Andy Frasco's World Saving Podcast - BONUS EP: World Saving Podcast Live in Raleigh, NC

Episode Date: June 7, 2024

Joke for a smoke? Why'd the wook bring a ladder to the live podcast taping? Because they heard the lineup was going to be VERY high! We bring you now, an ultra special, rare BONUS episode of grade A audio smut. MMMMMmmm. You like that don't you? More lewd comedy, titillating conversation, and musical cacophony. love u! *smooches* And guess what... You can watch full episodes of our show *exclusively* on Volume.com now in color!  Psyched to partner up with our buddies at Volume.com! Check out their roster of upcoming live events and on-demand shows to enrich that sweet life of yours. Call, leave a message, and tell us if you think one can get addicted to mushrooms: [phone]  Check out our new album!, L'Optimist on all platforms Follow us on Instagram @worldsavingpodcast For more information on Andy Frasco, the band and/or the blog, go to: AndyFrasco.com Check out our good friends that help us unwind and sleep easy while on the road and at home: dialedingummies.com Produced by Andy Frasco, Joe Angelhow, & Chris Lorentz Audio mix by Chris Lorentz Featuring: Arno Bakker Todd Glass

All right, Raleigh, North Carolina! Welcome to Andy Frasco's World Saving Podcast Tour! We are live tonight! Are we ready to have some fun, everybody? All right! Thank you! Welcome to the stage, your host, Andy Frasco! But your love is so hot, man Your love is so

Holy shit, what's up, Raleigh, North Carolina? How you doing today? Wow! Give it up for the nicest guy on the planet, Todd Glass, ladies and gentlemen. Unbelievable. Holy shit. And by the way, you gotta give it up for our local band,

ladies and gentlemen. They're the fucking best. Red Pen in the building. We got Leo in the house. And my fearless leader, my band leader, give it up for Shawn Eccles, ladies and gentlemen. Leo Kishore. Kaseem Williams.

Fuck yeah. What a fucking tour. We wanted to end the tour in Raleigh, North Carolina, ladies and gentlemen. God damn it. I need to go home, though. I have been on a bender, for sure. It's just like tour. It's just like, I was like, for sure. It's just like tour. It's just like, I was like, we're going to do a podcast tour.

It's going to be mellow. The first night, I got a text from the Nitrous Mafia saying, I heard there's a gig tonight. And I was like, fuck, okay. First, how do you know my phone number? And then I look back at my text the only first text is call me anytime you want i'm texting them i'm like god damn it maybe my manager is right but um they showed up they showed up to the show uh halfway in with like bandanas and brought a tank of nitrous on stage.

And in true Philly form, I hit nitrous on stage, but. Oh yeah you did. Tonight, and then I saw tonight, someone gave me something that they really wanna hear everything about my mom and existential crisis moments. So let's fucking do it. Well, another day day another town eat drugs illegally you're gonna get more voicemails oh yeah so we like to start

the show this tour has been amazing and I North Carolina has always been so fucking cool to us and we there's a snowstorm in Denver and they might cancel our flight So we might be here for three days Ladies and gentlemen So Let's black out tonight baby We're going out tonight

Like the snowstorm's gonna keep us here We said that last night And we're here, Raleigh, fuck yeah You guys are way cooler than Connecticut That state sucks We're here, Raleigh. Fuck yeah. You guys are way cooler than Connecticut. That state sucks. I've never seen so many rich white people in my life. Jesus.

It was like, you're from LA. And that's saying something. Look at me. Look at me. I haven't seen so many people pitch Bitcoin to me in my whole life. I'm like, God damn. But, you know, I want to start the show off. Sean writes these amazing parodies. Anyone listen to our podcast?

Yeah, does anybody listen to it? Okay, cool. Sean writes these amazing parodies and we were in New York. And it was come night for the parody and we had the roots on.

He came out to the interview on and he came out like he's like what the fuck did I just walk into I didn't know it was gonna be like that but what is the theme for tonight I mean we're doing more parodies dipping our toe into the cum thing oh fuck so this one was written by Travis Gray also

so we're gonna try this one out let's hear it out thanks Andy for having these kinds of songs. This is crazy. This brings me joy. In my life I've been heartaches and pain I've tried porn

And I've tried going gay Can't stop now I've waited so long to bust this night of mine I wanna know what come is and I want you to blow

me I wanna feel what come is I want you to blow me I wanna feel what's coming I know you can show me Holy shit! Wow! We're definitely getting sued for that one. You know, let them knock. Let them knock on the door.

You know what one we should do? Remember when I got in trouble? Do you all know the band Leftover Salmon, ladies and gentlemen? Leftover Salmon, yep. So I stole their mascot, and the Bluegrass fans lost their fucking mind, ladies and gentlemen. And they're giving me death threats.

It was a joke. You and Vince were in on it. Oh, yeah. I mean, I shouldn't have, like, made it a glory hole, but that was a bad idea. Oh, I would have gotten the banjos all twisted up. I would. They don't know nothing about that in Oregon.

But I was getting all these death threats, and Sean... Okay, so he's like, it's like an inside joke between you and Vince. Yeah. It's a Mayor McCheese thing from... McDonald's.

And it's been around for leftover salmon for years, and so these guys, it goes to Andy, you know, they're like, give the mayor back,

or we're going to tie you up to an open picture. They're like, hey Jew. Yeah, I got the luggage. I'm like, damn. I could tell there's not a lot of Jews in the bluegrass scene.

I understand that. It's one guy. So I started fucking with them. I'm like, yeah, I'm going to put out a Jew grass record. No! They're like, what? Jesus would not approve, brother. So Sean sent me this in the... He felt really bad, so he sent me this in a text message that I thought was the best

thing. Sean, kick it. Well, my truck ban versus your drug ban The comments are so crazy Don't take Frasco seriously You're acting like a little baby Talking about death threats Death threats

Death threats Death threats Over me, you make cheese You make cheese You all need to calm the fuck down It's just a little comedy You ain't quick enough for endless comebacks Killing me makes you tired

You better get some rest before my boy lies to a fire Talking about death threats Over me you make cheese We all need to calm the fuck down, it's just a little comedy. Oh, we just need to calm the fuck down, just a little comedy. We all need to calm the fuck down,

just a little comedy. Give it up for Shawn Eccles, ladies and gentlemen. Unbelievable. Unbelievable. Wow. Wow, this is amazing. I can't believe we've been talking. They're paying for us to talk about all my drama. But it's going to be great because my co-host is here to talk even more shit.

Ladies and gentlemen, get up from Denver, Colorado, Mr. Nick Gerlach, ladies and gentlemen. I'm a creep. Hey, Nick. I'm a weirdo. What the hell are you doing here? You don't belong here. No, I belong here. I belong here. I belong! Hello, Andrew.

Wow. The G major. What an introduction. Give it up for Nick Gerlach from Denver, Colorado, my co-host. Am I a creep? I'm definitely a weirdo. Every time I share a room with you, you're literally up just with one eye open waiting for me to come inside.

Andy Fresco and I have shared a hotel room 70 times. Yeah. He's never seen me asleep once. They're laughing like it's not true. Maybe I am a creep. I've been partying a little too hard. I don't know. I think you've been partying less than a band tour,

but more than I thought you were going to. I thought this was going to be like, oh, cool, we're going to Philly, be in bed by 1, the shows are early. No, we didn't come home one night. There's one night we shared a hotel room. I saw you about 10 in the morning. I had sex, ladies and gentlemen.

I had sex on a podcast tour. By himself. By myself. It was just me and my right hands. In a Wawa bathroom. Wow. Wawa. That's not what Wawa means, Andy. It's not the sound you make in the bathroom stalls. It's the name of the company.

We were talking about weird times we've beaten off. I've never experienced pleasure. What's the weirdest place you've ever... I'm going to have to go back to the early times

for this probably. There's got to be something weird. Well, it's probably just like a green room bathroom. Or maybe a venue bathroom that's not the green room because it's during

sound check, you know? Yeah. And everybody's around the green room so you go to the one where no one's going to be for four hours. Probably something like that.

Or maybe your house a bunch of times. So he Airbnbs his home. Oh, yeah. Yeah, I'm Bill White. That's just so I can jerk off in your bed. Yeah, the weird thing about Airbnb in your house when people sometimes know who you are is I'll get these weird Snapchats like, I'm having sex in your house when people sometimes know who you are is I'll get these weird snapchats

like, I'm having sex in your bed. I'm like, I do not want to fucking hear that right now. I'm not even having sex in my bed. I sleep on the couch. You picked the wrong place, motherfucker. That makes one of us. One time I was like,

I don't have someone clean and put my sheets back on, but I was just like, I was getting in at like 4 a.m. I forgot to tell the cleaner. Voltron. And I was like, I just slept in the bed. I turned to the right.

