Andy Frasco's World Saving Podcast - EP 114: Grahame Lesh & Dave Bruzza (Greensky Bluegrass)

Episode Date: February 23, 2021

Andy points out: there's no sense sleeping on your dreams, so get to know your demons and then put those freeloaders to work already!  2nd season of his talkshow comes out soon, and no joke: it's really good, y'all. On the Interview Hour we welcome Grahame Lesh! Andy and Grahame talk about growing up surrounded by music royalty, and reminisce on live shows and getting rained out. Joe gives us some quick stonk tips. We close the show with guest co-host Dave Bruzza from Greensky Bluegrass. This is EP 114. Follow us on Instagram @worldsavingpodcast For more information on Andy Frasco, the band and/or the blog, go to: AndyFrasco.com Check out Andy's new album, "Keep On Keepin' On" on iTunes Spotify  Get yourself some Grahame Lesh and follow him at www.grahamelesh.com Produced by Andy Frasco Joe Angelhow Chris Lorentz Audio mix by Chris Lorentz Featuring: Brian Schwartz Joe Angelhow Arno Bakker

Hey, it's Schwartz. Who's managing who? Listen, stay out of the grid, settle down, just go smoke a joy, go be creative. It's annoying as fuck that you're out there basically booking shows and acting like a manager when you don't have that skill set. Please, manage the art. I'll manage you. Stop making everybody crazy. Stop with the shpulkus and just settle down. Bye. Hey, one last thing. Stop asking Rachel for a 7S email.

You're not a fucking manager. You're not getting an email. Stop. Andy Frasca at imafuckingartist.com. Bye. Hey, Andy, this is Scott Emerson. I got your phone number from Stasic, and he told me you guys are looking for sponsors for the podcast. I am a huge fan.

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Andy Frasco's World Saving Podcast. I'm Andy Frasco. How we doing? How's our heads? How's our minds? Are we staying out of fucking trouble with whatever is... I'm not going to play the music. Do I have to play the fucking music? Are we staying out of trouble?

Letting the demons of our heads just take a day off. You could go like Exorcist style. Shoe devil! Shoe, get the fuck out of here! I'm trying to live happy! How we doing? Seriously though.

I hope you're staying safe. I hope you're staying away from overthinking anything that's going on because no one knows the fuss going on. And that's okay. We're living in this, this is the most, I think this could be the most present we've ever been.

So we don't know what's going on. We don't know our future. We kind of know our past of who we were and what humans are going to turn into after this quarantine. It's kind of exciting. I think we're going to turn into after this quarantine. It's kind of exciting. I think we're going to do some good things with the human people. Human people.

I don't even know what I'm talking about. I've been working all day. I'm fucking powering through. The shit show comes out. The shit show comes out on Thursday, guys. First episode. I'm pretty excited about it. We got Grizz and Marcus King on Thursday, guys. First episode. I'm pretty excited about it. We got Grizz and Marcus King on the shit show.

It's on nocapshows.com. It's free. You could subscribe for the whole season and we're giving it to you for free. Just go to nocapshows.com. Sign up for the season pass. I'm telling you,

it's one of the best things I've done. The production, we put our balls on the table, just put dick out on that table and said, this is what we could give you in 2021. This is all my brain could take. We've got comedy.

We've got very deep interviews with great interviewees. Interviewees, yeah, that's it. God, my brain is fried today, y'all. And we got sketches. We had a lot of comedians and musicians make sketches that Nick Gerlach and I directed. It's just a whole variety show.

Then my band's in it. They're the house band. It's just a fun show.. Then my band's in it. They're the house band. It's just a fun show. I don't want to ruin too much of it because it's the premiere, but I think you're going to have a good time. Grizz is on the show and Marcus King is the musical performance.

We have a legit musical performance every week and it's going to be, I'm excited. I think you're going to be proud of it because I'm in Charleston right now. I'm actually promoting the show. I think you're going to be proud of it. Um, cause I'm in Charleston right now. I'm actually promoting the show. Um, been doing fucking press and, um, just promoting the fuck out of it, trying to get as many eyes as we can. So it helps spread the word. But yeah, I'm in Charleston. I'm chilling. I love it here. It's, um, it's like my, I

feel like it's becoming one of my second homes everyone's super sweet um stasek lives out here so i go hang out with his kids and shit and um you know play a little uncle uncle frasco for a little bit uh i'm like the uncle who shows up uh you know on christmas with a couple gifts and then says oh see you in a year but uh it's all good i love them and i love charleston and we're gonna do a premiere party i don't know i think the show's already good i love them and i love charleston and we're gonna do a premiere party i don't know i think the show's already sold i think that's things sold out so quickly but we're doing a premiere party at um at the poor house and it's the buy tickets we have a house band all this charleston all the crazy amazing musicians of uh char, South Carolina are backing me up. We're doing some music.

Ryan Stasek is going to be interviewing me for 30 minutes before the show, and then we'll premiere the show. It's all socially distanced, so that's good. It's outside, so it's going to be fucking cold as fuck. I don't know how. It hasn't been too bad, but, I mean, it's still winter. But, you know, music is music. People need music and, uh, we're going to bring it to them a little bit. Um, socially distanced, of course. Um, so

if you got tickets to that, fuck yeah. Thanks for doing that. Uh, thanks for bringing that. But I want to just like, you know, this is crazy. I, uh, I've always wanted to have, uh, you know, ever since I was a fucking kid, you know, I've always wanted to have a talk show. I've always wanted, I used to like look in the mirror. I used to be that crazy person who used to interview like the chair and make up a whole conversation. And I always wanted to be like, um, Conan O'Brien or, um, Howard Stern. And I would just make up these conversations in my, and I'd talk to the chair and the chair would talk back and I would like work on my fucking gestures in the mirror of what I should do for, I mean, this has been a dream of mine forever. And to finally try,

just try it, Just try it out. I produced it. We built this show, me, Nick Gerlach, fucking Kyle Ayers helped write it. Cisco, I mean, the team is, we're just a bunch of musicians making a talk show. And it's just beautiful to just try shit. Don't be scared to try new things. I think that's what I'm getting at here. It's just beautiful to just try shit, you know? Don't be scared to try new things.

I think that's what I'm getting at here. It's true. Like, those dreams that you have when you're a kid won't go away. We could suppress them and suppress them. But unless we try things, it could be love too. It could be having a better relationship with that best friend you used to have that, you know, might be a little racist, whatever. I don't know, whatever it is. We got to try. Because if we don't try in life, what are we doing? We can't just sit here and wait for people to tell you,

you're going to do something. You know, I've been dropped by like fucking three or four labels or, you know, not got picked up again and had to keep doing the rat race every year to hopefully get another record deal or, you know, and we got to realize, take that, you know, we're all entertainers who listen to this. A lot of y'all are people who are fans of music. anything in life. We got to, no one's going to give us our dreams. We need to go out there and fuck shit up. Like I'm telling you, you know, no whole bar, raw dog without a bag, fucking getting after those dreams. What's the point? Why not? We're just going to get older and more tired and more lazy. Let's do it while we have the energy. You want to fucking build an online flower shop? Fucking do it, dog. You want to be in a band? Go for it. You want to be a talk show host? Try it out. This is all we got. I'm serious. Don't stop fighting for optimism. Don't stop fighting for what you believe in.

It's true. Don't stop trying to figure out who you are. Because at the end of the day, if this is all we get, then let's use this time to get to know our flaws, get to know our insecurities, get to know our demons. What are we scared of? Are we scared of failure? Is that why we're not following our dreams? are we scared of? Are we scared of failure? Is that why we're not following our dreams?

