Episode Transcript
Jody Collins, welcome to a Knoxville Podcast. Thank you, Rob. Gosh, I've, this is one of my dreams, 'cause, like- Me? … ever since- Aim higher, brother … dude. What, who, who has been more generous about, "Hey, you wanna be on my podcast?" Oh. You know, of course it's, it's been a couple years, but, I mean- I was gonna say the, yeah, the podcast, the radio show; wait, Ramblin' Man- Mm-hmm … the radio show, Why Knox?- … the Visit Knoxville podcast. Yeah. And then Big Man, Big Fan, it's still just sitting there. So yeah, that's four. Four different ones. Yeah, and I've always loved it, always enjoyed it.
Yeah. And, just, like, wanna be Jody when I grow up kinda thing. All right, well, good show. See you later. You know, you've, you've been super generous over the years to say, "Hey, you wanna go to concerts?" When you couldn't find somebody to- Yeah … some- Oh … somebody more attractive to come with you. Couldn't find… Oh, yeah. Like, since I'm sure he's listening, like Randall. Like, you, you and Randall are, if I wanna show off to the band, that I'm, I'm bringing a dime piece. I'm bringing you or Randall Brown. Well- Randall, please do not be offended by that. I'm, yeah. There's, there's, there's no offense to Randall.
He is, he is the king. Yeah. And yeah, I, I'm sure between the two of us, he's, he's, like- Oh, yeah … one of the ones that calls if Becky or, or- Yeah … Willie's not in town or whatever. No, it's, now it's, I go to so many shows out of town, I don't buy two tickets anymore 'cause I don't wanna have to bug somebody to be like, "Okay, it's Tuesday. I'm going to see some band you've never heard of and don't care about." Yeah. " Wanna go?" You know, and the further I get into my, now my 50s, the more likely I am to say, "Yeah, I'll go with you." Oh, okay. You know? Oh. Especially if it's n- I mean, what?
10, 15 years ago, do you remember White Denim? Oh, yeah. Randle called. I can't, I don't think it was very long before the show, and he was like, "Hey, I've got an extra ticket. You wanna go?" We went, we watched, we drove back- Oh … to Nashville. Okay. You were talking about The Basement East. I think- Yeah … I think we went… It was somewhere there on, on Music Row. Oh, okay. They- Huh … they have two or three little- Yeah, small … little clubs. Uh, yeah, I don't- How you doing? Good. How are you? Adeline, Jody. Jody, Adeline. Cameo. Cameo, yeah. I didn't know. I don't have drop-ins on my podcast.
Little did you know. Yeah. Yeah, that… Actually she was on, like, three episodes ago. Oh. Uh There's another cameo. Do you see that? Oh, yeah, the- The rowing crew … the rowing team. Yeah. Yeah, we're at Sutry's Landing. I, I should have said that earlier, and, When you hear birds and- Man, he is screaming at him Oh, that's the guys. The girls were, were through a few minutes ago, like- I just- … as we were walking in. so tell me about all your, all your different, like, start with- Concerts? … Ramblin' Man. Oh, oh. No, st- let's start with Ramblin' Man. I want, I just wanna hear, like, your reflections on it, 'cause
you've been doing it for a while. 2017. Yeah. 2016. It's been a long time. You've done- I think 2017 … 250 episodes? I don't know. Do you know? 260 something. Hell, I don't know. Okay. I don't even know. I'm getting closer to 300. I gotta get Erin Donovan to be back on. Oh, she- 'Cause she's my guest at, on the 100th episode. On the 100th. She was my first guest. She'll be… She was my 100th guest. She was my 200th guest, and she'll be my 300th guest. But yeah, it's, I mean- Most of them are driven from Knoxville, right? Some, yeah. Seems to be more as of late. I don't have as many. There for a while it was a lot of artists, and I was getting people in,
like, Cleveland, Ohio, and, Atlanta. All over the place. Mm-hmm. Pacific Northwest. Wow … but now it's, I've been trying to do, focus on non-profits. Mm-hmm. Since times are tough, I figured they could use the extra boost. Yeah. So, like, my latest episode, I've got two episodes in the can that I haven't released yet. One of them is on city planning-ish. Mm-hmm. And then the other one is with Ethan, the E- Executive Director of Jubilee Community Arts. Oh, yeah Those guys are awesome. They, they're the ones that do the- Laurel Theater … Laurel Theater. Yeah. So it's him talking about the Laurel Theater and all
that, and it was pretty good. Wow. Uh, but I've got those two episodes on the hopper ready to go. yeah, Ramblin' Man, it's been a long time. I haven't looked at my numbers in a while. I don't know what I'm up to. I know I crested- How many? A million downloads? I can't remember Oh, really? Yeah. You, you passed a million downloads. That's awesome. Maybe we… No. 100,000? 200,000? I can't remember. A lot. A lot. Considering I'm some schmo from East Tennessee. W- You, you have the ability to do something that I've always aspired to and never really accomplished, is being consistent in doing- Yeah … a something like that.
Yeah. We were talking about Tumblr earlier. You, every day- … you post a new song on Tumblr. Sometimes it's a, a funk band from 1974, and sometimes it's a, I'm gonna, I'm gonna pull up the… Sorry. I'm gonna pull up the last five and be like, "Do you know any of these bands?" Where is it? There it is … but we're good enough buddies that when- … when somewhere on my feed- Oh … at least once a week, it p- it pops up, and I'm like, "Ah, I should really listen to these." The, the more recent ones are bigger bands. Like today it was the Mavericks- Mm-hmm … performing on Later with Jools Holland in 1994 with a full orchestra behind them.
Wow. So from London. And then yesterday was Patty Griffin doing a cover of Bruce Springsteen's Stolen Car, which may be my favorite Bruce Springsteen song. Hmm. It's off The River. before that, M83's new song, Sun Volt, Sigur Rós. I like Sun Volt. Yeah. Sun Volt and what's the other one? Something Horsepower, like- Oh, Sixteen Horsepower. Sixteen Horsepower. Horsepower, yeah. Yeah. Sigur Rós, Unwed Sailor, Jet Lag, Ca- Catrin Vincent doing a cover, Sufjan, Sufjan Stevens, Chicago. Super weird. Yeah, it's all over the place. Sufjan, the only- For a period of time, he was covering, like, REM songs.
Oh. And so old school MP3 blogs, but- Yeah now it's just music blogs. Yeah. You probably get the YouTube link or something. YouTube or Spotify or Bandcamp, yeah. Yeah. But yeah, it's, keeping up with new music feeds a lot of that daily songs. Mm-hmm. Now, in the, for the month of December, my uncle has recruited me into doing Christmas songs. So he, my dad, and two or three of their friends that they grew up with do a Christmas song a day, and you, whenever something gets posted, you can't re- you can't post it later. Ah. So, but it's, I have, I do that anyway- Mm-hmm … 'cause I post a song of the day.
I always use December to post Christmas songs, but I usually post, like, out of 25 days, I'll post the same 15 songs out of 25. Right. I'll try to find some new ones, but every year it's like, "Well, you posted this one last year." I was like, "I'm gonna post it every year." Yeah. ' Cause I'm posting it for everybody. I'm not just posting it for this challenge. Well, throwing back to Randall Brown- Yeah … have you ever heard his, uh, Christmas song? Oh, I'm f- yeah. The, uh, I w- I was a member- I think it- … of the Kudzu Choir. The I Love Every Last One of You. You remember that? Yeah. That song?
I think it may have made, when I was doing work for Visit Knoxville, I did a monthly playlist of Knoxville songs. I wanna think maybe there was a Christmas one of those. I can't remember. That's also early pan- it's been a while, so I've forgot. I've slept- I've slept or not slept since then. Not slept since then. Since then, so. Well, another thing that I always loved about you was going, like, we were talking about back when the Enterprise Rent-A-Car was the- Oh, yeah … the bar Merchant Sever. Yeah, Merchant Sever. Yeah. And occasionally, when I would pop in with, with some of my networking groups or something, you'd be in there doing the cigar bar section.
Oh, Park City Cigar, John Stancil. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Yeah. I miss that place. Te- tell me about your- Oh, cigars? … cigar aficionado stories. God, so cigars, oh my God, if my dad listens to this, I'm gonna have to pre-apologize. He- But one of my big sto- m- one of my big memories, I don't wanna talk over you, but was seeing, Bill Snyder- Oh, yeah in there. And he- Part of the Therapy Friday group. Yeah. Yeah. To where Gerald Adler, who worked at the paper with me, he started, I think he started a group on Facebook called Therapy Friday, and it was 30 people in this group. Uh-huh. And they would meet there every Friday starting at… Well, it depends.
