ACM Awards Picks, Best Drummer, and Music News

The ACM Awards are coming, and we’re not treating it like background noise. We lay out what to expect from the show in Las Vegas, how to watch on Amazon Prime, and what it means that Shania Twain is hosting for the first time. Then we make our ACM predictions with zero fluff, debating what “Entertainer of the Year” should actually reward, and why the new-vs-established “rivalry” narrative feels more like marketing than reality. 

From there we hit the week’s music news with an eye for what matters: Morgan Wallen teasing a new era, Luke Combs setting huge concert attendance records, and the constant push toward genre blending across country, rock, and everything in between. We also talk about why certain artists thrive right now through touring, streaming, and fan engagement, and how that shifts the industry’s gatekeeping. 

Then we dive into our question of the day: who is the best drummer of all time? We explain what to listen for as a non-drummer, read listener picks, and argue our way to a final ranking that’s guaranteed to spark comments. We wrap with charts, birthdays, and a mailbag packed with practical music industry advice, including what to do after a TikTok blow-up, streams vs ticket sales, and how to handle gear failure in a high-pressure studio session. 

Subscribe for more, share this with a friend who will argue with our drummer list, and leave a review with your pick for best drummer of all time.

Episode Links

• Jim Cristaldi: https://jayfranze.com/episode27/
• Bob Bullock: https://jayfranze.com/episode28/
• Dalila Mya: https://jayfranze.com/episode102/
• Mark Badolato: https://jayfranze.com/episode140/
• Stephanie Rabus: https://jayfranze.com/episode149/

Transcript

Jay Franze 0:23

Now, here's your host, Jay Franzi and Tiffany Mason. And we are coming at you live. I am Jay Franzi, and uh with me tonight the Meg to my Jack, my beautiful co-host, Miss Tiffany Mason.

Tiffany Mason 0:42

Well, good evening, Jay. Good evening, crew members.

Jay Franze 0:45

If you are new to the show, this is your source for the latest news, reviews, and interviews. And if you would like to join in, comment, or fire off any questions, please head over to jfranzie.com. Alright, my friend, before we get started, let me tell you about this question of the day. Tonight's question of the day comes from Julie. Julie, thank you for joining us. We do appreciate you being here. Who is the best drummer of all time? She says, of all time, which makes it a competition.

SPEAKER_05 1:14

Oh, brother.

ACM Awards

Jay Franze 1:16

Have your pen ready, my friend. Who is the best drummer of all time? Thank you, Julie. But first, we need to discuss something very important.

SPEAKER_06 1:26

Okay.

Jay Franze 1:27

Coming up is the Academy of Country Music Awards. The ACM Awards. So it's coming up on May 17th. That is a Sunday. Sunday in Las Vegas. I don't know how exciting a Sunday in Las Vegas is, but hey, it was cheaper to rent the space on Sundays. It is coming up on Sunday. Sunday, May 17th in Las Vegas. It's at the MGM Grand. Pretty cool. A little disappointed it's not in Nashville. I mean, it's Country Music Award. Should probably be in Nashville. I agree. However, it's been in Vegas before. But if you're not going to be able to make your way out to Vegas, you can catch it on Amazon Prime.

Tiffany Mason 2:18

Interesting.

Jay Franze 2:18

Who do you think's hosting it?

Tiffany Mason 2:23

Elaine Wilson.

Jay Franze 2:24

And you are incorrect. It is Shania Twain.

Tiffany Mason 2:31

Oh, cool.

Jay Franze 2:32

This will be her first time hosting the awards.

Tiffany Mason 2:35

Okay. Is she funny?

Jay Franze 2:38

We are about to find out.

Tiffany Mason 2:39

I guess we are.

Jay Franze 2:40

She's not funny looking. Nope. She's beautiful.

Tiffany Mason 2:45

Well, for a gentleman, she's beautiful. For a female, she's cute as button.

Jay Franze 2:49

Either way.

Tiffany Mason 2:50

She's little.

Jay Franze 2:51

She's very little. She's four foot nothing. Mr. Bullock had the opportunity to work with her. I did not. It was the project, literally the project right before I joined him. Sucks. How disappointing.

Tiffany Mason 3:04

Daylight and a dollar short.

Jay Franze 3:06

Not only that, but it was recorded in the Bahamas.

Tiffany Mason 3:09

Oh, that's right, yeah.

Jay Franze 3:11

So we need Mr. Bullock back on here to go through some of those stories. However, she's gonna come on. This is the 60 61st airing of the awards and her first time being part of them.

Tiffany Mason 3:25

Well, at least she got in.

Jay Franze 3:29

All right, let's go over a few of the things here and maybe we can get some predictions going and see if I can earn myself another stake.

SPEAKER_05 3:36

Ooh, okay.

Jay Franze 3:38

All right. The big headline, if you want to go into that, is they're they're playing it like there's a rivalry between new artists and old artists. Or at least that's what they're trying to make it feel like.

SPEAKER_04 3:50

Oh, okay.

Jay Franze 3:51

A lot of the artists have already come back, have already come out and said, Look, I got no beef with these people.

SPEAKER_06 3:56

Right.

Jay Franze 3:57

Like, what are you doing?

SPEAKER_06 3:58

I like that.

Jay Franze 3:59

But that's what they're trying to make it seem like new artists versus established artists. And they did say that there's more rock being blended with it this year than there ever has been in the past.

Tiffany Mason 4:11

That doesn't shock me.

Jay Franze 4:12

So I'm a big fan of that. You know that. I like the combination of rock and country.

SPEAKER_06 4:17

Yeah.

Jay Franze 4:17

Alright, well, let's get into the nominations and let's start making some predictions.

SPEAKER_06 4:22

Okay.

Jay Franze 4:23

Alright, let's just start off with the big ones and then we'll see how it goes. We'll see how deep we want to get into this.

SPEAKER_06 4:29

Okay.

Jay Franze 4:30

Entertainer of the year. Luke Combs, Jelly Row, Cody Johnson, Megan Moroney, Chris Stapleton, Morgan Wallen, Laney Wilson.

Tiffany Mason 4:43

I don't want Megan Moroney to win it, but I I mean I I don't think she's going to win it, but I think she could win it because her show was really good. I mean, the graphics in the background and all the uh costume changes and her guitar is constantly changing was really, if we're talking about entertainer of the year, but I feel like it's gonna go to Luke Combs. Ooh.

Jay Franze 5:03

Well, we typically have Laney Wilson in this category for sure, but I was gonna go with Luke Combs. So if we're both going with Luke Combs, that makes that one null and void. Moving on to female artist of the year. Kelsey Ballerini, Miranda Lambert, Ella Langley, Megan Moroney, Laney Wilson.

Tiffany Mason 5:24

Of 2025. I mean, it's gonna be Ella with Choosing Texas.

SPEAKER_06 5:35

Even you can't contest it.

Jay Franze 5:38

I'm going with Ella, but not specifically for choosing Texas. But yes, I mean that okay, so that's two. So so far, no stake. Fighting for a stake, my friend. Male artist of the year. Luke Combs, Riley Green, Cody Johnson, Chris Stapleton, Zach Top.

Tiffany Mason 5:57

Oh, I like the last three. I'm gonna go. I've not seen any. I want to say Cody Johnson, but I've not seen any of his. I've not seen any shorts. I've not seen any anything. I just know his music's really good. So then I think I'm gonna go. Well, I know, but I'm also thinking of like stage presence. Um, I'm gonna go Chris Stapleton.

Jay Franze 6:28

Okay, good. I'm going with Luke Combs.

Tiffany Mason 6:31

Okay.

Jay Franze 6:32

Zach Topp would be up there too. I'm going I'm going with Luke Holmes.

SPEAKER_05 6:37

Yeah.

Jay Franze 6:38

All right, group of the year. 49 Winchester, Flatland Calvary, Old Dominion, Rascal Flats, the Red Clay Strays.

SPEAKER_06 6:50

Red Clay Strays.

Jay Franze 6:53

Just to be different, I mean, I like your choice. I would prefer that choice, but I'm gonna go with Rascal Flats.

SPEAKER_05 7:00

Okay.

Jay Franze 7:01

Alright, duo of the year.

SPEAKER_02 7:04

Ooh.

Jay Franze 7:06

Burks and Dunn. Do we do we need to go on? They're on here every year and they seem to win every year. Brooks and Dunn, Brothers Osborne, Dan and Shay, Muscadine Bloodline, Thelma and James.

Tiffany Mason 7:22

Burks and Dunn.

Jay Franze 7:23

I need more information on that, but I will go with Brooks and Dunn because I like Brooks and Dunn. I like Dan and Shay too. Alright. Let's see, where are we? Let's do two more. Three more. Okay. Four more.

SPEAKER_06 7:38

Whoa.

Jay Franze 7:38

Five more.

SPEAKER_06 7:41

I'll raise you to six. Six more.

Jay Franze 7:43

We're gonna do oh, maybe six.

unknown 7:47

Okay.

Jay Franze 7:48

They put all the good ones down at the bottom.

SPEAKER_06 7:52

Oh, okay.

Jay Franze 7:53

Okay, I'll go through them quickly. New female artist of the year. Avery Anna, Mackenzie Carpenter, Dasha, Caroline Jones, Emily Ann Roberts.

Tiffany Mason 8:04

What was the second one?

Jay Franze 8:06

Mackenzie Carpenter.