Are we scared of saying no? Or someone saying no? Have a tea with these motherfuckers Go have a fucking break bread With your insecurities Your demons What do you got to lose? You can't just suppress them

Just because we're scared of them We got to face them We got to at least try. You know, maybe you're holding on to something that your family did when you were younger and you just haven't communicated with them about it. It could have been a miscommunication. It could have been just like that.

You know, I know I only listen to half the things people tell me. That's my flaw or my insecurity. Maybe it's I need to learn it myself. And maybe that's the reason why I decided to just do this show on my own. With my team. Us independently. Us raw dogging this shit. Because what do we have to lose?

It could suck. Maybe. It could be not people's taste, but I love it. And I hope you will too. Because it came from my heart. And when things come from the heart and it's genuine, I, whatever you want to do, people feel that stuff So don't be afraid to be genuine Don't be afraid to follow Every little weird dream you have Seriously I have Graham Lesh on the show tonight

And um Graham's dad is Phil Lesh He The homie Was living on private planes and shit and traveling with his pops. That's a lot of pressure

if you want to become a musician. To see that is what some people, the 1% go through. And for him to be humble and loving and dope as fuck. That was the first time I talked to Graham. And I loved it. This was a fun convo.

Just getting to know each other and how much he fucking loves music. It's amazing. And how he cares about his band, how he cares about his family, and how he lives his life through being simpatico with the people he loves and the music he brings.

So I can't wait for you to hear that one. And then we got my boy. I did an interview with a little baby one with Dave Bruza right before I left for Charleston. And he's the best. Dave Bruza, Green Sky. He's in the band Green Sky Bluegrass, but he's the best. He is just such a good heart and he is such a good soul. And, you know, every time I get to have a little, you know,

him come over and we make chicken nuggets and shit, it's special to me. So I can't wait to hear what we talk to. But like I said, y'all, are you ready? Are you going to have a good week? Are you going to fucking follow those fucking crazy-ass dreams of yours? You want to, you know? Oh, happy Valentine's Day, y'all.

Hope y'all got that, got it in. But seriously, go after it. Support everybody. Support your lover. If he's got a weird ass dream, wants to quit his bullshit job, you know, take it on the chin, be broke for a little bit.

Because at the end of the day, he's going to be happy because he tried. Or she tried. Or your grandma or your son or daughter tried. Because you're going to give them the chance to give them a word. Give them a talk box, whatever it is. Fucking flowers or being a comedian

or sell insurance I mean if that's your dream fucking sell that fucking insurance dog sell it just we have to learn

that what we want is okay too alright here we go Gram Lash Dave Bruza episode 114

Let's go Alright, next up on the interview hour We got Graham Lesh Band is called Midnight North He's also in his dad's band Phil Lesh Family Band Yo Chris, play some Midnight North. Play the new single that came out.

Just came out. Graham's dope. Graham is a talented motherfucker. I'm telling you. I played Mountain Jam with him. We both were playing Lock In and we both were playing lock-in, and we got our shows canceled from the rain out.

We were the only bands that didn't get to play, but I had a nice conversation with him. Just a good guy. Loved the same music I loved when I was a kid. He grew up in San Francisco, Marin County, went to school, and was listening to Damien Rice and listening to Ryan Adams and whatnot. We talked a little bit about that and the situation, but he's a great guy. You know, his dad is fucking Phil Lesh.

He was traveling in planes and shit. And for him to like follow his own dreams and have his own band and walk proud as Graham Lesh. The man is, um, is dope as fuck. So ladies and gentlemen, hope you enjoy this interview with Graham Lesh. This ain't the story you thought I'd tell.

It was honest and true. When he couldn't lose. No more smiles for the last damn time. Why not wait for the wild card? Burning a hole in your hand digging a hole in the ground

in a vast graveyard Thank you. There's always a story worth being told Every life has a fortune to roll Life has a fortune to roll. It's like in a movie as the credits roll. Once it's over, there's no wild card. Burning a hole in your hand. Digging a hole in the ground.

Burning a hole in your hand. Digging a hole in the ground Graham Lesh, wow, what a treat. Andy Frasco. How you doing, buddy? You know, hanging in. Where are you right now? You in San Francisco or? I'm in San Rafael.

So. Yeah. Pretty close. Bay Area. Marin County. So what's, why are, why does everyone live out there? All of them. Dave's schools.

You guys. I don't know. I grew up here, so. Oh, really? Yeah. Yeah. I, I'm like a mile away from where my folks' house was when I was growing up. But yeah, my parents have been in, I don't know, my dad's been in Marin forever.

He grew up in Berkeley, but I guess the dad moved to Marin in the late 60s, 70s. And my mom grew up here. She's from the same town, San Rafael. Do you think the music community helped you shape who you are as a musician? Totally. I mean, it's gone through waves here, I think, the music community and the Bay area as a whole um but for me like we've got tarapin crossroads that's my parents venue and that's been the backbone of all of our music careers you know it's coming up on nine years that it had been open or since it opened and

yeah it was like it's been this marin county rebirth in the music scene the sweet water opened at the same time and you know um yeah what's the deal with that you both those guys having venues like yeah um i think bob's just an investor in the sweet water the sweet water's been around for a while but they moved it um for Sweetwater has been around for a while, but they moved it. Um, for, yeah, it's been around for decades, but, uh, it's moved around in the newest version. Uh, Bob was involved in opening and around the same time, uh, as that was, that was happening, my folks and my brother and I went to play a show at Levon's barn in Woodstock in 2010. Um, and got to know Levon Helm and his daughter, Amy. Um, uh, I guess my, my dad and Levon knew each other, but, um, you know, uh, we played the show at his house and my parents just wanted something like that.

They wanted a venue that could be theirs, um, at home and have the people come to them. Uh, and you know, my dad still plays out. Well, did before all of this, but you know, uh, like having the home base at, at, at this venue right by, you know, Having the home base at this venue right by 10 minutes from his house was sort of a dream that they put together and made happen pretty quickly. And yeah, it sort of happened at the same time as the Sweetwater and all this musical energy that I guess was spread out around the Bay Area sort of got focused in Marin for a minute.

That's beautiful. Probably coincides with some issues with the music scene in San Francisco. What happened? What are the issues? Just like gentrification and venues getting pushed out for apartment complexes and tech and stuff that's way too heavy for this conversation.

No, I want to actually, I really want to talk about what you learned from Levon Helm, like hanging with him. Cause a lot, I mean, he's my, he's one of my idols and his philosophy. Like what did he, what did he teach you about life, Graham? He didn't, he didn't teach me directly all that much. I was just a fan. I've gotten to know Amy a little bit, and I'm in a band with her. And so I guess some of that maybe rubs off a little bit, but more it's just listening to the band,

listening to especially all those two records that he made later in his life, Dirt Farmer and Electric Dirt. You know, Larry Campbell and Teresa Williams, who were in his band, Larry led Levon's band. He was in Phil Eschen Friends for years as well and is a dear friend of the family's. uh, as well, and as a dear friend, uh, of the families and, you know, just all those connections, um, you know, really, I guess, you know, they rubbed off, but it's, it's, you know, I'm, I'm lucky that I have tons of people like that, you know, like my dad's bands, um, post the grateful dead have all been, it's been this rotating cast of musicians and, you know, they've all been bad motherfuckers, dude. Yeah. But they've all been sort of like, you know, uncle figures or friends. And, you know, I was like 13 years old hanging with Derek trucks, who was 19, you know, when he was in my dad's band like throwing

a football around like backstage you know with my brother and and playing cards with Susan and getting to watch Warren Haynes and Jimmy Herring and Joan Osborne and all these like you said bad motherfuckers did you understand what was going on or did you just that's all you knew um i understood in filling you know when we toured with filling friends when the family would come with those bands more than with the grateful dead because i was eight when garcia died so i didn't really understand the whole grateful dead thing uh just as a young person, but I probably didn't understand it until the big shows a few years ago and just how crazy those were. Did they keep you away from that and just have your own life?

