WEBVTT - ITS Home Edition: Melissa Etheridge 0:00:01.280 --> 0:00:05.000 Welcome to Inside the Studio presented by I Heart Radio. 0:00:05.280 --> 0:00:16.800 I'm your host Joe Levy okay so. On the home 0:00:16.960 --> 0:00:20.520 edition of the show, Our Quarantine correspondent Jordan run Tug 0:00:21.000 --> 0:00:24.360 has talked with musicians who found new ways to make 0:00:24.480 --> 0:00:28.080 music and play shows during these pandemic times. I mean, 0:00:28.640 --> 0:00:32.680 my living room has a pretty broad booking policy. Since 0:00:32.760 --> 0:00:36.440 Lockdown started from the comfort of my couch, I've watched 0:00:36.440 --> 0:00:40.839 a lot of shows, indie rock, folk rock, DJ battles, 0:00:40.880 --> 0:00:44.879 punk rock country. If you stream it, me and the 0:00:44.920 --> 0:00:48.400 cats will watch it, or or at least I'll watch it. 0:00:48.479 --> 0:00:51.640 The cats are a little more finicky than I am. 0:00:51.720 --> 0:00:56.480 But this week's guest, Melissa Etheridge, has taken things up 0:00:56.800 --> 0:01:00.160 a notch. After she broadcast more than fifty show was 0:01:00.240 --> 0:01:04.480 on Facebook, she basically launched her own network out of 0:01:04.520 --> 0:01:08.399 her garage. Some people make their garage into a home 0:01:08.440 --> 0:01:12.080 recording studio. She turned it into a home TV studio 0:01:12.720 --> 0:01:16.240 and on Etheridge TV, which is subscription driven, she does 0:01:16.440 --> 0:01:19.840 cover songs one night, a talk show the next. She 0:01:19.880 --> 0:01:23.240 throws in a mix of home videos and classic old clips. 0:01:23.280 --> 0:01:28.000 Sometimes there are live concerts. Jordan talked with her about 0:01:28.080 --> 0:01:30.840 how she built all of this like build it literally 0:01:31.160 --> 0:01:35.200 by hand, no road crew, and also how she's been 0:01:35.319 --> 0:01:43.240 coping with things personally and professionally during these really challenging times. 0:01:43.880 --> 0:01:46.080 And that's why we started the home edition of Inside 0:01:46.080 --> 0:01:49.040 the Studio to let you know how artists were coping 0:01:49.040 --> 0:01:51.400 with things right now, how it's impacting their lives and 0:01:51.440 --> 0:01:54.360 the way they make music. And and there really hasn't 0:01:54.400 --> 0:01:58.240 been a more personally moving episode than this one so far. 0:01:58.840 --> 0:02:00.600 So if you enjoy it, be her to listen to 0:02:00.680 --> 0:02:03.440 the I Heart Radio podcast that Jordan's hosts, which is 0:02:03.480 --> 0:02:08.040 called Rivals Music's Greatest Feuds, and which is available wherever 0:02:08.080 --> 0:02:19.040 you get your podcasts. Hello everyone, my name is Jordan 0:02:19.080 --> 0:02:21.679 runt Out, But enough about me. My guest today is 0:02:21.720 --> 0:02:24.320 a bona fide music Icon's gone to the top of 0:02:24.360 --> 0:02:26.240 the charts with hits like come to My Window and 0:02:26.240 --> 0:02:28.640 I Want to Come Over. The grit and power of 0:02:28.639 --> 0:02:31.280 her vocals and the raw passion of her live performances 0:02:31.320 --> 0:02:33.600 saw her mentioned in the same breath as Janice Joplin, 0:02:33.840 --> 0:02:36.200 but rock stardom is just part of her story. In 0:02:37.320 --> 0:02:40.000 proudly answered questions about her sexuality with the title of 0:02:40.000 --> 0:02:43.519 her breakthrough album, yes, I am. Since coming out, she's 0:02:43.520 --> 0:02:46.680 been a trailblazer for the LGBTQ community and a tireless 0:02:46.760 --> 0:02:51.760 social activist. She's also one of Rock's greatest survivors, overcoming cancer, divorce, 0:02:52.040 --> 0:02:56.160 and most recently, in the Lossopher Son Beckett to opioid addiction. 0:02:56.840 --> 0:02:59.280 Now she's using the personal tragedy to help others and 0:02:59.360 --> 0:03:02.360 make a difference. I'm so thrilled to welcome Melissa Ethridge. 