Norah Jones

Hi.

Fall is here, hear the yell, back to school, ring the bell, brand new shoes, walk in blues, climb the fence, books and pens. I can tell that we are gonna be friends.

I got to stay normal.

Now can I ask you a question? This is, I know, personal, but if you're breastfeeding, you can't. Right? Because I didn't, yeah, because the gummy would, it would come out in the milk. Is that right?

You are very uncomfortable.

That's what I picture.

I picture Mikey or Charlie, or one on each breast.

And all of a sudden, each one goes gloop, gloop. I got the prize.

Just in their cribs.

In their cribs, just grueling around and just moshing on top of each other. No, I didn't. No, I'm glad you answered that. Honestly. Yes. No, I have not seen them moshing. The strangest thing that's ever come out of your breast.

I would, too.

You know, what I'd love to do is if I was at the beach and I didn't have my shirt on. Just go. Like, Oh, man? And Gourley would be like, what is it? and I'd be like, Oh, this part of my chest is real sore. And then I just push it and shoot you right in the. It's a squirting flower.

I got a wall, you know what?

That's both a pun. It's also called a note back. Yeah, I'm checking the boxes. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I just you just made it finally to the very top of my list of worst people ever.

Oh well, I was trying to figure out how many times.

You know what, we could probably look it up, but you came on, that's okay as soon as I said that,-.

Everybody get going.

Nine people in the room started getting on their computers. Oh, no, I just got some medical results.

Oh my god.

Too long in this job? Yeah, okay, take it easy, we're sitting here with Nora Jones. I'm not going to waste time bantering with you.

About your life expectancy.

You came on many times and in so many different guises, because you would perform yourself, you'd be performing your work. And then I remember we did a George Week once in honor of George Harrison, and you know, Paul Simon came. All these amazing people came by for the week, Danny Harrison was around and it was this wonderful week. And you came. And I'm trying to think, I think you did, I'd have you anytime.

No, I did behind that locked door.

Oh, behind that locked door, okay?

It was so fun, that was one of our. Actually, I remember my band and I, because we'd done a lot of TV shows together at that point, that was probably one of our best TV performances. You know, usually you do it and you're like, Eh, it would have been better if this? and we're like, Yes, nailed it.

Yeah, the problem is, you did that on camera, you turned to the camera and said, Yes, nailed it mid-song, too. It was weird, and you said, top that other musicians in the world.

Yeah, better than George's version.

Yeah, better than George.

You know, when you started dancing and saying better than Harrison, Yeah, that's right. That put a lot of people off. No, you were, yeah. I was trying to remember what song it was this morning and I could have just typed in. Because we live in that world where I can type in. You know, Nora Jones, George Harrison, Conan or whatever. And it would come up immediately, but I can't work my own phone.

That's less fun, anyway.

Yeah, exactly. But you came on that week and you were always coming by and performing, and I just loved it every time you came on the show. Thanks, I'm a massive fan and so.

I'm a massive fan. I remember the first time I came on your show was for my first record.

2002.

In 2002, Yeah, yeah, that's right, and I was so excited.

Oh, well, I remember you, of course, that was the record. Come away with me five grammys, you know? I remember it at that time, finding out about you, hearing about you and saying, Who is this? Nora Jones? What is this all about? I'm very skeptical.

Well, that's nice to say.

Yeah, and I remember whoever was playing guitar with you, I think you did, don't know why, and I was. He offered to show me how to play it on the guitar afterwards, really. And so he came into, I don't know who it was, but he came into my dressing room and he's showing me how to play the guitar parts.

I think it's a hard song to play on guitar.

Yeah, it's probably not in my wheelhouse.

It's not in my wheelhouse. It was either Jesse Harris who wrote the song or Adam Levy, who toured with me at the time. But that's really fun.

I think it was the person who wrote the song.

Then it was Jesse Harris.

Yeah, well, Jesse, I need you to come back. I need another lesson.

He'll probably send you a video if you just give him your phone number.

