Let's Talk Podcast
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Let's Talk Podcast
Cows & Radio
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Here is another episode from my other podcast. Hope you enjoy this episode can't wait to see you in August. Still working on the book report hope to have it out by the end of the month.
All right, I've been on podcast.
SPEAKER_00Oh, wow, that's amazing. Well, hello, and welcome back to a simple discussion. My name is Hannah Covington, and I'm glad to be back with you with another guest episode. And this time, we're not in bowlingering for once. We're actually in my hometown interviewing a person I've been working with for the last year. Would you like to introduce yourself?
SPEAKER_01Sure. My name's Brett Walford, and uh we crossed paths when you ventured back home to get some more radio experience.
SPEAKER_00Yes, yes. I was so excited to work with you, even though I met your wife first.
SPEAKER_01Sure.
SPEAKER_00Um, I met her while I was doing my internship down in Bowling Green.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I guess we were exchanging text and all that was going down last July into August, wasn't it?
SPEAKER_00Yes, it was while you were dealing with the family situation.
SPEAKER_01That's correct. Everything's better there, thank goodness.
SPEAKER_00Yes, I know family situations can be difficult. And can can you give me a history of how you came to be at Froggy?
SPEAKER_01Sure, I've been in radio now, I guess, 21 years, and I came here when the radio station started back in 2007. They launched Froggy in December. And at that time, Gator, who's still here, is a part-timer in our group, uh, he was the program director and he's the one that hired me here for the first day on the job.
SPEAKER_00Wow, and I just barely met Gator.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. I thought you may have crossed his path by now.
SPEAKER_00Uh yes, I just worked in an event with him. He is very polite. And what were your early days here at Froggy?
SPEAKER_01Well, the until just a few months ago, I was actually the afternoon host, so I had did that for almost the entire time I was here, and uh, which would be just a little over 17 years of been here at the place, and then I switched gears, obviously, as you know. But during that time, I started as the afternoon guy, and then I was the production assistant, became the production director, inevitably became the program director for Froggy, and then I became the operations manager for the whole building, and now I'm back to part-timer contract worker. You know me, I do a little bit of everything. This is not a shock.
SPEAKER_00No, it is not a shock. You do everything under the sun. I don't know how Froggy runs without you.
SPEAKER_01Well, it's still going, so I think they're doing all right.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it's still going. We're still alive, the station is still functioning, we're not on fire.
SPEAKER_01No, City. So everything turned out just fine. Just and my mental space is probably a little bit better than it was without all that responsibility.
SPEAKER_00Honestly, I didn't notice actually.
SPEAKER_01There you go.
SPEAKER_00I think I was more nervous because of moving back home. So and I just I've asked you a little bit about what were the early days like because I know that it was only Froggy and Star and Passport when you first started. Like, who were the original Froggy DJs other than you?
SPEAKER_01It was Gator and then uh there was a guy named his name, real name's Jonathan, uh, but he was tadpole. He was on for a few months before Star officially relaunched at the time back in 2008. And then uh Jeremy, who I'd known for a long time, who became Davy Crookett, became the midday guy along the way, and it was Gator and Cricket in the morning back in the beginning. They did a show together.
SPEAKER_00That's amazing. Yep, that is so amazing. I didn't know that. I'm learning as I go because I was too young to remember the early days of frog. Elementary school.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00I didn't even know we had a radio station until somebody told me back during my college days.
SPEAKER_01There you go. Wow.
SPEAKER_00I know. I I literally drove past here.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I was gonna say it's not like it's uh we're in some unvisible place, plus we were out all the time. As you see, that you know, the stations are still out all the time.
SPEAKER_00Oh yeah, like I probably noticed but didn't pay attention because I was too cool.
SPEAKER_01Oh, yeah, no, I understand it's gotta be hard being too cool. I can't relate, but I bet it is.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, me and my friends were like weird. We thought we were better than radio, but here I am loving local radio.
SPEAKER_01That's what you've gotta love. The beauty of life is the irony that'll inevitably slap you in your face.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I it it slapped me pretty hard after COVID.
SPEAKER_01Oh, okay.
SPEAKER_00So uh it was so I didn't know that's how cricket started. Is that how you met her?
SPEAKER_01I actually met her when we were both in Louisville Radio, and uh she actually was an intern for the summer when she was in college at Western Kentucky, and I was already there. Back then I was the promotions assistant for all of the radio stations in Louisville.
SPEAKER_00That's pretty cool.
SPEAKER_01Well, I've just done a little bit of everything. I had a I had a mentor, Charlie Steele, that told me the first day as an intern uh back in 2004 to learn everything I could, and I I took that really to heart, I guess. So I've done a little bit of everything since I've been here as a result. Or in radio, I should say.
SPEAKER_00Don't you have to do everything in radio?
SPEAKER_01Well, I I mean, in inevitable, you're gonna do things you don't want to do, but you do those in order to get to do what you really enjoy. I mean, it's just you've gotta have the ability to multitask. Um it's just the world we live in now.
