Romeo Vaughn’s journey from the streets to the studio inspires his new single

Country songs have a reputation for focusing on the struggles in life – broken heart, maybe even a broken-down truck.

Well, a rising young country musician from Santa Rosa, TX, has certainly had his fill of the hard stuff in life. He served in the Army, later battled homelessness and alcohol addiction, but his new single is brimming with optimism.

Romeo Vaughn just released a music for his new single “Big Dreams from a Small Town.” He joined the Standard to discuss his journey. Listen to an extended interview above or read the transcript below.

This transcript has been edited lightly for clarity:

Texas Standard: Well, I mentioned your music video. Really showcases your journey from living on the streets to living your dream. I mean, you could just celebrate success, getting this done. Why’s it so important for folks to know how you got to this point? That’s a big part of this song.

Romeo Vaughn: It is. Redemption, second chances, you know, blessed, highly favored, the power of Christ, if you believe in him.

You know, for people like me and people like us that struggle with addiction and homelessness and that have all the odds stacked against them, they’re not supposed to do it. You know especially being a Mexican American from the Rio Grande Valley, when you’re from a place where I’m from in Santa Rosa, you just end up doing what your daddy does.

You know, I wanted to show that it doesn’t matter where or what you come from, you put God first, you work hard, you have discipline, you can do anything.

You tell a lot of your story, it sounds like, in this song. I was just listening to the lyrics and it’s real storytelling in the best country tradition, I suppose you could say. How much does it stick to the actual story of your life here?

I mean, it really does. I mean so, when I moved to Nashville in 2016, you know, I was staying at a TA there in Nashville.

You talking about a truck stop TA?

It was a truck stop, yes. But I would wait there for the truck drivers, you know, because there used to be like a Philly cheesecake restaurant in the gas station or in the truck stop. And so some of the truck drivers, they would throw their leftovers away and I would wait for them. I would wait for them to walk a distance to where they wouldn’t see me and I’d go and I would grab it out of the trash can and I would go back and eat it.

That’s when I called my brother because my parents… Nobody had an idea that I was homeless. And so from there, my brother was like “hey, Romeo, you need to call the VA and maybe they’ll help you.” And so I called the VA and within 45 minutes they were there under the bridge.

And so they found me under the bridge and instantly grabbed me, took me to the mental health annex, evaluated me, and then they took me a place called Matthew 25, which is where we went to go film the video. And I got a shower and they gave me like a little room and I got to eat a hot meal that wasn’t out of a trash can.

I actually just talked to the director of operations and I still have the record. I was in and out in six weeks, man. As soon as I got that little second, you know, I got the helping hand, I get a job, I saved my money and I was able to get out and get my own place and I’ve been on my own ever since.

You had to find your way into the studio somehow. You got your job.

Yeah, I got my job. So while I was homeless, I was still working and I would hear about like, “oh, well, this is where the artists hang out. This is where the songwriters hang out, this where they go.”

So nobody knew I was homeless, but I would still go. And eventually I ended up meeting Jason Nix, who is now a hit songwriter, he wrote for Lainey Wilson… We went to his closet and there in his room he had like a little closet and I started recording with him.

Just recording tracks in the closet.

Yeah, yeah, with Jason. I ended up meeting my producer, which was Ryan Rossebo, and him and I had been discussing over the years, like, man, I want to do this record.

But, you know, at the time it was so hard for me, because, you know, recording is so expensive. And so, finally got to it and we did “Big Dreams from a Small Town” and “Cowboy in the Boots” and “Over,” which is what Jason Nix wrote “Over” also for me.

So you found good-hearted people who were willing to give you a hand, it sounds like.

They were, yeah, they were willing to give me a hand. I’ve had a lot of people in my corner.

You know, my mom and dad were back home. This is how I actually got the recording. My mom and dad were selling brisket plates. My mom was selling tamales, ceviche, like whatever they could sell that, like they say, como dicen español, whatever they could find, lo que sea, they were selling it, man.

So with that money, I was able to do little recordings and get this stuff on the road, so a big shout out to my parents.

Wow, that is absolutely tremendous. Why did you go to Nashville? I mean, there’s a lot of great music here in Texas. What was the thinking?

Well, here’s the thing, is that as much as I love Keith Whitley, George Strait, Garth Brooks, and all those, I also love Michael Jackson, and I love NSYNC, and Usher, and Backstreet Boys and all these kinds of things, and I wasn’t fulfilled. Like I wanted to show all of me.

I guess you felt like Nashville, you could find places to-

I could be more diverse in Nashville than I could in Texas. I mean, I’m a Texas boy through and through and I also respect the Texan mindset and it’s “hey man, you’re gonna play in this honky tonk, we want to dance,” you know?

And so for me, I want to be an entertainer. When I perform, I want to do a concert. And I want to be all over the stage and I wanna write heartfelt songs and so Nashville just seemed like the right place for me as far as the kind of music I wanted to make.

Your parents gotta be proud of what you put out here. What are they telling you?

Oh man, my parents are so excited, you know. I actually just got back from the RGV last week and my mom and dad looked at me and my mom said, she looked at my dad and my mom said, “he said he would do it and he did.”

So when I went down, I was finally… I haven’t bought her the house yet that I want, but for the first time I went down, I was able to take my parents out to eat and not them have to. We’re getting there.

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