Life's Soundtrack: Jordan Whetson's Journey from Boxing Camps to Ohio's Heartbeat

They say life is what happens when you're busy making other plans, and our guest, Jordan Whetson, is the epitome of that adage. From reminiscing about Don King's boxing camp to taking the Ohio radio scene by storm, Jordan's life reads like an adventure novel, filled with twists, turns, and a soundtrack that's just as eclectic as his career path. Settle in as we traverse through his narrative, discovering how each pit stop and detour crafted the man who now sets the stage for life's most memorable moments.

Orwell's very own Jordan Whetson brings us into the heart of a Rust Belt county with a spirit as indestructible as the steel it once produced. We peel back the layers of this community, examining the socioeconomic contrasts and the resilience it takes to breathe new life into a town marked by the ebbs and flows of industry. But it's not just about the place; it's about the people and the memories they create. With Jordan's insights into the warm glow of a wedding venue and the magic spun from the DJ booth, we uncover the importance of cherishing the small yet significant delights that life offers.

This episode isn't just one for the books, it's a family album of sorts, where tales of athletic triumphs and the pride of kinship fill the pages. We journey through historic cities, uncovering the charm of Cleveland's streets and the anecdotes etched in its architecture. And when the music fades and the lights dim, it's clear—Jordan Whetson isn't just a master of ceremonies; he's the heart and soul of every event he touches, leaving everyone with a dance in their step and a story to tell.

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 2:18

Welcome everybody to another episode of the Ride Home Rants podcast. This is your guest host, johnny Fitty Falcone, and I'm recording today for Mike Bono while he is out on tour doing a comedy show. Today we have a very great guest, but before we get to that great guest and his really, really interesting story and background and what he does, we actually have a new sponsor for the show. As you always hear our pre-roll and post-roll, with all of our great sponsors being all the great small business owners that they are and supporting our show, we have a new one. It is former guest of the show and Bethany College alumni and my former teammate and a great friend of Bono and I, matt Lando Landowski from Sweet Hand Sports.

Speaker 1: 3:01

Elevate your game with Sweet Hand Sports. Our sports gloves are designed for champions, providing the ultimate grip and durability. Achieve greatness with every match. Choose Sweet Hand Sports for the winning edge. Grip your victory at sweethandsportscom. Also, you can find Lando on Instagram and Facebook and all social media. That's Matt Lando Landowski from Sweet Hand Sports for Batting Gloves. Without further ado, I'd love to introduce our guest. He is a great guy, actually DJed my wife and I's wedding not too long ago. Jordan Wetson Jordan, welcome to the show, man.

Speaker 2: 3:38

What's up, Johnny? Thank you for having me Appreciate it.

Speaker 1: 3:42

Absolutely, man, absolutely. So you know, I kind of know what you do, and so some other people know what you do.

Speaker 2: 3:47

But let's kind of talk about you, man, let's let the listeners know where you're from and kind of where you grew up geoga county and trumbull county, which I'm this is great if you don't know anything about ohio, but northeast ohio and um, I grew up pretty close to don king's boxing camp, like back in the 80s. Mike tyson went out there and everything. I never met mike tyson I was born in 89 but I grew up out there, um, and then back in 2010, 2011, uh, I was working like at a fast food restaurant and I was like thinking to myself, like man, there's got to be more to life than this. Um, but and I had originally wanted to be a teacher like I'm a huge student of history. I love history. History's like been a a big part of my life. So you would think, naturally, oh, he's going to go and be a history teacher or do something with history. I was like, no, I'm going to do radio, I'm going to go to school for radio.

Speaker 2: 4:52

It was then the Ohio Center for Broadcasting, now the Ohio Media School of Broadcasting, I think is what they named it to. I did that for a little while and then I got a job at the radio station in Ashtabula, moved up to Ashtabula back in 2014, and then just worked from there up until 2013, or 2023. Because radio doesn't pay a lot, especially radio in Ashtabula. As you might imagine, if you know anything about Ohio or Ashtabula, radio doesn't pay all that great. So I had to start DJing weddings and events. I got the opportunity, I should say, which is kind of a funny story in and of itself, but uh, I, I started DJing weddings for extra money and I've been doing that for um 11 years now. So it's been a. It's been a wild ride, to say the least.

Speaker 1: 5:55

Yeah, for sure, man. It sounds like it. So where in Astabilla County did you, um, did you go to school at being in the southern part of Ashtabula County?

Speaker 2: 6:04

So I was at Grand Valley, okay, yeah, so that's in Orwell, amish country, and we were the Mustangs. I played football. That was the only sport I played in high school. And, like, I don't know, I don't want to sound like a guy who's in my 30s and be like, oh you know, like I wish I would have played more sports, but I wish I would have played more sports. You know, um played football. My senior year was awful. We went oh and 10, uh, something I think about still, you know, it's like sometimes I'm like man, why do we try to run power offense with a offensive line of guys who are like 200 pounds? Why were we trying to run a power eye offense? So this is something that I think about. But you know, yeah, high school, like went to school at Grand Valley.

Speaker 2: 6:53

Before that, before I went to high school at Grand Valley, my mom put us in a private school, which was a very weird experience, to say the least. It was in this guy's. It sounds so much worse than it was, or maybe it is as bad as I'd make it sound. It was a house, it was a church and it was a school, and the school was in this guy's basement. It was four classrooms and we worked in these things called PACES, and PACES were an acronym for packet of accelerated Christian education, and you just work at your own pace, which is awful if you're somebody who does not like to learn and like. The goal was to do like four pages of your work. You know four pages of your workbook every day and then you had to do like 12 of them a year. Uh, and it was just a very bizarre experience. Like every time I think about it, I'm just like, wow, that was wild that I went through that.

Speaker 2: 7:51

Um, but going into my freshman year of high school, my mom was like, uh, to the guy who ran the school, um, she was like, hey, hey, does he start getting credits his freshman year or does he have to wait till his 15th birthday? I'm born in november. And he was like, oh, he'll start getting credits and it's on his 15th birthday. And my mom was like, oh, okay, well, I can't have that. So she put me into public school. So, um, I like to think that I'm really well adjusted. Going from a classroom, going from a classroom of like 15 people, to a school, uh, you know that had a couple hundred students, I mean still small town, but yeah, I'd like to think that I'm pretty well adjusted. Um, you know, considering that I was from fifth grade to eighth grade, I was in this uh weird school in Bristolville, ohio, which is in Trumbull County yeah, um, I can definitely say you've turned out to be a really, really great guy from our this weird school in Bristolville.

Speaker 2: 8:48

Ohio, which is in Trumbull County.

Speaker 1: 8:49

Yeah, I can definitely say you've turned out to be a really, really great guy from our interactions, everything. Oh, thank you man. Yeah, absolutely so. You know, I'm actually a huge fan of Orwell. I love Orwell. I think it's a great place. I've actually been there a ton. You know, I coached against Grand Valley back in the day when I was a high school coach. So I got to ask was Chicago's and A&W there when you were growing up?