No, we were there. I was just young. That's good, though, because I don't know i i'm just i'm we're just getting to know each other but like i know if i'm rolling into my pops and shit were you like was it competitive was you scared did you feel like you pull your weight like what was going on in your head like and once you get you're you know, we're young. Yeah, yeah, for sure. I mean, I think, you know, I was always in bands in high school and college and everything. And I always knew I was going to be playing music all the time, but I didn't know how, like, full time, basically.

And then it really was when my folks started this music venue with Terrapin Crossroads. was when my folks started this music venue with Terrapin Crossroads. And it kind of actually started like four months after one of my college bands had sort of dissolved and we'd started getting together what would become Midnight North, my main band now. I'd gotten to know Connor, our bass player, and Elliot, our other singer-songwriter. And we were starting to play sort of right as Terrapin happened. And I don't know if you've been to Terrapin Crossroads, but there's now three stages. But at the time there was two, there's the sort of main room,

400 people, and then there's the bar. And when it first started, everyone, like everyone who was sort of on staff, so Ross, my brother, Ross James. Yeah, my man. I love him. Yeah, your Denver dude. Ross was in my brother's band, actually, back in-

So your brother is musical, too? Yeah, he doesn't- What the fuck? He doesn't perform, really, But great, great songwriter. But he he and Ross worked and, you know, then my dad and me and everyone would join them for shows in this in the bar just to like get people to come to the restaurant and that turned into this whole stage where there's music you know seven days a week again in the before times what type of music were you playing in college um kind of singer songwriter stuff i mean it was it was i was in rock bands but you know we were trying to to write you know who were you listening to in college um i mean he he's he's not cool to say anymore but like a lot of ryan adams same here man yeah i was obsessed with him

you know damien rice fuck yeah dude me too yeah yeah a lot of a lot of those folks and then you know everyone who passed through my dad's bands. So the Levon Helm, Larry Campbell projects, Government Mule, Derek Trucks, all those folks. A lot of Allman Brothers, probably more Allman Brothers than Grateful Dead. Because in all the Phil and Friends bands when I was growing up, it these former almond brothers how old were you when you started doing all that uh phil and friends started in 1999 so i was 13 holy fuck you got the confidence

like a motherfucker dog just rolling in with these guys like that at 13? I was just hanging. I didn't start playing. I was just hanging and listening to these people. But you're learning. I mean, this is like the major development. Yeah, I mean, I was getting into guitar for sure. And, you know, trying to absorb stuff. Were they force feeding you all that music?

Say what? Were they force feeding you all that music? Or did you want to do that? Not really. I mean, you're in high school. music say what were they force feeding you all that music or did you want to do that not really i mean you're in you're in high school i'm like listening to to like metallica and my dad's like that's just god-awful noise and you know uh shit like that uh but then you know at the same time warren haynes is like playing with james hetfield and like there's still all this cross-pollination. There's all kinds of appreciation for all kinds of music, for sure.

The older generations always are like, in my day, everything was better. But I don't know. You seem to have a better connection to today's youth. Oh, man. I mean, because I grew up in L.A., listening to Tupac and trying to chase the rats till trying to get a record deal. I mean, I would love to have that development that you had where you just had all these dudes. All you just had to do is just be present.

Yeah, I mean, musically, for sure. And, you know, I'm not going to pretend like I took advantage of all aspects of that. But looking back, it, you know, it did build up. You know, there's plenty of times we were on the tour bus just playing Madden for hours on end when Willie Nelson's playing, you know, a hundred yards away. That's being a kid. So do you feel like you had a good relationship with your father? kid so do you felt like you had a good relationship with your father yeah yeah absolutely um you know uh i don't know everyone everyone's a teenager everyone's a young person and chafes a little bit i think yeah with their parents but that's normal shit again yeah it was normal shit you know like it it wasn't nothing was um yeah nothing feels like it mattered you know nothing negative feels like it matters now it's beautiful yeah i mean we you know we do hold on to shit and i'm i'm thankful that the stuff that we don't hold on to doesn't like, um, keep us away from being present. Like, is it hard for you to be present or are you a pretty present dude? I, I, I certainly try to be, um, it's hard not, uh, I mean, there's nothing to do, but be present

now. Right. Um, but I'm sure, you you know in the midst of tour you know it's probably hard to just like keep it from just flying by um hold on explain that to me um i don't know uh i mean just being present is is sort of about appreciating the moment that's happening right now. Right. So if, if time's moving really quick in the middle of a tour, then, um, it's hard to like not wake up and be like, Oh, we're three weeks in, like it's almost over or, you know, um, it just, the, the blur of it can, I don't know,

it seems anti-presence to me a little bit. Yeah. Just when things are moving so quickly. Oh, that's a good point. When things are moving fast, we're not as present because we're just in this, like, time warp. I think it's difficult to stay present in those situations for sure and honestly i mean maybe we were maybe we were like well practiced at being on on tour and present

in touring through you know a year ago and now we're gonna be out super out of practice we've i've actually just been joking with all of my Midnight North bandmates, a bunch, because a bunch of us are in my dad's, in the Terrapin family band with my dad and your buddy Ross. Let's go. At the same time. And we play really long shows with my dad. And we do the 90-minute sets with with with midnight north um and uh

we're just like we're gonna be out of shape but in like every way not just musically you know talking to the crowd my knees are gonna hurt you know at like you know the 90 minute mark of set two and uh you know when we're like 14 minutes into like a long estimated profit you know we've just been playing in seven for like yo i'm like for like 20 minutes and um no but also just like i don't know spiritually emotionally like it's gonna be um it's gonna be hard to like do the the van rides and everything like that i think we're gonna have to build up and you know we all built up over the years you know we didn't jump into i don't know maybe you did but uh what i didn't i didn't jump into you know van tours for six months we would do like weekends and everyone had jobs for a little while and then then we would build up to two weekends in a row, the 10-day tour, and then regional.

And it's only recently been the longer one. Yeah, man. I've been seeing your name pop up fucking everywhere, and it's awesome because you deserve it. You're such a talent. I dig deeper into your music, and you're so fucking talented, and you can hold your own. I fucking respect. I'm going to give you a clap actually let's go graham let's go big dog because i know what i think would be the hardest part is like when you grow up living on a bus and then you got to go to your band and then go on a van ride for fucking 12 hours you know yeah but like

it's was it a hard transition in the beginning? It wasn't really tough because we were... I don't know. It's hard to feel like you deserve a bus right away. Yeah. But if you grew up with a bus, what do you know differently? So that's true.

Though we grew up on planes because I was born right before In the Dark and touch of gray came out for the grateful dead so the grateful dead was like a pretty successful kind of cult band until the mid-80s for like 20 plus years of their career and then this one song comes out their first top 10 hit or whatever uh and just all of a sudden they're playing stadiums and they're what we know of them as, you know. So I grew up with that.

So there was a lot of planes. There was no buses. They didn't, you know. So the buses were like my fill-in-friends experience. Damn. You're rocking fucking planes. I'm more of a normal working band, you know. So that was my life.

Oh, that's so exciting. More in like high school. Oh my gosh. Nice. That is so exciting okay so i've i've like it all it all went with different levels so i don't know i kind of like there's a romanticism to the van and like being a band starting out and all that and also there's just like sometimes a new band that is trying to make a name for itself that, you know, the band is called Midnight North. It's not called, I mean, we actually had a minute before we started the,

we found the name where we called it Graham Lesh and Friends, but you know, we didn't, we knew that wasn't a long-term thing. And the name Lesh is not in the band. So we're trying to build things up. So when you have a newish band, you're going to have the shows where there's five people in the middle of Virginia where you've never been. And if you pull up to that show in a bus, it's a little weird. I get it.

