BackPorch Twisters Episode 3: MeatGate 2026 - No Strings Attached

The conspiracy deepens as Banjo Barnett and the Professor of Shred investigate one of the greatest mysteries of our time: where did the red string around the bologna disappear to… and why did it suddenly come back? We also revisit the ongoing mystery of Mitch McConnell, dive into the controversy surrounding AI data centers, debate whether mountain lions are really prowling the hills of Eastern Kentucky, and unravel another Back Porch Twister Tale with the infamous Nasty Dew. Then, to close out the show, Banjo Barnett finally pulls out the banjo for a little pickin’ while the Professor asks all the questions you’ve ever wanted answered about the instrument.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:50

Hello, folks, and welcome to episode number three of the Back Porch Twister Show on the Five String Holler Podcast. Yeah, man. Folks, I want to thank you all so much for your continued support and love that you've shown this little podcast. I surely do appreciate it because it means a lot to me, and we're having a ball doing this thing. And of course, I'm your host, Banjo Barnett, and I got my other host.

SPEAKER_02 1:13

Uh the Professor of Shred. Yes. Travis Fields.

SPEAKER_00 1:17

The Professor of Shred, the Shred man, son. He is the guitar playing genie. He knows what's up. How you doing today, Professor?

SPEAKER_02 1:25

I am well, and you?

SPEAKER_00 1:26

But if I felt any better, I'd be raring to go and ready to run a marathon.

SPEAKER_02 1:30

Yeah, I understand.

SPEAKER_00 1:31

Uh, you know, the usual.

SPEAKER_02 1:34

If there were if we were any better, there'd be two of us.

SPEAKER_00 1:36

About ten.

SPEAKER_02 1:37

Yeah. Ten multiples.

SPEAKER_00 1:39

Ten multiples, ten multiples. Had a good week this week?

SPEAKER_02 1:42

Yeah, yeah. So far, how about you?

SPEAKER_00 1:44

Yeah, buddy, I'm a clocking along right there. That's about all I can do.

SPEAKER_02 1:47

I hear that.

SPEAKER_00 1:48

So what we're gonna kick off with, I know the first thing we gotta touch on is, of course, uh what uh what we've always talked about the past two shows, and still have no clear answer about the man is where's Mitch.

SPEAKER_02 2:03

Yeah. Where's our senator, Mitch McConnell?

SPEAKER_00 2:09

Yeah, your guess is as good as ours. I mean, I really, really do not understand the whole secret. I don't either. I don't get it. Like, I honestly don't.

SPEAKER_02 2:21

Well, and and here, you know, and we we like to say, you know, what the American public doesn't know is what makes them the American public. What happened with that what was it, yesterday, I think it was that the governor said that he d demanded that uh McConnell's team release some kind of statement about his health or whatever, or he demanded that he resign.

SPEAKER_00 2:42

Yeah, uh, I reckon according to this article on MSN uh news here from the New York Post, it says uh as the governor of the state you serve, I am calling on you to directly and verbally address the people of Kentucky and provide proof of your capacity to serve or resign.

SPEAKER_02 3:00

Well, here's the thing the governor can't make him resign. All he can do is call him out like that, and again, what the American public doesn't know is what makes them the American public.

SPEAKER_00 3:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 3:10

They're thinking, here's the average listener sitting there thinking, there you go, buddy, that'll teach him. There you tell him, Andy. You know, and they're thinking that, and it's like, what just happened? You you do realize that him saying that means absolutely nothing. Uh you know, it doesn't change anything.

SPEAKER_00 3:29

I mean, most most of these guys, these these people, you know, uh whether it's a celebrity or a musician or even these political figures, they've all got a Facebook page. So why can't one of them people take their cell phone if Mitch McConnell's truly sitting there in that chair and just record him saying, uh uh, uh Mitch McConnell, I'll tell you all the state of Kentucky. That I'm not dead. That I'm not dead and I'm doing well. Like, why why can't you just do that? Like, how hard is it just to do that? 30 seconds is all we need, buddy, just for you to say that you're good. Yeah. Because I mean, clearly, clearly we're not that crazy thinking something is up because the governor himself doesn't know. Doesn't know. And that's sad. Like, you know, down here, around here, when somebody gets sick, you know, we go down to the hospital, go up there and sit with them and you know, talk to them, say hi, Hattie, and all that stuff. I just don't understand why.

SPEAKER_02 4:24

They can do that. That's what I'm saying. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 4:27

I mean, like, I don't get it. Like, why what's the secret, man?

SPEAKER_02 4:30

Yeah, and the governor doing that, it means absolutely nothing because there are members of his team. There are members of uh government, all branches that could go check. You know what I'm saying? Just go. I mean, what's the big secret? That's the scary part, man, is the secrecy surrounding it. Yeah. The professor has spoken. Sound the gong, man. Yeah. Again, they don't know is what makes them the American public.

SPEAKER_00 5:00

Yeah. I mean, like, I I really don't understand, like, why, like I said, just a 30-second video, just him saying he's uh he's okay.

SPEAKER_02 5:09

Well, now let me let me ask you this though. Is there a chance that people would distrust it from the beginning because they would think it was AI?

SPEAKER_00 5:16

Back to what I said, we've been conditioned that when we see something that we think is bizarre, it's AI.

SPEAKER_02 5:22

That's AI. Yeah. Well, and it's a good chance it could be. Because I mean, look at all the memes and stuff that have come out of that picture of McConnell with his wife.

SPEAKER_00 5:31

That's true.

SPEAKER_02 5:32

I mean, was it AI to begin with? Possibly. Uh and where did it come from? Uh so I mean, there's all these things, like you said, the mystery's the scary part. Uh the fact that there's absolutely no knowledge in any branch. That that's scary, man. It is.

SPEAKER_00 5:50

I don't know. It's it's something that could be so so simplified with a 30-second video or something. Just something.

SPEAKER_02 5:58

Well, I mean, like I said, there's members of these uh teams. The governor has a team of people. Go see. Go see.

SPEAKER_00 6:05

Yeah, I mean, like it it this could be but instead of doing the simple thing, they keep running the charade. Yeah. And they're feeding it. That's the thing that we're gonna do. Yes, yes. Yeah. But yet the tenfold hat community, hmm. Darn them.

SPEAKER_02 6:22

Oh, them them people was crazy.

SPEAKER_00 6:24

We're gonna shoot down some aliens, boy. Shoot some aliens. I mean, I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 6:31

Yeah, we're we're not crazy. Uh, and and if you're the type of person who thinks you're crazy because you question all that stuff, you're far from it. He has spoken again. Please question. Question everything. Especially when it comes to the government.

SPEAKER_00 6:50

Uh, dag on right, because they sure ain't in your favor.

SPEAKER_02 6:53

They are not.

SPEAKER_00 6:54

They're not on your side. Either side. But you know, speaking, speaking of government, there's a question that my sweet little wife brought up.

SPEAKER_02 7:03

I was just getting ready to do that.

SPEAKER_00 7:04

That uh, you know, could be a government conspiracy, could be part of the Meat Gate 2026.

SPEAKER_03 7:11

Meat Gate.

SPEAKER_00 7:13

But did anybody did did did anybody notice that the string on the baloney disappeared and it's come back?

SPEAKER_02 7:20

Well, I mean, yeah I you and I had talked about this. Uh-huh. Uh so yeah, that I I was aware that that had happened, and a good many consumers, I'm sure, had noticed. But the question is, do you know why?

SPEAKER_00 7:36

See, that's the thing, is I can't find a reason why it disappeared because I know the the most people like me, I don't know about anybody else, but to me the only brand of baloney nowadays worth having in the house is Fisher's.

SPEAKER_02 7:50

Most people do prefer that.

SPEAKER_00 7:52

You know, get the Fishers thick cut, fry it, throw you a big onion and a big tomato and a little bit of mayo on that bread.

SPEAKER_02 7:58

It's good stuff. It's good stuff, but hard to beat.

SPEAKER_00 8:02

It is. So, like, I noticed, I guess it was a few months ago, that all of a sudden the red string on the baloney disappeared.

SPEAKER_02 8:12

It's back, yeah. Well, it's back now.

