The Touring Fan Live
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The Touring Fan Live
The Art Behind the Music: My Morning Jacket's Epic Show and a Poster Artist's Journey
There's something profoundly meaningful about sharing a transcendent concert experience with the people you love most. In this deeply personal episode, I take you inside the magical My Morning Jacket show at Kansas City's Uptown Theater where I celebrated turning 40 by bringing my wife and daughter to experience the band for their first time (my 20th).
From our prime spot on the rail where Jim James made a special connection with my daughter, to the spellbinding performance that stretched 33 minutes past curfew, the show exemplified everything that makes live music a transformative force. Grace Cummings delivered a mesmerizing opening set before joining the band for an unforgettable collaboration, while the Kansas City crowd demonstrated why this city remains an underrated music hotspot.
The heart of this episode features my conversation with the brilliant Courtney Schoeberlein, the artist behind the stunning concert poster that captured my daughter's imagination. Courtney shares her remarkable journey from bartending to becoming a full-time artist, the thrill of working with her dream band, and the fascinating philosophy behind concert poster art. Her perspective on how posters serve as vessels for both the creator's and the audience's memories reveals why these artifacts matter so much to the music community.
As I reflect on four decades of life and hundreds of concerts, I explore the profound question of why we chase these live music moments. It's not just about hearing songs performed—it's about creating touchstone memories that connect us to specific times, people, and feelings. These shared experiences become part of who we are, stories we can tell long after the music fades.
Whether you're a dedicated concertgoer or simply curious about the power of live music, this episode celebrates how these fleeting moments can become the anchors that give our lives meaning and connection. What moments are you chasing?
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Are you grown up yet? Does the war make sense? Did you graduate? Did you graduate? Do you appreciate your country?
Speaker 2:Are you in control?
Speaker 1:Are you in control? Hey everybody and welcome to Touring Fan Live. My name is Anthony Krizwitz. We are listening right now to Illiterate Lights Growing Down, and this song was definitely intentionally picked out today.
Speaker 2:I've been growing down, I'm growing down, I'm growing down.
Speaker 1:A Literate Light, a band from Virginia that I've become a huge fan of theirs for a long time. This song has hit me like a ton of bricks today and I'm not sure what the meaning of this song is. Tremendously, but today I turned 40 and I don't know if I've ever actually grown up Like I feel as though my body's aging, but I'm just kind of the same person I was my entire life. Maybe I'm growing down, I don't know. But give them a listen, love a little bit of light. A great group of guys from Virginia that are just taking off in this industry. And just amazing live. And just amazing live. Tonight we are going to be talking about the my Morning Jacket show that happened this past Monday in Kansas City at the Uptown Theater. We have an amazing interview with extremely talented artist Courtney Schubertlein. Schubertlein, schubertlein I probably butchered that, but we had a conversation before the interview about both of our last names and how absolutely of a beast they are, and you know, it is what it is.
Speaker 1:Then we're going to be talking about my Morning Jacket's opening artist, grace Cummings. Then we're going to be talking about a really interesting topic about St Louis versus Kansas City crowds moments in, why we chase them in concert experiences and then I'll be giving top four songs that are new that I think you should listen to. So let's kind of jump right into it. This my Morning Jacket show at the Uptown Theater was the first time that I've ever taken my wife and daughter to a my Morning Jacket show my 20th show, their first. I've taken my son before when he was much younger and I've always felt as though my morning jacket show is absolutely a religious experience. It is visually stunning. The music is almost word for word, key for key, verbatim from what it is on the album. They jam on it, but it's still a. You can hear what you're getting off. The album is exactly what you're getting on stage and their fan base, honestly, is the most friendly, loving, welcoming. I've never had a bad experience on a rail. I've never had a bad experience in the pit. I'm not a bad experience in the line for merch line getting in. It's always overly friendly and sometimes even the bands I love. Unfortunately they have fan bases that are territorial Pearl Jam I love Pearl Jam and I love a lot of my friends and people that I've met through it and I'm super grateful for. But there is some territorial and fans that can be a little, you know, passionate, to an extent that they give up vibes that are just not as welcoming as others.
Speaker 1:So I was excited to bring my wife and my daughter to the show. We got to Uptown Theater pretty early and we waited in line. We were the first in the non-VIP line to get in. We were really excited when Courtney's poster came out. It was really cool first of all for a female artist to be doing it, because it's something that I love for my daughter to see. I want my daughter to know that you know, in the arts world, whether it's playing music, which she does, drumming and singing and in a rock band, or whether it's in drawing or anything that you think you can do with your mind, I want her to look at other talented artists and say, hey, if they can do it, I can do it. And that was pretty awesome and the posters was absolutely amazing. You know and we'll talk more about that in the interview with Courtney.
Speaker 1:Later we got into the show. We pretty much got rail. We were all the way off to the right of rail and basically eye to eye with Jim James, which was really really wild to us because we got there a little bit later and you knowtown theater is a smaller stage set than what mighty morning jacket's been playing, so they didn't have all of the backdrops and some of the visuals they've had in some of the other showings, because there's just no room on that stage. You know, going back to jack white just two weeks ago and seeing him in st louis and then seeing him in kansas city and omaha, kansas city is an uptown theater, it's a smaller stage. So it it it makes it more intimate and it makes it more kind of older, in a way like back in the 90s when bands would play at smaller stages and there wasn't the elaboration of things. This is, you know, uptown theater is an older theater here in kansas city and it is one of my favorites. It's a great place to see an artist and what I love is that I've been doing a lot of double takes with seeing artists and at the uptown theater, seeing them in Uptown Theater and then seeing them somewhere within St Louis, omaha or something like that, and then getting a different perspective of how they're utilizing the stage differently because it's such a small and intimate venue. Anyway, we got there early enough.
Speaker 1:The opening act, which was Grace Cummings, which I wasn't really familiar with her work previous to this show. She's got a voice that I wasn't expecting. I'll put it that way. She came out and she has a very I would say, almost a Brandi Carlile voice that is just powerful and embraceful and she has an energy on stage that is infectious and just makes you it just, it just mesmerizes you, I think is the best way of putting it. And the great, great opener, and it was really cool because I like that. She joined the band later on, um, which was a really cool uh moment.
Speaker 1:But uh, the band hit the stage right at 9, 15, uh, my morning jacket and I've, like I said, I've seen them 20 times. Uh, this is my 20th time seeing them and you know I didn't know what to expect from the show. Looking at other set lists they've had on this uh, this reign of shows leading up to them going to the five nights in louisville, so I didn't know if they were gonna hey, you know, we're gonna take it a little bit easier because we're about to do five nights in Louisville, or like, hey, we're about to do Louisville, we're going to give you to all, we're going to take a little break and then hit Louisville. So I wasn't sure what to expect and I was Absolutely 100 percent knocked out of the fucking ballpark with this show. Absolutely 100%. Couldn't have had anything different at this show. Happen, played, done. That would have made it any better. This was absolutely incredible.
Speaker 1:The show started with a tour debut of regular schedule program which, when Jim goes into the where the lyrics of the song Love, I'm not going to butcher it, but when he does the love, love, love, I got goosebumps. When I take my kid to a show and I can experience such a positive band on stage with positive lyrics and really what they preach is what they sow and how they do things, I just that energy level is infectious and it was amazing, so great. Then it went to spring. It's for song number two. Let them know, touchy, I'm Going to Scream. Part Two, which, jesus Christ, was amazing River Road. And then they did an ACDC cover Right on and then Grace Cummings comes out and sings it and the play off each other was absolutely beautifully stunning. It was really done.
Speaker 1:Heartbreaking man, which I, is another great underrated my Morning Jacket song and it's one of those songs that, like, I don't know. Once again, I don't like to sometimes know what the artist's interpretation of a song is, because what I believe a song is and what it means to me sometimes is not what they mean, and then sometimes it can downplay it a little bit. You know, talking to artists in the past that I've interviewed, sometimes they don't even like to tell whether it's a poster artist or a musician, what the poster means or the the song means, because it then ruins the interpretation of things. Like quentin tarantino, when you know he's, when they talked about reservoir dogs and then title of reservoir dogs and people like what does that even mean? And he's like, well, I don't want to tell you what it means. I want the art, I want the art of reservoir dogs and the title of it to mean something to the person watching, to get something clever out of it.
Speaker 1:And Heartbreaking man has, you know, it's been a song for me that I've listened to and it just it was there for me in a weird time when I was in between jobs and back in the day and my wife was pregnant with my daughter. So that song was something, I don't know, it was a, was a comfort, I guess, or I guess you could say that, um, but it is, it was, it was something that I I loved, um, and I was really glad to hear that um, hear that live. And you know this is, this is one of you know, when you look at that song and and what it means to me and having my daughter there, that was a really cool moment for me. Everyday Magic, which I think is probably growing on me as one of my new favorite songs off the album and it's a banger for sure. I think that is a banger. It's very Queen-esque in its own sense. I feel like if Queen did that song back in the 80s, I think that would have been a huge hit.