Speaker 2: 9:07

No, so, dude, orwell is the strangest thing. So we used to have a dairy mart Now it's a Circle K, and there used to be a Taco Bell in the middle of that Circle K, if you've ever been in there. Ok, so there was a taco bell and it was there from like I want to say 98 to like 2006 or so. Now, when they put in the A&W and Chicago's. Chicago's was originally a subway, but the owner at the time, the owner at the time, he didn't want to pay the franchise fee anymore. He put in chicago's and then, um, like maria's pizza, which at the time when they put in maria's pizza shop, we were like just another thing that orwell needed. It was a pizza shop because if you've been through it, you know that it has house of pizza. It had a domino's at one point, had like five, five pizza places. Uh, so we're like that's yeah, and they, you know they changed the name of Maria's now because there's a new owner.

Speaker 2: 10:06

And then A&W came in. I want to say like 2000, 99, 2000. So we had to wait for it. Yeah, we had to wait for it and, to be honest with you, like you would think that, like, growing up there, I would have A&W. I would have had A&W all the time, but that wasn't really the case. I've had A&W.

Speaker 2: 10:27

Obviously, I've eaten at A&W, but it's not some place where I'm like, oh man, I got to go to get A&W again. It's kind of like Eddie's Grill in Geneva-on-the-Lake, which is, obviously, if you're not from Ohio, if you're not from Northeast Ohio, geneva-on-the-anda Lake is kind of like a tourist spot, a resort little town, and there's a place called Eddie's Grill and that's like where all the tourists go. That's where all the visitors go. It's like, if you're from there, it's just like oh yeah, like Eddie's is okay, like there are other places you can go and get a cheeseburger, you know, but it's uh, yeah, it was unique. It was a unique um thing having an a and w and then having people travel to our little town just to eat there.

Speaker 1: 11:09

Yeah, you know, when I first started going there, um, when I was coaching, and then when I got into higher ed and recruiting, yeah, I always would stop at chicago's and a and w.

Speaker 1: 11:16

But yeah, I'm a big fan of orwell it is a very interesting place, you know, especially when you're going down 322 and it's like nothing, nothing. The grain feed across the street from a and w and you got the gas station, you got the amish donuts and then you got like the chinese restaurant, you got the mr heroes. Then you go farther down and you got like the random gas station and like the amish restaurant, like furniture and all those are all those are.

Speaker 2: 11:40

So all those are new. Like those are all like new developments to the town, to the village. You know, like we didn't have the chinese restaurant when I lived there. Mr hero is like a very new thing. Like it was a couple of car dealerships midway and reels shout out to them um, I've never bought a car from them, but you know, they've been in orwell for a long time they've. And then, like now it's now it has a mexican restaurant and it's like, yeah, the stuff in that town is so weird because, like you, you would look at the demographics of orwell and you would be like I don't know why there's a need for this much commerce, but, um, or how like this town can support this much commerce.

Speaker 2: 12:18

But they make it work and it's honestly like I mean it's close because with your, when you're in orwell, you've got windsor, hearts grove, rome, rock creek, and then even people from jefferson are going to travel over um, middlefield. So, yeah, I mean I know I'm being super like regional here when you have a worldwide listening base, but yeah, hey, if you're listening and you're like, oh, I want to visit a place that no one else visits ever, um, yeah, come to orwell, it'll be a good time. You can eat our food and you know what?

Speaker 1: 12:48

you get some good food and you're not that far away from going up to the town of ashtabula and hanging out on a bridge street and um, burkett's and all the good restaurants oh, yeah, yeah, those I mean.

Speaker 2: 12:59

I mean I could go on a tangent about ashtabula man, man, I don't know how much time she got and it's like, but Bridge Street's like that one town or like that one street in Ashtabula. That, like I would tell people, look like, if you're going to experience Ashtabula, go to Bridge Street and then go somewhere else, maybe go to Walnut Beach but don't, don't travel too far east, like don't go to main avenue, don't, you know? Don't go to the quote-unquote mall, like we've got a walmart and that's like. That's it, like you want. You want the best that ashtabula has to offer.

Speaker 1: 13:32

It's on bridge street, you know you know, I would uh, I would say going through some ashtabula now and things like that. You know, there are some parts of it that have surprised me, right, Like Bridge Street is pretty nice and what they put in by the mall not necessarily the mall, but by the mall and the restaurants and the Walmart and all that. I'm like okay, you know. And then you see the houses on the waterfront, You're like all right. Then you see other parts and you're like no way.

Speaker 2: 13:59

Yeah, dude, it's an interesting place it is and it's just like you know, ashtabula, when you look at the specs of it, it's a lower income town, so like, obviously it would make sense like to have some of those businesses there. But like when you're on the lake, like right on the coast of the lake, you know that's where a lot of like it's a lot nicer. Like, you know that's where a lot of like it's a lot nicer. Like once you get into the harbor area, like that's where, like, you see, like the doctors, the lawyers, the people who are Excuse me, have, you know, have have good careers and not to say like the people who are, you know, more blue collar, don't have good careers or anything like that, but it's just more affordable, more sustainable to be more eastern Ashtabula or on in ashtabula township. You know, and a lot of people have, have had those homes in their families for 20, 30 years for sure, for sure.

Speaker 1: 14:52

I mean you can look at some of the homes and say they are, you know, really, really historic and I think, for the people from you know the midwest, the rust belt, pennsylvania, even parts of of new york, even west virginia, you know that.

Speaker 1: 15:02

Listen to the show. Rust Belt, pennsylvania, even parts of New York, even West Virginia, you know that. Listen to the show. I think they can relate to that right. Like Ashtabula is an old steel town, it was an old shipping town and unfortunately when those jobs and things got moved on or there was no need for them, it was very hard to rebound. And I think where they've only tried to rebound is like retail, you know you're trying to get, maybe like food, you know, and trying to make it somewhat of a tourist destination. But I think you know, just like Youngstown has heard, or Western Pennsylvania has heard, or Warren has heard, it's just really hard to find the money to tear down those old mills right and redevelop that property. And I think that really is what sometimes hamstrings these towns along, that they can't completely redevelop.

Speaker 2: 15:50

Yeah, and I think sometimes it's a lack of vision, it's a lack of leadership. You know there's a lot of things going on at the time of this recording with Ashtabula that are great. There are things that are bad as well. And keep bringing in dollar stores. Now we're seeing dollar stores close and dollar stores only hire four to five people. So when they say, oh, we're bringing in jobs, you're not really bringing in all that many jobs.

Speaker 2: 16:18

The jobs are coming from construction, which might be out of town, but Ashtabula there are parts of Ashtabula that are going through this phase of renovation, that are becoming more modern, and they're finding ways to bring beauty back to the city. Ashtabula is a place of tremendous potential. I think it's just finding the right people who have a vision, who are willing to make tough choices and willing to do things. Bridge Street back to Bridge Street. It's putting in a new hotel. They have these condominiums coming up, these loft places. That's nice, but you also have to consider the rest of the city. You know the rest of the city has to be in play here. Like what are we going to do about the increasing homeless population? What are we going to do about the housing market? What are we going to do to bring in new people? What are we going to do to keep people from leaving the city and people from leaving the county? And that's the. Those are hard. Those are hard questions to answer, but we need better ideas. We need people to put in their ideas. We need people to come in with ideas for better retail, for small business. Restaurants can be a big part of it too. Like you know it's, it's.