Tiffany Mason 8:08

I'm gonna go with her.

Jay Franze 8:09

Dasha.

Tiffany Mason 8:11

Oh. She opened for Russell Dickerson and thousand percent underwhelmed.

Jay Franze 8:18

That's what I said. Underwhelmed. New Mill Artist of the Year.

SPEAKER_06 8:24

Uh-oh.

Jay Franze 8:25

Gavin Adcock. Vincent Mason. Shabozy. Hudson Westbrook.

Tiffany Mason 8:30

Shaboozie.

Jay Franze 8:32

Tucker Tucker Wetmore.

Tiffany Mason 8:34

Tucker Wetmore.

Jay Franze 8:36

I'm gonna go with Hudson Westbrook. I don't know how Shaboozzi's in there. I don't know how the last three are in there, but Shaboozie will probably win it. We'll go with the other two.

SPEAKER_06 8:46

Yeah.

Jay Franze 8:47

Because you know he's different and he's doing all these different things in the industry.

Tiffany Mason 8:51

And he's new after all.

Jay Franze 8:53

Yes.

Tiffany Mason 8:54

What is it? Is it the first three years you're on the scene you're considered new or what? Sure.

Jay Franze 8:59

He hasn't hit the 10-year mark yet. Album of the year.

SPEAKER_06 9:06

Okay.

Jay Franze 9:07

I'll just read the artists, but it's their album. Zach Top, Carter Faith, Riley Green, Morgan Wallen, Parker McCollum.

SPEAKER_05 9:17

Morgan Wallen.

Jay Franze 9:19

I'll go with Zach Top just to be different. They're all not bad choices there. But you're probably right with Morgan Wallen.

Tiffany Mason 9:27

It feels like a landslide.

Jay Franze 9:29

I might be owing you a stake this year.

Tiffany Mason 9:32

I mean, when you have 36, 37 songs to compete with.

Jay Franze 9:37

242 singles at one time. Song of the Year. Miranda Lambert and Chris Stapleton. Janine Fleenor, and Jesse, for sure.

SPEAKER_06 9:50

For sure. For sure. I've not heard of either of those names. I have for sure not heard any of those names either.

Jay Franze 9:56

Megan Moroni, Ella Langley, Zach Top, Laney Wilson, Andy Albert.

Tiffany Mason 10:02

What is the category again?

Jay Franze 10:03

Song of the Year.

Tiffany Mason 10:05

Oh, well.

Jay Franze 10:07

And it's your choosing Texas.

Tiffany Mason 10:10

Mm-hmm. I think it's a hands-down. It's been on the number one spot for how long?

Jay Franze 10:16

I like it. I'd have to agree with you though. Ella Langley.

SPEAKER_06 10:23

I think that one's just by a Lance.

Jay Franze 10:24

I mean, I like Laney Wilson, but the song was somewhere over Laredo. Great song, but I I think Choose and Title.

Tiffany Mason 10:31

What's a Laredo?

Jay Franze 10:32

What's a Laredo? Yeah. Zach Top, I Never Lie.

Tiffany Mason 10:38

I love that song.

Jay Franze 10:41

Alright, Single of the Year. Not to be confused with Song of the Year. Single of the Year. Megan Moroney, Ella Langley, Zach Top, Laney Wilson, Cody Johnson.

Tiffany Mason 10:54

Okay. I know that you're saying the artist for sake of like time and community.

Jay Franze 10:58

Megan Moroni, six months later, Ella Langley choosing Texas. Zach Top, I never lie. Laney Wilson, somewhere over Laredo, Cody Johnson, the fall.

Tiffany Mason 11:09

I think it's Ella Langley.

Jay Franze 11:12

I agree with you once again. Not a very good competitive list for us this year.

SPEAKER_05 11:19

Mm-mm.

Jay Franze 11:20

Alright. Music event of the year. This is awarded to the artist, the producer, and the record label.

unknown 11:28

Okay.

Tiffany Mason 11:28

Okay. And it's what of the year? Event of the year.

Jay Franze 11:31

Music event of the year.

Tiffany Mason 11:33

Okay.

Jay Franze 11:34

Miranda Lambert and Chris Stapleton. Shabuzi and Jelly Roll. Riley Green and Ella Langley. Reba, Miranda, and Laney. Megan and Kenny. Megan Moroni and Kenny Chesney.

Tiffany Mason 11:50

I mean, I think it's Riley and Ella.

Jay Franze 11:56

Miranda and Chris Stableton is another good one. I I'd be afraid Shabuzi and Jelly Roll will win just because of the the names, but.

Tiffany Mason 12:04

Agreed.

Jay Franze 12:05

I'll take it. I'll just take it for the fight, but I prefer Riley and Ella.

Tiffany Mason 12:11

Wow. Look at you.

Jay Franze 12:12

But I'll take it for the fight because I want a chance of winning a steak. Visual Media of the Year awarded to the producer, the director, and the artist.

Tiffany Mason 12:24

Visual media of the year.

Jay Franze 12:26

Video.

Tiffany Mason 12:26

Like their video. Okay.

Jay Franze 12:29

Megan Moroney, six months later. Miranda Lambert and Chris Stapleton, a song to sing. Steven Wilson, Jr., cuckoo. I've not heard that song.

SPEAKER_06 12:40

How did cuckoo get in there?

Jay Franze 12:42

I don't know.

SPEAKER_06 12:44

They just threw a wild card in there.

Jay Franze 12:46

I almost pronounced it wrong, though. I'll tell you that much. Had to slow down.

SPEAKER_06 12:51

Is that why your face is all red?

Jay Franze 12:53

Had to slow down, just a hair. Laney Wilson, somewhere over Laredo. Cody Johnson, the fall.

Tiffany Mason 13:01

I don't know if I've seen any of them but Miranda Lambert and Chris Stableton.

Jay Franze 13:06

I hate you.

Tiffany Mason 13:07

No, I didn't I didn't take it. You can have it. I didn't take it. I kind of want to take the fall.

Jay Franze 13:12

Well, that was my second choice. So I'll take Miranda, then you can have the fall.

SPEAKER_06 13:16

Okay. I'll take the fall with the fall.

Jay Franze 13:20

Songwriter of the Year. Okay, ready for names you're not going to recognize?

SPEAKER_06 13:24

Yes.

Jay Franze 13:25

Do we even need to go through Songwriter of the Year? Because it doesn't tell me what song it was. Just listen to.

SPEAKER_06 13:30

Oh, then that's not. Do you know any of them? Just out of curiosity.

Jay Franze 13:33

Um no, but I like Charlie Handsome.

Tiffany Mason 13:37

Oh. I am Mr. Handsome.

Jay Franze 13:42

Uh I do not recognize any of the names. Okay. Let's skip that category. I mean, they deserve the recognition. Songwriter of the Year. Jesse Joe Dillon, Ashley Gorley, Charlie Handsome, Chase McGill, Blake Pendergrass. I don't know any of the names. I'm sorry. Do I want to pick up? Nope, but you're talented. Do we want to just pick one? It'd be better if they told us what song they were. I'm going to go with Charlie Hands.

Tiffany Mason 14:12

Can we say what they are? Okay, tell me the names again, I'll pick one.

Jay Franze 14:14

Jesse Joe Dillon. That's Joe with a J-O.

Tiffany Mason 14:18

Okay.

Jay Franze 14:20

Ashley Gorley, Charlie McGill, and Blake Penny.

Tiffany Mason 14:24

I'm gonna go with him. I'll go with Charlie McGill.

Jay Franze 14:26

Chase. Chase McGill, sorry.

Tiffany Mason 14:28

That's what I said. Chase McGill.

Jay Franze 14:29

It's right next to Charlie Hansome, and I, you know, dyslexia. Confuse the two.

SPEAKER_06 14:35

Okay, can I tell you a quick little dyslexia story? My girlfriend told me the code to her garage, and the numbers were somewhat similar.

Tiffany Mason 14:43

And I put them in, I put them in, and it kept not opening, and I thought, I don't know. So I busted in her backyard and got to her dogs and let the dogs out.

Jay Franze 14:51

So you let the dogs out.

Tiffany Mason 14:53

Mystery solved.

SPEAKER_06 14:55

We should let the guys know.

Jay Franze 14:58

Anyway, I So just to be fair, what's the code?

SPEAKER_06 15:04

Right. So I put the code in. I took a video. I was like, this is what I'm doing.

Tiffany Mason 15:08

I'm like, but your garage door is not opening. And she's like, you're doing the last number wrong. But they were basically all the same numbers. Just, you know, like 2112. And I was messing it up.

SPEAKER_06 15:21

And I was like, well, I too have dyslexia, Jay. I thought that to myself.

Jay Franze 15:26

Artist slash songwriter of the year.

unknown 15:29

Okay.

Tiffany Mason 15:30

Artist slash songwriter. Okay.

Jay Franze 15:32

So this is a songwriter that also performs versus the last category of the writer that we have no idea who they are. Luke Combs, Riley Green, Ella Langley, Megan Moroney, Morgan Wallen.

SPEAKER_05 15:46

I'll take Luke Combs.

Jay Franze 15:49

I'm gonna go with Ella Langley this time around.

SPEAKER_05 15:52

Oh shoot.

Jay Franze 15:54

Yeah, she's getting a lot of praise right now for her songwriting.

Tiffany Mason 15:58

Right now, but not in 2025.

Jay Franze 16:00

So good point. Good point. You might have it.

