(EN) What Happens When the Concert Is Over? With Rich Baron

In this episode of BrightBond, Patrick Duriaux welcomes back Rich Baron for a different kind of conversation.

While their first episode together focused more on leadership and the connection between leaders and team members, this time the spotlight turns to music and Rich’s experience as a musician touring across the United States.

Together, they explore how music can create powerful human connection across generations, backgrounds, and life experiences. Rich reflects on life on the road, the temporary nature of touring, the bonds that can form through shared musical moments, and the loneliness that can sometimes exist even when surrounded by people.

This episode is a reminder that music is more than entertainment — it can be a bridge between people, emotions, and generations. Sometimes, it creates belonging in just a few moments. And sometimes, it says what words alone cannot.

A thoughtful and human conversation about music, belonging, loneliness, and connection.

Contact: BrightBond@alto.cool

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@BrightBondOfficial

Rich Baron:
Rich@johnmattone.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/rich-baron/
https://www.richbaronexecutivecoaching.com/

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 1:12

Hello, hello, hello, and welcome to Brightbond, where we explore how human connection shapes our lives across generations, cultures, and experiences. I am Patrick Duryot, and today's conversation is about music and the powerful way it can connect us. My guest today is Rich Baron. Rich is a returning guest, as we already recorded an episode with him in which we spoke more about leadership and the connection between leaders and team members. We also spoke about coaching, we spoke about values, and we spoke also about cultures. So, yes, Rich is the COO of John Matoney Global. Yes, Rich is an intelligent leadership master coach. He's an excellent coach and he has coached a lot of people around the world. But most of us, we don't know an extra hat or an extra talent that Rich has. And I didn't know that since uh quite a while. I spoke with Rich, but I didn't know that new talent that he shared with me. Rich is actually also a professional musician. So today in this podcast, rather than focusing on coaching, we will speak about his experience as a musician touring across the United States and what life on the road taught him about connection, belonging, loneliness, and the unique way music can create a bond between people. I'm very excited to speak with Rich about his career as a professional musician because personally I've been to concerts, I've been to festival, music festival, but I never had the opportunity to actually ask questions to a professional musician who has toured as a band and also understand what it means behind the curtain when the stage is empty, when the concert is over. What does it mean to tour as a band? So I think the listener will be very excited as well and very curious to understand what it means to tour as a professional musician. So, Rich, thank you so much to be back on Brightbone and welcome again.

SPEAKER_00 3:36

Thank you, Patrick. Uh, you know, I'm excited to be back here. I really am.

SPEAKER_02 3:42

Fantastic. Thank you so much to take the time and to uh share again another hat, as I said. How many hats do you have? But this one is uh one that I love because I like music as well, as you know. And I didn't know uh until recently that you were also a professional musician and that you actually toured the US with a band. That's amazing.

SPEAKER_00 4:05

Yes, and it's actually was was more than just the US, you know, we parts of Canada and even parts outside of the US that I was able to do this. But I I think in order to give this story meaning, I need to back up a little bit. Um I come from um a background where I had a mother who is very musically talented as a singer, uh, piano player. And so from early on, um she wanted somebody, I think, in her family in the family to follow in the music footsteps. And so we all were put into piano lessons early. We all, you know, singing lessons and and things like that, and guitar lessons uh in in my case, all around the age of seven, eight years old. Okay. Fast forward, I'm really the only one in my family that that stuck with it um and and kept playing music, it seemed like something that was very natural for me. And so even though I was involved in a lot of things, sports and other things, music always seemed to be, I I had a uh a love for music, even to the point where um, if you're familiar, I'm I'm I live here in Utah, United States. If you're familiar with them, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, um, if you've heard of them, I was invited to sing with them on a couple different um programs and albums they did at the age of 14. So 14, 15 years old, I'm already doing some of these things as far as singing, and then you know, playing music and playing guitar and piano all the way up through it, it just was something that became very natural part of my life. And so, of course, I wanted to perform. I wanted to be in that, you know, get out there and play music for people. And fast forward, you know, in during the 1980s, I was able to go back to Nashville and work in the studios as you know, working uh as a musician in the studios and got to meet a lot of people. Uh, I was very fortunate to be in some circles uh that you know, I got to meet a lot of individuals. And that was a lot of fun. And the interesting thing about going back to the 80s, you know, it was the recording industry was a different world then. Um it really required, and not that it doesn't now, uh, it really required um more intense focus. And I I I don't know how to phrase that uh so much as that's what it was. And so left Nashville in in um late 80s, 89, and got uh actually probably a little bit earlier than that, but got uh connected with some um guys that uh were from all over the world and started playing and traveling and touring all all around the U.S. playing reggae and Latin jazz and salsa and stuff, which is something I have a huge love for. And from there um was able to we opened for some big names and and got to meet some people. And I don't want to drop any names uh on this, on on individuals, but from there I was able to work, uh, was invited to play with some other people and able to work with some other individuals, some very you know, big names in the the industry. And so life on the road got got on the road. So I here's the thing. My whole life I wanted to be a musician and honed my skills, and I felt I was very good at what I did. And now I'm on the road. And I'm I'm you know, we're we're traveling all over on the road, and it's uh very exciting. You know, there was opportunities to play in front of crowds of 10,000 plus in in very uh you know, very fun places. Amazing. But after a while, it it just got to be you know making connections. And that was part of the question. How do you make these genuine connections? And the answer is you really don't, other than the people that you're working with, other than the band you're working with, because you're not in one place for very long and you're away from home a lot. You know, life on the road for uh, you know, musicians on the road, it's a grind. It really is. Um, you know, you got the you you put in the miles, you put in the work, and you're not in one place for very long. So you get to meet people, absolutely, and you get, you know, and I've got a lot of friends that I met during this time, but the real genuine connection um is with the people you play with.