0:03:02.919 --> 0:03:05.239 That's my pleasure. Thank you so much. It means the 0:03:05.280 --> 0:03:07.240 world to me. So many things I want to talk 0:03:07.240 --> 0:03:09.600 to about me a huge fan. But the purpose of 0:03:09.680 --> 0:03:11.320 the show is the check in with artists and see 0:03:11.360 --> 0:03:13.880 how they've been coping with lockdown, which is obviously something 0:03:13.960 --> 0:03:17.120 that's impacted all of us, but you've been coping with 0:03:17.639 --> 0:03:20.399 so much more. If you're comfortable sharing, have you been doing? 0:03:21.000 --> 0:03:24.000 Thank you very much. Um, I'm I'm doing okay. I 0:03:24.040 --> 0:03:28.760 gotta tell you. You know, when you know the pandemic 0:03:28.840 --> 0:03:31.480 and everything hit and realizing that there was going to 0:03:31.600 --> 0:03:36.600 be no you know, personal performance appearances, there's no audiences 0:03:36.800 --> 0:03:40.040 this year. You know that that was you know, that 0:03:40.160 --> 0:03:43.040 was a certain low and a certain depression, and then 0:03:43.400 --> 0:03:45.440 to lose the family members like, oh my god, I'm 0:03:45.640 --> 0:03:48.680 I'm even deeper in this hole. And and it, um, 0:03:49.080 --> 0:03:57.520 it does challenge ones, uh you know, ones own you know, 0:03:57.640 --> 0:04:04.120 personal belie in in life and in getting through things 0:04:04.280 --> 0:04:07.880 and all the things I've ever been talking about in 0:04:07.960 --> 0:04:10.520 my life. So I am doing well. We have, We've 0:04:10.560 --> 0:04:16.600 been healing. Uh. You know this, um, this epidemic of 0:04:17.520 --> 0:04:21.280 opioid addiction. You know, I'm not the only I'm by 0:04:21.360 --> 0:04:25.279 far not the only one, unfortunately. So uh, it's it's 0:04:25.320 --> 0:04:28.480 something I of course now I'm very passionate about. And 0:04:28.800 --> 0:04:33.000 and uh, but thank you. I'm We're doing We're doing fine. 0:04:33.080 --> 0:04:36.360 We're healing every day. So glad to hear that. I 0:04:36.960 --> 0:04:39.200 last year I had the honor of speaking to David 0:04:39.279 --> 0:04:41.840 Crosby and he said something that I'll never forget. He said, 0:04:41.920 --> 0:04:45.560 music is a healing force. It makes us better. What 0:04:45.800 --> 0:04:47.520 is it about music for you that that is such 0:04:47.520 --> 0:04:50.520 a healing force? What does it give to you? I 0:04:50.680 --> 0:04:54.640 realized a long time ago the healing that I get 0:04:55.279 --> 0:05:00.680 from from singing and performing music is this in tense um, 0:05:01.680 --> 0:05:06.400 you know, taking the energy of music, this this creation 0:05:07.880 --> 0:05:12.400 of vibration that that then affects us emotionally and as 0:05:12.520 --> 0:05:15.359 much as it affects somebody else, oh boy, ten times 0:05:15.560 --> 0:05:19.400 it affects me when I'm singing, when I'm performing, when 0:05:19.440 --> 0:05:23.480 I'm Uh, it's a way of release, it's a it's 0:05:23.520 --> 0:05:30.120 a cleaning out of blowing out of of any you know, 0:05:30.279 --> 0:05:34.400 stagnant emotions that that could you grow into, you know, 0:05:34.560 --> 0:05:40.120 something physical. So it's it's uh, it's absolutely saved me 0:05:40.240 --> 0:05:43.159 more than once. I've read that. You've read a lot 0:05:43.200 --> 0:05:47.440 about quantum physics, and it's such a great logical explanation 0:05:47.560 --> 0:05:50.400 of putting good vibrations out there, you know, I mean, 0:05:50.440 --> 0:05:54.080 it's it's so funny. Yeah, we've heard the term good vibrations, 0:05:54.120 --> 0:05:57.920 but if you really dig down into the science, there 0:05:57.960 --> 0:06:01.040 are indeed good vibrations. You know, there's we are a 0:06:01.240 --> 0:06:05.400 vibrational universe. That that's how we're made. Strings, vibrant things 0:06:05.920 --> 0:06:09.560 vibrate into matter. You know, we're all vibrating. When you 0:06:09.720 --> 0:06:13.480 really start thinking about that, then you understand the importance 0:06:13.600 --> 0:06:16.880 of a good feeling, which is a good vibration. You 0:06:17.080 --> 0:06:20.040 you feel different when