Speaker 1:Um, penny, for your thoughts was no, it was played nine war begun. Uh, old september blues, which was a tour de view, uh, feel you half a lifetime, which this was the moment where everything changed during the show. For me. At that point, jim james, which my daughter was like I was like nose above the rail had recognized my daughter and she was singing that song like word for word. We listened to that song a million times in the car and he started playing kind of to her a little bit like, waved at her, goof with her a little bit and stuff of that and a couple smiles and and then I felt like the rest of the night like my daughter was really eating it up a little bit.
Speaker 1:Um, went into song number 14 anytime time waited, which like I, I believe during that song I couldn't have hugged my daughter any harder. Um, I think that song is one of those songs too that's going to mean differently to different people. And you know time waits for no one and and things, the lyrics in that song and the meaning behind it and being able to experience that for the first time with not even my daughter but my wife you we struggled to have our second child Like it took us a long time and, wow, I wasn't expecting an emotional Jesus Christ, but like having that moment of hearing that song and like you know what time means and you know, once again, not to keep bringing it up, but like on the edge of like going from your thirties to forties and like just having that there and like thinking about that, like that was like that really hit me hard and I was like I just I knew that this show was special and I knew that the energy from the crowd, the people around me were really fun and the people on the rail were just energetic and it was just so infectious. Um, yeah, it was, that was like, that was, that was a big one for me, um, anytime. Uh, oh, I'm sorry. Uh, then time way. Then, uh, then we went to, uh, uh, critical believe, which was, uh, a tour debut, which the great one, and then an amazing rendition of one big holiday, uh, at 19. And then this is when I was like, all right, this, we're in kansas city. They're pretty strict on a curfew. It's like 1055. I'm like, how are they going to wrap this up? Because I'm pretty damn sure you know Kansas City likes their checks. I own my own business out here. You screw up. They're coming for you Like they want their payday. So I don't know what my morning jacket did if this got swept under the rug or they paid a big fine, but something came of it.
Speaker 1:Slow, slow Tune started off the encore at 20 songs, and then Love, love, love, which is another. I mean, this whole set list, from top to bottom, was just done in a way that was just intentionally made to be beautiful and I really felt like this was a great show to end my 30s in. It was a great emotional rollercoaster of 22 songs which ended with wordless chorus and I was just a buzz. I'm like I just I was like I kept thinking to myself, I'm like what are the songs that I want to hear tonight? I mean, they just they're hitting everything out of the ballpark. Everything sounded perfect.
Speaker 1:Jim's voice was on, patrick was having the time of his life in the back, carl was like, just like just another, another underrated guitarist, by the way. How people don't talk about him and Jim in a sentence of what they do on stage and how they play is just beyond me. But that wordless chorus and the fact that they didn't have any of the backdrop it was just the disco ball with colored lights and then the white lights and the way it lit up the uptown theater and the energy and the vibe from the audience was out of this world. Out of this world and it was something that was just beautiful and I was just something that I I just need. I was weird. It's like I say that I just needed, it was just needed, and the show ends and I can see my wife's tired, my daughter's tired.
Speaker 1:They just went through a marathon of a show which you know I love my wife. We're total opposite pillars of the world when it comes to this stuff. Like I don't know if she understands why I do this. Maybe she does and maybe I overcomplicate it, but like we were tired, my wife gets up at five o'clock in the morning. She did this for me, 100% did this for me, and I am so grateful for that. You know, one of these days she'll go to a show that and I'll find out that she loves you as much as I do and then maybe I'll start dragging her more. But she was tired and I get it. She worked the entire day. She's a school nurse. She was so demanding and I think she was the first one to recognize that.
Speaker 1:Jim was kind of waving at my daughter, pulled the set list off, went to hand it to her and, like a small gust of wind, took the set list. Two people to the to the right of us and an older lady that was completely intoxicated, grabbed it and everyone around us was like shocked and my daughter was a little heartbroken and uh, but then the sound guy noticed and I think jim and him had like interaction and then the sound guy brought her a set list and big smile on her face. But it's a story to tell, right, like you know, it is a story. This is gonna be hard to top. I'm going to see him in st louis next friday, um, and it's going to be hard to top this show.
Speaker 1:Now, before I talk about kansas city and st louis, because, uh, that's interesting let me uh, let's get right into the interview, uh, with courtney um. She's, this is a fantastic interview, um, I'm so sorry we we had planned to have it be a little bit shorter, but we got talking and she is god. She's got such a bright future ahead of her and her story is amazing and what she's given up and how and what she's done to just put it all on the table to be an artist and her first poster being a a my morning jacket poster and seeing her progression from that to her most recent one, um, it's pretty cool. So here's my interview with courtney um, and before we get into it, go on instagram give her a follow. Go on tiktok give her a follow.
Speaker 1:Support these artists. It's important to these artists are just as important as the musicians and everything involved in them. Without us being supportive of them and backing them and buying their merch and buying their posters and giving them the ability to be creative and be themselves, it just limits the ability for growth in the industry. So definitely support not only Courtney, but everybody in the industry. Get the poster from the show, get the t-shirt from the show, give them a like and sometimes, if you can't afford the poster, it's real simple Share their stuff online, because maybe you sharing it instead of you buying that poster sells two posters. So here's my interview with Courtney.
Speaker 1:Hey everybody, I am super excited I'm here at Courtney Schoenberg. She was the post artist from this past Monday night from my Morning Jacket here in Kansas City and when I saw the poster, I immediately reached out to her. And there was two reasons. One, I was stunned by the poster. It is something that was just. It hit me in a way that I haven't been hit when I looked at a poster before. And two, my daughter, who is like my little concert buddy sort and she's like it's going in my room and I was like, okay, well, now, now we're getting somewhere. We're getting somewhere, cause this is, it's hard to put a poster in a room, cause most of them are skull based or they just not her tea. So I was in love with that. But before we get into that, courtney, thank you so much for taking the time out of your day to come on to the Touring Fan Live. How are you doing?
Speaker 2:Of course, I'm so happy to be here. Thank you so much. I'm doing great.
Speaker 1:Well, let's jump right into the poster.
Speaker 1:I think we start with that first, because the one cool thing I love about this and this is something that I love about poster art in general when it comes to concerts is when you look at this poster, you've put Easter eggs in it that involve the city of Kansas City. There's small things, and I love that you included that, because there's almost like that other side of like looking at that poster and having memories of that show being local to that. So if you're traveling into Kansas City or you're, you know you're not from the area. There's like that kind of hint from that. When you first jumped into doing this poster, was this your initial idea for it or do you have something else for it?
Speaker 2:I into doing this poster. Was this your initial idea for it or do you have something else for it? I almost never have an idea. When I jump in, um I it. It takes me some time. My first step is almost always like a long bike ride or something outside to gain some inspiration while I listen to that artist. So I didn't come in with an idea.
Speaker 2:I did the first thing I normally do, which is research the city if it's not one I'm as familiar with and this is my first, this is my first Missouri print ever, so I wasn't very familiar. So I usually start with a broad research of the state and then I centralize a little bit on the city. I'll hit reddit and look for, like, some local spots and hangs that wouldn't be as common on the google search. And then I go to the state symbols page and I look at their state bird, their state, some local spots and hangs that wouldn't be as common on the Google search. And then I go to the state symbols page and I look at their state bird, their state rock, you know, state insect things like that, and try to get inspired.
Speaker 2:And I saw the fountain city and that was when I was percolating in my mind about a goddess. It's pretty common, you've seen, in my work I do a lot of like power, feminine goddess stuff, um, and then when I saw the fountain city, something kind of clicked. I realized it was the day before earth day and I thought, oh, what about a really earthy, botanical fountain girl of some kind? And that I just kind of jumped off from there. Yeah, the, that was the first thing that was sent out to me.
Speaker 1:so for I've only lived in Kansas City fountain girl of some kind and that just kind of jumped off from me. Yeah, that was the first thing that was sent out to me. So I've only lived in Kansas City for three years. I didn't even know it was a fountain city until like six months ago.
Speaker 2:PS I love that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so that's news to me, but it was exciting that I knew it when I saw the poster. But it was, it did, it was. So it was really special to have like the Earth Day theme into it, because you know, my morning jacket is is nature conscious. They are always doing things to kind of give back and when it comes to that, whether it's like clean water, like they have reverb at every show where you can buy a water bottle, and it kind of gives back to them it's just so much clever stuff with it. So that was really cool.