Oh, no. And I found like a four foot dildo, ladies and gentlemen. And it was on my face and shit. Oh my God. Four feet? Like it was honestly. Was Shaq staying at your Airbnb or something?

Shaq's wife? It felt like a Mormon couple. Mormon tabernacle? Mormon tabernacle. It was like we're just marinating today. Tab your knackle. But that was the moment that I realized that I might need to stop Airbnb-ing my house. Yeah, but then there's that whole mortgage thing that we got going on.

Yeah, and I got to pay the mortgage. And being in a jam band does not let you pay the mortgage. That's for sure. Got to fire Ernie, I guess. No, we can't. Oh. See, everyone thinks that you're going to be our band against Ernie. I'm not going to.

Ernie's better than me at this band. Being in this band, he's much better than me. Yes, he is. Can't you guys give it up for Ernie one time? Give it up. Well, let's see how good you are on the saxophone. I do like the fake rivalry. I would like to say one weird thing about...

It's like Biggie and Tupac. About Rick's house yesterday. Did you notice the plaque when we left on the way out the front door? It said, paid for with Wook tears. We interviewed Goose yesterday at their house. Have you guys heard of them? They're an up-and-coming jam band from Connecticut. I don't know what happened,

but we have become like Diane Sawyer of the fucking jam scene. I'm Barbara Walters for sure. You can be whoever you want. I'm Barbara Walters. Or you can be Hugh Downs. We got a really exclusive with them because they picked us over Rolling Stone to do the tell-all about their drummer and stuff.

And I was like, wow, we're really moving up in the world. I think Rolling Stone's just AI now anyways, so it doesn't matter. all about their drummer and stuff. And I was like, wow, we're really moving up in the world. I think Rolling Stone's just AI now anyways. So it doesn't matter. Like, we want two humans to come over. They send over dude chatbots to do the interview. And we had to be briefed by their lawyers.

We had to be briefed by their managers. Just like, please, please, do not fuck this up for us. The Pope called us. The Pope called us. Jam band Illuminati, Peter Shapiro. Rocco B Obama texted. He didn't have time to call. What was the first question we asked? What the fuck happened last night?

They're like, don't ask anything about the breakup. And you're like, why'd you break up? It's like you're a divorce lawyer or something. Doing the free trial. Wedding Crasher was my favorite fucking movie. I love that movie. They were lawyers. They were like divorce mediators, right? They were like the people

that help you decide how much of the money the woman steals from the man. Or the man steals from the woman. It's the 90s. How's the tour been? I think it's been pretty amazing so far. There's still 45 minutes left. Well, let's see if you're as good as Ernie.

Why don't you get on that saxophone? Let's jam a little bit. Wouldn't it be funny if I just forgot my saxophone? Let's put these guys... We told these guys, give it up for the local band. We had one band practice for 30 minutes. And let's see what you do. All right, here we go. Let's get it.

One, two, one, two, one. Well, I come running right down to your doorstep Running right down to you You're not home There's something wrong with you, baby, it's true How it rolls When you got somewhere to go I try to head to your favorite part Two roads unwind, we used to make love in the dark

That doesn't happen anymore Honey, that's just how it goes When you got somewhere to go Well, it's been a struggle Struggle Struggle To keep love around Struggle

Struggle Struggle, struggle, struggle To keep love around Well, I called your mama I called your daddy I called your sister I called your baby's daddy They're all covering for you, baby, yeah. But how it rolls when you got somewhere to go.

Well, but I want you bad. Oh, I want you good. When you're looking for a friend. I was a man that you could. How it rolls when you got somewhere to go. I was a man that you could I rose When you got somewhere to go Well it's been a struggle Struggle

Struggle To keep love around Struggle Struggle Struggle Struggle Keep love around Break it down, just kick drum. Alright, this is what I want.

I want Nick Gerlach to battle Jesus himself, Sean Eccles, ladies and gentlemen. I think it's time. Let's see what you fucking do, Nick. Who wants one first? Sean. Hits. Two hits. Two hits.

Two hits. Too itchy Let's fuck Hit it. Kick drum. Hit. Two hits. Go, boys, go! Bring it down Three. Five. Let's go. Go get it, boys! Give it up, Kick Drum. Kick Drum. Give it up for this local band, ladies and gentlemen.

Unbelievable. All right. Let's see what you can do. Give it up, Kick Drum. Kick Drum. Give it up for this local band, ladies and gentlemen. Unbelievable. All right. Let's see what you can do. Let's start with Kick Drum at the kick, four on the floor. All right, Leo, slap the bass like Seinfeld, but 12-bar blues. What? Sean, give me some of this.

Build it up on the drums. All right, keep going. Keep going. Sean. Whoa! Wow! Let's go! One, two, three! Double time, double time Reggae, reggae

Oh yeah Let's go land jazz, land jazz Let's go back to the chorus It's been a struggle. Struggle. Struggle. To keep love around. Struggle.

Struggle. Struggle. To keep love around. Struggle, struggle, keep it up Give it up for this band, ladies and gentlemen. Shawn Eccles' local band, ladies and gentlemen. Unbelievable. Kaseem Williams. Wow.

D.O. Kishore. Fuck yeah. Holy shit. Woo! Wow, I am fucking rock hard when it's a good rhythm section like that. Ernie keeps his job. All right, ladies and gentlemen, we're going to bring up our first guest in the building. Great guest.

Great. We got amazing. You got to realize how many amazing, you have so many amazing musicians and songwriters in your fucking town, Raleigh, North Carolina. Raleigh rules. Raleigh does rule. I almost fell for a girl in Raleigh.

And you did? And I liked it because United flies here. Oh, my God. That's a great song right there. I need that girl with United miles. United flies here. Oh my God. That's a big song right there. I need that girl with United miles. But I was smitten when I got to,

I was like, so I decided I wanted to, you know, find towns where my friends are at and this was the first town that I really wanted these two to come together

and the first one of my guests, he's in a band called His Gold Messenger. Please give it up for MC Taylor, ladies and gentlemen. Yeah! Hey, Mike!

Mike fucking Taylor is from Raleigh, North Carolina, or Durham. Wow. Look at Kofi. Raleigh, North Carolina or Durham? Wow. Looking cozy. I'm in Durham. You live in Durham. God.

That's where I live. It is. He told me about it. I don't know what to tell you. That's where I live. This guy is a fucking... I love this place too. This is great.

Look how hot this man is He's like the founding youth Dude This is crazy You got a lot of good looking friends I know Besides me But you got a lot of other ones

What's What is How do you approach Playing in a band for so long And how to keep your health straight Right into it We're ripping the bandaid right off Mike just tell me I have a drug problem okay

thank you thank you this isn't drug anyway I got this from a doctor yeah yeah I mean yeah mushrooms are cool I mean I took some today let's go but you know like how do you keep how do you what's what does longevity mean to you

uh well that's a different question than how do i keep my health well let's get let's get even deeper on it what's longevity mean to you um i mean what does longevity mean to me? Like as an artist? Or as a human? As a human. I mean, I feel like I'm trying to figure out how to be a joyful person as I enter the second half of my life.

Yeah, oh. You know what I mean? Because I've been making music for a long time. And, well, you know, like when the business part, there's a bit of a mission creep with like the business part of music business. And it kind of comes in and like just devours all the all the joy out of it if you're not careful if you're not careful you can you can maintain so like uh i feel like my mission

right now is to like stay super in touch with um with the with the part of music that i love which is just like the creative part and whatever you guys were fucking just doing. Just doing on stage. You know what I mean? I totally. And it's hard to get out of that bubble when you're forced, especially on a tour,

like a long tour, you forget that this is supposed to be fun. And by like show 45 and you haven't slept in a long time or haven't showered i mean you just got in a tour bus so i'm assuming you're not showering anymore because we lost the budget of hotel rooms and yeah do you want to sleep or do you want to shower yeah that's that's that's your choice people don't realize that when you buy a tour get a tour bus that means you don't get hotels. So that means, and the showers and venues are fucking gross as shit.

They're like the bathroom to venues. Yeah, exactly. So what did you want more in life? Sleeping or showering? I mean, I want both. That's my problem, really. And I really want both. So how do we approach that?