SPEAKER_00 8:15

Yeah. And then like, you know, it was like a mystery because I couldn't figure out or find out why it disappeared.

SPEAKER_02 8:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 8:20

And like there was people that was tore all the pieces about it, you know. They all these old fellas would eat baloney all their lives. Like, it's not the string without the red string.

SPEAKER_02 8:30

Yeah, and the string means literally literally nothing. Uh as far as it contributes nothing. Uh it was just a simple binder that held it together because it's a mystery meat product. It's kind of a conglomeration of all kinds of other meats and things.

SPEAKER_00 8:45

3D printed here in the bluegrass state.

SPEAKER_02 8:48

Yeah, it is the precursor to the m to meat gate. But yeah, I love that, by the way. Uh the virtuoso over here has come up with that term. Meat gate. I'm gonna ask him to explain it in a minute. But at any rate, uh here's my theory on it, and I think there's some clout to it. The reason that there's no string on it anymore is because animals can't digest it. And so there used to be, you know, some very unpleasant scenes where cats and dogs were trying to pass it and it wasn't passing, and they were having to drag it on, dragging their hind end on rocks and everything else, trying to get it out.

SPEAKER_00 9:30

Oh Lord. That's my theory. Well, I mean, it makes sense, you know, the doc the the animals can't digest it, but like, why is it all of a sudden come back?

SPEAKER_02 9:40

That now that is a good question.

SPEAKER_00 9:42

Because I can't find nothing about it. Like, I can't find a thing about the the the Maloney strand going around away.

SPEAKER_02 9:49

Going away and then coming back. That is yeah, well, that is interesting. Especially once eradicated and or censored.

SPEAKER_00 9:57

Which goes back to Meat Gate.

SPEAKER_02 10:00

Yeah, explain Meat Gate, yes.

SPEAKER_00 10:02

So, Meat Gate, for anybody that didn't listen to episode two, you go back, listen to episode two, and you'll get a taste of it. Literally. That's what she said many times last night. Yes. Boing! But anyway, so Meat Gate 26 is, you know, we've got some ticks that are biting people and apparently causing a meat allergy. Our baloney string has disappeared, but all of a sudden it's coming back. So, you know, I just I'm saying there's all kinds of stuff going on with meat this year.

SPEAKER_02 10:30

It is meat gate, yes.

SPEAKER_00 10:31

It is meat gate twenty-six.

SPEAKER_02 10:33

And a lot of it generate uh you know, is generating around the presence of Bill Gates and his proposal to get rid of all red meat by 2032 or 2030, I think. So it either way, it it's an appropriate term, meat gates. There you go.

SPEAKER_00 10:51

But yeah, they the the the baloney string thing I've not been able to get a good clear, you know, what happened there on that deal.

SPEAKER_02 10:59

Well, uh we'll have to continue there's some research on that one.

SPEAKER_00 11:02

I'm gonna figure it out one way or another. So there's gotta be something to the Oh, I'm sure there is something.

SPEAKER_02 11:07

There's never any the things that never happen for no reason, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:11

Well, speaking of things that happen for no reason, how about Project Maverick? What's the reason behind Project Maverick?

SPEAKER_02 11:19

Money is the reason behind Project Maverick. Money. Um and uh here's the the Project Maverick thing, uh well, and I it was kind of done in shady, mysterious ways. But what happened is there's a proposal in which Letcher County will receive an AI data center. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 11:41

Access granted.

SPEAKER_02 11:42

Right. So this was supposed to take place in Jenkins, Kentucky, on the industrial site there. And what happened was apparently Project Maverick was signed upon and agreed upon access granted uh six months ago, but nobody else knew about it. Only the powers that be, only the the people who would benefit from this, investors and whatnot. So wouldn't you know it?

SPEAKER_00 12:12

Yeah. So, like I tell I said last week we're gonna do a little we had to do a little homework because I wouldn't exactly hip to the AI data center. Nor was I, you know, a as as opposed. And I even done so far, get this, you're you're gonna like this. This is like so much satire and um irony in this whole situation. So I went on uh the interwebs there on the Googles, I Googled. And according to the World Resources Institute, they have got this article that was written back in February talking about the effects that AI data centers have on the environment exactly and you know what they do. Okay. Um so and I didn't know this, but apparently uh 60% of the U.S. data centers are found in ten states. And you wanna know what the number one state is? Virginia. Virginia, which is right across the store.

SPEAKER_02 13:09

Yeah, it's our next door neighbor.

SPEAKER_00 13:11

Right across the border. And the and the and the second in line is Texas, which surprises me.

SPEAKER_02 13:15

That is kind of surprising.

SPEAKER_00 13:17

But I mean, you know, down there it's there's so much barren and open land.

SPEAKER_02 13:20

I mean, maybe it's probably easier to get by with putting one there. Yeah. You know, without it being noticed.

SPEAKER_00 13:26

Uh well they well they well they call that place what's no, I don't guess where's Silicon Valley at? Is that out towards Nevada? Is it? Or is that in California? Now California's the third state. See, I figured it'd be at least second or first.

SPEAKER_02 13:40

Yeah. So California was number three.

SPEAKER_00 13:43

Yeah, California's number three.

SPEAKER_02 13:45

So But also has a lot of unclaimed land, you know what I'm saying, all open land.

SPEAKER_00 13:52

Right.

SPEAKER_02 13:53

So there's a lot of that there as well.

SPEAKER_00 13:55

Right. So that does make sense, you know. Yeah. So the World Resources Institute done this study, and according to this, an AI data center can use as much power as a hundred thousand homes. And actually many of the larger ones that are now being built are expected to consume up to twenty times that amount.

SPEAKER_02 14:16

Which would elate the power company, I'm sure.

SPEAKER_00 14:18

Yeah. Uh the studies from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory um found that data centers could represent up to twelve percent of all U.S. electricity consumption by two thousand and twenty-eight.

SPEAKER_02 14:32

In two years' time. That's crazy.

SPEAKER_00 14:35

Yes. And uh according to grid strategies, that's up to ninety thousand gigawatts.

SPEAKER_02 14:44

Wow. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 14:45

So by twenty thirty you're gonna have enough gigawatts that's about nine times New York City's peak summer power. Man joining the power grid in less than five years' time.

SPEAKER_02 14:57

I'm sure the people at AEP are just salivating.

SPEAKER_00 15:01

Yeah, I mean, they already railroad us enough. I'm t I'm telling you right now, I'm a I'm I consider myself a pretty pretty good man. I don't I don't raise trouble over much meaning. No, you don't, no. And you know, I'm I've got I've got pretty good pretty good patience. But one entity that gets my blood boiling quicker than anything on this planet that makes me fighting mad at the drop of a pen is the power count.

SPEAKER_02 15:30

Same.

SPEAKER_00 15:31

I hate 'em.

SPEAKER_02 15:32

I do too with a passion.

SPEAKER_00 15:33

I'm sorry, but I do. No, I'm not no, I'm not sorry. I'm not sorry, because I'm gonna tell you right now, it's freaking ridiculous when your daggum power bills are almost eight, nine hundred dollars. That's more than half people's mortgages are.

SPEAKER_02 15:45

I know.

SPEAKER_00 15:46

More than car payments, and you expect them to fork the money out and pay it.

SPEAKER_02 15:50

And they just all of a sudden doubled. Yeah. And or tripled. And just for no reason, no explanation whatsoever, and our own public service commission giving them full permission to rape us right in the, you know, just go right ahead.

SPEAKER_00 16:03

Yeah. I mean, like you you you're gonna get to the point people can't pay it. They're literally not gonna be able to pay it.

SPEAKER_02 16:10

They're gonna choose not to because they're gonna have to choose other things.

SPEAKER_00 16:13

Yeah, and your people's gonna be the living off of a generator just living like they did back in the day, I guess, back in the eighteen hundreds before electricity came around. Because I mean, it's get to the point like nobody's got the money to pay this kind of thing.

SPEAKER_02 16:26

I know. But AI data centers can. Exactly. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 16:30

And I find it very hard to believe that they're gonna take and charge the AI data centers all that money and then give us a break. That's not how it's gonna work. No, man. That's the way they want to portray it, but I don't it's not gonna work that way. No, I I don't believe that at all.