On the record, totally at 5:15. Yeah, 5:15 after work. Off the record, m- maybe- 3:15 … 2:00. 2:00. 2:00. Well- But he's retired now, so it doesn't matter. But yeah, Bill Snyder was part of that. Oh, Chancellor Snyder, he was the chancellor when- Yeah … I was in school, and just the sweetest guy. And, and I remember being, like, a probably a sophomore and having some random question. Yeah You know, just, "If you could talk, you know, if you could speak to power- Yeah … you know, what…" That kind of question- Yeah … as a, as a kid. I swear he emailed me back within, like, 17 minutes with a very smart,
studied- Response … he's an eng- Yeah … he, he was an engineer professor. Yeah. So I mean, he's a very smart guy. Yeah. But, you know, he actually thought about the answer and explained it in depth. Yeah. Like, so 10 of those minutes he was probably thinking about- Oh, yeah … what he was responding, but. And then just spit it out, 'cause he's a teacher and he can just spit it out. Yeah. Okay. Can I ask you a question then? Sure. You saying that made me think of this. Is there anybody that were local musicians or local personalities or anything like that, that you got tongue-tied being around? Todd Steed.
Okay. Or maybe even still do, but- Still do. Yeah. I, yeah, I, I was at Corner Lounge. this is a real throwback. Yeah. But Phil Pollard was playing. Oh, yeah. Phil Pollard's been gone for ages. Yeah. But he was, he had the whole, um- The beard, the top hat- Yeah … the everything. Yeah, he had the, the- Had a lot going on … Abraham Lincoln- Yeah. … outfit going on that night. And, yeah, Todd walked up and said, "Rob the Realtor." And I was like, "Oh my gosh, you know me?" Yeah. And I was like, "Ah." Okay. Because in '91 when I was a freshman at UT, I think it was '91. Or may- it was right, right in the- Yeah … early years.
he came out with the Knoxville Tales- Yeah … record. Yeah. And, my buddy Dave and I went to the CD release party, and Randall- Yeah … was there, and did his little speech. And- Yeah … I mean, I think that's when he became the rock star, you know, kind of- In your head … tongue-tied. Yeah. Tongue-tied- Okay … kind of set up. But like Sam Quin, do you get tongue-tied, or have it just you've known him so long and… I, I still do. Okay. Absolutely. But it's also, it's like he is important, es- especially in my view. Yeah. I mean, 'cause whatever, he travels all over the country and plays music, so you know.
Yeah. But, but in, gosh, I was a, I was a junior or senior in high school, and went out a few times with his sister, so I got to meet him- Okay … when he was 10, 11 years old, and just kind of getting started in his- Yeah … in his musical journey. He was really into Phish at the time. Okay. So i- in one way- He… Wait, that makes total sense. Okay. And so in one way I'm like, oh my gosh. Yeah. I, I, I love Sam, and I want, you know, I- Yeah. But then in another way it's like, oh my gosh, this guy, you know. I told you the story. Yeah. I, I have seen the Avett brothers cover his songs. Yeah. You know, and that's-
Crazy … crazy. How about you? There's still one person that I've yet to meet. but I'll, I'll say some other… It's so funny 'cause, you know, close with, like, Jody Manross- Yeah … and Laith when he was still alive. Yeah. But I was hanging out with them, talking to them somewhere, and another friend of mine, Russ Torbett of- Yeah … Kelsey's Woods. Yeah. He's like, "I can't believe you were talking to them." Like, no, it was they were at my house for a party or something. Uh-huh. He's like, "I don't understand." I was like, "That's just Jody and Laith. What are you talking about?" He was like, "When I went to college…" Like, he just,
like, he was freaking out, and I was like, "All right, do you want me to introduce? Hey, this is big time Russ." Yeah. Yanked him over. Jody, Jody's kind of ethereal anyway. Yeah, yeah. So, I mean, you kind of… And Laith kind of had that, too- Yeah … in, in some ways, just, you know. Somebody that I see, I, I saw him last night. He was doing mu- Yeah … he was doing the sound, is Seth Hopper. Yeah, yeah. Seth w- has been in so many great bands- Yeah … and has been, so I didn't speak to Seth. Okay. He wouldn't know me anyway, but- I, I have met him a dozen times, and he still never… And I'm friends with his sister Hillary, and he still doesn't remember me.
Yeah. It's okay. It's okay. But- It's okay … it doesn't matter. I still- Yeah … you know, I still think of, and I know he wasn't in the original lineup, but I still think, when I think The Bearded- Yeah … I think of Matt Morlock. Oh, yeah. I think of Kyle. Yeah. And, and, and I think of Seth. I know that there are other- Yeah … super talented people in that band, but those are the three people I think of when I think- But I think it's funny, the bigger people, Sam is one, Quinn. Mm-hmm. Con Hunley. Just kidding. Got Josh Oliver. Yep. He's another one. I'm trying to think who, uh- I went and saw Mandolin, when he was with Mandolin Orange.
Yeah. I went to the, to the Orange Peel- Yeah … actually in Af- in Asheville and saw them. And who? Will Carter. Like, I'm trying to run through the, those three guys are guys that just, I didn't know them, and all of a sudden one day, I would see them around at shows and stuff so much, that all of a sudden I think Sam just passed me when he was walking through WDBX one day. He's like, "Hey, man. How's it going?" They just all three decided we were friends. Yeah. And I was like, "Okay, cool. This is much better." Yeah. That I don't get, have to get tongue-tied or anything. They're just people. But- So there's one band that I hold really close that three of
the members I'm friendly with. One member I've still never met. I've emailed with him, I've interviewed him. I, but I have never met him face-to-face. Had a chance at a UT football game. His manager was there. He, from California, he came over and talked to me. He's like, "Do you wanna go meet him?" I was like, "I'm not ready yet." And that one person is Scott Miller. Oh, well- So I'm friendly with Paxton, Mick, Jeff. Mm-hmm. To where if I see them- With the Williams … they'll be like, "Hey, how's it going, buddy?" Yeah. You know, buddy. Well, Mick, if he's a little tipsy, he, he has jumped into my arms.
But when he's sober, it's almost like, "Oh, I think I know you, but I don't really know you." Yeah. Well- Which is funny. But Scott is the one to where I was like, "I have still never met you, and I'm still wa- not 100% sure I'm ready." I'm able to. Yeah, yeah. yeah, I completely fangirl over all of them. They- But Todd is funny 'cause he's just a dude to me. He's, he's a, well, he's a- And I'm a Texan. He's also one of the nicest guys ever. Yeah. That's, that's another… Yeah. Well, I was in North Hills. Yeah. You know, it's- Yeah … when I lived in North Hills, I would see him around. Yeah. He's, I don't… I, I actually did the thing where it's like, "Hey," we
met up for lunch one day and hung out. Yeah. But still, you know, between these ears, he's like uber you know? Well, well it's funny, not talking about musicians, but more like personalities. It's funny to me 'cause I've s- and I am not making fun of this person when I say this. I've seen people get tongue-tied around, like, Saul Young. Yeah. I was like, they were like, "Oh my God, that's Saul Young from the paper." It's like, yeah. They're like, "But, uh…" It's like- It's also Saul Young from this- He's also Saul Young … yeah. Yeah, he's- From the 17- … the nicest guy … 17th Street. Like, yeah
… like the- Yeah, the Cafe … Espresso House. Yeah, absolutely. And- It's so funny, like, people like that, and I, there used to be people that I was like, man, these are Knoxville, Ro- royalty in some ways royalty or something. It'd be like Saul, Brandon Gibson- Mm-hmm … when he was still with us. Taylor the flower guy. Yeah. Bill Foster. Who else? There's, like, a couple more. Larry- Cynthia Rockert's kinda one of those … Larry, who wears the- Oh, yeah … beer caps … the, the beer hats. I don't know his last name. Made out of beer boxes. Yeah. Yeah. But it was like there were, like, 10- He's, like, retired from Oak Ridge.
Is he? Yeah, he, I think he's really- Yeah … something more than just a, the, the cool- Retired … iconic guy that, yeah. Uh, Bill the Appalachian hippie poet. Bill, Alexander? Alexander. Yeah. Like, all these people, and even when he was still… Art Carmichael a little bit. Yeah. ' Cause he was so around downtown. But it w- or him, Mary Beth Tugwell could probably fit on that list. Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. But it's so funny that, like, there are people like that that are just renowned in the town- Mm-hmm … without being- A musician, a, you know, whatever. You're Scott Wes. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
A personality. Personality- Yeah … that's the word I was looking for. The, the- Yeah … character of Knoxville. Yeah. Yeah. That's one thing I've loved to do on this podcast, is just talk to folks like you. Yeah. You're one of those. Oh, no. You, you, I know you don't see yourself as one- No but- No … I mean. I did have a, a couple of weird instances with people when the Central Collective was still around. Mm-hmm. Where I'd be at an event, and Tom Orinda and Stephanie, both of them came up to me and they were like, "I can't believe I'm talking to you right now." "I'm usually listening to you in my ear."