No, I need him in person, he needs to fly out to L.A. at his own expense that I do require I was thinking about. I wanted to mention first that you have your own podcast, which I've really been enjoying, thanks.

Yeah, mine too.

And it was such a great vibe. And I was thinking, man, I'd like to be on this podcast, and then I realized, Oh, right, I'm not a musician.

Except you are.

Well, not really. But can you does it ever expand out to non-musicians?

If they're playing music with me, I think my only my way in is, you know, there's so many podcasts. Of course, yes, and you guys were kind of a big inspiration because over the pandemic, I just hearing you guys laugh really lit me up.

Oh, that's nice.

It's just like belly laughs were needed and it felt really good. And you screwing around with people on this podcast is kind of like what I want to do, except I'm a musician, so it's a little bit different.

No, but it's the same idea. There's such a we talk about this a lot on the show. But I've been fascinated all my life with the fact that I have a natural, you know, bent towards comedy. But I'm always the grass is always greener, I'm always peering over into the music yard.

I see that, yeah.

Thinking, Man, it's so cool, that's the cool place to be. I'm over here with the laughing clowns. Well, sorry, not you guys. Are we the Oh.

Oh well, no, I do. I mean, Oh, thank you, Norah Jones.

I think you guys are hilarious, thank you.

What do I know?

I'm just a musician. Thank you. Yes, yes, you don't have a professional eye like I do.

Yes, no.

NoRAh You couldn't possibly understand how inferior they are. Take that laughing clown.

But like hearing you with Kevin Nealon, just like messing around. I mean, that makes me so happy. And I feel like that's kind of what I'm trying to do with music. With people who I know, some who I don't know. And we find this commonplace, and we're speaking like the same language, you know?

Well, this is what always fascinates me, because I, in a way, if there's something that you don't do, you put it on a pedestal or you don't have a natural inclination. So when I see you sit down at a piano and play and sing, I think, Well, she's superhuman. I am immortal, you know, I said, a mortal, not immortal. I just want to be really clear.

It's the same, I mean, you could do a perfect take of a song and it just doesn't feel right, or you can do a really messed up, messy version of a song together. And it just feels magical and it hits the spot, you know?

I was thinking about your path, your journey, and I was thinking about how growing up, because I know your mom and dad divorced when you're pretty young.

They were never married, but-.

Oh, they were never married.

But yeah.

So they were living in sin, as we kind of would say.

I mean, honestly, I don't even know their story is so crazy, I don't even know what was going on, but-.

Really, after all these years, you still don't know what was going on.

I've heard a lot of different versions, I'll put it that way. Yeah, no, I think, yeah. They split up when I was really young, so I just, I grew up with my mom.

Right, and this is an interesting thing in Grapevine, Texas.

Yeah.

So what's interesting is that you have anyone who doesn't know your dad. Ravi Shankar, you come, and your mom as well, both have this musical pedigree, this musical background, so there's some of that. But then you're transplanted to Texas. Yeah, and I think that's got to be fascinating. Because you grew up, you grew up in this environment that had to have influenced you. I mean, if you had grown up in New York City, do you know what I mean?

Or in India?

Or in India, with my dad, with your dad, you might not be, you might not be you at this moment. Does that make sense?

Yeah, I mean, my history is very different. I mean, it's interesting because I'm a musician and he was, he passed away, but he was this brilliant musician, Indian musician. And my mom is not a musician, but she loved music. So I grew up with my mom seeing my dad here and there, and then not seeing him for a long period.

So who were you listening to?

Ray Charles and Aretha Franklin and Willie Nelson.

So this is what's fascinating, so you grow up and you're listening to those people and you're in this. What I imagine is this. Is it a small town in Texas?

Grapevine is a huge, sprawling town now, but when I was little, it was small.

Right, so you're growing up in this environment and you were not that connected to the pop music of your time. Is that right?

I was in middle school, I loved Casey Kasem's Top 40 every Sunday. I was obsessed with that for a while.

I just listened to Casey, I would turn off the music.

Who's going to be number one?