SPEAKER_02 16:45

No, and and you know, here when you think about the power consumption, that's gonna cost whoever the company behind these AI data centers, cost them a fortune. So if they're doing that, they're paying that, they're paying an exorbitant amount of money for power rates, then they're paying these politicians to keep it hush-hush while they get it built. What's why are they so gung-ho about building one?

SPEAKER_00 17:11

Your guess is as good as mine.

SPEAKER_02 17:13

What's the profit? Okay, so that's the thing. Where's the profit?

SPEAKER_00 17:17

And and you know, another thing that too that concerns me, especially in Letcher County, is the water consumption these things take to keep them cool.

SPEAKER_03 17:26

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 17:26

We have enough water problems as it is right now around here. There's some people that don't even have city water.

SPEAKER_02 17:33

Some people don't have running water in their homes, period.

SPEAKER_00 17:35

No, I mean you know, up here where I live, we didn't get city water till 15 years ago.

SPEAKER_03 17:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 17:42

And that's me, that's what was that, 2011, 15, somewhere around there. Yeah. 2015, 2014. We we have water problems and they're constantly the old lines bust, and you see all of our uh all of our water people are out, you know, digging on the side of the road or whatever, you know, replacing lines that pop. I know I come home one day and I was coming up the road and I looked and I saw water bubbling out of the ground in the of the ditch, and I said, hmm, I bet that's a leak, and sure enough, when I come back out, they were working on it. It was a leak. But you know, according to this study, data centers require huge amounts of water.

SPEAKER_02 18:20

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 18:21

And m just a mid-size, mid-size facility can use up to 300,000 gallons of water per day. Per day. Per day. A large data center facility can consume five million gallons a day.

SPEAKER_02 18:39

My question is, where are you getting that from?

SPEAKER_00 18:41

Exactly. We ain't got that.

SPEAKER_02 18:43

We don't have that. No, we don't have that.

SPEAKER_00 18:45

I mean, Jenkins Lake, Lord have mercy, you couldn't And again this study says that by 2028 that all these data centers could require up to thirty-two billion gallons of water annually. Yeah, and that is equivalent to uh three hundred and sixty thousand homes indoor water use.

SPEAKER_02 19:05

My God. Have these people lost their ever loving minds? I don't know. And what's more, it's one thing for a company to be stupid uh and think that this is f plausible. It's quite another for the people who live in this freaking area to think that. You know, what are these politicians thinking when they're agreeing to this and knowing that these things are like that? They're gonna consume that much water. We don't have that kind of resources around here.

SPEAKER_00 19:33

No. And they should know that. The biggest thing that I can see from reading this, I mean, there's also, you know, um concerns with air pollution because of the diesel backup generators they use.

SPEAKER_02 19:45

Um That would be somewhat minimal.

SPEAKER_00 19:48

It would be, because I mean the hospitals have got diesel backup generators and have had them for many years.

SPEAKER_02 19:52

Yeah. And they seldom are used.

SPEAKER_00 19:54

But the thing about it is those the water, it's it's a toss-up here in this area, because I don't know if it's the water part that's more concerned to me or the power part.

SPEAKER_02 20:04

But I think both of them are pretty darn concerned. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 20:07

But I mean the water part though, because you can think about it, I know, man, there's all kinds of people I see all the time. They ain't got water.

SPEAKER_02 20:14

It's a very common issue around here.

SPEAKER_00 20:16

I mean, it's just it's 2026, and we still got people that struggle just to have water to wash their hands or take a bath.

SPEAKER_02 20:22

Yeah. Simple things.

SPEAKER_00 20:23

And you're wanting to put a big old uh gigantic chat GTP in Jenkins that uses that can use about 300,000 gallons a day.

SPEAKER_02 20:32

Yeah, nearly triple the whole population of the city.

SPEAKER_00 20:35

I mean, you know, they heck they they ask people to conserve water when them tanks get halfway emptied up there on them mountains in, I guess, Thornton or whatever, wherever them storage tanks are.

SPEAKER_02 20:47

And Perry County too.

SPEAKER_00 20:48

Gotta mighty them storage tanks are gonna be bone dry.

SPEAKER_02 20:53

Yeah, Lord, yeah, in just a few minutes.

SPEAKER_00 20:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 20:56

Well now, you know, you mentioned the the power situation. That's that's terrifying. Uh to think that it would use that kind of power and what the fallout would be for us from that. Uh, and then you mentioned the water usage. The other big issue with them is the noise they produce.

SPEAKER_00 21:29

That is the Atlas Power Data Center, and that's somebody standing in their yard. This this is coming from KFVR TV news. They're standing in their yard recording that.

SPEAKER_02 21:42

And you can tell that that's a like they call it a very loud droning sound that never stops.

SPEAKER_00 21:47

No. That's gonna be going twenty four seven. And you take it up on top of that proposed the proposed sites up there in Jenkins, right?

SPEAKER_02 21:55

Yeah, and there are c houses close by.

SPEAKER_00 21:58

On top of that mountain. It'll resonate like a I mean and you know I'm a banjo player, but you know it's it's imagine eight hundred thousand banjos mic'ed up. Yeah playing twenty-four-seven. That's about the equivalent.

SPEAKER_03 22:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 22:17

I mean, some of these people according to this, they're hearing up to eighty-five decibels on their porches.

SPEAKER_02 22:29

95 starts the hearing damage.

SPEAKER_00 22:31

Yeah, on your porch.

SPEAKER_02 22:34

That's wild.

SPEAKER_00 22:35

I mean, that's that's louder that's almost that's louder than a lawnmower.

SPEAKER_02 22:40

Well, and what a lot of people are picking up also, and you know, we one of the things that Kentucky is proud of, and something that we all of us who live in Kentucky enjoy is the wildlife. You know, we all like to see the deer and the all the birds and different things that that are native here. That kind of sound playing nonstop, you know, that's gonna affect it.

SPEAKER_00 23:06

You're gonna have yogi the barry living in your backyard.

SPEAKER_02 23:09

Either that or they won't come around at all. There'll be no but no no no no animals around, period.

SPEAKER_00 23:14

Yeah. I mean and well, I didn't think about that too. What about the frequencies that only the animals can hear that we can't hear? Right. That I'm sure them sinners put off.

SPEAKER_02 23:25

Again, you know, the from while all this research that you've conducted and that I conducted, there aren't any positives.

SPEAKER_00 23:33

No.

SPEAKER_02 23:34

And you know, the something that happens back here, you know, we've had several things proposed back here to come in here, bigger things, and everybody's like, well, that'll bring jobs into the area. And that's the assumption with this that you know there will be jobs. It's an AI data center. Okay, that means it's artificial intelligence, it does its own thinking, it doesn't need us. So the only thing it would need is probably a night watchman and two or three people to go maintenance what tires up. And they're not gonna hire our local people to do that, they're gonna hire highly trained people who work for their company to come in here and do that.

SPEAKER_00 24:17

Again, folks, wisdom is all the man speaks.

SPEAKER_02 24:22

You know, you you can wish for jobs all you want to wish in one hand, crap another, see which one fills up first.

SPEAKER_00 24:28

Uh hand will fill up a buffalo poop.

SPEAKER_02 24:30

Yeah, it ain't gonna happen. Ain't no jobs with this thing.

SPEAKER_00 24:34

No. No. So I mean I I don't I truly don't know what what we're gonna do, but I from what I'm seeing, this ain't gonna be nothing. This to me, these AI data centers sounds like they'll be the perfect thing to go in a ghost town.

SPEAKER_02 24:52

Yes. That's what you that's the land we need to get, is and see what happens is our little towns are thinking, hey yeah, this is big attention, you know, this is national stuff. They don't realize that they're being targeted.

SPEAKER_03 25:07

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_02 25:09

They're being targeted because they're viewed as a ghost ghost town, worthless town, uh, that they're gonna come in and just do their thing with because it doesn't matter what happens to this place.

SPEAKER_00 25:20

I mean, it says right here that the average data center is covers about 224 acres, which is roughly the size of 450 football fields.

SPEAKER_02 25:29

Massive.