I was like, "A, that's creepy." Joking, of course. But it was just like, no, don't, no, no. I will not accept that, no. Well. No. But, but I've read- But it's, that comes from being Ronnie Collins' son forever. Well. And now he, to a lot of people, is Jody's dad. Mm-hmm. So, no, there is a lot of humility, true humility, not ar- artificial humility in that, like, no, I'm just Rock's son. I'm not, I'm not anything. Yeah. But you are also, I mean- talking about Central Collective. Yeah That, I mean, that was just, that was an amazing time. Yeah. Where you were, you were the flower girl. Yeah. And I was the best man.
I'd never met the people. Nope. So I was like, "I've known you for, 15 minutes," you know? Yeah. For those listening at home, Central Collective was an event space here that used to hold a monthly event called A Good Sport Night. You bought a ticket, you didn't know what you were going to. And I don't know why that couple, Kristen and Joey, picked me to be the flower girl. But it was hilarious. It was awesome. It was hilarious. It was hilarious. Yeah. And, well, I mean, they didn't know me either. Yeah. I don't know why they would let me be the best man either. Yeah. But yeah, it was- It was a trip.
What a- what about any, Oh, d- I don't know if we ever finished on the Cigar Lounge, but- Oh, yeah that place was a- amazing. And John started, going even further back, at, SawWorks. Okay. At Marble City Brewing. When it was Marble City Brewing, he had a case there with cigars. Okay. ' Cause he was retired. Yeah. And he, I knew him because he ran for office at one point. When I was working at the print shop, a third of our business was- Was political signs political mailers. Yeah. Mm-hmm. And so I did a po- a political mailer for John that I designed, and I talked to him. So then when he opened up the cigar shop, I would go to Marble City
Brewing or, and then when it became SawWorks, a lot, 'cause it was one of the first breweries that wasn't- It was the first one- Calhoun's Yeah … or Downtown Grown Brewery. Right. It was, like, an independent brewery. Sure. And, which they are, too, but you know what I mean. Yeah. Like, a brewery first it seemed like. Yeah Not a restaurant. Microbrewery- Yeah … that was very Knoxville centric. So, when I went- But, but Nuka- Nukabuka, remember that? New Knoxville- No … Brewing Company. I don't remember that. There's a, there's a line in a Todd Steed song. Oh. But yeah, actually, he had a song called New Knoxville Girl.
Oh, yeah. And it was about- Yeah … like, the girl, the girl left him, but he still has the beer. No, the beer's gone, too, but he misses- Okay … the beer. You know, he's, Okay … and yeah, there's, actually, at Barleys, there's, there's one sign over, if you're looking at the band, if you look over to the right- Oh, that's it … there's a Nukabuka- Okay … like, poster that still exists there I have to be on the lookout for it- Yeah … you know, next time. But he started selling there, and I went up to him, I was like, "Dude, you are not gonna remember me." I was like, 'cause it had been 10 years or so at that
point. Mm-hmm. And he was like, "Oh, my God, yeah, I do remember that," and yeah, and it, and so we ca- became friendly there, and then when he opened up the shop- Excuse me. In, Merchants of Beer. Mm-hmm. It was great. Like, it was a community. Yeah. Like, it literally was. And he, and his second in command there was Kevin. And, and we would sit, stand around and talk. I would talk to them all the time. Mm-hmm. Like, it was so great because they were open until the bar closed, so it was, like, 3:00 in the morning. Yeah. So there were a lot of times when I was working for myself, it would be 11:00
PM, and I would show up, and Kevin is like, "You're just getting off work?" I was like, "Absolutely." He's like, "All right. I'll get your Jack ready." Oh. He's like, "Pick, pick whatever you want out." And he's like, "Let's go." Yeah. I would literally take a shower at, like, 10:30 PM and go down there and see them. Oh, that's amazing. Yeah. So I kinda mi- I miss it a lot. The place that's… Trying to remain positive. Mm. The place that has replaced it is not as good. It's not the same vibe. It's not the same thing. Is that, is that the one that is over, Still in Old City. Yeah, across from Java or-
It used to be Java, now Java isn't … it d- it used to be. Old City Java. No, it used to be, Shoot, what was the burger place? Night Owl. Okay. It was the Night Owl. Then it was the Italian place for, like, six months, which was amazing. Yeah. And then it was Ollie B. Mm-hmm. So it was that, it's that location. Oh, okay. Yeah. I was thinking it was across the street- Mm-hmm … where, like, the Ta- the- Oh, no. Oh, no. That's where- Your Mama's Tamale or, what's it called? That, Good Golly Tamales. Good Golly Tamales. That's where, Your Mama's … N- Knox Cigar Company used to be. Yeah. That was also one of the best places, one of the best bars in town.
Talk about a Knoxville personality, do you know Brooklyn- Yeah, yeah … Steven Brandon? So that's where I met him for the first time. He was bartending there, and then when they shut down the bar part of it, it was the be- Because they would have bourbon tasters before bourbon was cool. Yeah. And it would be, like, four half shots for $9. Wow. Yeah. And they were probably- Very good. Yeah, they were very good bourbon. Not Pappy, but something. 'Cause it wasn't, it wasn't trendy back then. Something to talk to. This is 2005, 2006. Yeah. So when they shut that down, he moved over to Manhattan's. Okay.
So I walked into Manhattan's one day when they, when I was publishing the magazine paper then. And I walked in, and he looked at me, and he's like, "Double Jack neat." I was like, "Holy crap." He remembered me from years before. Yeah. From Knox Cigar Company. Well, the first iteration of Corner Lounge- Yeah … he was, he was a fixture there. I don't know. Yeah. Is he still there? when they reopened it, he was the co-owner with Harb. Okay. And then- Which Harb? Sharif? No, no, no. Uh, no, his name is actually Harbinson. Oh. Oh, oh, okay. John, John Harbinson. Yeah. No, He, I just assumed- He, he doesn't do it anymore.
Okay. I don't know. It's not my place to say. I don't know if he got bought out or if he was just… He'd been bartender for so long, though. Yeah. And he, him and his wife had a little girl. I swear I saw him somewhere the other day. Yeah. But, o- oh, it may have been at a Melon Mind show, or it may- Oh, maybe so … have been something like that- Yeah … where he just popped in. But he, But yeah, Knock Cigar Company. I think that's what it was called, wasn't it? I can't remember. I would shop in there forever. But then they were gone, and then Park City opened up. And that little spot, man, I'm telling you, that Friday, Therapy
Friday crew with Dr. Snyder and- Mm-hmm … Gerald, five figures probably a month, just from that one crew. Yep. And so- Well- … it's mainly been backyard or porch hangs for cigars now. Yeah. Yeah. What was that before? Because when I was in school, my buddy Dave, I know it was when I was in school because my buddy Dave- Yeah … went to, like, when he graduated, moved down to Huntsville. So, but it was, The Diner was a, was a diner. Maybe it was just called The Diner. I don't even remember, 'cause I, the only thing I remember it as is Enterprise Rent-A-Car. Yeah. I wanna feel, I feel like it was empty for a few years, too, before-
It- … it was the Enterprise. It was, but when- So I don't know what it was. I- I never went when it was- It, it was kinda fancy, so- Oh … I didn't, I think I went maybe twice. But I always go back and forth with my buddy Dave, because when, when we went one time, Peyton Manning was there with- Okay … on a date. Nice. So it wasn't like a run up and say hey to Peyton Manning. Yeah. But, but, you know, I, I can't imagine what it's like for a guy like him to come back to Knoxville, because I mean- And never get any rest. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, he seems to be high energy. He seems to be, you know- Yeah … I wonder, how does the guy get downtime?
Yeah. You know? Yeah. Like, 'cause we're, we're roughly the same age, plus, minus a year, and I cannot… I mean, I was, I saw him at that, I was watching the game day, and- Yeah … when the kid kicked the million dollar- Oh, yeah. Yeah … field goal, and he was right there, and he was- Yeah … making a big deal. And I'm just like, "Peyton, you make me tired." Oh, my God. But- Oh. So I always say Jody Collins was- Oh, God … an influencer before there were influencers. Oh, God. I would not call you an influencer- I'm out … in the current- I'm gonna flip this table. But I mean, it's just like, I think working for the newspaper, working
for the, doing all the things that you did as a young person and going to school here, you know. Yeah. I got here in '91. I was already 18 years old when I came to Knoxville, and I consider myself a native, like, as, as much as anybody else. Yeah. But it's weird, 'cause I don't have the carryover. Like, my oldest, two oldest friends are from college, and one of them, it would've been '96 ' 97? Both of them were '97. One of them was in the spring, one was fall. They're brothers. Okay. That's why I say the two of them- Okay … that I still text with daily. Yeah. Greg, Greg and Richard. Uh-huh. but everybody else, like all the people… I hate saying, again, not to be negative.