You can buy bootlegs where it's just casey and then you don't hear the music. I have all of them. they're awful. There are Casey Kasem bootlegs, I don't know if you've heard them.

It was after a certain point. But I was really into Nirvana and the Violent Femmes at one point. And then maybe like ninth grade, I got really into jazz. And then that's all there was for, like, the next five years, that's all I was obsessed with.

I'm so intimidated by jazz.

So a lot of people are, even I am. Because I'm not really a great jazz musician. It's kind of where I came from musically, but I never practiced enough to really hang with real jazz musicians in a jam session.

Yeah, I've always thought of jazz music. As you're sitting at the sushi bar and they're like, it's chef's choice and you don't know exactly. It scares me a little bit and that's just because I have some mental block. I was all about rockabilly, crazy, intense, rockabilly.

It's great music.

But very, very simple, extremely rudimentary. And that was maybe part of the magic for me is that I could play it. I feel you.

I mean, that's why I love country songs, and sometimes you just cut straight to the heart of something with the most simple thing. I can't play fast jazz either. So we're in it together in that term.

There are so many ways in which we're similar. People are always calling me the Nora Jones of comedy.

We can't play fast jazz.

I think they call you the Jim Jones of comedy. Yes, that's right. You're right. I'm sorry because I'm leading my followers to your instructions either way. I'm fine either way.

Yeah, yeah, I did, I mean, it was crazy.

What was Ray Charles like?

He was very nice, you know? We went in for 20 minutes. We did three takes of the song and that was it, but we were all live in the room together. It was amazing.

And then I know that you have this longer lasting connection with Willie Nelson.

I've been so lucky to play and sing with Willie like multiple times, I love him so much.

Yeah, he is such a great spirit.

Yeah, did you see they're having a big show at the Hollywood Bowl? For his 90th birthday in April?

Yeah, yeah, he is a great advertisement that marijuana is not bad for you.

Exactly.

He and Snoop Dogg will live to be 600.

Oh, trigger. trigger. yeah.

That he's played forever. Is it a Martin?

It's a nylon string, that's all I remember, but he puts it through an amp.

Yeah, he puts it through an amp.

Totally cool.

Right, he's got a little drop in, I think, pickup, yeah, and he plays it through an amp. And it's got a hole in it. As if it had been recovered somewhere, and a rat had eaten through it, not the sound hole, it's got a separate.

No, it's got a gaping.

It's got its own, there's the sound hole, and then there's this thing that looks like a ferret, clawed its way into the guitar or clawed its way out. And it's covered in signatures. And it's all these people. He's had trigger forever, and it's everyone has signed, he's had all these amazing people sign trigger and the show's over.

I don't think I've signed trigger.

That was a dry erase marker. Yeah, exactly. I said, I'll use my pen, he went. No use this one.

That's lucky you got to touch trigger.

I got to touch trigger, it is funny when you get, when you get to hold an iconic instrument.

Yeah, it is.

Once you've had that experience, I'm sure you have where it's, it's, you know, a famous guitar that you get to hold on to.

I don't know if I actually have, but my friends, we did a song with Willie. And before he got to the studio, his tech asked a friend of mine to tune it, or to hold it and play it while they did the sound, and my friend was pretty excited to play trigger.

I would imagine, yeah, that would be pretty freaky. I think I've seen just over the years, well, through Danny Harrison. I was in England and went by his house, which was his dad's house, obviously, and he let, he showed me. And he's acting like it. Oh, you know, do you want to hold the 1963 Gretsch duo Jet that my dad played in the cavern?

Yeah, it needs to be played, it wants to be played.

It wants to be well, actually. The guitar did see me and say no.

Not him.

I'd rather not.

Actually, you're reminding me I have played a very famous piano. And I got to go to Friar Park and met George Harrison, and Danny was there. And Olivia. When I first reconnected with my dad, actually, you're kidding, I was 18 years old. We finally reconnected and we got very close over the years after that.

Oh my God, who is this, George, anyway?

