Joe Rogan Experience #2085 - Charles Wesley Godwin

1. 0:00 – 15:00

   (drumming music) Joe Rogan podcast,…

   1. NANarrator0:02

      (drumming music) Joe Rogan podcast, check it out.

   2. The Joe Rogan Experience.

   3. JRJoe Rogan0:06

      Train by day, Joe Rogan podcast by night, all day. (rock music) What's up, man? Pleasure to meet you. What's happening?

   4. CGCharles Wesley Godwin0:14

      Yeah, pleasure to be here, Joe. Thanks for having me.

   5. JRJoe Rogan0:16

      Oh. Listen, my honor. I love your music. I got, uh, introduced to you by Duncan. We were in the green room of the mothership and Duncan goes, "You gotta hear this." And he puts on Family Ties. And I went, "Damn, that's a good fucking song." And then we played Que Country Roads, and then we just got on a roll. And then, like, the whole night we played your music.

   6. CGCharles Wesley Godwin0:34

      Hell yeah, dude.

   7. JRJoe Rogan0:35

      It was fucking awesome, yeah.

   8. CGCharles Wesley Godwin0:35

      He was telling me that, you know, he, he showed my music to you. He said normally you don't like his recommendations, but he said-

   9. JRJoe Rogan0:42

      Well, he'll, he'll go a little emo on you.

   10. CGCharles Wesley Godwin0:45

       (laughs)

   11. JRJoe Rogan0:47

       (laughs)

   12. CGCharles Wesley Godwin0:47

       But he s- he said that you dug that. And I was like, "Holy shit, man. Isn't that something?" I, uh... Duncan is really cool. I was like... I was at, uh, Apple Studios in Nashville doing, like, this live session thing with them when he, he messages me on Twitter and asked me to be on his podcast. And, like, that made my, my freaking week. Li- I was like, "Holy shit, Duncan Trussell li- likes my music? Fuck yeah."

   13. JRJoe Rogan1:10

       That's so cool.

   14. CGCharles Wesley Godwin1:10

       And then we were, we were doing his podcast and then afterwards he's like, "Yeah, man, I sh- I showed your music to Joe and he really liked it too." I was like, "Fuck yeah."

   15. JRJoe Rogan1:17

       (laughs)

   16. CGCharles Wesley Godwin1:17

       So, yeah, shout out to Duncan. I appreciate him doing that, man.

   17. JRJoe Rogan1:21

       No, Duncan's the man. He is one of the most unusual people that I've ever met in my life. There's not another one like him.

   18. CGCharles Wesley Godwin1:26

       Yeah, he's cracking me up. (laughs)

   19. JRJoe Rogan1:27

       Yeah, he's a one of one.

   20. CGCharles Wesley Godwin1:29

       (laughs) Yeah.

   21. JRJoe Rogan1:30

       That's a one of one. When he moved here I was so happy, 'cause he was... he, uh, went to Asheville. 'Cause, you know, he grew up in Asheville.

   22. CGCharles Wesley Godwin1:37

       Mm-hmm.

   23. JRJoe Rogan1:37

       And, uh, he moved there and i- i- it was just... You know, during the pandemic it got bleak there. You know, the jobs were all dried up, everything was fucked, everything closed down. And he said crime was crazy.

   24. CGCharles Wesley Godwin1:48

       Mm-hmm.

   25. JRJoe Rogan1:48

       It's like, Asheville is, like, per capita in the top 10 of, uh, crime in the country.

   26. CGCharles Wesley Godwin1:54

       Oh. Holy shit.

   27. JRJoe Rogan1:56

       So, I mean... I might've made that up.

   28. CGCharles Wesley Godwin1:57

       No, shit.

   29. JRJoe Rogan1:58

       (laughs)

   30. CGCharles Wesley Godwin1:58

       I mean...
2. 15:00 – 30:00

   GPS. …

   1. CGCharles Wesley Godwin15:00

      are diff-... Now, you know, when I was a, I was a little kid, and on our family vacations, my brother, my older brother would be like, he would, he would read the map, and, like, give the directions to... Usually my dad was driving. Um, but yeah, by the time I started, like, working, you know, thank God for that GPS.

   2. JRJoe Rogan15:17

      GPS.

   3. CGCharles Wesley Godwin15:18

      I can't imagine doing that, like-

   4. JRJoe Rogan15:20

      Yeah.

   5. CGCharles Wesley Godwin15:20

      ... trying to find my way, 'cause hell, I mean...

