Episode 011 - Soph Stafford

What happens when an Aussie music enthusiast falls for the American live music scene? Join us on this episode as Soph Stafford, our first international guest, shares her fascinating musical journey. Soph's story is fueled by a deep love for live shows, which for her means coming to the United States with her husband at least once a year to see concerts.

From bucket list dreams to backstage encounters with legends like Neil Finn, Def Leppard, and the Backstreet Boys, this episode celebrates the communal experiences and cherished memories that only live music can create. So, grab your tickets and your carry-on bag as we are in for a journey!

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Transcript

Alex Gadd 0:20

Welcome to the.

Alex Gadd 0:20

Rock-N- Roll Show Podcast. We are here to share the magic of experiencing live music together with strangers and with friends, and to get to know our guests a little bit better through their concert experiences. I'm your host, Alex Gadd, and I do this because, hey, I love talking about music with people. Finding out what band someone likes, what shows they've been to, allows us to get to know and understand one another a little bit better and, hey, I just love swapping stories about the shows that we've seen over the years. Today, I'm happy to introduce Soph Stafford to the podcast. Soph is our first international guest on the show. She hails from Australia. She has a very interesting history of seeing live music, which we're going to get right into. So, Soph, thanks for joining us.

Soph Stafford 1:01

Thank you for having me. I'm excited to be here.

Alex Gadd 1:04

I'd like to start just by finding out where you got your interest in music. Was music something that was always around? How did you get into music in the first place?

Soph Stafford 1:14

I was really lucky actually. So both my parents loved music and my grandmother, who I was really close with, also loved music, and they all loved different kinds of music. So I was exposed to, I guess, guess, a melting pot of different sounds from a really young age. Probably my earliest is sounds coming from the stereo in the lounge room at home and a little bit of maybe healthy competition between mum and dad about what played. My dad loves rock-n- roll, blues. He he's eight years older than my mom, so almost a different generation musically. And then my mom loves really eclectic stuff. So she loves everything from Dylan and Woody Guthrie to very classic country music, to gospel, to Elvis, to all kinds of different things, and my nan really loved the crooners. So I really got a nice exposure to music from a very young age.

Alex Gadd 2:16

Yeah, my exposure started with just being in the car with my parents and being subjected to whatever they listened to, and so I, very similarly, my mom was into rock and roll, my dad was into folk music and more the Americana type of music. I didn't get a lot of crooners. You mentioned a bunch of artists there, none of whom are Australian, but for someone who's American and doesn't know a ton about the Australian music scene, especially back in the 70s and 80s. What Australian music was the first to catch your ear or catch your fancy?

Soph Stafford 2:52

We actually didn't listen to heaps of Aussie music at home. There was an album that I think every 70s and 80s parent owned which was a collection of Banjo Patterson, who's a very iconic Aussie poet, his songs or his poetry put to music and I think every household had that. But we didn't listen to a lot of Aussie music at home, apart from Slim Dusty. So Slim Dusty was kind of, I guess, what we would deem to be our country superstar. So he was a country pioneer, probably on par with, maybe like a Hank Snow. He was a storyteller. He sang songs for truckers and farmers and kind of told the Aussie bush tales and things like that. So my mum liked him a little bit, but he never quite fell on my ears right. So even from a small child I would hear his music and cringe a little bit.

Alex Gadd 3:55

That may have been too old fashioned for you. By the time you were getting into music Did you have a first favorite band?

Soph Stafford 4:02

I think I did so. I remember really distinctly listening to a lot of Billy Joel as a kid. Mom used to blast Billy Joel and so I think that was probably the first sound that I remember really catching my ears. And also Fleetwood Mac was getting played a lot on the radio and and that was sort of the car sound. So the at home band that I heard first was probably Billy Joel and then, yeah, in the car it was very much Fleetwood Mac.

Alex Gadd 4:31

As an American I'm always. I know we talked about this when we first met. I'm very conscious not to assume that American culture is the dominant culture in other western countries, but it like at least for popular music. It really was down when you were a child.

Soph Stafford 4:47

Yeah, and look, there's a very thriving Aussie music scene. There's really iconic bands that we have that still tour today, that people really, really love. They've just never really appealed to me. So I think my ear has certainly caught the American sound more than maybe Aussie music, and probably I also love a little bit of the British invasion as well. So I mean, everyone loves the Beatles.

Alex Gadd 5:16

Right, me too. I almost wore a Beatles shirt today, but I don't know how you feel about the British flag.

Soph Stafford 5:20

I mean, I had to take a little minute and decide what t-shirt I was going to wear today as well, because I collect your t-shirt so I went with Willie Nelson can't go wrong, can't go wrong.

Alex Gadd 5:31

And he's playing this summer all across America. Yeah, okay, so let's get into your first show. Do you remember the first concert you went to?

Soph Stafford 5:40

absolutely so. Um, the first concert I went to was New Kids on the Block. I love a good boy band.