So the van, it was a good start. Do you ever kick it with Lucas Nelson? Very briefly. I feel like you guys have kind of the same vibe. We were both in our dad's bands for a couple of Willie's Outlaw shows that Phil and friends played. I wanted to say last summer. With Rate Lift? I mean, it lift i mean you guys were you guys on that with rate lift too wasn't rate lift on that or like sturgell

or uh who was on so my dad's done actually a bunch of those in 2018 19 and i only did a few of them because midnight north would be you you know, those you can't, you can't say no to Willie. No. Uh, but, but, um,

I, I wasn't in the band for all of them. Um, but yeah, I mean, Ray Lifson does those all the time for us. It was revivalists, um,

Lucas and, and promise of the real, uh, Micah's band. Um, I remember that year you guys did mountain jam particle kid. Yes.ah's band. I remember that year. You guys did Mountain Jam. Particle Kid.

Yes, yes, exactly. Yeah, I was there. It was that weekend. That's when I met you. We did three shows, and Mountain Jam was one of them. Who else was there? Well, that's dope. Cool people.

But Lucas and I hung out a little bit. I feel like we have similar experiences. We're all similar ages. I think you too. Yeah, we, I feel like we have similar experiences. We're all similar ages. I think you too. Yeah. We're all the same. Um, uh,

but you know, it's, he's also had very different experiences, you know? Yeah, totally. Some of the stuff that he does with, with Neil Young and you know,

all that other stuff. So. Was it, was it hard to have friends in high school when you're always moving? Like build good relationships with friendship. No, actually, I'm actually closer to some of my high school friends than some of my college friends. But we weren't gone that much. Um, you know, part of, part of my parents, um, plan, I think with all of this and especially with, um, you know, with my dad being a little older, um, and, and honestly just how unique

his career is like you don't get the former bass player of a mostly cult hippie band you know like becoming a big touring name true you know who he doesn't sing a ton you know the the rest of the band rotates all the time and phil and friends became really successful you know as a as a working touring band like Like what? Like what years was that when it started popping? They put out a record in, I think, 2002, a studio record. That was probably the height of it. And then they did more dead reunions in, I think, 03, 04. And Phil and Friends sort of, you know,

was put on the back burner again. But, you know, for those few years, they had a more stable lineup with Warren Haynes and Jimmy Herring, and they were playing big, you know. Yeah, big ass. Big stuff, and that was the height of it. And you were on there too? I wasn't playing. But you were there.

I was touring, yeah. But, you know, I think part of the, the, the whole plan was just doing it their own way, which is definitely a Grateful Dead ethos. Um, and my parents took that to heart. They had their team. It was pretty independent. Um, and they sort of did things their own way. And part of that was not over touring, I think. So we would, he would sort of tour in the summer and then around our like school breaks

more, you know, a two week fall tour where we wouldn't miss much school. Cause it'd be around, you know, damn Thanksgiving break. And then a spring tour that was sort of around our spring break. Um, always thinking about the kids. I fucking love it. That's good. Yeah. thanksgiving break and then a spring tour that was sort of around our spring break um always

thinking about the kids i fucking love it that's good yeah so so you know we were around for for most of the school year so you know my friends were and i played sports did all the normal school stuff so what'd you play baseball yeah were you good? And I ran cross country too. Did you play in high school? Like were you varsity or what? Yes, I did. Let's fucking go, Graham. Our team was okay. Yeah, I'm a pretty decent baseball player now.

If I get in the batting cage for a minute, now my like whole torso really hurts the next day. What philosophies did you learn from baseball that you take into your band and how you manage your band? Oh, this is funny, actually. We talk about this all the time in Midnight North, just how good of training being on a team is, good training it is for life in general,

but definitely for being on a team is a good training. It is for, I mean, for life in general, but definitely for being in a band, for like being in a van, um, all that sort of stuff. Uh, it's really, even just little league, you know, it's like, it's such, it's such good training, just the, the interpersonal dynamics, the, um, yeah, I don't know, learning to work together. There's a camaraderie for sure. And I think a lot of times that can be very doody, you know, dude heavy, like bro-y, that sort of sports team camaraderie. But, you know, for us, we're lucky with Midnight North. And I think in my whole life, you know, my, my mom has managed my dad forever. And, you know, everywhere, you know, at Terrapin through Phil and friends, there's been a big time, you know, uh, big influence of, of really strong women. And obviously with Midnight North with Elliot being the, you know, she is a force. Yeah. Such a, such a force, but you know, she played on teams too.

So we were, you know, uh, I think we're lucky with midnight North that we sort of get that, that camaraderie and that team spirit without it getting too competitive. Uh, competition's definitely part of it for sure. But just like, uh, just like, I don know we can we can be a team without being like super super bro i don't know the like you know the the like the what was it after trump's thing with the the uh that that tape back the you know long time ago yeah um when it was all locker room top oh yeah i don't know like yeah it's not really how i remember locker room talk b yeah i was just like

it's crazy it's not really how it happens even when you're 14 you know but yeah i'm with a lot of sports it's good i i love baseball because it's it's a team sport but like when you're 14 you know but yeah a lot of sports it's good i i love baseball because it's it's a team sport but like when you're hitting or pitching i didn't pitch after like middle school but um like it's very one-on-one it's very like focused like just you against the pitcher and very individual while still being a team sport. I don't know. I don't know. Maybe shooting free throws or something like that is similar, but yeah, that's kind of the only thing I, you know, it's the only sport that has that combination that I've played.

That's beautiful. Um, that, you know, it's so fat, like talking about camaraderie, how do you keep your band of good spirits through this stuff as a band leader i mean good everyone has good headphones for the long van rides oh i'm talking about now during quarantine deal with their own shit oh during quarantine yeah how do you keep a band you know as a family when we can't see everybody it's tough because we're spread around the country too yeah same here i mean it really helped that we had this album to work on so i think for me it was just trying to push that um and keep working on that we

had done most of it in January and February of 2020. Damn, right before quarantine hit? Right before, yeah. So, you know, that like had its benefits and issues too. You know, most of it was done. That was great. But not all of it was done. So we like had to find the people who were on the East Coast.

Like, you know, Elliot and our drummer Nathan are on the East Coast. Yeah. And, um, you know, that's not a big deal when you're meeting up every, you know, every month to tour, you know, but, uh, it's a different thing when, when you can't travel at all. Um, but, you know, finding a way to like finish up their parts, um, while, you know, was it all remote on the East coast? Oh, so you had to find studios on the East Coast for them to get in it? Yeah, I mean, we're lucky though, right? Yeah.