Speaker 1:And then you started dropping all these hints of like hey, there's the state bird, there's this, there's that. It was. It was done so well in the color scheme of it was was beautiful. I mean, it is something unique. And the one thing that really hit me first of all, um, is that you are a female artist and I am all about um. With having a daughter who's nine years old, who goes to these shows and she was at that show um is like just the empowerment for me. So I'm like, hey, if, if she can do it, you can do it, whatever you decide in this and I love that, like we go to a ton of a ton of female driven shows.
Speaker 1:I just want her to know that, like there's nothing that you can't do, so like that was really cool to me and that was what. Like I was in line when I messaged him like little girls to be able to be like I can, I can do that and I'm like yes, you can 100%.
Speaker 2:And if I can?
Speaker 1:anyone can I promise you, and that's what it's all about. I mean, that is 100% what it's all about and that's what I love about that. And you know, the one thing that I love when I was looking back at you were posting things online and I was kind of doing some research on you because I wasn't real familiar with the work previous to this poster was you had talked about like you're one of your first posters was my morning jacket from years ago and it was like this was your ability to show your growth in this, like in the poster world and stuff of that. And I went down a rabbit hole of your work, like I went from that poster and looked at the progression of all the different things you've done and you it was amazing to watch like the growth of you as an artist.
Speaker 1:Go from what you did original with that one, my morning jacket poster to this with like the font progression, the detailed in line work, the color contrast progression, everything that you did. And it just shows that you're like just constantly wanting to do better for not just yourself but for the people that are collecting and do some stuff. And that is really an awesome thing and I just it was like I almost wanted to like give you a high five when you posted that Cause it's like well, I mean, I mean cause some people they just do stuff and and and they're great at what they do, but like to acknowledge like, hey, I'm just excited that I was able to show that I can do this, and even better than the last time, so that I can continue to grow this way. And that was pretty amazing.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it seems like it's been so long since that print 2023. It was June 28th 2023. That was my first ever commercial screen printed game poster that I released. So it was insane to me too, because I wrote down this list of dream bands when I first went full-time and decided that I was really going to dig into this, and they're the first name I wrote, and I wrote it with the mentality I think I even said this out loud if I ever get to this band, I'll know that I did what I set out to do, but I'm probably gonna have to wait about 10 years in this industry before I'll have a shot.
Speaker 2:So when I got that call oh my god, like it was I just stared at the email for so long and thought surely they did not mean to reach out to me. This was a mistake, this was for someone else, and I was as green as you could be to the industry. I didn't know anything about the art of screen printing, I didn't know much about the collectible side of the poster world, and I had also been dramatically out of practice with the digital tools for poster art. So I was feeling really in over my head and I was I honestly choked. I choked pretty badly on that poster and I was afraid to admit that, but I mean, this is me publicly saying what I feel. It was so big, it was so exciting that I almost felt like I couldn't even function through it. And it was so big, it was so exciting that I almost felt like I couldn't even function through it. And it was me trying to figure out the industry and that specific skillset and just throwing it to the wind and hoping that I did it right and that was even printable because it was so new.
Speaker 2:So I felt like within six months I had grown so much I I was like dying for the opportunity to do it again and be like, oh look, how much better I got. I paid attention, I learned. I've been studying the industry and learning as much as I can. I studied screen printing get it now. And I just I couldn't like lock in to the poster industry. I was still having a really hard time booking.
Speaker 2:So when this opportunity came back up for me to do this again, it almost felt like I was doing my first poster for them again because I knew I was coming into a completely different artist than the first time. It's insane what can happen in two years when you're obsessed with your growth and I've watched it in other artists. There's plenty of other poster artists where you can just go back a few years and see that progression and the learning, and I have so many of my peers in the industry to thank for that too. Just keeping that fire lit and that inspiration and God. I want my work to take people's breath away like that poster does, so I appreciate that.
Speaker 1:Preston Pyshko, phd. So you said you went full-time two years ago, right? That's when you decided like, hey, I'm jumping head in into this, into this big pool known as the poster community.
Speaker 2:January 2023,. I posted it and said like, hey, I'm done. I had been bartending and serving and kind of like, doing really just a lot of food and beverage service industry stuff on and off since college to to kind of just make ends meet. I was having a really hard time figuring out like, where was I? What was my place in the art world? You know, where did I want to be? How did I want to do it? And it was just this really.
Speaker 2:I got to that January and I thought I cannot wait anymore. I feel like I have the tools. I've built the network. There's people watching me, there's people that believe in me. When is it going to be a better time? And I was, I don't know. I was just done. I was done, it's time.
Speaker 2:And I just dug in harder than ever before and I thought this is going to take time. It's in harder than ever before and I thought this is going to take time. It's going to be hard, um, it's gonna be a lot of gigging. And within three months of that, they emailed me, which was insane, and my first year in the industry wasn't crazy. I mean, I did quite a bit of work, um, but I look back on it and I still wasn't booking as much as I wanted to. Same goes for last year. Last year was kind of rough for me and you wouldn't necessarily, I guess, know that looking at my work, because I was producing but I wasn't. I still wasn't at the frequency and caliber that I wanted to be. So, yeah, I mean I felt like I was waiting for that poster.
Speaker 1:What was that feeling like when you had to make that decision of going for your dreams? Right, just looking back at that day Cause I'm assuming that there's there's moments and then this is kind of the theme of this evening is moments. That's a moment I can't imagine you're ever going to forget, of that moment of deciding like I can't not give my talents a chance. What was that like?
Speaker 2:just to go, like just jumping into everything Cause I mean, that's got to be a scary moment, like financially everything, yeah, yeah, I mean I risked it all and everything kind of fell into place in such a strange looking back. In the moment it was chaos, but now in retrospect I feel like things were gradually falling into places they needed to, which has been the theme of life in general. I've learned when you look back it really did make sense. And it's not to be an everything happens for a reason person, but a lot of times it does in the end. So you know and it wasn't this one- moment where I was like this is it?
Speaker 2:it was this kind of a bunch of moments along the way, like you said, setting up and failing and then getting rejected and not getting emailed back and thinking, and honestly, it was a lot of jealousy. I was like I want to be doing this, so bad I'm, I want so badly to be part of this world. How can I do it? And I just, I knew something. Just, you have to risk it all. You have to give 100%. You can't just like part-time, try to be a poster artist while you're doing other things. I mean, you, maybe you could, I couldn't. It was 200% or nothing, and I was feeling so stifled in my creativity. I had so much to give, so much to create and nowhere to put it um. So we had just moved. Things were a little wild.
Speaker 2:I was working, um, for a local brewery to just get like a kind of consistent income, and it just started slow and steady, reaching out to friends, reaching out to local bands, getting my name out there to people around town. It was terrifying. I mean, it was like counting every dollar to survive because it's just, you know, still you're paying rent, you're paying your bills and it's not exactly the most lucrative job being a creator. So it's not like I'm retiring on a single poster or something. And in the beginning, um, I was almost working for free for a lot of stuff. I was dramatically undercharging because I wanted the work, I want the reputation, I want the exposure. So it was just this now or never.
Speaker 2:I am terrified, but something inside of me was like you have to do this and you can do this, like I knew I could do it if I had the right tool. And I kept saying to my boyfriend if they would just give me a shot, I promise the industry would want to work with me. I think they would want me to make art for their bands. I really do, um, so it was just a wing and a prayer and the support and the belief of other poster artists that I've connected with being like you got this, like your work speaks, let it, let it talk, um, and, yeah, a lot of reassurances, because we get a lot of rejection and that side of things is is hard, um, and and even before you get to rejection, a lot of times you just don't get answered at all.
Speaker 2:I've sent out hundreds of cold emails over the past four years. I've probably gotten responses from like 20 of them. You know it's just. You send out your lines. You see what bites. You may never hear from them again. But I but I had just a white, hot, obsessive dream. I was willing to just lay my life on the line and I thought I need to know if I don't make it that. I did everything in my power to try and that was it.
Speaker 1:That's what changed. I think that's what everybody should inspire to do, whether it's being a doctor, whether it's being owning your own business. I mean, god, you know it's. I just had a conversation this morning. I had a friend of mine who's a post artist call. He's like hey, happy birthday, blah, blah, blah, oh, thanks. And when he was talking and this is a very successful post artist, like he's done every major artist out there, and he had lined up to do a very prominent artist who's on their like welcome, like their coming back tour Like Oasis, I don't think it's going to matter because he's not doing the poster Sick.
Speaker 2:And I heard they're coming back. Yeah.
Speaker 1:He did everything and this guy is uber talented, Like probably one of my top three favorite artists of all time, and they this is the first time in five years they declined his artwork and he did everything From concept yeah, or for like the final yeah, it's devastating.
Speaker 2:Oh and he was heartbroken and he kept telling me he's like I, just he's like I'm not.
Speaker 1:He goes. I am willing to accept failures. I just don't know what I did wrong. I did everything they asked me to and he's like you know I said the exact same words and he's like.