Tiffany Mason 16:07

I only say that because I watched one of her interviews and she was saying in that song Back to Loving Life Again, she says, I think I hear grandma calling, ooh-hoo. And she was saying that when she was younger, that's what she would do. Her grandma when she would be like, Grandma, and her grandma would go, you're and they'd have to like find her.

Jay Franze 16:25

Marco Polo.

Tiffany Mason 16:26

Yeah.

Jay Franze 16:27

Nice. Now to be fair, I like Luke Combs probably. I like the music probably better because it's that harder edge stuff. But yeah. She, you know, she's awesome. I love her.

SPEAKER_06 16:38

Yeah.

Jay Franze 16:39

Alright. A couple quick takeaways that are mentioned here. They say there's less gatekeeping this time around. They said streaming, touring, and fan engagement equal a winning formula.

SPEAKER_04 16:50

Okay.

Jay Franze 16:51

Streaming, touring, and fan engagement. Okay. Independent artists have more visibility than ever.

Tiffany Mason 16:59

Agreed. Anybody's uh arguing with them on that one.

Jay Franze 17:03

I think it has all of the things necessary to make a good show. Let's see how it turns out on May 17th.

Tiffany Mason 17:10

And it'll be easy on the eyes with Miss Shania Twain.

News

Jay Franze 17:14

If there's no other reason to tune in, to tune in just to see Shania. All right, let's move on to the news before I get in trouble.

Tiffany Mason 17:24

Okay. Well, first up is Morgan Wallen. He's teasing a new era, and the fans are already losing it. He is dropping hints of new music across his social platforms, sparking massive fan speculation. I think it's funny this headline is really hyped up because when I looked into it a little bit deeper, I was like, what's all the buzz? And it was like in interviews, he said he's been home hanging out with his son and working on new music. So it's just in the early stages. Nobody hold their breath. You'll die first.

Jay Franze 17:57

He's still got 40 songs to go.

Tiffany Mason 18:01

Yes, industry insiders are pointing towards a potential summer rollout. But if it's in the early stages, how's it gonna be a summer rollout? I don't think so. That's my prediction. But also, speaking of Morgan Wallen, I don't know if you saw it on the socials, but him and Miss Ella Langley teamed up for a new duet, and it's getting lots of attention. They teamed up uh on the track I Can't Love You Anymore, pairing his chart dominating sound with one of country's fastest growing voices. But I challenge that a little bit because aren't they both fast growing voices? I mean, just because he's got a year ahead of her, they're not that far apart, let's be real. Maybe two years. I mean, I don't know. I'm not a good judge of time, but I don't know. It just seems like they both have to be a little bit more.

Jay Franze 18:53

I think she's got a better quality, but yeah, yeah, I'll give you that.

Tiffany Mason 18:59

Well, another amazing voice is Mr. Luke Combs, and he just added another record to his already historic touring resume. As of 2026, April 2026, he set a new all-time concert attendance record at Ohio Stadium. Oh, with 97,367 fans surpassing the previous record by over 20,000 fans. Demand remains sky high with multiple markets selling out instantly.

Jay Franze 19:33

How very disappointed that he broke my record.

Tiffany Mason 19:39

It was rude. Yeah, I can't imagine. Um, someone else was talking about their the tickets being released and how they sat there and just watched them get sold out like within minutes. It's gotta make you feel so good.

Jay Franze 19:54

It felt good to me when it happened, but now you know we gotta go back and up the game.

Tiffany Mason 19:59

Yeah, well, maybe we can do an episode about that where I could interview you about what that feels like.

Jay Franze 20:03

Yeah. We'll do that live and then we'll sell the tickets, and there you go.

Tiffany Mason 20:08

Right, right. And we'll watch it sell out for that episode. Okay, well, Mr. Jelly Roll, he is blurring genre lines again with a new collaboration, Buzz. Jelly Roll is rumored to be working with another, working on another collaboration with nothing confirmed yet, but Eminem.

Jay Franze 20:29

Seems like he's going backwards now.

Tiffany Mason 20:32

That's what I thought. Because it's like he was, you know, rock, and then he was or I mean rap and then or and then he was in a country.

Jay Franze 20:41

Country, rock, back to rap.

Tiffany Mason 20:43

Religious.

Jay Franze 20:44

Oh yeah. Well.

Tiffany Mason 20:45

Uh-huh. He's done two.

Jay Franze 20:47

Religious tone.

Tiffany Mason 20:49

He's done two, and he's been all over the socials. And when he accepted his spot at the Opry, so I don't know. Seems like he's all over the place.

Jay Franze 21:02

He has not come up with his niche.

Tiffany Mason 21:05

He's definitely blurring genre lines. And Miss Casey Musgraves expands creative direction post-release. Musgraves is leaning deeper into cinematic visuals and storytelling. Her latest project continues to push beyond traditional country boundaries.

Jay Franze 21:26

They're all blurring that line.

Tiffany Mason 21:28

They're all Robin Thick, right? Blur lines. Yeah.

Jay Franze 21:33

I like him too.

Tiffany Mason 21:36

Yeah, that's what keeps going through my head as I keep reading that. So we've got hinting, teasing, and blurring lines now. Okay, we've got the Foo Fighters keeping Stadium Rock alive with massive live momentum. The band continues dominating live stages with high energy performances worldwide. And they're actually in the Daytona area next Thursday and Friday. The 7th and 8th, and they're going to be in your neck of the woods in August, on August 10th in Cleveland, which I guess is not really your neck of the woods, but it's you're the neck of the woods more than my neck of the woods. Let's four hours away.

Jay Franze 22:12

It's not that far. Okay.

Tiffany Mason 22:13

Yeah. It's four hours away. You could you could get there.

Jay Franze 22:16

I mean, we were talking about Chicago being four hours the other day. Cleveland's pretty much right next door.

Tiffany Mason 22:21

Yeah, that blows my mind that Chicago is only four hours from you. I really can't, I cannot wrap my head around that. Okay. We have Green Day doubling down on punk roots in latest live shows. Green Day is leaning harder into their early catalog during recent performances. Fans are responding with renewed enthusiasm across multi-generational audiences. I would be a fan of that. I don't really know any of their new stuff.

Jay Franze 22:48

That's because they're a legacy band.

Tiffany Mason 22:51

Okay. Bring me the horizon pushes boundaries with genre smashing releases. Now, these guys are genre smashing. The country people are genre blurring. By blending metal core with pop, electric and industrial elements, their biggest smashes include massive anthems like Can You Feel My Heart? Throne and Drown. Later hits such as Lost, Shadow Moses, Sleepwalking, and the Post Human series.

Jay Franze 23:20

I like it. I also like the way you said bring me the horizon, like it was a request or demand.

SPEAKER_06 23:28

Bring me the horizon.

Jay Franze 23:29

I will bring it to you. I will go get it right now.

Tiffany Mason 23:34

How would you say it?

Jay Franze 23:36

Bring me the horizon.

Tiffany Mason 23:37

Bring me the horizon. Bring me the horizon.

Jay Franze 23:42

I was just like, damn, should I be doing something?

Tiffany Mason 23:45

Yeah, go get the damn horizon.

Jay Franze 23:47

All right.

Tiffany Mason 23:49

Okay, Metallica is proving longevity with continued global demand. Metallica's touring machine shows zero signs of slowing down. Their catalog remains a cornerstone of both classic and modern rock playlists.

Jay Franze 24:04

Not quite a legacy act yet.

Tiffany Mason 24:06

Not quite there. But speaking of legacy and speaking of Green Day, they are also global. I was looking at their tour dates and they will be over in some towns. You know, like when we abbreviate like MA Massachusetts, FL, Florida. They had some abbreviations and I didn't, I didn't. No.

unknown 24:25

No.

Question of the Day

Tiffany Mason 24:26

Nothing registered. Blank. Okay, last but not least, Shinedown. They're maintaining their radio dominance with consistent hits. Shinedown continues to rack up radio success with the single Searchlight hitting number one on both Media Bases Active Rock and Billboard's mainstream rock airplay charts. And that's the news we decided you should know.

Jay Franze 24:54

Moving on to the question of the day. Question of the day comes from Julie. If you would like to submit a question for the question of the day, please send it to feedback at jfranzi.com. But tonight's question: who is the best drummer of all time? That is who is the best drummer of all time? It is a competition. Miss Tiffany, would you like to go first? Or would you like to go last?

Tiffany Mason 25:19

I will go first. I will make a butt of myself. And I will say, I'm not sure if it's like the best drummer, but what I'm most impressed with was the guy who lost his arm and then he played with his feet.

Jay Franze 25:32

Oh is it Def Leopard? Def Leopard, yeah.

Tiffany Mason 25:34

Yeah. I appreciate his per his perseverance and his tenacity, and he was like, I don't need arms.

Jay Franze 25:42

He has one.

Tiffany Mason 25:43

One, yeah.

Jay Franze 25:45

But yeah, uh Mutt Lang helped him build out that kit and make it so he didn't have to leave the band because he expected to leave, the band wouldn't let him leave. So I'll give the band that that they and said, no, we'll figure out a way around it.

unknown 26:00

Yeah.

Jay Franze 26:00

I'm with you. I don't think he's the best drummer in the world, but uh you know he plays some good music and he does have the tenacity there for sure.

Tiffany Mason 26:09

Yeah.

Jay Franze 26:10

Alright, do you want my answer now or would you like it at the end?