My graduating class was between 103 and 108, I can't remember. three quarters of that class i- is dead, in prison, or has done jail time. So, like, there's a guy I grew up with that we had a get together a couple years back at Barley's, and he showed up, and I hadn't seen him in 25 years. Mm-hmm. And I was like, "Chucky." And he was like, "I don't know you, man." Literally we grew up together. Yeah. And I was like, "Jod- Big Jody. Jody. You know, you played ball, we played ball together, and we grew up together." He's like, "I've been in prison a few times, man. I don't remember anything." Oh. I was like, "Okay.
Damn, Chucky." This is like a John Prine song. Yeah. But I even told dad later, he's like, "Chucky didn't re- okay." Like, he was even flabbergasted. Like how did he not remember you? Yeah. Like, it's so weird. So, I, I don't feel as entren- I feel entrenched in that, like I can say I went to Fulton, I did this, you know? Yeah. But s- or grew up on the East Side, you know, playing ball at East Side Y, you know. Mm-hmm. Over here at, Cal Johnson Rec Center. Larry… Oh, Cal Johnson, okay. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Larry Cox, we only practiced basketball there once or twice when I was in like middle school.
Well, I, I remember Larry Cox because it, it has to have been there for 1,000 years because- It, yeah … okay. Yeah. 'Cause my dad, my dad y- have you ever heard my dad's story? He's like, he was a orphan as a little kid- Oh, yeah walking through. Yeah. But he lived on, when I was in school, I moved to Grand Forest. Yeah. And he was like, "Well, I used to live on Grand Avenue." I'm like, "Really?" Yeah. And he was telling me about this tenement and that, that as like a five-year-old he would walk over to Larry Cox and, and you know, that was- I see that was a place where they knew they could get a meal or
they could- Yeah … you know. Yeah, it was a gym, and then it's turned into a senior center. And now, now I go vote there. Like, that's the evolution. And every time I go in there, it's like, man, this place is tiny. Yeah. This… I don't remember it being this tiny when I was a kid. But also I was a kid. Yeah. I wanna go back in Cal Johnson. I haven't been in there since, I think, high school. Really? Yeah. I would love to see that gym. I've been back to the east side Y gym that's called something else now. And it's also a trip, 'cause I walk in there, I'm like, "This is a lot smaller than I remember."
The bigger one though, I played basketball there for my dad, middle school, freshman of high school. I can't remember which one. And then was in a summer daycare program where, Every two weeks you did a different sport or activity. Ah, cool. Like, they would teach you tennis, then you would play tennis for two weeks. Uh-huh. they tried to teach us basketball, which was hilarious. And then we'd play basketball for two weeks, but it was all at Gresham Middle. Oh, yeah. And I was like, "Man, I'd love to go back in there," 'cause it was old school back then. Mm-hmm. Like, the gyms looked like they were built in the '20s- Yeah … or
whatever, and I can't imagine them now. Oh, well now my high school back in Polk County- Yeah … is m- is the m- middle school. Oh, okay. And yeah, it's just, it's surreal to be back there because I went to Bitten Elementary School, which was a breezeway in attached to it, you know? Oh, yeah. You basically went from cradle to graduation- Holy crap … you know, at the same… But that, that just tells you if Polk County's grown that much- Yeah … yeah, I can- Yeah. I can't ima- but I think they haven't changed anything. Like, if I go back to Whittles School- Gresham Middle is still Gresham Middle … Gresham Middle.
I think if I went back to Whittles, like, the boys' locker room was still the same from when my dad and uncles and mom- Wow oh, no, Mom went to Chrisman, but dad and uncles went there, and it's like the coach had his own office when you walked in there, but it didn't have a ceiling. So it was like three feet of open air above it, and they would go in there and smoke. The boys' coach, the girls' coach, or taught gym, yeah, the coach- Yeah and then one of the English teachers would come in there and smoke. And so all the smoke would billow out into us changing and taking showers or whatever. It was a trip, man.
Oh, that's crazy. It was an absolute trip. So, but I bet if you went into Whittles, I bet that hasn't changed. Yeah. I bet it's exactly the same. Same, and those old wire baskets- Mm-hmm … do you remember those? Yeah. Like, racks of baskets? I bet they're all still in there. They probably are. Yeah. They probably are. Which is cool. Yeah. But it's just, I would like to go back just to see it and be like, "This is all…" Where- whereas Fulton, they've kind of renovated so much to where when I go back there I'm like, "This is nothing. I don't, I don't feel comfortable with any of this." The office is not supposed
to be there, it's supposed to be there. Yeah. The former gym is now the library. And we liked it. Yeah. It's now the library, and it's like, "No, it's not. This was the gym"- Yeah … " where we would play summer basketball and almost die 'cause it would be a sweat box in there." Mm-hmm. And it would be miserable. Yeah. Let's see. See, rambling, man. You got me rambling. I l- I love it. speaking of rambling, man- Oh, God … what, tell me some great stories or stuff, like, what are the highlights of that for you? I don't wanna ask you about the AGIA and the, and the- Oh, AIGA? AIGA. I don't know I did a whole pachaca-cha on Ramblin' Man, and
nobody seemed to give a crap. And I was like, "Okay, thanks guys." Like, nobody cared, which i- was a bummer, but I don't know. It's been a lot of ups and- Well, I mean, but it, that- Well … that is one of those things that's an introduction to a lot of people who may or may not be- Hopefully so. I didn't get any new subscribers out of it. Oh. So I was like, that was kind of a… Anyway, I- I loved your, your interviews with Saul. Of course- Oh, yeah … Saul's a friend of both of us. Yeah. And, Which that was very early. He and I had dinner the other night, and he talked about, like, when we were having
dinner, he was like, "This is the longest we've talked since I was on your podcast." 'Cause we'll get together for lunch- Yeah … but it's like an hour, and we both gotta go. Yeah, that was like a- Yeah … two-hour or- Yeah … or longer podcast. Yeah. And he's one of those- I, I remember- Oh, my God … I think I was, I think I was painting a rental house or something, and I was playing it, and I was wrapped up in, you, you know, the stuff you two were talking about. Yeah. And, you know, then all of a sudden, I finished my painting job, and you guys were still talking. Yeah. I was like, "Oh, man." But it's, I don't know.
I've gotten to meet a lot of people I never would have, some of them really for the better. Like, still, no offense to you, no offense to Saul, no offense to Randall, no offense to anybody. The best interview I've ever done is Gayle Hinton, who does murals in schools across the country. Wow. That she's in her 80s. I don't know how old she is now, 'cause that podcast is probably… It was pre-pandemic- Yeah … I think. So it, e- it's seven years old. I think she was, like, 80-something then, so. Wow. And she still posts on Facebook, so she's still getting at it. But, but she's a badass. She's a boss.
Like, it's still the best one I ever did. She talked about, spoiler alert- … she talked about she was in the Pride of Southland marching band with Dr. Julian- Wow … way back in the day. Uh-huh. I think it was Dr. Julian. Or was there somebody before Dr. Julian? I don't think there was. Okay. Whoever it was, she decided- John Philip Sousa, maybe? She No, I'm just kidding. She decided she was done, and he was like, "You're gonna leave your uniform here?" And she's like, "No, I'm not." And she took her uniform. She's like, "I still have it. I can still fit in it." And I was like, "You're my hero." Like, you're awesome.
but yeah, it's, that's the best one. And it, but it, there's been a lot of people I've interviewed. Again, I'm trying to stay positive. There are so- one bummer part is usually one of the requites- requisites is it has to go as long as it goes. Yeah. So I've had a few times where somebody's like, "You have an hour." And I was like, "Well, I don't…" I, I've actually turned people down, 'cause they're like, "You have…" Somebody tried to give me 15 minutes, and I was like, "No." Zero interest. Yeah. 'Cause we're not gonna talk about anything. Sure. but I had one, who will not be named, that we had an hour, and they
had someone on there, a PR person- Hm listening in to make sure I didn't try to extend it more than an hour. Yeah. And when we got done, that person was like, "Oh my God, this was so great." I was like, "Yeah, it would've been great to not have to just do an hour." Yeah. ' Cause I have 30 more questions for you. Mm-hmm. And they were like, "Oh, well…" And but then they said something super dicky, which is, when we started I was like, "Do we really just have an hour?" And they said, "Yeah, I've got other stuff to do after this." And and just kinda downplay. I was like, "Okay." And then at the end was like, "Oh my God, this was
so great." I was like, "Yeah, no, no duh." I'm trying to clean it up. No duh. Like, no duh. It, that's what this is. There, there have been people who came on that have looked at it and been like, "Oh, I'll never do three hours. That's nuts." Yeah. And there was somebody who did that, and when we got done I was like, "Do you know how long we did?" And they were like, "No." I was like, "We did, three and a half hours." And that person was like, "What the hell?" I was like- Yeah … " Yeah. What else are you doing? You aren't doing anything." Yeah. Just block it out. You aren't, you know. But that's the wonderful thing about, I mean-
Yeah … everyone that we've done has been at your house. I don't know- Oh, yeah … I don't know the setup usually. I've been doing them out and about more, just 'cause I'm, I, my house needs too much work. I don't want people coming over. Uh, but I, in the early days I would meet a lot of people out in public. Hm. And I like doing it. Well, 'cause some of the times the people I was meeting- Oh … didn't know me, so I felt very uncomfortable to ask a woman, to be like, "You wanna come to my house?" Yeah. But then as time wore on I started telling people, I was like, "I usually record these at my house.