Speaker 1:You know I said the exact same words, so he's like. You know what he goes I have, he goes. I have a meeting with him, he goes. I stayed up last night all night redoing it and he's like I hope it all he's like, but he's like he goes. He kind of made me strong because I've never, he's never, he's never been told no in years. He's like he goes. I finally got my first no, he's like. I was so pissed, but he's like man. I don't remember he's like. I don't remember the last time I stood up all night just putting paper to pen, just redoing this, just to make sure that I can still get this poster. And, uh, you know, sometimes it's.
Speaker 1:You know, sometimes failing is perfect in a way that it just motivates you to do better, because the people that are going to be successful in any industry are going to take failures as a way to grow and build from. And the fact that that you've just, you know, 400 emails, 20 responses, and then from that growing from there, it says a lot. I mean I was looking at your posters and I'm on your website right now, which is the planted pen. If you can look them up, google up the planted pen, which also clever name, because at first I had to look at the image I planted pen. Oh, it's a pen, it's a pen, that's a plant, that's plant.
Speaker 1:It was like my mind went in a bunch of different places but it was clever. But I mean just looking at your, the work, the body of work you've done, and just like you can see just the progression, especially looking at, like the first, my morning jacket poster and coming to what the most recent one is, and then looking at, like you know, the, the um, I saw the umpire merguise and you had, uh, like leney Wilson, which I mean that's that's, that's a big one right there, and then just, oh God, and then I was looking at, like the Mo shirt, you've done your, you have this build out of quality and then growth, and I'm just like I kept I was talking about that.
Speaker 1:Well, you know, I'm not telling you anything. You don't know Like we. I mean you're it's.
Speaker 2:I mean, it's you say that, but sometimes I feel like I genuinely don't know it's.
Speaker 2:We get so caught up in the creation and the criticism of our own work. I mean, I am by far my biggest critic and I will find the tiniest pixel of issue in that poster. I do believe in my progression, but there's also so much imposter syndrome in me right now because I've had a bit of an uptick in my work and I'm getting more clients and I'm getting hired more and I wasn't prepared for how much it would scare me. I thought it would just be like, yay, success is so fun, I have no problems. But instead it's like, and the pressure's higher, you know, with bands that you love, with people that you know, like you talked about as post-star, as your friend, it's like when you like really love that band and you like lay yourself down on that paper and they don't want that. It's like it's, it's gutting. So I do. I've had people mention the progression in my work and I do see it. I do see it. It's just I'm such a self-critic that it's hard to it's hard to compliment myself. I'm not very good at that. I'm trying to get better at like positive self-talk, but honestly, it's so much of what you're seeing is improvement in technique and how I translated my work.
Speaker 2:I started working a lot more on the tablet, which gave me a lot more control of my stroke, whereas I was previously working almost entirely in pen or pencil finishing my illustration, scanning it, and I was really struggling with like losing some of those really little details that make my work mine, and I started kind of switching over to drawing more on my tablet and I felt like it just gave me a little bit more of a handle of control on editing that line work. I was doing some very silly things in the beginning, like scanning and live tracing. I'm in, I'm here, it is world, you're hearing it. I was like I was so lost in the technique. I mean there were so many things that I was mistaken on. I didn't understand the technique of screen printing. I thought that my key lines had to be a vector, so that kind of confused me, so I thought it had to come from Illustrator and that I couldn't work in Photoshop.
Speaker 2:My work in Illustrator and my work in Photoshop are dramatically different because of just that user interface and how the pen works for me in those programs.
Speaker 2:Moving permanently to Photoshop changed my work forever because it's just, it just I get more illustrators smooth things out too much for me. I don't get as much of like that raggedy drawing edge that I like, um, so you're seeing more of like a pure representation, as in the beginning with my morning jacket and those. I was scanning them and then trying to like redoctor my lines after I scanned it, as opposed to just creating them in the program itself. Okay, um, and I struggle with that a bit too, because I think of myself as a pen and paper artist, so I almost feel like I'm cheating by going right to the tablet, but it also enables me to work a lot faster without scanning and having to replicate, um, those pieces of my work. So I think a huge thing that you'll see changing is me getting a lot more knowledge of the programs, the printing techniques and how to produce work in a way that just makes more sense. It was so weird and convoluted the way I was illustrating before, wow.
Speaker 1:Let's go back to something you said in the beginning when we were first started this. You said that you, when you first started this and you decided to jump head first in the industry, you sat down and wrote five artists names down or maybe it was, I don't think I heard five but you wrote down artists, names of people you wanted to work with, and my morning jacket was right at the top of it. And one of the best things about my morning jacket is and I've known this from you know I'm in a couple of different like one of my good friends named Tanya Kang. She did. She's a big my Morning Jacket, Pearl Jam fan. We both kind of cross over a lot. We see each other at the both shows.
Speaker 1:She's done some stuff with my Morning Jacket, like some fan portraits and things. That's a whole nother, whole, nother thing. But my Morning Jacket is very fan approachable. I really feel like that. They care about the fans, they do things for the fans, so they're fan approachable and I think it's awesome that that was the first band. But what were the other bands on that list and have you done anything for them yet? Or do we have to put this out in ether that like someone pick up the fucking phone courtney's calling and let's get a poster for her there's a lot of okay.
Speaker 2:This is where we're going to get into some of them I'm working for currently and I'm very excited about some of these bands I have finally booked and I'll tell you the ones that I have not.
Speaker 1:Okay, billy Strings, all right, oh, billy Strings, billy Strings.
Speaker 2:He's on the list and Billy follows me. Billy's awesome. He's engaged with my work. He's been receptive and I he's been receptive and I've sent him lines before about, like you know, hit me up. I'd love to do a poster for you guys. I see that as one day, one day when the time is right. I feel the same way about Fish okay, fish okay. Pearl Jam was number two on my list. Mr T-shirt, I am ready. The DMs are open. We've connected, just call him. Let's just call him. We've connected, let's just give him a call.
Speaker 1:Yeah, just call him, let's just say, let's just give him a call.
Speaker 2:He can text me. Hey, hey, hey.
Speaker 1:Answer your phone.
Speaker 2:It's my cat, Like if I call him with my cat, will he answer.
Speaker 1:You know what I'm going to tell you, something as obsessed as he is with, I think what you need to do is I think we need to do a push for you. Take a picture, selfie, with you and your cat, and we'll just start this push for get a poster for Kourtney.
Speaker 2:I think that makes the most sense. Let's do it. I love Pearl Jam. I also love Blink. That could be a good one. Yeah, and my boyfriend is Chris Gipple. He's another poster artist. Shameless plug for Chris Gipple at underscore Gip, give him a follow. He's amazing. He has done fish, but blink is his golden goose. He wants to play 22. He's actually already worked with billy and um and fish, but we have this thing like you, both live under the same roof as poster artists.
Speaker 1:Push. That has got to be something. It's insane. I mean it's does it drive you nuts a little, I mean because you're both doing the same thing. It's got to be something. It's insane, I mean it's. Does it drive you nuts a little? I mean because you're both doing the same thing.
Speaker 2:It's got to be almost like a passionate, competitive environment. Yeah, yeah, like. When he was working on Billy, I was literally like watching from a bush oh, must be nice. How's it feel? Oh, what are you writing? Billy Strings Must feel nice. Um, no, he's, he's awesome. He's so supportive, he's like he's my best friend. He was my favorite artist before we met in person. He's incredible. It is competitive, it is passionate, it is obsessive. We are both completely obsessed with what we do. Um, we, we live and breathe it. I mean, we have like other passions we love watching the birds, we're obsessed with our cats. We love true crime. Um, we're both big like wheelie sport, like bike, skate, surf, type of like extreme sport people. But it's we talk about posters like we're always just like cmyk brain printing vector art. You know, it's like we talk about it all the time and you know, just to see that draft, you see what Dave Klopp just put out.
Speaker 2:You know, we're constantly and then we like have all of our idols. We have the same people that we love, we have a lot of the same bands that we love, but we're also stylistically very different. We want kind of genre-wise. We're kind of pushing in different directions. So I think we we really both nurture our independent careers and support each other's independent careers, but we also do kind of operate as this unit. Sometimes we bounce things off of each other and I used to joke like I was just Chris Gable's girlfriend in the draws sometimes because he was so far ahead of me, and now I'm. I feel like I'm just Chris Gable's girlfriend in the draws sometimes because he was so far ahead of me and now I'm. I finally got finally kind of like catching up to him with with the workload, but it I mean, yeah, we talk about posters all the time. It's insane.
Speaker 1:I'm looking at his work right now. He's. I've seen some of his work where he is. He's very talented.