SPEAKER_02 9:25

Which I was sorry to interrupt, Rich. I want to, I was actually gonna ask you if there's maybe one moment or one person that you vividly remember, uh, thanks to the connection you just mentioned, the human connection, is there one moment in your career when you're touring across the US that really capture for you the power of music to create human connection?

SPEAKER_00 9:48

Oh, um I couldn't really put one person um down because there were so many of them. I'll be honest with you. But that connection, that that music is a very, very powerful medium for connecting with people. You know, there's a saying uh out there that music is what feelings sound like, right? We all have this love of music. And and if you think about it, back before uh a lot of these things where you could get all your stuff on the internet and download all your music, you had to go out and see your music. You had to, there was a lot more going on live and a bigger opportunity to play live in different venues around than than there is now. And so you got to meet these people um from all over the world, and it's uh you know, that you got to connect with, and they would come up and they'd talk to you afterwards, and like you you would form these bonds around music, and which was something that uh is a very powerful uh you know medium.

SPEAKER_02 11:00

So we would you bond with other other bands that you would open for or who would be able to do that. How would you how would the connection will actually happen between a different musician?

SPEAKER_00 11:12

Yeah, absolutely. I can tell you that there were several um musicians that we bound. Carol King, okay. Back this is something that had an opportunity to do some things with her, but this was back in the 90s, and and getting to know some of these individuals, uh, I can tell you many um Jimmy Buffett, matter of fact, we went for Jimmy Buffett in Denver years ago and and got to meet him and talk to him. And what a what a great guy, down-to-earth guy. But here's the thing those those meetings are are brief, they're they're very brief. And it's but you feel connected to them because it's through the music, through you know, shared experiences, even though you're not sharing them together, you've been there, you've done that. And uh so it's it's a it's a good place to be. It's a you know, for that time, but you've got to realize that those genuine connections may be brief outside of the people you're you're with all the time.

SPEAKER_02 12:18

Yeah, another question because um it's interesting what you say regarding playing for people before or opening for someone else. Uh it I always when I go personally to a concert or when I've been to a festival, sometimes you hear the band rehearsing. I wanted to ask you, is is that moment when the band rehearsed together, is it a special moment to connect with the the band with the other musician, or what is the feeling of rehearsing before going live, basically?

SPEAKER_00 12:49

Here's the thing is uh that's a great, great question. And one of those things when you're rehearsing, when you're initially working with a group of guys, okay, and rehearsals, you're trying to learn the music, you're trying to find your place in the band, you're trying to find how your style fits in with what everybody else is playing. But then it gets to the point where it is like a well-oiled machine. You can get out there and start rehearsing and playing things, and even to the point where you know exactly by just uh a nod or looking at someone on on stage where you're going next. And we've done that a lot of times where you just stretch songs out, stretch songs out when people are really into it. And it's it's you know, when you start with everybody on the same note and you end on the same note, and everybody's in in their place, it's it's an it's an amazing experience. It's and you hear what's going on, and then it's you just look at each other, and it's just yeah, uh I I can't it's it's hard to explain unless you've been there. You know, I'm sure there's sports teams and things like that, but when you're out there with you know four or five other guys and you're in front of 10,000 people and things just go right. And things you just and it's not like you you're you're sure you're gonna get staged right, but the other thing is is you got five other guys to rely on, or four of the guys to rely on, or however many in there, and knowing that yeah, everybody's gonna do their part, and that's a lot of fun. I I I I can't tell you how much uh how addicting that is. It truly is.