SPEAKER_00And I'm learning that. Um y'all have been teaching me. So I so so you so you really met cricket in Louisville before you came to Frankfurt.
SPEAKER_01Yes. I helped her get hired here, I would say. Like I helped her put her demo together and everything and send it to Gator, who had to send it to his bosses, and then they inevitably convinced me I should come as well.
SPEAKER_00Okay, I didn't know that. It sounds like Gator's a good dude.
SPEAKER_01He is. Well, clearly I have nothing bad to say about him. He's the reason I'm here. But for me, the reason I had such a hard time making that decision was I'm a pretty loyal guy, so it's hard for me to want to leave one thing that I put a lot of energy in, a lot of effort, a lot of care into to go do something. I don't know anything that's how it's gonna go, right? Like it's uh a scary territory to cross new bridges.
SPEAKER_00So Yeah, and I'm I would say it had to be to leave that big of a space to come to Frankfurt, which is a lot smaller.
SPEAKER_01Sure, yeah. I remember coming into the stations and sitting in the front studio looking out the window, and like, okay, I can be in here every afternoon. I think this is what I'm supposed to do.
SPEAKER_00So yeah, because you you're literally staring out a window and people will knock on it.
SPEAKER_01Oh, yeah, you're like a fish in a fishbowl, or in this case a frog in a fishbowl, I guess.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, because I went from somewhere where we could open windows and nobody bothered you.
SPEAKER_01Oh, that's pretty cool. I wish I could open a window sometimes. We can hear at the back, but it doesn't always go well.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Yeah. So yeah, that's that was a hard change. So I imagine it was that way for you too.
SPEAKER_01Well, sure, yeah. Um, once you get over the hurdle of the anxiety of the unknown, right? Like sometimes you can get to a much better place. And I I ended up where I was supposed to be. I feel like the direction in life and the things that happened pointed me here, even though to me it didn't make sense why I would leave what I've been working towards. It ended up being that's what I was supposed to do.
SPEAKER_00And what was your original goal?
SPEAKER_01Uh there was a rock station in Louisville. Uh for a long time, heritage-wise, it was 100.5. They had moved it to 93.1. Um, I finally was like wanting to get on my first air shift there. So I finally started messing around, getting on the air on the weekends, but I finally got the night shift from uh 7 to 10 I was on, and then they changed everything and took that away. There's your point you in a different direction moment. That all coincided within just a few weeks.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I've been hearing a lot about night shows lately because that does not exist anymore.
SPEAKER_01Well, your night shows are pretty much all syndicated shows now, so you've got national shows that air everywhere. You don't really have l local night personalities, it's a rare thing anymore.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and I've actually met one night show actually. Okay. So like when I heard from when I interviewed someone else, they're like, Yeah, I started out in the wee hours and now you said you started was working towards the yeah.
SPEAKER_01I actually did some overnight shows, you know, before that even. That was interesting. You had some uh interesting folks that would call in in the middle of the night and talk, that's for sure.
SPEAKER_00I bet those were some interesting conversations.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and I put a couple of those phone calls on the air, which I thought were pretty funny and a lot of fun. And in retrospect, I'm not sure I should have, but you know, you you live and you do.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, where could you tell me more about it? About those phone calls? Yes.
SPEAKER_01Oh gosh, Hannah, why you want to do that to me? Um, I mean, one in particular, a kid called and he uh he said, Can I start, can I run a chainsaw on the radio? And I said, I guess. So he did. He it sounded at least it sounded like it, or he put a lot of effort into it. But yes, he ran a chainsaw over the radio. Why he called and thought to do that at 3 a.m.? It was 3 a.m. I guess you just are glad nobody got hurt.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, that's a good Halloween sound, by the way.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Uh because I'm petrified of chainsaws.
SPEAKER_01Well, they're glad you weren't listening.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. So you moved from rock to country. What made you change?
SPEAKER_01The opportunity uh to be live and local. Uh I love local radio. Um I like being in the moment as it happens. I feel like that's the realest, most authentic way to do it. Uh life, as you know, doesn't always dictate that you can, but that's my preference. And that's what the opportunity was that presented itself. So um I obviously grew up in the country. It's a heritage of part of who I am, but I like a lot of different types of music. So I just went back to that part of who I am for the music side of things. And more the lifestyle, right? Like I even when I wasn't always listening to that particular music, I mean I I'm a farm boy at heart. So even while I lived in Louisville, you know, it's still it's just always going to be a part of who I am.
SPEAKER_00And sometimes you don't show it. Sometimes I probably say you're just like you have to really know you to know that you like country.
SPEAKER_01Oh, really?
SPEAKER_00Some days, because some days. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01No, I well obviously I don't know perception of me from others always, so I wouldn't know one way or the other. I just know what I like now because as I've gotten older, I began to figure that out, right?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and it's just like it's just one of those things that's like once you get to know you, I just see you for who you are.