you think a good thought to 0:06:20.960 --> 0:06:25.479 to you know, music and the vibrations that music, uh cause, 0:06:25.560 --> 0:06:28.280 and and you know there's study after study of of 0:06:28.360 --> 0:06:33.240 how these vibrations affect us physically. I watched your heal 0:06:33.600 --> 0:06:36.640 Me concert, a beautiful performance. How did you know it 0:06:36.760 --> 0:06:38.599 was time to get back out there and keep making 0:06:38.720 --> 0:06:43.120 music because I had a desire. I always feel better 0:06:44.680 --> 0:06:49.160 after a performance period, no matter what, I always feel better. 0:06:49.760 --> 0:06:53.680 So it's that release. And UM, my wife and I 0:06:53.839 --> 0:06:57.440 when uh, you know, when we lost our son, we 0:06:57.520 --> 0:07:01.120 stopped and we were doing uh these free concerts every 0:07:01.200 --> 0:07:05.159 day here in this office right here, and and we were, 0:07:06.240 --> 0:07:08.839 you know, enjoying that. And then when that tragedy happened, 0:07:08.880 --> 0:07:12.360 we stopped and we just sort of said, okay, we 0:07:12.480 --> 0:07:14.360 let the wave go over us and go, okay, now 0:07:14.560 --> 0:07:16.280 now what does this mean? Where are we what are 0:07:16.320 --> 0:07:21.600 we doing? And we put together, uh we changed our 0:07:21.640 --> 0:07:25.440 garage into a into a real like because we we'd 0:07:25.440 --> 0:07:27.200 sit here in the office and go, I wish I 0:07:27.280 --> 0:07:29.120 had more cameras. Oh, I wish I had because we're 0:07:29.160 --> 0:07:32.400 both in I mean, she's in television and I'm in music. 0:07:32.480 --> 0:07:35.360 We're both in entertainment, and we we just kept dreaming up, 0:07:35.360 --> 0:07:36.760 oh what if we could do this, what if we 0:07:36.800 --> 0:07:38.800 could do that? And then all of a sudden, we 0:07:38.920 --> 0:07:41.640 had time in front of us, and we said, let's 0:07:41.640 --> 0:07:43.640 do it. And every day we went out there, every 0:07:43.680 --> 0:07:45.640 single day, and it just healed us because we were 0:07:45.680 --> 0:07:49.440 building something, we were growing, we were moving forward and 0:07:49.720 --> 0:07:52.840 and that really, really, really really helped us. And so 0:07:52.960 --> 0:07:56.040 there came a time when it was everything was up, 0:07:57.200 --> 0:08:00.520 we were, you know, ready to take on air and 0:08:00.600 --> 0:08:02.440 I and I told my people, I said, Okay, this 0:08:02.640 --> 0:08:04.560 is the time I want to I want to bring 0:08:04.640 --> 0:08:07.480 this back into my life. I miss performing it. It's 0:08:07.560 --> 0:08:11.280 just healing. I mean, it's just the studio looks incredible. 0:08:11.280 --> 0:08:13.200 It looks like you created like the filmore in your 0:08:13.240 --> 0:08:16.000 garage or something. It looks gorgeous. I mean, you know, 0:08:16.120 --> 0:08:18.840 some people make banana bread during the pandemic, some people 0:08:18.840 --> 0:08:21.960 and playing puzzles. You made your TV station. How did 0:08:22.040 --> 0:08:25.320 this idea come about? Like what was the genesis of that? Oh? Well, wow, 0:08:25.400 --> 0:08:27.800 you got to go back about twenty years. Actually, my 0:08:27.880 --> 0:08:30.640 wife and I met because we wanted to do it. 0:08:30.960 --> 0:08:34.319 She I was auditioning for a she was doing a 0:08:34.800 --> 0:08:36.320 she had done the seventies show and she was going 0:08:36.360 --> 0:08:39.000 to do the eight show. And we met the auditioned 0:08:39.040 --> 0:08:42.439 for that. But it didn't happen. But for twenty years 0:08:42.520 --> 0:08:46.079 we've been pitching the idea of a television show, and 0:08:46.160 --> 0:08:50.920 it was it was back when um reality shows were 0:08:51.640 --> 0:08:54.480 brand new and the idea of following a celebrity around 0:08:54.559 --> 0:08:56.719 was brand new, and we were sort of pitching it 0:08:56.760 --> 0:08:58.079 and everyone's like, I don't know, and then all of 0:08:58.080 --> 0:08:59.960 a sudden, the Osbournes were