SPEAKER_00 25:30

That's huge. Massive. That's huge. Yeah. Huge. Exactly. So I be like, I don't I don't know, man.

SPEAKER_02 25:40

Well, I mean, people have made an attempt to rally and try to get people to stand up, and and they did. Um the fiscal court in an effort of pacification has issued a moratorium, which means absolutely nothing. This was already agreed upon six months ago. So at any rate, uh people will have to pitch a fit and hopefully things will change. But you know, here's the other issue behind this uh AI thing. With more data centers and things like that, the more intelligent out the AI gets. Okay, so at what point are we gonna phase ourselves out with this stuff, man? Exactly. We're gonna make ourselves irrelevant. I think I think we're already getting there. Real close.

SPEAKER_00 26:33

What's that one movie where like everybody's in this I think it's is it Wally, the movie Wally, where everybody's like in that big old ship because they can't come back to Earth?

SPEAKER_02 26:42

You know what maybe. I can't.

SPEAKER_00 26:43

I think so. I think it's Wally, yeah. It's a good movie. Mm-hmm. You know. But yeah, it's uh it's not looking good in there. It ain't looking good. No, it's not. Speaking of something ain't looking good. I know where you're going. Yeah click pleading the fifth amendment, son.

SPEAKER_02 27:04

I did see that.

SPEAKER_00 27:05

Pleading fifths left and right.

SPEAKER_02 27:07

Man, I was disgusted by that. You know. And and here's the thing that a lot of people don't think about, uh or at least I don't think they do. But pleading the fifth just means, yes, I know I'm guilty. I'm just not gonna say so. You know?

SPEAKER_00 27:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 27:24

Because I've I'm not gonna incriminate myself because it's obvious that I did this, but I'm just not gonna say I did.

SPEAKER_00 27:30

According to the USA Today, Dr. Anthony Fauci may be held in contempt of court. Good. After refusing to answer questions about the origins of COVID 19. Good. So basically it was asking, you know, about the you know, where where did COVID come from? Where did it generate?

SPEAKER_02 27:50

He knows where it comes from very well.

SPEAKER_00 27:51

Yeah, he's he's pleading the Fifth Amendment on it. He's not gonna say.

SPEAKER_02 27:54

No, because it and I don't know if anybody remembers this, but I remember I watched them uh every time I could find one, uh, when Rand Paul was grilling him in front of the court, in front of the Congress and things like that about the origins and all these his responsibilities in it. Man, Rand Paul was nailing his hind end, and Rand Paul's a doctor. So he was calling him out, and Fauci failed every single time. And every single time Rand Paul was proven that he is responsible and has a major role in the fact that COVID was released intentionally.

SPEAKER_00 28:33

So I'm gonna ask you this question right here. Sure. So what does the word preemptive mean?

SPEAKER_02 28:41

Preemptive means you do it in anticipation of something.

SPEAKER_00 28:44

So you're doing it uh anticipating something to stop it.

SPEAKER_02 28:48

Yeah, you're doing your you're a preemptive, like if uh uh uh let's say pretty uh it's often used in military terms, a preemptive strike against another country. That means you go ahead and you beat them to the punch before they can do anything, you g you attack them first.

SPEAKER_00 29:05

So why is it that President Joe Biden issued Dr. Fauci a preemptive pardon? He knew this is coming. If there was nothing funny about it, why was the need for the pardon? There you go.

SPEAKER_02 29:21

And why plead the fifth? It's admitting guilt. They know.

SPEAKER_00 29:25

I mean, like if you truly done everything you were supposed to do and done right by the American public.

SPEAKER_02 29:30

Why do you need a pardon for?

SPEAKER_00 29:32

Why do you need a pardon? Why do you need a preemptive pardon? Like uh, oh, you're gonna need this right here, son. They start drilling you about that covert 19.

SPEAKER_01 29:40

When they finally figure you out, you're gonna need this.

SPEAKER_00 29:42

Yeah, they got that COVID 19, got you on that cobra, son. You get on there and they start drilling you, you're gonna need a get out of jail free.

SPEAKER_01 29:48

You're gonna need this.

SPEAKER_00 29:49

Like the little monopoly, man, get out jail free. Here you go.

SPEAKER_02 29:53

That's exactly what it was, man. Yeah. A get out of jail free card. That's exactly what that was.

SPEAKER_00 29:58

So I mean, like, like I said, if you did nothing wrong, why did you why did the pres the former president feel the need to give you that?

SPEAKER_02 30:06

You know, and and very few people questioned it. You notice that. Mm-hmm. When that happened, everybody was like, oh, that's that's great. It's like, uh, is it? Uh you know, why would the man need a preemptive pardon? Okay? If he hasn't done anything wrong, why would he need a pardon in the beginning? You know, why why would it even be necessary? Exactly. That was my thoughts when I heard it, it was like, hmm, what?

SPEAKER_00 30:33

According to this right here, uh apparently Senator Rand Paul said that Fauci should have testified instead of pleading the fifth because Joe Biden's done issued him a preemptive pardon. So it doesn't matter.

SPEAKER_02 30:46

Well, okay, so I'll tell you what makes me mad about that.

SPEAKER_00 30:50

So he's lit he's literally saying like uh he's saying like it don't matter what you've done, Bubby. You done got that gal jail free card.

SPEAKER_02 31:00

That's exactly right.

SPEAKER_00 31:01

You're gonna talk about that cobbling that toilet paper.

SPEAKER_02 31:04

Well, here's the here's the thing that makes me mad about it is what's it matter now then? Why even hold it why even use our money, our taxpayer dollars, to pull this idiot in and make him say something that doesn't matter in the first place. So why? What's it matter just because you get him to say it doesn't mean anything? No. You can't hold him responsible. So what's it matter?

SPEAKER_00 31:31

I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 31:32

So there, I mean, here I was singing Rand Paul's praises, now it makes me mad at him. Because it's like, yeah, he's he's telling him, Oh, well, you are you're gonna, you know, we can't put you in jail anyway. So, you know.

SPEAKER_00 31:42

Just go ahead and let her go ahead and let the cat out of the bag. You know. Lady Hedge, boys, I got some COVID-19 up there.

SPEAKER_01 31:52

Tell us how it started.

SPEAKER_00 31:54

Tell us where it came from.

SPEAKER_01 31:55

You did it, didn't you?

SPEAKER_00 31:56

You did it. It was that laboratory guy down there with the You did it, didn't you? You did it. You got her out there.

SPEAKER_02 32:01

Tell us now. You know, it's kind of like, yeah, it's a campfire story, you know. Uh just like a bunch of good old boys. Hey, we know you took that girl out.

SPEAKER_01 32:10

Yeah, you just tell us about it. You know, that's what they're doing.

SPEAKER_00 32:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 32:14

But what's it matter?

SPEAKER_00 32:16

Yeah, come on. You know you had that you had that petri dish and put that little virus in there. Tell us what that means. Grow her up real good. You had them you had that college professor send her over her shiny.

SPEAKER_01 32:27

Yeah, you had her killed, though, didn't you?

SPEAKER_00 32:31

Oh, Lord. It's comical, ain't it? It it really is. It is.

SPEAKER_02 32:36

It is so obvious that it's ridiculo it's it's it's ridiculously funny. Because it's absolutely it's hard to believe that something so stupid could be so out there. Just uh right in your face. But here we are. Here we are.

SPEAKER_00 32:52

And speaking of things that are completely utterly ridiculous, it is time for the back porch twister tell the day. Are you ready, or professor? I'm ready. Are you ready, son? I am ready. Alrighty. So this tale right here comes to us all the way from Kansas City. Oh. Kansas City.

SPEAKER_02 33:15

The great Missouri.

SPEAKER_00 33:17

So we've all heard the phrase, Professor, do the do, right? Yes. Okay, but this one filler right here took that slogan a little too serious.

SPEAKER_02 33:25

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 33:26

So out in Kansas City, this company that rents porta potties was going and uh cleaning and recovering porta potties that they had rented for a World Cup event.

SPEAKER_02 33:35

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 33:35

Right?

SPEAKER_02 33:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 33:37

So they uh go in to this one porta potty. There is a guy in the holding tank of the porta-potty. Oh. Down in the part where everything goes.