If you're not comfortable with that, totally understand. We can record out in public, wherever you wanna record." And, Well, everybody has an office. Yeah. You know, I've recorded some at, at- Yeah … KWIP. Yeah. In my office. I've done just basically anywhere, but- I think this is the third one I've recorded here. We sat right over there and I interviewed Leslie Bateman from inside of Knoxville for I think three and a half hours. It was freezing cold. Yeah. She had on a cat- jumper onesie thing- … to keep herself warm. And I was over there, I had, you know, my winter shorts on, so I was totally fine.
But it was just hilarious. Like, we sat out here. There was a young couple that we think ca- were wanting to come here and make out and smoke cigarettes. And all of a sudden So they just came and sat in that seat over there and smoked cigarettes. They were very young. They were, like, high school kids. Yeah. I was like, "Oh, I'm doing my first live episode. Look at this." And they were just like, "What's it called?" I was like, "Y'all are guests." "Are you okay with being a guest? 'Cause I'm not cutting you out." Yeah. And it was just funny. Yeah. That's awesome. But yeah, doing them out in public, I like it.
There's… Had a couple people fuss and be like, "I can't hear your-" Are you gonna have ambiance and- Yeah. It's like, who cares? Yeah. Don't listen. Yeah. There, there's an unsubscribe button right there. You don't have to listen. Nobody's forcing you. It's free. Right. Well- I'm not, yeah. how about Knoxville icons you never expected to run into that you did or you've met, you know. Did you ever meet Cas Walker before he passed? No. Yeah. I think he had passed before I- Cared? … that I knew who he was. Oh, okay. I'm trying to think of other Knoxville icons. Never met Dolly. I wish I coulda met Dolly.
Yeah. That woulda been awesome. Mm-hmm. But it also felt like there's a time that could've happened, and then all of a sudden there was a time where that was not going to happen- Right without a lot of stipulations. Well, and- And I don't even mean recently. I mean, like, in starting in, like, 2005. Yeah. It became very much, like, nope. Yeah. Which is totally fine. I'm not crapping on that, 'cause I would never crap on Dolly. No, that's wonderful. But it was just, like, she wouldn't be out and about as much. but yeah, it's, it feels like there was a time where if you went to Dollywood, there's a chance you could meet her.
Yeah. And then there became a point, and I think it was just- I still call it Silver Dollar City, but Yeah. I've still got mugs from Silver Dollar City- … from back in the day. Yeah. But I think it then just hit a point to where it was like, oh, it's too much. Like, it's too many people- Right … cramming in. It's nothing against Dolly. Well, and just like we were talking about- Peyton, yeah … Peyton, everybody's pawing at you. Everybody wants to pa- touch. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. I had- Dol- Dolly. I'm trying to think of anybody else. Well, my line coach at Fulton is a legend, Bob Black. the, the, the stadium- The stadium at Fulton is actually named after Bob Black.
And there's another one, eddie Courtney, he was a family friend growing up that was, like, a wrestling coach and a line coach, I think, at Halls. And then he became the head coach at Farragut, and he became, like, a legend- Uh-huh at Farragut. So there are those type of sports people. Never met Peyton. Never, I'm trying to think- My first interaction with Peyton was walking, I was getting out of a class at Humanities and was walking to- walking toward the library and he was- Yeah … he, he was going- The other way … actually went to class. Yeah. You know? one that I still have not met, that I will not meet, that my dad made fun
of me, is when they dedicated those four, statues at Neyland Stadium. I still call it Nayland. Yeah. I feel like it's a Bernstein, Berenstein thing, and it's like, it's Neyland. I was like, those four statues of four Black players that were out front. Yeah. Conrad Holloway. I can never- I met Conrad too Conrage Holloway, whoever the first Black player was, Jackie Walker and T. Martin. Okay. ' Cause Dad graduated with Jackie Martin from For- Jackie, Jackie Walker, not Martin. Jackie… T. Martin. Martin? Jackie Walker. Yeah. he graduated with Jackie at Fulton before he became a legend here at UT. Uh-huh.
but we went to the dedication ceremony, and standing in front of me was Al Wilson, who was my favorite UT player of all time. Yeah. And Dad kept poking me. He's like, "You gonna say something to him?" I was like, "Sh, Pop, no." "No, I'm not. I can't do it, man." I was like, "I think we're the same age, and I can't do it." No. You're the, you're the most outgoing introvert I've ever met. No, I'm just kidding. I'm trying to think. '98? He may be like a year or two, but we're the same age- Yeah … essentially. Yeah. And I was just like, "No, I can't talk to Al Wilson." Not… Dude's a legend, man. Dude's maybe the greatest UT player of all time.
One of the greatest, maybe the greatest linebacker at UT ever. I don't know. There's a, there's a- Well, linebacker, now, you got Reggie White at defensive line. Okay. I can see that. I was gonna say, eh, there's this guy named Reggie that- Pa- Pay- Peyton at quarterback, but even defensive line, you can say Doug Atkins going all the way back. But I think linebacker, I think it's gotta go to Al Wilson. Hmm. In my book, in my- Well, it's also- Yeah … our generation. Yeah. So, you know. but yeah, I still couldn't say hi to him. If, I don't think there i- are any other, s- a dude's phone number that
I still have on my phone is, Shoot, now I'm gonna blank on his name. James… He used to sing at Dollywood, then he has his own theater. Oh. Fly gospel- James Rogers … James Ro- I still have his phone. 'Cause when I worked at the print shop- He's in Chattanooga. Is he? I think so. He- Or he- Well, I- I thought he was … I didn't know that. I didn't know he… I figured he was from the area, but we used to see him at Dollywood when, in Silver Dollar City- Mm-hmm when I was a kid. My dad loved him, and had cassette tapes and stuff. Yeah. Worked at the print shop, and we did some project for him, and I
had to call him, and he was, like, working on his farm or something. Yeah. Tony Lawson's someone I've met quite a few times. Oh, yeah. The guy who started WDBX. Yeah. He used to be a DJ on W102. What was it? 10- U102, U102. Yeah. When it was an oldies station, we'd play… My dad and uncles and I play poker every month. Mm-hmm. And I've been playing with them since I was eight. And it would get to the end of the night, and Dad would call Tony Lawson and be like, "We wanna request, Temptations' Papa Was a Rolling Stone." And it got to a point where Tony Lawson was like, "Rock, how you doing?" And he
was like, "Oh, Daryl's killing us all." And he was like, "He always kills all of you guys." And he's like, "All right, I'll get that up." Then they would crank it up and sing along to it when I was a kid. Now, you've got a prodigious collection of- Oh, God of records and CDs and- Uncomfortable is the term. It's getting uncomfortable. I'm getting to a point to where I'm like, "I'm gonna have to do something." Yeah. Yeah. I- That, well, but that's also you've lived in the same place for a long time. Yeah. And I know as a- Yeah … as a traveler in now 24 years, but the last, like, eight years I've lived in the same place, but- Yeah
I swear, I've, I've lived north, south, east, and west. I've lived all over town. Yeah. You know, just- Yeah the worst time was living in, in, nothing against Farragut, but- … I loved going downtown, doing interesting things, you know, and all that kinda stuff. And from my condo in Farragut, you know, it felt like it was 45 minutes to get to the interstate. Yeah. And then- Yeah … 45 minute or 30 minutes or whatever- I can't imagine … fighting traffic. so I bought that house. So I'm, it's October, so I'm hitting my Octoberversaries. So three things happened in October. One, 1992- So my three Oc- Octoberversaries are 1992, I went to Mr. Miracle's graphic arts
class, and that made me do graphic design. Mm-hmm. So since 1992, I've done graphic design When I was 25. Right, so my birthday's in October. I turned 26 that year. I can't do math. That's okay. 2004, would that be? If I was born in '78, I turned 26 in 2004. Is that correct? that sounds right. Sure. Good enough. So I bought my house in 2004. Wow. And then, yeah, I was still working at the print shop, so yeah. So 22 years. It could vote. 22 years. And then, a year after that in October, I stopped eating fast food. So those three… And I remember that 'cause I went to… That was my first trip as an adult that I went on my own, of my own volition.