   6. JRJoe Rogan15:23

      First time I had GPS, uh, it was like, '90 ... '08, something like that, '98 or '99. I had a, it was a s- like a CD-ROM that you stuck in, in the, uh, the CD player. It had a little flip-up screen. I thought, like, "This is the shit." I had an Acura NSX and the little screen would pop up and you put in the CD, and it was only for Los Angeles.

   7. CGCharles Wesley Godwin15:48

      Yeah.

   8. JRJoe Rogan15:48

      And it was real slow. It was real slow and shitty, but I was like, "Dude, I'm in a James Bond movie."

   9. CGCharles Wesley Godwin15:53

      Yeah, '98, that's some-

   10. JRJoe Rogan15:54

       Yeah.

   11. CGCharles Wesley Godwin15:54

       ... top shit right there.

   12. JRJoe Rogan15:55

       This is, this is Mission Impossible.

   13. CGCharles Wesley Godwin15:56

       Yeah.

   14. JRJoe Rogan15:56

       Look at this. I'm fucking f- following the directions on a... I had a little thing that sat on the roof that was like the GPS thing, that would, like, read the sky, and then it would somehow or another communicate with this map that was on my, my screen.

   15. CGCharles Wesley Godwin16:10

       Damn. Yeah, do you ever miss gigs back in the map days when you're m- m- you know?

   16. JRJoe Rogan16:15

       I was pretty good at it.

   17. CGCharles Wesley Godwin16:16

       I'm pretty good at it.

   18. JRJoe Rogan16:16

       Yeah, I was pretty good at it, and they were, they were pretty good at p- giving solid directions to retarded comedians. (laughs)

   19. CGCharles Wesley Godwin16:23

       (laughs)

   20. JRJoe Rogan16:23

       Like... (laughs)

   21. CGCharles Wesley Godwin16:23

       Yeah, that's the thing is, like, reading that map-

   22. JRJoe Rogan16:25

       Yeah.

   23. CGCharles Wesley Godwin16:25

       ... and then, you know, the type of folks that are comedians and musicians were, you know, wha- are-

   24. JRJoe Rogan16:29

       Yeah.

   25. CGCharles Wesley Godwin16:29

       ... were not the most capable-

   26. JRJoe Rogan16:31

       Yeah.

   27. CGCharles Wesley Godwin16:31

       ... always.

   28. JRJoe Rogan16:32

       We're real similar. Mu- musicians and comedians always seem to, like, get along real good. We have, like, real similar sort of just sensibilities.

   29. CGCharles Wesley Godwin16:41

       Yeah, dealing with a lot of clowny shit. (laughs)

   30. JRJoe Rogan16:43

       A lot of clowny shit, a lot of fucking irresponsible, impulsive people.
3. 30:00 – 45:00

   << I got a…

   1. CGCharles Wesley Godwin30:00

   2. JRJoe Rogan30:00

      << I got a bad desire. Ooh, I'm on fire. What the fuck? >>

   3. CGCharles Wesley Godwin30:04

      Tell me now, baby, is you getting it? So that's my first gig. Is you getting the things you saying it? I made €150.

   4. JRJoe Rogan30:11

      Wow.

   5. CGCharles Wesley Godwin30:13

      Can I take you out on the town? And as they'd, they'd go in and out, they'd come out with less clothes on (laughs) each time.

   6. JRJoe Rogan30:18

      (laughs) What a strange gig. A lingerie fashion show. There's little kids there.

   7. CGCharles Wesley Godwin30:23

      Mm-hmm.

   8. JRJoe Rogan30:24

      People are hanging out. Like, fashion shows are so strange.

   9. CGCharles Wesley Godwin30:28

      Yeah.

   10. JRJoe Rogan30:28

       They're so strange.

   11. CGCharles Wesley Godwin30:29

       So I made €150 for, for doing those 20 minutes and I was like, "This is the easiest work I've ever done in my life. I'm gonna keep doing this."

   12. JRJoe Rogan30:37

       Wow.

   13. CGCharles Wesley Godwin30:37

       So when I came back to West Virginia I started singing bluegrass music at WVU and, and bars and stuff around town and the state and...

   14. JRJoe Rogan30:44

       Did you get any more gigs while you were in Estonia?

   15. CGCharles Wesley Godwin30:46

       I think I did. I think, if I remember right, I might have played at that café a couple more times, maybe max. But it was really when I came back to West Virginia where I started, like, you know, really gigging.