Soph Stafford 5:48

So they were probably my first act of musical rebellion, I would say, which sounds really lame when you think about them as a boy band, but in our household they were obviously a sound that my parents were hearing. So when I was maybe seven, eight, nine, ten, I started listening to popular radio and watching MTV and things like that, and once I saw boy bands I instantly fell in love, and so New Kids on the Block were the first concert I remember so clearly the tickets went on sale and obviously before the internet I had to go to a ticket booth. And clearly the tickets went on sale and obviously before the internet I had to go to a ticket booth and buy the tickets and I heard on the radio that the concert had sold out and my parents hadn't given me tickets and I think it's the first really spectacular tantrum I threw as a child.

Soph Stafford 6:39

My life is over. I'm not going to see New Kids of the Block. This is awful. The sky is falling and my parents just let it roll, and I went on for a long time and then eventually one of them went, and so I felt excited and foolish all at once yeah, that's a parent thing to do for sure yeah now.

Alex Gadd 6:59

Can you give me a time frame for that?

Soph Stafford 7:01

yeah, it would have been early 90s, like late 80s, early 90s, when they hit. I mean, down here shows go on sale a good 12 months before the artist actually tours. So I remember going to the show and I'd almost moved out of my New Kids on the Block phase by the time I got there. I was still really excited to go to the show and it was this heady mix of girls my age and a little bit older and dads who were reluctantly attending. So I remember my dad dozing off during the show.

Alex Gadd 7:37

I remember just thinking it was amazing so that is very interesting, that New Kids on the Block, for almost any of their fans appealed to a certain age person, and then they grow out of it, but then they'd come back to it later as the ultimate nostalgia music. So I'll ask you, do you now find a certain joy in listening to New Kids on the Block?

Soph Stafford 8:02

So I'm going to be totally honest. Even though they're my first love boy band, they're probably not my favorite boy band anymore, but I definitely do go and revisit that genre. I've seen Backstreet Boys maybe three or four times and yeah.

Alex Gadd 8:19

I love it? And did that also include NSYNC? Or were you not an into NSYNC?

Soph Stafford 8:23

No, not an NSYNC fan.

Alex Gadd 8:26

Did that expand to other pop music? Did that expand to Britney and Christina and the first real wave of millennium era pop princesses?

Soph Stafford 8:36

I think I was already into the pop music by the time those guys hit. They're a similar age group to me, so I was already maybe well into pop and then well out of pop by the time they hit um because you know in the in the intervening time between Britney and Christina and New Kids on the block, there was Nirvana right and that changed the world a little bit and so for me.

Soph Stafford 9:02

I went through a rebellion where I was like, oh, pop music. Now I've come full circle. It wasn't cool to like pop music. So, yeah, I liked Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins and all that kind of stuff. So, yeah, hearing the pop music then it. It really changed that experience for me, whereas now I can really appreciate pop music and I love it sure, sure.

Alex Gadd 9:30

So you went to see New Kids on the Block as a young kid, not with by yourself. I assume your parents had to take you to that

Soph Stafford 9:41

Yeah I think he drew the short straw.

Alex Gadd 9:44

Did you see other shows during your your high school years?

Soph Stafford 9:49

No. I mean living in Australia, right, we don't get a lot of big acts come down here, and when they do come down, the concerts sell out really quickly and the tickets are usually really expensive, and so they're not super accessible to fans. And so, no, I went on a concert drought for most of my teenage years, and then, once I started earning my own money and I could channel that in a way that made me happy, concerts were back on the agenda.

Alex Gadd 10:22

Right on. So did that take you around Australia pursuing concerts, or did you actually have to leave Australia? I know Australians are the first people to get on a plane and travel, so I know that you've since done a lot of traveling to chase music. Did that start when you were earning your own money right away, or did you have to build up to that?

Soph Stafford 10:42

I had to build up to that, so I had my kids really young, so I was a teenage mom, so that's where my focus was for a little minute there. I never moved away from music, but it's just not live music, because when you've got small kids, obviously it's not super accessible, but once they were old enough to be babysat, friends and I would go and see bands in Australia. So you know, Ben Harper and Jack Johnson and people like that would come down and tour and we could get their tickets. And Pearl Jam obviously tour a lot and so we could go and see them.

Soph Stafford 11:16

Really, what got me started on understanding that I had to go somewhere else to see the bands I love to see was back in 2010, 2011, a friend of mine won a trip to the American Music Award and so we got to go. We, we flew over to LA, we got to go in a limo, walk the red carpet and we what we didn't actually know was we'd be sitting front row at the American Music Award, and so we took our seats. And there we, sitting front row at the American Music Awards. And so we took our seats and there we are front row and the first thing that happened is Lionel Richie walked past and came and introduced himself and we were just starstruck and excited and it was an amazing experience.

Soph Stafford 11:59

We got to go backstage and into people's dressing rooms and all kinds of cool stuff and I realized this is where the fun is. I've got to come here to do this cool stuff and it took off from there. Okay, so this what would the next concert you saw after New Kids be? Oh, do you know? I probably think maybe Crowded House, which are an Aussie slash Kiwi band, but I know that they'd be over in the States as well so I think, probably would have been the next one, or maybe Ben Harper, maybe Jack Johnson.

Soph Stafford 12:37

There was a drought for a minute.