Uh-huh. So I was 25 turning 20, or 26 turning 27, somewhere around there. Yeah. And I went to Asheville for, like, six days. Wow. I got a pass to go to Biltmore. Mm-hmm. I'd been when I was a kid- Sure through school, but I got a pass. Okay. Is it, is it the same for you? I feel like I'm going to a, a s- a school, some industrial something- Yeah … when I go into Biltmore. I, I still have that perception. You know, it just does not feel like someone's house. It's… I don't like all the old antique furniture as silly as that sounds. I love the architecture. I love seeing the stuff like the pool in the basement.
Yeah. Since e- expanding, and there was one year through, what's it called, where you got stuff online, where you got stuff for, like, 50% off? Like Groupon or- Groupon. Yeah. I got a Groupon to where I got a annual, subscription pass. A pass? Annual pass, and I think it was, like, 50 bucks. Uh-huh. And so I would just drive over there in the spring and walk around the garden. Yeah. Like, I loved it. I remember going to see the tulips one time … but, but it's just weird, and it's, it's very expensive now. Yeah. And it seems like they want you to stay on the property in their very expensive hotel and do all that.
But, but I went over there on my first trip and I was like, "I'm only gonna eat local while I'm over here. I'm not gonna go to any chains." Mm-hmm. " I'm not gonna eat any fast food." And so I spent five days doing that, and then when I came back, I was like, " I"- I don't need to do that anymore Because I was working at a print shop, I wasn't making great money. I would go to the grocery store, spend $200 on groceries, and I would throw away so much 'cause on my way home I had to drive past Burger King, Captain D's, McDonald's, Wendy's, KFC. And, and it would be like 8:00 at night and I'm like, "I'm
tired. I don't wanna cook." Yeah. And so after that, I was like, "I've been throwing away groceries. I need to stop that." Uh-huh. Now I don't eat healthy. I still eat- Oreos … crazy crap. Oh, God. You're famous for the Oreos. Dude, my, gluttonous thing that I started doing is I work from home on Fridays. Uh-huh. I get up, I get the coffee going, and I eat… I'll go ahead admit it. Half a sleeve. Eight Oreos. Eight? And I'll take a toothpick, pro tip, put it in the cream and dip it in my coffee. Mm. Now, I go walking with my buddy every Friday. Okay. So I walk that off, sure. Sure. And if we don't walk, I may still also do it on Saturdays and Sundays,
but we're not gonna talk about that. We're only gonna talk about the days where I do something healthy. Consistent. Yeah. Well- But yeah, the Oreos. Where, where do you find all the exotic Oreos? I don't, I don't know that I've ever seen- Oh, just the grocery store. The Fellini Kroger, man. Okay. Most of them. Sometimes they'll only be at Walmart or something. But yeah, I just stay on top of when they're getting released, and I- … look for them at the Fellini. A lot of times they're not in the… Oh, my God, I am a nerd. in the aisle where the Oreos are, they'll be on, like, an end cap or something.
That's where you'll find them. Like, there are times where I've found them back by where, like, frozen stuff is. Wow. Why is it back here? Eh. Yeah. It's like, it's like, "Hide the Oreos from Jody." Yeah, yeah. Yeah. It's… I've ate a lot of Oreos. Well- They're very good … I was thinking about some of the interesting, like, people that you wouldn't expect. Yeah. I had this little house over in Vestal, and I worked- Oh, yeah, sorry. I got us off track. No, no, no. I'm talking about, like- You're good … Knoxville characters. No, I love it. Yeah. But I will… Yeah … you've just, you've just exhibited what I said,
that you're a Knoxville character- Yeah by talking- Oh, no. I'm just… I've been podcasting so long, it's like, "No, no, no. Hey, dummy, get us back on track." We were talking about Knoxville characters, then all of a sudden it's like, "I eat eight Oreos in my coffee every Friday morning." Well, I- In Vestal. Oh, yeah, in Vestal My backyard, I remember being there mowing, and this little old lady, she was tall, was back there, and I, whatever, I was just like, I, I'm a goofball who will run- Yeah up and talk to anybody, especially if I don't know them. Yeah. And introduced her- or she introduced herself.
Her name was Doris Sams. Have you ever heard of her? Uh-uh. She was, I think she played for the P- Rockford Peaches during the girls'- Oh, crap … the girls baseball. Yeah. And yeah, and she just lived in Vestal. Huh. Quiet, quiet life, you know, for- That's awesome … many years after World War II. Was she from here or? I don't know. Oh, okay. But of course she, you know, after we, after we hit it off- You talked … and we talked for a little bit she, she, like, signed a little, a little girls- That's awesome … baseball retro card for me. And so it said, like, "To Rob from Sammy," Doris Sams. So that's, I love that movie.
That's on my list. I took a baseball, just telling the listener, I took a baseball road trip last year where I went from here St. Louis, Kansas City, Minneapolis, Iowa to the Field of Dreams field. Mm-hmm. Milwaukee, Chicago, Indianapolis, and then went to the Hoosiers gym. Oh, sweet. And I really wanted to go to where they filmed A League of Their Own, but it was almost like it would have added, like, two and a half hours onto my trip- Uh-huh to try and hit the League of Their Own. Yeah. ' I'd like to go see that field. That'd be pretty cool. Yeah. Definitely. Yeah. Yeah. That's, that's one of the things I… Going on the, the, corporate trips to-
Yeah … with Keller Williams, 'cause one of them is historically always in Austin. For the past couple years it's been in San Antonio. The, the other, the other of the two national conferences travels around. Yeah. So usually I'll either stay a day before or stay a day after and just go hit whatever, whatever interesting historical spots are over there. So that's, when I worked at PetSafe, I would go to conferences. Uh-huh. And I would always book either before or after or maybe even both and stay. Yeah. And go do stuff. And it killed my boss, 'cause it, she would fuss at me. Jill, if you're listening.
Dear Jill, I would say, "I'm going to the conference from 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM. After 6:00 PM is my time. If I wanna go see baseball, if I wanna go out to eat, if I wanna go do s- see a show, that's my time." Right. "That's not your time." Mm-hmm. " I don't care that the company's paying for this. I'll pay for my concert ticket. I'll pay for it." I was like, "But that's my time, man." Yeah. I was like, "You gotta give me that." Yeah. And so I would book, and there was one time I went to San Francisco, and I'm trying to hit, one other fun fact, dear listener, I'm trying to hit every MLB stadium. So I was out there, and I had to go… Luckily, it was like the conference
started on, let's say a Friday. Mm-hmm. So I was like, well, it starts at 8:00 AM, so I need to go out on Thursday. Wink, wink, nudge, nudge. San Francisco's last night of their series was that Thursday. Hmm. So I landed, got to my hotel, and then went and saw baseball. I needed to go out early. I did. 'Cause I w- I was gonna fly to San Francisco the morning of- Right … and get out there at 8:00 AM. That wasn't gonna happen. Sure. Well, and the closer to Wednesday it is- Yeah … the cheaper it is for a company. Yeah. You can- And so- You can spin it that way … that was Thursday, and then the A's weren't playing until, like, the
next Friday, so I actually stayed- until Saturday. Wow. So I, that Friday night before I left out of San Francisco, I went all the way out to Oakland using- Wow … public transport. Uh-huh. And got out there and went to see a game at the Coliseum, which is no longer being played at. And, so I would do the same thing. I would try to wrap around things. We went to a photo- we did a photo shoot for PetSafe down in southern California, and I stayed three or four extra days and went to, stayed in Burbank, went around Hollywood, around Los Angeles- Uh-huh … all that area. It was a lot of fun. While we were there for the photo shoot, we were in Orange County in
one of the subdivisions where The Real Housewives was being filmed. Oh, okay. And but it was like at night… It was so funny, 'cause Jill would give me a hard time about wanting to go do stuff when I was traveling. And then when she went on the trip with me, her and Lisa, another marketing person. And at night it'd be like, "Okay, we're gonna go to Huntington Beach tonight. We're gonna go to Long Beach tonight." So we would actually go places. Yeah. And I was like, "Huh." "So when you go, it's fun." No, I just like giving Jill a hard time. Yeah. She gave me plenty of a hard time while I work. She still gives me a hard time.
That's awesome. but yeah. That's fun to… That's how I got to explore a lot more, 'cause I never had jobs where I could afford to do crap, so getting the company to pay for it and then just having to pay two or three extra nights for a hotel- Yeah and then 'cause the flight's covered, all that. One time I went, I… It was funny, 'cause on my trip, I- actually one of the Austin trips, I stayed, stayed at the Driskill Hotel. Yeah. Which I was, I was on like the third floor. Okay. And the first floor was the apartment where LBJ, when he was the- Yeah when he was the governor of Texas, that was his apartment.