SPEAKER_01Well, that's how it should always be, right? Yes. You should get to know people on the individual level instead of putting them in boxes and thinking you know 'em when you don't.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and that's something I've probably learned what since coming back here. So which is interesting. And I know you've talked about having anxiety. When did that come to be? Was it while you were in Louisville or when you came back here?
SPEAKER_01Turned down I always had it and didn't know it. Uh, you know, I can look back to when I was a kid and being in circumstances and how I reacted with my stomach, or you know, just like panicking or um uh just dreading. I I I dealt with it, you know, when it came to play in sports when I was a kid. Um going to something new that I didn't know anything about, like but I didn't know that's what it was. Uh my moment came I had an anxiety attack earlier on here, like within the first couple of years of working here, uh just didn't really completely understand what was wrong with me, but I knew I just felt off and yeah, I just had a full, full bore panic attack at 1 a.m. in the morning and then you know, started to see somebody for some help and started to make a lot more sense. And now I can understand what I'm feeling and what I'm doing, which has helped me a lot.
SPEAKER_00And I'm grateful you understand it because you have tucked me down a couple of times.
SPEAKER_01Well, uh I have a tendency to be able to help others more than I can help myself, to be honest. So uh I do the best I can.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, because you helped me not have a panic attack the day before mac and cheese.
SPEAKER_01Oh, okay.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. You don't remember that.
SPEAKER_01No, I I mean, you know, so I'm drifting through life trying to help everybody have a better day a lot of the time. Like I just am, and I try to make it as easy for people as possible. Yeah. Uh so I don't always I don't always realize what I'm doing. This is just who I am, Hannah.
SPEAKER_00I can't help it. And I was and you and so you met cricket and you guys both came here. When did you guys start dating?
SPEAKER_01A couple months after being here. Wow. We have been friends prior, and uh and just uh obviously you get into a new place and the circumstances where you're working together on a regular basis, you both have similar interests, and then inevitably that's the road that that it took us down.
SPEAKER_00And how and how long did you guys date before you married?
SPEAKER_01Uh I guess uh year and a half, I guess.
SPEAKER_00Wow, that that's a pretty long time.
SPEAKER_01Uh well, it depends on how you look at it. Some people think it wasn't very long at all. Um, I had bought an engagement ring before we had dated for a year, but and I gave it to her a couple months after that, uh that time of buying it, and then we just waited till the fall to get married.
SPEAKER_00Oh, that must have been pretty.
SPEAKER_01Well, yeah, well we we enjoyed it, yeah. We had a reception in a barn.
SPEAKER_00Shocker. 'Cause I saw some pictures pop up on Facebook actually. That's what made me want to bring it up.
SPEAKER_01Oh wow.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, Facebook brings stuff up you don't realize.
SPEAKER_01What kind of what kind of stuff did Facebook bring up?
SPEAKER_00It was just like and even pictures of you with hair, and I was like, Wait for it.
SPEAKER_01That was a long time ago. That was a little bit back then. But luckily I let that go.
SPEAKER_00Wow.
SPEAKER_01Once again, something I couldn't control, had to let it go.
SPEAKER_00Um, so and what like I was gonna say, and since you dated and married, what has been the hardest part of like trying to keep it civil during hours of work?
SPEAKER_01Oh uh we were working really close together in the beginning. It was pretty tough. One hand that we felt like it was good because the only way we really would have got to see each other and hang out because we were both pursuing this radio thing pretty hard. But the other hand, you know, the lines between when you're at work and when you're not at work, they start to blur. Uh it's not easy, that's for sure. But um, you know, there were it went well for a while, but then I think it got to be too much for a while. And uh now we both work in the same industry, but we really don't overlap in what we do, and that's a much better spot, I think, at this point. Although I still clearly I'll pick up and help her when I can and things same with her with me, right? Like, but when you work directly together every day on the same stuff, you know, that's gonna cause some extra conflict. There's just no way around it.
SPEAKER_00And did people notice or I don't know.
SPEAKER_01I guess we just have always the people here like know who we are for good, bad, and otherwise, right? So was it any harder than it would have been without it? I really don't know for sure, you know, right? Like marriages are work and challenging but can be very fulfilling at the same time. Um that's just about that's how relationships work. So I'm not sure being in the same building working together made it made it worse or anything like that or or better or either. It's just that was our reality and that was our normal, you know.
SPEAKER_00Because I see it as a healthy relationship be from what I have seen from when I started to now, because I don't ever see negativity.
SPEAKER_01Well, I mean, I just you know, that's well, I just try to be honest and transparent, you know. Like we've had some hard times just like anybody else has, but we've persevered, right? So that's pretty big. I mean, and I think that's what it takes to make a relationship work. You've you're gonna not get along and you're gonna have bad moments and you're gonna go through some pretty tough stuff, but can you persevere through those times with that person? You know, that's it doesn't matter if you work together or not, that that stuff's hard, you know.
SPEAKER_00And that's amazing because I didn't even know you guys were married when I first met Cricket, and she said, Oh, I need to wait on so and so. And I was like, Okay, I was confused when I was for waiting on the process process.