Should we fire our managers and agents? Should we get rid of Schwartz? We share the same manager, ladies and gentlemen. Boo! Boo! And it's so funny because, you know, he's always like, why don't you be a role model? We should text him. Call him! No, no, no he's always like, why don't you be a role model? We should text him. Call him.

No, no, no. He's probably with Shane Smith anyway. No, but, you know, it's like, be a role model. He always says, be a role model like Mike Taylor. Oh, Jesus. Ew. Why would he say that?

I don't understand why he he's this is not the right no well he wants me to you know you are all about music you've been about music i am too but sometimes to my debt to my detriment why when was the first realized realization that that was your detriment i mean i think i could have i think i could probably have a bit more showbiz in me like you yeah i mean you're so hot you don't need it you're a hot guy those sunglasses are pretty showbiz i don't know it's true those ray bans it's not it's not that's not like getting me far enough really i'm thinking only fans OnlyFans. Oh my god. You're just like... You are good looking. You're just like

naked writing lyrics in your living room. I mean, fuck the music part. Fuck the music part. But you know, that's a good question. Why is it so hard to just be an artist anymore? Why do we have to do all these other things just so we can get our art out?

Well, I think part of it is that first of all we gotta realize or remember we're not exactly digging ditches um this is this this is like the flip side of this this is what i remind myself um we're not digging ditches and um uh i i find that like a lot of the stuff that we're, that maybe people deal with that are musicians for life are, are like kind of, if you're going to be a lifer are more existential in nature. Like, I feel like I've been doing it long enough that like the people that

we're going to be addicts are addicted. And they've either sobered up or they're in a place that's so far gone that it's not really that close to me anymore. Because I'm just like, I'm not sober, but I'm not like, I just don't have that. I don't, I'm lucky to not have that that addiction thing yeah you know what i mean so like i've spent my whole life around alcohol and drugs and i just don't have that i don't have that thing what are you addicted to all kinds of stuff, including like including certain maybe like ratcheted up emotional states that are not healthy, but are just.

Almost feel like they come with my particular position in the band, which is like the band leader. And you know what I mean? Yeah, totally. And the singer, the front person of the band, which has its own weird, very fucked up set of things that come with it. You know what I mean? Like it's, there's some weird like seedy glamour that comes with it it but also just like I gotta pay the bills

I'm the dude that has to pay the bills I'm the only guy that's paying the bills and that's how I set it up that's how I said it was gonna be but that's also the reality and you have kids I have kids I have like I have a wife I've been with my wife for over 20 years

we love to hear it. I can't keep a girlfriend for longer than a month and a half. But, no, that makes... Why are you laughing? It's true. It's true. Shout out to Jill. But, no, it's true, man. It's like, out to Jill But No it's true man It's like I

I understand that It's like How do we How do we But you know That tortured brain Is there anybody in here That's been married

For a long time About seven people That guy said Twenty Twenty Yeah Twenty years Wow Engage doesn't count That guy said 20? 20? Yeah. 20 years. Wow.

Engage doesn't count. But, you know, this idea of like this tortured artist, Mike, this idea of tortured artist, do you feel that now that you're changing your mindset that you're going to write shittier music because you're happy now? Maybe. But what's more important, the music or your internal dialogue i don't know i'm not sure i mean i think um hey yeah stay fucking tortured mike i want you out there in the street crying but my but i don't think my music is tortured though like no but like you're

talking about that angst that you have you're just saying something about this angst of being a front man being a band leader do you think if you lose that angst you're gonna be i don't think that angst is even the the i don't know it's maybe like there's a little angst but also some other stuff too yeah you know there's like uh i i feel like i'm i'm pretty um i have my head on pretty straight but there must be something there must be a pretty fucking serious ego on me because this is what i do for a living yeah and like i get up on stage i sing songs that like i up with. I run the band. I talk like this.

I have something to say. Is it hard for you to not have control? Yes. I think that's the hardest part, right? Yeah, dude. I'm a control freak. That's probably my toxic quality. How do you approach that

raising kids um you know like i i'm i'm more um it's i think the control stuff comes in with like the process of the the act of creativity right like kids are so kids are so emotionally chaotic. Just in terms of like, it's all new, it's unpredictable, it's scary, that controlling, my kids would never call me a controlling father at all. That would never, I don't think that would ever be a word that would... No, I don't see you as controlling. That's why i've never really felt that about but but like i have a very i have a very specific vision for um for just the music that i make that i think

that control kind of creeps outwards you ever had a situation where your control went wrong and like you had to fire somebody? I mean, I fired a bunch of people. What was the worst firing? I mean, I was just telling BJ the story. I'll tell this real quick. It's a good one. This is going to sound worse than it actually was, although maybe for the person that got fired,

maybe it was. But I've been on tour. We went to Australia in September and basically just kept going until the very end of the year, for the most part. And we had a couple different guitar techs with us as part of our crew. The first person for the first leg of the tour, he was great, but it just wasn't quite the right fit. Right.

So we only had a couple. We had like less than a week to find someone new. So it was like, how about that woman that was the stagehand at the, I won't even say the place. Talk your shit talkers don't no no i'm not gonna i'm not gonna i'm not gonna call her out or anything but that woman that we met at that club she seemed like a real i didn't even meet this person but like other people on my crew were like she was great super on the ball what what about her i call her up i'm like hey can you tune guitars and um she said yeah totally can you change strings guitar strings she was like yeah absolutely i was like okay well do you want to do you want a job because we don't have much time. Hired this person, beautiful young woman.

She was, on paper, a great fit. But she can't tune guitars. Oh, the part where you have to do the job. And she just didn't really seem to be a very musical person. So just like guitar tuning, she wasn't going to get it. It wasn't like repeated tuning was going to make it better. It was just always going to be bad. I just kind of knew.

And so we were playing a show in Portland, Oregon, and come out on stage. playing a show in Portland, Oregon, and come out on stage. You know, there's maybe like a thousand people there. And it's like, we're going to go, we're going to do our thing. And I like step up to like get my

gear and get to work and like just none of my stuff is working. Shit. And it's not like like it's not her fault but it's kind of her fault a little bit and i just but she can't do anything because she doesn't know about this stuff at all yeah so she's kind of looking over at me from side stage like i don't know i'm sorry and i'm like okay we're gonna yeah um so over the like first like six songs we kind of we kind of like i kind of get my stuff working enough to play the show and

the show is actually like really good it's it's got like kind of a weird energy because we're dealing with this stuff on stage, but it's cool. But like five songs in, I was like, dude, I'm going to go fire this person. On stage? Yeah. Oh man, I fucking love it. I can't wait until

after the show even. Oh my God. I'm not like a mean person. I would never, ever do it on the mic. I would never do it publicly or shame her. But she was side stage. I was like, I'm going to go tell this person this is not working. So the band is kind of tuning up, and I just kind of walk over.

I stopped by my bass player, Alex. I would have to pass him to get to her. I was like, hey. He leans over and takes his in ear out. He's like, I'm going to go fire her right now. He was so like he was like he was so taken aback that he was just like okay and so i just i go over and i'm like um

Like, um... You're James Browner, dude. I was pissed. I was pissed. And I was just like, I'm sorry to do this here and now, but this is not working out.

And it's just not. Yeah, um... So... So we're to be on stage for the next hour why don't you go on the bus and you can clear your stuff off the bus it's way less awkward though

it's got a point for both people it's less awkward no harsh words were exchanged I was just like it's not working grab your stuff off the bus I'll get you a plane ticket to wherever you need to go. Oh, my gosh.

I'll get you a one-way plane ticket. Well, at least you did it nice. All she needed was one way. Exactly. At least you did it nice. And, like, I have a problem when things are going wrong that I kind of get a little passive-aggressive. They call me P.A. Frasco.

I have never noticed that. How much are we getting paid for this? No, but it's wild. Sometimes I can't think unless... I'm kind of like OCD like that in a sense where if everything isn't perfect for me, my brain starts going crazy.

I'm glad you did it. I would have just marinated in it for about three and a half months. Years, maybe. I got that Jewish guilt in me. My mom's like, don't you do it here. Well, I mean, I've had that too. I've done it that way too.

And that's not good either. And so I was just like, I'm just going to nip this in the bud now. Three shows in. Because it was going to affect everything. We were just talking upstairs about, like, if there's one person in a traveling party, we're in such tight quarters at all times. If there's someone that's fucking up,

they have a drinking problem, drug problem, they're not doing their job. They're weird. It's going to... You know what I'm talking about. That's why Ernie still has his job. The only guy who doesn't do drugs in our band, Ernie. He's the only guy. No, that makes sense, man.

