the river company, but the exposed so but this is an album it's been a long time coming together.

Yeah I mean you know we've been working on this record sort of as we could. We do 75 shows you were doing 75,000 year roughly and so there's not a lot of time in a westward travel so there's that's 100 and some we would record when we have an idea would been stockpiling stuff for probably 10 years and we had seven things done but was recorded and then the I lost my hearing almost 2 years ago now I have lost my writer. I was diagnosed with Ménière's disease 30 years ago I lost my writer and to tutor as well as my left ear and I can still fluctuates so there are days when I can still hear okay the days when I'm just virtually deaf and the trouble is, I can't hear music to sing to.

Because music is harder to listen to the speech as it occurs in all one note occurs on all frequencies with overtones of harmonics all that.

So it distorts for me and I can't find pitch. I think when money is good.

I might be able to but the point is moot because I can't book a show ahead of time because by the time I get what I tried to look to rehearsals in my book and then days before the rehearsal might hearing crashes again and like I can't sing. This is a matter of standard deafness right, no, no, it isn't. Although you know they don't really know what Ménière's is.

If you have vertigo, which is the major symptom of Ménière's in the most debilitating one, which I have had analyses of outgrown almost every fearfulness in your ears and a tinnitus ringing in ears. They call it hearing loss usually one year that you they throw you into a debris box that they call Ménière's site really don't know what is in them.

Don't know what it isn't.

Don't know what to do about Donald.

There's no there's no known cure for many years and there's there are treatments to treat the severity of the frequency of the vertical belts, but there's no treatment for the hearing loss is of the hearing, but it's not just that you can't hear it.

Things are distorted. Yeah, I mean right, right now I'm having a good day yesterday was a really bad day and now have a good day today, so could I hear music. You kind of have the was quiet and I just went to a piano but could I play a show or the be allowed PA levels.

The devil probably not just a base part which would normally sound like ball Bobo Bobo to me sounds like it's like there's this residence. They call it distortion and when it when it occurs.

Music. It's like cacophony for me again. This happened to you although you do had some symptoms using this setting very subject all just before getting in Dallas, Texas on January 27, 2018. So two years ago I would have menacing sense. What was your about to go on stage but once it I went on stage and it was horrible, just unbelievable couldn't hear anything sang out of tune and the worst night of my life.

The band know what you will first note, I what I can find pitch. I was completely out of tune like a halfstep. I could hear anything. This nightmare, but a greater nightmare. In some ways to cancel all these all those shows all the shows were cancel shows I gotta tell you, I mean you know the hard part for me. I don't miss playing five shows a week, and traveling over at my ripe old age.

But I do miss planet show now and then. I miss the guys and miss the camaraderie you know and not just the band members arenas others behind that as well that and I you know, the fans of an amazing the fans admit that the letters in empathy and and and and the support I get is amazing in them and that's that's another video there's still some silver lining to this cloud and that is it.

I've really slowed down, stopped you know I was so busy touring and recording in that kind of stuff.

I never really never really rattled the fan mail.

Never really absorbed what our music and commitment for people in reading these letters and cards and stuff about might think it's amazing and it's really gratifying how much music can mean to someone you know when it's really feels right. You didn't realize the music was having that impacted so many people. I am not really. I mean I know people like you and I get things like that but I'm so busy making music and worrying about our band stuff they never really contemplated. I never really read and am really I had been given enough thought to be honest, and amazingly grateful for the for the career that we had been for the lives you touch the fertilizer to vent him so hundred 77 songs on it on the new album, six of them I'd say are very much.