Speaker 2: 17:44

It's an interesting um, it's an interesting crossroad, I think, for for the city of Ashtabula to like figure out what it's going to do and then also like understand its history too and do more with its history. Um, ashtabula is, you know, one of those towns that I don't think a lot of people know about or talk about. Unfortunately, it's an ugly piece of American history, but the Ashtabula train disaster in the 1800s at the time was the country's biggest train disaster, or worst train disaster at that point in history. I think it has since been eclipsed by oh gosh, by, I think, a train wreck in Tennessee. But, like you know, on the positive side, like Ashtabula is right there on the lake, it's right on Lake Erie. So there's a lot you can do with Lake Erie. You're right on the Ashtabula River, you can do stuff with that. So there is potential there. It just needs fresh ideas, you know, and good leadership, I think.

Speaker 1: 18:48

Sure, and I think when you look at you know any of these towns on the lakes, ranging from, you know New York the way over to Michigan, you know. I think the thing that really drives those places is tourism, and tourism then drives the jobs and then in turn drives the people moving in and the residents of the town and things like that. And for the listeners that don't know, rastabula is quite at, like jordan said, it's on lake erie and it really sits between, uh, erie, pennsylvania, and cleveland, ohio. So you have two really huge markets right there now. Will you ever compete with those markets? Probably not, but you can make it a happy medium between those markets. Um, because again, there is a lot of potential there.

Speaker 2: 19:23

But it is a very very unique place.

Speaker 1: 19:26

So, Jordan, then you talked about it, you graduated from Grand Valley and then you ultimately went into broadcasting school. But in the meantime, from your graduation till that time, you enrolled there. What were you doing in that aspect of your life?

Speaker 2: 19:41

So I was working at Dairy Queen and from Dairy Queen I went on to work at a dollar store and then worked for my uncle for a very brief period of time my uncle is a contractor and then went back to Dairy Queen. Well, I got fired from Family Dollar, which is a story of itself. Family Dollar, which is a story of itself. I stole $6 from the company, but I didn't realize I stole $6 from the company, so they fired me for it. It's a dumb story. I'm a dumb guy at times, so I wasn't thinking that one through. I had to do a refund. I did a refund, but I almost double dipped and then I used the refund card. It was a dumb mistake, but being fired from Family Dollar was the best thing to ever happen, because I went back to Dairy Queen and I was like man, I'm 20, 21. I don't want to be here, I don't want to do here, I don't want to do this. What am I skilled to do?

Speaker 2: 20:45

And I'd always thought about radio. In the back of my mind. I became like, really obsessed with sports talk. That's all I wanted to do. I wanted to be a sports host. I wanted to host my own show. So I was like, well, you know what, I'm going to go to school for it. So I ended up going, like I said to earlier in the in the show I went to the ohio center for broadcasting, um, and then, ironically enough, like did not end up doing a whole lot of sports, ended up being a country radio dj. So yeah, I was just working fast food man and it was just like it was like it's a good first job, but it's not a job where like, okay, that's sustainable, you're going to be happy and fulfilled in life doing you know sure, absolutely.

Speaker 1: 21:24

So. You're really the first guest that has went to like a broadcasting multimedia type of school. Can you kind of talk about, um, what that experience was like and how long that that took to kind of get trained in the in the radio aspect? You know, like mike, who ultimately is the owner and host of the show on a regular basis, has a degree from Bethany in communications and Mike used that to work at the school and he used that to get into radio. But you have a little bit more of a unique aspect because it wasn't quite a college so it was more of a, I guess one say, lack of better terms of broadcasting school. Can you kind of talk about your experience with that and how did they work with you and, I guess, give you those skills to go into radio?

Speaker 2: 22:05

So it's run by broadcasters. It's this idea that, hey, you don't need to go to a four-year college and get a communications degree, anybody can work in the field and we'll teach you. And so the catch is like, if you want to do just radio, you also have to learn the side of TV. You have to do the TV aspect. So you get in there and there are several projects you have to do. You have to do a morning zoo show and you prep for that, and you have to do a 30-minute live on-air show. You have to do a 10 newscast and you have to do a 30 minute newscast. And then one of the big projects for radio when I was there was you're launching a radio station. For a week, you're doing your entire class, which was only about I think it was only four hours. If I remember right, I went in at 1 am or, sorry, 1 pm, and I went till 5 pm, and so, like, we had to collect a bunch of music, and then we launched our radio station, which was a Christmas station at the time, because it was around Christmas time in 2011. So, like with radio, like we learned the terms, we had to get comfortable speaking on a microphone, and because I had a long drive I was driving from Independence, ohio, to Orwell, or Orwell to Independence and back. What I would do is I would just, when studio time opened up, I would stay at the school for another hour to avoid rush hour traffic, uh, and I would just, you know, continue like continuously work and learn and get comfortable on a mic, get comfortable with the equipment, um, so like, as far as like, projects actually went, like you know, the instruction was very loose, like they told you, this is how it's done, this is what you do, and then they critique it. But you were pretty much given, the way I remember it, free reign, like as long as you were doing your work and doing your project, and as long as it was complete and you were there, you were, you know, doing a good job. Essentially, um, you know other other than that, like you could lean on the experience.

Speaker 2: 24:25

There are a lot of people who had worked in cleveland radio or who had worked in cleveland tv. Uh, the one thing that kind of hamstrung us was a lot of classes. They had 20 plus students. We had 13 and only I think seven showed up on a somewhat regular basis. So it was always kind of an interesting thing, and the thing that nobody tells you really about um, a broadcasting school or being a broadcaster at all, is that you're not gonna like.

Speaker 2: 24:59

Everybody wants to do sports. Everybody I've ever talked to who wanted to do sports or whoever wanted to do radio at that school, they all wanted to do sports. Well, there are only so many jobs available to do sports radio on an actual FCC-licensed station. Anybody can do it on the internet. It's cool, everybody can microphone and that's. I think that's a great thing to do.

Speaker 2: 25:23

But you know, to actually get paid and going to work um where, like you know, there you have a steady paycheck, uh, it's. It's a totally different beast. And sometimes you have to, like people, have to be willing to make sacrifices of like, hey, I want to do a sports show, okay, well, like for me at the radio station I worked for. Hey, if you want to do a sports show, you have to go out and sell it. You are not just going to give you a show outside of what we have formatted. You have to go out and sell it. You have to show us something, cause we're not just going to commit resources for you to be on the airs and us pay you.

Speaker 2: 26:01

And there were so many times with my managers where I was just like, hey, like I just want to do, I just want to do sports, like I'll do it for free, I'll just, I won't even, you know, I'll try and sell it, but I'll just do it for free, I won't do it at any extra charge, and they would be very noncommittal to it. Oh no, no, no, we can't do that and and so, like you know, that was kind of always kind of a deflating thing to experience. But as far as the school goes, yeah, I mean it was like it was a cool experience because you're learning from people who actually work in the field and still work, who are still working in the industry.