Speaker 2:He's got a very signature style. We call it kind of an edible candy style. He's got very digestible sort of we just want to kind of gobble it down. Um, so different but when we collaborate we come up with some really cool stuff and I think the differences in our styles also keeps us it keeps it level, keeps us afloat. We we've crossed wires on a couple bands and then we have like big bands that we reach for, um, and yeah, I mean there's moments, there's been moments of jealousy and comparison. For sure, most of me, I can be a little toxic, but it's. It's hard to want something so badly you know, oh, I can.
Speaker 1:I can only imagine.
Speaker 1:Yeah, Cause I mean working with post artists and um, just for the last, I mean God, I've been doing. I've been now as podcast now since 2019, and I've been post artists. I've been a big part of this, big part of this, this journey around music and touring fan. Um, and you know my expression of why I collect so many posters. I mean you know this wall's full of them. I mean every wall in this house is full. I mean it drives my wife. I have a flat file that is insured for more than my house is worth.
Speaker 1:Um, you know, but it's it's hard for me to give those posters up because you know, I look at a poster like actually, I'm looking at a my Morning Jacket poster from Charlottesville, virginia, july 21, 2009,. I believe it was 2015. And it's signed by because we went to me and my son went to the show. This is before my son decided to turn into a pro athlete and I thought he was going to turn into what my daughter is like musician and all that stuff and be like me. But he was on my shoulders the whole show. He got the set list and drumsticks and then, like afterwards, my son's like and this, and my son was at this age Like he. Just he noticed everybody. He's like isn't that, isn't that the lead singer, and was jim james just walking on the damn street? And then we got to talk to him and I got a picture with him and then and it was just a really cool experience and, um, you know, it's just, it's that moment. So I look at this poster and I look at this.
Speaker 1:You know everything that's involved in this and this poster brings me back to that moment of like of being with my son and being on the rail and having Lizzo open up for my morning jacket that show too, which was, you know, interesting Really. Yeah, lizzo opened up for my morning jacket and I'll never forget. She sang the song like batches and cookies, I think it was, and she brought out like a tray full of cookies and she threw a cookie and my son wasn't paying attention to hit him right.
Speaker 2:Damn square middle in the head And'm like let's not eat. What a memory. Yeah so, but it was right. That's what it's all about. Like this is. It is about that. And did you listen to their recent? They did a whole um like a q? A on red. They did an ama on red. No, they did both. They did a reddit ama, and then they also tom patrick and jim sat down and did like a q?
Speaker 2:A thing that they posted, and in that they specifically talk about what you're saying, whereas they are so passionate about poster art. And one of the reasons why is because, like, people are going to that show, whether it's their hometown or not. Some people fly all over. You know they're following you, you're coming in, you're having that moment and you get one tangible thing to take away from it. Yeah, you get merch. You can get merch and stuff like that. Merch isn't always specific to that show, though you might be able to catch it at the next show. That poster is one moment, it's one show. It's never going to see it again, so they flip it on you bet.
Speaker 2:So, that being said, I really relate to what you said. It's like you look at that poster. You remember? Oh, me and my son got hit in the head with a cookie and we met jim on the street and this is what he said and you can see it all. And none of that has anything to do with that poster and how it's created, but that's what it's going to hold for you. It's like it. It captures your memories and and holds them for you and you can always.
Speaker 2:I'll look back at my posters and kind of I can remember, on the other side, what was I going through when I produced that poster? And then, um, stylistically, how does it reflect that? So it's really it's just a connection of energy through an object that we all carry with us. You know there's a piece of my soul in all those prints. And then you guys go to the show. You have this incredible experience. You take the poster and you know energy transfers is tangible. It's going to attach nostalgically to that piece and that's why you have them all over your house, right? Those are your memories, it's your scrapbook.
Speaker 1:In. I probably I've done like, done like I don't know 1400 podcast episodes and I've interviewed hundreds of different poster artists and you said something that no one's ever said. That makes me look at everything completely different. I've always looked at post art as my memories coming through it and where I was at that time and all those things, but then also having another, entire different way of looking at it is a poster artist can look at that and look at their journey into the poster world where they were at that time, what that poster means to them, because what that poster means to that artist is different than I look at it.
Speaker 1:But I believe in the idea of moments, memories, I mean, you know, and how life creates those, and that's what we're chasing is those moments and memories. And that moment or that poster is different take for you, but means just as much as it does for me as we look at it, and that transfer of power, which I believe that's what everything is. It's just that energy that comes through things. I mean that's a pretty powerful way of looking at things and that's pretty awesome. It's pretty amazing to think that way.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's just a swap of energy. And I put a poster out last year that I would say I did during one of the darkest periods of my career and it was one of the most well-received posters. And I see, on the other side of the coin, people are telling me how much joy and beauty it brought to them, where I thought, wow, that was what kind of kept me off the floor in that moment, because I was having a really hard time booking. I was feeling really low. Um, I was losing. I lost a lot of gigs last year. It was really intense and it came at a the end of a chain of probably like four dropped gigs that I was so excited about that I didn't get to see through and it just I kind of I needed it so badly and I pulled this energy out of myself somehow. And then, when the poster drops, you're like, oh my God, I was a shell of myself when I put that that was my church, that's what got me out of here and I sometimes it's like it could just be something as simple as oh, that's the week my car broke down, that was.
Speaker 2:I remember how stressed I was when I was doing that, when I was drawing that specific flower. It's kind of just like it could be a small moment or it could be something catastrophic. I had to work through last week. We had to put my senior dog to sleep and it was. I couldn't stop, I had deadlines, I had to keep going, but I felt like I saw my line work.
Speaker 2:It's. It's the pain, the emotion, it's not. You know, my memories, my experiences are all kind of sewed into that in big or small ways. Um, so I really my morning jacket's so good about, like you said, exchanging with the fans but also just exchanging energy with people and allowing everyone to kind of share in this communal feeling. And I find that with their fans there's just so much like light and presence and involvement with each other and their surroundings. With the band it's like everyone's just kind of passing around this like sparkly torch of light with them and it's just it's really special to be able to work for them. And Patrick reached out to me after this. He works really closely with poster art and he's really passionate about the poster art, but he sent me a message about this one and how it was really special to them and it's like I took a screenshot. I'm probably going to frame it.
Speaker 1:Just to have a member of like your favorite band reach out and say they like your work.
Speaker 2:It's just that's not something. I could have ever told a teenage me what happened and they would have believed it. It's just not. It doesn't feel real.
Speaker 1:Well, that that's. That's amazing and extremely well-deserved. I, you know, I brought the. We went and got the poster immediately. We were in line Me and my wife were, and my daughter were first in line to get into the venue. So we can try to get. We can get rail.
Speaker 2:Okay, good, so you got in there first. Oh, gotcha.
Speaker 1:Yeah, because I heard from a lot of people merch was like chaotic and they couldn't. They didn't have a shot. So uptown theater is a very small venue. It was built very I don't think it's over 100 years old so and I've seen quite a few shows there and it is a. It's an intimate arena so I know even the uh.
Speaker 1:The set for my morning jacket was extremely uh. Brought down. We didn't have the bat, like a couple different things, because I mean they were playing right on top of each other. Basically, it's a very small arena. I'm going next week to St Louis to see them, an arena that's probably double in size. We got there I put my wife on the rail and said, hey, I'm just going to go back and grab the poster. Me and my daughter went. We got the poster. I want to say I know that the regular version was sold out before even my morning jacket hit the stage and I know there was a few of the uh foil variant left, but I know everything was gone by the time the show was over and the yeah overwhelming everything from the front overwhelming.
Speaker 1:Response to it was just super positive. I mean everybody was just, and then it was I know I was speaking to and everything kind of worked out perfectly too, because jim was almost all the way stage left, right in front of us, which is not the common like he was I about. It was special and yeah.
Speaker 2:You can't. You know, you don't always know that the show is going to go off. You want to have your expectations high that you're going to have the best night ever, but I've had nightmare concert experience.
Speaker 1:So I know that it's not always.
Speaker 2:So many things can go wrong and all it takes is one other obnoxious person to trash your vibe Right. So I mean I I went to a show in Baltimore last year I'll never forget this person had a clapper, the things that. Why are you here?
Speaker 1:What are you doing at the show?
Speaker 2:Why are you even in here? I just thought, oh my God, I go there to lose myself, not to lose my shit, which, whatever there's every show, there's always something or someone. So I'm glad that you had that experience.
Speaker 1:I'll give you the low light of the concert and I have it on video, which is heartbreaking At the end of the show. So Jim and Charlotte were you know, and I think so. My daughter is a newer my Morning Jacket fan. She's nine, she's very is. She knows it pretty much verbatim, like she knows all the words Some of the older stuff she's not as familiar with. So I think Jim was surprised that she knew most of the words to the newer songs but nothing from the older ones, because she looked over a couple times, like he looked over a couple times and just was like he was interested.
