The Morning Brew with Chris Bennett

Country Climb with Audra McLaughlin, Drunk Monkeys & Friday Shenanigans

• Chris Bennett • Episode 159

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Today’s episode of The Morning Brew with Chris Bennett & Best Friends is packed from start to finish! We kick things off with our Country Climb Artist of the Week, direct from Austin Burke’s Playlisted Podcast — the incredible Audra McLaughlin! We chat with her about her journey, her music, and debut her brand-new single “Hate Being Me” on Arizona radio. Later in the show, Show Low’s own Dave Ramsey even calls in to request another Audra track, Beautiful Pain!

Then we check in with Jineane Ford from our sister station Majik 101.7, who brings some fun Friday news — including why cats meow louder for men (because men don’t listen!) and the story of monkeys who might be getting… a little drunk. Chris and Jineane also share everything happening this weekend across the White Mountains.

Next up, Chris’s wife Andrea delivers another Hallmark Christmas Movie Review — this time for Operation Nutcracker. And just when we think the show is wrapped, everyone’s favorite redneck Paul from Beaumont sneaks away from work to call in (very quietly!) for a bonus round of Are You Smarter Than a Redneck?

Music, laughter, Christmas chaos, and one of the best voices in country music — it’s all inside today’s episode of The Morning Brew!

SPEAKER_02:

From the Horn Auto Center Studios, Chris Bennett's Country Climb, Star of the Week. We're gonna be playing her song Hate Being Me coming up in a little bit, but joining us is Audra McLaughlin. Thank you so much, best friend.

SPEAKER_05:

Oh, thank you so much for having me. Woohoo!

SPEAKER_02:

Woo-hoo! I always like to get started with our interview with a little fun icebreaker questions. Are you ready? Ready for ready. All right, what was the first uh album or uh music you ever purchased?

SPEAKER_05:

Ooh, uh I would say Christina Aguilera.

SPEAKER_02:

Oh, Genius.

SPEAKER_05:

Interesting, right? I know, different.

unknown:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

What was the first concert you've ever been to?

SPEAKER_05:

That's even funnier, a Britney Spears concert. Oh, heck, yes! I yeah, I know. I I come from that 90s generation of all those, all the early pop, pop artists.

SPEAKER_02:

Pop artists? Well, when when did you start listening to country?

SPEAKER_05:

Well, I started listening to country when um I was probably 10 or 11. I started, you know, I really got into to artists like Leanne Walmack and Leanne Rhymes and Martina McBride and um, you know, just some of those big, big voices. I really, really gravitated towards the the voices in country music that just were really big and powerful. And that's sort of where my love for country music came from. Was, you know, I would say mostly probably a lot of that 90s, early 2000s, you know, country um just really inspired me and my songwriting.

SPEAKER_02:

Well, it leads me to my last question of this segment, which might be the hardest question I ask you all day. If you had one country song to request for the rest of your life, what country song are you requesting and why?

SPEAKER_05:

Ooh, um, you know, I guess I would have to go with probably A Broken Wing by Martina McBride, just because that song, when I first heard it, inspired me so much to, you know, really write those songs that that are, you know, self-empowerment and inspirational and uplifting towards people. And um, and I've just always loved that song. Like it can come on, and I'm just like, oh, you know, and it's got so much soul into it as well, which is a big part of my sound. Um, you know, coming from Philadelphia. I like to mix country and soul together.

SPEAKER_02:

When did uh you know that music was a passion of yours? And uh when did uh music grab a hold of you and tell us a little bit about your journey?