Tiffany Mason 26:14

Bring me your answer.

Jay Franze 26:19

Alright. I'm gonna go Miss Tiffany fashion, and I have two answers.

SPEAKER_06 26:24

Oh touche.

Jay Franze 26:27

I have two answers. They have one, by far, in my opinion, the best drummer that I've ever seen.

unknown 26:33

Okay.

Jay Franze 26:34

And they have another one that impresses me because of the way they play the drums.

Tiffany Mason 26:38

Can I guess on the second one?

Jay Franze 26:40

Sure.

Tiffany Mason 26:41

Is it Cersei?

Jay Franze 26:42

It is Cersei with Melanie Kramer on the drum kit. The reason it impresses me is because she plays standing up while singing lead and playing flute, and she plays the bass guitar on trigger pads and tambourine and whatever else she needs to do. The woman is amazing with being able to do all that stuff while singing and performing and controlling an audience.

Tiffany Mason 27:10

Hearing all that, I would love to see the scan on her brain. Like her whole brain has to be lit up.

Jay Franze 27:15

It's amazing. I mean, it's truly amazing watching her play and play flute and then just right back into singing lead.

Tiffany Mason 27:23

I can barely read the screen and talk to all you. I can't call you guys.

Jay Franze 27:28

I sit down behind a drum kit. I can barely get my two hands to do what they're supposed to do, let alone add my feet.

Tiffany Mason 27:34

Right?

Jay Franze 27:35

All right.

Tiffany Mason 27:36

Yeah, impressive. Okay, so who's your technically good person?

Jay Franze 27:39

This is the person I think is truly the best drummer in the world. El Esteperio Superiano. This man.

Tiffany Mason 27:46

I feel like you're just pranking me. Are you choosing this name? Because I'm gonna have to say it later in the list.

Jay Franze 27:53

No, but that's a good point. This man is by far the most amazing drummer I've seen in ages. I discovered him on TikTok, which I'm sure anybody else who knows who he is, that's probably where they came across him as well. But the man is amazing.

Tiffany Mason 28:10

What would I look for as a novice looking at a drummer? What am I looking for that I go, ooh, okay, I see what Jay was talking about.

Jay Franze 28:18

Alright. Well, a couple things. When I look for a good drummer, the most important thing is time. They have to be able to keep solid time, no matter what. I don't care if it's flashy performance or if it is just as boring as can be. You have to be able to do the job, and the job is to keep time. So I want you to be a metronome when it comes to performing. Past that, then it's just style. You know, what kind of style of a drummer are you? What can you play? A lot of people are probably going to reference tool because of how technical the music is, which is very impressive that somebody can play that kind of technically proficient performances. So I think that's cool. But with this person So sorry, really quick.

Tiffany Mason 29:05

So different time signatures, they would be the one that would be in control of that time signature.

Jay Franze 29:10

Yeah. I mean, they're laying down the foundation of it.

Tiffany Mason 29:13

I mean, they're like, okay, right here is where we switch and we go to the new time time.

Jay Franze 29:17

Time signature.

Tiffany Mason 29:18

Thank you. Time signature.

Jay Franze 29:19

This particular person, Saberiano, can do all of that one-handed while drinking a cup of coffee and smoking a cigarette. I mean, he's pure flash. If you watch him, it's speed and flash, but he never once loses time.

Tiffany Mason 29:37

Okay, I'm so sorry. Is flash a technical term? Or flash is like pizzazz?

Jay Franze 29:44

Pizzazz.

Tiffany Mason 29:44

Okay, okay. I'm not trying to like I'm trying to understand Tom Foolery where he's you know smoking a cigarette or drinking a cup of coffee.

Jay Franze 29:52

I mean, he's playing one-handed, playing some of the fastest drumming you'll ever see in your life, while on the other hand, it's as slow as can be, picking up a cup of coffee and sipping it, putting it down, getting a cigarette, lighting it, and smoking that, and then goes back to playing the drums.

Tiffany Mason 30:07

Okay, so if any of the crew members, if we have just like such a brilliant mind and they know why or how a brain can do that, we want the explanation.

Jay Franze 30:17

We want to know. We want to know why or how.

Tiffany Mason 30:19

Bring us the explanation. Bring us the reasoning.

Jay Franze 30:22

All right, so let's move on. Let's get to this list. Let's start with Jerry Rabus. He's back again. Thank you, Jerry.

SPEAKER_05 30:31

Guess who's back?

Jay Franze 30:32

He gets his full name because he's father of Stephanie Rabus. Stephanie Rabus, previous guest of the show, looking for her to come back on. So I'm anxious for her to come back on. She either today or yesterday.

Tiffany Mason 30:44

Hinting that she's gonna come back.

Jay Franze 30:46

Well, today or yesterday, she's in the hospital with open heart surgery.

Tiffany Mason 30:51

Oh my goodness. Everybody be praying for her.

Jay Franze 30:54

She had open heart surgery as a young child. I don't know how old she was. Go back and listen to our episode, she probably says the age then, but she's in the hospital again, hopefully, which is just a minor adjustment due to you know age. And she will be back in battery soon enough. But Jerry Rabus says, I've always enjoyed listening to Anton Figg. He plays a lot with Joe Bonamasso.

SPEAKER_04 31:22

Okay.

Jay Franze 31:24

I don't know if I would consider that the best ever.

Tiffany Mason 31:28

But Wow, you hear that, Jerry? Yeah.

Jay Franze 31:31

Just because he shares the same name does not mean he gets special treatment. Next, Josh says, best question mark? That's tough. Okay. He says, however, I think when it's all said and done, I'm gonna go with Danny Carey from Tool.

SPEAKER_04 31:49

Oh, well, there it is.

Jay Franze 31:52

He will go down in history as the greatest drummer ever. However, he still feels it's a three-way tie between Pert, Copeland, and Bonham.

SPEAKER_05 32:02

Oh wow.

Jay Franze 32:03

Neil Pert, drummer of Rush, Stephen Copeland, drummer of the police, and John Bonham, drummer of Led Zeppelin. But he's going with Danny from Tool.

SPEAKER_05 32:15

Okay.

Jay Franze 32:16

Lord Michael. Lord Michael says Cozy Cole. Old jazz drummer. Mike says Matt Gretter. Mark, the Mark. Mark Bodalato, previous guest of the show, says Neil Pert. I will be surprised if that name does not come up one or two more times here.

SPEAKER_04 32:40

Who was his bandigan?

Jay Franze 32:42

Rush.

SPEAKER_04 32:44

And who was Stephen Copeland?

Jay Franze 32:46

The police.

SPEAKER_04 32:48

And who was John Bonham?

Jay Franze 32:50

Led Zeppelin. Mr. Botilato chimes in, capital letters. The. Giuseppe. Giuseppe says John Bonham. Paul says John Bonham. Michael, the Michael, Michael D.

SPEAKER_02 33:13

D.

Jay Franze 33:14

says he's hardly ever mentioned, but I'm going to go with Jeff Pocara. He's from the band Toto. He is a session musician out of Los Angeles. He's an amazing drummer. I mean, absolutely amazing. The reason he's probably not ever mentioned is because he's a session player, most people aren't going to really know who he is. But the band Toto was a supergroup made up of session players from Los Angeles.

Tiffany Mason 33:42

Well, I think if you're a session player, you're probably pretty good.

Jay Franze 33:46

Oh yeah. There's some really good session players that nobody knows who they are. It's kind of like the songwriters from the earlier list. And then Scott says, Michael, yes, Rosanna. That shuffle is his claim to fame.

Tiffany Mason 34:02

Got moves.

Jay Franze 34:03

He's got moves.

Tiffany Mason 34:05

He knows how to use them.

SPEAKER_05 34:08

Don't get carried away. I already did.

Jay Franze 34:13

Carol says Stone Carter. Anthony says, he says, Vinny, Steve, Dave, and Buddy are the Mount Rushmore of drummers. Derek says Neil Purt. Brian says Neil Purt. Kim says Karen Carpenter.

Tiffany Mason 34:32

Was she a drummer?

Jay Franze 34:33

I believe she was.

Tiffany Mason 34:35

Oh.

Jay Franze 34:36

Delilah, otherwise known as Meyer Project Music, previous guest of the show, says Gavin Harrison. And then she repeats it. Gavin Harrison. No doubt.

Tiffany Mason 34:50

Little emphasis there.

Jay Franze 34:51

No, the first one she was tagging him. Deb says Neil Purt. Ricky says, me, and nobody can play guitar better than me. I'm very serious.

SPEAKER_04 35:07

Wow. So tag us on the video, prove it.

Jay Franze 35:12

Yeah, we're gonna need some proof behind all this stuff.

Tiffany Mason 35:16

Put your plan where your mouth is. Shut up and put your money where the mouth is where my mouth is.

Jay Franze 35:24

Craig Franzi, my brother, chiming in.

SPEAKER_05 35:29

Whoa.

Jay Franze 35:30

I think this is funny. My brother has no musical inclination. Doesn't care about music, doesn't pay attention to music, doesn't know anything about music. And he picked Siberiano and tagged it with a video. So I'm sure he's a big thing.

SPEAKER_06 35:49

Oh my gosh, you feel so proud?

Jay Franze 35:51

I'm sure he saw him on TikTok. But yes, hey, he's pretty good. There you go.

Tiffany Mason 35:57

The Franzi boys are staying strong together.