SPEAKER_02 33:49

Down where the dew happens.

SPEAKER_00 33:50

Down where the dew happens. So apparently this man dropped a bottle of Mountain Dew into this Portageon. Instead of saying, Well, that's gone, he climbed headfirst into the septic tank to rescue it. Eight hours later, firefighters had to cut the toilet apart to get him out. My question is: at what point does a $2 bottle of Mountain Dew become a total loss?

SPEAKER_02 34:16

Well, you you and I both know that that there are certain stereotypes that plague our area. And one of them is our fascination and love of the great Mountain Dew. Mountain Dew. So of all places, I think we can identify that that bottle of Mountain Dew is a precious commodity. Precious commodity. Precious.

SPEAKER_00 34:44

Precious son.

SPEAKER_02 34:45

Because that's the equivalent of a rock of crack that you might have dropped down in the dew. So if you just paid $300 for that rock of crack, you're gonna go down there and get it, right?

SPEAKER_00 34:55

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_02 34:56

Well, I mean, the same thing with Mountain Dew.

SPEAKER_00 34:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 34:58

You know, if you can't afford crack, Mountain Dew's the closest thing.

SPEAKER_00 35:03

So the the funny the funny part is like when you're reading this, it says the worker and the cop pried the porter potty's door open because it was locked, you know, and he couldn't get in there. He was locked and stepped in. And they were stunned because at first they like, well, there's nobody in here. And then this guy popped his head up out of the toilet seat and I was like, I'm in here. Yeah. Oh my God. Can you used to imagine walking in there and all of a sudden? I told him, like, I'm in here, boy. I got my Mountain Dew.

SPEAKER_02 35:34

And hand and everything died blue from that.

SPEAKER_00 35:38

I'd say it's more brown than blue. You didn't say it's the World Cup of me. I said that circuit was full. My cousin Eddie, Merry Christmas. She's full from it. And he pumped out. Grizz, that's the light at the sewage plant.

SPEAKER_02 35:57

Well, I mean, I I understand it. You know? As crazy as that is, and yeah, you can imagine their surprise when, you know, he comes out of there. You know, you'd spent good money on that, you know. You can't just flush it away. That's exactly right. You gotta do the do.

SPEAKER_00 36:19

Oh my goodness. I I read this two or three times to make sure I was reading it right.

SPEAKER_02 36:23

And honestly, I from it if you had started with the story first and didn't tell me where it was from, I would have thought it was from our area. You know. Because I could definitely see that happening here.

SPEAKER_00 36:36

Most people say Florida.

SPEAKER_02 36:37

Okay. Well.

SPEAKER_00 36:38

But yeah, so like it's this guy, like he he he wasn't about to lose his do.

SPEAKER_02 36:44

And if it was a live wire or a high voltage, you know.

SPEAKER_00 36:47

I guess it wasn't Mountain Dew that was Mountain Pooh, right?

SPEAKER_02 36:50

In Mountain Pooh, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 36:51

Talk about a cold brown.

SPEAKER_02 36:54

Cold Brown, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 36:56

That Mountain Dew had already been through the recycling process. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 37:01

And should have remained there.

SPEAKER_00 37:03

He was he was looking for a Baja blast, instead he found a porta potty splash. You know, you know it's bad when them firefighters say you can keep that bottle. Yeah. Yep. Imagine that. Imagine explaining that to your wife. Honey, I wasn't cheating. I was chasing a Mountain Dew.

SPEAKER_02 37:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 37:22

I don't care if it's the last cold red on earth.

SPEAKER_02 37:25

I was trapped in a porta potty. It was worth it.

SPEAKER_00 37:29

I guess it ain't Mountain Dew no more. It's Holler Hollanday sauce. Yeah. Oh, Lordy. But yeah, that right there was our back porch twister tail the day brought to your part by Banjo Barnett.

SPEAKER_02 37:44

That was you did well on that one, my friend.

SPEAKER_00 37:54

Are you ready to dive into a mountain mystery over there, Professor?

SPEAKER_02 37:58

Always.

SPEAKER_00 37:59

So I'm scrolling through Facebook the other day. I come up come upon this picture, and again, that's a yeah.

SPEAKER_02 38:07

Yep, that's your first instinct.

SPEAKER_00 38:09

That's what you think. But looking at this picture, I'm not so sure. I'm kind of like on the fence, and I sent it to you, and basically this picture came off of Facebook of this uh individual said, Mr. Game Warden, sir. I thought we didn't have these around here, and this picture was taken in Knock County, and it is of a big old kitty cat.

SPEAKER_02 38:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 38:29

That's a big kitty.

SPEAKER_02 38:30

It's a big kitty.

SPEAKER_00 38:31

It's a wampus kitty.

SPEAKER_02 38:32

It's a wampus kitty, yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_00 38:34

Yeah. So uh, and I've heard it since I've been little, you know. So what's your take on the mountain lions?

SPEAKER_02 38:40

Uh, they they are in the area. Uh I've seen one.

SPEAKER_00 38:45

Have you?

SPEAKER_02 38:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 38:46

Tell us. We gotta hear the story. Gotta hear it.

SPEAKER_02 38:49

Uh I was probably sixteen, something like that. Uh my dad and I had a little dog that we've been uh we were training to to hunt birds. And so we were behind our house on a uh a famous stretch of strip job that had been reclaimed and stuff, and we were trying to uh hunt some birds. Let the dog hunt a little bit. Well, uh uh there was a a road, we were traveling between locations on our four-wheeler, and there was a road in front of us, and there was something laying in the road looked like a deer because it was a big animal and it was colored like a deer. And so as we were coming down this hill, it stood up and we could clearly tell what it was, it was a big cat, but and its tail was almost as long as its entire body. And it made one leap over the bank and my dog went nuts, and he went after it. And so we were we just knew that that was into that dog, you know. But and so even the dog realized his mistake because it only ran a few feet, and when it caught wind, it stopped dead in its tracks and come right back. So we got back on the four weather and left. Because we didn't know if it had totally fled or if it had just gone and hunt uh hemmed up somewhere and waited on us or what. But now I'm as sure as the old professor is sitting here, uh, I saw that. And my dad can testify to that too. Uh yes, those animals are here, and I don't care what fishing game says. I don't know why. It's kind of like the McConnell mystery. Uh why? Why deny that? You know? They've obviously been seen here, and I don't remember what year it was. One had to be um killed in Harlan. Fishing Game had to remove it.

SPEAKER_00 40:51

When did this happen?

SPEAKER_02 40:53

I can't remember what year. It's been a few years ago.

SPEAKER_00 40:55

So I went on Kentucky's Fish and Game Wildlife, you know, page, and they've got on here public notice. No evidence suggests that Kentucky is home to wild mountain lions. Any mountain lion appearing in the state would likely be an escaped or released captive animal. In Kentucky, a ban on the possession of mountain lions as pets has been in place since 2005. Except for Mitch McConnell's pet uh mountain lion Bernard.

SPEAKER_02 41:23

Yes, Bernie. Bernie. For short.

SPEAKER_00 41:27

So in 2011, apparently the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service declared the Eastern Cougar extinct.

SPEAKER_02 41:33

I don't think it's extinct, man.

SPEAKER_00 41:35

No, because there's a bunch of them down at the bar on Saturday. Oh, sorry about that. Yeah. Sorry about that.

SPEAKER_02 41:40

That's that's a different kind of cougar. Different kind of cougar.

SPEAKER_00 41:44

But uh anyway, so they're denying, denying, denying, but this picture is It looks very real. It looks very real.

SPEAKER_02 41:54

I mean I Well, and the thing the the weird thing about it was, and you saw this too, I sent you the other one. That was one of two pictures that happened in the same day.

SPEAKER_00 42:03

Yeah, that's right.

SPEAKER_02 42:05

Because the other one was spotted on top of Harlan Mountain, uh, right on Black Mountain, on Harlan County line, uh, of a one crossing the road.

SPEAKER_00 42:14

Right.

SPEAKER_02 42:15

So isn't it coincidence then that you have them in two different locations in eastern Kentucky? It's kind of hard to believe that there would be two sightings in one day, right? Yeah, kind of, yeah, something's up.