SPEAKER_05:

Sure. Um, so I mean I think at an early age, I was, I mean, my mom and dad told me that I was singing when I was like three years old, four years old, just kind of running around using whatever object I could use for a microphone, whether that be a hairbrush or I mean, honestly, I remember early on, like I would grab a hot dog out of the freezer and use it as a microphone. I just really vividly remember that for whatever reason. Um but I would say when I was about seven or eight, I a teacher of mine, you know, said to my mom, hey, you know, she you should put her in some vocal lessons or something. You know, she's got something really, you know, she's she's really talented. And um, and that was really early on, and I just knew that I was just it was all I ever did, you know. Being an ADHD kid, it was like, I mean, even in class, I'd be singing and and you know, not even really realizing I was doing it. So when I was about seven or eight, I started vocal lessons, started kind of singing in my local area, um, where I'm from, which is Glenolden, Pennsylvania, which is like a little uh small town outside of Philadelphia. And I just kind of started doing like little shows, you know, like competitions, um, you know, recitals, church shows, like whatever I could do, you know, to get that stage experience. Um and for me, I mean, it just continued on. I I I just loved music all my life. I mean, I feel like it's just gotten me through every bit of struggle that I've ever really been through. Um, I was in the journey's been so long, you know. It's it's like I was on the voice back in 2014, but even before that, I was, you know, I toured with a rock band when I was 13. I then joined a country rock band after that. Then I was in a cover band. So it was like I really never stopped doing music. It was always a passion of mine, and I was always kind of writing poems when I was a kid or just randomly writing lyrics on different sheets and things like that. And um, yeah, I mean, it's it just kind of always continued to be something that I that I loved and um that got me through some of my hardships and all that.

SPEAKER_02:

We are back with today's Country Climb Star of the Week, Audra McLaughlin joining us today from Nashville, Tennessee. And uh, we are about to play a song of yours, Audra, that has never been played on Arizona Radio. It's called Hate Being Me. How did this song come about? What does it mean to you, and what do you hope we take away from listening to it?

SPEAKER_05:

Absolutely. I mean, Hate Being Me actually started as a diary entry. It was just kind of how I felt that day. I was feeling, you know, down on myself. I was I was thinking about what, you know, too much about what people say or what people think and sort of how the the world views women, especially. You know, it's like just all of those things that go through our head, or just all of the things that we're told. You know, you're too fat, you're too small, you're too skinny, all of these things. And we, you know, if we're told them enough, we start to believe them. But the this the purpose of this song was to say, you know what, I don't hate being me. I actually like being me. I like who I am. And that particular day, I remember I came into my co-writer's um his studio, and I had, you know, sort of these ideas written down, and and I said, Man, I'm just gosh, I hate being a woman. And he said, All right, well, let's write that today. And I said, Well, I actually got some of these diary entries of, you know, some of these little things that I've been feeling. And um, and we just basically we started writing that song, and honestly, it became so much more meaningful to me in the last two years because I ended up getting sober from alcohol, and and you know, so my sobriety was a big part of the connection with that song and and sort of the other side of just learning to to re-love yourself because when you're stuck in that in that mode of self-sabotage, essentially, you know, and trying to make yourself feel better with alcohol or whatever it is. And um, I think for me, hate being me was sort of that that kind of freedom song of of just really finding myself and finding out just truly, you know what? Like, I don't need to listen to what people say. I have to love me and I have to be okay with me at the end of the day because I'm the one who has to look at me in the mirror. And so this song, I just you know, I I did like a little video thing of it of me just singing it at his house at my co-writer's house. And I put it on TikTok and it just kind of took off, and it really resonated with a lot of women and just a lot of people. And I just couldn't believe I just had no idea that you know it would do that that well, um, as far as just connecting with so many people. So that song has really been an important, important piece of of my sobriety journey and just really getting to that other side of really just loving who you are and being okay with who you are.

SPEAKER_02:

That's beautiful, and I'm so honored you're gonna let us play it for the first time on Arizona Radio right here on Q Country 925. This is Audra McLachlan with her song Hate Being Me on Q Country 925 They still love too hard.