Alex Gadd 12:39

All right, did you ever play a musical instrument?

Soph Stafford 12:43

I did, but not well.

Alex Gadd 12:47

Okay, was that a school? Thing?

Soph Stafford 12:49

Yeah, it was a school thing. And I had a friend who was in a really musical family but they loved piano, accordion and harp and you know all these kind of not really grungy music things. So we used to noodle around. But yeah, I showed no affinity at all for musical instruments. I can't sing, I have no natural sense of rhythm whatsoever, I just know dissonable talent music at all.

Alex Gadd 13:21

But you have a great ear for what you love. Good, so let's get into traveling for music. So Australia to the States is usually LA correct. That's your easiest flight. What other countries have you flown to to see concerts?

Soph Stafford 13:38

Just the States, because Europe is really cost prohibitive. For us, the fares are more expensive, the accommodation is more expensive, so really, for us the States is where we head. And we like American artists, so it just makes sense to to come to you fair enough.

Alex Gadd 13:57

Do you remember the first trip to see a concert, or see concerts, because I assume you packed in more than one while you were here yeah, absolutely so.

Soph Stafford 14:05

There's been a few, and usually they end up back to back, so we'll get home and I'll go. I found this great show, hun and um, and that's how it all starts. The first show that we saw deliberately over there was the stones in Anaheim, which was really cool. We got to take my mom, who's a massive stones, and so that was a pretty unreal experience, um do you remember what year that was? That was probably 2013.

Exploring Live Music Across America

Alex Gadd 14:34

I think 2012, 2013, yeah okay, good, yeah, and that was, and so that was one shot in anaheim yeah, one shot and okay.

Soph Stafford 14:45

Then the music travel really started, I think, um, as soon as we visited Nashville and we realized how accessible music was, that started a whole chain of events. So the first show, the first big show that we saw in Nashville, was a tribute to Merle Haggard, and Merle died on, I think, his 79th birthday and then on his 80th birthday they put on this amazing event in Nashville and it had so many fantastic artists and we got really cheap seats I think they were like 45 US dollars each and for us, you know, we'd be paying 300 Aussie dollars here for something like that. So it was an amazing night. It was hours of music with all these incredible artists just paying tribute to Mel, and once we did that, once I started seeking out those sort of shows and that's where that hey found this cool thing. What do you reckon?

Soph Stafford 15:45

And my husband is just as irresponsible as I am. So we just flights and away we go.

Alex Gadd 15:51

That's excellent. How many shows in the States have you seen about? I don't need an exact number, but generally I think we're probably over 50 nice yeah, yeah and what cities have you gone to to see shows?

Soph Stafford 16:08

in Nashville, Louisville, Chicago, LA.

Alex Gadd 16:17

Phoenix.

Soph Stafford 16:18

Phoenix yeah, I know you've seen a show in Phoenix.

Alex Gadd 16:20

Have you ever been to New York?

Soph Stafford 16:21

Yeah, so we've never seen a show in New York, which is funny. Okay, my friend and I again won a holiday to New York in 2017. And we were staying right near time square and jerry lee lewis was supposed to be playing at B. B. King's blues club. So we went and bought tickets for that and then he cancelled on the day, which was a bit sad, but we came close to seeing summer cool in New York, but didn't quite make that.

Alex Gadd 16:49

but that club is closed now, which is terrible, I know, I know it's a shame.

Soph Stafford 16:54

It was a cute little venue.

Alex Gadd 16:56

Great club, yeah, great club. So we got to get you to New York. We have to get you to go to Madison Square Garden to see a show. That's the ultimate. We did try to get Billy Joel tickets but you know they were a little out of our price range.

Soph Stafford 17:14

They're a little pricey along with an airfare thrown in at a hotel.

Alex Gadd 17:16

Yeah, I can imagine. What band have you seen the most often?

Soph Stafford 17:21

Willie Nelson. It all started with that Merle Haggard show. I didn't actually know I liked Willie Nelson. My mom loves Willie Nelson and so he was just kind of a soundtrack to my younger years. But I didn't actually understand that I liked him until I saw him walk out on stage and from that first strum and that first note that he sang, I just got so emotional I'm crying. And that's the beautiful thing about going to live music, right it? It hits different and, um, I realized I loved him and needed to see a show of his. And that's often now where it comes to hey, hun, I've got these great tickets and so we've been really, really lucky.

Soph Stafford 18:12

We've got to go and see willie's 86th birthday celebration in nashville and I said great, okay now I've seen willie, I've seen him do a show, I've seen him do a big arena thing. That's cool. I, I've, I've done that, unless we got tickets to maybe his outlaw music festival or something. And then, funnily enough, I managed to get tickets for Outlaw Music Festival in Charlotte, and away we went again.

Alex Gadd 18:39

So you've been to Charlotte too. Yeah, north Carolina, okay good.

Soph Stafford 18:43

And then I got tickets again Whoops In Cincinnati so we had to go again.

Alex Gadd 18:49

That is fantastic. Those shows are great. That's what I want to see this year is the Outlaw Music Festival.

Soph Stafford 18:53

They're so fun, the atmosphere is awesome. They're usually in outdoor arenas and yeah, they're really cool.