on, and then that took. 0:09:00.880 --> 0:09:03.480 So then we started pitching an idea of a scripted 0:09:03.559 --> 0:09:07.079 reality sort of this, uh, you know our life, but 0:09:08.000 --> 0:09:10.720 you know, but scripted, And then of course then all 0:09:10.760 --> 0:09:12.600 the the Office and all those came out. We're okay, 0:09:12.679 --> 0:09:14.880 at least we're at the cutting edge here, and we 0:09:15.000 --> 0:09:18.400 know what we're thinking is not crazy, and so we 0:09:18.760 --> 0:09:20.960 the last few years we started thinking, there's a way 0:09:21.600 --> 0:09:23.839 of taking everything that we have. There's a way of 0:09:24.360 --> 0:09:27.440 of taking our music and the experiences and the people 0:09:27.559 --> 0:09:30.760 and and all the things we want to say and 0:09:30.920 --> 0:09:33.000 reach and all the things we're passionate about and making 0:09:33.480 --> 0:09:37.560 entertainment out of it and making television and so uh, 0:09:39.120 --> 0:09:45.120 we we said, look, I really I want I want 0:09:45.160 --> 0:09:49.280 to I don't want to be beholden to someone else's platform, 0:09:49.600 --> 0:09:51.360 you know, I don't want to because we were doing 0:09:51.400 --> 0:09:53.800 it on Facebook, but that there's a there's a limitation 0:09:53.880 --> 0:09:56.160 to that. And I said, there's gonna be a way 0:09:56.240 --> 0:09:59.760 that we can be in control of everything and just 0:10:00.000 --> 0:10:02.520 have a platform that can then reach people. And we 0:10:02.640 --> 0:10:06.000 found Maestro, which it's perfect. They're like, whatever you want 0:10:06.040 --> 0:10:07.719 to do, this is a platform. Here's what you can do, 0:10:07.960 --> 0:10:10.280 and and we just ran with it. And it's so 0:10:10.440 --> 0:10:13.880 funny because what we're doing out there, uh, we keep 0:10:14.000 --> 0:10:16.719 running into difficulties because no one's doing what we're doing. 0:10:16.800 --> 0:10:20.960 We're we're doing a multi camera live multi camera shoot 0:10:21.440 --> 0:10:26.600 streaming and so we've got this we've plastered together uh 0:10:27.480 --> 0:10:30.560 at this point six different cameras that are all different 0:10:30.760 --> 0:10:34.439 of all different um varieties. Because you know, our budget, 0:10:34.480 --> 0:10:36.640 we don't we have no budget, so you know, so 0:10:36.800 --> 0:10:40.200 we we got a few here. Logitech was uh they 0:10:40.280 --> 0:10:42.600 sent us some of theirs. But but there's go straight 0:10:42.640 --> 0:10:45.040 into the camera and we're using a straight into the computer. 0:10:45.120 --> 0:10:47.160 We're using a switcher, so we have two separate platforms 0:10:47.240 --> 0:10:50.680 that were filming from going into one platform going into 0:10:50.720 --> 0:10:52.800 the Maestro. So so every now and then we have 0:10:53.280 --> 0:10:55.520 like problems, We're like, what's this, and every's like, I 0:10:55.559 --> 0:10:58.000 don't know, we've never done this before, maybe you should 0:10:58.040 --> 0:11:01.319 do this. And and so it's fun because I get 0:11:01.400 --> 0:11:04.599 to do what I love. I've got my audio and 0:11:04.880 --> 0:11:09.160 set up. I've got a Yamahawk quee uh one thousand 0:11:09.240 --> 0:11:11.400 or whatever the numbers are after that, and you know, 0:11:11.559 --> 0:11:15.839 which is like a live mixing recording board, and I've 0:11:15.880 --> 0:11:19.120 got that set up, and my sound man um over 0:11:19.200 --> 0:11:22.719 the phone was helping me learn exactly how to run that. Yeah, 0:11:22.760 --> 0:11:25.760 And so I've got and I had in my warehouse, 0:11:27.120 --> 0:11:29.839 I had a bunch of audio equipment just over the 0:11:29.920 --> 0:11:31.839 years that I've collected. So I went in and I 0:11:31.920 --> 0:11:33.520 got all that out and I, you know, so I've 0:11:33.520 --> 0:11:36.960 got all the old microphones and chords and XLR cables 0:11:36.960 --> 0:11:40.360 and so I wired up the thing myself. My wife, 0:11:40.520 --> 0:11:43.840 you