SPEAKER_04:

I fought too fast, give away so much of myself, I'll never get it back. I get too mad when I don't go my way. I look in the mirror at all. The things they say I should change to hell and what they say. I'm too short, too tall, too fat, too tall. How do I live with myself? I'm too weak, too strong, never right, always wrong. My life would be a living hell in addition to the world with they believe I didn't meet every day's a fight, I'm finding now to give myself a little grace and lay these weapons down. I pray every day I see in time how every scar, every mark, every flaw makes me all of a kind. I pay them no mind when they say I'm too short, too tall, too fast, too small. How do I live with myself? I'm too weak, too strong, never I'd always wrong. My life would be a living in hell in relation to the world they believe I myself in who I'm trying to be. If I listen to the world and one day believe, I'd have been me oh, but I don't have been me.

SPEAKER_02:

That was Audra McLaughlin today's Country Climb Star of the Week with her song Hate Being Me. Such a beautiful song, a beautiful message, Audra. Uh, for those of you that are new to Audra McLaughlin, what songs other than Hate Being Me, what other two songs do you think they should check out to get to know you a little bit more musically?

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah, definitely. Um, I would say Beautiful Pain is another one that that I've got out there. It's kind of my country soul, you know, vibe, and um very much in that Hate Being Me lane. And another one that I've got out that I've had out for a while, but it seems to be kind of a favorite of a lot of folks, it would be uh Boomerang. And I do have a slew of new music coming out this year that I'm that I'm working on and recording, and I think I've got pretty much a whole albums or album worth of songs, but um, yeah, so I'm I'm just really excited about this new music I've been working on. And um, but yeah, I would love for people to go and continue to add my songs to their playlist. That that helps us uh tremendously.

SPEAKER_02:

And how can we uh follow you? Is it at Audra McLaughlin?

SPEAKER_05:

So I always tell people just to go to my website, audramaclachlan.com, or like if they say they go to my Instagram, which is Audra McLaughlin, um, and they hit the link tree in my in my bio section, like everything's on there. But I think the easiest way would be just to go to my website, audramclaughlin.com, and everything is on there, you know, all of the links.

SPEAKER_02:

Perfect. Go to audramaclachlan.com. Go ahead and uh learn more about your new favorite country artist. Go ahead and follow her on all socials and download her music. And did you hear? There's new music on the way. So make sure you follow her so you don't miss any of that. And Audra, you now have a home uh at Country Music in Arizona. So when you have that new music coming out, uh go ahead and hit us up because we'd love an opportunity to uh play it for the Q Country Nation.

SPEAKER_05:

I sure will, Chris. Thank you so much for having me. It means the world. I really appreciate you guys.

SPEAKER_02:

This has been Audra McLaughlin, today's Country Climb. Star of the week. Janine, you there? Yes, I am. How are you? Good happy Friday morning. Happy Friday. Woo whoop whoop. Yeah. Any uh do you have any uh fun news or uh for me on Friday?

SPEAKER_03:

I just read this is so funny, okay? And I know you're you're you're allergic to cats, so you're not a cat person, but this is funny. They they did a big old study and they found that cats learn to meow much louder at men than they do women. Yes. Because you guessed it, men just aren't really great listeners. Women are more likely to pick up on the subtle body language of cats and cues that cat that make that that make the meows not necessary, right? But they have to walk up and scream at men. So yeah. And then there's another one that I love. Um, this one is from UC Berkeley. They found that chimpanzees ingest way more alcohol than originally believed. They eat all those fermented fruits, right? So they say at minimum they're getting the equivalent of two beers a day. Oh my god. Little drunk monkeys, drunk, drunk, drunk chip.

SPEAKER_02:

That is so scary because they are strong. Like I don't need a drunk, strong monkey.

SPEAKER_03:

There you go. Yeah, that chimpanzee twisting your little thumb off. Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_02:

Oh, that's scary news, but some fun news. Uh what's happening? Hot stuff. All right, Janine. What's a happening in the White Mountains? Want me to go first? Yes, you can go first. All right, well, tonight uh it is the uh Pine Top Lakesides Christmas Fair and Mayor's Tree Lighting. It's at the uh Jack Barker Memorial Park from 5 30 to 8 p.m. Uh it's gonna be a good time. So that's what's happening in uh Pine Top. For more information, go to PinetopLakesideaz.gov and Santa's gonna be there in live performances. What uh very cool what else is going on?