SPEAKER_00 42:36

But get this right here. So on their website, they have, even though the Fish and Wildlife has made it very, very clear that there's no mountain over here, how to report potential sightings. Report a suspected outline to Kentucky's Fish and Wildlife by calling the Department's Information Center during weekday working hours at 1-800-858-1549 or by emailing info.center at Kentucky.gov.

SPEAKER_02 43:05

It would be hard to cite something that doesn't exist, right?

SPEAKER_00 43:08

Right. They even tell you right here, you know, they'll take photographs and photographs of tracks. Don't you know they've got a picture of a track right on here? They claim it's from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.

SPEAKER_02 43:20

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 43:21

Illinois, really. Yeah, right. Yeah, up there in Chicago, they got the mountain lines up there.

SPEAKER_02 43:26

Well, you know, you think about it, Illinois' not that far from Kentucky.

SPEAKER_00 43:29

Mm-mm. No.

SPEAKER_02 43:30

And it it's common knowledge, too, that predators go where the food is.

unknown 43:36

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_02 43:36

And they're migratory. So what happens is, is it really out of the realm of possibility to think that they ran out of food somewhere and they migrate to where there's plenty of food? Like say like eastern Kentucky, where there'd be plenty of food for predators of that nature?

SPEAKER_00 43:54

I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 43:55

I it wouldn't seem too far out of the it wouldn't seem like it's twilight zone to me.

SPEAKER_00 44:00

No. No.

unknown 44:01

No.

SPEAKER_00 44:01

We definitely we've got 'em around. They're just they don't come out very often, but it looks like they're gonna start coming out more.

SPEAKER_02 44:08

Well, if they're being seen, then there's probably more than we originally thought.

SPEAKER_00 44:12

Mm-hmm. I mean they wasn't that many bears that long ago and after a while they start multiplying like crazy.

SPEAKER_02 44:18

And then you've seen them everywhere.

SPEAKER_00 44:19

And now they we we see them every day now.

SPEAKER_02 44:22

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_00 44:22

They're all over the place.

SPEAKER_02 44:23

Well, speaking of bears, you gotta tell the bear story.

SPEAKER_00 44:27

The bear story? Okay. So and and listen, before I tell you all this story, listen to this story very carefully. Because I love animals. If anybody in this world's got a soft heart for the little furry critters, it's me. I love animals. Okay. So I'm not heartless. But apparently in Gatlinburg there was an incident where you know, anybody that stayed in Gatlinburg or or stayed in a cabin, you know, bears is a big thing down there. Heck, they walk the streets in Gatlinburg.

SPEAKER_03 45:07

Right.

SPEAKER_00 45:08

So keeping the garbage locked up is is a must. So they got these big cage, metal cage like garbage cans to store their garbage outside these cabins, right?

SPEAKER_02 45:21

And they're intentionally heavy.

SPEAKER_00 45:22

Yeah, they weigh a ton. Molded to the ground. So apparently there was an incident where this cub and this mama bear was turned into the garbage bin. And the cub was on the back side of the garbage bin, and the mama bear tipped the garbage bin over, and it landed on the cub, and it sadly killed the poor little cub. Yeah. Which is terrible. Yeah, it's awful. I mean, it's it's sad, you know.

SPEAKER_02 45:46

But nobody would want that outcome.

SPEAKER_00 45:48

No, nobody would. I I mean, but you know, they're wild animals, you can't control their actions.

SPEAKER_02 45:54

Right, exactly.

SPEAKER_00 45:55

But lo and behold, there was post after post or comment on this story. I I read it on Facebook, of people wanting to charge the homeowner for the bear dying. Wanting to want some kind of criminal charges to come against the homeowner because the garbage thing the bear was killed by the garbage thing on their property. Yeah, but the mama bear tipped it over.

SPEAKER_02 46:25

I mean, well, you you can't The homeowner didn't do anything.

SPEAKER_00 46:28

No.

SPEAKER_02 46:30

And then that you know, that's an inherent thing that that's a flaw that I have with the way that viewpoint, okay? I've got a major flaw with that. Major problem with it. Anytime you place the value of an animal's life over that of a human, uh, I think you've got your priorities missed I I think you've got 'em way out of line.

SPEAKER_00 46:52

Most definitely. Especially a wild animal.

SPEAKER_02 46:55

I mean, like I mean, is it fair for the for them to do something to punish that landowner? Some of them were, you know, I'm I r I reckon he got death threats and everything, right? Yeah. I mean, I mean, really, you're gonna kill a man over the fact that a mommy bear killed her own cub by accident. You know, come on, guys.

SPEAKER_00 47:15

I mean we gotta do better now. And like they're saying, like, the the garbage the the can wouldn't secured property to the ground. Really? It's a garbage bin. Yeah. I mean, you really gonna make people invest thousands of dollars to to pour like a big concrete pad and like you know, some I mean most most for the most part the ones I've seen are bolted to the ground, but I mean, even then it's a big metal cage.

SPEAKER_03 47:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 47:45

Yeah. I mean, seriously, we gotta do better than that. As people, we gotta do better. Uh, you know, yeah, that's a sad thing.

SPEAKER_00 47:54

It's tragic. I am not saying in one way or it's it's awful. But again, these are wild animals. We can't control what they do.

SPEAKER_02 48:02

Nothing that anybody could have done would have solved that.

SPEAKER_00 48:05

No. And I'm sure that mama bear didn't think about the cub being on the backside of it. She just want whatever was in the can.

SPEAKER_02 48:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 48:12

But you have to put your garbage somewhere. I mean, where are you gonna put it? You know, that that you know, you pay all that money for that house and you pay, you know, garbage bills every month, you know, you expect to store garbage outside of your home in a container. That's kind of the the thing. I've got a garbage bin out here.

SPEAKER_02 48:32

I do too.

SPEAKER_00 48:33

I mean you can't sometimes things are tragic. You can't you know.

SPEAKER_02 48:39

Yeah, it's sad. And that's not the ideal outcome. Nobody would have wanted that. No, absolutely not. But you can't threaten to kill a man over something like that. I mean, uh come on, people. Let let's let's let's come back down to earth. Yeah, because I mean that's that's crazy. You know, have we met? I mean, because I uh I mean this this is just insane. Death threats, really.

SPEAKER_00 49:01

I mean, i you know, we've all accidentally ran over a squirrel or something driving up the road.

SPEAKER_02 49:10

I ran over a possum last night coming home.

SPEAKER_00 49:12

I mean, it just you can't sometimes you can't help it.

SPEAKER_02 49:15

No, I he was all of a sudden there and I hit him.

SPEAKER_00 49:18

I mean, if these you know, we try our best, you know, I'll stop and I'll pick turtles up out of the road. Sure. You know I've done that. I'll if I'm able to slow down stop, I'll wait till the the ducks or whatever's in front of me cross the road. But sometimes accidents happen. You just can't you can't help it. Yeah. You can't avoid it.

SPEAKER_02 49:37

Well, I mean, like you said, you know, and what we found most ridiculous about that was people's reactions, blaming people, blaming the landowners and things like that. That's ridiculous, y'all.

SPEAKER_00 49:48

Yeah, I mean like I said, sometimes you just can't help it.

SPEAKER_02 49:53

You know, he couldn't have helped that.

SPEAKER_00 49:55

No.

SPEAKER_02 49:56

Nothing he did, or or and there was absolutely no way he could have intervened in that situation to have made that outcome any different.

SPEAKER_00 50:03

No.

SPEAKER_02 50:04

So, I mean, there y'all are that there y'all, people. Swallow that. Uh, you know.

SPEAKER_00 50:09

Dang. Lord have mercy. He's over there. He's a he's a giving them out left and right, ladies and gentlemen.

SPEAKER_02 50:17

I I get a little heated about stuff like that.

SPEAKER_00 50:19

He gets a little turnt.

SPEAKER_02 50:20

I get a little turt.

SPEAKER_00 50:23

Gotta gotta reel him back in right there.

SPEAKER_02 50:26

Yeah. All right. So for for music, let me throw something at you.

SPEAKER_00 50:31

Well yeah.

SPEAKER_02 50:32

Something I've noticed recently in social media posts and different things. Negative portrayal of the banjo. Well, you know, it kind of started with that, right?