Huey Lewis right there's a country song is true, but well I there's Geico Dave Cobbs a great record producer in Nashville. He produced Judy Jennings, Chris Stapleton and he asked to take a meteor with a mutual friend and he said wait let's have lunch at lunch and just a really good, I admire his work and he at the end of the one sitting by the way, I'm producing a Willie Nelson record and I love you to write a song for which I write a song for Willie. I thought really need writing something for Willie Nelson as will. Thanks very much, but flattering, but the good thing though they haven't like two or three weeks later I woke up from a dream almost in the morning and I had the whole idea for the song in my head for Willie and so I called them up and I said I think I got an idea. He said great down and send it to me. Is that well you could do it all just give you tell the idea because I'm on the road here and I got an order record is only just to just put on things okay you want me to do it.

So go Johnny Chris and James, Sarah, and we cut a little demo and then we we actually recorded it on the road where the drums with drums on it.

Did everything on the road and then send it off to today and I I've I don't think you got to get you never got the gig so that was the end of that. So what we are doing it and it would happen is our drummer, Bill Gibson heard it at will when I you know we recorded the demo.

He said we should do it. It would be great. And that's a really nice guy that was a drag on so as I contemplated us doing the song I thought about it and I realize that I written this song I thought from Willy's perspective, but actually was the story of my life.

I was thinking exactly that it's out with the boys. It's one of the boys. One of the boys it's autobiographical. It's completely out of my rev was exactly the story of my figure and particularly at this time but but I've always loved real country music with honey don't lose our sports elements countries also sent first thing so well and you are a country gentleman now a large extent, but Monday is that's well that was the first place.

What you had money you bought the place in Montana. My hands long time ago. More cheese less rest now.

What's the is it become more important to you with your hearing condition. Living in a place that's kinda quiet and secluded.

Yes and and and when my hearing commissions bad you much better by yourself because there's nobody that you can't hear, and you want I'm by myself. I don't realize a marriage that what I can read books. I can do all you know I can. I can ride my horse can finish I can play golf all these things don't. You don't need to hear a lot to do so will I do a lot of individual alone stuff you can do that but you can't see what is that like to realize afterlife and sing well, you know, when I contemplated it makes me really depressed when I try.

I haven't given up.

III kiss my hearing fluctuates like crazy and was good like today I feel like I can almost sing, you know, in fact, I have on two occasions in his last two years when my hearing was good and I was in and out once was a golf tournament in Scotland in them was a band and they had a gala on Saturday night and they asked me to sing a song, but it's a quiet band and there's not a big loud PA and and and I was fine and my hearing was good so I haven't given up the faith. I think if I could stabilize if I can maintain my hearing when it's his best if you could stabilize their then I would find trying find a way to sing again in the way that you're able to record today track to me. Would it be possible really that they might be in probably be easier for me to record is I can put the hands-on and I can find to them and probably probably could special Mary's good probably could record playing live is the hardest part though because the hall itself is so loud you see in level is the devil. When he gets too loud. It all just goes to cacophony for me.

I can't cure anything I can pick up it and an inner big venue.

It's not even the bandits loud.

It's the PA system that's throwing everything out there so I don't know if I can do that right right now I couldn't put him having given up on opening so whether may not be the last limit be nice to be nice.

I don't know. I don't know where justice were when you writing do you hear music in your head does it change the length I hear in imagination.

I hear it fine in my head in agreement sing, I can come sing a little bit but I can't seem to anything because I can't sing one little bit was quiet like in your pitch. I can sink to an iPhone.

I can hear pitch on iPhone your pitch on the computer as soon as it gets. Because it's condensed and it's it's a compressed and small. Susie gets big, and loss of the one time I'm sure you'll be releasing an album that then you can go out and support its own tour on Steve that is too bad that anyone, everybody would like me to send no more. No, nobody more than me, but I have right now so this happen to you first. Just after sports as it was that right.

You guys were just hitting it big and it was that when your friend I just thought Lazio first. The first item vertigo incident maybe probably right then remaining before sports. Maybe to my first intense vertigo was in New Hampshire before getting an IM was violently ill throughout that thing the hospital missed the gate and I lost my right here after sports probably probably 8045 credit in their and I went to the antique famous ENT guy who might my father was a doctor and you recommend this ENT guy in, I went to see him.