know, setting up the cameras, and we're just we're 0:11:43.880 --> 0:11:45.200 just like, well, what if we could do this, Well, 0:11:45.240 --> 0:11:46.920 let's find out how to do it, and we just 0:11:47.160 --> 0:11:49.120 we just keep going down this road and it's it's 0:11:49.120 --> 0:11:53.880 actually it can be very frustrating, but it's also very 0:11:54.000 --> 0:11:57.079 satisfying when we when we figure it out. Very satisfying 0:11:58.480 --> 0:12:01.880 was the expression. Chef, cook and bottle wash or something 0:12:01.960 --> 0:12:04.839 like that. That that is you You were doing everything sound, lights, 0:12:05.360 --> 0:12:08.480 building the set physically. That's incredible. I mean we learned 0:12:08.480 --> 0:12:10.360 things about lights. When it got to the lighting point, 0:12:10.440 --> 0:12:12.199 we just looked at each other and went, wow, I 0:12:12.320 --> 0:12:14.920 really appreciate the crews that we have had, you know, 0:12:15.000 --> 0:12:18.680 the my lighting director her her whole you know, camera 0:12:19.160 --> 0:12:20.880 crew that she used to have. And we were like, 0:12:21.080 --> 0:12:24.240 we have a real appreciation for these artisans and and 0:12:24.360 --> 0:12:26.439 we started going, oh, we had no idea. It's like, 0:12:26.520 --> 0:12:29.959 do we use five wats or two underdwats? You know, 0:12:30.080 --> 0:12:31.880 I have no idea, and we had to We just 0:12:32.000 --> 0:12:34.880 kept We went to the home deep o and just 0:12:35.400 --> 0:12:38.360 just got every kind of lightbulb there was, just to 0:12:38.400 --> 0:12:41.280 see what looks good on camera. We really studied how 0:12:41.320 --> 0:12:43.880 to light it. That that was probably the most intense. 0:12:44.360 --> 0:12:46.360 I mean, the camera parts pretty intense, but the you know, 0:12:46.400 --> 0:12:49.520 the lighting is a big deal. That is amazing. And 0:12:49.800 --> 0:12:51.560 there's so much to the programs you do. I mean 0:12:51.600 --> 0:12:55.720 there's there's the chat shows, there's obviously the concerts. There's 0:12:55.800 --> 0:12:59.040 watching some of the throwback videos that you have, which 0:12:59.040 --> 0:13:00.719 are so cooled. They've been in any treasures that you 0:13:00.800 --> 0:13:03.480 found in those videos. I tell you, I could stay 0:13:03.559 --> 0:13:08.240 up all night watching those old videos, just because you know, 0:13:08.360 --> 0:13:10.000 you you live your life and you do things, and 0:13:10.040 --> 0:13:12.240 you're moving on, and year by year goes by. Pretty 0:13:12.280 --> 0:13:13.800 soon you look back and go, oh, my god, it 0:13:13.920 --> 0:13:17.360 was thirty years ago I did this, and I look, 0:13:17.440 --> 0:13:20.880 I can look back now and think, oh, I used 0:13:20.920 --> 0:13:23.800 to think, you know anything from you know, I'm too 0:13:23.880 --> 0:13:26.719 fat too, you know, which is just a just a 0:13:26.960 --> 0:13:30.480 devastating thought that so many of us have to you know, 0:13:30.679 --> 0:13:34.559 Oh that song wasn't very good to you know. I 0:13:34.800 --> 0:13:36.439 just really want to get out of this. I want to, 0:13:36.559 --> 0:13:39.480 you know, achieve my goals and and being on the 0:13:39.559 --> 0:13:41.760 other side of it now and and going back and 0:13:42.440 --> 0:13:44.840 we're we're this week, last week, and this week we're 0:13:44.880 --> 0:13:48.760 playing a video from uh, the last club date, the 0:13:48.880 --> 0:13:52.480 last bar. You know, I played in this women's bar 0:13:52.520 --> 0:13:54.719 in Pasadena and also went on Long Beach, but I 0:13:54.840 --> 0:13:59.000 played there for over four years every week and it 0:13:59.120 --> 0:14:01.040 was the last big and this guy came in and 0:14:01.120 --> 0:14:05.040 filmed it. It's a you know, really poor lighting vhs, 0:14:05.120 --> 0:14:07.319 but you know, you get it and the sound and 0:14:07.440 --> 0:14:12.040 sometimes it goes off, but it's it's I just watch 0:14:12.120 --> 0:14:14.079 it and go, oh my