Alex Gadd 19:01

Yeah, do you ever see live music? In what part of Australia do you live in?

Soph Stafford 19:06

We're in Melbourne, so we're down south.

Alex Gadd 19:08

Melbourne, okay yeah.

Concert Plans and Musical Experiences

Soph Stafford 19:16

So do they have a good music club scene in town of Melbourne now, look, live music has really really struggled post-pandemic in Australia. Um, venues have closed. I mean we were as a country we were sort of shut down for two years so there was no going in or out, our borders were closed and we couldn't gather in large groups for a really long time. So the live music scene was obviously deeply impacted by that, and so we're only just now starting to see shows, have a bit of life about them again. I remember the first show that we saw post lockdown. We drove to a little regional country town and went to a little tiny pub and saw this great old school blues musician called CW Stoneking. He's an Aussie guy from Perth and he's amazing. He's absolutely incredible, and so I've never been more grateful to see live music than being on such a long drought and then being able to see it again. So there is an Aussie music pub scene and little clubs, but it's not what it used to be no-transcript.

Alex Gadd 20:58

Do you have any plans to come back to the States to see a show this year?

Soph Stafford 21:04

I mean we just got home in April, but I do have my eye on a few events in August.

Soph Stafford 21:12

It just depends if we can build the bank balance up quickly enough to book it sure but yeah, there's an amazing show that's going on in la, I think it's right at the end of august, and it's a lot of the really big motown artists, so Diana Ross and Lionel Richie and Smoky Robinson, which I would just love to see, and then Reverend Al Green and Nile Rodgers and Chic. So a pretty amazing ensemble show which I would really really love to be at. So I'm sending positive vibes out there to manifest.

Alex Gadd 21:44

Yeah, let's put it out there. Where is that show going to be?

Soph Stafford 21:46

So I think it's at SoFi Stadium. Oh wow, yeah, so it'll be a big one.

Alex Gadd 21:52

Yeah, yeah, that's great. Yeah, all right. And what were you doing in April in the States?

Soph Stafford 21:57

So, funnily enough, I found tickets to something that was really cool and really unusual. As I said, we've been to a few Willie Nelson shows. Last year we got to go to his 90th at the hollywood bowl, which was amazing. That was across two nights and I said, okay, I've had my fill of willie nelson, now we can move on, unless I get tickets to the Luck Reunion, which is the music festival that he throws at his ranch in austin. And we got tickets. It's super small, there's only 2 000 tickets every year. It's very intimate little festival that he hosts on his red in a little western town movie set that was built for the Redheaded Stranger movie and it's very cool and very, very hard to get tickets for. And we got tickets. So unfortunately that meant we had to book flights and come over to the States, and so we started there and then we moved to Phoenix because in a perfect chain of events, we managed to get tickets to see Springsteen, Madonna and Toto all in a four-day window.

Alex Gadd 23:16

What a lineup. It's a festival all of your own making.

Soph Stafford 23:19

Yeah, exactly yeah, and each so so different, but so so fabulous.

Alex Gadd 23:25

Yeah, that Springsteen show was a really good one on his tour. Is there an artist out there that you haven't seen, that you most want to see?

Soph Stafford 23:34

Yeah, so I have a couple of interesting bucket lists. So my first bucket list is to see every living artist who performed a James Bond theme song. So I've been gently ticking that list off. So I've seen Tom Jones and I've seen Gladys Knight a couple of times and Duran Duran have not seen Duran Duran, so they're on there. They're definitely on that list. And the second list that I've got going concurrently just to cover all my bases is to try and see every artist who performed in the we are the world.

Alex Gadd 24:11

So I ticked a couple off this last trip, which was really cool Sure, and you met Lionel Richie, which is almost as good as seeing him perform.

Soph Stafford 24:20

And Quincy Jones.

Alex Gadd 24:21

Yeah.

Soph Stafford 24:22

Quincy Jones was at the American Music Awards, so I got to meet him as well.

Alex Gadd 24:26

Who is the most impressive musician that you've ever met? Those are two pretty impressive ones.

Soph Stafford 24:33

Yeah, they are right the most impressive musician that you've ever met. Those are two pretty impressive ones. Yeah, they are right, the most impressive musician.

Alex Gadd 24:38

Or favorite musician.

Soph Stafford 24:39

Favorite. I've met so many, so I got. I wouldn't say they're the most impressive, but I got to meet Backstreet Boys. I won a radio competition to go to their soundcheck, which was really fun.

Alex Gadd 24:51

You really are lucky with the radio competitions.

Soph Stafford 24:54

I am a semi-professional I think you guys call them sweeps enterer and so that has actually been an amazing way to gain access to live music. So I won a trip to go to Sydney to meet Crowded House when they first got back together. And that was embarrassing, because I'm actually terribly uncool when I meet famous people, and I've met lots of famous people and now and I'm still not any better than what I was when I first started meeting famous people but basically I met all the band and then I looked around and Neil Finn, the lead singer, was gone and I didn't get to meet him. And so I said to the bass player he didn't sign my CD. I didn't get to meet him and he goes, no worries, come with me. So he took me into their dressing room and I have this great photo of me looking like a sea hag. Just I can't believe I'm meeting Neil Finn. And my sister was with me at the time and I came out and she goes you just got to meet one of your music idols.