Speaker 1: 26:37

Well, that's great. I mean, that's a lot of great information, I think, for people to know about, really what goes behind the scenes. You know preparing yourself to go on the radio and TV and things of that nature with that, really that broadcasting and radio experience. So you kind of hit on this before you know during this time when you're working on the radio and you know getting your feet wet with that and advancing your career, you also started DJing. So can you kind of talk about how your DJing path started and then where you know where it was to you know now what it is you know for you. Can you kind of walk us through that?

Speaker 2: 27:12

Yeah, so I was working part-time at the radio station. I got hired in February 2012 and just making you know hourly wages, and I think I could only work 20 hours a week and it's not a lot of money. It's probably like $200 a week, so you're not bringing home a whole lot of money, right? And I was in a band from 2007 to 2010. I was in a band and I had bought a PA system for practices.

Speaker 2: 27:46

There was a girl that I went to high school with and she texted me out of the blue or messaged me on Facebook and she was like hey, Jordan, she knew mom's 50th birthday party and I was just like I mean, yeah, I can, so I love my equipment and I'd have to show you a picture, johnny. It was like the most pathetic setup I think you'd ever see. I brought this little dinky PA system maybe 150 watts, not very loud, no bass, nothing like that and I had I maybe had 50 songs I could play. I I did not have um a whole lot to work off of, but I did my best. They paid me and then, for some reason, like they asked me back and I was like okay yeah, for another birthday.

Speaker 2: 28:51

So I did that. And then all of a sudden, I'm DJing a couple of small events here and there. I remember bringing my DJ equipment to my uncle's 40th birthday party. I don't even think he asked me to do it. I was like, yeah, I'll be there. I was just like, hey, is it okay if I bring my DJ equipment? So I brought that and I had no idea. I think I was playing stuff I wanted to play. I had no idea that it's not about me, it's not about, like, what I want to play. Did not pick up on that at all, but people kept asking me, hey, can you bring, can you DJ, can you do this? And I kept saying yes.

Speaker 2: 29:31

And then, in the fall of 2013, somebody reached out to me and they were like, hey, can you DJ my wedding? I said yeah, and again just went out there not a whole lot of out there, not a whole lot of equipment, not a whole lot of resources and I did it and, um, they say you never forget your first. That wedding was was wild. I think the uh bride's dad had a heart attack in the front row he's okay, but like, as they were going through their uh, their vows. I think he had a heart attack and then I DJed the wedding and then again people just kept asking me to do it and I kept saying yes, and I kept making more and more money, buying better equipment, putting more money into resources.

Speaker 2: 30:10

I bought new laptops. I subscribed to music services. Being at the radio station during that time was also a great resource, because sometimes people want songs that are hard to find. So you could just totally just find the song on YouTube and then rip it online like, rip it like an audio file to it and then transfer it over to your computer and you always have it. So, yeah, like it was, just like I was always thinking to myself I need to upgrade this, I want to upgrade these speakers, I want to get these speakers fixed, I want to update my mixing board. You know, for the longest time I was working off of one laptop and then I decided, hey, you know what, like two laptops is best, because sometimes I need to look for a song and and I don't want to, you know, ruin the flow that I have going. So I I just kind of stuck with that and, just like always, trying to find a way to improve and for better or worse, like I always look at it like kind of like I want, uh, I my success rate, the way I see it, is like how many people are dancing if people are dancing, it's a good night. If people aren't dancing, I feel like I'm not doing a good job. But I never really take into consideration. Sometimes people just don't dance, some people aren't, some people aren't dancers and they just hire a DJ because they need a DJ there, you know. So it's all. It's always interesting.

Speaker 2: 31:44

Now there are a lot of people who, like they, they mix songs together, they blend them together, they, they have great transitions. Me, I'm just like I'm going to play the song and I feel like now, doing this for 10 years, 11 years now, I feel like I have a good feel on what the crowd wants and what the crowd likes. And if you want to give me some direction, like hey, like we would love to hear, like Usher Daddy's Home, all right, hey, great, that's great. And then that kind of like gives me a better idea too of what people want.

Speaker 2: 32:21

But you know, for the longest time I was just like uh, I would send out. Uh, like hey, send me a list of songs you want to hear. And they people would send me this song like this big list and I would play every single song on on the list, but not really knowing the song I was. I would be like, okay, well, this song, like this song is sad and it's melancholy. And it's not like, just because you like the song doesn't mean necessarily that it's a great wedding song. You know what I'm saying. Like like I can't tell you how many people will play. Like it's a great song, right, like Fast Car, especially the Luke Combs version. Now, like, people love that song, it's great. That said, like is it really a?

Speaker 2: 33:08

that's not exactly a cheery wedding song she's, or in the story it's a girl going through all these hardships in life and then at the end she like, she's like, hey, you know what, you don't even see your kids. You're out of the bar, you don't see your kids, don't even bother coming home. I was like I don't know if that's like a great song at a wedding. Um, so it's always, yeah, it's always funny, just to be like, uh, you know, interact. I enjoy interacting with brides and grooms especially, and then the more comfortable I am with them, the more comfortable I am, and I think that allows my personality to shine through. I think, more than anything, I'm a personality guy and so I like to have fun on the mic, I like to have fun with the bride and groom, I like to have fun with their bridal party and, you know, give them a little, you know, give them a little heat every once in a while. So I, you know, I really enjoy DJing and it's, it was a happy accident, to say the least.

Speaker 1: 34:11

Yeah, no, for sure, man, and I can attest that you are a great DJ and you keep the party going.

Speaker 1: 34:16

So you know one thing, I think when we're going through weddings right, or you're a vendor for a wedding, right, like you're outsourced for a wedding, or a couple's picking a wedding I think an interesting thing is the venues, right. People always have an idea of what they want and they try to find these venues that fit them, find these views that fit them. So, um, you know I've been a my fair share of weddings probably over 30 of them since I've graduated from college, all across the country and stuff, and I'm sure you've been to your fair share too, and especially with dj. And can you kind of talk about some more of the, the venues, the more memorable venues that you've had to be, um, be at, and, you know, kind of tell the guests about them and, you know, maybe give some of these venues a little bit of publicity. But like, what are your, say, your top five? Or some more, your interesting ones, jordan, that have stood out to you, that you've been at? So the one I can't remember.

Speaker 2: 35:07

Was it aurora farms? Was that yours? Is that the one you were at where it was aurora meadows? Aurora meadows, yeah, that one was a really, really nice venue. That one was, um, super beautiful. The acoustics were great. It had a nice dance floor, um, it had. It had an eclectic feel to it. I liked that one, um.