I remember that, yeah. , And you could walk two blocks and be at, at, the Comedy Mothership. Oh, yeah. Joe Rogan's. Which I'm thinking, I've still never really been to Texas other than a layover. Mm-hmm. I've never been to, Louisiana either. Hmm. Never been to New Orleans. And- … flight is super expensive. I'm trying to save money to go to Scotland and kinda ball out next- Yeah … about a year from now. Maybe even do Christmastime. Ah. I don't know. I kinda wanna do Christmastime. I would love to go to Scotland. And I was talking to my buddy Michael May about it, and we have a friend, Gavin Spence, over in Scotland, who's a born and raised Scotland.
Okay. Scottish person. Scottish person. Yeah. Scotland person, Scottish person. Oh, my God. but I was telling Michael, I was like, "Yeah, I'm thinking about going Christmastime." He was like, "Might be kinda cold." And I was like, "Michael." And he was like, "Oh, yeah, who am I talking to?" I was like, "Dude, I'm gonna be still wearing shorts." Yeah. I was like- I was like, "I don't care how much it snows, I will still be wearing shorts." They'll be like, "That must be an American." Yeah. But it's… I'm, I wanna do that. Well, I told you how flabbergasted I was when you- Yeah … actually wore long pants to your mom's-
Oh, yeah. Oh, my God … funeral. Yeah. You're like- It's funny … "What are you doing?" I was like- Respect … " Dodie?" Respect. Thank you. Yeah, yeah. Well, just actually I was overwhelmed that you actually came down there. Oh. That's an hour and a half drive and- Hell, no, dude … thank you. Of course, I would. Want to do that, but flight is so expensive. Like, I was looking at going to LA to go see those three baseball teams, but it's weird. Like, same thing with the San Francisco/Oakland thing. They never play at the same time, so I'd have to be out there for, like, eight days, and, like, the flight was gonna be $100 less than flying to Scotland.
It's gonna be 700 and something dollars to fly to LA. Well, let me tell you a life hack. Okay. Fly Allegiant to Las Vegas- I looked at that … for 75 bucks, and then there's, like, $25 flights to, So I couldn't find a cheap flight to Las Vegas. Now, this is in April. and I don't know- So maybe they come down closer to it or something. I, I'll keep looking. But I looked at that, and it was like renting a car and then also having to stay in Vegas, it was still gonna roughly be the same. Or it's gonna be, like, 700 to fly into Los Angeles, and it was gonna be, like, 550 to fly into Vegas. So I was like, "Eh."
I swear, every time I go on- Okay … it's, it's, it's- I will keep poking around less than $200. But what I was thinking is, what I may do, 'cause the big thing for me, as I just mentioned with winter shorts, Texas and New Orleans are off limits most of the year for me- … 'cause it's too damn hot. Yeah. Even though it's hot here- It's a dry heat though … it's way too… Not New Orleans, though. Yeah, that's true. No, it's swampy. but my thought is, if I get a new car, my plan is to get a new car by the end of the year, knock on wood. You're famous for driving the Blueberry. The mighty R. Yes. Yeah.
but if I get a new car, what I may do is in the spring take, like, a 10-day road trip and go down to, like, Montgomery. Mm-hmm. 'Cause I want… I think it's Montgomery or Birmingham that it's, there is a Negro league museum- Hmm … or something down there. Yeah. At, at… I think it's Birmingham. But, like, go to it, go down to New Orleans, and then go to Austin, 'cause I've got a buddy who lives in Austin- Mm-hmm … that I keep telling him I wanna come visit. And, maybe taking, like, a 10-day road trip and knocking that out. Well, and you're into the comedy stuff, so I mean- Yeah … it, it's amazing going to Joe Rogan's-
Yeah … thing. I mean, I went to the one that didn't have an announced headliner. You know- Oh … it was just, like, whatever, whatever, whoever's playing at… It wasn't Big Boy or Fat Boy or whatever. It was, it was Little- Oh, okay … what's, Fat Man and Little Boy, or- Yeah. Yeah. Lenicular Bombs. Yeah. Yeah. so I went to the smaller room, 'cause it was the easier to get into, and Ron White showed up and did- That's awesome … a hot 25 minutes. But it was just, I hate to sound like the kids, but it was banger after banger after banger. So I had that happen in New York where I went- Cam Patterson-
Oh, yeah … and, there's a guy, Fisher, what's his name? Josh Fisher? I, he's, he's- Yeah … he's hilarious. Well, I was in New York and I wanted to go to the Comedy Cellar, and there was a comedian I like that was headlining. Uh-huh. But it was Sunday night and I left out Monday morning super early, and I was like, "Oh, crap." I was like, "You know what? I'm gonna make it work." It was an 11 o'clock show. Uh-huh. I had to be on standby to get tickets 'cause they were already sold out So I'm going and I'm standing in standby, and it was weird. Like, you had to show up, sign up for standby, and then you could leave.
So I was like, "Oh, I'm gonna do that and then I'm gonna go get food, and then I'll come back." So I'm standing there, it's me and one other guy, some other guy that was in from out of town, and we were both like, "We gotta come to this show." Uh-huh. And, as we're standing there, behind us we hear, "Excuse me, gents." And turn around and it was Dave Attell. Ah. And I was like … Like that. Yeah. And he walked away, and then I got on the standby. I went and had dinner, I came back, I was let in, and it was same thing. It was, like, Dave Attell, a writer for The Daily Show. Like, it was one after the other- They were big … of just big people.
Mm-hmm. I was like, "This is amazing." And Dave Attell was just hanging out in the back. He wasn't supposed to go on. , And Attell kinda got bullied into going up on stage, and he did, like, 10 minutes. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I think we both lament the loss or the passing of, Sidesplitters, 'cause I had some- Yeah of the more, more fun interactions. One time, ah, his name, Goat Boy, Oh, Jim. Jim Breuer. Jim Breuer. Yeah. So he, he was appearing there, and I don't know, like the last year that it was, I just basically whoever was gonna be there, I, I bought tickets, 'cause they were like 10 bucks. And I was the goofball who was, like, snapping pictures of him, and
he, like, got- frustrated with me. He took my, took my phone away from me and started doing, like, a bunch of selfies, like Really? Yeah. And it was just… But it was, it was kind of hilarious. It was kind of fun, and it was a, an interesting interaction with, with Jim Breuer. I think… Oh, that's funny. I'm googling this, and what comes up? 10 famous comedians who are from Florida. It's from Sidesplitters. Oh, really? Yeah. It's on their website. I think the last person I saw there was, Kyle Kinane may… No, maybe in Mankind. Man, Mick Foley? Mick Foley. Oh, that's fun. I think I may, I think that may have been the last person I saw there.
Well, I, I'm trying to think. The ones that I've seen, Hannibal Buress was there. He was awesome. he's actually gonna be at Big Ears this year. Yeah. I saw, it's also weird to me that, shoot, now I'm blanking on his name What, what's the- Nope … what's the big door- Oh, Sidesplitter, Leanne Morgan. Yeah. And I would see Leanne Morgan, like, opening for people- Yeah … or as a middle act- Uh-huh … at Sidesplitters. Yep. And now she's selling out two nights at Thompson Boling. At Thompson Boling, true. True. I love it, man. Appreciate it. 'Cause she's always been super funny and super… She seems like a very nice person.
Uh-huh. Like, I think any time I've interacted with her, she was always a super, like, sweet lady. Uh-huh. So it's, it's awesome that she is, blowing up like she is. Yeah. All 'cause of TikTok, which still I don't understand. But one of my favorite shows was Gilbert Gottfried. Oh. And I went with Randall, so that was just a kinda double, double awesome experience. He… Do you, do you… He posted a video about being in Knoxville of him trying to cross Cedar Bluff- Oh, no … at like rush hour. Yeah. I was like, "What are you doing, man?" You're gonna, Number one, you're little. Yeah. He's like Frogger.
I think he did an… Didn't he do a Knoxville? I don't know, but I think that may have been during the Matt Ward period where- Oh, yeah … a lot of, he was bringing in a lot of awesome people that I didn't know, and I should have gone to a whole lot of shows that they blew up like six months after he had them here. The… It was weird, 'cause like Kyle Kinane was like a b- is still like a big comedian. Mm-hmm. And he did one show out there, and it wasn't that full. Brian, Posehn- Yeah … I saw him too, 'cause- Yeah, I, I saw him too … he jokes that he is, six foot six point six, the height of The Beast.
So it was so funny when I saw him. He saw… He was taking pictures and stuff, and then he saw me, and he did the- … like this. Stood straight up to see if he, if he was as big as me. Well, and you've… Tell me the story of the iconic cards, the yes I'm six seven. Oh, the yes I am tall? Yeah. speaking of my buddy who lives in Austin, Rich Mulholland, he saw a very crappy version of that where somebody just had a piece of paper that was cut up that said, "Yes, I am tall," or something like that, that it goes around the internet every once in a while. Oh, okay. And he sent it to me, and he was like, "You can do much better than this.