Soph Stafford 26:02

What did you say? I said hmm. And then I had a flashback. What I actually said to him was hi, hi, neil, could you please sign my CD cover? I bought a new pen. The news agent said it wouldn't smudge, and that was all I said to him. That was it. So years later I got to redo it all over again. I happened to be on a flight that Neil was on, and so he had boarded the flight in Auckland, in New Zealand, and I had the nearly 12 hour flight to think about all the good things I could say to him, if I could bump into him as we were disembarking. And I did bump into him, because you know I chased him through the airport to LAX. We managed to get next to him, the customs and immigration line, and I went excuse me, neil, I really love your music. It's amazing.

Alex Gadd 26:59

And he went, thanks yeah, you know, I've also met a number of musicians famous musicians and after trying to do something meaningful, I learned that it's better just to say hey, thanks for being the soundtrack to my life, or thanks for all your great music, and not expecting anything, because I am not going to say anything. They haven't heard before, nor do they care. I'm sure they appreciate it, but at the same time, they're so jaded to it that it's hard to make an impression.

Alex Gadd 27:30

So saying thank you is you have to be happy with that and know you did your best and once in a weird blue moon they'll talk to you. You know you can't count and just do it because you're doing the right thing.

Soph Stafford 27:44

Saying thank you is never a bad thing being able to say thank you is probably what I aim for, but often that's not what comes out of my mouth. So we paid for a meet and greet to to meet Def Leppard, because they're one of my husband's favorite bands. So we went and had the, the photo and everything with the band and the band was sort of split in two. So my husband was talking to these guys and I was talking to these guys and and Joe Elliott, the lead singer, said to me well, anyway, enjoy the show tonight. And and I, instead of saying thanks, I went. You know what? I've never used finger guns in my life.

Alex Gadd 28:22

I don't know where that came from Did he laugh when you did that at least?

Soph Stafford 28:26

Okay.

Alex Gadd 28:28

Yeah, cool, yeah, okay, so you've seen a couple of times.

Soph Stafford 28:34

Met Def Leppard um quarter guitar pick.

Alex Gadd 28:37

Wow, and a show yeah, I want to see them this summer. They're one of my top bands that I've never seen. That I really want to see. So, so good. And and the soundtrack to my high school. You know their two big records came out when I was in high school and when I was in college. So a huge, huge band for me and I've never seen them. They're playing in New York this year.

Soph Stafford 28:58

Are you going to a show where Heart is playing with them?

Alex Gadd 29:03

I believe they are, and Ann just cancelled her whole European tour. Today she's having a sudden medical procedure, but all of her summer, all of the Heart summer shows, should still be there. They're actually supposed to. I believe they're playing with, yeah, Def Leppard, Journey Heart and Steve Miller Band are all playing at the same show, so I'm going to try to get tickets for that. That's about a month after a Foo Fighters show that I really want to go to, where the Pretenders are opening up, and Wolfgang Van Halen. So it's going to be a great summer of big rock and roll yeah, see, for us that involves a flight.

Alex Gadd 29:43

We have to fly somewhere to yeah, I understood, although you could have seen Foo Fighters have seen Foo Fighters.

Soph Stafford 29:50

haven't seen Foo Fighters in Melbourne, interestingly, um Foo Fighters are probably seen Foo Fighters Haven't seen Foo Fighters in Melbourne, interestingly. Foo Fighters are probably not one of my favorite bands so I wouldn't go out of my way to see them. But we saw them headline the Bourbon and Beyond Festival in Kentucky.

Alex Gadd 30:04

But where we really saw them.

Soph Stafford 30:06

Which was really amazing is we managed to get tickets to the Chris Cornell tribute show in LA, which was incredible. So that was absolutely amazing. So that was just hours and hours and hours of amazing music. It wasn't recorded, it wasn't televised, it was just for the people in the room and it was like going to an Irish wake. It was just for the people in the room and it was like going to an Irish wake. It was just an incredible experience. And, yeah, that was another one of those ones where, hey, we won't fly to the States this year unless and you know, I accidentally got tickets because I was up at 3 am on multiple devices and managed to get tickets.

Alex Gadd 30:55

Oops.

Soph Stafford 30:56

Yeah.

Alex Gadd 30:57

So you've seen a number of really unique and amazing shows. Do you have one show that stands out above all the others as your favorite show?

Soph Stafford 31:05

Absolutely. When Kenny Rogers was doing his farewell tour, I managed to get to see the all-in for the gambler show in Nashville and again we had to book for that. Um, and I found out the day before the show that Kenny was getting a star dedicated to him on the walk of fame in Nashville, and so me and a couple of other grandmas who love Kenny Rogers were lined up at 9 am to make sure we could see him get his star on the Walk of Fame. And I spent five hours in the sun waiting to see Kenny get his star and it was very cool. He came in on his golf cart and did all that and as we were leaving that, a guy started talking to us and I recognized him. He's the owner of the Johnny Cash Museum in Nashville and the Klein Museum and I'd met him the year before because I was at opening day for the Patsy Klein Museum. And he said to us do you want to come through the Cash Museum and have a look around? We said yeah, that'd be great.