Speaker 2: 35:31

The one that I tend to go to the most is, uh, running horse farm. That's out in Harper's field, ohio, geneva, ohio, which is Nashville County. That one is unique because it's an old barn, it's been redone, it's tough. I, for me, like setting up as a DJ. It's not my favorite place because it's heavy. If you've been to running horse farm, you could probably attest to it. It's a long, it's almost like a long hallway, so there's only one way in, one way out. There's not really a dance floor, um, and then the bride and groom, the head table is so so far away from the DJ, so it's always like a wall, Like I have to walk all the way down, um. But since then I've I've actually upgraded, bought some more wireless mics, but you have to walk down, um. But I mean, it's a, it's a, it is a good venue, it's a beautiful venue. People really love it. I would say the other one that, uh, uh, that I really enjoy, but also very unique and kind of um, a headache to set up for is the running course sorry, not running horse farm um, hearts grove, barnett, hearts grove um, it's a very nice venue, another farm type setting. Uh, the building is beautiful, but if you're a DJ, you're up in the loft and it's kind of it's kind of rough when all of your equipment is up top and you're everybody's down below and they're having a hard time hearing you. So there are challenges with that one Again, like if you're a bride or groom, um, if you're about to get married, like you, you see that and like you, probably, like you're a bride or groom, um, if you're about to get married, like you, you see that and like you, probably, like you think it's beautiful and that's like have.

Speaker 2: 37:24

What I'm trying to say is like have your wedding where you want to have your wedding. We, as djs, we're gonna figure it out, we'll figure out the logistics, we'll, we'll get it done. Um, so that's a really, really cool venue. I DJed a wedding shortly before yours in Upper Michigan, northern Michigan, had to drive like seven hours to get there and they got married at an apple orchard and I had to run about 450 feet of extension cords to get my equipment down there for their ceremony. That's not their, I mean, like that's not their problem, like that's not their problem, that's mine, that's like, and I'll find a way to get it done. So I got it done. I went out and bought a bunch of extension cords and, yeah, I think, like the one thing is a lot of VJs. They'll move heaven and earth to you know, get um, get the job done, you know, and it's a lot of, it's a, it's a labor of love. But that was a really cool venue to be at as well.

Speaker 2: 38:29

Um, because it was my second out of state wedding that I, that I had the opportunity to DJ and, uh, the couple is just like, the couple was amazing. The um, the groom is actually uh, is actually the announcer for the Erie Otters uh, out in, well, obviously, out in Erie. So, uh, that was a cool experience. Um, trying to think of a couple others that I really, I've really uh, enjoyed, uh, enjoyed. There's a place in east lake, uh, the croatian um, gosh, it's uh, it's a, it's a hall for, for, for, uh, the croatian hall, I think, and that was a cool place. It was very big, it's a big room.

Speaker 1: 39:09

Um, that was a cool place to dj as well yeah, I think that place um, for people that don't know it's. It's right on as far as up as you can go in the East Lake, which is next to Willoughby and Manor. I'm pretty sure that hall holds like 600 people. I know it's massive.

Speaker 2: 39:26

Yeah, I mean, I had to pull out all the stops to make sure I had enough sound. I have this 80-pound speaker that I had to, just like I had to pull out of storage and I was like, all right, well, I guess I'm lugging you along with me too. And, uh, the couple was, the couple was nice, but I didn't get a chance to meet them in person. Like you know, I met you and Cassie in person and we got to have a sit down and, you know, have a conversation.

Speaker 2: 39:49

I think that made November 4th um so much easier and so much, so much more fun is that there was a level of, you know, being comfortable with one another and being able to, like, obviously, uh, communicate what you guys wanted and your expectations. And that's like what I enjoy about the pre-planning process is getting to know the bride and groom. And, hey, what do you guys want to do? You guys want to do the shoe game? Do you want to do um bouquet? Do you want to do garter? Are we doing anniversary dances? Are we doing dollar dances? What are we doing here? So that way I'm not caught off guard by anything you know yeah, no, absolutely.

Speaker 1: 40:32

So I guess, if those are some of the better ones that you've been at and again, no names here, nothing like that what are some of the probably worst venues or your worst experiences for a place that you've been? If you want to name a few, oh my gosh.

Speaker 2: 40:46

So one one wasn't. I mean, barn weddings seem to be big in Ohio, big in Ohio. So one wedding I did, um, it was, it was not my best, it was not my best work that day, to be honest. Um, I, I screwed up a lot and unfortunately it was for a family member, so it amplified things. It made things so much worse and I felt awful, um, with so much worse, and I felt awful, without getting into specifics, and they, like they put me up in the loft and it was a hot summer day and I'm sweating and I'm miserable and I'm feeling bad because, like I said, it just was not, it was not my best stuff that day.

Speaker 2: 41:37

Um, and like I remember, this guest came upstairs and I was like, um, hey, man, how's it going? Like, can I play something for you? And he was like, hey, I just want to let you know what you did was awful, like, and I was like all right, well, like I'm, I'm aware of that, I'm sorry. And then he just kept piling on and I'm the kind of person who doesn't like to be piled on. Like, just tell me once. And you know, just tell me once and we can get over it. But he just kept talking about it and I was like dude, I'm like I don't know what you want from me. I said I'm sorry, I can't take it back like I feel bad about it. What more do you want from like?

Speaker 2: 42:18

I can't, I can't turn back time like it's. It's, I'm sorry, and he kind of like just walked away. Um, so that one that was like that was gosh, that one sticks with me, that one, that one haunts me. Um, another one was out in, oh gosh, I want to say it was portage county, um, and that one was that one was hot and miserable and, um, there was no air conditioning and it was just, yeah, most of the weddings I would say that I've had like a a hard time with have always have just been hot, like they've just been like other than you know not being on my a game for for the one wedding, um, usually they're, you know, they're okay. There there are certain weddings.

Speaker 2: 43:06

I think, the most memorable one and I can't believe I didn't forget about this, or I can't believe I forgot about this. This had to be like my second wedding. Um, it was real country. Uh, they, they got married out by a pond. And I love home weddings, by the way, like if you get married at home and you just rent out some tents and tables and chairs and get me some power and there's no curfew, you don't have to be out of the venue at a certain point. I love those weddings because you're completely unrestricted. Weddings because you like, you're completely unrestricted. Uh, so anyway, at a certain point they started having truck pools in the side yard that's great.

Speaker 2: 43:46

Yeah, I was like. I was like I I had not. You know, you would think, being from southern ashtabula county, a rural community, I would have experienced a truck pool before, but I was like what's going on? I'm like I was like what, what's going on? I'm like I was like what, what's going on? He's like, oh yeah, yeah, I was like are they doing tug of war with their trucks? And they're like no man, these are truck pools. Oh, that's interesting.

Speaker 2: 44:07

So that one was. That one was very, very funny and uh, it was kind of fun to experience. And then I did a wedding down in Cincinnati back in 2019 for a friend and that venue was beautiful because the venue was downtown Cincinnati in this old building and you could see all of downtown, and that was. That was such a cool experience too. It was a long drive uh, not as long as driving up to upper Michigan, but it was, uh, that was a cool cause. Like it was like my second time experiencing Cincinnati. My first time to experience Cincinnati as an adult. I got to stay downtown. Um, they put me up in a really nice hotel room, so that was a really, really cool experience as well.