SPEAKER_01Well, you've got to I think you've gotta show boundaries to like the relationship when you're at work as as much as you can. Not everybody wants to see that, you know what I mean? Like deal with that all the time. That's just gonna make it harder on your co-workers.
SPEAKER_00And did it make it harder after you had Grace?
SPEAKER_01Oh yeah. I mean, anytime you throw a kid in the mix, uh, as I always tell my friends that have multiple kids, I don't know how they do that, you know, because uh one kid is she's the most rewarding thing I've ever had in my life, my daughter. But it's made life crazy. It just has. There's no way around it. Uh but she's my favorite thing in the entire world, so I wouldn't trade it for nothing.
SPEAKER_00Because I've seen some posts with her in it, and she's precious.
SPEAKER_01Thank you. I'm glad that she has fooled you with those pictures.
SPEAKER_00She looks like a sassy little thing.
SPEAKER_01Oh boy, she is. Don't you worry. She's uh she's got a ton of personality.
SPEAKER_00I've heard stories about it.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_00Because some other people have told me stories of how sassy sassy she is, and I'm like, and I haven't even met her. And I've been here almost a year.
SPEAKER_01Well, I'm surprised you haven't crossed paths with her because she does come to the station sometimes.
SPEAKER_00I think it's because I've been mainly working nights.
SPEAKER_01Oh, well, that's true, probably. Yeah. Like she was here last week. I set her up with a playlist in the production room because she loves music. So it's a mix of classic rock and modern pop. That's what, and a little bit of country. Like, that's her that's her taste. So she's like me. She likes a little bit of everything.
SPEAKER_00At least she likes non-kitty music.
SPEAKER_01Well, she likes that too. But yeah, I know what you mean.
SPEAKER_00Because I remember my dad saying, I'm tired of this or I'm tired of that. I wish you listened to normal stuff.
SPEAKER_01And I'm like, I'll get there. You know what her favorite song is right now, is uh a pop staple. It's anxiety, is her favorite song right now.
SPEAKER_00Honestly, that is my song, an anthem, someday.
SPEAKER_01There you go. So yeah, that's her favorite song right now. But that could change in tomorrow, you know, because she does like different music.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I remember she likes something by Waylon at one point in the last side.
SPEAKER_01She likes some Wayland Jennings too. So yeah, she's got some variation to her playlist. Her first song, I remember her favorite first favorite song was actually Bob Seeger Old Time Rock and Roll.
SPEAKER_00Ooh, that's a good one.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so she clearly has some diverse musical taste.
SPEAKER_00Uh and I'm glad she does, and maybe she'll follow you guys.
SPEAKER_01Oh no, we don't need that. No, we want her to go a different road. Uh, right now it looks like she's gonna be an event planner based off early feedback, so we'll see.
SPEAKER_00Well, that makes good money. Um I was and I know you have an interesting name that you go by on the radio or you used to. Could you explain how you came up with that name?
SPEAKER_01Well, I've got a few different names, Hannah. Uh, you know, I'm Brett in real life, but my first radio name that I really gravitated to was Tractor. That's what I was on the rock station because I was the country boy in the rock world. Now I actually still have that name because I'm on a radio station still in West Virginia that I do a show from here to do. I've been doing that for uh about a year and year plus, something like that. So I'm tractor on uh 103.1 the Bear. 10 to 3 every day just to get that plug out there. BearRadioRocks.com. And then after that I became jumping Jim Beam when I came to Froggy, because you gotta have a Froggy name. And Kristen, who's our owner, her dad actually gave me that name. And I didn't really like the name that much, but I wanted the job and I like the opportunity so much. I was like, it's just a name. Then I just shortened it to JJB because that makes life a lot easier.
SPEAKER_00And everybody literally calls you that.
SPEAKER_01It's all about who knew you in one era when you have multiple personality radio disorder. Like clearly I do. So people I go see from my past will call me tractor. People I grew up with will call me different names. I had other nicknames along the way growing up too, so they call me that. And then I actually have also been Lumberjack Jim in uh this err era of my radio where I'm on Bigfoot Country stations up in northern like Pennsylvania, New York. Um, so I have been Lumberjack Jim on Bigfoot Country and Bigfoot Country Legends.
SPEAKER_00That that's crazy how many names you have.
SPEAKER_01Well, yeah, yeah. Uh, you know, you just gotta use to it. But they but in essence, they're all a part of who I am that makes all the overall wild musical brain of mine equation.
SPEAKER_00So Because I talk to people, especially some of the new hires, and they'll they'll say, Call you Britt, and I'm like, No, that's JJB.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. And they're like And now and now right now that name is no longer no longer on the radio anymore.
SPEAKER_00I know.
SPEAKER_01I don't know what to do. What do you think I should do for high school sports if we get back to that together in the fall? Who should I be?
SPEAKER_00Ooh, that is a good question. Maybe we put that out as a post.