What about... Do you have that same control on side projects? Like, you did a jazz record. I also heard you started a punk band with Jack Johnson. Oh. Yeah, that's not true. But he did hear it. I'm going to text Schwartz, fuck you, Schwartz. Not that Jack Johnson, the car mechanic.

No, no. I'll tell you what that is. I went to college with Jack. You went to college with Jack? And we were buds. Like, this was pre. He wasn't Jack, you know. He wasn't Jack Johnson yet.

He was just a homie at college. Was he hot then? Yeah, fuck yeah. So Jack Johnson, the way that I really got to know him is these two beautiful girls from Monterey, California that were like best buds

came to school. It was Santa Barbara. And I started dating one of them and jack started dating the other so it was like the two couples damn you got a four-way with jack johnson like a love square that's all damn so you weren't in a punk band with him no no but what that's what what schwartz is trying to convey with that probably is that I was in a punk band. Jack was a film major. And his final project was this fake documentary about my punk band.

Oh. Was it a good filmography? Yeah, it's really good. Is it? Yeah. Why don't you release it again? It's on YouTube. Oh, dude, we should go watch that.

Have a listening party and we should watch it. It's so funny you brought that woman up who was your guitar tech. We actually have her in the crowd. Debra, get over here, Debra. Get over here. I mean, this would be awesome. So funny. It's so weird you talked about

that. Hey, Debra, get over here. Why? Ambushed again. Frasco. Who's got Jerry Springer, motherfuckers? Yeah. So, I have a question from, I was asking

your whole band, like, what can we do to talk about, what can we do to have Mike talk about something weird? And all he said was bring up cuck chairs. What? I love hotels. Please tell me about, what is your relationship with cuck chairs, Mike?

Who? I didn't tell you about it. Sam? I'm not giving you my sources. This is Diane Sawyer over here. Do you think Diane gives the sources? Not Frasco either. This was some Sam Frablich, my keyboard player, for sure.

Yes. Okay, you know how... Everybody know what a cuck chair is? It's when people... Don't pretend like you don't know. But you know what a cuck is. Not me. Do you know what a cuck is? I had to deal with cuck. Okay, all right, all right. You tell them what a cuck is. Don't pretend like you don't know. But you know what a cuck is. Not me. I had to deal with cuck.

You tell them what a cuck is. Cuck is when a husband or a wife watches you have sex with the husband or the wife. Yeah, like another person. But they're cool with it. And their kink is watching their partner have sex with someone else. I had to do that. I wasn't the cuck.

I was the one making love with the wife. Yeah. The stud. It was kind of weird because I had to open for the... It was like, you want to open for my band? You're going to have to fuck my wife. And I was like... What? I swear. Who? And he still has... Who? And he still hasn't let you

move a bit. Come on. You know this and I'm not telling it again live. Say it. But I had to... You know this and I'm not telling it again live. Say it. But I had to say it. Hey, Andy. What? Type it on your phone and show it to me. Okay. How do you spell widespread panic?

No, I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. It wasn't them. It wasn't them. It was part of a band that was in a big band that wears tie-dyes. You're never going to guess. I'll tell you later. Tell me about this Cuck Jerks.

I know all about Cuck Jerks. Okay. All right, all right, all right. So I can't believe we're talking about this. Yes! We're in Raleigh. They don't give a fuck. You guys are wild out here.

Let's talk Cuck. Let's get Cucky okay so it's just uh i don't even know how to explain this uh so anyway anyway um it just it started being a thing where um anytime we because you know anytime you go into a hotel room there's always a chair in the corner. The extra chair. And it's just like so every time we walk into a hotel someone's like there's a cuck chair. What's that for?

Yeah. That's all it is. Like I mean there's probably a cuck chair out there somewhere. Hey, anything can be a cuck chair. Anything can be a cuck chair. If you put your mind, it's like reading Rainbow. If you cuck hard enough. Well, that's amazing.

Also, I have one more question before. Do you want to hear him sing a song with us, ladies and gentlemen? I think we should. Another band member, before we get into why you're on this show, ask him to tell a story about a good push or say thank you.

Oh my god. Whoa. Fucking Barbara Walters up in this bitch. No, I'm Barbara Walters. What's a good push about, Mike? I mean, this is just like gross. This is just gross stuff. You're a songwriter.

Use your imagination. I mean, I think I was on the road one time, and I was in a I was in a truck stop bathroom. I had nothing. I was just the observer. Oh, so you're a cuck in the shits. I was just the observer.

I was the bathroom cuck. You're the bathroom cuck. I've been in those loves, brother. That's not a cup chair. That's a toilet. So that was just I was in one stall. Stall next to me, I heard someone just rip one, rip a fart. And then from a further stall down, I heard this real, real gruff trucker voice just go, good push.

Oh my god. That is so manly. That's what that is. That is, wow. The most non-toxic masculinity on earth. So, next time you hear someone rip a fart, just tell them, good push. Let's go. Like an offensive line. time you hear someone rip a fart, just tell them, good bless you.

Let's go. Like an offensive line. Let them know. If you guys like this stuff, I have tons of this shit. If this is how easy it is. From cucking to taking

a big old shit and loves. This podcast goes anywhere. Tell me about your mental health, Mike. I mean, right at this moment. What do you think? Should we play a song, Mike? What do you think? Should we play one of Mike's songs with him?

Let's play a song. Give it up for Mike Taylor, ladies and gentlemen. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Mr. Mike Taylor. You want to grab that? Thank you, brother. I fucking, Mike, honestly, I wrote, I've written a few songs with Mike on my records,

Runaway and stuff, and Mike is a big inspiration to me musically, and just give it up for Mikey. He's the fucking man, dude. And he's from North Carolina. This is beautiful. The chord's back there, Mike. Okay.

There's no way that this song is going to be as good as what we just did. It's going to be better. Cucking to a romantic song. Oh, my God. What a world. What a world we live in at the World Saving Podcast. All right. You're not recording this, are you?

We're going live here. There's about 4,000 people watching this. Give them a warm welcome, Internet World. Say hello, everybody. Say hello. Wow. Can I have a bit more of this in wedges? Yeah Alright

Oh my god Thank you brother I love you. I was pulling on the jungle river Where the dragons should have dwelt And the st. George stood with a mighty word And told it well Oh, baby, it's your birthday My sweet little one I was six years old

And truth be told told the only one It's hard Lord, Lord, it's hard It's hard Lord, Lord, it's hard Yes, everybody in the whole damn place has got to have a good time

Ah, no, no, no Say, let's see this stuff all over While you sit and get scared and sober Yes, all around my old hometown I was known Yes, you know I wasn't lonely I just like being alone. It's hard, Lord, Lord, it's hard. It's hard, Lord, Lord, it's hard.

Yes, everybody in the whole damn place has got to have a good time. Yeah. Gotta have a good time Yeah I was rolling on the jungle river Where the dragons surely dwell And St. Joseph with a mighty word Told it well It's hard, Lord, it's hard It's hard, Lord, Lord, it's hard, it's hard, oh lord, it's hard

It's just one way in and one way out We're gonna have a good time Yeah, na-na-na-na MC Taylor, here's going to Messenger! Here! Give it up for MC Taylor, one of the best songwriters on the fucking planet, ladies and gentlemen.

Give it up for Mike. Unbelievable. Wow. Are you having a good time or what, ladies and gentlemen? What a fucking show so far. Ladies and gentlemen, god damn, that is a fucking, that is an amazing songwriter, ladies and gentlemen.

He's from North Carolina. That's beautiful. Wow, that's cool and smart. Oh yeah, we're all going to come back to Chicory Hills, ladies and gentlemen. We will. Ladies and gentlemen, next up on the podcast, we have our friend, your best friend,

the nicest guy on the planet, Mr. Todd Glass! Where you at, Todd? Todd! Give it up for Todd Glass, ladies and gentlemen. Wow! Thank you. Give it up for Todd Glass. Wow.

What's up, folk? This is fucking great. Isn't this dude MC at the fucking house singing and talking about cucking? This is an amazing show. We've got a balcony up there. How you doing, Todd? Are you having fun on this tour or what? How you people doing?