I was kind of oblivious, you know, I was jet lagged and young. And we get there. And he was so sweet, yeah, and he was so happy to see me and my dad reconnect as well.

And he idolized your dad. He did. clearly, your dad changed his life.

I mean, it was kind of a crazy night and I was half jet lagged through the whole thing. But he asked me to play for him because my dad told him that I was this piano player. And I was like, Okay, cause I just was like, you know, I knew who he was at that point, of course.

You played for George Harrison.

So I sat down at this piano, which now I know I didn't at the time, but I think it was one of John Lennon's pianos, yes.

And I've seen it because when I was there, I think they moved it to. This was in a different. It's not in the house when I saw it. There's this other place where they shot all the interviews for the anthology, and it's got this hand painting on it.

Yes, it's got painting on it.

Like a rainbow and sort of psychedelic stuff.

Yeah, so I didn't know this at the time, and I was kind of just oblivious to the whole meaning of the moment. But I sat down and I played an old Hoagy Carmichael song.

Called the Nearness of You for George.

And he was so sweet and it was just a very funny moment that I just now remembered.

And he liked, I'm sure he loved it.

Yeah, I mean, he was kind about it, I don't know.

If he hated it, he pretended he loved it. You are Nora Jones, you know?

I know I was 18.

But if I had come in at 18 and played a song on the piano for George Harrison, it would have gone very differently.

Well, I sang it, too.

Clang clang, clang clang.

Luckily, I didn't know the instrument was so historic.

Yeah, it's good not to know those things.

I think so, it's better to just be oblivious, yeah.

I'm kind of intrigued that when you first started out, before you had all your success, you were a lounge singer, you know, and for just a little bit, you were a lounge singer. And I'm thinking, you know, let's say things hadn't blown up for you. Do you think you could have made your peace with being a lounge singer for a long time, or is that a tough gig?

I mean, it's something you don't really know, right? You can't go back. I wouldn't. Yeah, I kind of was a lounge singer, but it was really more like a restaurant than a lounge.

So you're playing for people while they're eating.

Yeah, and usually they wouldn't clap and nobody heard, but the gig was actually to just play piano. But since I sang, I asked if I could bring a little amp and sing like every five songs or something. And it was actually the best practice I ever had. This is in college in Dallas, and I basically learned how to sing and play at the same time because it's kind of a coordination thing. Sure, yeah.

I will tell you that first of all, the thing I hate the most in comedy is when you have to perform for people who are eating.

Yeah, it's horrible.

And it doesn't matter what stage you get to, there are benefits where they say, Okay, go on up and you have your jokes and you have your riffs that you want to do, and you get up on stage. And you hear the distinct sound of silverware hitting each, you know, clanking together.

Which is a horrible sound.

And then people chewing, and I remember being at the There's a big ballroom at the Waldorf Astoria, and I had to do benefits there a million times. When I was in New York and being up there. And the crowd doesn't even know, just a voice of God goes, ladies and gentlemen. Conan O'Brien.

Yeah.

And I walked up stage and there wasn't even any sense that I was on stage. Yeah, and I go well, well anyway, and I start to get into my thing. And a man was sitting right in the front row.

Just sawing.

And his back was to me and he was cutting into his meat and he put it in his mouth. And he's chewing. And then he whipped his head around to look at, who's this annoying person at the podium behind me? And I just saw a chewing, unhappy face looking up at me.

That's not great.

And I thought, Fuck this, this is, I don't want to perform for people eating.

You can have, like, a no eating clause.

Oh, I actually, yeah, yeah, like you need, you need more pull in the industry.

You can say like, I'll do it, but not when they're eating.

When they're eating.

Directly before dinner or after the plates have been cleared.

But I will tell you this, Nora, I am a person who if I'm anywhere, if I'm in a bar or restaurant and someone's playing. When they finish the song, I applaud, I don't care. And sometimes it's awkward because I get self-conscious. Because if you're the if, I start applauding and no one else does, I think I'm making the situation worse.

Yeah, especially if no one else does. Yeah, it's kind of weird and also you're drawing attention to yourself.