Jay Franze 36:00

I like it.

SPEAKER_04 36:02

I do too.

Jay Franze 36:04

Um, Scott says, of course, Neil. That's Scott McCree, brother of Maddie McCree. Just throwing that out there. You could have said Andy Hull, the drummer from Maddie McCree's record. Andy Hull, I don't know if I would say the best drummer ever, but he's one of the best ever. He's a session player out of Nashville. He's also on the road with Clint Black right now. He played on Maddie McCree, Scott's brother's record. And I was able to be lucky enough to produce that record with Jim Cristaldi. And Andy is not only one of the best session players, but he's like one of the best personalities. He likes to joke, have fun. And I would hire him over and over and over again. If I were putting a record together today, Andy would be my first phone call.

Tiffany Mason 36:56

Huh. But yet he wasn't the one that you suggest.

Jay Franze 37:00

No. Because I don't think he's as technically I don't think anybody is as technically good as Siberiano.

SPEAKER_05 37:08

Yeah.

unknown 37:09

Okay.

Jay Franze 37:11

Mr. Botellato is chiming in with Neil, is often referred to as your favorite drummer's favorite drummer.

Tiffany Mason 37:19

Oh, interesting. Okay. Love it.

Jay Franze 37:23

Alright. Scott. Another Scott. Different Scott. Not the Scott. But a different Scott.

Tiffany Mason 37:30

Thank you for clarifying for me.

Jay Franze 37:32

He says Neil. He also says Buddy Rich, Mike Porternoy, Carter, Buford, Danny Carey, Dave Weckle, John Bonham, Keith Moon, Clyde Stumblefield, Stuart Copeland. No question. Neil needs to be at the top of this list. Alright. That's our list.

Tiffany Mason 37:58

Okay. A lot of people pick Neil.

Jay Franze 38:00

Give us the top five and we'll just narrow it down.

Tiffany Mason 38:03

Okay, well, I don't really know what they are. So Sabero Saberiano.

Jay Franze 38:07

He's my pick for number one, but he hasn't performed on a record that anybody would know about. So I'm gonna take him off the list.

Tiffany Mason 38:16

Oh my gosh. Okay, Franzi Brothers pick us out.

SPEAKER_04 38:20

Then I have Danny Carey, Neil Purt, uh, Steven Copeland, John Bonham.

Jay Franze 38:28

Let's let's stop at Bonham.

SPEAKER_04 38:30

Okay.

Jay Franze 38:31

I would put Copeland, unfortunately, at the bottom of the list.

SPEAKER_04 38:35

Okay, so he's number four.

Jay Franze 38:38

Then who do we have? Bottom versus who?

Tiffany Mason 38:40

Um Bonham versus Neil Pert or Danny Carey?

Jay Franze 38:46

So Bonham, I would say, is number three. Neil Pert would be number two, and Danny Carey would be number one.

Tiffany Mason 38:56

Okay, so the final results are Danny Carey number one, Neil Purt number two, Jeff Bonham number three, and Stephen Copeland number four. And that is your list, according to Jay Franzi.

Jay Franze 39:09

However, Saberiano.

Tiffany Mason 39:13

Let's put him as five, like an honorable mention.

Countdown

Jay Franze 39:16

I don't know. He's amazing. Let's move on to the countdown.

Tiffany Mason 39:25

All right. Well, in country music, in spot number 10, we have I Got a New One by Elizabeth Nichols. In spot number nine, we have Bottom of Your Boots by Ella Langley. That is a cute song. From the bottom of the boots to the tip of your hat. Cute song. Everybody go check it out. Okay, spot number eight, Change My Mind by Riley Green.

Jay Franze 39:48

I like it.

Tiffany Mason 39:49

I like it. Spot number seven, What He'll Never Have by Dylan Scott. And I know I've been, you know, having a beef about how it starts, but Song in concert. I mean, the overall message is pretty freaking good. So I'm trying to let it go. So I can, because I do love, you know, I love you more than what he'll never love you as much. So let it go, Elsa.

Jay Franze 40:10

Let it go.

Tiffany Mason 40:13

Okay, and spot number six is Brunette by Tucker Watmore.

Jay Franze 40:17

Miss Tiffany, have you listened to that song yet?

Tiffany Mason 40:22

In the panic and scrambling, getting ready for the show, I thought, you may ask me. So I gave her a listen. Guys, crew members, I totally know this song. Just like Jay's been saying for weeks.

Jay Franze 40:37

You can't not know it. If you listen to the radio at all, it's on every other song.

Tiffany Mason 40:42

It's true. It's true. Okay, spot number five is The Fall by Cody Johnson. Spot number four is I Got Better by Morgan Wallen. Spot number three is Days Like These by Luke Combs. My girl, Ella hanging in their strong. Spot number two with choosing Texas.

Jay Franze 41:05

It's not the same. It's not the same if you you say the name first. The drum all leads up to the name.

Tiffany Mason 41:12

Oh, okay, okay, okay. Sorry.

Jay Franze 41:15

Wait, wait, wait. Tiffany, you're fired. Goodbye.

Tiffany Mason 41:19

Fair. And spot number one, Sleepless in a hotel room by Luke Combs.

Jay Franze 41:32

He deserves all the applause.

Tiffany Mason 41:35

Yeah, he does. Now, if we have a hand clap for our country charts, we should have like some kind of grunge guitar for our really.

Jay Franze 41:48

Keep thinking.

Tiffany Mason 41:49

Okay. I'll go back to the drawing board. Bring me the drawing board.

Jay Franze 41:57

It's next to the horizon.

Tiffany Mason 42:02

Spot number 10 is Name in Blood by Black Label Society. Spot number nine, twisting the knife by Ice Nine Kills, feature McKenna Grace. That in my brain feels like dyslexia in like hard play. That one I gotta say real slow. Okay.

Jay Franze 42:24

Ice nine kills.

Tiffany Mason 42:26

No. Ice nine kills. Uh-huh. Well. I'm gonna work on that. Okay. Numero 8. From me to you. By baby metal featuring Poppy. Spot number seven, look out for me. I warned you, look out. Because number six is kerosene by the warning. No.

unknown 43:04

No.

Tiffany Mason 43:05

But it's like look out for me, and kerosene's giving the warning. Well, really, the warning's giving kerosene. So anyways, anyways, okay. Spot number five. Who will you follow by Ephanescence?

Jay Franze 43:16

I'll follow Evanescence.

Tiffany Mason 43:19

Spot number four, Caramel by Sleep Token. Caramel. Caramel. Spot number three, Wake Up Calling by Papa Roach. And spot number two, your favorite toy by Foo Fighters.

Jay Franze 43:41

I thought you were telling me it's my favorite something.

SPEAKER_06 43:45

No.

Jay Franze 43:46

Then you said toy, I was like, whoa.

SPEAKER_06 43:49

Cut you off guard there.

Tiffany Mason 43:52

And thought number one, So Far, So Fake, by Pierce the Veil. Bella should be proud.

Jay Franze 44:04

It's not a bad song. Now, as far as an overall band, I don't know if I would get as into them as my daughter is.

Tiffany Mason 44:12

Mm-hmm.

Jay Franze 44:13

But when she plays them, that particular song.

Tiffany Mason 44:16

Sometimes when you know that like the person with you enjoys it so much, you're like, eh, I can get this. It's kind of like when you watch a show, like, I can't watch The Office by myself, but if anybody else wants to watch it with me, I'm in and I think everything's funny. But by myself, I'm probably not gonna put it on. It's a very same thing with music.

Jay Franze 44:36

But I could watch it.

Tiffany Mason 44:39

Well, just any show like that though. Like sometimes it's just the person in the room with you. So the fact that you know Bella likes Pierce the Veil so much, you're like, okay, I'll endure it. And then you're like, well, actually, I like it because she likes it, and okay, I like it.

Birthdays

Jay Franze 44:52

That particular song is probably my favorite of their songs. It's a pretty good song.

Tiffany Mason 44:58

Well, it's number one. Makes sense.

Jay Franze 45:00

Number one with the bullet.

Tiffany Mason 45:01

Number one.

Jay Franze 45:03

Moving on to birthdays.

Tiffany Mason 45:06

Birthdays.

Jay Franze 45:07

May birthdays. Tell us the zodiac signs.

Tiffany Mason 45:13

Yes. Okay. So in the month of May, we have two. We have the Tauruses, bringing us up to May 20th. It is an earth sign symbolized by the bull, known for being reliant, patient, and practical. They appreciate luxury, beauty, and sensory pleasures, and they are hardworking, loyal, and stable, yet can be stubborn, possessive, and resistant to change.

Jay Franze 45:40

All right. Let's see if these people fit into that category.

Tiffany Mason 45:43

Okay, okay, okay. Bring me the Tauruses.

Jay Franze 45:46

Bring me the horizon. May 1st, Tim McGraw, born in 1967.

SPEAKER_05 45:56

Dang.

Jay Franze 45:57

I don't know if you're familiar with who Tim McGraw is, but he's a staple in the country music industry. He's also crossed over into television and movies.

Tiffany Mason 46:06

Okay. Interesting. Sounds like he appreciates luxury then, probably.

Jay Franze 46:11

I'm sure he enjoys the finer things in life.

Tiffany Mason 46:14

Mm-hmm. Sensory pleasures, if you will.

Jay Franze 46:16

Yes. Married Faith Hill.