Wow. Oh, my God. Is doing comedy at a Frasco show a little harder? It's different. No, it is different, but I lean into it. You know what I mean? You people know. Have a bite. Oh, my God. You know what I realized? Let's convince Todd to go to the bar after this, ladies and gentlemen. Oh my god

Let's convince Todd to go to the bar after this Ladies and gentlemen let's go Drink it up Todd You don't have to convince me to go to a bar You don't have to convince me to go to a bar Todd I used to travel around with a lot of musicians when I was like 19 or 20 Yeah who were you touring with

Should I eat this first Yeah eat the whole thing Is that a lot? That's not a lot. Quiet. Andy, no. It's the last day. He's opening for Jim Gaffigan tomorrow, ladies and gentlemen.

Show him that this is where it's at. Woo. Oh, my God. I'm like the mushroom monster now. Me love mushroom. Yes, me love mushroom. All right, now I just wait for it to happen. Now that you've taken mushrooms,

let's talk about the time when we first saw our first glory hole, Todd. When we went to see... We went to see fish for the first time. It was fun. It was fun. But people were waiting in line and I would act like I was part of the festival. I found a badge, and it just made it look like I...

So I would go over to people. I was real nice. I'd go, hey, just FYI, the line for the beers is over there. This is for the glory holes. And people would be like, what? I'm like, yeah. They'd go, all good, all good. Just wanted to let you know.

Hope you're having a nice night. I made a lot of money. I opened up for a lot of money. I opened up for a wreath of groups. You know, a lot of them are dead now, so I don't bring it up. Who, what, you're opening, you're doing comedy? When I was like 19, I started doing comedy at 16. And then by the time I was 19, there was a place in our area called the Valley Forge Music Fair, and it was 3,000 seat in the round.

There's still one up in Westbury, New York. And I used to, and I, the owner of the place knew, I went to high school with his friends. He'd be like, are you ready to open up for acts at the music fair? And I'd be like, not yet, because I've been doing comedy like two years. But then like George Jones came.

He didn't have an opening act. They called down to the club I worked at and they got me. And then I did like George Jones. I did Aretha Franklin, Patti LaBelle, Diana Ross, George Benson. It was like a lot of, yeah. And I remember asking when George, I think the mushrooms are taking a bite. George Jones asked, do you know who George Jones is?

Hell yeah. He asked me how the crowd was. And I was at that point 19. So it was very naive of me. I guess I go, wait, you asked me how the crowd was. And I was at that point 19. So it was very naive of me. I guess I go, wait, you still care how the crowds are? He goes, son, you always care how the crowds are.

I'm like, well. And then he vomited on my shirt. And I had to go back out and do another 10 minutes. You still wear that shirt now? I still wear that shirt. Was there any times when you've opened and it just went terribly horrible? Yes. I'm spitting and I'm so sorry, everybody.

It's disgusting. Please don't use that bow on the podcast. Only one time. I mean, I'm sure there's nights it went better than others. But I opened up for... Who's the group that does... My Sharona. Oh.

You open for that? My Sharona. Oh, my God. It was so... I don't know the band, though. It was so horrible. It was so horrible. I was so young, and I was so nervous,

and it was just not going well right away. And I was just like, I just said, I got to do my time. Finally, the guy yells from the side stage he goes that's you did enough you did enough i'm like thank fucking god i know it was too much if you ask me but usually usually it went over great because it was like seated audiences usually and the first time i ever did it for george jones it was a circle around stage which had me really nervous but in the stage they asked me if i wanted it to turn or not i said yeah because then i would make sure i was so it would turn the whole time

i was on but you don't really notice it so i would do crowd work because i didn't have enough material so i just make fun of people um every time someone came in late and had to go through you know a theater i go excuse me pardon me excuse me pardon me excuse me you know bugs bunny style and um and then but i would forget where people were because I didn't know the stage was turning. So I'd be like, oh, the teacher over there. And I'd hear from over here, I'm over here. I'm like, oh, fuck. Turn the stage off. So that's a good story.

That story's in my new book called Boring Stories Never to Tell until you want to get people out of your house. Happy birthday to you. What do you got? So I was thinking about this time. Please, Andy. When we first met each other.

And so he tried to find me online. Yeah, tell him. What happened? So what happened, it was my ex saw Andy at a music comedy festival? Music festival. Music festival. Is there any way those mushrooms are kicking in already? No.

I mean, it's an albino, so I'm assuming you've got another six and a half minutes until they kick in. I'm fine. So my friend saw Andy at a music festival, and he'd never heard of him. He goes, God, I saw this guy that sang to Andy Fresco in the UN. He goes, these guys were like fucking shredding it he goes this guy his band would knock your dick into the dirt every night which is a phrase that I use a lot when you see a performer just fucking shred it

and I started looking at him on YouTube I loved him so I had a podcast at the time I told all my podcast listeners hey tweet at this guy Andy Frasco and say you gotta play The Barn that's where I do my podcast by my house finally I started looking at videos online I was starting to get nervous because it was like you know he's like in front of like 20,000 people some nights it's smaller but i'm like so finally he called me and and um we we switched

numbers on direct messaging and he said i said i'll be in la i said i'll play i'll do your podcast i'll bring ernie i'll bring andy avila which are two of his musicians and and he said up up he goes he said i'll play on your birthday so i'm like very excited and look and then anyway so he shows up on my birthday i thought just everybody wanted to be there we had like 15 people packed into the studio he shows up to my front door with a mushroom birthday cake which i didn't know it was a mushroom birthday cake so i go he goes it's a mushroom birthday cake and he had all the candles lit. It was adorable.

And him and Andy and Ernie were singing happy birthday. I got him back into the studio as quick as I could. I had two, I had musicians there playing him in. I wanted to make a big fucking deal. So when Andy came into the studio, I had a trumpet player, keyboard and horns and drums. And they played him in. And I go, I can't eat the cake because I just, I can't do mushrooms like that, you know? So then about 20 minutes later,

we ate the whole fucking cake, and we played... And he was there until 3.30 in the morning. Here's the best part. He slept over. I don't get fucked up and drive, ladies and gentlemen. I go out there if I'm going to after party at your house

you better find me a place to fucking sleep unless I'm really fucked up then I'm definitely driving then you're not going to stop me and he slept over and I had a plaque made right the truth and it says Andy Frasco slept here so I have it on the end

I screwed it into the end of my headboard. And then like about four months later, a friend of mine's girlfriend was using the bathroom in that bedroom. And she saw the plaque. She goes, how do you fucking know Andy Frasco slept here? What? And she had hooked up with you. And she goes, well, that's not, he slept at a lot of places.

The only girl in LA to hook up. We've made out. We were fucked up, but we've made out. Remember how we were kissing for like three hours. It's the first time I found out what a glory hole was. Where's the glory? I found the hole. So that's it. And I love Andy

Frasco and I love all the people I meet through him. I've said it on other shows, but I'm going to say it every time. What I love about Andy Frasco and i love all the people i meet through him i've said it on other shows but i'm gonna say it every time what i love about andy frasco i really do have great affection for him like i'm so glad you're in my life i'm really glad it's and you know and sean is here tonight sean's the same thing i love you i love your shit nick it's a good group it's a really good group and it's uh it's joyful to hang out with them. But Andy fucking enjoys life and I'm the same way. I want to go out at night and fucking suck it in. So I

love Andy Frasco. It's a hipster mushroom, ladies and gentlemen. For what is a man? Christmas mushroom. I really want to do My Way but we didn't learn it tonight. You know, you say that, but I bet these guys could...

I don't know it. Ask Sean. He's the music director. What if I just do it? Do you know My Way by Frank Sinatra? But you don't have to know it. You just have to do licks in between. That's what you think, Todd. I thought you just go acapella.

This is what happens. He belittles musicians, ladies and gentlemen. You can just fucking... Yeah, you can play some licks or whatever. He called me poor at lunch. He called me a Jew at dinner. That was me.

Oh, that was you. Todd, I just want to say I love you and a lot of people don't know this, but the reason why I'm in the comedy scene and the reason why I got to score that Judd Apatow film is because of Todd Glass. I love everything about him.