SPEAKER_01All right, JJB or Brett. I don't know. Well I mean I've been JJB on high school sports for over, you know, like 12, 13, 14 years or something. So I don't know. I don't know.
SPEAKER_00Because I think having the two Brett's would be super confusing.
SPEAKER_01That's a valid point, plus a brint.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, because that's how our DN and I keep you straight.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. So I'm sure I'll still be JJB in that world too, but I'm just saying, I don't know.
SPEAKER_00And I I feel like people are probably missing you on Froggy.
SPEAKER_01I mean, I've had a bunch of conversations with people, like, you know, some people think I've retired, which is kind of funny. I don't I never even thought about that being a thing. Um, when I stepped out of that role that they're like, people would think I've retired at 44 years old because I am not retired. If you knew what you make in this industry and my other one in and in being a farmer, and I don't know if I'll ever get to retire, but needless to say, I just pursued what I loved, like they told me. To and here I am.
SPEAKER_00And about farming to move away from radio, when did you start your farm?
SPEAKER_01Well, so it's it's important to note that I grew up on a farm. Uh, you know, so I just like I grew up in tobacco and hay and and being around cows and pigs and all that. So it's a big part of what I and back to I think when I was like a sixth grader, they asked what you wanted to be when you grew up. I said a farmer, but somewhere along the way that shifted to radio. But uh I came back to the farm. Um we started, I think, Troubadour Farms officially in I think it was 2012, 2013, somewhere in there, where we started with just uh one cow and we got back into it that way. And then uh now we have our group, you know, our finished beef and our and our hay operation farm about 200 acres.
SPEAKER_00That's a lot.
SPEAKER_01It is a lot. I'm crazy. Uh so I have a lot of passions and I've like tried to pursue them all, which is insane. I can't pursue them all, right? I can't yeah, but I've sure tried to do as many as I could. There's no doubt about that.
SPEAKER_00How many cows do you have currently?
SPEAKER_0148.
SPEAKER_00That's a lot.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, mama cows, babies, boys, yeah, and a bull.
SPEAKER_00Okay. And how and how many get put into production each year?
SPEAKER_01For the beef program. Yes. It's the boys. So the boys, like last year we finished 10 steers and sold that meat to people by the cut to customers uh for them to have at it, you know, obviously steaks and and ground beef and stuff like that. I never did that part of it growing up. We always sold our cattle at the stockyards when I was growing up. Uh, but cricket actually was the one that kind of pushed us to trying to finish our own beef and see how that goes. And now that that has been a growing area of my life as well.
SPEAKER_00And I've heard the beef is so much better than getting it at the store.
SPEAKER_01I was super skeptical going in um until we did it. And uh, for me, I always tell people everybody's got different palettes. Mine is not a distinguished palate. I am a simple palate, but for me, I think the biggest difference has been the regular ground beef. Um, that what you get from a farmer is is going to taste different than the store, more than even anything else. And and you know me well enough to know if I don't believe in something, I don't do it.
SPEAKER_00So Yeah. And like how many babies are born each year?
SPEAKER_01Thirteen uh, you know, last few, and then we'll be maybe potentially having seventeen in the fall.
SPEAKER_00Aww.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Do you name them?
SPEAKER_01We don't name we name the mama cows. So if they get to the point to hang it around the farm long enough where they become a mother and they're gonna be there for a while, we hope, you know, at that point. Yeah, but we do not name everything. And that's a bad policy, by the way. I don't agree with naming cows, but uh, you know, it's a part of the deal. It happens.
SPEAKER_00Does Grace help name them?
SPEAKER_01Uh she has had some suggestions. We haven't gotten to the point where she's actually named one yet. I told her if one of the babies ends up being a mama that's came in the last year, so we may be a couple years away from a Grace named baby. There is no telling where we're gonna end up calling a cow if we go with Grace's suggestion.
SPEAKER_00Honestly, I would like to see one named after a couple rockers.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, that'd be cool. So all our cows so far have been named after songs.
SPEAKER_00Oh, that's pretty.
SPEAKER_01I guess most of them have been in the country music realm. Like uh Joe Diffie's John Deere Green mentions Charlene in the song, Billy Bob Love Charlene. So Charlene's my oldest cow that we have right now.
SPEAKER_00Wow.
SPEAKER_01She's our grandma cow.
SPEAKER_00Aww.
SPEAKER_01And she's not that sweet. Well, she's kind of sweet, kind of mean. Like she'll like clean the other cow's face, but then she might pop them in the face at the same time. You just never know. She's kind of like the sour sour patch gummies, I guess. Yeah. They got a sour and a sweet side.
SPEAKER_00Aw.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Um because I've been watching a YouTuber who is like starting the process of raising cattle. And um he's had to take one of the babies home because the mama didn't accept it.
SPEAKER_01Rejected it, yeah.
SPEAKER_00And one of the things they did, and you're gonna find this funny because my parents thought this was interesting when I told them this, was they let the baby cow into the house.