We know so many people from touring. I know, that's so sick. There's a friend, a newer friend for me, but one of Elliot's dear friends, a guy named Damien Calcane, who's played keys with us. He actually played a show with us like February 27th or 8th of last year like two weeks before you know uh before everything shut down so like knew our music and

he's got a studio at his house with all this amazing gear and it's like great the like one lead vocal that Elliot needs to lay down he can help help. Um, and so stuff like that, it was just sort of figuring, working all that out. Um, and it's, you know, it's good to have something to work towards. And I think once everyone sort of, uh, got over the initial shock, then we were able to, to really push that push through and finish everything it took a lot longer than i think i probably hoped initially but uh you know the world's different so we didn't need to rush you know yeah that's one thing i regret i i i'm like fuck it we had the record supposed to be coming out in april i'm like fuck yeah keep it going you did it i did it and you know it's good i think it helped a little bit but um i get yeah i mean don't rush i mean for us

best case it was going to be like beginning of fall of last year end of summer you know like i think that was sort of our general so it was less of a rush than i mean you your your shit was due like less than a month after yeah yeah star shelter so you're you just started the record in january so you had time you had a year yeah exactly um and you know it seemed like every day every week we'd have like a new piece of information about how the virus worked how you know what we can do can we do outside stuff great we all got you know master good master bad master good again you know like such a mind fuck yeah so especially in those early days just like figuring all that out it's just like we can't make plans like the our whole everything we're basing these plans on is going to change the next new piece of

information we get so yeah we we sort of um went that way and you know we had our little project we projects for midnight north we dug into our archives and mix some stuff put some stuff out and just try to like get a little trickle of, of income. I mean, luckily everyone was in a position where, um, we didn't need the band to be like funding our lives or supporting our lives, you know, um, which, you know, for me personally, it, it, it never has been cause you know, I'm in a, I'm in a lucky place and, um, you place and my wife still works and stuff like that. So it was really just about making sure the band was good and using anything we, any little trickle of money we made to support the record.

Was that stressful for you to keep this band together through this stuff? Like they wouldn't move on or anything? No, I wasn't really worried about that. It was mostly just stressful not to see my friends for long enough. And then, you know, they all I see Connor because he's in our bass player because he's in

San Francisco, which is great. And our buddy Andrew who does our sound, he works at Terrapin too. He lives nearby. So I, we hang out outside with him, um, and some other friends occasionally, but, uh, you know, it's, it's mostly just hard to not see our friends. And we were able to do a couple, uh, outdoor shows at Terrapin in November before California got bad again and it's getting better. So again. Yeah, shut that bitch down, yeah. And it's getting better, so hopefully. Yeah.

It is halftime at the Andy Fresco interview hour. Hey, it's Joe Angelhoff. I'm a producer on the World Saving Podcast, and today I'm bringing you world-saving Wall Street bets. I've become quite a player in the stock market, and when I mean quite a player, I've got about 500 bucks in there for my stimulus check, and I'm just buying mushroom and weed stocks.

I wanted to go through some of the Wall Street bets vernacular with you today. Diamond hands, diamond hands is what I got. Not selling shit. Game stock and AMC, I'm holding those bitches until I fucking die. No selling. Don't be a bitch. Hold the fucking line. Together we go to the moon. Diamond hands.

Paper hands is what Dave Portnoy did when he sold his game stock. Twitter let him know. He's a paper handed fucking bitch. YOLO is obviously you only live once. That's dumping your life savings into one stock. For me, that's about $300

and it didn't do too well. Not sure exactly that I'm going to beat the hedge funds doing it this way. Buy mushroom stocks. Did you rewrite lyrics throughout the pandemic or did you have lyrics in January?

What are you writing about? What are you talking about in this record? Each song is pretty unique. It's funny. I didn't rewrite anything. Something I was going to say earlier, and I think I got off track for a sec, was that because we had just finished writing and recording most of the record before quarantine,

I felt just spent. We'd gotten it all out. So it was sort of a double whammy creatively for me because it was like, I have just finished making this project, uh, or making all these songs. Um, and at the same time, there's this thing that I don't even know how to talk about going on. And then, you know, all of the, what do you mean? Um, I don i don't know what do what do i have to say about a global pandemic you know okay you know like okay like so i don't even know where to get started creatively yeah you know uh but what sort of and you know then as a as a fairly well-off

white dude like especially in j June and late May when, uh, the, the protests around George Floyd and black lives matter, you know, it's like, what do I, I'm not going to say,

you know, like all I can offer is my support. Like if I try and write a song about this, like it's going to be terrible. Yeah. Um, even if it's well intentioned, like it's just not going to be a good piece of art. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You're not going to like listening to it. Um, even if it's well intentioned, like it's just not going to be a good piece of art.

You're not going to like listening to it. Um, so, you know, all of that stuff, it was just hard to talk about, uh, creatively. And so that, that fact combined with the fact that I had just written all this stuff, you know, that like, I, I, there wasn't this like backlog of stuff I needed to, to get off my chest or anything like that. Um, so I, you know, I, I, I haven't really been writing, um, or, you know, sort of just starting in the last couple months again, um, to, to write a little bit, but, you know, not really much through, through all of this. But what, what's funny is that now I see this, you know, I look at the lyrics of this, this record a little differently after all this. And it's like, ah, you know, this was written in 2018 or whatever, or this, this verse was written a long time ago, but it's feels more relevant now, you know,

or something like that. Isn't it amazing how that happens, man? It's really crazy. It doesn't matter what the experience is. It's the human experience that we're writing about. Yeah, if we do it right. And I'm, you know, I'm really proud of this record. And so I think a lot of it does, you know, it does come through. And it applies to now.

Any songs that are just like, when you're writing it, just like overly vulnerable and like, what are you talking about? Like, what's this like theme? What was going in your head in 2018? I mean, we were just, we were touring. We were trying to make it happen. I mean, I think I'm not the only songwriter in the band too. So, you know, I'm, each song is pretty, pretty, um, I think it's pretty personal for each writer. You know, we've,

we've always kind of done it that way. Usually it's me and Elliot. Um, but, uh, Nathan, our drummer, uh, Nathan Graham, who also plays banjo and guitar and all this stuff, he, this is his first record with us and he contributed a lot of great, great lyrics. And, you know, I would, he would finish, uh, you know would finish a verse or edit verses and Elliot and I would do that too for each other's songs and so each one is sort of personal for

or they started off personal for each of us but I don't know if it ended up that way or if it ended up in maybe more of a universal place. You're all going through the same thing. Yeah, for sure. I really love our...

This isn't me trying to segue or anything, but I do love our new single, which is the first song on the album. It's called The Wild Card, but the first line is, There's always a story, which is what we named the album it's called the wild card but the first line is there's always a story which is what we named the album and uh that was nathan's song and he had a verse and a chorus and then i wrote a second verse and then we wrote a third verse together and it's he it's the first line is there's always a story of a young minded fool from back in the day. He broke all the rules and it's just him writing about like fun, good times when he was, you know, when he was younger, basically. Yeah. And writing about his past self.

And then, you know, I try and take that theme and, you know, expand on it a little bit, maybe bring in a little bit of my experience. Um, or, you know, if this is about a character, cause not everything is totally personal. We're still writing stories, um, at some point. Uh, but if this is a character, like what's, if, if the first verse is about the past is the second verse about the present. And the third verse is about the future. You know, like I think that was sort of, sort of the point of view we took is just to take each song on its merits

and try and tell a story basically. So for the second verse, when you wrote it and it's about the present, what was, what, what story are you telling about the present, what, what, what story are you telling about the present? Uh, well, let's see, that would have been like two summers ago. Um, we were just in a, we were in a sort of demoing recording session, sort of a in between festivals. Um, and, uh, I just tried to take the imagery from the first verse.

There's always a story line. So if there's always a story about the past, then sort of what's happening now and maybe that young-minded fool from the first verse is thinking a little differently about the, maybe there are some mistakes made, you know, maybe there's just, it's just memories, you know, uh, and they're good memories, you know, um, and, you know, the song's called the wild card. So the, the image of the sort of the Joker card or, you know, the rolling the dice sort of a vibe, um, was something we all, uh, latched onto.

And, you know, that, that last verse, uh, or the, the, those next verses sort of, um, played on that, you know, like the, I don't know. It's no, it makes sense. Like what, what in your old self did you, do you see that you aren't anymore? If that makes any sense. Like what in your old self do you see that you aren't anymore? If that makes any sense. Yeah. What type of person were you versus the person you are now? I don't know. I think we were all a little more carefree in the past.