SPEAKER_03:

And also tomorrow night, okay, the sixth, tomorrow night in Heber Winterfest. They're at it again, okay? So it's gonna be from 5 to 7 Winterfest at the Tall Timbers Park, and uh 5 to 7 on Saturday night, and and Santa's gonna be rolling in there in a fire truck. They have all sorts of fun, tons of activities, food, and so much more. That's out in Hebrew again at the Tall Timbers tomorrow night, guys, at 5 to 7.

SPEAKER_02:

All right, and then in Sholow tomorrow, it's the Sholow Shines uh parade. I love that one. The parade uh is gonna start at 6 o'clock, and uh there are the city of Sholo is also having a Christmas tree lighting event, so you could come before the parade. It's going from 4 to 8 p.m. and it's gonna be in front of City Hall and the public library, and they're gonna have music, photo booths, free ornaments, crafts, and food vendors, and uh that parade is always so uh so pretty to look at.

SPEAKER_03:

Yes, that's a good one. I love it. I love it. So many great things, and all the lights are up, and it's beautiful. It's just such a great time of year. It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas. You got it. Thanks, Best Fred. Thank you. Have a good one, Chris. Thanks, bye.

SPEAKER_02:

Bye-bye. And now it's time for Chris's wife to give us her Christmas Hallmark movie reviews. All right, my love, what Hallmark Christmas movie are we reviewing this morning?

SPEAKER_00:

We are reviewing Operation Nutcracker.

SPEAKER_02:

All right, Operation Nutcracker. Here's what I think it's about. I think it's about a uh performer that's in the nutcracker in New York. But she sprains her ankle and has to go get an operation. And in her operation, she ends up meeting a surgeon who she used to date in elementary school, and they rekindle their romance and fall in love, and she gets back to being in the nutcracker. Am I right?

SPEAKER_00:

You're not right, but I've probably watched that one.

SPEAKER_02:

Oh, there we go. That's pretty juicy. Uh tell us what this one's about. What did you learn? And how many cups of hot cocoa?

SPEAKER_00:

So this one is about a man that he is put in charge of bringing back a very expensive, priceless nutcracker to be auctioned off at his family event. But he's kind of like uh black he and the family of a you know, they're like overheading leaders and loses it. And he feels like if he had becomes queen and he tells them he loses it, it would have currently put him in the I'm the leader family category. And so he and the event planner go on this quest to recover the nutcracker that was lost by the airline. You know, I I actually really like this one. I had a lot of things in it that I thought were really sweet, and so really it just you know, we learned that we really should focus on family during the holidays and not just family is the most important.

SPEAKER_02:

How many cups of hot cocoa do you give Operation Nutcracker? I gave it eight cups of hot cocoa eight cups of hot cocoa we have been on fire this week with some good Hallmark Christmas movies. We will be back with you tomorrow, my love, to get another review. I love you. Love you. Good morning. It's the morning brew with Chris. Who's this? Did you drive to work with your tongue out the window? Yeah, I'm having a hard time talking this morning. Obviously. It's Dave or uh Dave Ramsey, star of Boo or Cool. Boo or Cool today's Country Climb star of the week. Very cool. Audra McLaughlin. Uh, do you think uh well, what are you calling in for? Pretty pain. Oh, you want to hear another song from Audra McLaughlin? Uh Beautiful Pain? Yeah. Heck yeah. Holy moly! We played her song for the first time on Arizona Radio, and now she's got her first song request. Here's Audra McLaughlin with Beautiful Pain on Cue Country 925. Love you, buddy. Love you too. Bye.

SPEAKER_04:

See any you out with someone new? Hid me in the chest, so my breath used to be me with you.