SPEAKER_02 14:44

Wow, that's amazing to uh to believe that yeah, you're in front of 10,000 people plus, and uh must be such a special feeling. And uh it's also very nice to hear that uh you felt strength within the group to be together. So you give each other strengths. Um, one of the things we really struck me in what you just said is you almost feel that it's like another language. So, as you said, you could read not talking to you other friends playing with you, but you could read the way they played and the way they moved, and you could it sounds like another language, if you will. Would you agree with that? Or what is your view on the on the language of music?

SPEAKER_00 15:24

Uh yeah, it absolutely is. Absolutely is, you know, and and that's when all the theory goes out the window. You know, everything that you've learned and everything, all the time you spent, you know, wood shedding is what we're calling it, you know, getting, you know, up to speed on your instrument and the songs, that stuff gets set aside. Then it just becomes the music. And it's just all that work is now paying off. And here's the thing: it pays off even more when you see people smiling in the audience and they're enjoying it and they're getting into what you're doing. That is that's the reward.

SPEAKER_02 16:07

Right. Yeah, I can imagine. There must be such a special moment, as you said, as probably for me difficult to imagine because I've never been in that situation. So I think as you say, you miss you must leave it to really fully grasp and understand how that felt to uh to have those people, the the the uh yeah, the public to uh cheer and to clap and to smile at you. Must be such a special experience. Uh that must be amazing.

SPEAKER_00 16:34

Yeah, absolutely it is. And you know what's even more amazing than playing with giant groups or to giant audiences is playing in a club in front of however many. Then you're right, close and personal, and it it you know it becomes something even more of a bond.

SPEAKER_02 16:55

Right. More it's more personal than where you feel uh it's more personal, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 16:59

Okay. People come to forget their day, and when you can do that, that's that's that happen that that magic happens.

SPEAKER_02 17:06

Yeah, that's very special too. Absolutely. No, that's that's fantastic. Well, one of the the things which really uh for me is thrilling to uh to uh ask you is uh what's happening behind the curtain, because that's what we don't see, right? We don't see when the stage is empty, when the public is gone, uh when again the curtain, what's happening behind the curtain? So you you mentioned already maybe there's a uh a feeling uh of uh things were a bit uh in a short period of time. I wanted to ask you again what life on the road means. Uh when of course it's exciting, you mentioned that. Of course, there's a lot of smile, but I guess it can be also temporary because you're going from one stage to another, you're going to one place to another, you're going to one city to another city. So, how did you create genuine connection while constantly moving from one city to another city when you are touring uh across the US, for instance?

SPEAKER_00 18:05

Honestly, that genuine connection is with the guys you're you're with. And and it's interesting because you know, as as you go through and you you're going back to these different towns, right? And I'll I'll give you an example. We we uh really, really looked forward to playing in Denver. Okay. Um there was a club in Denver, and and I hope someone listening to me this will remember this. It was called Jimmy's, okay. And this is back in the the 90s, and it was it was such a fun place to play. It was huge. You know, that's where we actually uh you know played with gosh, we opened for a lot of people there, and then we uh headlined our own shows there quite a bit. It's a 700-seat club, and we would it you could sell it out three nights in a row. 700 people just packed in in there and just pumping, you know, the the music. And from that, we met a lot of people out there in Denver, which is Denver has got a um is a melting pot of culture. There's a lot of people in Denver that live from different areas. Okay, and now there's a lot of other places like that. There's there's you know, I'm just using this as an example, but as soon as we got back in town, or they knew we were coming back in town, you know, the phone calls would happen before. And this is before anybody had cell phones, too, you know, and stuff like that. Yeah. But the the the calls would happen before then, and and you know, as soon as we show up in town, we'd have people waiting there for us. Let's go to dinner, let's go do this, let's go do that. And so, yeah, it was a lot of fun that those connections. But again, those connections are brief. It's not like today where your text, you know, you're constantly in, you know, with text and staying in contact. A little bit different then.

SPEAKER_02 20:41

Right. No, I understand that that must be a quite uh a specific experience and a specific atmosphere as well. You you just mentioned a 700 seat club packed, I guess every night packed, intensity, a lot of people, a lot of nuns. But with your group as well, you're always with you, you mate, basically playing music that you love, the passion for music. So I I wanted to also ask you on the opposite side, or another view is have you actually experienced disconnection whilst touring? Because you are connected, as you said, with your band, with you with your mate, and you had a lot of intensity. Uh, how about the opposite? So when you finish the concert back and move to the next city, is there in between some of I don't know, disconnection? Or and if yes, uh, how did you stay grounded with uh that maybe that feeling?