And I think that's for everyone at every time, right? Were you partying? yeah not crazy uh again like i didn't write the the the first verse but you know uh talking about my life yeah everyone i definitely partied more in college than i do now like where'd you go to school now i get those two-day hangovers, you know, after three or four beers. So no one taught it, told us that was going to happen. Oh shit. It's terrible. But you know, it's, it's, we've got different responsibilities, um, you know, and different, it's a, it's a different life, you know, to what we had when we were 22 or whatever. Just moving to San Francisco and having a good time all the time. It's definitely a different life.

Do you have pressure on yourself, maybe not from anyone else, but on yourself to be a great musician to keep the legacy rocking i don't really think about the legacy part of it but um legacy of yourself for yourself like yeah as an individual i mean i i definitely want to be want to be great um good at what i you you know, I, I just want people to enjoy it. And I, what I really want is for it to be sustainable. Um, and I know that the work has to go in for it to be, to be that, uh, as, as a band with midnight North and with playing with my dad, you know, so many great, amazing musicians that play grateful dead music. Like I, I just, you know, I definitely want to, uh, belong in the number of, you know, in the, in the group of people who

can successfully play Grateful Dead music. Um, so, you know, there's definitely a drive to to be as good as possible um i don't know i yeah i don't know if it's pressure or what but it's something and i mean we've got a lot of time to just sit and think about this in front of a metronome or learn new songs or jam along to Jerry now in quarantine, that's for sure. A lot of time to sit and think about shit. What else have you been thinking about during quarantine? What am I thinking about? What else have you been deeply thinking about during this thing?

I mean, it's gone through a lot of stages, right? Like if we're thinking about the world, like, and you know, what's going on around us went from pandemic to politics to, to, you know, human rights to like, California was on fire. My dog's sick, you know, right that's right yeah it's yeah we were supposed to do this yesterday she's she's old she's there's a lot going going on with her bum you out um i'm sorry does it bum you out yeah um yeah for sure um but you know we've we've got two cats and the dog

and we're it's something for Claire and I to work on you know to do together is to care for this dog she's got a lot of issues and it's like one of those things where it's like annoying, but we also love her and we want her to feel better, but like stop yelling in the middle

of the night, you know? She's got dog dementia amongst other things. So that's- Your wife's name's Claire? Yes. How important is she in your life and when did you meet her? Extremely. We met in college. We've been together for 12, almost 13 years and married for, it was five years in September. 14 years. Did I say 14? I want to say 12 or 13. I think it's going to be 13 next month. Yo, what's the, what Yo, what's the goal?

Or not the goal. Give me some advice on how to keep the relationship. The goal has been hit. It was marriage. Yeah? There we go. Let's go. Let's go.

Let's go. But how do you keep a wife around when you're on the road so much? Well, she loves traveling too. So she comes whenever she can to the shows or just on the road so much? Well, she loves traveling too. So she comes whenever she can to the shows or just on the road for sure. But yeah, I mean, all that's mixed up though because we weren't always together all the time because of both of us traveling um but especially me uh and then now

we've been together for like in the same building for you know a year straight um was that hard no it was amazing uh it would have sucked any other way yeah fucking beautiful but it's but it's you know it's it is a reset um and you know i think we're extremely lucky to have each other not just um in general but specifically through the through the pandemic um yeah i mean it's we haven't we don't just have each other which is good we've We've got our animals and my folks live pretty close and my brother and his wife are close and my nephew. And so once we figured out that we can hang out outside, we are able to see each other all the time with masks and everything. Was San Rafael far, far away enough from the city where that was your own community? Probably. Yeah. I mean, it's 20 minutes away, but it's still far enough.

Yeah. It's Marin. Marin County is its own thing for good and bad. You know, like I've grown, I grew up in this County, but you know, it's very wealthy. Traditionally, all the Marin residents have tried to keep the riffraff from the city out of the county. So there is that sort of natural barrier of the Golden Gate Bridge, and there's no public transit up here or anything. Did they like all these rich kid hippies coming in there? Like the people who weren't in the music scene? I think the hippies came in the 60s and 70s and then they became Marin residents

and now they're all, you know. They had kids and moved to the suburbs. Yeah, basically. Damn. I grew up in LA, but I grew up in the suburbs, West Hills. It's far enough away where I didn't do shows in downtown LA. I didn't do shows in, you know, I did shows in the valley where, you know, it was easier and you build your community.

Wow. Yeah, for sure. Man, this is beautiful to hear all this stuff, bro. It's crazy, man. When all this is over, you would fit so amazingly well into this scene. I mean, Ross James, our buddy, is in Denver now. But Papa Ross. Papa Ross.

Oh, yeah, dude. Let's go, Big Ross. Let's go, Big Dog. Let's get it. Let's get it. Oh, Graham, this has been beautiful talking to you and getting to know you, man. You know, we've only, you know, we play. I feel like I met you the day Neal Casale died at Locken. It was a couple days before.

That's the last time I saw Neal, yeah. Yeah, same here, man. We got rained out, and then I peaced. Yeah, you rained out, and I rained out because you played right before. We both got rained out that day. Yeah, I think we were supposed to play right before you yeah or you know anything about neil were you close to him yeah we i mean so we got to we like i think i mentioned earlier we were

really into ryan adams yeah that band the cardinals um so neil and uh um john graboff who was the pedal steel player in that band in the cardinals um they were they were around terrapin all the time in the early days i mean so was neil was in chris's chris robinson's band at that time um and chris was was hanging at terrapin jackie green who was i think in the black crowd. Like, everything's connected. It's fucking awesome. Yeah, I mean, Neil was a dear friend to all of us. And I wasn't as close to him as someone like Ross was. But, you know, we...

Did you feel his depression when you were younger? Or, like, it just came out of nowhere? I didn't know him well enough. or like it just came out of nowhere? I didn't know him well enough. I mean, he was always pretty obviously an emotional guy and sort of wore his heart on his sleeve, but that's all I could really say. Yeah, it's crazy, man.

I loved his music and his guitar playing. It's a beautiful legacy. It sucks, but I had such a great time just hanging with him at the beginning i it's much better for me healthier for me to remember all those good times yeah i agree you know like you know did i got two more questions i'll let you go yeah you got time okay um? Okay. Do I have time? I love it, dude. You know, I say that and I realized, you know, actually we're just stuck in our fucking house.

Yeah. What are you doing later today? Fucking nothing, dude. Looking at porn probably. What did Ross teach you about life? Ross James? Yeah. He seems like such a Buddha.ha uh he is i don't know

ross is ross is one of my best friends yeah um i don't know how'd you meet me how'd you meet like what like what was that were you at a bar and just like that dude answered a craigslist ad to join my brother's band shut the fuck up yep all these musicians these musicians. In 2010 or something. He didn't have the beard. He played pedal steel. He was my age, and he played fucking pedal steel and roots music. Old soul. And yeah, he's Ross.

He's such an amazing dude. I love the guy to death, and I'm so stoked he's happy in Denver. I think the last time I saw you was when I was playing a gig with him at, what, Cervantes or something? Yeah, yeah, yeah. You were there. There was something going on in the other room. Some other show. It's fucking awesome.

Super briefly, that was over a year ago now, right? Yeah, we got to get a hang in. I know. We really do. We should even maybe try to do a tour together. I think both our bands would be perfect for that. I think that'd be a lot of fun. Fuck yeah.

I think that'd be a lot of fun. So when's the single come out? When's the record come out? What information can you give the listeners if this thing comes out in four days? We're just generating that hashtag content, my man. Let's go. No, the record is coming out. The record is called There's Always a Story by midnight north that's coming out in may uh but we're going to be dropping all kinds of singles

we've put two out already uh the second one is called wild card that one's coming out or on streaming probably on friday but i don't know when this is dropping so tuesday it'll probably be out by then. Tuesday. Perfect. So it'll be out by then. So find Wildcard by Midnight North on all your favorite streaming sites. Try and game the algorithm for us. Isn't it funny how our musician life now is 70% marketing?