Speaker 1:So at the end of the show he took his set list, went to hand it to her and some drunk old lady like snagged it and my daughter stood there like just shocked. But then the sound guy who was immediately to her right sore and took his set list and gave it to her and I was was like it's a story you can tell people and like the people next was like do you want to give it back? I'm like no, because it's not. It's not, it's not worth it. Like you know, I don't want that. I don't want that interaction like let her do her thing. That's not going to change. I mean, she's still got a set list.
Speaker 1:But it was just like the video. As you can see, jim like handing it and then like a wind kind of gusseted it a little bit to the right and then the woman snagged it and, like everyone around was like just shocked. But hey, it is what it is. You know highs and lows of things, but it wasn't going to end the night. I mean, they ended up playing for two and a half hours.
Speaker 2:They went past curfew by 33 minutes, which I saw they had a long encore um, and that they ended with with wordless chorus, which must have been incredible.
Speaker 1:I was like I looked at my wife, so my wife's transcended my wife's not the biggest concert goer, I gotta like drag her shows like she.
Speaker 2:You know, we're like I'm tired, oh yeah she's polar opposite, like she's.
Speaker 1:You know, she, you know, I will say, at age 40, I would prefer a matinee show. Can we start doing that? Can we start moving things back like three?
Speaker 2:hours start at nine. Are you kidding?
Speaker 1:me nine o'clock and then it was 11, 30 because my wife's like how long is over? Like 10, 10, 30 they'll get. Because like we just, I just went on a three night in a row jack white run, uh, where I went with a friend of mine three nights in a row and he was like, oh, he's a businessman on stage at nine o'clock, off stage at 10, 30, 10, 35.
Speaker 2:You're lucky, like it is business as usual, yeah, but it's like you know what you're getting like it's he and he's just.
Speaker 1:But like I was like the whole time I was looking and I was like, oh my god, this show's still going and every time Jim would get another guitar. I'm like, all right, we're like four songs past the normal. And then I'm like, all right, well, I know curfew's 11. I'm like all right, well, I know, curfew is 11. I'm like they're still playing, they're still playing. And then at one point you can see like this, someone on the side was flashing Patrick and I think like cause wordless chorus wasn't, it was probably one of the shorter versions of wordless chorus.
Speaker 1:It was still long, but like it was it is a long, long song but the way they did it, where you know of course they're the disco ball and I've never seen it and I've seen that was my 20th, my morning jacket show. I've never seen it where, like they hit it with colored lights and I was like I was like man. If I was an edible right now I'd probably be like katie perry and call myself an astronaut like, because I would be like going in outer space like it was out here kissing the ground, yeah kissing the ground like it was yeah but yeah, great, it was absolutely amazing you left your body and just rocketed off into the disco.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and like your wife's asleep next to you, like is are we? Is it okay?
Speaker 1:she's like it's. And she did say she enjoyed it and I've taken her a few shows. I tried like and I always do this to myself, I'm a schmuck like, like I want to get her involved, like I'd love for her to get involved in things, but then I realized, like you know, that's just not my wife's cup of tea, so every time I go she's tired. Yeah, like she's a big country music fan. So last year I went and saw, like this Kenny Chesney concert that was it's a day-long country festival, oh my.
Speaker 1:Jesus, it's just one artist after another artist and, like I don't understand why country artists have to cover like other popular songs and make, it was just a weird experience so like I was like what's going on anyway? But yeah, so I try. And you know she's seen Pearl Jim a few times, but not her cup of tea. And I've seen Pearl Jim a lot and I try. And you know she's seen Pearl Jam a few times, but not a cup of tea.
Speaker 2:And I've seen Pearl Jam a lot.
Speaker 1:And I try. I thought my morning jacket would be a cup of tea, like she likes. I don't know if you're familiar with the band illiterate light. Um, they're from Virginia, from where we're from. They just went and played with uh and with uh, my morning jacket one big are influenced by them heavily and she's very much into them, loves them, and I would. If you do not never heard of Illiterate Light, it's two guys, a drummer and guitarist. They are absolutely amazing and they're, you know, they're just they're. I mean every. All the feedback for One Big Holiday was just, it was just huge.
Speaker 2:So but anyway, that might be where I saw the name, cause I'm always kind of paying attention to the lineup for that kind of stuff, so the name does sound familiar, but I'm not.
Speaker 1:I'm not actually familiar with their music. Oh, and I love. The one thing they do that I love is every, every, they have this one show. They play a festival, they play where they power their entire stage by people peddling bikes completely renew. Oh yeah, yeah, give them a listen. They're, they're great and it's amazing. They're. Love them, love them, um, but let's, let's, let's get this, let's put a bow on this, um, yeah, because I've hold you a lot longer than expected and I apologize for that I can talk forever.
Speaker 2:I'm the same way, and that's sometimes a good thing and a bad thing. It's like I'm gonna talk so much about myself and same way, and that's sometimes a good thing and a bad thing it's like I'm gonna talk so much about myself and it's like that's what you do in interviews, like when people ask you about yourself, I'm like, yeah, but I can't just talk. Yeah, you can, you're gonna get bored.
Speaker 1:No, no, no, um. Well, it's funny because some of the shortest shows I've done will have some of the least amount of listens and then, like I was nervous about some of the longer ones that go the hour and a half, two hours, and sometimes they're just the best ones. So you do have some of the. You still have some posters left, correct?
Speaker 2:Of my artist prints.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 2:Yes, I sold a little about half.
Speaker 1:I sold about half of them, I guess, and then I hold back some for any shipping issues and also just for my personal archives's. Like I spent like God. It was weird because I saw Jack White the week before. I didn't really buy much from Jack, but I spent like $300 at merch and I was like oh, it happens fast. It happens super fast.
Speaker 2:It really does. It catches up with you. But yeah, I actually listed APs yesterday, so I'll be shipping those out next week. I did much better on this round than my first coaster. Um, and actually I was like as soon as I listed them, the order started coming in right away, which told me that people were waiting for them to go live, which is still just like I. I just can't completely believe that's my real life wow, well, we'll believe it.
Speaker 1:I'm just and I think, yeah, I'm trying, I think this conversation is gonna be much different in can't completely believe that's my real life.
Speaker 1:Wow, well, we'll believe it, and I think yeah, I'm trying. I think this conversation is going to be much different in two years, when I believe the quality of work that you have produced over the last few years, your growth as an artist, the ability, that of you being able to be your biggest critique and understand things and to use the hits that you've had as ammunition to move yourself forward, is only going to grow you in ways that I can only say that I can only, I can't wait to see, and I'm really excited to see what the future holds for you, because I really do think it's made big and great things.
Speaker 2:Um, thank you, I hope so too, so we'll see stay tuned anyway.
Speaker 1:Well, check out the planted pen. You can google search them or you can go to the planted pen dot wix site, w-i-x sitecom. I'll have information in the link and if you're listening to the podcast only version, go into the description and the information will be there. And not only does she have that, you can keep following her on her instagram and hopefully she gets her tiktok up and and that's the planted pen, correct, it will be yeah.
Speaker 1:Hopefully the username is available. Well listen, this won't go live for a few hours, so make sure you get that before this goes live, I'll go reserve it now.
Speaker 2:You better reserve it.
Speaker 1:Done. I got you, you know, just listening to that interview and going back to it. She's a special person and she's got such a bright future and it's I really am a big component, a big I think I'm saying it right A big fan of supporting the arts, especially female in the arts, and giving them the leeway of pushing them forward, cause she's super talented, she's given up so much, and the fact that she lives in a house with another artist given up so much, and the fact that she lives in a house with another artist crazy. But yeah, give her a like and support her because she's going places. All right, let's dig right back into this.
Speaker 1:So one of the things that I've found interesting is that moving out to Missouri is this kind of like butting of heads of like St Louis and Kansas City. My first concert I ever saw here was when me and my son were still traveling between Virginia and Kansas City. We went and saw Rain Wolf at the Truman. They were opening up for Rival Sons and Jordan from Rain Wolf came out and he says, ah, good evening, kansas City, kansas. And the crowd started booing him and I didn't realize like this obsession of like Kansas and Missouri. And then I was like, wow, that's crazy. And then I started to learn more of like how Kansas City and St Louis are so competitive, like they're both huge cities on the edge of Missouri in two different directions and their hatred for each other is almost huge. But it's just crazy how Kansas City itself, kansas City Missouri, is so passionate about them, about being the city of Missouri and also being the city of like Kansas City is Kansas City Missouri, not Kansas City Kansas. It's crazy. Being the city of like Kansas City is Kansas City Missouri, not Kansas City Kansas, it's crazy. But I will say this and I'm curious to see what's going to happen next Friday, because when I saw Jack White in St Louis it was the first of three run shows. The energy of the crowd was okay and Jack White played a great show. The energy in Kansas City was out of this world and Jack White put on one of the best shows I've ever seen. My morning jacket came to Kansas City and I've seen an energy from that crowd that was out of this world and the band gave it back to them.