Speaker 1: 44:52

Yeah, no, that sounds awesome and I know we're uh, we're recording a few weeks out. Yes, all the listeners, the show is prerecorded. Uh, jordan's show, of course, is going on here in May, but this is recorded in April. But, jordan, do you have a lot of um of weddings or events that you're going to be DJing, really, you know, may, june, july, august, through the, through the fall and the winter of 2024 here?

Speaker 2: 45:15

So I've got a couple coming up in May. I have a wedding in May. I think that's my only wedding and then I've got a pretty light. June and July, august, september is when things typically start to pick up for me, because everybody wants a fall wedding. Of course, everybody wants a fall wedding and course, like of course, everybody wants a fall wedding and that's right in the middle of college football season. So that's always. You got to navigate it.

Speaker 2: 45:44

But that's why apps and streaming services are so important, because while everybody's eating dinner, you can actually watch this, you can watch a little bit of the game, um, but uh, all kidding aside, or am I? Um, you know I. Fall weddings are fun, but they're also kind of a uh, a wild card, because sometimes they they're extremely warm, other times they're extremely cold, they're just, um, like I did one a couple of years ago. It was a, it was a nice venue, but it was all outside, it was in a pavilion and I think the temperatures had to be in the upper forties, lower forties, and I'm a freeze baby.

Speaker 2: 46:23

So it was already brutal for me, but it was windy and so like there was nothing you could really do to stop the wind. But that's like the risk, that's the you know, that's the risk you take with a fall wedding. With a fall wedding and doing it outside, you always hope that, especially for the ceremony, the sun's out and that it's beautiful, but again, it's just the risk you take when you have a late September, early October wedding?

Speaker 1: 46:54

Yeah, for sure, and I've been to my fair share of outside weddings and the ones that I've definitely been to have all been pretty warm and they were in two in May in my experience, and one in September and they were all pretty, pretty warm. So I definitely understand on that. And something I want to circle back to here if I'm not mistaken from getting into doing and um, your, you know your connections in astrobula county, um, you are related to the uh knight family, um, who went a lot through. Some of them went to jefferson, correct?

Speaker 2: 47:31

yeah, so my mom went to jefferson. Um, my mom is one of six, so, um, my mom's maiden name is Knight, so that's my maternal side of the family. So, like Johnny, chase, shea, jeremiah, aka Boogie, who's playing professional football in Japan right now, be a great guest. Johnny went on to play a little minor league baseball chases out in California. Shape my cousin, jared. So many, you know so many. Obviously I have other cousins. I think like I come from a family of 30 plus cousins Don't ask me the name. Yeah, and then I have a. I have one cousin. He's the oldest cousin. He's got 11 kids, wow, Wow.

Speaker 2: 48:22

Yeah, so it's, yeah, it's. It's interesting. Like you know, I come from a pretty athletic family and I got the short end of the stick when it came to athletics. Like, I have a pretty athletic build, not a great athlete, despite it wasn't for lack of trying played basketball, roller hockey and football, um, but yeah, no, instead I just got like a little bit.

Speaker 1: 48:46

I was I'm just kind of funny, just a little bit funny, and and that's and that's well I, I, I wanted to bring that up because, um, you know, the knights are very well known in Ashtabula County, right, especially, you know, boogie, with his career at Jefferson, you know, and going on to play major college football, now playing professional football, you know, in Japan and with that being like your little cousin, right, what was that experience like watching your little cousin have all the success in high school? Um, you know, go on, have an illustrious, you know, division one football career, you know, and, uh, and go on to play professional football in japan and hopefully, hopefully, here, maybe in the canadian football league or hopefully, the nfl in the future. So what is the big cousin and you say about everything going on with boogie?

Speaker 2: 49:34

oh, oh man, dude, just so, so proud of him. Like I can remember him being a little kid and playing in the side yard of our grandma's uh house and my grandma, my grandma's house I don't know if cassie's ever shown it to you or not, uh, if you've ever driven by it, but there was. There was a field almost like a 30-yard football field, like just naturally there, and so boogie was always kind of like he reminded me of uh barry sanders. You know, like the way he moved, the way he as a little, even as a little kid, he was tough to like tackle, he was shookinging hand in the ground, moving around, and you know, I think what people, anybody who aspires to be you know, who wants to reach that level, they have to understand the commitment and dedication that goes into it.

Speaker 2: 50:54

This kid, from the time he was in fifth or sixth grade, what he would do on a daily basis to get ready and the kid just put so much work into everything he did and to go on to be Asheville County's all-time rushing leader right, county's all-time rushing leader right and to become a preferred walk-on at ohio state and then akron and then, you know, move on to um ulm, like the one thing like people have to understand is like, yes, like talent is a big part of it, but being willing to put in the work and constantly improve yourself is, like, so key to reaching your goals. Um, he, you know, he is a guy who is just ultimately committed. He's had a goal since he was. He was young and he could have I mean, it would have been easy for him. He also didn't. He also didn't settle right Like he could have went on and played at a division three school or division two school or a subdivision school, and he didn't want that for himself.

Speaker 2: 52:09

He wanted to play division one FBS and you know, to his credit, despite some setbacks with injuries, he, he went out and he did it. So, like that's like it's dude, you should to see him do that, it's uh, it's like it makes you super proud and it makes you like kind of like feel like you accomplished too, like you like you accomplished something, even though it has nothing, it has nothing to do with you, but to see him out there and win Rookie of the Year in Japan and have these big games out in Japan and chase these opportunities, it's so cool man. It's so cool to experience, it's so cool to see yeah, no, for sure.

Speaker 1: 52:52

I know your family has done some really great things, especially your cousins, with, um, with boogie and johnny and chase and shay and yourself, so I know you guys are all doing great things out there, which then kind of leads me into this next part, right, because we were talking a little bit of history, right, your family background, um, you know, and and leading into another historical thing, um, have you ever heard of Jim Thorpe Jordan?

Speaker 2: 53:17

Jim Thorpe. Yeah, I've heard of Jim Thorpe.

Speaker 1: 53:19

Yeah, of course. So I actually have a hoodie on right now. I was just in Jim Thorpe Pennsylvania a couple weeks ago, have you? Ever heard of that town.

Speaker 2: 53:31

I think I've heard of it. I know I was on Instagram and I saw that you guys were visiting there, so I was like I was checking it out a little bit. How was it?

Speaker 1: 53:38

Yeah, it was. It was really great. So if you're a history guy, um, you know kind of what you mentioned. You got to look into the history of, uh, jim Thorpe, pennsylvania, when it was Ma Chunk and their industrial revolution and coal mining and the tourism thing. So kind of led me into that part. But if you ever get a chance, being a history guy, you want to check out somewhere cool is very, very historic. Uh, you know, is definitely Jim Thorpe. I think you would definitely enjoy that story and behind that and um, the, the history of town and then also what transpired when the town became Jim Thorpe, the legal battles behind that name and his final resting place. So for all the listeners out there, if you get a chance to check out Jim Thorpe PA, it's a very interesting, very interesting, very historic place.