god, if I had no 0:14:14.240 --> 0:14:17.480 idea what I was back then, and and it's it's 0:14:17.640 --> 0:14:20.120 it really gets to my heart. And it's fun sharing 0:14:20.200 --> 0:14:22.440 that with the fans. It's like, you know, it's really 0:14:22.640 --> 0:14:24.520 really cool. They seem to enjoy it. Well, would you 0:14:24.560 --> 0:14:27.840 tell that person in that video now, I'd say, stop worrying, 0:14:28.960 --> 0:14:33.640 chill It's about the journey. It is not about getting 0:14:33.760 --> 0:14:37.520 somewhere that because there's no there there, there's no place 0:14:37.640 --> 0:14:39.560 where all of a sudden everyone's gathered in a room 0:14:39.560 --> 0:14:41.040 and said, well, you made it. You know that that 0:14:41.160 --> 0:14:45.040 doesn't exist. It absolutely doesn't exist. Because even when you 0:14:45.240 --> 0:14:49.320 do reach the point of oh I got that Grammy nomination, 0:14:50.120 --> 0:14:52.120 that's not what fills you up. What fills you up 0:14:52.200 --> 0:14:55.360 is the journey to it and through it and then 0:14:55.480 --> 0:14:58.280 beyond it and and dreaming more dreams and all I 0:14:58.360 --> 0:15:00.720 want this and I hope I can do this, and 0:15:01.120 --> 0:15:02.960 and keeping those dreams in front of you and then 0:15:03.520 --> 0:15:05.920 enjoying every step of the way. That's what I would say. 0:15:05.920 --> 0:15:08.280 I'd say, just chill out. It's it's about the journey. 0:15:08.280 --> 0:15:22.120 You're you're You're gonna be fine. Some of my my 0:15:22.360 --> 0:15:24.560 favorite parts of the show is watching you and your 0:15:24.640 --> 0:15:26.600 daughter Bailey sing together. It was like they saw a 0:15:26.720 --> 0:15:29.880 version of gently we row recently. Uh do you make 0:15:29.880 --> 0:15:32.320 a lot of music together on the house A fair amount. 0:15:32.400 --> 0:15:36.000 I wouldn't say a lot. She she's actually working from 0:15:36.040 --> 0:15:37.840 home here and she she works you know, in a 0:15:37.920 --> 0:15:40.920 bank and from New York City and she she's able 0:15:40.960 --> 0:15:44.440 to go online and work here and so, uh, you know, 0:15:44.480 --> 0:15:47.520 we don't do a lot, but um. Over the years, 0:15:47.720 --> 0:15:49.760 It's funny people ask me about my kids. They're like, 0:15:49.800 --> 0:15:51.680 you know, what do they want to go into, you know, 0:15:51.760 --> 0:15:54.600 the music business? And I say, none of them have 0:15:54.920 --> 0:16:00.320 the like that burning desire dream to do. They all 0:16:00.360 --> 0:16:03.560 have their own burning desires. And I think that they've 0:16:03.800 --> 0:16:06.400 grown up on the inside of it and they've seen 0:16:06.480 --> 0:16:08.360 how much work it is, and you know, and and 0:16:08.920 --> 0:16:12.280 they don't have this sort of dream like I did 0:16:12.400 --> 0:16:14.840 of being oh famous and you know, making music and 0:16:15.080 --> 0:16:18.960 that that that's and my daughter said, people people will 0:16:19.080 --> 0:16:21.240 will tell her, oh, you you play the guitar really well, 0:16:21.320 --> 0:16:23.600 She's like, no, I don't. If you knew my family. 0:16:24.240 --> 0:16:27.680 If you knew my family, you would know that I'm 0:16:27.760 --> 0:16:29.920 the worst guitar player in my family. That's where she 0:16:30.040 --> 0:16:32.240 comes from. So to answer your question, yeah, we make 0:16:32.400 --> 0:16:34.760 some music, but it's not like all the time at all. Well, 0:16:34.880 --> 0:16:37.440 speaking of making music, your most recent album, The Medicine Show, 0:16:37.640 --> 0:16:40.320 came out a little over a year ago. What are 0:16:40.320 --> 0:16:42.560 you working now now musically that you're you're really proud of? 0:16:42.680 --> 0:16:47.440 Can you say, oh, well, yeah, I've got a project 0:16:47.520 --> 0:16:52.680 coming up that's really exciting if we um, you know, 0:16:52.720 --> 0:16:55.680 I come from Leavenworth, Kansas, which you know when I 0:16:55.760 --> 0:17:00.080 say Leavenworth, most people go, oh, prisons. And that's the 0:17:00.400 --> 0:17:04.119 that's the truth is that there within my hometown there's 0:17:04.359 --> 0:17:07.840 within twenty mile radius there's five prisons. And I have 0:17:07.960 --> 0:17:10.960 all and and I when I was in when I 0:17:11.040 --> 0:17:13.320 was twelve and thirteen, I used to go with this 0:17:13.760 --> 0:17:17.240 little variety show that we had in town and we 0:17:17.280 --> 0:17:20.480 would go perform in the prisons. So I've been in there. 