Yeah. What the fuck? Yeah, I worked for a little bit in social media marketing really yeah for what i quit my day job in 2016 i worked at adobe i actually worked at a a company that a small startup that got bought by somebody that got bought by adobe so i ended up at adobe um the total opposite side of the the company that makes all the software that i actually use like photoshop and premiere and everything but uh yeah that must have been dope to being up there being there with like

pixar and like but yeah i mean that's i grew up even before the big tech stuff and it was it was like lucasfilm yeah that's right there next to marin like right under the bridge or something they're in marin yeah the uh george lucas's stuff so like it's always been you know silicon valley meets creative stuff i don't know the dead were making all kinds of crazy speaker technology at the same time that they were playing shows too so sick uh there's always been this interesting mix of all that yeah because like i watched that doc san francisco 2.0 and it talked about the oh it's like the gentrification of the yeah of just like throwing all the artists out because these uh tech companies could just charge too much and have their own little playground.

Did you feel that? Yeah, definitely. But I mean, Claire and I moved out of the city back to Marin in 2013, I think. So I think it's gotten a little crazier since, but then now it's, something's changed with the pandemic too because these tech workers can, you know, who are not a monolith by the way, you know, like all kinds of people work in tech,

but a lot of them are moving out of the city now because it's harder to be in a more confined space when there's a respiratory pandemic. I never thought of thought of it that way yeah that's why i was getting the fuck out of new york and yeah i think new york and san francisco are similar i mean i hear about people like moving to austin or you know places like that all the time and in uh in the bay area right now but you know who knows hopefully it it makes it a more sustainable, cooler city. I mean, like shutting down streets for bikes and pedestrians and just hang spaces, that's happening in San Francisco, in New York, and all kinds of these cities. And hopefully that stays and it just makes it,

it would be such a more fun place to visit, place to live. And I hope that's the case. I think we're learning a lot about humans and the idea of evolving. Because I feel like this whole thing is making people evolve into understanding, like we don't need to live in these small capacities or big cities.

We could do our life from anywhere now. Yeah. Communication. It's, it's weird. It's like in some ways we're unlucky that this virus is like so perfectly targeted to like to spread now, you know, where people are so packed together and you know, asymptomatic people can spread it and it's like just deadly enough to be really dangerous, but not deadly enough to like burn itself out quickly. Yeah. But at the same time,

we're also lucky that like this is happening where all this technology, like you and I can do this, you know, like all this stuff is happening. We don't have to be in the same room to still interact. So it's, it's this trade-off thing that I think we're discovering and hopefully we can be a

little more balanced as humans. Like you were saying. Yeah. Well, Graham, this has been a pleasure. Um, I'm excited for your single and I'm excited just to become better friends with

you. Cause I feel like this is the break in the glass. We've been trying to plan a trip to Denver. It's time for a while. Yeah. And, or I'll come out there. Hopefully we can make that happen. And then, yeah, let's fucking play shows.

Yeah. But I got one last question. I'll let you go. Yeah. What do you want to be remembered by, Graham Lish? Oh, just a chill dude. I don't know. I like that.

Let's go. I'll clap to that. Yeah. Not an asshole. I don't know. That's good. Graham, I could talk to you all day. Dude, seriously.

Have a great day. Get your number. I'll email you my number and list of texts and stuff. We'll do all the stuff. Go listen to the Midnight North single and just go follow Graham. He's a great fucking guy. Thanks, Graham, for being on the show, bro.

Thank you for having me. Bro, have a great day. You too. Later, bud. Man, that was dope as fuck. What a great guy. Shout out to you, Graham. I'm going to give you that.

Humble as fuck being you know the son of a fucking famous legend he's humble and he's genuine and he's about the music and you can't beat that so thank you Graham

okay we'll catch you after these words got Bruza in the layer in the podcast layer. Wow. We're listening to old record of yours. What is, a live, what? This is a live performance from

the All Good Festival in 2011. Look at Anders. Look how happy he is. Dude, you all look fucking happy. I mean, we're happy people i know but it's just a look at that dude that dude's having the time of his life like sunday at noon at a festival this is what i miss music festivals i do too what do you miss the most about them the camaraderie getting to see i mean we're lucky that we've gotten to see each other here and there

you know because we live in the same town. Yeah. We're homies. But like, you know, we get to see all of our people in a different dusty field every weekend in a different state. Yeah. It's just, I miss that a lot. What were you going through in 2011 with this band? At this All Good, like what was happening? We were definitely growing a lot day by day.

It was amazing. It was a pretty incredible time. I mean, people started to know who we were and, you know, we were getting picked up from the airport instead of having to like rent a car. That's sick. That's dope. Like it was, I mean, it's still popping, but like I just like the idea of like when things start to fester

and you know it's starting to fester. I don't understand what you mean, actually. Things bubble up. Oh, right. You hear people. It's just like it's growing and growing and just boom, boom, boom. And you said you're just like a gradually growing band. Yeah.

Paul, myself, and Bon, we've been playing together for 20 years. Oh, my God. Since then, 05, Duvall, 07 was Anders. And then, yeah, it's just been constant in my life for that long. And, God, I miss my dudes. I know, man. It's pretty, I'm excited that, you know, it's fucked up. This whole situation's fucked up.

Yep. We were talking about it, and what it's most fucked up about it is the crew people. Yeah. That's the hardest. It's hard to think about all those people that do all the back-breaking work, do everything to make you comfortable,

everything for you. I have so much gratitude and love for those guys and just have them all in my heart and head lately. Yeah, it's crazy, man. I mean, we're all in this together, bro. It's heavy. What would you think was the happiest year of your life, Dave Bruza?

The happiest year? Like what year do you, like when you look back right now in your young life? Right now? I don't know, man. The happiest year. With the band. With the band. With the band?

Yeah. I think there's, I don't know. I think there's, I don't know, it's a hard one to pinpoint because it's so, I don't know, against what I would think as far as, I sound like an idiot right now. No, you don't. No, just like, I can look at different eras of the band, especially since three of us have been playing together for 20 years, like getting our first big kind of break

in like 2006 and like getting recognized. since three of us have been playing together for 20 years. Getting our first big kind of break in 2006 and getting recognized. We won the band contest at Telluride Bluegrass. That was the greatest, biggest thing in the world. It is. It's a big deal. But then, you know, like, Anders' first official show with us was our New Year's Eve show in Kalamazoo.

And, like, that was just, you know, we knew what we had was something and then we're living in a van together for almost 300 days a year i mean there's just like how many phases of the band have there been uh well it depends on what you mean by phase like what do you what in your head what do you think of phases well i mean you got me mike and Paul. That was one thing. We never toured or anything, just the three of us, really. You make a record? We did. What was it called?

Less Than Supper, which we were recording, I think, February 17, 2004. Yeah. In northern Michigan. Do you re-listen to those songs? We did. Last time all of us were together, we were listening to our first record. I don't know how my voice got so deep.

You're a man now. I'm a man now. Our balls dropped, I guess. Do you cringe listening to your older music? Sometimes. I listen to songs at in particular a personal level right i'm like oh what was i thinking yeah i thought i was such a sensitive poet artist yeah it was like man that is just a load of shit it's no i think we just get older and our idea of art yeah everything

evolves i'm proud of everything we've done yeah there done there are some choices where I'm like maybe I should have thought that one a little more through but you know what that's the beauty of it because that was a snapshot of that particular time and that's really neat it's pretty exciting to look back on that stuff and like

feel that stuff you know do you ever do do you have that same philosophy for like us it's a a print of the time with yourself you're like oh that was a different bruise though and this is a different you know yeah totally that totally happens you know i've i like to change up my hair a lot yeah so. So it's been fun to look at the different phases of the mustache. Sometimes it's really waxed up. Sometimes it's a little shorter.