SPEAKER_02:

The way up looking at her makes me remember what we were And what makes me mad We can't go back And what makes it work We're doing that I could rame to the store I shouldn't hang out shape All something love and walk We love we lost it up Beautiful head Oh we had was amazing It was more than love we were making But it all went wrong Farm school We couldn't see that We just became this Like the paper to the stone shouldn't have Shame of City Beautiful You feel the same those pain Like the rainbow after the stone I shouldn't have my head shape off my family We love we lost in it We love we lost in it Beautiful thing Beautiful Woo that's Paul Blood Paul Paul Black says so holy moly we have not heard much from Paul on the radio this week. Uh yesterday you called in after the radio show uh and uh you sounded uh like uh you were uh in a basement or you were hiding from somebody. Uh you haven't been able to call us. Why?

SPEAKER_01:

Well, RA messed up a truck or something. So, I mean, as a manager, I can't I mean I guess I gotta look out for employees before myself, so I was kind of stuck in the office.

SPEAKER_02:

Ah, dang it, man. And you're not an office dude. You need to get out. Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01:

If you got an office job, you got a boring life.

SPEAKER_02:

But it sounds like uh uh as Willie Nelson said, you're on the road again.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, yeah, yeah. I got a rental. I was like, man, we gotta get me a rental results. I gotta get out of here.

SPEAKER_02:

So what uh so they got you in a rental right now?

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

Oh, nice. I remember uh uh when you came here and you had a rental uh car when you came to see us and you were embarrassed because I had California plates.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, it did. It did. This one got touched for it.

SPEAKER_02:

Oh, there you go, sweet. Well, awesome. You want to uh play a game before we let you go? Sweet, let's do it. All right, here we go. Oh, and uh before we find out if I'm smarter than a redneck, Paul. Earlier Janine was talking about how cats, especially the longer they've been with uh their owners, they tend to meow much louder for their male owners as opposed to the female owners because men just don't listen.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, I don't think mine just meow loud in the mornings when I wake up, they're at the door and they want to eat. Yeah. That's first thing, that's first thing I do to go feed the cats. That's first thing I do.

SPEAKER_02:

He's gotta take care of his cats. He's a redneck that loves cats more than dogs. Crazy. All right, Paul. We are gonna do some Christmas trivia to find out who's smarter. If you know the answer, say your name. That's your buzzer. Here we go. Rudolph the red nosed reindeer was created as a promotion for what department store? Was it Montgomery Ward, Nordstrom's JC Pennies or Macy's? Chris. I'm gonna say Nordstrom's. No, it is not Nordstrom. Uh Paul, it's Montgomery Ward, JC Pennies, or Macy's. J C. Pennies? Is it J. No, it's not the correct answer. Montgomery Ward, 1939. Holy moly. Uh, next uh question. In the 12 days of Christmas, there are how many drummers drumming? Eight, six, twelve, or ten. Chris. Ten drummers drumming. No, it is not ten drummers drumming. It's either eight, six, or twelve, Paul. No, it is not six. It's not eight. Twelve drummers drumming. We are total idiots. This last question will uh determine who's the winner. The first one to get one right is the winner. Here we go. Wins. Eggnog was first eggnog was first consumed in what U.S. city? Was it Princeton, Massachusetts, Jamestown, Virginia, Boston, Massachusetts, or New York, New York? Chris, I'm gonna guess Provincetown. No, it is not, gosh dang it. Eggnog was either first consumed in uh Jamestown, Virginia, Boston Mass, or New York, New York, Paul.

SPEAKER_01:

I'm gonna say to Virginia because New York's too obvious and Boston's too obvious. Okay, so Virginia.

SPEAKER_02:

Virginia, holy moly, congratulations! You are smarter than a very handsome radio DJ. We love you, Paul. Thanks for uh uh getting a uh a rental car so you could get out of the office and talk to us today.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, absolutely, my I can't stay in there.

SPEAKER_02:

He's like a caged bird in the office. You can't keep a bird in a cage.

SPEAKER_01:

I told my boss. I told my boss, I was like, dude, I feel I feel totally worthless in this office. I gotta go. I can you can either send me home or you can send me to the rental place. Oh, hold on, gotta go. All right, bye.

SPEAKER_02:

See ya

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Chris Bennett

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