SPEAKER_00 50:46

It kind of did.

SPEAKER_02 50:47

You know?

SPEAKER_00 50:51

Figging a banjo around here.

SPEAKER_02 50:52

Well, right. So see, here it started with that. I mean, that's what I can't remember, late 70s, something like that, when deliverance came out. Okay, so you've got that, and that's already putting uh kind of a negative slant on the way the banjo is viewed. And because before that you had people like Steve Martin and things like that playing them, and everybody thought that was virtuostic, you know, and it is. Uh, and you are a virtuoso on this thing. I know about that, I know you are. But now, so alright, let's talk. I'm gonna throw that at you. From deliverance, and even in modern uh social media posts and things like that, have you noticed that it's been used more negatively?

SPEAKER_00 51:35

Well, I mean, I don't know negatively, maybe, but I think it's used more in different genres of music nowadays than what it used to be.

SPEAKER_02 51:45

Definitely.

SPEAKER_00 51:46

But like there's kind of a thing where they they're throwing it in stuff simply because they think by throwing it in there it gives the hillbilly aspect, I guess is what you say. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 51:59

It gives it the old time credit, you know, it gives it some gr street cred.

SPEAKER_00 52:03

Yeah, some street cred, exactly. But I mean, like now, you know, and I'm as a banjo player, I'm I welcome that because you gotta have something to keep, you know, to keep the interest going.

SPEAKER_02 52:13

I get that.

SPEAKER_00 52:14

So I mean the fact that they're using it different genres of music, that's a good thing, you know. Sure. But I guess in some ways people still kind of demonize it.

SPEAKER_02 52:24

Yeah, and I've kind of noticed that. I mean, it's like some of the social media posts says, Imagine me being the most annoying person in the world, however, I could play the banjo. And that would make me, you know, that much more annoying. And it's associating the the banjo with being an annoying instrument, and I don't see that.

SPEAKER_00 52:43

Well, yeah, I think a friend, a friend of mine posted that and I I replied to it and said, Lord, I've been annoying for about 23 years now.

SPEAKER_02 52:52

Well, see, I mean, I I don't get that. I I don't see that. But now I'm a musician, so I don't know if that's just something that we we don't see or what. Okay, so alright, so give me some examples. Uh we talked about a negative example. You played a little sample there from Dueling Banjos, which was in deliverance.

SPEAKER_00 53:13

Call squeal, boy. Squeal. And that guy going, he got a pretty mouth on, don't he?

SPEAKER_03 53:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 53:24

You're gonna do some praying for me, boy.

SPEAKER_02 53:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 53:27

You better pray good.

SPEAKER_02 53:30

Well, see, I mean, you had that stuff, you know, the that kind of stereotyped Southerners, you know, and then they also use the banjo to do that in a negative way.

SPEAKER_00 53:40

Like Neb Betty and that and that thing when they was playing that music, they're starting to play the music. He said, talk about genetic deficiency, huh? Yeah. And that guy comes up and was like, Who's picking the banjo around here?

SPEAKER_02 53:53

Yeah. So give me some examples of things that you've seen lately use utilizing the banjo in either positive or negative.

SPEAKER_00 54:02

A lot of people at the banjo, you know, they think that all banjo music's gotta be, you know, the Yeah! But a banjo, if you know how to place it, you can actually place it in songs and make it fit. I guess you call it like the the focus country stuff, you know, or or or songs that that people's doing, I guess now you could say it's like a out that the new outlaw movement.

SPEAKER_03 54:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 54:31

You know, you can do some things in the background, songs with a banjo, you know. You know, you can do things like that and make it fit. Like that that song, um, what's that song that um a lot of the bands around here do it? It's the little Wayland done it, and there's another band that done it. It's that song, uh, Go take a fast train. Can't you see? Yeah. So like that song right there, you know, you can have a band join that going on.

SPEAKER_02 55:15

Right.

SPEAKER_00 55:16

No, you can make it fit.

SPEAKER_02 55:17

Right. You know, and I noticed So it's not a c it's not a niche instrument. It's not something that's simply, you know, for one thing.

SPEAKER_00 55:25

No, you can make a banjo fit anywhere.

SPEAKER_02 55:27

I've always thought so too. And, you know, that's kind of like you said, that keeps the banjo relevant. You know, the fact that you can utilize it in various places.

SPEAKER_00 55:36

And and if, you know, the player, you've got to have a good player to know how to do that. But if you're a good banjo player and you and you can hear in your head, like, okay, I can put that there, or put that there, and make it work, you can take a banjo and you can put in any kind of music.

SPEAKER_02 55:54

Well, like our theme song.

SPEAKER_00 55:55

Well, that's exactly our theme song. It's got me playing the banjo and the professor here, we're kind of dooling back and forth with the he's got my lespaw shredded on there, and I've got my banjo, and we're just kind of, you know, calling response. Yeah, calling response. But I mean, you know, banjo, you could do a lot of things with the banjo. There's a lot of two, like uh uh I call it pretty music, but like ambient stuff that banjo players are doing nowadays kind of like almost borrowed the Japanese, you know, type of melody. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 56:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 56:46

You know, so I mean, if you just you know, if you think, you know, you can dissonant chords and such as that, yeah. And I mean, really, you know, some of my favorite banjo players, like JD Crow, you know, used a lot of blues licks. He borrowed from blues guitar players.

SPEAKER_03 56:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 56:59

On a banjo. I mean, you can, you know.

SPEAKER_02 57:12

And that's straight pentatonic scale. And that, folks, is why he's a virtuoso.

SPEAKER_00 57:29

I don't know about that.

SPEAKER_02 57:30

See, he can play anything.

SPEAKER_00 57:32

You can take a man, Angela. You can you can put it where you want it. Now, I will say, you know, I play a lot of instruments. You know, I play, I I like to try to be a guitar player like the professor over here. Can't do it.

SPEAKER_02 57:44

No, don't let him lie to you. Can't do it. He's three times the guitar player I'll ever be.

SPEAKER_00 57:50

That's Holcomb. Holcomb. Throwing a professorism back at you.

SPEAKER_02 57:56

Yeah, you did. You did.

SPEAKER_00 57:58

You know what I like? I've got a you know, I like steel guitar too. I fool around with it, Dobro, I've got a bass. But the banjo is always gonna be my instrument because this is the thing that I can take and I can jump. I feel that I can jump in any kind of a band, rock band, country band, whatever, and I'll make myself fit somewhere.

SPEAKER_02 58:18

You'll contribute, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 58:19

And I'll make it sound good for the song. It'll be a bunch of crap. I'll make I'll put something in there that'll make your make your singer, whoever, sound good.

SPEAKER_02 58:27

Right. You know, I'll you'll serve the song.

SPEAKER_00 58:30

Serve the song, exactly. You know, I do feel like that's something the banjo I can take and do that.

SPEAKER_02 58:36

Yeah, I definitely. And and that's and that's kind of how you can tell how that's the instrument that you choose.

SPEAKER_00 58:43

Exactly.

SPEAKER_02 58:44

Because that's the one you feel most comfortable and competent with.

SPEAKER_00 58:47

It's always been. I mean, I've had I've been playing these this thing since I was ten years old. I mean, it's it's always gonna be my thing. That's why they call me banjo barnett.

SPEAKER_02 58:56

Yeah. Well, and rightfully so. Because few people uh can play them like that. And adapt like you do.

SPEAKER_00 59:04

I just throw a few things in there, you know.

SPEAKER_02 59:07

Well, you know, and you know this to be the truth because I'm sure you've encountered it. How many other banjo players have you known that could sit in a rock band?

SPEAKER_00 59:17

Well, um professionally, Scott Vestel, Baylor Fleck, Tony Trishka, um a handful. You know, and Don Reno's boy. Um they got that uh band that they do all the rock covers and stuff. Yeah. Um, you know, it's just you gotta you gotta think outside the box. One thing I noticed with a lot of banjo players around me, you know, around my area and people that I know out in the music world, and they're listening there's not a thing wrong with it because I love JD Crow as much as anybody. Crow was a big inspiration for me.