SPEAKER_00 21:37

Uh that's a really good question. And the disconnection for me, and and this kind of led down to the reason why I made some changes in my life, made some you know obvious decisions on what I wanted to keep doing. But that disconnect is not with the guys you're playing with, because they're fan, they become your family. And to this day, to this day with those guys and the people I've played with, and and I I've still continue playing up until you know just not just recently where I've played with a bunch of guys, and we did a bunch of clubs on weekends and things like that, and had continued doing that for years and years. It was the road being gone away from home. Um I started the disconnection for me started being disconnected from family from things that I I was grounded in. Um you know, and that's that's a difficult, difficult place to be because when you're raised a certain way and you're not the lifestyle behind the curtains is rough. There's a lot of, you know, you've heard you've heard all the stories you've heard are true. And they really are. The music industry can be uh very ugly, and including I I lost a friend in Nashville, you know, due to, you know, he was he was murdered. Oh and you know, this was, you know, that's a different story altogether, but it was it had it involved the music industry. There's a lot of ugly undercurrent behind it because there's there's money involved. There's, you know, and in order to make that money, you got to be constantly on the road, touring, touring, touring, making the money. And don't get me wrong, the money for that we were making for touring musicians was great. It really was, compared to what, you know, comparatively speaking, we were making, you know, pretty good money. I would say. But then there was that disconnect. And it was weird when you when you got off the road and you were home for a little while and you're trying to reconnect with family and things like that, and and suddenly you're gone again. And you're it's that's where the disconnect for me came, even though it was surrounded by people I loved and still do to this day, and and you know, consider these guys brothers and sisters, honestly. I mean, to that, I mean, music ties you that strong. Even though some of these guys I haven't talked to for a while, if I saw them today, it would be hugs and how you doing, and you know, good to see you type thing. But it's the disconnect for me came from the lifestyle. Um and even in my with my own demons, I'll be honest with you, my with my own demons around that.

unknown 24:45

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 24:46

And um, you know, just to keep going and and um, you know, the so the disconnect was a r was with home for me.

SPEAKER_02 24:54

So so what's helped you uh stay grounded, do you think, during those moments which were not easy moments, obviously?

SPEAKER_00 25:01

Um just the guys that you play with the music keeps driving you, the next place, the next place, the next show, the next club, the next, you know, people that you've met in these different places, and you're coming back and you know, being able to get up there and you know, from the first time, you know, drummer counts you in or whatever, and that first note that of the night, and you're off and running, and that keeps you going. That's the addiction, you know, and especially with your uh with a group of guys that are um incredibly talented uh players. And I always felt like I was the least experienced of these guys. Some of these guys had you know music degrees and you know, events, you know, before they were even doing this stuff. And I I had gone down that path, but you know, I always felt I was very blessed to be in the circles I I was. Um but nonetheless, it wasn't uh you know, there's my disconnect came from home. Others, this is who they are, they've decided I'm you know one one guy that I I I think the world of Eddie Adams um goes by O Lauda. But he would always say in this heavy uh Dominican accent, you told your mom you were gonna be a musician. That's what you told her. And that in his ways, this is who you are, this is the lifestyle, this is who this is part of being a musician. And for me, I lost that connection. I lost I lost that love of music because of the disconnection.

SPEAKER_01 26:44

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 26:45

And so I decided at one point that I had had enough. I love music, and uh to this day I own a recording studio. I still record, I still play, I still um do a lot of things. I record other people uh and love that, but the disconnection from home is what brought me out of that. I I just and not only that, uh you know, to be a hundred percent transparent, my own demons were catching up.

SPEAKER_02 27:17

Yeah, so and yeah. No, no, I understand that uh the passion is still inside you, of course, and you still uh you're still in the studio at fun time. I think you you what you just mentioned is probably the lifestyle has changed and uh the disconnection really was not easy and and made you maybe also take decision to change lifestyle, I guess, right?

SPEAKER_00 27:39

Yeah, and changed lifestyle. Uh went back to school, uh, worked on some different degrees, and and the rest is history, you know, where I'm at now. Uh got more into the you know, a different career choice, which I've absolutely loved and quite frankly, very glad that I did. Um because it it changed who I am and it's now allowed a different life with family, where where I I can tell you, I don't know, I do not know very many full-time traveling working musicians that have a real robust family life. There are some. There are some, but I uh that's few and far between. It really is.