Can I get some reverb? I'm doing it. You're going to do it? For what is a man? What has he got? If not himself, then he has not to say the things

I can do it acapella he truly feels stand up give him a show I need less less lights bring the lights down I'll do a minute version of it here we go I'll give it my all for is a reverb

for what is a man what has he got if not himself For, is a reverb. For what is a man? What has he got? If not himself, then he has not. To say the things he truly feels And not the words of one who kneels The record shows I took the blows And did it

my way my way my way my way

my way my way my way my way

my way my way my way my way

my way my way my way my way

my way my way my way my way

my way my way my way my way

my way my way my way my way

my way my way my way my way my way my way my way my way my way my I'm all done right give it up for Todd Glass unbelievable ladies and gentlemen

Todd Glass we love you Todd Todd's about to go on tour Jim McGaffigan on a bus we took him on a train from Philly to New York we trained him ladies and gentlemen our next guest he's another one of my

favorite songwriters he's in a band called American Aquarium ladies and gentlemen please give it up for BJ Barham ladies and gentlemen BJ

holy shit here he is give it up for BJ wow Give it up for BJ Wow What a star-studded event Look at BJ, ladies and gentlemen Our guy Wow

Wow Did you ever think you'd be on a talk show In Raleigh, North Carolina on a Wednesday? I've always wanted to play Raleigh, North Carolina You've been in this area for a while What do you think of this city? on a Wednesday. I've always wanted to play Raleigh. You've been in this area for a while. What do you think of this city? I love it.

I love it. I've been in Raleigh for 22 years. What makes it so special? It's a mix of everything. It's a big city. It's a small town. It's a big city. It's a small town. It's a college town. It's a state capital.

It's everything I want here. Yeah. Yeah. Did you... Is Raleigh the reason why you got sober? Fuck no. Raleigh's the reason I had a problem for a very long time. Actually, just Slim's right around the corner. Yeah?

Is why I had a problem for a very long time. What's the craziest thing that you've ever done at Slim's right around the corner yeah is why I had a problem for a very long time what's the craziest thing that you've ever done at Slim's I used to so I used to pass out on the pool table at Slim's and instead of waking me up and asked me to leave they would tape the security code for the alarm on my chest. Oh, my God. And so I would wake up at, you know, 9 a.m. the next morning in an empty bar, and it said, please cut the alarm off before you leave.

That's what you know. That happened a lot. That's how you know you love that bar. That's how you know you have a problem. You still have to pay cover, though. So when did you realize that you needed to figure out that problem? 2014. I kind of hit a moment of I met somebody that I really liked,

and we were dating, and it was great. And she kind of was like, I really like you, but I think you have a problem. Yeah. And I was like, yeah, if I have to choose between drugs and alcohol and the love of my life, I'm going to choose her. God damn it. That's good. Yeah, Andy. Siri, call my ex-girlfriend right now.

Tell her I fucking miss her. Yeah, I feel that. I picked the partying over her. There's a lot of girls in the greater Raleigh area that I picked partying over. She was the first one that came along that made me choose differently. So now that you feel like, were you like a dick when you're all fucked up?

Like, how many band members have you had? I've been, American Aquarium has existed for 18 years. And I've had 36 band members. Oh my fucking God. That's two a year. So. To be fair, five of them are still here. Oh, okay.

That's so funny. We have all five of them on stage. Boys, get over here. We have all 31 people that have quit your band. They're here. Mark, Bill, John, little Billy. Yeah, yeah. There was a Bill.

There's always a Bill. There's always a Bill. So, throughout the 35 36 36 so 31 quit 31 quit five of them are still here so i only count 30 what was the worst one that like what was the like worst quitting there's a lot of uh anyone quit on stage nobody quit on stage one guy did quit right after the show uh he he was packing up his drums oh he's a fucking drummer it is though me and drummer me and i i do not have a good history with drummers but he uh he got very angry with me and i said i was drinking and i

probably said something to push buttons and he packed up his drums and he put his snare drum in its case and he snapped it shut and then he just hit me across the face with it. Oh my God. And it made the sound. Yeah, it was like a,

it was like a, just a pop. Yeah. Fuck. It was one of those. Did you realize you were doing something wrong? Immediately.

But then, and then as soon as he did it, he realized what he did. He's like, I don't think I should be in the band anymore. I was like, I was like,

there was no fucking way you were going to be in the band. Did you think you had a choice? I don't know how many jobs you can hit the boss with a snare drum, but. Damn, dude. Yeah, you don't come back from that. So, you don't know how many jobs you can hit the boss with a snare drum. Damn, dude.

Yeah, you don't come back from that. So you don't come back yet. Yeah. It's not like Bobby Knight where you just throw a chair at a kid and then you got your job again. Yeah, he had five championships, so it's a little different. It's worth it. Yeah, most of them, it was just like,

hey, I don't want to be in a rock and roll band the rest of my life. I got dreams. The hardest one was, I think, 2017. What was that? The entire band quit all at once. What? 2017, we had our big hometown Raleigh shows, Road Trip to Raleigh.

And my manager was in town. He was like, hey, we're going to have a meeting over at the Marriott where everybody's staying. And I thought it was like a meeting to talk about what all the big plans were for 2017. And I walked in, and one by one, everybody quit the band. And then my manager at the end was like, well, there's nothing here to manage anymore, so I'm out.

Oh, my God. What the fuck? And so February of 17, my god and so hold on february of 17 everybody's gone hold on like how what do you what like internal dialogue did you have when everyone quit on you what the fuck do i do yeah what am i gonna do now and uh there was like two weeks where i was like a really grumpy like alt country eeyore where I was just like just walking around the house in pearl snaps with my head down. Give me a tattoo that says nothing matters. Nothing matters.

But then my wife pulled me aside and she's like, do you want to still do this? And I said, yeah. And she's like, they're your songs. You're the only person that wrote any of the songs. She's like, as long as you want to do this, I guarantee there's somebody out there that wants to play with you. Yeah. She's like, as long as you want to do this, I guarantee there's somebody out there that wants to play with you. And sure enough,

a friend of mine from Texas reached out. He was like, I live in Austin. I'm more than happy to put together a band that will be your band. And sure as shit, he put together a really great band and that's American Aquarium. Let's fucking go. Wow. And I'm happy to say I've had the same fucking band for seven years. That's a win, too.

Which means that in 11 years, I lost 31 people. Yeah, but that last six really weighs it heavily. I feel like I learned from a lot of the mistakes. I was a really bad friend. I was a bad boss. I was a bad person. Yeah. And there's not one person that quit that I was like I learned from a lot of the mistakes. I was a really bad friend. I was a bad boss. I was a bad person. Yeah. And there's not one person that quit there.

I was like, you know what? You're making a huge mistake. Most of the time I was like, you're right. Yeah. You know, I get it. But like, when do you finally like take the ego out of that and finally realize that you were the problem, not them? Recovery.

Sobriety. Sobriety is the, so for a long time, when somebody would quit or somebody would say something bad about me, I would look myself in the mirror, and we all do it. We look ourself in the mirror, and you see those bad things, those cracks, the imperfections, and we cover it up. We drink, we use. Sobriety made me take a look in the mirror at the broken pieces,

and instead of shying away from it or trying to cover it up or running from it, having to fucking embrace it and having to fix it and having to say to yourself holy shit this is never going to get better like i need to fix it now and i credit sobriety with me being a better boss a better friend a better husband better partner better human whoa holy shit that's why i'm not getting sober. I'm already perfect. You're fired, mushrooms. You're fucking fired. I hate the shrooms.

Don't look at me like that. We're done here. No, that's tough. So you have these realizations in your life. And thank God you realized it. Because I don't know what the world would be like without you still writing songs. You're a fucking legend, man. I got to see it at – I went to your solo show. Have you done a lot of solo shows before?

I don't do a lot of the solo shows, but they're some of my favorite shows I get to play. I caught you at Larimer Lounge and see the diehard fans that you have, and they're all... I didn't realize how many Southern people lived in Denver. They're going like, let's go Wolfpack! I'm like, holy shit. All day.

And I was like, goddamn. Jimmy V, baby. I'm like, I need to find a Southern woman. They cook, too. A lot of them can cook down here. If I talk to another mountain woman who talks about Billy Strings guitar picks I'm gonna lose my fucking head

there's still a lot of those people in North Carolina I promise they got bluegrass out here I don't know if you know that you have these realizations in life my favorite realization you ever had was when you realized

that the man was taking too much money out of your pocket. When I say the man, Live Nation, AEG, they were taking percentages. Boom. Boom, boom, boom. Yeah. Boom, boom, boom.

It's like, fuck you, dad. Fuck you, dad. Fuck you, dad. But what I think is the best part about BJ was he was the first one to really pioneer that artists should not have to give merch percentages to venues. Because if they're not giving us alcohol sales, then why the fuck are we giving them merch sales? And he's the one. And for nine months, he's the reason. I believe this, that Live Nation stopped doing a fucking merch

cut because after our podcast I had a few of these Live Nation people say like, we hear you out. And I know they're maybe just hiding oil money or something, but the goodness of my heart makes me think that BJ was one of the first pioneers to help musicians finally make some money off merch.