0:17:20.600 --> 0:17:24.840 And I am also now very passionate about cannabis. Uh, 0:17:25.320 --> 0:17:29.040 you know, justice reform around cannabis, and have a cannabis 0:17:29.160 --> 0:17:33.240 line and and um, I'm working with the Last Prisoner Project, 0:17:33.320 --> 0:17:35.880 which is working to get you know, non violent offenders. 0:17:36.040 --> 0:17:40.639 There's forty thousand prisoners locked away for cannabis while you know, 0:17:40.680 --> 0:17:43.040 people are making millions of dollars selling cannabis. So it's 0:17:43.080 --> 0:17:45.640 just it just doesn't make sense and it's just disheartening. 0:17:45.680 --> 0:17:49.600 So with all of that thrown together, UM, I'm going 0:17:49.720 --> 0:17:54.480 to do a concert in one of the prisons in Leavenworth. 0:17:55.160 --> 0:17:57.440 And Um, it's just at the beginning stages right now, 0:17:58.480 --> 0:18:01.440 but I'm starting to right because I want to write 0:18:01.440 --> 0:18:05.280 a project about about justice, about these times, and so 0:18:05.400 --> 0:18:09.000 I'm in the writing phase of it, and and it's 0:18:09.040 --> 0:18:11.320 it's hard to you know, imagine the end, but I 0:18:11.400 --> 0:18:14.640 know it's it's you know, it's going to be. I'm 0:18:14.840 --> 0:18:17.280 I'm really excited about it. I'm really excited about the project. 0:18:17.359 --> 0:18:19.080 Oh that's so cool. It almost sounds like what's the 0:18:19.160 --> 0:18:24.119 John Lennon song John Sinclair about the the many they 0:18:24.240 --> 0:18:26.320 locked up for having two joints on them or something 0:18:26.400 --> 0:18:31.280 in ninety Yeah, Johnson Claire is exactly. Yeah. Oh wow, 0:18:31.440 --> 0:18:35.000 that's incredible. I can't can't wait to hear. Oh. I 0:18:35.040 --> 0:18:39.160 mean now, I mean, do you sit down? I'm sorry 0:18:39.160 --> 0:18:41.120 it was a boring question. Do you sit down every day? 0:18:41.840 --> 0:18:44.159 Like some people approach exercise and say I'm gonna go 0:18:44.320 --> 0:18:46.600 right today or is it more why when you feel 0:18:46.640 --> 0:18:48.639 inspired and and have something in your head that you 0:18:48.680 --> 0:18:50.760 want to get down, Well, it sort of depends on 0:18:53.640 --> 0:18:56.880 where I'm at in the process. Like right now, I'm 0:18:57.040 --> 0:19:01.240 in I'm in the conceptual process. I now it's about 0:19:01.320 --> 0:19:05.720 ideas and and and grabbing inspiration as it goes along, 0:19:05.720 --> 0:19:08.800 because inspiration is the most important part, because it's about 0:19:08.840 --> 0:19:12.359 being in spirit. It's it's it's becoming in the spirit 0:19:12.520 --> 0:19:16.320 of this project I want to do. And so I'll 0:19:16.359 --> 0:19:18.680 see something or hear something, or feel something or think 0:19:18.800 --> 0:19:22.440 something that, oh, right, this this is the field that 0:19:22.480 --> 0:19:24.679 I'm looking for there, and I just start gathering these 0:19:24.720 --> 0:19:27.440 pieces together, either in my mind or my notebooks or 0:19:27.480 --> 0:19:30.560 in my you know, my iPhone or wherever I'm collecting 0:19:30.680 --> 0:19:33.440 the the information or the music of the rhythm of 0:19:33.520 --> 0:19:38.560 the thought. I collect them, and then probably in in 0:19:38.640 --> 0:19:42.800 a few weeks, I will start giving myself Okay, from 0:19:43.119 --> 0:19:46.159 this time to this time, from you know, ten to 0:19:46.960 --> 0:19:50.360 let's say, one o'clock. Uh, you know, this is time. 0:19:50.359 --> 0:19:52.760 I'm going to come in here and I'm going to 0:19:54.440 --> 0:19:56.879 you know, start forming. You know, I'm gonna pick up 0:19:56.880 --> 0:20:00.320 a guitar and start forming songs and forming li orcs 0:20:00.400 --> 0:20:05.040 and forming ideas, and then it's more like an everyday thing. 