SPEAKER_01Oh no, like we've yeah, I mean, you're trying to save a calf, you do whatever it takes. Yep.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Would you ever let a cow into your house, or would that be a big example?
SPEAKER_01Oh no, we've had a calf in the house before, not constantly, but we've brought it in to dry it off, get it warm, try to save it, get it some milk.
SPEAKER_02Okay.
SPEAKER_01Um, and unfortunately, we had one that was unsuccessful in that attempt as well. I mean, it's it's not easy because we really do care about the animals, but um, yeah, it's a hard thing to go through. It's it's it's one of those things you go through that you you find yourself questioning, why in the world am I doing this? Uh, but obviously, you know, you just love it, you can't help it.
SPEAKER_00And is it hard to explain to Grace the life and death process of the cows?
SPEAKER_01Uh trying to do the best I can, but yeah, no, that's not an ideal thing to do, even to the point of processing, because that's not completely easy for me either. But I because I do care about the animal, but I also see what a nuisance they become when they get bigger. Um they really gosh, they're just kind of big and reckless at a certain point, you know, and uh uh it would be a real problem if for people to have to deal with them, you know.
SPEAKER_00And how long do you keep them alive for?
SPEAKER_01Two and a half years minimally. Um because they they finish on grass. So they try to give them as fulfilling and enjoyable a life as you can while they're here.
SPEAKER_00That's a pretty long time.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it is. Ours are a little bit older. Um, if you grain finish, you can do a little quicker. And some of my grass fed finish friends do it quicker as well, but we let ours get a little bit bigger. Like I I look at it as like trying to maximize the animal. Um but some people I'm sure would crunch numbers and have a different opinion. It's gonna be obvious, it's not gonna be a surprise that the thing that radio and farming have in common is everybody has a million different opinions and everybody seems to think they're right. It's just it seems to be how this works.
SPEAKER_00And I didn't know that.
SPEAKER_01There you go.
SPEAKER_00I feel like I'm learning as I go. Well, why not? Yeah. I didn't know.
SPEAKER_01And it's funny, like different people ask me about different like I said I'm almost like a dual career guy, like I've partially pursued two different ones, and you never know if people are going to be more interested in which one. Like I've had a million questions about radio, but I've had some people that care way more about the farming side of things.
SPEAKER_00So I've worked both sides of ra news radio and music radio.
SPEAKER_01Yep.
SPEAKER_00Before I even graduated.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00I can I can understand, but people ask me, will I ever go back to news radio?
SPEAKER_01I always tell people you never know what what direction life's gonna take you, man.
SPEAKER_00I know. Like I didn't know I'd find the local radio.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, because you didn't even know we were here.
SPEAKER_00So No, I drove past it, and every time we'd do musicals, because I know the musicals came here um that they'd be like, Oh yeah, we're going on a local morning show, and I'm like, where is the radio station? Are we are they driving to Lexington? Yeah. I felt so dumb in high school.
SPEAKER_01You never had one of those uh amazing encounters with Mr. Froggy as a kid to change your life, you know.
SPEAKER_00No, I didn't.
SPEAKER_01We uh actually in on Valentine's Day, we go around and have historically did with Froggy. We did Valentine's Day deliveries, Froggy grams, we called them. And this year in particular, we went to one of the elementary schools in Franklin County and we went in, you would have thought a rock star had entered the cafeteria. It was the loudest screech, and I was so taken aback by it because you just never can't prepare for the loud like rock star response. And I'm like, wow, that's crazy that Mr. Froggy gets that kind of response, but I promise you, decibels were high. Yeah, big time. Elvis response when Mr. Froggy left the building.
SPEAKER_00Well, because you never know a kid I was they'll scream or want to avoid because I've had this situation.
SPEAKER_01Oh, sure, 100%, yeah.
SPEAKER_00I had a situation, it took a kid almost a whole hour to warm up to meeting.
SPEAKER_01And you know, I wouldn't have been the kid that'd been screaming over Mr. Froggy, I would have been the kid like hanging towards the back of the room, like trying to check this situation out. I'm not sure about the giant frog.
SPEAKER_00I think I've been the one of like, who the heck is this? Why are they here?
SPEAKER_01When you were uh before you got into like the direction of radio, when you were growing up, would you have been a person if you saw radio station out that would have gone up to the radio station and talked to them? Me either. I wouldn't have either. No way, no way.
SPEAKER_00I was supposed to go museum route originally.
SPEAKER_01Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_00Um, because I did a lot of work with Kentucky Historical Society. I've I I've told you about that.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, you did.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I was my route was originally to do history.
SPEAKER_01And that would have been really interesting. Like I I think that would have been a pretty fulfilling path as well.
SPEAKER_00Oh yeah. Um like I know the guy who ran the camp program really well. He goes to my church. I still talked to him. I literally ran into him a couple weeks ago.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. My route was to do like create exhibits and all that.
SPEAKER_01Oh, okay. Well, that makes sense.