Well, I love that part. Oh okay, I didn't know if you liked that or not. Oh no, I go out.

And I say, Conan Likey.

Yeah, many times when you've been on the show, I'd be I'd clap midway.

Conan's happy. Let's get a camera on me.

I just want to get a cockaroo while we're here, a cockaroo.

Yes.

Thank you, oh my God, I can die now.

I just want to get a cockaroo while we're here.

That's what she said.

Yeah, exactly, I've been getting that all my life.

You know?

I'm thinking about all the different people you've collaborated with because you mentioned Ray Charles. But what it's amazing to me is that you have, I think, a very enviable career. You've had massive commercial success and you're respected, and you're a nice, grounded person and you can-.

So like that, you know of?

I'll tell you what word gets out. Yeah, yeah, I guess I talk to Uber drivers and they tell me, but like, you've collaborated with Keith Richards.

Again, just like a nice human, you know, a musician. Yeah, yeah. Sometimes you do these collaborations and the song's already been recorded and the person's not even there, and you go in and you add your vocals.

I would, yeah, that would be sort of otherworldly.

Yeah.

You know, I just in the few times that I've had little contacts with him.

Oh yeah.

Very, you know, like he didn't know who I was or anything but.-.

I'm sure that's not true.

No, no, this was years ago. Before I you weren't wearing your little t-shirt. I had it on even when I was, before I had a TV show, I had it on.

I mean, we both love Hank Williams, right? So it's not a problem, it's a language, and it's like, that's. What's so fun about this podcast is it's like a never ending list of people to just play with and play music with.

And do you have, like, your bucket list of these are the people I've got to have on your, on your podcast that you want to mess around with?

It's just never ending. It's a bazillion people. It's like, of course, you know my idols, or a young musician who I admire, or someone that nobody knows about that I just like, or, you know, whoever.

I mean, that's so fantastic, and I think that's what this medium, this podcast thing, what I'm, I mean. Every time we come into the studio. I'm delighted that this forum exists.

Me too, it's like, intimate, yeah, and fun, and it's I'm never, you know, going to get invited to dinner with you, probably.

And I know you've asked a lot, I know I'm still not ready. I find that very hard to believe, yeah.

But you know what I mean, like, there's a lot of people you might not cross paths with in an intimate way, so it's a way to really connect.

That's what I was on my way to work today. And I called the guy who's a good friend, and he booked music on our show all through the 90s, 2000s. Jim Pitt.

Oh yeah, I remember him.

Yeah, and, you know, great person who helped put the really put the musical stamp on my show, which was so important to us. And I called him up and I just was as excited and I said, Hey, I'm going to be. I just want you to know. I'm going to be talking to Nora in like half an hour. And he was like, Oh, my God.

Yeah, it's brief.

Yeah, and this is, this is what I love.

Yeah, it's so much, it's so like, warm, it gives me the warm fuzzies, you know?

Because I didn't know that country music was so important to you.

Yeah, I grew up in Texas. Yeah, exactly, it was in the water. Yeah, you know, and my mom's from Oklahoma.

Do you have a favorite Hank Williams song?

I mean, So Lonesome I Could Cry is just about one of the best songs ever, ever sung. Yeah, yeah, yeah and sad.

I love that Ken Burns documentary on country music.

Oh, yeah, yeah.

And you know, he's taking you through everybody, and then he gets to the There's the Chapter episode about Hank Williams, and it's entitled Shakespeare of the South.

Oh yeah.

And you're like, Yeah, that's right.

That's right, yeah, I mean, I love that music.

But also you get to like work with outcast foo fighters, so.

It's around the gamut. I've been super lucky.

Yeah, has anyone ever asked you like, Can I do a duet with you? And it was someone you did not want to do that with.

You mean, do I say yes to everything?

You know, I meant, like, the awkwardness in person, like, you're talking to someone new.

And they're like, let's do this. Yeah, well, actually, I'm ready to do a duet with you.

I've got my ukulele.

Never happened like that ever, but yeah, I mean, I've turned a few down, I guess.