Speaker 2: 54:25

Is that more central PA Western Central?

Speaker 1: 54:29

Yeah, it's like you got to go past Harrisburg in Pennsylvania. If you know where Harrisburg is, is that it's just north of that. It's about two hours from philadelphia. Okay, yeah, pennsylvania, definitely a very interesting historic place. And talking about another historic place, cleveland. Right, talking about cleveland, the history of cleveland, very historic. Um, actually was just talking about nests in the history of cleveland. Behind that after the untouchables. So you now said you're in about the history of Cleveland. Behind that after the Untouchables, you now said you're in the suburbs of Cleveland. What has Cleveland been like for you now as an adult?

Speaker 2: 55:04

Cleveland's one of those cities where I was actually talking with a co-worker about this the other day. Cleveland's an interesting city because no one has more Cleveland pride than someone who's left it. You see somebody who's living out, you know like. You see somebody who's like living out in LA and they're like, yeah, I'm from Cleveland, I love Cleveland. Like, yeah, you love it so much, why don't you leave? Um, I, I, I love the city. The city has a lot of charm.

Speaker 2: 55:27

Um, it's one of those cities where and I think this was, uh, this is an article a few years ago where a lot of millennials and Gen Z they wanted to experience the city. They wanted to go to a place like Chicago or New York, but they're so expensive they can't afford it. Well, cleveland is one of those more affordable cities and it's a smaller city, but it's still a city of over. You know, I mean the, the metro area is over a million people, so it's still a lot of people there. Um, just not with all within the city limits. Um, you know, cleveland, working downtown every day. Now, you get to see it, you get to experience it. Um, I would like to venture out and I would love to explore it a little more. You know, maybe one day where I'm not so tired.

Speaker 2: 56:23

But you know, one thing I really love to do, especially with my cousin Shay, is go out and visit record stores and thumb through records. So like, there are some great, great places, especially if you love vinyl and music. There are great places around cleveland worth checking out, mine's eye being one of them. That's in wakewood and mistake, by the lake. Uh, that I believe is in ohio city. Very small record stores but a good selection. And you know, um, I mean I'd be remiss if I didn't mention, uh, record den either, in menor.

Speaker 2: 56:56

I know that's not technically cleveland, but um, yeah, no, I, the architecture I love I. So you know I love old architecture as well and cleveland has a lot of that seeing the old churches and seeing the old buildings. So, yeah, cleveland's such a, such an underrated city it doesn't get as much love as it should. I know it's cool to hate on Cleveland that's has since kind of like gone away, but it's, it's nice to see Cleveland get love, like the final four just being here and hearing the women's final four just being here and hearing so many people say nice things about it a couple of years ago, obviously, the NFL draft, people saying nice things about Cleveland there.

Speaker 2: 57:37

Um, and like I wish more people knew that like there's so much more to do and see and experience than just the rock and roll hall of fame, you know, or the Christmas story house or Cedar point. Like there there are great restaurants. Here there are great parks. Um, we have Ohio as well. I mean it's technically not Cleveland, but Northeast Ohio is home to the state's only national park, one that I want to experience as well. So like, yeah, like the metro parks are great, the zoo is good, the flats are awesome right there on the river. So like there's so much to experience in Cleveland.

Speaker 2: 58:16

So if you're ever like, hey, I got to spend a week in Cleveland. Yeah, just like, come experience Cleveland and do a little bit of research on like places that the locals love and check them out.

Speaker 1: 58:29

Yeah, for sure, and I think you know, not being from here and coming here a few years ago, I think Cleveland's definitely, you know, underrated too, and some other things like you didn't mention for the listeners. If you are interested, cleveland's the second biggest art district in all of the country. It has great museums, natural History Museum being one of them, outside of, you know, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, a lot of historic things here Again, elliot Ness, who was in the Untouchables, who battled Al Capone during Prohibition in Chicago, elliot Ness came to Cleveland, was the public safety director, you know, after that. So you have a lot of great things right in the suburbs too, you know, included, but there was a lot of great concert venues around here, including Cuyahoga Falls. I'll dump that into into it, even though that's more Akron than than Cleveland. But there's a lot of great, great things here.

Speaker 1: 59:20

Um, and yeah, just a testament of just what went on in early April right, you had the women's final four. You had the women's women's final four being played at Rocket Mortgage. You have the women's um college basketball all-star game being played at cleveland state, at the wolfstein center. You had, uh, opening day on monday and you had the eclipse and for people that weren't here that weekend or don't know, you know there was hundreds of millions of dollars made by cleveland and greater cleveland the whole way up to astrobula county. If you want to add it all together, um, of just a huge surplus of people, you know, coming here. Yeah, restaurants are great Everybody if you want a very special place to go. Probably is the most expensive place in Cleveland to eat. Actually, it is because I've seen in an article the Marlboro in downtown Cleveland is spectacular. They have a great restaurante, latino, for all of Latin food is called Lulos. So it's all Latin American food. It is wonderful there as well. You have just a bunch of great things. We have the casino here for people to like to gamble.

Speaker 1: 1:00:26

So, with that being said too, I want to see what your thoughts on this, with the success like the final four had for the women's and all the money that came in here and all the visitors. You know the talks of jimmy haslam potentially moving the browns out of downtown cleveland into a domed stadium in brook park, um, seemed to be in the works. Right, it's like 1.5 billion dollars they're talking about. And for people that don't really know the brook park area or the bereaa area is where the airport is, and I think he wants to move this to make this dome stadium to make Cleveland even more attractive. With now knowing I want to get your opinion on this, jordan, in a second With knowing the success of the women's Final Four, does this push Jimmy Haslam even harder to build this dome stadium to attract the men's Final Four and even more people here into 80,000-plus seats potentially? In this type of environment?

Speaker 2: 1:01:30

So I think, first and foremost, that Haslam moving the Browns out of the city of Cleveland to Brook Park, they'd still be the Cleveland Browns, they'd still keep the name Teams headquartered in Berea, just outside of Cleveland. However, because of Art Modell moving the team after the 95 season, jimmy haslam's gonna have to go through a whole lot to move the team to brook park. Uh, to build a stadium in brook park. Um, there's a whole lot of litigation and this is all state law. That was, like, signed after the browns moved in 96, right, so I get it. Right. Like, cleveland Browns Stadium is a beautiful stadium on the lake. However, when you play into late December and early January, it gets kind of cold. And Progressive Field, the Jake, it does not have. It just doesn't have the capacity for things like, say, taylor Swift to come in. Obviously, taylor Swift is the big one. People talk about that.

Speaker 2: 1:02:45

So you have to find a way to put Cleveland more on the map. And what better way than a dome? Right, because you can host indoor events. Right, like Indianapolis is a is a colder city as well. They have a dome. They've always played. Well, they haven't always played in a dome, but they play in a dome and their field house is used for all kinds of events. So, like I get what they're trying to do, I understand what they're trying to do of events. So, like I get what they're trying to do, I understand what they're trying to do, um, I just I don't. I don't see it happening in the future. Um, I don't see it happening anytime soon. Uh like, the city of Cleveland is not going to give up the Browns without a fight.

