Takin’ A Walk Nashville: Steve Goetzman of Exile Reflects on Band's Journey and Nashville Music Legacy

Takin’ A Walk Nashville

In this episode of Takin' A Walk Nashville, host Sarah Harrelson sits down with Steve Goetzman, the longtime drummer of the legendary band Exile, to reflect on the

Key takeaways

• Exile's longevity stems from deep-rooted friendships and shared history among members since their teenage years in Kentucky.

Main topics

• Exile's 60-year musical journey
• The importance of friendship and history in band longevity

Notable quotes

"We all feel a lot of gratitude that we can still get out there and do it."

Conclusion

Steve Goetzman's reflections underscore how Exile's enduring success is built not just on

Transcript preview

Speaker 6 (0:00) Taking a walk Nashville. Hey Speaker 4 (0:02) listeners, it's Sarah Harrelson, your host of Taking a Walk Nashville. Today with me is drummer Steve Gitzman of Exile. He has been the heartbeat of Exile for decades, holding down the groove through massive genre shifts and generations of touring. A little bit about Exile, they formed in 1963 looking to play small clubs in Richmond, Kentucky. And then they managed to top both the pop and country charts with 18 hits collectively, including 11 number ones during their 60-year-long career. You may know their iconic smash hit, Kiss You All Over. It spent four weeks at the top of Billboard's pop chart in 1978. Speaker 4 (0:52) It was used in the 1996 Adam Sandler movie Happy Gilmore. You may remember that scene. Exile has written hits for other major label artists including Alabama, Diamond Rio, and Restless Heart. The five members reformed in 2008 and they continue to tour today. They just celebrated their 60th anniversary as a band, and they are releasing a new album this October. It's called Look Out Heart, and they just released two singles off the new album, Rain Keeps Falling and Look Out Heart. Join me today as I speak with Steve Gitzman, the drummer of Exile. This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed human. Speaker 1 (1:40) Hi, this is Kylie Brakeman, Angela Geritana, Speaker 7 (1:43) Jeremy Colhane, Patrick McDonald, and Speaker 1 (1:44) we're the hosts of the Artists on Artists on Artists on Artists podcast, the Speaker 7 (1:48) improvised character comedy podcast, where each week a new panel of artists discuss their craft. Join us for a panel of Eurovision participants. And Speaker 1 (1:57) we do a little Halloween sometimes. Does the Pope dress up? He winks on Halloween. Speaker 7 (2:03) He gets right up next to the microphone. Speaker 1 (2:05) I hear you can almost hear the eyelashes hit each other. Speaker 5 (2:08) You've never seen Italy so quiet as when the Pope gets up to wink on Halloween. Speaker 1 (2:13) Listen to Artists on Artists on Artists on Artists every Thursday on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Speaker 5 (2:21) Welcome to Decoding Women's Health. I'm Dr. Elizabeth Poynter. Chair of Women's Health and Gynecology at the Adria Health Institute in New York City. I'll be talking to top researchers and clinicians and bringing vital information about midlife women's health directly to you. 100 % Speaker 6 (2:37) of women go through menopause. Even if it's natural, why should we suffer through it? Speaker 5 (2:42) Listen to Decoding Women's Health with Dr. Elizabeth Poynter on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Speaker 7 (2:51) In February of 2024, celebrated illustrator and children's book author Petra Mathers and her husband Michael mailed letters to dozens of friends and family members to let them know they had died by suicide. Dear honeys, this is goodbye. By the time you get this letter, both Petra and I will be dead. Next stop, Wonderland. Why did they do it? And what did it do to the people they left behind? Listen to Death of an Artist on the iHeartRadio app. Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Speaker 6 (3:22) On Big Lives, we take a single cultural icon. People Speaker 5 (3:25) like Jane Fonda, George Michael, Little Richard. And Speaker 6 (3:28) we pull apart the story behind the image, discovering forgotten interviews that change exactly how we see these giants of our culture. Speaker 5 (3:36) We're here for the messy, the brilliant, the human version of our heroes. Speaker 6 (3:40) I'm Emmanuel Jochi. I'm Kai Wright. And this is Big Lives. Listen Speaker 5 (3:44) to Big Lives on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Speaker 8 (3:51) Is there an epidemic against literature? More specifically, Black literature? I'm Jacquees Peace Thomas, and on this season of the Black Lit Podcast, we're outside asking why. They don't want a whole bunch of little Ella Bakers, Malcolm Xs, and Martin Luther Kings running around. And when you look at a lot of different cultures, they're like, we need to know where you came from. And considering this is Black Reading Month, the only real question is, what are you reading next? Listen to Black Lit from the Black Effect Podcast Network on our iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Speaker 6 (4:27) Welcome to Takin' a Walk Nashville with your host, singer-songwriter Sarah Harrelson. Hi Speaker 4 (4:33) listeners, it's Sarah Harrelson, your host of the Takin' a Walk Nashville podcast. Today with me is drummer Steve Gitzman from the band Exile. Steve, how are you doing today? Speaker 2 (4:45) I'm very well, Sarah. How are you? I'm Speaker 3 (4:48) good. Thank you for joining me while you guys are on a break from your tour. In 2023, Exile just celebrated 60 years together as a band and also the 45th anniversary of your hit Kiss You All Over. What does it mean to still be recording and touring together as a band after all these years? Speaker 2 (5:11) Well, we all feel a lot of gratitude that we can still get out there and do it. Speaker 2 (5:20) We have product out in the market, but we don't worry so much anymore about hit records or album sales. It's now more live performance centered and it's like being a garage band again. It makes it a lot of fun. Yes, we've been together for a very long time. We're now in our 63rd year, and so we're like family too. Speaker 3 (5:47) That's amazing, especially after all these years. You know, it's hard to keep a band together, especially with the original members. Is there a secret sauce you guys have to staying together after all these years? Speaker 2 (6:00) Well, I think there are a lot of elements. First of all, we were friends in Kentucky, in Lexington, Kentucky, or in that region. And we grew up as teenagers, grew up together playing in different bands. playing in the local clubs and recording studios. So that was all before we came together as Exile. So there's a lot of history and a reality base, if you will, amongst the five of us. And so that's part of it. Our Kentucky heritage is another part of it. Speaker 2 (6:43) And we just like each other. At this point in our lives, most of the egos are gone and what's left are remnants. So we've learned how to work together and coexist and enjoy one another. And I've noticed recently we laugh a lot, especially on the bus when we're traveling. Speaker 3 (7:10) And that's so important to get along and just have fun together. Were you friends before you joined the band? Or