Soph Stafford 32:07

So we're wandering the museum and he came up to us and said, hey, where are your tickets for tonight's show? And I said I'll nosebleed. And he said would you like to join us in our corporate box? And again I started crying because how amazing. So we got to go with this amazingly generous act. We got to go and sit in this corporate box, that kind of straddled the front of the stage and backstage, so we got to watch the whole show, which was amazing. The Judds played, Chris Stapleton played. Obviously, Dolly finished the show with Kenny and no one knew Kenny was quite ill at the time and after they'd finished singing Islands in the Stream together, they walked backstage and I could see them just sharing a hug together and I have to think that that was probably the last time that they had that backstage moment together, because he passed away not that long after that. So that was a really incredible moment. Um, yeah, that will stay with me forever.

Alex Gadd 33:15

It's very rare that an artist who's had a lifelong career is able to say goodbye on their own terms. Usually, they either have a medical emergency where they can't perform anymore or they pass away unexpectedly. It's very rare for them to gracefully leave the stage of their own choice.

Soph Stafford 33:37

So that's very special. The other one was we managed to get tickets again to see Dolly Parton's 50th anniversary at the Grand Ole Opry you're better at getting tickets than anyone I've ever met.

Soph Stafford 33:51

I think, um, I'm highly motivated. So yeah, three o'clock in the morning, multiple devices desperately trying to to get these experiences, and the funny thing is the tickets were just normal face value ticket prices, so I think they're under $50 each. And on the day when I went to collect my tickets from the box office, I had a guy offer me $1,500 a seat for my tickets and I went. That one was at the Opry House, which is out at Opry Land, but they did a whole week of Dolly shows in Nashville.

Soph Stafford 34:29

It was a really big deal, as you can imagine, and so we went to the Country Classics tribute to Dolly the night before at the Ryman. But I've seen some really cool shows at the Ryman. I actually saw Toto at the Ryman, which was pretty amazing, and I've seen Gladys Knight at the Ryman.

Alex Gadd 34:49

Wow, two non-country artists playing at the home church of country music. That's incredible. What is your favorite music venue that? You've been into you seem like you've been rhyming the best it's amazing when you're inside, can you feel the spirits and the yeah absolutely so.

Love for Live Music and Venues

Soph Stafford 35:10

As I touched on earlier, my, my grandmother, was a really big musical influence and probably like my favorite person in the whole universe and she absolutely loves Patsy Cline. And so I remember the first time I went to the Ryman pews and just looked down on the stage and I could almost hear Patsy singing from that stage and I just thought what an incredible piece of history. It's still there, it's still living and breathing and you know, Elvis got booed off the stage there, Like it's just an amazing place. But the sound in that building I haven't heard anywhere else before it. There's something magic to that end.

Alex Gadd 35:58

Is there a venue in the US or anywhere that you most want to go to that you've never been to?

Soph Stafford 36:04

Madison Square Garden.

Alex Gadd 36:07

Love to get there my problem is that that's my home theater. That's where I go to see concerts the most, so I have to watch myself from assuming that everyone feels the same way about it as the church of rock music, where I truly think it is the cathedral of rock and roll music. I think Bono once called it that. All right, I think in here in rock and roll's great cathedral that is Madison Square Garden, but it feels to me like when rock bands and popular bands play the Garden, they realize how special it is that they've made it. Selling out the Garden is a thing, but that's me. I'm a New Yorker, so of course I'm going to think that, but it's interesting to hear that you think so too. Please let me know when you're coming to a show at the Garden and we will meet up and I'll show you around.

Soph Stafford 37:06

Oh yeah, that would be cool.

Alex Gadd 37:07

Is there a band that you never saw, who's no longer around, that you most wish you had seen?

Soph Stafford 37:14

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. So we were in Nashville and we were due to fly out the next day to go to a friend's wedding in Vegas and the wedding like I was a bridesmaid, the wedding preparation was kind of she was a bit bride-zillary and we walked past the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville and I saw that Tom Petty was playing the next night and I was like, oh, maybe we missed our flight and I don't go to my friend's wedding, let me go see Tom Petty instead. And my husband the voice of reason was like like no, you'll never feel okay with yourself if you do that to Australia. And I'm like you're right, tom Petty, or to Australia, it'll be fine. It wasn't fine and the wedding was awful, and so that's the one that, like I think, hurts the most definitely.

Alex Gadd 38:10

Yeah the one that got away. Yeah, oh, I saw him twice and boy, he was magical.

Soph Stafford 38:16

But don't tell me that. Oh sorry, yeah, he was terrible, it wasn't worth it?

Alex Gadd 38:21

Terrible, no. I guess this gets to the core question of why I even have this podcast, which is what do you think it is about live music that keeps you flying to the States, getting up at 3 am on multiple devices? What is it about live music for you and it's not? There's no one answer and there's no wrong answer. But what do you think it is about live music for you that keeps you coming back?