Speaker 2: 1:03:28

And then after that, let's say the Browns do move, let's say everything works out. Jimmy has his way and the Browns built this beautiful new dome stadium in Brook Park. What happens to Cleveland Browns stadium, then? Is that used to host high school games. Do we tear it down? Do we put college? Do we host bowl games there? Are we going to host college teams there? What? What's the? What's the step? What's the plan for that?

Speaker 2: 1:03:55

Um, ultimately, we've got four more years until the browns leases up. Now, if they want to. I think what's probably more likely but also expensive to do and you're going to ask the taxpayers of cleveland to do it is renovate the stadium and put a dome over it, uh, or a retractable roof, and that I think is is an interesting idea, uh, both of which, though, moving the team or the, the complete renovations, um, I, I don't, I don't see a solution quickly, I don't see a quick solution to it. I feel like, uh, both the city and the haslams and browns ownership are going to uh have have a long road ahead of them for a solution sure.

Speaker 1: 1:04:45

I just want to get your opinion on that. I know it's been a hot topic up here and for the people that you know don't know, um, that is going to be a fight brewing, we all believe, between the haslams and the browns and, uh, the city of cleveland about, ultimately, where is this new stadium, or renovated stadium, going to be? But jordan? As we're winding the episode here, if you listen to the other shows, you know what comes at the end, and it's the fast 55 for new listeners out there. It is five random questions by yours truly to all of our guests, and in this case, jordan, that have really nothing to do with this show, and we're just going to find out what Jordan's opinion is. You can elaborate if you want, but you don't have to. And, jordan, if you're ready, we can get started.

Speaker 2: 1:05:28

Let's do it.

Speaker 1: 1:05:29

Okay, you kind of hit it on this for your conversation about the Browns. So question number one is Taylor Swift overrated? Why or why not?

Speaker 2: 1:05:42

Taylor Swift is not overrated. While she might not be my first choice of music or my choice at all in music, I think that her impact and her influence, especially on people from 15 years ago to now and those people as kids, and how she helped bring kids Listen. We're living in a digital age here and Taylor Swift releasing her albums on vinyl and these kids buying vinyl is like I don't think that can be swept under the rug. You might not like her music, it might not be your style, and for her to write the majority of her songs and have all of these albums and all of these massive tours, um, I would say not overrated.

Speaker 1: 1:06:42

I would say she's, she's, uh, she's pretty iconic okay, well, that was a good answer for uh, for that for swifties. Swifties won't like that. Second question Are pen or pencils better?

Speaker 2: 1:06:59

Pen is neater. Pencil is better because if you make a mistake you can erase it and writing in pen is beautiful. Could you imagine if the Constitution was written in pencil? It wouldn't look as nice, right, and it'd be smudged. But ink especially at that time yeah, ink's better, it looks better. But if you have sloppy handwriting like me, you need a pencil.

Speaker 1: 1:07:28

Okay, question number three Do you believe people get abducted by aliens?

Speaker 2: 1:07:35

Oh man, can I say skeptical? Can I say, sure, you can say skeptical. I would say that, listen, we are in this massive universe. We're just hurling through this big, vast nothing, which doesn't make any sense. Great Pete Holmes bit about it. It doesn't make any sense. Great Pete Holmes bit about it. But for us to believe that we're the only form of life in this vastness, I think is Is it realistic? Pretty crazy. It would be an anomaly, to say the least. But yeah, I mean, I guess. I mean, maybe people do get abducted by aliens. I don't, I don know, I I think, um, I would, if somebody told me that they were abducted by aliens, my inclination would be that I wouldn't believe them, be very skeptical okay, question number four who was and or is a better actor, patrick swayze or jake gyllenhaal?

Speaker 2: 1:08:42

Gyllenhaal, ooh man, um, I can, I, can I say, can I refuse myself on this one? No, I uh, not knowing a whole lot of Swayze's work, right, like he was in some iconic movies, um, I would gosh, I would say probably Swayze. I feel like Jake Gyllenhaal has been in some real clunkers, some real bad movies.

Speaker 1: 1:08:59

I would say I would agree, I would say Patrick Swayze. Probably two most like movies are probably Ghost with Demi Moore and Roadhouse.

Speaker 2: 1:09:08

And Dirty Dancing. I mean obviously Dirty.

Speaker 1: 1:09:09

Dancing, yeah, dirty Dancing. To me, I think Roadhouse and ghost were probably the two better ones, but dirty dancing might be, uh, number three on that list. Okay, last question, jordan, and I want you to get this opinion as a fan, as a dj. Somebody's been a part of music, you know, and through it all, what is the best venue you've ever been to for a concert?

Speaker 2: 1:09:33

okay, so it's a two-part, two-part answer. My favorite, most nostalgic uh venue p bodies. May it rest in peace. Cleveland state tore it down. P bodies was the first venue I went to got to experience um, so p bodies is my favorite, was my favorite, was my favorite. Best music venue I think I've gotten to experience best sounding one and the work that they've done to it now is Agora Ballroom and Theater. That is an incredible downtown Cleveland venue to check out that I've seen.

Speaker 1: 1:10:12

We were just actually talking about that place of work. Somebody else said it's a, it's a fantastic place to um to check out.

Speaker 1: 1:10:18

Well, that was the fast 35, though everyone and a little lot more long winded on Jordan behalf on those answers, but I think those are some great questions and always tune in, because every week, as long as we have a guest, we have a fast 50. Jordan. As we wind up the show here, we give about a minute to all of our guests. Anything that you want to promote or anything you want to talk about a good message. You want to get your social media out there for people to try to reach you, to DJ different events it's completely up to you, but we're going to give you about a minute, man and the floor is yours.

Speaker 2: 1:10:49

On Instagram, you can. It's at Wets Mantooth, w-h-e-t-s-m-a-n-t-o-o-t-h, um, named after like let's play on West Mantooth from Anchorman Uh, now that I'm working in news um, and just man, just be, uh, just good. Be good people, be kind to others, you know. Just try to remember that everybody's going through something that you don't know about. So try to, you know, exercise a little more empathy in this world, and, yeah, I think we'd be better off for it, man, just try to be a little bit more considerate and polite and, yeah, we'll all live a happy existence.

Speaker 1: 1:11:30

It's a perfect way to end the show, but I can definitely vouch Jordan is a great DJ. He's even a better guy. He's a perfect way to end the show, but I can definitely vouch Jordan is a great DJ. He's even a better guy. He's a great friend and we appreciated him for our wedding Everybody. I do recommend them very, very highly, whether it's a wedding or a birthday party, whatever you have in mind, you want to get a hold of a great DJ. It's definitely Jordan. This week's episode of the Ride Home Rants podcast. As always, if you enjoyed the show, be a friend and tell a friend, and if you didn't, tell them anyways, because I bet they like it, just because you didn't. This is Fitty signing off and we will see you next week.