Tiffany Mason 46:18

Well, sensory pleasure.

Jay Franze 46:20

Rita Coolidge, born in 1945.

SPEAKER_05 46:25

Okay.

Jay Franze 46:26

The reason she's on the list is because she crosses both country and rock. She is a legend. May 2nd. Used to be my dog's birthday. I guess it's still a dog's birthday, but my dog's no longer here. So however, May 2nd. Engelbert Humperdink, 1936. Why is that on this list? I don't know. It says not strictly country or rock, but has some crossover relevance.

SPEAKER_05 47:00

He's got a humdinger of a name, that's for sure.

Jay Franze 47:03

Have you never heard of him?

SPEAKER_05 47:05

Yeah, I have.

Jay Franze 47:06

Okay, I was like, whoa. Alright, May 3rd, Christopher Cross. I like Christopher Cross. You don't know Christopher Cross?

Tiffany Mason 47:15

No, sir.

Jay Franze 47:16

Oh, he sings the song Sailing.

SPEAKER_02 47:20

Takes me away.

Jay Franze 47:21

Sailing. He also sings the theme to Arthur, the movie. Soft Rock Classic.

Tiffany Mason 47:31

Okay, I know Sailing.

Jay Franze 47:32

He's an icon in the soft rock world. He is part of Yacht Rock.

Tiffany Mason 47:38

Oh, wow. Okay. Yacht Rock is real.

Jay Franze 47:42

Well, coming from the one with the yacht, I guess we can take your word on that. May 4th, Randy Travis, 1959.

Tiffany Mason 47:52

Okay. I see hardworking, loyal, stable.

Jay Franze 47:54

Yeah. May 5th, Chris Brown, 1989.

Tiffany Mason 47:59

I see possessive there, yeah.

Jay Franze 48:03

Let's just keep going. May 6th, Bob Seeger.

SPEAKER_02 48:08

Ah.

Jay Franze 48:09

1945. May 7th, Tracy Lord.

Tiffany Mason 48:16

Mr. Lord. Mr. Lord himself.

Jay Franze 48:18

No, it's Tracy with an eye. Tracy Lords. Is that the porn star?

Tiffany Mason 48:24

Miss Oh, um, is it oh.

Jay Franze 48:29

Mark? Is Tracy Lords the porn star? Born in 1968. Mark says, yep.

Tiffany Mason 48:40

Oh gosh. Well, why is she on here? We're not doing porn stars.

Jay Franze 48:45

She had a minor crossover.

Tiffany Mason 48:47

And why do you know that, Jay?

Jay Franze 48:50

Why do you not? That was as famous of a name as Taylor Swift.

Tiffany Mason 48:59

Especially for a boy of your age at the time.

Jay Franze 49:02

And she crossed over into MTV and she had shows. I mean, she was a big deal.

SPEAKER_06 49:08

Okay.

Jay Franze 49:09

She she worked her way out of the porn industry.

SPEAKER_06 49:12

Good for her.

Jay Franze 49:14

One step.

Tiffany Mason 49:16

Because she's hardworking.

Jay Franze 49:19

She was, and Mark, please correct me if I'm wrong. I believe she was most popular because her porn started when she was underage.

SPEAKER_05 49:28

Oh gosh.

Jay Franze 49:29

And then she was um, I don't know, very famous in that world. Yes, Mark started at 16.

SPEAKER_05 49:38

Okay.

Jay Franze 49:40

She lied about her age and started. No, I can't even imagine that. Nope. Moving on. May 9th, Billy Joel, 1949.

SPEAKER_05 49:51

Oh wow.

Jay Franze 49:52

May 10th, Bono, 1960.

SPEAKER_05 49:56

Okay.

Jay Franze 49:58

May 11th, Eric Burden, 1941. He's a classic rock pioneer. I don't know who he is. Sorry. Sorry, Eric. May 12th, Steve Winwood, 1948. May 13th, Stevie Wonder, 1950. May 14th, Jack Bruce, 1943. He's a member of Cream. A rock band with Eric Clapton.

SPEAKER_05 50:27

Okay.

Jay Franze 50:28

May 15th, George Strait. Born in 1952.

Tiffany Mason 50:34

Born with good genes.

Jay Franze 50:36

Wranglers. It's listed here as the king of country. They were talking on the radio today about popularity of country artists and everything, and they brought up George Strait and they said nobody can say a bad word about George Strait. I've never heard anybody say a bad word about George Strait.

Tiffany Mason 50:54

What an awesome reputation. He's been in the biz forever. He's rubbed elbows with a million people, worked with a million musicians.

Jay Franze 51:00

60 number one hits.

Tiffany Mason 51:02

Yeah, ain't nobody got nothing bad to say. That's amazing.

Jay Franze 51:06

Same day, May 15th, Brian Eno, 1948. May 16th, Janet Jackson, 1966. Says not country or rock, but does have some real uh crossover relevance.

SPEAKER_03 51:23

Okay.

SPEAKER_06 51:25

If they say so.

Jay Franze 51:27

May 17th, Trent Reznor, 1965. Nine inch nails.

SPEAKER_06 51:35

Okay.

Jay Franze 51:36

Same day, May 17th, Jordan Knight, 1970. May 18th, Reggie Young, 1936. He was a famous session player in Nashville.

Tiffany Mason 51:47

Almost a hundred years.

Jay Franze 51:50

Almost. You're good at math. On the fly tonight.

Tiffany Mason 51:56

Every once in a while.

Jay Franze 51:57

I didn't even see you break out a calculator.

Tiffany Mason 51:59

No, no, no fingers, no calculator.

Jay Franze 52:02

Anyways, credit to him. He was a legendary Nashville session player.

Tiffany Mason 52:06

Cool.

Jay Franze 52:08

May 19th, Pete Townsend, 1945. Member of the Who.

SPEAKER_05 52:13

That's what I was gonna say.

Jay Franze 52:14

Yeah. Who?

SPEAKER_05 52:17

Pete Townsend.

Jay Franze 52:19

May 20th. Joe Cocker, 1944. He's awesome.

Tiffany Mason 52:25

Uh-huh.

Jay Franze 52:26

Alright, that brings us to The Gemini.

Tiffany Mason 52:29

The Gemini. May 21st, the Geminis take over, and they are an air sign characterized by intellectual curiosity, adaptability, and high energy communication, often represented by the twins. They are quick-witted, sociable, versatile, yet can be restless, indecisive, and inconsistent due to their dual nature. I may be a Gemini.

Jay Franze 52:57

When you say the twins, are you referring to the Olsen twins?

Tiffany Mason 53:02

I don't know. It just says represented by quote unquote the twins. Maybe because it's saying they have a dual nature.

Jay Franze 53:09

The jokes aren't funny if you don't get them. The Olson twins.

Tiffany Mason 53:14

You say the Olsen twins?

unknown 53:16

Yeah.

Jay Franze 53:17

Not funny if you have to explain it.

Tiffany Mason 53:19

I mean, they're not in rock or country, so.

Jay Franze 53:23

Mark helper brother out. Olson twins, did that come across as funny? Was that funny? Aha. Or funny awkward.

SPEAKER_05 53:32

If you have to ask it.

Jay Franze 53:33

Because it's starting to feel awkward. I don't typically feel like I have to ask because you just don't get a lot of the jokes, but now I'm starting to feel like I have to ask it. May 21st, Ron Isley, 1941. May 22nd, Morsi, 1959. May 23rd, Jewel, 1974.

Tiffany Mason 53:53

Ah, I just heard some of her music today.

Jay Franze 53:56

Also on the 23rd, Phil Selway.

unknown 54:00

Mr.

Jay Franze 54:00

Bodalotto says it wasn't bad, but it wasn't your best.

Tiffany Mason 54:06

That's a true friend.

Jay Franze 54:08

Just calling it like he sees it. It wasn't bad, see? You just didn't get it.

SPEAKER_06 54:13

No, I definitely heard it.

Jay Franze 54:14

I just didn't get it.

SPEAKER_06 54:16

No.

Jay Franze 54:16

It's all right for you to say. Oh, May 24th, Bob Dylan. Or as Bob would say, because he doesn't enunciate. See? You got that one. May 25th, Tom T. Hall. The other one would have been funny too if you understood it.

SPEAKER_06 54:36

No, it would have it wasn't really.

Jay Franze 54:40

He's a storyteller. Moving on, May 26th, Stevie Nicks, 1948. You can't phone a friend now. We've already passed it. Besides, Miss Kathy sticks with me. Miss Kathy, you're welcome to chime in if you stick with me.

Tiffany Mason 54:57

Not funny, Mom. It was not.

Jay Franze 55:00

May 26th, Stevie Nicks, 1948. May 26th, Hank Williams Jr., 1949, one year after Miss Stevie Nicks. May 27th.

Tiffany Mason 55:11

I miss Stevie Stevie Nicks. May what?

Jay Franze 55:17

May 26th, Stevie Nicks, 1948. I don't know if you know, but she's a member of the band Fleawood Mac.

SPEAKER_05 55:23

Oh, okay.

Jay Franze 55:25

Also on the 26th, Hank Williams Jr., 1949. Your mother says, I didn't get it either. Sorry, Jay. So I'm just saying it's running in your family. At least Mark got it.

Tiffany Mason 55:37

Maybe it's girl brain versus boy brain.

Jay Franze 55:39

I'm just saying Mark may not have thought it was funny, but he got it. May 27th, Lee Bryce, 1979.