SPEAKER_02 28:25

Yeah, okay. Yeah, I understand it's not an easy thing. Also, I wanted to ask you when you again you look behind the curtain. Can you maybe take us through? I'm gonna go really, I will say operational, but uh, what does it mean? Uh how is the day of a musician, professional musician, by the time when again you finish the concert to the next concert? So I'd like to understand, and also for our listeners, maybe it's interesting to understand what's happening then. So, you know, simple thing like dinner, uh, how many hours do you sleep? When do you wake up, when do you rehearse, when do you hit the road to the next stage? How does it work, really on an operation standpoint?

SPEAKER_00 29:04

You know, if you're if you're there for a couple of days, like if you're in a like I was talking about in Denver, that's great. You got your own hotel, you can go back. Yeah, well, you you go back to the hotel after, but there's always the parties after. There's always, always, always someone wanting to, hey, you know, let's hang out, let's, you know, let's drink some some whatever, uh, you know, um that that's kind of that happens. But it's also uh, you know, you're playing late into the evenings, some of these things, you know, well after midnight on on some of these things where you can you if you're if you're playing in a big club and you're there for you know three, four hours, you know, playing, and you know, by the time you're done, you're exhausted. Then you get then so the next day there's a lot of sleep, you know, you're trying to catch up on sleep, and then you know, you're back at it again. You get up and go grab something to eat and uh you know uh and doing whatever, and then you're back at it again, and and and here's the thing is that then you start the demons before you even start playing. Okay. You know, practice high to play high, practice drunk to play drunk.

SPEAKER_01 30:19

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 30:20

I mean, I'm I I'm that might sound insane, but it's the truth.

unknown 30:28

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 30:28

You know, you know, uh I knew a lot of people who would intentionally get high and practice high so they could play high. That was I mean, that that sounds like wow, you know, that's hard to hear, but it's the truth. Okay, it really is. And so uh, you know, so you're ready to go, you you got your what we refer to as your playing lessons, and I'll be honest with you, I did a lot of that over the years, getting ready to play, uh, you know, uh and uh not so much any of the drugs or anything, didn't really get into that, but you know, a lot of drinking, you know, I was drinking a lot, okay. Uh, which was that's you know, it was catching up with me.

SPEAKER_01 31:10

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 31:11

It really was catching up. And so behind the curtain, there's a lot of getting a lot of that, but there's also a lot of meeting people and going out to dinner and stuff like that. The day that you got to take down after if you're setting up your own stuff, setting up your own gear and then taking everything down and loading it out into the the bus or the trailer or whatever, you know, afterwards is you know, that's a lot of work. People don't realize how much work goes into setting up, getting your sound dialed in, and then tearing it down, putting it all away, getting on the road again, going to the next place, getting out, setting up your all your stuff, you know.

SPEAKER_02 31:52

Yeah. Thank you so much, uh, by the way, for being so open uh about uh your own personal life on the roads. Coming to what you just said, I'm very also curious to understand, because I assume, and it's again just an assumption as someone who has not tour, but there's probably a routine who takes place from one stage to another stage with the band. I wanted to understand again, as you said, uh all the preparation. Is it really something set, or because you you're going from one stage to another, so you get better and better and better, and maybe you need less time to rehearse, or you always say the same time you have to rehearse the same number of minutes.

SPEAKER_00 32:31

There's a little bit of a rehearsal, you know. I'll I'll tell you what, a lot of the rehearsal came when you're setting up and getting your sound check in and stuff like that. Um, and then you're you're of course you're playing your own instrument behind the scenes and getting warmed up and that kind of stuff. But once you're on the road and stuff like that, there's not a lot of rehearsal, honestly. Okay. Right. That's it. You know, you're getting warmed up, but really, you know, by that point you've got everything dialed in.

unknown 33:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 33:02

Okay. And of course, you learn new songs on the road too, or you write new songs on the road, then you prefer you put them together and you you perform them and and you know, give it a get a give it a try, but it's so it's also spontaneous to some extent. Oh, it's very spontaneous.

SPEAKER_02 33:16

Oh, nice.

SPEAKER_00 33:17

And that's the that's the cool thing about working with guys that are really good. It is simply, you know, things can change. You know, and you know, you just and it's kind of like a a nod, or someone gives, you know, and boom, you're gone again. That's you know, that spontaneous uh thing is is a lot of fun, and that comes from trust with the guys that you work with, the the gals that you work with, the people you're playing music with. There's an inhale, there's a lot of trust there, and it's a a bond, it's a serious bond, and it and it's it's wonderful. It's amazing.