I've got my ukulele.

I have my bassoon, come on, we can do it right now.

I would do that probably. It was just like really easy, but I don't know, I've turned a few things down.

Ask them.

To ask people to come be on my show now, right? And being in that position of asking and maybe getting rejected, that's been like the most kind of like, I don't know what I'm doing, you know?

You know, it's funny, just because I've been doing this for so long. I used to take it personally. Yeah, if someone couldn't come on the show or said no to the show, I took it as them saying, Conan O'Brien, Thank you. No, yeah.

What a jerk that guy is.

Yeah, and then later on, it took me years because my publicist used to say, no, don't take it personally. They're in town.

Yeah.

And then I realized, because I'd been on the other side of it, where I'm someplace. And they'll say, like, Hey, there are these five people that, or these five shows that are saying, can you come do something? And you think I'm only here for a day? I can do one? Or I don't really want to do that this time, or I can't do it for some. And you realize that it's not personal at all, I mean, sometimes it is.

Oh, come on.

I'm just, no, no, no, he loves me. We'll connect eventually, but no, no, let's not put that out there, or do we?

Go get him Tiger, I'll try.

I'm going to try and up my game. Yeah, thank you. Get all of Ocean's Eleven in here.

Oh, yeah, at the same time.

Please, I think I could get two of them. Karl Reiner No, No, no, Karl Reiner passed.

You can't get him anymore.

I could have, I could have, but we'd need some voodoo magic to get him now. Nice one, Gourley, by the way, I picked the one guy who's not alive.

I'm sorry.

I'm sorry, right? You run a podcast, you know how to just snap back.

I love when you get Sona going, it's my favorite thing.

When I get her angry.

No, when you get her laughing, oh, when I get her laughing, she gets going.

It's my favorite thing, too, actually.

Well, it must feel so good to laugh like that it does. It's rare to laugh like that.

I'm a hearty laugher in general, and then also just working for someone for Conan O'Brien has been....

Of course.

I think the thing that is real is how much bullshit happens between Sona and I, and laughing that isn't recorded.

Yeah.

Because I will call you and say, there's something really important I need you to do for me, and then it's something that's completely made up, yeah.

It must feel so good to have her around.

It is.

She's such a great laugher.

Thank you, thank you, Moira. Yeah, Gorley laughs. So Gorley isn't really a laugher.

Gorley is funny as hell, I know he cracks me up.

Moira Jones.

I remember when I first started listening to your podcast, he was just kind of quieter.

Well, he's a quiet.

He's really come out.

Yeah, oh yeah, and now, guess what? Now we're trying to get him back in. Yeah, too late.

That's good, he compliments you really well.

No, no, I got very lucky because this all came together. I mean, Sona, I knew, was going to be part of it. And then they brought this Gorley guy in and I said, Absolutely not.

Oh my God, it's a beautiful thing.

But I'm curious if.

I don't understand it, me, too.

I don't understand composition and I guess even people that do it, but I play a lot of guitar and don't really know what I'm doing. But the idea, and I've talked with Amy Mann about this extensively.

I loved that episode.

And we're supposed to write a song together.

Yeah, did it ever happen?

Well, it's my fault because she said, I'm ready to go when you are, and I'm terrified because she mentioned. Yeah, you need to sort of make yourself emotionally available. Oh, what is it you want to say in your song? and I'm thinking emotionally available.

What's that?

I can't do that.

Everybody's different, though. Yeah, I think everybody has their own process, right? And that Jeff Tweedy actually has this really great book called How to Write One Song.

Oh, I have to get that. Oh, it's great.

You would love it, it's great.

How to write one song?

Yeah, and he talks about how he doesn't believe in writer's block, but actually he just thinks it's you self-editing yourself. Yes, I love that because I agree with it. If you just let it go and you're not worried about it until later, then you can clean it up or not play it for anybody.

It's funny when creating stuff in comedy or all the years that I was a writer, one of my biggest problems was I have such. There's a little gremlin on my shoulder that is so, nope, not good enough.