Speaker 1:I've been to a lot of shows in Kansas City and the energy level from the people around Kansas City bring it all the time. Kansas City is an underrated music scene, underrated music just hotspot, an underrated love of music out here. There's so much history when it comes to music, especially in jazz. There's so much history in the way that there's been so many artists that come through here, going all the way back to God back in the day Rolling Stones, things of that nature, back when they were building the bridge up of what concerts were back in the 60s and going into the 70s. I just can't get over the amount of just raw energy that comes out of Kansas City crowds and it's so underrated.
Speaker 1:And then when I went to St Louis to see Jack White, I was expecting that. I didn't get it. I didn't get that in Omaha either. Omaha. I will say this you go St Louis, omaha, st Louis is winning that one. But it's interesting because I've talked to people recently, especially people from Kansas City. I have friends in St Louis and the majority of them agree.
Speaker 1:Like oh yeah, st Louis, the fan base not so strong. They're more of a relaxed, chilled back kind of sit back and enjoy. Now I'm going to be curious to see what happens next week for Mind, mind and Jacket. Maybe my opinion changes and it could Quite, possibly could. But I just it's interesting to me the amount of shows I've seen between both areas, how passionate Kansas City crowds are, how they just feed off the band so well.
Speaker 1:I mean it is something to side to see. I mean, you know, but in the grand scheme of things, when it comes to music, I think we all enjoy it in different ways. Maybe just St Louis is rowdy like that. I mean, I don't know, I just St Louis is rowdy like that. I mean, I don't know. I mean Kansas City is rowdy like that, I apologize. And maybe St Louis is more of the laid-back crowd. We all enjoy things differently. I mean that's what it comes down to. I mean I don't hate what I saw in St Louis when it came to Jack White. I don't hate what I saw of Omaha with Jack White. I don't hate what I saw of Pearl Jam in Seattle compared to Pearl Jam in I don't know Lincoln, nebraska. Two different energies of crowds. They feel differently. Just part of things. This is different, but I think we're all going to shows for moments. I have really thought hard about this over the last couple months when it came to why I go to concerts, why I want my daughter, my wife and even my son to go to shows with me. Why do I continue to go to shows? What's the purpose of all this? Why, when I originally started going heavily into Pearl Jam, I think it was for a sense of trying to fit in Pearl Jam for me was my stepping stone getting into music, going heavy into concerts, because I was just trying to find something that was mine and that people accepted me for who I was.
Speaker 1:Music, sports and movies, you know, were always something to me that were extremely important because they couldn't go away. And what I mean is I didn't have the greatest upbringing. I mean, listen, my parents tried, they were young. I don't have the greatest upbringing. I mean, you know, listen, my parents tried, they were young. I don't have the greatest relationship with them. I appreciate them for who they are. You know, I wouldn't be the person I am today without them. Their mistakes and their, I guess, positivity and things all accomplished me somehow. But there was times that in and out of my life whether it's my fault, their fault, that's for interpretation but music was always there. Sports were always there, movies were always there, and so I always grasped those because they couldn't leave. I could always put on Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd in the car and listen to it to get me out of a funk. I could put on Pearl Jam and listen to it live, sitting in my 1991 Ford Thunderbird in the parking lot of the movie theater in Holbrook, new York, contemplating what was next for me, contemplating what was next for me. Music has always been there and I've met so many people like that and it's helped me get to the next steps of my life and become the person I am today. And getting heavily into music and touring has given me the greatest of memories and some of the worst memories. Touring is not cheap, and then touring opens up the doors to let people in. That might not be the best thing for you, but it's all about moments In the studio that I'm recording this from is posters from as far back as I mean, like my 2006 Pittsburgh Pearl Jam poster.
Speaker 1:I remember that show like it was yesterday Traveling with my friend, paul and Mike from Virginia to Pittsburgh 19 years old, I guess it was 20, 21, whatever it was, I guess, 21, driving to Pittsburgh to go see him Hearing smile for the first time and the guy next to me, drunk, dancing, falling over. We were broke kids at the time, couldn't afford nothing, not a thing. But it's that moment that I just remember, sitting in the car and the anticipation of hey, what do you think they're going to open with? What are they going to do? Hey, do you think they'll have a special guest on? All these things that led up to it. And then the excitement of the show. And this is back when Pearl Jam was playing three-hour-long sets.
Speaker 1:When I look at you know there's so many posters. I'm looking at a poster that I took my son to go see my Morning Jacket. I'm looking at a poster of Queens of Stonehenge I took my daughter to. Or Les Claypool and the Fearless Flying Frog Brigade. I took my daughter to the Roger Watershow. I took my family to. I mean, there's so many things over here my my Morning Jacket poster that Dan Mumford made when I saw him in Raleigh, north Carolina, and I was God. That was when we were doing a podcast together, didn't even know he was doing it.
Speaker 1:All these posters bring me back to a moment of pure happiness, pure sadness, something. It's that moment. In that time You're surrounded by a bunch of people that have one thing in common the love of the music. So I'm always chasing those moments, because I feel like our lives are moments. If we do a bunch of things, we have moments to share with others. That builds us up in a way that makes us last forever.
Speaker 1:The moments that I had with my daughter at my Morning Jacket those things are leading up to her being able to tell that story even after I'm long gone, are leading up to her being able to tell that story even after I'm long gone, her being like. I remember the time I saw my morning jacket on the rail with my dad and that lady took my set list. That's a moment that no one else can take away from us. They can take the set list, they can't take that. There's, oh God. Where is it? There's, oh behind. Here is my first concert I ever went to with my wife. We went to the Flaming Lips. It was in Charlottesville, virginia, in 2000, 2006, october 2006. We were front row dead center Wayne Cohen comes out.
Speaker 2:I said hey.
Speaker 1:Wayne, when you play, do you realize? Can you just, you know, say it's for me and Heather, this is kind of our song. Wayne comes out, play the song. The song's about to come on. He goes. I think there's a couple up here that I think he wants to ask her a question. He thought I was going to propose to her. I did not propose to her. I was like no, no, no, no, no. He said oh, all right, we're going to just play this song.
Speaker 1:And then he played the song and I was red in the face, super red, and there's this picture from that. There's one picture of me and Heather in there and I'm wearing a shirt way too tight. At the time I had hair and this is. You know, this is almost 20 years ago. I had the set list. I have it signed, and that just brings me back to that moment of a youth where me and heather were just in the beginning, beginning stages of life.
Speaker 1:I believe that was the night that I realized I wanted to marry my wife what is now my wife, because I think if I asked her that night, she might have said, yes, I don't know, that's a it's. It's hard to say that now, but I just realized her that night. She might have said, yes, I don't know, it's hard to say that now, but I just realized in that moment that she cared about me, for who I was, and she wanted to be around me, whether she liked the music or not. So that's a moment, and I think that's what we're chasing when we go to these shows. We're always changing and we're always listening to new things and we're always growing, and it's always about having the ability to do those things. One of my best friends in the entire world that I met through Pearl Jam. I have a ton of moments because of music and us being together and celebrating those things together. So why do I go to these shows and why do I continue going and why do I need to see a band so many times? It's for chasing moments. It's for having those things that you can add. It's not tangible, but it's inside of us. Nobody can take that. Hearing that song that you've been chasing when you hear it, it's a moment Nobody can take that from you and living that back in your mind. Having that song like given to fly by Pearl Jam and having that song like given to fly by Pearl Jam and having that played right after my son and my daughter were both born, and then hearing that live like, brings me back to those moments of when my kids are born and then that brings me to that moment. Everything lines up. It's all about moments. So it's weird.
Speaker 1:That's why I go to concerts, that's why I buy the poster, that's why I support to concerts. That's why I buy the poster. That's why I support the poster artists. That's why I support these artists, because they're the ones who are giving me the ability to have that. So here's my advice. I'm 40 years old today, which to a lot of people is young, right, but I do this morbid thing where I'm like, oh, if I double it up, what is that? 80? Am I going to live to 80? I don't know, probably not, who knows. But I want to fill every moment of every year with as many memories and moments that I possibly can create with others, so that when I do go, they have a piece of me that they can share with others. Just like the artists that make these posters, just like the artists that make the music, they're giving a piece of themselves to you to continue their story. I hope that the memories I've had with my son at concerts and other events, my wife and my daughter.