   16. JRJoe Rogan30:55

       So that gig that we saw right there, that gig was the thing that started the spark?

   17. CGCharles Wesley Godwin31:01

       It started it, yeah.

   18. JRJoe Rogan31:02

       Wow.

   19. CGCharles Wesley Godwin31:03

       Yeah.

   20. JRJoe Rogan31:03

       What year was that?

   21. CGCharles Wesley Godwin31:04

       That was 2013.

   22. JRJoe Rogan31:07

       Wow. There it is.

   23. CGCharles Wesley Godwin31:09

       Yeah.

   24. JRJoe Rogan31:09

       June 17th, 2013.

   25. CGCharles Wesley Godwin31:12

       Yep.

   26. JRJoe Rogan31:13

       Wow.

   27. CGCharles Wesley Godwin31:15

       (laughs)

   28. JRJoe Rogan31:16

       Wow.

   29. CGCharles Wesley Godwin31:17

       Yeah. And that's how, that's how it, uh, it began and, you know, I sucked.

   30. JRJoe Rogan31:22

       (laughs)
4. 45:00 – 1:00:00

   Oh, yeah. …

   1. JRJoe Rogan45:00

      And this house is insane. It's one of the coolest fucking houses I've ever seen in my life. It's insane. It's like Tony Stark's house.

   2. CGCharles Wesley Godwin45:09

      Oh, yeah.

   3. JRJoe Rogan45:10

      So-

   4. CGCharles Wesley Godwin45:10

      On a cliff, like.

   5. JRJoe Rogan45:11

      ... it's like they built this house that, uh, I mean, I think it's like $20 million, which is insane in Cape Town, South Africa.

   6. CGCharles Wesley Godwin45:18

      Mm-hmm.

   7. JRJoe Rogan45:18

      You know, and it's just overlooking this thing. But Cape Town is so riddled with crime. Like, to have a house like that in Cape Town, you're like, you're like, "Hey, here's where the money is."

   8. CGCharles Wesley Godwin45:30

      Yeah, you don't miss.

   9. JRJoe Rogan45:31

      Look at that house. Look at that fucking house.

   10. CGCharles Wesley Godwin45:32

       Oh my God.

   11. JRJoe Rogan45:33

       Bro, (laughs) is that the sickest fucking house you've ever seen in your life?

   12. CGCharles Wesley Godwin45:36

       That's insane.

   13. JRJoe Rogan45:37

       It's so sick. And it's like overlooking this water.

   14. CGCharles Wesley Godwin45:41

       It does look like the Tony Stark house too.

   15. JRJoe Rogan45:43

       Uh, it looks better than the Tony Stark house-

   16. CGCharles Wesley Godwin45:45

       Yeah.

   17. JRJoe Rogan45:45

       ... 'cause the Tony Stark house is all just CGI.

   18. CGCharles Wesley Godwin45:47

       Yeah.

   19. JRJoe Rogan45:47

       This is real. Does it come with that hot lady?

   20. NANarrator45:49

       No.

   21. JRJoe Rogan45:49

       Those hot ladies-

   22. CGCharles Wesley Godwin45:50

       (laughs)

   23. JRJoe Rogan45:50

       ... in their underwears keeps appearing-

   24. CGCharles Wesley Godwin45:51

       (laughs)

   25. JRJoe Rogan45:51

       ... in all these pictures like, "You can have her if you live here."

   26. CGCharles Wesley Godwin45:53

       It's a good way to sell it, yeah, yeah. (laughs)

   27. JRJoe Rogan45:55

       Look at that, she's in every picture. "And then she would be here drinking, waiting for you. And then she'd be in her underwear, waiting for you to fuck."

   28. CGCharles Wesley Godwin46:01

       (laughs)

   29. JRJoe Rogan46:01

       Look, look, look at this video. (laughs) Look at these photos, man. It's a fucking incredible house. But that, that part of the world is a wild part of the world. I mean, there's a s- I, uh, was just in the British Virgin Islands and, uh, o- one of the people that I was with, this lady was from South Africa, and she was explaining to us what it's like there, and she's like, you know, she's like, "You know, my generation it wasn't that bad, but now it's pretty bad." And she's like-

   30. CGCharles Wesley Godwin46:28

       It's worse now, right?
5. 1:00:00 – 1:12:14

   Yeah. Yeah, you see…

   1. JRJoe Rogan1:00:00

      walking here from Mexico.

   2. CGCharles Wesley Godwin1:00:01

      Yeah. Yeah, you see it.