You're a graphic designer." So I did my own take on it I think I've given out, I think I figured out it's close to 600. . The first one I ever ga- gave away, I was in Cleveland, Ohio, Weapons of Mass Creation festival, and I had gotten to Cleveland, gotten into my hotel, dropped off my stuff, was going out to find dinner, got into the, elevator. So I had been in town in no time. Yeah. Got into the elevator, and some lady turned to me and said, "Boy, you sure are tall." Or something like that. And I was like, "I have a card for that." And I gave her a card, and then just walked out of there. And I heard the doors close, and I heard her go, "What the hell?" I'm like, "Yeah."
I was like, "Yeah, that's what you get." Thanks. Yeah. It has no contact information, nothing. Yeah. I think it's the two most famous people I've given those to, one of them's David Sedaris. Uh-huh. Which we were standing… My friend Angela and I went and saw him, and we bought a book afterwards so he could sign it. And they kept telling us, "You cannot get, cannot touch him, cannot shake his hand, cannot get a photo with him, cannot nothing." Yeah. It was very stringent. Mm-hmm. And so we went up, and we just happened to be the last two people, and I had one of these in my pocket. And I started talking to him, and he was very, like, he did not care.
'Cause I was like- I don't know if you'll understand this. This has also been a bunch of years ago. I was like, "I kinda want, Amy, his sister, to get on Tinder and you two do something with that. Make a video, make audio. I, I just wanna hear you all exploring New York Tinder- through Amy Sedaris." So I think it'd be funny as hell. Oh, yeah. And he was like, "Huh." Like, "Okay, okay. Okay, moving on." I was like, "I, I have this. I think you might like it." And the minute I reached in my pocket he started looking at, at the person from the Bijou like, "What is he doing?" Yeah. Like, and I, as I handed it to him he looked at it.
He's like, "Oh, this is fablu- fabulous- … or fantastic or something. He was like . And then he started talking to me about it. He was like, "You know, you all, you, you all tall people are the last one that people…" He called it, like, the micro- Oh, the last minority or the last- Yeah, he was like, "The microaggressions against the tall." And I was like, "I'm becoming…" I almost started punching Angel. Like, "I'm becoming a David Sedaris story. Oh my God. Oh my God." I started freaking out. Mm. Like, and he talked to me for, like, 15 minutes, if I remember correctly. It could be, could've been three, could've been 20.
Yeah. I don't know. Yeah. But it felt like 15. Transformative. Yeah. And then the other one is, do you know the band Red House Painters? Uh-huh. Sun Kil Moon. Yeah. Mark Kozelek, who's apparently a ginormous dickhead. Sun Kil Moon, Mark Kozelek. Went and saw him in Asheville at a Masonic lodge. And he was, the stage was just level with everything. It was just Yeah folding chairs. Mm-hmm. And my buddy and I were sitting, like, second row but to the far side, where the stage is here. Yeah. He's standing there and we're sitting over here, and I had to pee. And so I got up and I snuck around and went out, and he didn't see me.
And I go use the bathroom, and I come back in, and I'm standing in the back listening to him, and he is on the other side, like railing on somebody, like fussing at them. Yeah. And I was, the guy next to me, I was like, "What's, what's happening?" He's like, "I think he's making fun of how people here dress in flannel and have beards." And I looked at him, I was like, "Think I should go down front and see if he'll do that to me?" And he's like, "Absolutely." So it's something like that. So I just took off, and the minute I got to the break to go around, he was yelling at the guy, and then he went, "Oh my God, will you come be my bodyguard?"
And started into me, and chased me down, and I was just like, "Huh." And I turned to reach for my wallet. I was like, "I got something for you." He's like, "I already have your money. I got your money." I was like, "It's not that." And he just kept looking at me, and I handed him the card, and he's like, "This is brilliant." And he talked about that card, same thing, felt like 20 minutes. Yeah. He wrote a poem the next night in like Philadelphia- … about my card. Ah. And if I h- could have, I would've driven to Philadelphia to see that show and be like, "I'm the guy." "I'm the guy he's writing a poem about."
Yeah. So those are, I think, the two most famous people that have gotten those cards. I've given them to some other people, some comedians and stuff, but I think those two are maybe the best. I've never… So I've seen Christopher Titus a bunch here. Uh-huh. And every time I see him, he's like, he's like, "Hey, man." Like he remembers me- Yeah … 'cause we always take a photo. And this last time he's like, "How many times have you seen me?" I was like, "Any time you've come to Knoxville, I've been there." 'Cause I think I saw him at Side Splitters or something. Yeah, probably. Maybe the first time.
Mm-hmm. Way back in the day, like in the aughts. Like- Yeah … and then I've seen him every time he's come to the Bijou. The aughts. And when I walked up, he was like, "Big man, how many times you s-…" And I always forget to give him a card. I need to give him one of those cards. And he made fun of me for something. I don't know, he always makes fun of me. He took, we took one photo where it looked like I was squeezing him to death. Yeah. He's like 10-step. He's like, "Put on there that I made fun of your beard." I was like, "Okay." And that's what I put. Yeah. Awesome. Speaking of comedians, one of the last projects I posted was,
My friend Billy Wayne Davis is a nationally touring comedian. Okay. And he always tours Alaska once a year, so he asked me to do his poster last year, and I did what looks like an old school, tourism poster. Mm. I drew, like, a seaplane. And, like, the forest in the winter. Like- Yeah … and it's, it's not the best drawing, but I was like, "No, I'm going for a certain look." And, it turned out pretty well. That's awesome. And he, he was happy with that. And I've told him, I was like, "Any time you're ready, I'll do another one." But he is also good about, like, more than most people, like, "No, I wanna pay you." Yeah.
So let me have a need- But is that the kind of thing that mostly posters and promotional kind of ephemera or- Little bit of everything. I, like, there … I may be taking on an SEO project for a construction company. Mm-hmm. Like, they need their, SEO on their website help. so it is everything from SEO, but I think nowadays I'm trying to do more creative stuff. Illustration and- Yeah, that kinda scratches that itch- Well- a little bit more. I w- yeah, one of the things, like, in that Knoxville Society of Illustrators zine, the, my initial idea was to do it as a comic book. Yeah. And come up with a story, and then everybody would have
to draw a two-page spread. Mm-hmm. And nobody wanted to do a comic book. But what I ended up doing was still doing- I ended up still doing, like, a two-page comic book spread. Okay. Some people asked me to interpret it, and I was like, "Whatever you think it is, that's what it is." But yeah, some of the, it's funny in doing that, realizing how much talent we have in this town that is under appreciated, under utilized, under- Celebrated, yeah … celebrated, yeah. There's so much- I, I love that … like, that dude is like a kid, Joseph. Like, his, or Joshua, his works- Well, that's one thing that's really impressive is when, when the,
the Dogwood Arts Festival comes out and, you know, or, or Market Square- Yeah … you know, just walking through there Oh, the Chalk Walk, yeah. Yeah, the Chalk Walk or the going down the Illustrator Alley, whatever that's called. Yeah. And, you know, it's hard to tell- Yeah … Knoxville has as much talent, you know, 'cause we have a lot of, not a lot of graffiti. Yeah. Well, and I think it's- I think we could stand, one thing I've thought about is wanting to get on the city's, committee for public art. Yeah. I need to figure out a way to get on that, 'cause I feel like we should be doing more. I feel like there are a lot of empty walls-
Mm-hmm … that we could, you know, get people to pay for the paint and for the person to do. 'Cause I'm sitting here looking at a big fricking parking garage. Yep. Like, the Dwight Kessel. Why are we not doing a cool mural? There's a lot of murals downtown, and I… Big fan of Megan Lingafelt, who I know, who may listen to this. But it seems like she's doing them all. Like, I would love it to be varied a little bit more. , I'm not bagging on Megan Lingafelt. It's just there are a lot of people who do good art that I wish a lot more people would get- Would love for- … opportunities. Well, and, and she could have more.
Yes. I mean, if there was- She's actually traveling more to do more. Yeah. So it's like, cool. Then, now- … let .. emma Oxford do one. Let Esther Sidford, let, let all these other people that are also super talented artists- Yeah, that's awesome … take a chance. Take a chance. Yeah. And then an ABBA song, Take a Chance. Is that how we're gonna end this, is singing Take a Chance on Me? I, Nobody needs to hear that. No. But well, Jody, thank you so much for giving us this time- Yeah … giving me this time. And- Yeah I'll take the opportunity to say I love you, man. I really appreciate- I love you too, man … everything that you've, all the
friendship over the years and everything. And just keep doing all the good stuff- Yeah that you do. And, and- I'll sit here and awkwardly look at the ground- … and start kicking dirt. Yeah. Well, aw, shucks. Aw, shucks. Rassa-frassing. Well, thank you and thanks. Thanks, man. We'll see you.