Soph Stafford 38:51

I think, growing up in Australia and not having access, not having Madison Square Garden in my backyard, which is go and see bands, it always felt unreachable. And so, you know, when I did get to go and see New Kids on the Block, I've arrived, this is the coolest thing ever and I've never lost that feeling. So it doesn't matter who I'm going to see or where I'm going to see them, I have feeling, and sometimes it depends on my connection to the music or the band. So you know, sometimes I'll go and see, like we've been to the Grand Old Opry and I managed to request a song on the Grand Old Opry, like who gets to do that?

Soph Stafford 39:41

We were just sitting in the right place at the right time and a couple of seats in front of us were empty and the Gatlin brothers said we're going to play a game where you can pick a hymn and we'll we'll know it. And so I got to pick my, my nan's, favorite hymn and hear them sing that to me on the off-reed. And so it's a way of keeping, like, my nan alive, it's a way of keeping, I guess, really happy memories, really vibrant in my life, and so that's what music does and I think there's something very special that happens when you gather a group of people who all love the performer on stage or just enjoy the performer on stage. There's something energetically that happens in that room that can't be replicated in a nightclub or playing music at home. It's not the same thing and it's this amazing experience that's shared and just energetically that's really cool to be a part of.

Alex Gadd 40:43

I couldn't agree with you more. Have you ever discovered a band only by going to see a show? A band only by going to see a show, and usually, in my experience, they're opening acts that I had no idea who they were and then was blown away by and became a fan.

Music, Concerts, and Gene Simmons

Soph Stafford 40:59

Yeah, absolutely, because we go and do things like the Outlaw Music Festival or like Bourbon and Beyond Festival in Kentucky. There's always artists that we haven't seen or we kind of vaguely know about and discover them when they're live on stage. But what I've found really interesting is that's how I've been discovering bands that people have loved forever as well. So we got to see Heart open for Def Leppard, and I didn't really like Heart. When I was younger. I think I saw them at the tail end of you know when they're there. Um, I can't even remember. The name of the album was released in the late 80s.

Alex Gadd 41:40

It was a bit for me, I was the wrong page oh yeah, they got into like the very like big hair shoulder pads and so I didn't have that appreciation for her.

Soph Stafford 41:52

And then when we saw them play, I was like, oh my god, where have you been on my life? You guys are incredible. And I had the same for the Doobie Brothers. They were playing at Bourbon and Beyond I think last year or the year before when we were there. And the thing that I've never liked the Doobie Brothers they're not my vibe, but the thing that I loved was seeing how much people loved them and people were dancing and it was all different ages and it was just there was something so cool about seeing that that I found a new appreciation for the Doobie Brothers.

Alex Gadd 42:32

Doobie Brothers for me are kind of background music in the classic rock genre. They were never my first they're kind of yacht rock. They're on the edge right. They're a little more rock-n- roll than yacht rock, but they are too close to yacht rock for a hard rocker like me's reference.

Alex Gadd 42:48

But if I actually just go back and pick out some of their more upbeat songs in their catalog, they're great fun and they really are a talented band good songwriters. Blackwater has a unique vibe that no other song in popular rock and roll music really ever captured, really a bluegrassy kind of intro thing that kept up through the whole song. I've never seen the Doobie Brothers. I've always avoided that. Maybe I have to give that, because how much longer do I get to see these bands? I gotta see them all while I can.

Soph Stafford 43:20

Yeah, I think if I've learned nothing else from not seeing Tom Petty, it's to just say yes to things, and I think that's probably. That was a pivotal moment for me, because I realized you actually don't have the luxury of saying no to something because it may not come around again.

Alex Gadd 43:37

So if you can say yes, you should say yes our motto on this podcast is life is short, so get those concert tickets. I'm with you. That's exactly it. You're not a professional musician and you're not in the music profession. What do you do for a living?

Soph Stafford 43:55

so, interestingly enough, I work with early career professionals. So I've done that for a long time, supporting students who are going out into industry and learning their trade. But also I run my own business. So I am an energy alchemist. So before I was talking about the energy of concerts, I work with people energetically to clear blockages and to create healing. So it sounds woo-woo, it's really not. I'm very grounded, I'm very pragmatic, so I say I'm probably more woo-hoo than woo-woo and really a big part of the work that I do is helping people to say yes to things. Right, because we say no.

Alex Gadd 44:41

To get out of their own way? Yeah, and let good things happen. Do you have a business you'd like to promote a website?

Soph Stafford 44:50

Yeah, so my website's under construction, but you can find me on facebook under soap stafford energy alchemy and I work with international people as well, because it's all done virtually. So if you're in the us, you can still come and see me I hope that we get together in person sometime.

Alex Gadd 45:08

I'd love to meet you and your husband. Let's stay in touch on that. Is there anything I didn't ask that I should have?

Soph Stafford 45:15

You didn't ask me about KISS. I know that KISS is one of your first loves in music and I have three really quick KISS stories to tell you.

Alex Gadd 45:25

Make them long. I want to hear every one of them.