Speaker 1:They can tell those points and those are moments that are going to be handed down, that bring us back to those things when I go and my daughter. I guarantee you, with all these posters they'll probably be sold and shipped off to somewhere, but maybe my daughter holds on to one and she can look at it and be like I remember that show and those moments I was with my dad. That's what we're doing. So, all right, let's get into something and end this show on, I don't know, like a positive. I guess I want to. You know, there's so much good music coming out nowadays, so much good stuff. Um, and I was like you know what? I think I'm going to just end a lot of these shows with like top four songs you should be listening to right now, like I just and I didn't want to do five because I feel like five is just too damn cliche, or ten because I think that is way too cliche, or too much as well. So I've you know, there, I feel like there's a lot of great music going on right nowadays and, um, one thing I do want to talk about, uh as well, is what is these songs. And you know why we should be giving new music a listen, Because I know some of us are just stuck in our ways of, hey, pearl Jam all the time, or hey, my Morning Jack all the time, or Only Jack White, or, I don't know, only Queens of the Stone Age. But there's so much good music out there, talented, there's so much coming out the pipeline right now, like I cannot get over some of the great music that's out nowadays.
Speaker 1:Um and uh, I'm going to give you a listen to some of these. So, uh, first of all I want to talk about, uh, is Liam Finn. Liam Finn I got to know a little bit back, god. Well, 10, over 10 years ago, when he was opening up for Eddie Vedder on his solo shows. Um, actually, well over 10 years ago, because it was before I had Brady, so you're talking about 16, 17 years ago. Anyway, liam Finn just put out a new album. It's called the Howl. The title track off the album, which I am just obsessed with, is absolutely amazing. I'm going to play some of the background.
Speaker 1:The one thing I love about Liam Finn is his almost angelic voice and the fact that he plays every instrument is amazing. I've seen him live quite a few times. Someone will listen to him. So definitely give this a listen. Nahal, liam Finn, sisters, that can do it as well as he does it, especially when he plays every instrument. So give him a listen, god, just give him a like. And then also with Liam Finn. I'm going to check it out right now too, because Liam Finn has a song called. Oh shit, it went over.
Speaker 1:I am so excited about this, liam Finn's Second Chance. I've been pushing for this for a couple of days. Liam Finn has no songs over a million listens and I'm so excited that Second Chance by Liam Finn, which is such an amazing song off his first album, it just went over a million listens just a few moments ago, so good congratulations for him. So I wasn't going to push it to get to a million, but it's already there now, all right. Next song is a band called Viagra Boys. I've talked about it in the past. The new album comes out tomorrow, but there's a song off it that is just so much fun. It's called the Bog Body, and I love them because I feel like they're rebellious and it makes me want to run through a wall.
Speaker 2:You can't believe it they found a body buried under the ice.
Speaker 1:A lot of their music too. Some of the lyrics are done in a way that are like almost humorous that I just chuckle every time I hear them. Like they're just a fun Fantasy live too. Just a dynamic group of different musicians coming together with different styles, and it's just so punk rock in a time where we need more punk rock. I mean, honest to God, we're in a world that needs more punk rock that just shapes and shakes up this world. So Virga Boys, the Bog Body and the new album comes out tomorrow. Give it a listen. They are an amazing band. They're about to hit the tour circuit, got quite a few dates coming out, so definitely give them a listen, support them if you can. A lot of great stuff coming out from them and then also a lot of the previous stuff. I mean just even that one song, sports. I mean the song makes no sense in its own sense, but it's such a catchy, damn tune. But here, bog Body by Argyle Boys.
Speaker 1:The next artist is an artist we've had on the Touring Fan Live before. He's been a part of some of the other non-profits and charity work Paul and the Tall Trees. I guess drop the name paul and the tall trees and he's going by his just, uh, his birth name, paul. Uh, I'm gonna butcher his last name and I am so sorry. Paul, uh, paul, scald, scald, s-c-a-l-d-a. But paul is the singer from Paul and the Tall Trees and the Sha La La's and he has got a voice of an angel, paul, and his super talented family. I mean from his everything. He did a song with his dad for one of our nonprofit works a couple of years ago and I was just mesmerized by what they did. But he put out a song called Let Me Be and I've always said, if Quentin Tarantino's listening to my show, please, for the love of me, the next movie you've got to put his music in. You can't deny the fact that these songs, his voice, everything he puts into it, these are made for a Quentin Tarantino film.
Speaker 1:But this song called Let Me Be Wow, you know I won't let you down, baby. You know, baby, I'll always be around. Baby, I carry you in my heart, baby, I carry you in my heart this way, this way. You know we'll never be apart. I just got his. I am so jealous of his vocals. So when you're feeling low, don't let go. Don't let go, don't let go, baby, just let me be. There's what you need. I'm all. It's down. Baby, when you feel the talk, I can listen to the whole song. This is one of my favorite songs that's come out.
Speaker 1:Recently Paul posted on his social medias that he was in the studio creating more. He had more music come out in the fall. Check out his stuff online. You can look up. All of his social medias are still at the handle. Paul in the Tall Trees he is just absolutely has a voice of an angel, the talent level of a sophisticated musician from the 70s. I mean, his playing style is on par with so many great. Just I can't praise them enough. Just give them a listen.
Speaker 1:Next, I wanted to find someone I've never heard. Right, viagra Boys. I'm familiar with Liam Finn. I'm familiar with Paul. I'm familiar with. I'm telling you all about these people. I know them. So I started doing some research. There's a band out there called the Ramona Flowers that I've been told to give them a listen to. I don't know much about them, the Ramona Flowers that I've been told to give them a listen to. I don't know much about them. So I gave them a listen and I would say that you need to as well.
Speaker 1:This song is called Human by the Ramona Flowers. Locked in the matrix, trying to break out of my head, been going crazy, climbing the walls, lying in my bed, being wrapped with a guilt that I will never be. The first time I heard this song, the first thing I thought of was his voice sounds like Bono of U2, with almost like the beginning of the song reminds me a lot of Scissor Sisters almost Very cheerful and happy, and his vocals are great. I'm a human outside, but I'm a human inside. Do you know what that feels like? What am I doing? But I went down a rabbit hole. Their music like a serious rabbit hole, their music, and they are such a fun band. Um, I was so glad I kind of dug into something new and I was cleaning my studio today listening to a lot, a lot of their music that was on Spotify and I was like just I don't know it was. It put me in a good mood. It put me in a really good mood. So, uh, the Ramona flowers. The song's called human. Give it a listen again. Being wrapped with the guilt that I will never be all the things that I've been. So got Liam Finn, the Howl Viagra Boys, the Bog Body, paul from Paul and the Tall Trees. Let Me Be the Ramona Flowers Human. Give them all a listen and give me some feedback. What do you think? What are you listening to right now? What should be on my playlist? I have a half a marathon on Saturday. Maybe I'll add some new songs to it as I'm running, but as we wrap up this show, first I want to give a big thank you to Courtney, who came on.
Speaker 1:Courtney Scherberlein is the talented artist that did the my Morning Jacket poster. She was the one we interviewed today and is amazing, and I 100 would love for every single person to go out and support her because she deserves it. I mean, she's given up a lot in life and you know, to create what she's able to do, and supporting artists goes a long, a long way. So you can find out her stuff, you can look her up on social media is the planted pen or go to her website. Uh, best way to do it is google the planted pen, otherwise you go to the planted penwixsitecom. There is still some posters left over from the my morning jacket show from uh this past monday, which is a home run, in my opinion.
Speaker 1:Um, with that being said, the next shows we have are coming out next week. We will be going back with uh trey from uh, let's talk vinyl, where we're talking about another set of pearl jam songs. We will be going back with Trey from let's Talk Vinyl, where we'll be talking about another set of Pearl Jam songs. Then we will be discussing a couple days later with Brian Meth on another necessary list, where we'll be discussing another list that is unnecessary, that we will be ripping apart and you know, just ripping it apart and making our own list based off it, because what's better than having a list if not to rip it apart altogether?
Speaker 1:I want to thank everybody that I know today is my birthday and I'm probably more emotional now than I should be. I don't know just kind of what it is, but I've realized I've been doing podcasting now for six years and it's definitely had highs and lows and it's brought the best out of me and the worst out of me, and it is a passion. But I will say this there have been a lot of you that have followed me through every variation of show, all my interviews, and been a big fan of mine. I'm knocking on the door of 1,400 episodes over six years across multiple platforms, and I'm just so grateful for you taking time to listen to me, to all the artists I've interviewed and stuff. I'm just so grateful. I'm really glad that on my 40th birthday I could have interviewed Courtney. That was a great way to start off this next, I guess, decade of years.
Speaker 1:So until next time. My name is Anthony Krizowitz. If you're listening to a touring fan, live, live by the poster, by the concert ticket, bring your family, enjoy the music, love your neighbor. I don't know I'm, I'm an emotional wreck. Just just be a good, good human being. And if you can't be, well then I, I, I, I don't care, I guess, whatever, until next time, have a good one.
Speaker 2:I've been growing down, I'm growing down, I'm growing down, I've been growing down, I'm growing down, I'm growing down, I've been growing down. I'm growing down, down, I'm growing down, I'm growing down.