The guy looked amazing use of it is use it near me. I usually hearing one near you and you want your new one is a musician is a Brian Wilson had one near Jimi Hendrix and one ear just I have one ear and I'm in a barbershop quartet is a really suggested okay and is right eye lived on one Eric inner stereo very good but I live basically I want hear from 85 till now.

Did you worry along that waited this would happen that I don't I don't I'm just not like that I should award from should avoid a little more but it I didn't in life.

I still think I'm maybe going to get better. I think I delude myself a little bit how many things if you tried to manage a lot of oh remedies remedies live into on the western side of things. I've been to House ear Institute into doctors. They're both great doctors. Slattery lectured to Nick Blevins at Stanford ear Institute. I've seen Colin Driscoll at the Mayo Clinic was wonderful, very talented Dr. they they those to convince me.

There was an autoimmune that was many years let's another long deep story got me off of drugs, it will try to put this up sought rheumatologists and all the stuff it got got me on that and then I saw I talked to Dr. Steve Rauch was maybe a mentor for a lot of these guys airing toward Dr. and toward UCSF is become a really big help for me and that's on the western side, and they agree with each other. They know each other and they're not happy they're not afraid to say no bill lectured to Lisa's unit with the proper diagnosis. What you have is noise. We don't know. So then I also tried the holistic stuff I've had chiropractic and acupuncture.

Try low-salt, no caffeine, no chocolate diet. I've tried different kinds of Eastern protocols with supplements living Ayurveda for few months.

I did another protocol of 20 supplements in the morning and 16 at night for 90 days. No help.

You tried. Let's just have to try 20th 20 stuff still trying stilling that we anything they do what you what you do have golf and fishing trip and you spend a lot more time doing is right and 1/2 and I have but you know airbases well done affect your golf ill done affect your fishing but does you know, as it affects everything.

My hearing is crappy.

It's just it's just horrible. As I'm in my little cocoon because I can hear you. I can't hear anything and so I just exist in my own world changes daily. It can change daily. Well it's episodic actually is is bad for a week maybe or two weeks and then it can be good for well but it can be only two days or day but usually it's it's more like a week and I just came off a good spell of nine weeks. I thought hang on.

This is going to be great. I'm going to be better and eight weeks into it I for seven weeks and if this is been seven weeks when it was pretty good. I call a rehearsal four days before the rehearsal crash just weird when you wake up in the morning at his first thing you realize and you wake up in the more nursing I do as I do this I scratch like my pillow. I will liken, areas just by that can see I can hear that for a hearing is bent.

I came, I know and I know all the various levels in between.

I called 1 to 10, 10 being what it was before two years ago and I was I've been as high as a six. Since then, in the six is pretty good on the five today. I know this because my hearing aids have little tones and five cells and octave so it's it's really just an escort and I can hear it when my hearing is good.

I can hear all flat five tones when my hearing as it is below three hear no tones zero and my hearing is a three. I can hear the top.

My hearing is for the last two and so II really know over two years and have just gotten so good I can literally like his abet on the floor and I put a man from sure enough for his technology helping this somewhat one of the best portal technologies texting, email, texting I can text my kids all the stuff. My kids are the best part of this whole thing help me through all of this, but I can text you nothing about that. I mean, 10 years ago you couldn't text so I can communicate don't have to make a phone call exactly I know that when somebody calls and leaves in a message a phone message that I can hear on the phone it's transcribed for me now fantastic. Still hearing is not overrated. The good things to know but you know, but it's not is not a death sentence. Either you know there's other things you have to kind of remind myself of that name. I can see you lose your sight, you lose him his visa things one contemplates you know that yeah you know it's unfortunate but it's not the end of the world and now streaming progress in the minute with you and start doing crazy time was original series returns for its final season is the point is we need people in the world. The best way to protect people is to convict the final season Millstream exclusively on plus