Tiffany Mason 55:49

Bing we will say. I feel like Lee Bryce mom, you could be Lee Bryce's mom.

Jay Franze 55:58

I feel like Lee Bryce is a lot older than I am.

Tiffany Mason 56:02

Yeah.

Jay Franze 56:04

But yet he's not.

Tiffany Mason 56:07

I thought he was older too.

Jay Franze 56:09

He just looks that way. May 28th, Gladys Knight, 1944. May 29th, Melissa Etheridge, 1961. May 30th, Wynona Judd, 1964. May 31st, Clint Black, 1962. And for whatever reason, we're gonna close it out, bring it in, say goodbye. With Brooke Shields, 1965.

SPEAKER_06 56:38

That rocker.

Jay Franze 56:41

It says, not music.

SPEAKER_06 56:44

They did that last time too. Last last time.

unknown 56:47

Oh.

Jay Franze 56:47

Well then let's include her on this list.

Mailbag

SPEAKER_06 56:49

Yeah, yeah. What else?

Jay Franze 56:53

I don't know. All right. Well, let's move on to the mailbag.

SPEAKER_05 57:00

Mailbag.

Jay Franze 57:02

Nice.

unknown 57:03

I like it.

Jay Franze 57:05

Tyler. Tyler from Dayton, Ohio. Oh.

Tiffany Mason 57:09

Is that how they talk in Dayton?

Jay Franze 57:11

No. They actually don't, not even close. I know. There's no southern accent in Ohio.

Tiffany Mason 57:18

I'm sure there's if you were talking about Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi.

Jay Franze 57:24

Now you gotta list every one of them in order for it not to be offensive.

Tiffany Mason 57:28

No, that was it, Jay. That's the whole list.

Jay Franze 57:32

Tyler from Dayton, Ohio. Ohio. This could not be more fitting than tonight. I love the way you guys read. Well, kind of read the headlines. Don't clean it up too much. I love the raw edge. Thank you, Tyler. I don't think you have to worry about us cleaning it up because I don't think we can get any better. Not at all.

Tiffany Mason 57:59

We will not become too sterile.

Jay Franze 58:02

We will not learn how to read overnight, trust me.

Tiffany Mason 58:06

If we don't know it by now.

Jay Franze 58:09

Rick Strings. I was about to read his last name. Rick Strings. Let's just go with Rick Strings. Strings and quotes. You've got a great air, man. I love your take on production. Nice. He likes the way you talk about production.

Tiffany Mason 58:23

I have a way about me. All my knowledge.

Jay Franze 58:29

You are very knowledgeable, I'll give you that. Don't get jokes, but you're very knowledgeable.

unknown 58:34

Oh God.

Jay Franze 58:35

Mr. Botelato says, I've been trying to get Jay to read for over 40 years. Not happening. Couldn't read in school, can't read now.

Tiffany Mason 58:44

You know what they say? Can't teach an old dog new tricks.

Jay Franze 58:47

However, I've written a book or two.

Tiffany Mason 58:50

For others to read. You can read it.

Jay Franze 58:53

I want to read.

Tiffany Mason 58:56

Those who cannot do teach.

Jay Franze 58:58

And I will tell you, even though I wrote the book, I haven't read the book. I have my computer read them to me.

SPEAKER_06 59:05

Well, whatever.

Jay Franze 59:06

It's like books on tape. Devin from Fort Worth, Texas, says, let's just face it, radio F and sucks.

Tiffany Mason 59:15

Oh, I don't know.

SPEAKER_06 59:18

I like, I like the uh I like the DJs.

Jay Franze 59:21

I will say the DJs aren't the same as they used to be. They have no freedom whatsoever. All they're allowed to do is introduce a song or introduce something and read an ad. Unless it's a true talk show, you're really missing that.

Tiffany Mason 59:35

Yeah, and they're really not disc jockeys anymore either. Where they're choosing the music, you know, like it's chosen for them.

Jay Franze 59:41

Yeah. In most cases, radio does F and suck. Thank you, Deborah.

Tiffany Mason 59:46

I'm always streaming.

Jay Franze 59:49

Marcus from Chicago, four hours to my north, says.

Tiffany Mason 59:55

To your north.

Jay Franze 59:56

Love the show.

Tiffany Mason 59:58

To your west.

Jay Franze 59:59

Well, if you want to be technical, you could say northwest. However, it's almost due north.

Tiffany Mason 1:00:05

Isn't Canada due north for you?

Jay Franze 1:00:08

Yes. Yes, it is.

SPEAKER_05 1:00:10

Well, Illinois is not above you.

Jay Franze 1:00:12

Canada's due north for all of us here in the States. Unless we're gonna go outside of the mainland. But yes.

Tiffany Mason 1:00:20

Okay, I'm gonna look at a map. Keep reading.

Jay Franze 1:00:24

Please look at a map. Geography, not your strong point.

Tiffany Mason 1:00:27

I don't know how it's north of you.

Jay Franze 1:00:29

Oh, Lord in heaven above. All right. Moving on. Kayla from Louisville. If an independent artist does blow up on TikTok, what should their next move be? Should it be a label deal or should they stay indie? Well.

Tiffany Mason 1:00:47

Some biscuit. It's basically north.

Jay Franze 1:00:52

Well, thank you.

Tiffany Mason 1:00:53

I cannot believe that.

Jay Franze 1:00:56

And so's Canada.

SPEAKER_06 1:00:58

Jerk. Jay, ha ha ha. You're fired.

Jay Franze 1:01:05

Yeah, I'm fired. We should go back to those buttons. I should tee those up and get those ready.

SPEAKER_05 1:01:10

Yeah.

Jay Franze 1:01:11

Kayla, if an independent artist does blow up on TikTok, should they go for a record deal or should they stay indie? We talk about it all the time. If you blow up on TikTok, unless you truly know what you're doing, you already have a band together, you're already touring, you're already doing all the things, there's no point of you know, if if you have all those things, there's no point of going for the record deal. If you don't have all those things, then I would say you should probably go for the record deal. Because you're not going to be able to do all those things on your own. So if you are lucky enough to blow up, if you have everything in line already, stay indie. If you blow up and you don't have those things in line, go with the record deal.

Tiffany Mason 1:01:52

I agree.

Jay Franze 1:01:54

Good. Amber. Do you know Amber? She's from Jacksonville.

SPEAKER_05 1:02:00

Oh, no.

Jay Franze 1:02:02

This is Amber from Jacksonville. Tiffany, don't let Jay bully you. You're the reason I stick around. And then she has a smiley face laughing with tears coming from the eyes.

Tiffany Mason 1:02:17

Oh wow. Probably from all my knowledge. Especially geographical knowledge.

Jay Franze 1:02:22

Yes, it's making her laugh for sure. Red line Josh. Redline Josh.

Tiffany Mason 1:02:31

Don't look at me. Oh, Redline Josh.

Jay Franze 1:02:35

Thank you for joining us, Josh. I appreciate you being here. What actually matters more in 2026? Streams or ticket sales? Depends on what you're trying to do. I would prefer ticket sales. Ticket sales means you're performing. It means you're out on the road, means you're building a fan base, means you're doing all the things you should be doing. And if you're getting the ticket sales, that is more of a draw to a label, or even if you want to stay indie, because you're making money, or at least potentially making money if you're doing things correctly. Streams might get your name out there. You know, you might make a few shekels with your 0.003 cents per download or stream. But it's not going to get you a career where ticket sales means you got a career going.

Tiffany Mason 1:03:22

Or a mansion.

Jay Franze 1:03:23

Or a mansion.

Tiffany Mason 1:03:24

Or an escalade. Or an escalade.

Jay Franze 1:03:29

Or because that's that's the vehicle you see, I'd imagine.

Tiffany Mason 1:03:33

No, I was thinking about Bailey Zimmerman, what he bought for his mom.

Jay Franze 1:03:37

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 1:03:38

I remember that.

Tiffany Mason 1:03:40

Yeah, it just came to my mind.

Jay Franze 1:03:42

Eleanor from San Antonio, Texas.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:47

Okay.

Jay Franze 1:03:48

How much does image really matter anymore? Like, can a killer voice still win? Um, a killer voice should be all that matters. Image does matter, and it matters more in most cases. But the voice is what's going to keep you there. Image might get you there, voice keeps you there.

Tiffany Mason 1:04:08

Solid.

Jay Franze 1:04:09

That's my.003 cents.

Tiffany Mason 1:04:12

But Jay, we're not doing pennies anymore. So how many.003 senses do we need to do that?

Jay Franze 1:04:17

Just means we have to have a lot of my 0.003 senses in order to add up before I get paid out.

Tiffany Mason 1:04:24

Dang.

Jay Franze 1:04:25

It's the same as my streams. I don't get paid off.

Tiffany Mason 1:04:28

Before you get yourself a nickel.

Jay Franze 1:04:29

I have been working up my streams. I'm getting I mean, I've got a a lot, you know, racked up. I say a lot. I've probably earned$8 at this point. However, I don't know. I haven't checked it in ages. It might be might be nine by now. But either way, I haven't I haven't been paid anything.

SPEAKER_05 1:04:49

Yeah.