SPEAKER_00I like I really liked when they did the White Christmas exhibit, by the way. I knew the lady who actually created it. So, yeah, and how they got all the stuff and how many months it took to put that exhibit together.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I could see where you would be into that. That makes sense.
SPEAKER_00And I almost got a genealogy certificate with my radio degree.
SPEAKER_01Oh, that would have been cool, yeah.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Which which you know, like clearly I'm a big proponent of of uh experiencing and and doing different things at the same time. So uh and that's clearly the case. And I didn't know that's what I was until I got older, but I clearly am, you know. I've uh had a lot of side hustles over the years.
SPEAKER_00Oh, yeah. I I feel like I'm the same way because I'm trying to run a podcast while trying to get a radio career off the ground. It's hard. I've probably gotten more rejections and than I would love to say.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it all makes us stronger. They always talk about that, you know, that perseverance element we were talking about earlier, you know. Like it's not fun to go through when you're going through it, but uh it really does change your perspective and it makes you stronger in the long run for sure.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it does. I don't know how many rejections did you get before you got hired.
SPEAKER_01I guess it just depends. If I I don't know if I want to go sad sap and actually list them all out, but there were several. Um I mean, you know, I I was really obscure about my country twang, and uh I didn't know if anybody'd ever give me a chance to be on the radio, and I kept putting demos together and turning them in and not getting anything out of it. I mean, I did it a bunch. I I I don't a lot a lot. A lot. We did fake shows. I even did a talk show once a week along the way that was an hour long uh that we did. Yeah. So I've done a little bit of everything, which is good, right? Because at least I've gotten that experience along the way. The good and the bad and the otherwise.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. I'm still in the waiting process, as you can tell.
SPEAKER_01You just gotta keep hustling, that's all. I keep telling you that.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, uh I am still doing it. I'm trying to get back into doing more recording sessions. I've taken a month off and I'm gonna get back into it.
SPEAKER_01Well, it is summertime, it's nothing wrong with that.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I'm hoping to get back into it. I do it a lot when in the sports season because it makes sense.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, sure. And I'm maybe maybe this summer you've just needed to be away for a little while. Yeah. That's okay too.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, my parents are getting on to me about it.
SPEAKER_01Well, that's uh that's what parents are for.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I'm were your parents very supportive of you doing both of these careers?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I guess so. Um probably more supportive of the radio than the farming, honestly, because they grew up, both grew up, you know, farm kids as well, and uh, you know, through some hard times sometimes. And uh they know how hard farming can be. Um probably didn't realize how hard radio could be, but it but it can it it can be in its own way, right? Like I'm so grateful to not have to be doing a job that I've hated. I mean, that's big because a lot of people hate their job. I mean, there's a lot of a lot of stats to support that. So yeah, I can't my parents have always been very supportive. I have had I've been lucky in that regard.
SPEAKER_00And I think that's the biggest key to making it is having the support system. Would you agree?
SPEAKER_01Well, I think it's different for different people, Hannah. Like uh for some people, they need that support. It's just kind of like uh think about how far encouragement can go for some people, but some people actually respond well to rejection and chips on their shoulder and they prove everybody else wrong. So it just depends on your personality type, I think. Like sometimes you want to prove people so wrong so much that you will grind and hustle until you get there. Well, for others, they just need a couple people in their lives to believe in them, and then that gives them the strength to go where they can go to fulfill what they could be their promise, you know. Don't make me redneck philosophize here. I'll do it. I'll do it.
SPEAKER_00Oh no. I like would you ever leave the state of Kentucky to do radio?
SPEAKER_01Not now. Um, you know, there may have been a time like I was up in Columbus uh to a rock festival, Sonic Temple Music Festival, uh, a few weeks ago, and there was a really cool station there that I loved. And I don't have as many radio stations in the world that I love as I used to when I was growing up. Um like if there had been a different time in my life and different circumstances, yes. But my roots are here now. Like I've got my farm roots and my family roots that we're settled in. Um, but man, I really did like that station. Uh, but no, I wouldn't wouldn't go there now. I was even trying to figure out, like, I wonder if it, you know, because me, because I need more to do. I wonder if there's a way I could do something for them, like is another uh experience. No, no, stop. I gotta quit doing that. Saying no lately, okay? That's my thing.
SPEAKER_00Okay.
SPEAKER_01Because I'll drive myself crazy if I don't say no sometimes.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I'm learning that as I'm like going, where do I want to be?
SPEAKER_01Right.
SPEAKER_00I'm like, do I want to move up north or stay here and just record for the up north people?
SPEAKER_01It's all about the opportunity that presents itself when you come to that moment to make that decision. So much, once again, when we talk about the anxiety and everything else, so much is out of our control.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01So life kind of gears you in directions, you know.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I'm I'm learning do I want to stay here in Frankfurt or move somewhere? That's the phase I'm in in life.
SPEAKER_01I think it'll come down to it if an opportunity presents itself, then you really have to break down the plusminuses of it and figure out what's best. But until you get to that point, there's no need sweating it. Just keep on working on getting better.