Well, exactly, you know all about it.

Yeah, and when I can get that guy drunk, or anesthetize him, or excise him in some way and just go, yeah. And that was a major revelation for me in my career. Was, I thought writing comedy meant sitting down and getting to work, which, yes, it does mean that. But then there were so many times where I was just screwing around, making people laugh and they would say, Oh, that's great.

Yeah.

I was just having fun.

It's the inspiration.

Yeah, and it's just if you can remove this serious. It's time now for I Nora Jones to get to, if you got to get rid of that.

I can't do that, that doesn't work for me at all. I have to just record ideas as they're in my head, in the shower or driving in a car or whatever. Just get it down real quick on the recording part.

So instead of soap on a rope, you have a tape recorder on a rope. Yeah, you're basically like, in your shower.

No, but seriously, you just get it down and then later you can work on it. But the inspiration part has already happened.

Does anything ever come to you in a dream? Because, famously, you hear about Paul McCartney waking up and saying, Oh, I don't know what this is. I think I must have heard it somewhere and it was yesterday again, and that's Paul McCartney.

I've written some brilliant songs in Dreams that are basically like the tenacious D Song tribute, where you can't remember it, you know?

Right, right.

And it's basically that, you know, you know, it's amazing, but then you wake up and you can't remember it. But I have written songs, doing like meditations before, and I'll think of an idea and I'll stop really quick and record it and then finish meditating. Or when you're falling asleep and you're in that in-between spot, stuff comes there and I've written a couple little ideas from that that I really like.

Any time I have, you know, awoken in the middle of the night and scribbled something down in the morning, it's just total gibberish. Yeah, really. It's like caramel gravy fight, not bad, and I look at it and I go, what?

Oh my god, yeah, I love those dream journals. Yeah, people write like the first thing that comes to mind, and it's bananas, yeah.

And I know you're living at your East coast exclusively, pretty much.

Yeah, New York.

Is that just? It's so funny because I was so East Coast for so many years and then came this way.

Yeah, I know, I remember.

And yeah, that's right. You greeted me as I landed, I was there, you were at the American Airlines gate.

Actually, I saw you once at an airport in New York, probably. I don't know how old your oldest child is, but you had a newborn in your arms.

Yeah.

And it was like, after a red eye from L.A. Yeah, and we had done your show a couple of times, and I was like, Look, there's Conan O'Brien, we're holding a newborn.

Yeah, it wasn't my baby.

Yeah, it was definitely your baby.

They were just giving them out on the flight. Oh yeah, it was like, Yeah, it was first class. Get a baby if you want.

I didn't want to say hi, I didn't want to say hi, you did. No, I didn't say hi because it was like a red eye. It was six in the morning and you had a newborn in your lap.

I love randomly bumping into people that I adore. I remember so clearly coming off I think, a red eye and going into JFK. And there's this one specific part of the airport I'm walking through, and I bump right into, literally almost ran into Paul Rudd.

Oh, amazing.

I remember he was holding a guitar case because he was working on his guitar playing and we bumped into each other and we had this really great conversation. And now, every time I pass that part of the JFK terminal when I'm walking through, which I am all the time, I think of like this romantic moment with Paul Rudd.

Yeah.

And he's told me that he thinks of it, too.

That's sweet, you should recreate it, yeah.

Can I come? I think we should just make it.

Yeah, I know me, too, I love Paul Rudd, it's a meet-cute.

You know what, nobody dislikes Paul Rudd?

No, that's true.

And I've been searching because I'm determined to find somebody.

It's totally true. Yeah, there's some people, Paul Rudd and Dolly Parton.

Oh my god.

Yeah, nobody dislikes.

Have you worked with Dolly?

I have before, Yeah, Oh, that song you have.

Creepin in with Dolly Parton.

Yeah, I did creepin in, yeah. And she came and sang with us at the Ryman, and I got to sing one of her songs with her once.

Okay, that's just crazy.

But this is forever ago. And I mean, she's the best.

It doesn't matter if it's forever ago, it happened.