   3. JRJoe Rogan1:00:03

      You know?

   4. CGCharles Wesley Godwin1:00:03

      And, and that's the thing, like, back to the, the COVID thing. Man, it, it, uh, there... Like, it flipped a switch in a lot of folks' heads-

   5. JRJoe Rogan1:00:11

      Mm-hmm.

   6. CGCharles Wesley Godwin1:00:11

      ... from one end of that to the other with, with-

   7. JRJoe Rogan1:00:15

      Yep.

   8. CGCharles Wesley Godwin1:00:15

      ... yeah, you know. I mean, if you're not where you're at in life, you know, then you're never gonna get there half-assing your day.

   9. JRJoe Rogan1:00:25

      (smacks lips) No.

   10. CGCharles Wesley Godwin1:00:25

       Wherever you happen to be, it might be the best idea to, like, give it your best.

   11. JRJoe Rogan1:00:30

       Yeah.

   12. CGCharles Wesley Godwin1:00:30

       And that's the only, like y- or else you're just gonna be a miserable fuck the rest of your life.

   13. JRJoe Rogan1:00:35

       Well, that was one thing that happened to a lot of people (hands clap) that was good. They realized that this job that they had that they hated, that just went away, "Okay, you know, not only did I fucking hate this job, but I thought it was necessary because it was the only thing that I had. I didn't wanna lose it. But then they just fucking took it away from me. Goddamn it, I'm gonna go for my fucking dream."

   14. CGCharles Wesley Godwin1:00:53

       Mm-hmm.

   15. JRJoe Rogan1:00:53

       And a lot of people did, they went for their dream. They started small businesses. They got their shit together. They lost weight. A lot of people did a lot of very positive things when their back was against the wall.

   16. CGCharles Wesley Godwin1:01:03

       Yeah.

   17. JRJoe Rogan1:01:03

       And then a lot of people just went on unemployment. And a lot of people never wanted to get on i- I mean, I had friends that, uh, were in the bar business, and they couldn't get people to work.

   18. CGCharles Wesley Godwin1:01:11

       Mm-hmm.

   19. JRJoe Rogan1:01:12

       They couldn't get bartenders. They couldn't... 'Cause people were making more money being unemployed.

   20. CGCharles Wesley Godwin1:01:17

       Yeah.

   21. JRJoe Rogan1:01:17

       Taking unemployment. And they would rather live like that. They'd rather get that free check.

   22. CGCharles Wesley Godwin1:01:21

       Mm-hmm. Yeah. They, uh, and that, that was like, you know, I'm, I'm 31, um, I released my first album in 2019, but I didn't get booking, and management, and stuff like that until even after that. So COVID cut the legs out from, from me. Things were just starting to actually look a little bit legitimate, (laughs) you know, in my life. And COVID cut the legs out from under that. So on the other side of that is really where, you know, um, I coulda gone two ways. And I went back on tour in the spring of '21, and then I started taking my full band out with me in, or a seven piece, including myself, in the summer of '21. And I went broke in the fall.

   23. JRJoe Rogan1:02:12

       Whoa.

   24. CGCharles Wesley Godwin1:02:12

       Yeah.

   25. JRJoe Rogan1:02:13

       Damn.

   26. CGCharles Wesley Godwin1:02:13

       Yeah, I couldn't ma- I couldn't pay my guys-

   27. JRJoe Rogan1:02:15

       Wow.

   28. CGCharles Wesley Godwin1:02:16

       ... one week. And I had, uh, my second album, which we made, n- during the COVID year, went on pre-sale-... that next week. And I explained to my guys what was happening, and they stuck with me. And once I put the pre-sales up, then I got a little bit, you know, to keep paying them, and we were able to keep working. And then I was bleeding real bad in '21. And it came down to one point in, uh, Bloomington, Indiana. We played The Bluebird one night, and I'd just gotten a new day-to-day manager who's, who's done a phenomenal job for me. But anyways, he'd just gotten on the job and basically broke it down for me on the phone how much I was losing per month. And was just saying, he's like, "This is... You're, you're, you're going belly up here. This, this is over. You have to cut half these guys. And even then, we're gonna have a hard time making it." And after tha- that gig, um, we all sat outside in the alleyway. And I explained to them what was happening, and they all took half pay.

   29. JRJoe Rogan1:03:20

       Damn.

   30. CGCharles Wesley Godwin1:03:21

       So, my guys were willing to go, um, $50 a show.

Episode duration: 2:27:47