SPEAKER_00My real goal is to get back down to bowling green because you know how much I love bowling green because I talk about it all the time.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I know. It kind of makes the rest of us feel real bad, like you don't like us.
SPEAKER_00I like y'all.
SPEAKER_01I'm just kidding, I'm just messing with you.
SPEAKER_00Oh my gosh. Bowling green, bowling green, bowling green. Well, sorry, Hannah, we tried. Yeah, it's just I just got put in two great towns, is what I'm gonna come down to.
SPEAKER_01It's all good. It's all good. I can't believe you have me on your podcast. That's crazy.
SPEAKER_00I know. This is one of my favorite projects I do all the time, or I try to. I'm getting better, but I've tried to probably push the one here in town more, but it's just finding time and hoping we can get more episodes out. I've even offered to help with it.
SPEAKER_01All right, do you have you have anybody lined up for After Me here?
SPEAKER_00No, I don't know. I don't know yet. Okay.
SPEAKER_01Well there we won't promote the next show then. The next show is gonna be thrilling content. You wanna you don't wanna miss it.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, true.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Better than this. Uh sorry.
SPEAKER_00But I do have an idea that I don't want to share.
SPEAKER_01Well, don't. Don't share it. Keep it to yourself.
SPEAKER_00I'll t I'll tell you off the mic.
SPEAKER_01Okay, sounds like a plan. So the teaser.
SPEAKER_00It's a teaser. All right. Maybe I'll get educated in something.
SPEAKER_01All right. Well, thank you for having me on the show. Appreciate it.
SPEAKER_00Thank you. I'm glad you took time out of your day, even though it's summer in.
SPEAKER_01You're my first podcast, believe it or not. You didn't realize that.
SPEAKER_00Do you even listen to podcasts?
SPEAKER_01A little bit, yeah. But I'm a music head. That's how I ended up on radio in the first place.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. And I was gonna ask you real fast, how did you end up at Sonic Temple Fest?
SPEAKER_01Well, through my rock station, I'm on, actually. We promoted the show in Columbus from Parkersburg, West Virginia, and Tractor with 1031 The Bear got to go see the Sonic Temple Music Festival.
SPEAKER_00And I was also jealous you got to go see Jelly Roll.
SPEAKER_01Well, I got to see a little bit of Jelly Roll, yes. So everybody, so when I go, like that's when I was at Railbird, right? Yeah. Hannah, along the way, I didn't take advantage of enough of opportunities in radio because I was always the guy that would work at the station or do what I thought was supposed to do. And COVID had an impact on me. I'm like, I better start doing this because I don't know how long these opportunities will last. So that's how I ended up at those festivals. And I love live music and it puts me in a happy place, and I love talking to people about music.
SPEAKER_00And how was Jelly?
SPEAKER_01I mean, jelly is jelly, right? Like, so he uh like for me, Jelly Roll, I I like Jelly Roll's story, who he is as a person. It's very interesting. I'm okay with his music. He's not my favorite, right? But I don't dislike his music either. Like it's it's solid. The first time I saw him was a few years ago, actually, at Louder Than Life in North. Yeah. Before he blew up.
SPEAKER_00Oh, wow, I didn't know that.
SPEAKER_01Well, I mean, he was still pretty big, like he started getting going and rock, but like the mainstream, like it's crazy to see how big he's gotten. Nobody would have saw that coming.
SPEAKER_00No. And I I was like, 'cause I asked, like, for one of the passes, and Paisley was like, no.
SPEAKER_01Well, we didn't have any extra like I only got I got a media pass as well. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Because I would have won, because I am the biggest jelly fan. If if you listen during game season, if we needed to play songs, I would I would always ask, can we play jelly?
SPEAKER_02That's funny.
SPEAKER_00And more than likely we play jelly a few times.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Yeah. Well, I mean, and the people appreciate that. A lot of people like jelly roll.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it was jelly, or we get a bunch of old school because m because our guys will ask for old school country when they don't want to hear all that new stuff. I don't know how many times I'd hear Dwight Yoakum come up.
SPEAKER_01Well, that's not a bad bad choice.
SPEAKER_00No, it's not a bad choice because I grew up on Dwight.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00One of the few country people I grew up on. That and Alan Jackson. For someone who does not listen to country on a wide basis.
SPEAKER_01As long as you don't just automatically hate the whole entire genre like some people are because they dismiss the whole thing. Because they're gonna be some things you like, you know, just like anything.
SPEAKER_00Well well, originally I didn't much care for country, and now it's kind of grown on me a smidge.
SPEAKER_01It happens.
SPEAKER_00I bet that was that the same way with you, or did you grow up listening to country?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, the other way around, probably. I grew up with it and then uh kind of got away from it, like I said, to still keeping up with it just a little bit.
SPEAKER_00So thank you for coming on. I have enjoyed my time with you.
SPEAKER_01Thank you, Hannah. I appreciate it. Very, very, very nice of you to ask me. I hope I did all right.
SPEAKER_00You did just fine.