She's the best.

She is the best.

She's the best and the funniest you should have Dolly on.

Yes, no, no, I'm not ready. She's not ready yet. She needs to prove herself a little more in the world of music. Yes, I'm on. You know, what I love is when people say.

You should have Ron as if as if you haven't thought of that, right?

As if I'm forbidding it, it will happen, Adam, It's going to happen, please. But one of my favorite things this reminds me of when you host a show, people are always suggesting guests.

Aw, that's so sweet.

Like, I was blowing him off, I'm like, I'm not doing it. You're missing an opportunity.

Can you help me facilitate that?

He was acting like Mick Jagger was on the phone, like, come on, No.

That's funny.

I think anybody would. That's the nice thing is. You are in that sweet spot of, I just think, a new act, an act that's been around for a hundred years. Anyone's gonna wanna do your podcast?

Well, thanks, not anyone, but I'm-.

Let me talk to them.

You talk, you be my liaison, please. Hey, Conan O'Brien here.

Listen to me Eilish, give me Billie Eilish.

You're gonna do Nora Jones, see.

Who am I? Conan O'Brien from Television? Well, not anymore television, but used to be television.

Eilish, Are you there? Are you there?

Eilish.

Yes.

Maybe I shouldn't do that for you.

Please do that for me.

So I was, where was I? I was having dinner with? I think I was, what was I having dinner with? I think it was Nick Offerman and Megan Mullally, and someone looked over and in a far corner booth was Dolly.

Oh, wow.

And I know Dolly, cause I think she did the Late night show once or twice. They were both like, Can you bring us over?

And introduce us to Dolly Parton.

And it was just so, it was like going to say hello to the Pope.

Yeah.

I'm gonna say, higher than the Pope, whoa, well, I'm sorry, aren't you Catholic? Yeah, you are very, your family, especially, you're very Catholic.

There's only one, Dolly Parton.

Yeah, there's been like 175 popes, right then, they had two popes at the same time.

They did.

I'm sorry, the Pope. Like the euro has been devalued, there's just too many of them being, too many of them are being minted. But there's only one, Dolly Parton. It's true. And man is she-.

She's the best.

She is the nicest person. We were all like quaking in our boots, and she couldn't have been a more beautiful soul.

She's very giving with herself, like her personality and everything, you know.

Also, she is never, she's always of the time.

Yeah.

In this crazy way, which is so, if you, you know, in the 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s. Like right now. Wisdom from her is as precious as it's ever been. Or her doing a musical performance. It's just kind of neat, she sort of transcends time, I don't know how she does that.

Well, she just got inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. And she thought it was kind of funny. Because she says she's not a rock and roll musician. But she did it anyway, and she's very gracious about it, and now she's made a rock and roll album.

Oh, really.

I think as a sort of a like, you know, I might as well, and I think that's pretty awesome.

I always feel like 9 to 5 is kind of a rock and roll song.

Yeah, I mean genre, I mean I so much. She definitely deserved it, but yeah, yeah.

A rock and roll song that has typewriter for percussion.

Oh, that's right.

That's so cool, we just had. It'll have already been out, I think, by the time. But Jane Fonda sat in that chair, Oh my God. A couple of days ago. And we got on the topic of Dolly Parton, and she spoke of her as if she was, you know, I mean, she idolizes Dolly Parton and told these really great stories about her.

I bet.

S.o.-.

It's Dolly Week at Conan.

I know it's Dolly Week sax, you know what we've all wanted, Dolly, but Adam Sax is forbidden it for now. Yeah, why is that? Yeah, there's one track she cut in 1973 that Adam Sax didn't quite like.

Thank you, go to Dolly, I know, go to her, go to the light.

If we do book her and you have to travel, will you let me and Gourley go? I mean, sometimes you don't let us come.

Well, I have to come, is the caveat.

Oh, you can come, yeah, yeah, look, let me explain if I'm going to talk to, like, a, you know, Barack Obama or someone. There are security issues involved, background checks, and that's why you two are usually excluded, right?