SPEAKER_02 33:54

Yeah, it must be amazing to uh trust each other so much. And uh too, as you said, it's really rare that uh and as you said, unless you do uh sport or something at a professional level like that, where you're totally always together all the time, and you travel together and you prehearse together and you eat together. So, yeah, it's must be a very different uh level of bonding with uh with people, as you say, probably like family-like.

SPEAKER_00 34:20

Well, yeah, and they become your family and you get to know everything about them, you know, and they become and you look out for each other, you really do.

SPEAKER_02 34:28

Yeah, that's amazing. That's fantastic to hear such a great uh human connection. I also wanted to ask you another operational question, or maybe more uh ask you about your feeling. Uh again, I'm trying to imagine what it means to be on stage. And uh, you spoke about Denver, uh, you spoke about Nashville. I wanted to understand as a musician, uh is there a different feel when you go from one city to another, or even a stage? Is there another different smell? Uh what is it to go from one place to another? I'd like to understand really what it means, what is the feeling?

SPEAKER_00 35:03

I I I can yeah, there's towns are different, yeah. People are different in different places that you play at. Um, you know, everywhere from you know, all the way from Vancouver up there, and you know, and Seattle, where it's it's a different field than as you start coming across, you know, playing different places in the United States, Vegas is and getting there, they're different rules too about when you play, when you start, when you're done, um, you know, when you have breaks, that kind of stuff. And and yeah, there's the stages are always different depending on how big they are, you got to cram in. If it's a big stage, you know, in front of a big audience or whatever, that's a little different. You know, monitors are all set up and you hear, you hear differently. The stage is very different because you hear things differently. You hear, you know, how you hear the guitar players or how you hear the drummer or how you hear the bass player, because the configuration of the stage can change that. But the people, yeah, the people change. Oh, yeah. The the people that are showing up um to these different things change. I gotta tell you, and I'll give you an example of this. Going, I was in Nashville when I first moved to Dashville, and this is in the 80s, and oh my gosh, I'd never heard of line dancing in my life. Okay, never heard of line dancing. And I we went to this club, and we weren't playing at this club, but we went to this club, and you know, they were playing Van Halen. I remember it was a Van Halen song, and all these people out there doing this line dance to it. And we're looking at each other, this another guy's with that. We had just got there, you know, moved out together, and we're like, did they get together and practice? You know, is this a club that they decide to go out? And I was blown away by watching, and that was my first experience watching line dancing, and they was it wasn't to a country song, it was to uh a Van Halen song. And I remember to this day, like, you know, and now I know differently, but I had never seen that, I'd never even heard of line dancing. But yet you go to Nashville, that part of the country, and that's a big thing. Where you know, other places are you know a little different, but that's very interesting.

SPEAKER_02 37:32

That's uh each city is a different vibe, different souls, and different people, as you said. So I was curious to hear from you, site from a you know, when you're on stage, and maybe even the smell is different from you know how the stages so uh yeah, yeah. How is it different from one space or one place to another? Uh Denver to Nashville, as you said, that's quite interesting. Yeah, that's it.

SPEAKER_00 37:54

It's all the same, except the people. There's there's a certain group of people that hang out in bars, okay. That you know and you do, you know, the you get you see, it doesn't matter where you're at, doesn't matter what club you're at, doesn't and it's different when you're playing, you know, concerts, but when you're it doesn't matter. This is a funny thing about it because before last call, before the lights go up, these people disappear. They don't like the lights, and it's you see them the uh we you know you refer to them as barflies or whatever you want to refer to them as. But it's they're the same people in every single bar in every single city across the country. It's the same. I I don't know if they're interchangeable or what, but it we joked about them. There's the barflies, and and they would they would before last call, they were out before it was light. The lights come on, they were gone. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 38:46

Okay, interesting. I also wanted to ask you um about something that everyone has experienced, but I wanted to have the view of a professional musician like you. Of course, when you speak to someone, even someone you don't know at all, um, if you start to speak out music and the person you talk to, like the same artist than you, or the same song like you, straight away there's a connection. And I cannot grasp the why in that sense, but I wanted to have you view as a professional musician. What is your view why music is such a connector between people, generation? It's as you say, it's very international. You meet people from all around the world. So what is your in your view why music connects people so strongly?