Jay Franze 1:04:50

You can rack them up all you want, doesn't mean you're gonna get paid. Brian from Pittsburgh. Have you ever been in a big session where a piece of gear has gone down? And if so, how did you handle it? Ooh, I've been in many, many sessions where a piece of gear has gone down where a tube microphone, the tube might, you know, go bad. I remember a session with Bob, uh very important session, a level session with a major artist, and had eight musicians in the room, and we were playing the music, and everything's going the way it should be going, and all of a sudden a headphone box went out, a cue box, and I had to replace it. So I ran out, replaced it, and then another one went out, and there were no more to replace it with. And I just remember Bob looking at me saying, Well, go give them yours. And I was like, Okay, and it was not just go give them yours, but go go now, make it happen. Time is money, and we're not gonna waste it. In those studios, the sessions are very expensive, so you want to how do you handle it? Handle it with speed. You want to be accurate, but you want to be fast because the money really does add up. And I had a very big lesson that day of how much the studio costs. You know, at that time the studios were about$1,500 a day. The musicians were each getting paid, you know, a few hundred dollars an hour or whatever it was, or a few hundred dollars for their session block, three-hour block. The cartrid companies get paid, the assistant gets paid, everybody gets paid, and if you add all that money up, it's several thousand dollars an hour. So if you spend an hour trying to fix a headphone box, you're wasting somebody's money. A lot of somebody's money.003.

Tiffany Mason 1:06:40

I mean, you've given a lot. You might be up to two cents by now.

Jay Franze 1:06:44

Yeah, close. And wrapping it up with Cody. Cody from Boise.

Tiffany Mason 1:06:55

The Idaho area.

Jay Franze 1:06:57

The Idaho area. Tiffany, get fired.

SPEAKER_06 1:07:02

Why am I fired? I was right.

Jay Franze 1:07:04

You were right, yes.

SPEAKER_06 1:07:06

I still get fired.

Jay Franze 1:07:08

Cody says, Is country rock? In quotes, country rock. Not country, not rock, but country rock. Is country rocking of the two actually becoming its own lane? Or is it just a phase? Dear God, I hope it's becoming its own lane. I like it.

Tiffany Mason 1:07:28

I also feel like it's been around for a minute.

What's Going On

Jay Franze 1:07:30

Mr. Botilato, that was funny. For Miss Tiffany, he says, boisey, it's West.

Tiffany Mason 1:07:41

Thank you, Mark. I can be learned.

Jay Franze 1:07:48

All right. Well, that was fun.

Tiffany Mason 1:07:51

That was fun.

Jay Franze 1:07:52

What do you have going on this week?

Tiffany Mason 1:07:56

I am very excited on Monday, the fourth. I'm gonna go check out Pure Prairie League. There is a guy May 4th. Monday, May.

Jay Franze 1:08:08

May the fourth be with you too.

Tiffany Mason 1:08:10

Oh. Should I slip that in there? That's one of those, it's not as funny, so I kind of want to skip past it, but I gave you a courtesy laugh.

Jay Franze 1:08:18

Is that what it was?

Tiffany Mason 1:08:19

Yeah.

Jay Franze 1:08:20

Yeah.

Tiffany Mason 1:08:20

Anyhow.

Jay Franze 1:08:21

I don't think you know what a courtesy laugh is. You laugh at everything.

Tiffany Mason 1:08:25

Everything that's funny.

Jay Franze 1:08:28

I think it's more of everything.

Tiffany Mason 1:08:31

Okay, Pure Prairie League. They are gonna be performing on Monday at the Ponta Vidra concert hall. If you are in Ponta Vidra, Jacksonville area. They are a legacy band that Vince Gill used to sing in. And my guest on my podcast, his name is Jeff Zona, and he is now the lead singer for them. And he actually toured with Vince Gill for a while, and he toured with Lee Grimwood for a while. So now I'm gonna go check him out as the lead singer with his Aunt Jerry that we talked about in the episode as well. So that should be fun. What are you gonna be doing, Jay?

Jay Franze 1:09:06

I am gonna be going far, far away. Mr. Bottelato, listen up. If you would like to meet me, I will be driving to Boston this weekend. To the east. To the northeast.

Tiffany Mason 1:09:19

Okay, northeast. Fair enough. I can I can get on board with that.

Jay Franze 1:09:23

Not quite to Canada. Close, but not quite there. But I will be going up to Boston. If anybody has any shows or anything that you know of going on, I will be free on Saturday night to see a performance. Mr. Bodalato's chiming in. Yeah, it's a little on the opposite side of the country.

Tiffany Mason 1:09:52

Just hop in your car and drive over.

Jay Franze 1:09:55

Mr. Bodelato, you're welcome. He stop at Kelly's for me. I will not be stopping at Kelly's, sir. I am not a fan of Kelly's. Kelly's is Kelly's Roast Beef at Revere Beach. When Mark and I lived there, we ran into Eddie Van Halen at Kelly's Roast Beef. Driving a red Ferrari. He says friendship is over. But yes, Eddie Van Halen was there. I think Mark, correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't that the same time we went to see Monsters of Rock when Eddie Van Halen was at Kelly's Roast Beef? Kelly's Roast Beef is a they call it Kelly's famous roast beef. So it's very well known in that area, but I personally like the other places better. Like Bill and Bob's to me is better than Kelly's. Giovanni's is even better. So I will be stopping at Giovanni's. If it's still there, I heard it was closing. So my plan is roast beef first priority. When I go to Boston, it's all about food. I mean it's have to get the food that I can't get outside of outside of Boston.

unknown 1:11:07

Yeah.

Jay Franze 1:11:08

So it'll be roast beef, number one choice. Steak and cheese is another one. Chicken kebab is another one. I can get all of those items at Giovanni's if they're still there.

Tiffany Mason 1:11:18

I am from Iowa, which there's just basically like cow and pig there. And corn. And then met my husband, lived in Minnesota for a while, and it's like Ludafisk, okay? So there's no food, quote unquote, back home that I can't get here, except for now that you bring up corn, the corn is a joke down here. It's very thin compared to Iowa corn. Oh god, yum. Yeah.

Jay Franze 1:11:46

So what else would there be up there? Um, pizza. I want to go to Pizzeria Regina or Regina's pizzeria. New York style, Boston style. I'll bring up New York. It may be the same thing, but let's say Boston.

Tiffany Mason 1:12:02

Okay, well, tonight, Mr. Mason said, you want to go grab pizza, which he never says that. I think he's said that one time in our whole marriage, which was tonight. And so we went and it was Chicago style. And I was like, not excited about this. We did get margarita pizza though, and that was, you know, like New York style, so that was okay. It still wasn't New York style, it was like, I don't know, American style. But it was still okay. The crust was very good.

Jay Franze 1:12:29

Mr. Bottleato says Regina's for sure. It is the best, especially if you go to the north end, because then you get the experience. The north end is the little Italy of the Boston area, and it's a little corner restaurant that I mean when I say small, crammed with tables, and you can barely squeeze yourself in. To get into the restroom, you have to turn sideways to get into the rest of the restaurant.

Tiffany Mason 1:12:53

Yeah, those are the kind of places I like.

Jay Franze 1:12:55

I mean, yeah. It's awesome, and they're the type of restaurant that when you go in there, they don't take any crap. Get in, get out, order your stuff, and go. Mark says 100 plus years old. I took my wife to Boston and we went to Regina's Pizzeria, but we went in Faniel Hall. So Faniel Hall is this marketplace that has hundreds of food vendors just all one after another. And we went to Regina's. And I told my wife, I said, Look, just pick what you want and be ready. So I got up to the front of the line, I said, you know, take a slice and a soda or whatever I said, and they said, okay, go. My wife got up there and she goes, um, and they said, next. Just her saying, um, they said next. And they moved right past her. And she looked at me, she was all uh offended, and she goes, What are we gonna do now? I said, Well, I'm gonna go sit down and eat. You're gonna go to the back of the line and do it again.

SPEAKER_05 1:13:53

No, I would have I would have just said what I wanted. No, I would have pushed back.

Jay Franze 1:13:59

No, they wouldn't have taken it. But Mark, he just made my night. He says the AI overview says yes, Giovanni's roast beef and pizza on Lowell Street in PBD is still, in fact, open.

Tiffany Mason 1:14:11

Oh, wow.

Jay Franze 1:14:13

They are my favorites. All right. Holy cow.

Tiffany Mason 1:14:16

We'll expect to see it on the socials.

Jay Franze 1:14:18

That was a lot.

Tiffany Mason 1:14:19

That was a lot.

Jay Franze 1:14:20

That was a lot. All right. Before we go, Mr. Botelato, you have anything else to add? You could have just come on tonight at this point. All right, my friend. Shall we crash it?

Tiffany Mason 1:14:36

I see the warning lights.

Jay Franze 1:14:38

All right, folks. We have done it. We have reached the top of what hour are we at now? 16. Which does mean we have reached the end of the show. If you've enjoyed the show, please tell a friend and Miss Tiffany if you have not.

Tiffany Mason 1:14:49

Tell two.

Jay Franze 1:14:50

Well, tell them all at this point. Let's get some more people on here. Let's keep going. All right. You can reach out to both of us and Mark. What the hell? Mark will be over there too, jfranzi.com. We'll keep this and any other conversation going for that matter. Miss Tiffany, my friend, what say you?

Tiffany Mason 1:15:08

Well, we are out of here for tonight. We appreciate hanging out with us. Don't do anything we wouldn't do, and we will see you next week. And we would do a lot. Yeah.

Jay Franze 1:15:23

On that note, folks, have a good night.