So give it up for BJ. So tell me how passionate you are about this because it's a big fucking deal. And for you to have the balls to fucking finally step up, I didn't have it. I got that LA Jew in me. I'm like, no, no, don't take the money. Even though I'm like, I want all the money. It got to a point where I noticed that me and my friends in the industry we'd always talk about, if me and you got together, we'd be like, oh, these fucking merch cuts.

They're fucking stupid. I didn't realize that the consumer had no idea they were having. The average music fan had no idea. When you go The average music fan had no idea. Like when you go to the merch table, when you give somebody $25, $30, $40 for a t-shirt or a vinyl record, you're expecting that money to go into the gas tank, buy them some food, get them a hotel room. You're not expecting the club to be like,

well, we'll take 20% of that. Right. And so once I realized that nobody knew it was happening, we started talking about it. And the clubs were like, And so once I realized that nobody knew it was happening, we started talking about it. And the clubs were like, well, you're contractually obligated to give me this money. I'm like, cool. I'm not saying I'm not going to pay you.

I'm just going to be loud about it. I'm going to tell it. So we started putting up signs every single night and said, this club does take a percentage or does not take a percentage. And once we started posting that shit online and clubs started getting the blowback on their Instagram page or Facebook page, that's when people started changing their fucking policies.

Turns out they were A-OK doing it when none of y'all knew it was happening. Weird. But then the minute you shine a light on that dirty little secret, they're like, oh no, how did that get in the contract? Yeah, right, right, right.

Like, we didn't know that was there. That must have been your agent. I was like, oh no! How did that get in the contract? We didn't know that was there. That must have been your agent. I was like, I promise it wasn't our agent. Yeah, it definitely wasn't. I was like, you're just mad because Rolling Stone just wrote an article about how shitty your place is. What's up? Poor House, 100% merch.

Poor House is giving us 100% of merch tonight, ladies and gentlemen. No! No, no! Buy some merch so we can go to the bar after. Ladies and gentlemen, please. Oh, they said they're taking 100% merch. No, no, no, no, no.

100%. That's actually more respectable than taking 30. What's the difference between, because you just got on tour. Oh, Sean, you got to hear this. He backlined a guitar in every city on his Europe tour. Didn't bring a guitar. That means he had one extra hand for merch to make that money. That's what I fucking love. I'm not a businessman.

I'm a business. I'm a businessman. Let's go. Man. Oh, man. I think I need to move to North Carolina. Everyone is fucking cool here. Here you go again. It's a pretty great place. You know, I'll babysit your kids. Actually won't do that actually that sounds like a bad fucking idea so so what's funny is i don't think anybody in the crowd knows this my one of my daughter's favorite artist is andy oh and by artist i mean

there's one song she's allowed to to listen to. The grave song. Dancing around my grave. Dancing around my grave. And so I knew the song before I knew you. No way. Way before I knew you. Really? So my daughter is like, she knows every word to this fucking song. And then when we became friends, I'm like, oh, cool.

And so I'm sitting there and she's like, play the, you know, what is it? No breaks. Oh, gosh. And so I'm like there, and she's like, play the, you know, what is it? No breaks. Oh, gosh. And so I'm like, who sings that? And my wife's like, oh, it's Andy. Andy. And so I looked it up. I was like, you're not going to believe.

I know this guy. And so I sent Andy a message like, hey, my daughter loves you. And Andy made her a video that was like, hey, Pearl. I just wanted to say I hope you're doing well. And she took my wife's phone into her classroom and showed her teacher. And her teacher has no fucking idea who Andy is. And she takes it and she's like,

Look, this is my favorite musician, and he made a video for me. The teacher's like, why did he ask if I'm single at the end? By the way, Pearl, is your teacher single? By the way, daddy, what are mushrooms?

What's back in? What's a cuck chair? What's a cuck chair, dad? I love it. I let her listen to like 13 seconds of a podcast once. Oh, really? And then I was like, we're just going to stick to the music. You can't hear what he's saying.

Don't listen to the other guy. He's sad. You're going to repeat this shit. Yeah. And I'm going to have to answer why my why my six year old knows what a cuck chair is why are we going what a world we live in jesus this is why i'm not we're all going to ikea to shop for cuck chairs after this but uh bj i mean like you know there's a difference between touring with a band and touring by yourself like you kind of like that you took the stand-up comedian route of touring by yourself like how was it more difficult to be on the road

by yourself or did you like it better i like it uh it's i've been doing this like i said for 18 years uh and most people don't understand like when you're a musician and you travel as much as we do the road is the normal part the road is the schedule the road is the normal part. The road is the schedule. The road is the, I'm so comfortable on the road because I know every day when my sound check is, when my load in is, what time I got to be in bed,

when I'm going to land in the next city. Being home is the part that I kind of always have to reteach myself. Right. And that sounds so weird because most people,

your schedule is when you're at home and vacation is kind of the weird part. You're like, what do I do i do with my time yeah home is that low for me because when i'm home it's i don't have a schedule when i'm home i'm fortunate i get to just be a dad right home and uh but it's still very odd like we call it turning the rock clock on and off yeah like when i go on the road i have to readjust my rock clock yeah and then when because like i'm up past my bedtime now i go to bed i go to bed every night at 10 o'clock yeah on on the dot how do you do that tell me because i have to be up every morning at six o'clock oh my god because like i cook breakfast and we we make the stuff for pearl's lunch and we hang and so like i'm on a different thing so like when I'm

on the road the minute I come on the road it's like okay the you're going stage at 10 o'clock yeah and it's like fuck I don't want to do that so how many fall asleep can we so now like we we do it now it's like where doors are at seven opener at eight us 9. I'm in the bed by 11, which is always awesome. Oh, what? Oh. You looking for a clip like that on the road? The rest of my band does not. But I'm the, uh,

Papa's gotta get asleep, and so... Like, if I walk off stage at 10.30, I am showered and in pajamas and in the bed by 11. Wow. Every night. Fucking rock and roll. We're actually putting his name in the hat for President of the United States, ladies and gentlemen. BJ Barham.

BJ. It's just, you're so inspiring because, you know, we've been grinding it out. We've been doing 250 shows a year for the last we're going to be year 15 this year ladies and gentlemen. It's crazy to have someone that's been in this forever too and to fight the good fight

and still believe in because we're not bands that are going to get super like Taylor Swift. We're the blue collar musicians and what do you still love about being that to people i love the connection every night that's why we do it uh is the transfer of energy between me and you um it's why we all do it we all stand on stage and whether it's five people

or whether it's 5,000 people, the minute that you make something up on your couch that's personal and very close to you and you put it out in the world and it fucking connects with at least one person.

Right. That's the most magical feeling. And then compound that and when you can write something very personal and have it connect with a room full of people it's the greatest fucking feeling in the world so that's that's the thing we're chasing

every night and sometimes we're only on that wavelength for like 60 seconds but like and sometimes it's 90 full minutes but like when everybody's on that same thing and you forget about the bullshit outside of the club you forget about the 12 dollar miller lights you forget about the bullshit outside of the club, you forget about the $12 Miller Lights, you forget about the shitty lady beside of you talking about what she's doing next week. When everybody can just vibe on that one plane, like that's the magic. That's the, that's what gets, that's what gets me out of bed at 10 p.m.

to play a rock show. That's why I'm in Raleigh on a Wednesday, baby. Yeah. Hell yeah. Oh, that's the wrong one. No, it's the right one. That's the right one. Yeah, you got it.

Oh, man. So, you know, speaking about art, I think we should play a BJ song. What do you say, brother? You want to do one? Give it up for BJ, ladies and gentlemen. Let's hear some tunes from my man. What just so happened? What, Todd?

You can't find your jacket? Well, we're going to wait after the song, Todd. It might be the mushrooms, Todd. Hey, Todd, come down here and have a little nibble more Let's see what happens to you Todd, Todd, Todd

Not that kind of nibble Hey now But yeah, BJ Like I was saying before His Golden Messenger and American Aquarium Are truly my favorite bands Out there right now And to play a song with you is a fucking honor So let's see if it up for BJ from American Aquarium are truly my favorite bands out there right now. And to play a song with you is a fucking honor.