SPEAKER_00 39:30

So I'm gonna give you kind of a uh an idea on this, all right? Most songs and and learning about this, you know, there's there's kind of a a recipe for music. And for the amount of time, uh, you know, how long a song can be to be played on the radio or whatever. And so generally speaking, that's three minutes, give or take. All right. In Nashville it was called the 245 rule, you know, two minutes, 45 seconds. You know, that was kind of a hard and fast rule back in the day. It's a little bit different now, but I want you to think about something. Have you been in your office, or had your headphones on, you're going for a walk, or driving in your car, and your favorite song comes on. Okay. And for the next three minutes, your life changes. You're into that song, you're singing it at the top, your lungs. You know, I love going down the road and seeing people playing, singing in their car, you know, and you know that for that three minutes their life's changed. You forget about the troubles of the day, you forget about everything else except that music. And it's also been said that we learn more about ourselves and we learn more about different elements of our life, or you know, even religious things faster through music than by any other means. It sticks with us. You know, you get yourself humming these things. That's the connection. That's the connection. And so when when you meet people and you can and I still do to this day, I you know, you can cross generations with music. Cross generations with music. And I love to hear um people, these this young group of people listen listening, like, you know, old 60s and 70s music because it doesn't it it doesn't age. The emotions are always there. Music or what feelings sound like, and so you can connect with people on so many different levels simply because of those emotions that music brings up in us. Oh, that's beautiful. You know, can it can it can bring memories back? Um you know, I remember one time we were playing Nights in White Satin a Moody's Blue song. I I love that song. And you know, we would play that in clubs and things like that, and or some other songs, you know. Of course, you got there's all the bar standards. But we played that one, and then we played another song called Sandman from America. All right. I remember this, and the these people, these these this couple came up to us and they were both in tears afterwards, and they like that took me back to a time in my life when you know things were a little bit different, and then we were able to carry on a conversation around that. And here that's the great thing about music, it can make you forget all those troubles in your day, even if for uh for a few minutes, and that's the connection, that's the human connection.

SPEAKER_02 42:58

Fantastic. No, you're right. I think it really takes us sometimes to different spaces in our minds. And uh it's a great uh it's a great media to uh to go through the days when days are difficult. The music is fantastic to give us energy, right?

SPEAKER_00 43:13

Yeah, uh it is, and to this day, I mean my my kids joke with me because you know uh when I pull in, they can hear me pulling in the driveway if I've got a song up, because I want it loud and proud. That's how I am. I that's how I roll. You know, if it's something I like, I'm gonna crank it up, you know, different things. Uh, you know, and I can tell you some of my favorite bands. You know, I love all sorts of music, you know, all over the way any any type of music. I I love jazz, I love you know, uh world type music, reggae, Latin, you know, solace Ahsoka. I love ACDC, I love Pink Floyd, and so you know, all of this stuff, man, that stuff is just makes you feel good.

SPEAKER_02 44:01

Yeah, I totally agree with you. It's fantastic, and there's so many great bands and so great uh different genera of music as well. So it's also uh I think a great thing that uh we can connect with music because there's so many varieties of music as well. So there's definitely someone somewhere who likes the same music as as you, basically.

SPEAKER_00 44:20

Oh yeah, yeah, and who you never know who you're gonna run into. That's here's a fun thing. You you you know, we hear all these great players out there, yeah. And I can tell you the best players I've ever met in my life, the best musicians, bar none, head and toes above any of these other people you you see out there are guys that sit home and play to themselves or play with uh just a small group of people. And I can tell you if you think the best players are these guys out there on the stages and making limelight, you're absolutely mistaken.

SPEAKER_02 44:58

Okay. Actually, that's make me just think about the question. For yourself, did you prefer to play in smaller stage or larger stage?

SPEAKER_00 45:06

Personally, depends.

unknown 45:08

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 45:09

If it was a big, you know, depends on on where it was. I I really got I I can tell you music is made in small clubs. Even before a lot of these bands go out and they'll launch an album or something like that, or big road tour, they hone their skills in it back in the clubs. It's it's just you're you're up front, you're close, you're personal. Um but don't get me wrong, the other, you know, playing the big venues and and showing up at these big venues and you know, people are there to see, you know, the band play. That's you know, that's something different too. Oh yeah, absolutely. Very nice.

SPEAKER_02 45:49

That's great. Um thank you so much, Rich, for all those experiences. It's uh I I was really you took me to another place, I have to say. So I was imagining you on stage, I was imagining you in Nashville. So really uh again, I was uh not focusing on anything else than you and new stories. So it was great to uh have this experience. I wanted to uh ask you as a last question if you uh maybe could give an advice, a little tip uh to our listeners, and how they could use music to link with someone else, to connect with someone else.