SPEAKER_03 59:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 59:56

But there's a lot of banjo players I noticed they get stuck in this thing I call the crow box. And I told a few people about it, and of course, you know, I get the I get the look, but you know, hey, it's whatever. But there's people they they get stuck in this this box where they think they've got to play everything note for note like crow, or if they don't, it's horribly wrong, and a band's not gonna hire them. And when I was uh probably about 18 years old or 19 years old, I met a banjo player that flipped my world upside down and changed changed the way I looked at things, and his name was Mike Lilly. He's passed and gone now, but Mike was absolutely just a killer banjo player, a singer too. I mean, that dude's voice, gee whiz. But I met him and I was fascinated with him because he did all this crazy stuff on the banjo. But he could play straight, you know, like Scruggs and him. I mean he could play the straight stuff, but he would do all this just stuff and it would just it's fascinating me.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:58

And you know, I talked to him about it when I met him and he he told me this and it stuck with me. I Mike said, son, said you can't play Cripple Creek the rest of your life. There's a lot you can do on that Therabanjo if you're not afraid to play it. That's what he told me, and that stuck with me.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:15

Well, you know, that's breaking traditional roles. You know, because people get stuck in those traditional ruts and they think, you know, there are traditionalists who strictly adhere to those things and will not do anything else. But, like you said, where's the fun in that?

SPEAKER_00 1:01:31

Well, like me, and you know, me I a pla as a player, and even even on guitar and stuff, I don't play the same thing twice.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:38

No.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:38

I'm a big improvised guy.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:40

I am too.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:41

Because my my theory has always been if I'm playing note for note like somebody else and regurgitating what they've already done, I'm not contributing nothing.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:51

Right.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:51

And I'm not letting myself shine through. Yeah. Like when people listen to me, I want people to say, that's Barnett.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:57

That's Barnett, I know that anywhere.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:59

Yeah, that's the biggest compliment I can give. They're like, oh, that's that's Barnett, I hear it. That's his banjo playing.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:04

I can do that. I can tell you from others.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:06

You know, I mean, because like, and you know, like take for example, like Blue Ridge Cabin Home. Blue Ridge Cabin Home's a song, it's one of those standards we all do, popping up and B flat or whatever. And, you know, most banjo players they tend to play that, you know, they want to play it like JD Crow, you know, do the And that's great. Yeah. That's wonderful. But honestly, how many times can you play that for your life? Man, I want to do something.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:50

And it wouldn't matter who played it because they all playing it the same way.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:54

Yeah. You know, I mean, you know, them them guys, them them OGs that we listen to, they've done done it. And it's good to learn their stuff because that gives you a good foundation.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:04

That's the basis from what you can go from.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:06

Like Scrugs, Scrugs should be something that you study. I wish to God when I was younger I studied Earl more than what I do now. I mean, I'm 33 years old, been playing banjo for 20-something years, and I still go back and pop the Earl Scruggs records on because there's always little things Earl done that I didn't hear the first time around that I hear the second time around.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:26

But at the same time, though, when you learn that foundation, where you gonna go from there?

SPEAKER_02 1:03:32

Right. Are you gonna stay with the status quo or are you gonna challenge it a little bit, try to break out of those?

SPEAKER_00 1:03:37

I mean, think about it. If if if and i if the greats like Sonny Osbourne and Crow, who worships Earl Scruggs, they hung out with him, they was around him all the time. You know, even they knew that they had to be different.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:53

So while it's great to know that, I want to hear what you can play. I want to hear you.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:00

When you sing, I want to hear you sing.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:02

Yeah. Each individual's personality. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:06

Because that's what makes you you.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:09

And I mean it just I I believe in in the creativity of the individual. I really do. Like I I you know, don't be afraid if you got something and it you can it works, you're in tune and you're in time, and it fits, play it.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:23

Just play it. Because that's you.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:25

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:26

That's your own flavor. You gotta put it in there.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:29

I like that.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:30

Uh that's just that's always been my thing, you know, and I'm sure I'm I'm sure I'll have a bunch of tire kickers look at me like, oh, there he goes again with all that BS.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:39

But they can call him what they want. But it it you're right. I I totally agree with you on that. I mean, it's all about being creative as the individual.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:48

I mean, you gotta make your own brand. You can't and and you know, like nowadays I notice there's a trend among singers in this modern country type thing. You know, they all want they all try and either sound like Childers or Stapleton.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:06

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:06

Why? They've done done it.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:08

Yeah. They're they're already existing.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:11

Why not sound like you?

SPEAKER_02 1:05:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:13

You if you got something to offer the world, give it. Let's hear it.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:16

Sound like yourself, yeah. And don't be afraid to be yourself.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:19

No. I mean, you take like Vince Gill when he comes along, he don't sound like he sounds like him. There's nobody sound like that.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:26

Nobody else sounds like that, that's true.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:28

You know, and he's got his own identity. And yeah, he's a big star, but if you work hard at it and believe in yourself, you can do that. Well sure. You're gonna put the work into it and the time. You know, you can't just sit and think it up in two days and it'll happen. You have to, you know you have to actually take and and work at it for a few years. But you know, instead of trying to just t to copy or write somebody's coattails, why not just be yourself? Yeah. That's what I don't understand.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:57

But I mean Well, have you also noticed too that in modern times there's a lack of originality in almost anything.

SPEAKER_00 1:06:03

That that that's that's what I'm getting at. Like it's just you know, I feel like people's got a whole lot to offer and they just some of them's just for some reason they're terrified to do it.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:12

Well it's like look at all the movie remakes that we've had lately.

SPEAKER_00 1:06:15

They're I think they're they're running out of ideas for movies.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:19

Well people have no original thoughts. That's like you talked about the music. Rather than take a chance and and be themselves it's much easier to copy someone else.

SPEAKER_00 1:06:30

Yeah. I mean I I I just think they're they're losing the creativity's gone out the window.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:36

As has genuine effort and motivation.

SPEAKER_00 1:06:40

That too that too but I mean you know folks music just you know be yourself. Wise words that's all you gotta do just be yourself. From Banjo Barnett the Virtuoso I ain't no virtuoso but I I and and look if you're a musician you're and you are struggling with something reach out. I'll help you. I mean I don't care and the professor over here he's he helps all kinds of young musicians. You know I mean y don't be afraid to message us there's you can shoot us a message it's no there's no you know you don't have to like hesitate or feel like you're interrupting just do it. Yeah kind of tickles us actually I'll tell you something one of the another big thing about music is making connections networking. I mean you can put you can put videos of yourself on there all day long playing some amazing music and yeah people's gonna you know it's gonna get you noticed but you wouldn't believe that what you could do just simply by talking to people. Yeah you can get more gigs and then you know what to do with 'cause people talk to other people yeah you know and like you know we all all us pickers talk you know and you can and you can say you know if you you connect and network with people and one of your buddies you talk to they can somebody says hey man do you know a good banjo player? Yeah dude I know this one banjo player he's really good here's his name here's his phone number give him a call I mean doors can be open at the snap of a finger you know you just get out there and network. Yeah I mean that's what it's all about. Yeah it's taking that chance yeah I mean that's and it and like I said if you do that you sky's the limit man I agree it really is I mean now look if you do drop your bottle of Mountain Dew in the porta potty though no don't don't try to be the hero just let it let it go.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:36

Yeah don't be the hero just let that go. Don't do that do.

SPEAKER_00 1:08:40

Because don't do that do. Because honestly if you do that do I'm gonna be like what's it like?

SPEAKER_02 1:08:46

Yeah tell me what it's like what's it like yeah but that's her we've had a daggum good time here.

SPEAKER_00 1:08:52

Yes sir we have I've enjoyed it this has been a good one as have I this is uh I'm I'm loving this and I hope you all out there listening are enjoying it loving it and like I said write to us let us know if you like it let us know if you don't like it. I mean heck we're open to suggestions we're open to anything if you got a weird story or a wild mountain legend that you know you think we need to tackle shooter over I mean we'll do our best to get to it now we enjoy this kind of thing but uh we've had a good time here today and we hope you enjoy this episode and look out for it. It'll be coming at you here tomorrow and from Banjo Barnett and the professor we had a good time we'll see y'all later this has been Back Porch Twisters out brother from the five string holler