So let's see if it up for BJ from American Aquarium, ladies and gentlemen. There is a... I've got a 5 a.m. flight tomorrow morning. What? There's not many people in the fucking world I would stay up past my bedtime for. Andy Frasco. You are one of them. You're the fucking man, bud I'm honored to say that it has been seven years

Since I played this song with anybody else Other than my fucking band Yeah, let's do it Let's do it Dollar bill prescriptions in the bathroom stall Red-headed women and alcohol Say it ain't so, say it ain't last call Double whiskey on the rocks and Adderall Double whiskey on the rocks and Adderall

We're no different neon lights We turn our souls to stay up all night We do what we can We put up a fight We burn too long We flicker at night It's nights like these

that the drugs don't work Now they're just getting away instead of picking me up I wish my addictions didn't mean so much But we all can't be born with that kind of love You try but you won't

fix what's wrong with me Every night I'm my own worst enemy And I'll find a way to quit when they bury me Cause I can't turn down the drinks when they're free I can't turn down the drinks when they're free We're no different beyond life

We can turn our souls we stay up all night We do what we can, we put up a fight And we burn too long, we flicker at night Let's go baby guitar solo It'll run that bar like 1965 With her sailor tattoos and her drawn-out eyes And every night, man, she still crosses my mind But every now and then I mean most of the time But every now and then I mean all of the time We are no different than neon lights

We turn on the sun, we stay up all night We do what we can, we put up a fight We burn too long, we flicker and die We burn too long, we flicker and die We burn too long, we flicker and die We burn too long, we blizzard Die, we burn too long, we blizzard Die Give it up for BJ, ladies and gentlemen!

American Aquarium, ladies and gentlemen! Holy shit, BJ! Thank you so much for being part of this show. Give it up for Raleigh, North Carolina's own Mr. BJ Bar. Wow. Yeah, man. What a fucking legend.

Did you guys have a good night tonight or what? This has been fun as shit. BJ's the man. Give it up for the local band, ladies and gentlemen, as well. They fucking crushed it. Give it up for the local band, ladies and gentlemen, as well. They fucking crushed it. Give it up for Mr. Nick Gerlach on the saxophone and the shit talking.

What an angel. Give it up for our tour manager, Bo Balinski. He's single. He's single. And where's Ben Holtz, staff, from volume.com? Give it up for Ben Holtz, ladies and gentlemen. Ben Holtz! He's running all the streams.

Andy, I'd like to thank Leo Kishore and Kasim Williams. Give it up for Leo and Kasim, ladies and gentlemen. Yeah. Well, we should play one more song to nail it out, you know, because I didn't realize how important that's. What, Todd? What do you want to say? Oh, give it up for Todd Glass. I forgot, ladies and gentlemen.

Give it up for Todd Glass. Todd, do you want to say a motivational speech on a Wednesday before we start this song, ladies and gentlemen? Get over here, Todd. Get over here. Dear God, please protect us from... Start saying something. Dear God, please protect us from your followers.

You know... Life is short, ladies and gentlemen. What are we going to do? We're going to get out there and live the fullest? Or we're going to get out there and fucking marinate and shit? I'd rather be happy every day. Do you agree, Raleigh, North Carolina, or what? It's important to be happy, you know, even through all this shit.

These guys have gone through. Look at BJ. He's gotten 30,000 people quit his band, ladies and gentlemen. But he's still out there following the dream. Look at Mike Taylor just fucking out there road-dogging it. This is what we got to do sometimes. You grind it out and hope for the best. But at the end of the day, as long as you're happy with yourself,

then that's all that matters. Thank you so much, Raleigh, North Carolina. I appreciate you being here. This song's dedicated to BJ's Kid Pearl, ladies and gentlemen. He's going somewhere, yeah, I'm living fast. 19 miles an hour, No brakes, all gas. If I die tomorrow, don't be dressed in black.

Need a couple favors instead of feeling sad. Tell my mom I love her. Tell my daddy too. To all my lovers, my words were true. Hey, everybody on the floor, two-step and say no more. Oh, everybody in the back, Jump up and clap your hands. Celebrate what we have nowhere. Dancing around my grave. No surprise I'm leaving. We all gotta go. Might make it to

100, but then I'm ready for sure. Tell my kids I love them. Tell my grandkids too. If I got some great grandchildren, love what you do. Hey, everybody on the floor, two-step and say no more. Oh, everybody in the floor, two-step and say no more.

Oh, everybody in the back, jump up and clap your hands. Celebrate what we have. Celebrate what we have. Clap it up. clap it up. All right, ladies and gentlemen, I want you to help me sing this as loud as you can. Because you never know when it's your turn to leave the party. So we might as well give it all we fucking got. the party so we might as well give it all we fucking got

one two three four Everybody on the floor, two step and say no more Oh, everybody in the back, jump up and clap your hands Celebrate what we had Celebrate Celebrate what we had Celebrate what we had Oh, it's going somewhere Yeah, I'm living fast Celebrate what we had 90 miles an hour No brakes, all gas Yeah, I'm living fast Celebrate what we have 95 cent hours

No brakes, all gas Thank you so much, ladies and gentlemen You know what? Just because there might be a snowstorm We should play another fucking song for you. One, two, one, two. Well, I know what you do when you're all alone Do you break it down? When the baby's asleep, you got nowhere to go But to shake it out

When you're lonely, how is your daddy? Let's go! I can shake it all right I can be all you want, yeah We can do the boogie-woogie Till the cows go home, yeah When you're lonely I was your daddy, yeah Well, shake it to the left, shake it to the right

Break that shit down Every motherfuckin' night, Raleigh Every night, oh yeah Well, when you're lonely, I was your daddy, yeah What you got, Nicholas? Go give it to him, Nick! Thank you. Bring it down, bring it down. All right, this is what we're going to do. Ladies and gentlemen,

because Todd Glass is going on tour with Jim Gaffigan tomorrow. Move the chairs a bit. Pull the chairs out. Pull the chairs out. Pull the chairs out Pull the chairs out Pull the chairs out Please do what Andy says Okay, that's good enough Okay

Now everyone get in the middle of the crowd Get in the middle here I need all 65 of you To the middle of the crowd Get in here, ladies and gentlemen No, put this phone away, trust me This is Yes, you are of you to the middle of the crowd. Get in here. Ladies and gentlemen. No, put this phone away. Trust me. Yes, you are.

Ladies and gentlemen. Todd, get over here. Get over here. Ladies and gentlemen. I think we should crowd surf Todd Glass tonight, ladies and gentlemen. Todd! Todd! You can do it

Alright hold on let me move this Move that over there Careful careful Todd come here Todd come here alright We need everyone in this motherfucker okay We need everyone You can do it

Get over here Todd needs motivation Come on You can do it. Get over here. Todd needs motivation. Come on. Hold on. Stay there. Sit down. No, no, no. Don't go get him.

Don't go get him. Sit down. Sit down. Sit down. Okay. All right, ladies. Fine. I'm going to fucking crowd surf that, ladies and gentlemen.

All right. I need. Okay. This is what we're going to do. Pass me the bottle of Jameson. All right. Alright. Wow, have you ever been to a live podcast where someone fucking crowdsurfs like this gentleman? What? Okay.

Pass that bottle of Jameson to the guy 40 people away from you guys. Alright, here we go. That guy right there. Okay. Guys, I need help with this. I've gained weight since I've done less cocaine, so I'm eating more people than this. Okay. Okay. I will crowd surf to the bottom of the Jameson. You will put it in my mouth and I will be crowd surfed back. Are you ready, ladies and gentlemen? Are you ready, ladies and gentlemen? Wow, what a concert. It's a full, here we go.

One. Here we go, ready? I got you. One, two, one. Thank you. guitar solo One, two guitar solo Hell yeah One, two, three, go Yeah! Have a good night, thank you for watching, yeah, yeah! Yeah, yeah! Let's see the podcast! We'll see you at the bar across the street,

ladies and gentlemen. Have a good night. Thank you very much. You tuned in to the World Saving Podcast with Andy Fresco. Thank you for listening to this episode. Produced by Andy Fresco, Joe Angelo and Chris Lawrence. We need you to help us save the world and spread the word. Please subscribe, rate the show, give us those crazy stars, iTunes, Spotify, wherever you're picking this shit up.

Follow us on Instagram at world saving podcast for more info and updates. Fresco's blogs and tour dates you'll find at andyfresco.com and check our socials to see what's up next. Might be a video dance party, a showcase concert, that crazy shit show or whatever springs to Andy's wicked brain. And after a year of keeping clean and playing safe

the band is back on tour. We thank our brand new talent booker Mara Davis. We thank this week's guest, our co-host and all the fringy frenzies that help make this show great. Thank you all. And thank you for listening. Be your best, be safe,

and we will be back next week. No animals were harmed in the making of this podcast as far as we know. Any similarities, interactions, or knowledge, facts, or fake is purely coincidental.