SPEAKER_00 46:24

Oh, absolutely. Um and I still do do this to this day, is you know, especially asking people, you know, what kind of music they like. Or you hear them playing something in the background, or you might see something, especially on Zoom. You folks that do a lot of calls on Zoom and different things, you see things in the background. If I didn't have my my banner up here behind me, you'd see my guitars on the wall behind me.

unknown 46:55

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 46:56

You know, it's just that that piece that you can you can talk to and and listen to. And it's just a great way to link with with people. How do we how do we connect? Because again, think about all the emotions that are brought brought forward from from music, and you can segue from talking about music into just about anything getting to know somebody because once that you've got uh a common reality, common ground, there's a lot of trust there and a lot of a lot of building.

SPEAKER_02 47:33

Amazing. Uh that's a great tip. Thank you so much. And what are the guitars actually? Which guitars do you have behind you?

SPEAKER_00 47:39

Oh, I I've got a couple of them here. I've just got an acoustic, a Yamaha acoustic on the wall behind me. And I've got a uh a new one, um a new Music Man. Um it's a guitar made by Music Man, it's an electric one, uh, that I've got on the wall behind me that is is but my I've uh like I said, in my studio, that's where my my gems are, uh honestly. You know, and I go that's there, that's where they are. But these are these are some guitars I absolutely love to play, and they'll they're just great ones to fiddle around with. And occasionally you'll you'll see different guitars on my wall because I'll go I'll go swap them out and bring different ones in and just to fiddle with. Yeah, nice.

SPEAKER_02 48:21

Fantastic. How many guitars do you have?

SPEAKER_00 48:25

I I gotta be quiet because my wife loves this. No, uh, no, she's uh you know, I I've kind of I'm down to three now that I really like.

SPEAKER_02 48:38

Okay, that's a political answer.

SPEAKER_00 48:41

So it's yeah, but I've got um I you know I've got a bass guitar, I've got a mandolin, you know, I play a lot of this, uh, and I've got uh several keyboards, you know. I play both, you know, and a lot of keyboards. Um yeah, my my wife is kind of I can't go into a music store or a sporting goods store now, you know, without her knowing it because she's like no more. And here's the fun thing. I I've got a a buddy who owns a huge business, and he's probably got 40 plus guitars. He's just addicted to buying guitars, okay. And his wife caught onto it, and he was hiding him in his office at work, and so then he would hide him at my house for a while, and then my wife would see him, and like she was like, Are you buying more guitars? Whose guitar is this? Whose amp is this? You know, it's it's Mitch, it's my buddy, you know. So and so yeah, so wives, wives have a uh way of I'm sure kind of checking that, you know.

SPEAKER_02 49:43

She's probably she doesn't allow you to uh go shopping with Mitch now because she knows the two of you.

SPEAKER_00 49:49

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And it it's an addiction, it really is, because it's a different sound, it's a different feel, it's a different, and I've got my own setups that I like, of course, you know.

SPEAKER_02 50:02

But yeah, that's a passion, really. That's really into you. I can see that. That's amazing, yeah, fantastic. So, Rich, I wanted really to thank you for you know being so authentic, uh, open up to us and uh share your story. You live on the road, that was amazing. Uh, I was really curious, I learned a lot. Um, I think uh also for the listeners, just to be honest with you, we started the podcast, but uh we had to restart it because uh I bit uh I did a bit of singing and Rich could not uh he just this basically burst into laughter, so we had to start it. Oh yeah, yeah. I will not do that. No, I will not do that to my dear listeners. Uh, you are a professional musician, so that's probably why you burst into laughter, but that was a great conversation.

SPEAKER_00 50:47

Oh, it just it was so random, it was awesome. It was that's and there again, there's the music, you know.

SPEAKER_02 50:52

Yeah, thanks. No, that was beautiful talking to you. Uh, I really want to like to thank you for that. And then also, of course, music uh is more than just an entertainment. That's also what you are saying. You really bridge people, connect people across generations and uh across countries. So it's a wonderful tool to connect with people. I think it's uh sometimes we say one image is worth a thousand words, and I think music can do that too. It's much stronger than uh words, and uh that's uh yeah, absolutely. Yeah, that that's amazing. So thank you for bringing you humanity as well, and uh your memories with us, and your perspective of uh music and uh being a professional musician. And to everyone listening, uh thank you for being here. Uh, if this episode resonated with you as much as it did with me, please share it with someone from another generation: a friend, a parent, a grandparent, a colleague or neighbor, as Rich just said. Uh, music really uh is for everyone and cannot connect us all. Let's keep creating more moments of real human connection. Uh, if you would be kind enough also to subscribe to our YouTube channel, Brightbond Official, that will be great. It's free of charge, just click the little bell, that will be fantastic. And until then, I'd like to say see you next time on Brightbond and take care. Thank you so much, Rich. Bye, Funny. Thanks.