0:20:05.920 --> 0:20:08.920 But um, but I'm not one to if it's not coming. 0:20:09.040 --> 0:20:11.280 If I'm sitting in here for thirty minutes and it 0:20:11.400 --> 0:20:15.240 just feels like torture. Music should never feel like torture, 0:20:15.280 --> 0:20:17.159 So I'm I'm going to go do something else. So 0:20:17.240 --> 0:20:21.240 I it's it's providing my inspiration a time and a 0:20:21.320 --> 0:20:27.159 place to form. But if it's not happening. No, do 0:20:27.240 --> 0:20:29.359 you tend to get your inspiration from looking outward or 0:20:29.400 --> 0:20:37.280 looking inward? Oh? Both used to be looking outward, And 0:20:37.400 --> 0:20:41.680 then as I've gotten older and matured and you know, 0:20:41.720 --> 0:20:45.879 experienced life, now it's now it's about inward. Yeah, but 0:20:46.000 --> 0:20:48.560 they both sort of affect one affects the other, and 0:20:48.680 --> 0:20:53.600 you it's mostly about how how one affects the other. 0:20:53.680 --> 0:20:55.680 How you know, what I'm feeling inside can affect what's 0:20:55.680 --> 0:20:58.720 happening outside, And how you know, do I let what 0:20:58.880 --> 0:21:01.680 happens outside change me inside? You know? That's that sort 0:21:01.680 --> 0:21:03.440 of thing. I was sitting here and I was thinking 0:21:03.480 --> 0:21:05.200 of you, your music and your life and the world. 0:21:05.240 --> 0:21:07.280 That kept coming into my mind was survivor. You know, 0:21:07.359 --> 0:21:09.400 you've been through so much, and people are really hurting 0:21:09.520 --> 0:21:13.040 right now. There's the virus rampant, social injustice, political divisions, 0:21:13.480 --> 0:21:15.440 there's a lot of fear out there. What would you 0:21:15.440 --> 0:21:19.560 say to people right now who really are scared? I 0:21:19.640 --> 0:21:25.960 would say, if you could really pull back and look 0:21:26.800 --> 0:21:30.720 at where we are as a human race, if we 0:21:30.800 --> 0:21:34.879 could really take a moment to go general, go go 0:21:35.240 --> 0:21:38.400 up and look and see that we are further along 0:21:38.480 --> 0:21:44.480 than we've ever been in our in our existence. We are, 0:21:46.640 --> 0:21:50.440 we are closer, we are better than we've ever been. 0:21:50.600 --> 0:21:54.280 And it's that's one of the reasons that you see 0:21:54.400 --> 0:21:59.239 these these injustices, these things that that you know make 0:21:59.320 --> 0:22:01.359 as stop and go wait, amant, We're not that. You know, 0:22:01.440 --> 0:22:05.800 when you see a policeman's need, you know, kill someone, 0:22:05.880 --> 0:22:08.040 you're like, wait a minute, that's not That's not who 0:22:08.080 --> 0:22:11.280 I am, and that's not where what I want to be, 0:22:11.400 --> 0:22:13.240 that's not the world I want to be in. And 0:22:13.400 --> 0:22:16.960 because there's such a fierce response to that, that's what 0:22:17.280 --> 0:22:19.800 moves us forward. So just know that the way you 0:22:20.119 --> 0:22:26.520 feel right now is causing all of us to want better, 0:22:27.200 --> 0:22:30.159 and that's what moves us as a society. That's what 0:22:31.000 --> 0:22:34.760 I truly believe we're going to move because it has 0:22:34.840 --> 0:22:37.960 felt like we've been pulled back these last four years, 0:22:39.240 --> 0:22:43.320 that we are going to feel a momentum forward. And 0:22:43.400 --> 0:22:45.200 all you have to do is keep believing that we 0:22:45.480 --> 0:22:49.720 get better. We do. We recognize what we don't like, 0:22:49.920 --> 0:22:53.359 we recognize what we don't want, and we most of 0:22:53.440 --> 0:22:56.399 all recognize that we are all diverse, that we are 0:22:56.720 --> 0:22:59.160