Soph Stafford 45:30

The first time after my husband and I first went out. He called me the next day. I was like and he said can I come over and visit you? We could watch some movies. And I said I don't have a TV and he goes, I'll bring a TV and I'm like okay. So he came over.

Alex Gadd 45:48

That's pretty good motivation, that he was clearly motivated to come see you.

Soph Stafford 45:52

Came over with his little TV and his VCR and he bought a couple of movies to watch and one of them was Detroit Rock City, which is, yeah, not my vibe. So I kind of yeah, I really don't like Kiss. And so he couldn't have picked a worse movie. Yeah, I really don't like Kiss, and so he couldn't have picked a worse movie. And then, as I mentioned earlier, I went to the American Music Awards and Gene Simmons and his wife walked past us and she actually dropped a lip gloss and my friend picked it up and said, hey, excuse me, you've dropped your lip gloss. And she goes. I don't want that. And then, as they were walking past them, other people said, hi, jane, and he goes. Hey, guys, and I was like I like you, I like your vibe. And then the last story is probably the most embarrassing story.

Soph Stafford 46:48

We checked in the Hard Rock Hotel in Vegas and in every room they have a different theme and they had this enormous, life-size, giant kiss poster in the room we checked into and they were in their full makeup and I just couldn't handle looking at them. They were freaking me out and there was no way that we were gonna have fun in that room with kiss staring at me. And so I said to my husband you gotta call reception and tell them. And so he's like, uh, okay. So he calls, very embarrassed, and he said look, my wife really doesn't like this. Can we do anything about this?

Soph Stafford 47:33

And they thought it was him trying to scam to get an upgraded room. And they said, no, no, we're fully booked, there's nothing we can do. And he's like can you just come and cover this picture? And they went okay, we'll call maintenance. So you know, an hour later, maintenance knocks on our door and I was so embarrassed I was hiding in the bathroom and I just hear my husband say to this maintenance guy yeah, you've just got to take it down or cover it or do something, because she can't handle kiss. And he's like but it's KISS and my husband's like I know.

Soph Stafford 48:09

I know I get it, but can you just help me out? And the guy's like but it's KISS. And he said please, you've got to get this off the wall. So they had to go and get a special tool to remove this picture from the wall and the guy was laughing so hard and my husband's like she doesn't like clowns, she's scared of clowns. And he goes oh okay, all right, fine good, that was smart.

Alex Gadd 48:32

You know it's funny. I haven't. I have a weird vegas, Gene Simmons and Shannon story too. In 99 they played a show with The Who for a fake dotcom company that they didn't know was fake. It was these guys who wanted to put on a big rock-n- roll show in Vegas and I was there on Halloween with friends and there's a whole documentary about this, how The Who and Kiss and some other bands played this show. I don't know how they pulled this off and I don't know all the details because I watched the documentary and I wasn't paying attention.

Alex Gadd 49:08

But the next morning I was on line at the airport at the gate to fly back to New York from Vegas and in walk, and I don't understand how they weren't flying private but in walks, Gene and Shannon, and they get in line at the next line to fly to back to LA from Vegas and Gene has a giant hat on and he's tall, he's taller than I am and he's wearing cowboy boots and he's walking around like a shark, like he didn't want to stay still because he was worried someone might come up to him. So she just sat in line and he walked around and when he came back and stood in line. He looked at me and then looked at her and said that guy is eyeing you, he's trying to hit on you. And I just rolled my eyes and she said like, oh, Gene, you know she, she was just fed up with him or just used to that. I don't even know what it was yeah he's just a jerk.

Alex Gadd 50:06

and if he knew what a big fan of I wasn't there to see that show by the way, I was just in Vegas with friends celebrating Halloween and having fun. If he knew what a big fan I was of his up to that point and what not a big fan I was after that minute. I know he doesn't care or wouldn't have cared, but if he had known what a massive, massive fan I was of his. So that is my heartbreaking Gene Simmons story and on that I will say thank you so much for your time today. I can't wait to see what shows you come to. You've clearly gone to more arenas in America than I have. You're setting a good model for me. We should try and get you American citizenship for all the times you've been here.

Soph Stafford 50:46

Oh, I'm trying. I'm trying the green card lottery.

Alex Gadd 50:48

Oh, are you really?

Alex Gadd 50:56

Yeah, oh all right, where would you move to?

Soph Stafford 50:58

You know, pretty much anywhere that would have us, I think. But Nashville would be amazing, LA would be amazing, New York would be amazing. We love Chicago. Yeah, we're not picky, yeah.

Alex Gadd 51:11

All right, we'll talk more, but let's stay in touch. Thank you so much for your time today.

Soph Stafford 51:16

Thanks a lot.

Alex Gadd 51:18

So that's it for today's conversation. Thank you for joining us. We'll be back next Tuesday and if you like what you heard today, we'd appreciate it. If you would like and subscribe or follow to make sure you get notified about each new episode. And please tell your friends. To make sure you get notified about each new episode. And please tell your friends. Additionally, we want to know what you think. Please leave us a comment and we'll try to respond to every one of them. The Rock-n- Roll Show podcast is a World Highway Media production. I'm your host, Alex Gadd, and until next time,