What was the craziest bruise? What did you do with your facial hair? What did you do? With my facial hair? Anything. What was the crazy bruise? I did a blue mohawk in 06 or 05 for a while. And I had this vibe where every time we played and we were playing a lot of bars,

I'd wear a shirt and a tie with my blue mohawk. That was a fun phase. And then I did like an emo flap haircut where I was like shaved on the sides for a while. I've done the classic long hair bruiser. Oh yeah, I was definitely boy band Dave and I'm wearing skinny jeans and like striped shirts like Todd Harrington, you

know, Todd from Chris Jacobs. He's always got the dopest shirts I like that dude puts himself together. Oh yeah, he's got style. Yeah, he's got style and you know lately it's just been overgrown mullet together. He's swag. Oh yeah, he's got style. Yeah. He's got style. And you know, lately it's just been overgrown mullet days, just hanging out. I think

it's a nice look. This is the longest I've been anywhere, I think. Oh, nice. Helped you party down. So what is this, the closer? Is this your closer? Yeah. It's an early version of Don't Lie, which for people who know our band,

know this song is usually like 20 minutes. I bet you this will be like a seven minute version. You're talking about, we were just talking about like, this band's funny because we'll finish a 15 minute song and then we'll go into another 15 minutes. Yeah. Especially this era. This is 2011.

And you were just jamming? We were just jamming. I was definitely drinking. This is like an afternoon set. I noticed a giant beer behind me. Do you feel like you could be a little more drunk and loose when you're doing long, stretched out songs?

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, you can see us listening to one another really well in this because this was still really new at this time yeah you can't see it out there because you can't see us at all well this will be posting it it's true damn deep bruce that was some that was some Twilight Zone shit oh yeah that's you're in it I'm in it you're in the Twilight Zone

I am I've been watching it how many how many have you watched I got my way through the very first season which is I think like 35 or 38 episodes

yeah Rod Serling is a hold on are you having nightmares kinda damn 35 yeah I got deep into it the other week nightmares? Kind of. Damn. 35.

I got deep into it the other week when there wasn't much going on. Am I scared to watch it? Maybe I'm like, I'm always such a pussy when it comes to horror, but I've been watching some dark shit. I wouldn't say it's super horrifying, but like it's, it's psychologically like it makes you think, and it's still being 60 years old.

Like this stuff still stands up and it's still being 60 years old like this stuff still stands up and it's still got some freaky content like what give me one example well i watched this episode the other day where uh this woman is in a department store right and she gets in this elevator and it's like a creepy elevator and this guy's kind of you know rude to her brings her to the ninth floor when you notice that there is no ninth floor she goes up there it's abandoned there's one clerk and they just happen to have the one thing she needs so she buys it in cash notices that it's scratched she goes to the manager like we don't have a ninth floor like you need to bring this back to gifts blah blah blah and so she kind of passes out and

she faints because she's just like she sees the woman who helps her but she's a mannequin so she she's all distraught she faints she gets locked in the store they don't you know think to get her out and then it turns out you know she gets back up on the ninth floor and like all these mannequins are everyone saying her name just looking at her and it's all you know this is like 1959 so the mannequins are even creepier looking than they are today then slowly they all come to life and it turns out she's actually a mannequin who left the store, and she was... And then she was, you know, she was out on her freedom month,

and then she forgot that she was a mannequin. And then, of course, it kind of has a happy ending, because she's like, oh, I'm a mannequin. It's cool. And then the last scene before they go to the credits is pretty interesting before Rod Serling talks. You see her as a mannequin and the store manager kind of does a double take. Oh, God, that is such good writing, man.

Oh, yeah, it's good stuff. I would say for anyone to watch it. It's on Hulu right now. Just don't watch it at night. I kind of do it before I go to bed. Yeah, I've been doing that too i've been watching i watched this like um documentary about the hotel sizzle in la where like there's just been like killings and just is that the one that's down by the terragram ballroom yes okay yeah i know what you're talking about they kind of based that american horror story off of it, right?

Oh, see, everyone tells me to watch that too. Is that good? That's cool. Yeah. That's the one with Gaga in it. She does a great job. But I don't think they follow the... But I've heard stories about that hotel.

Dude. Oh my God. So yeah, you got to watch that too, Dave. What's that called? It's called documentary or documentary. It's called the danger at the Cecil Hotel. Go check that out. i'll check that out um dave bruza on the show fucking in the podcast layer this is great and i also heard from the grapevine that you're putting uh you're making

surf music yeah yeah you're making a surf record i am yes yeah can we talk about it well it's not very far along i know i played you i played you something i mean it talk about it? Well, it's not very far along. I know I played you something. I mean, it's cool. It's been fun. It's been something to occupy my time. It's kind of like my free time, you know? So my free play is like, okay, I'm going to figure out some surf stuff. It's been fun.

Is it good to kind of distract yourself from not having to write for the boys and you for the band, like get your brain to like, just kind of like do a different thing. Just so when you go back into writing with what you want to write with the boys. Well, I think it all gives you perspective. Yeah.

And I think, you know, I've just been just keeping busy over the past year, just doing whatever, you know, I wrote a fair amount of songs actually in this whole lockdown thing. And some are good and some will never see the light of day, but how do you,

what do you tell? Yeah, I don't know. I, I do, I have to play it for someone. I'm not looking for like any kind of like, you know,

stamp of approval or anything, but like it helps ease me out of it. Yeah. You know, like I wrote a song, you know, we've been working on a record for green sky has, and I wrote this song.

I didn't think would, you know, I didn't know if the guys would like it. So, and I was doing these streams this summer. Like I did four of these streams called take cover and they're still on YouTube. If you,

if you want to check it out, Dave Bruza, take cover. Dave Bruza, take cover live at YouTube. No live, live in St. Louis. Yeah, it Bruza, take cover. Dave Bruza, take cover. Live at YouTube. No, live in St. Louis. Yeah, it was St. Louis.

But anyways, I played the song on there, and the reaction was really incredible to me. I was like, wow, people really like that. That's great. And then the guys liked it, too. And you didn't like it. I mean, I liked it. I wasn't sure of it. Okay.

I wasn't sure of it. So what makes you not sure of a song? Everything. You know me. I think you know me enough. Okay. I wasn't sure of it. So what makes you not sure of a song? Everything. You know me. Me too. I think you know me enough. Oh, yeah, I know. But it's so funny because that happens and all of a sudden you actually play it out and

it's like everyone fucking loves it. Yeah. It's so weird how that happens. Yeah. And it's good that people can take what they want from it. And what about writing really emotional songs that are really close to your heart? Are those hard to sing? No, no, those actually can be a little easier for me.

Yeah. I don't know. It's always been a way for me to cope with my life anyways. And like everything that I've gone through the past couple of has been it's not really a secret the songs that I've been reading you know yeah about divorce love and trying to find myself again and stuff like that do you think oh so this is healing you singing it and I think yeah in a way it's it's a way for me to let it out I mean there's you know other outlets that i'm using right now to try to process these things but yeah it's kind of like a journal you know there's a lot of even the really tongue-in-cheek goofy

songs that i've written there's there's little tidbits of my actual life in there yeah you know it's like things that have actually happened to me like i have a song called 200 miles from montana and that was a story of helping an ex-girlfriend move from Washington state to Michigan and our car kept breaking down this was after we broke up we were just friends and it was just like this interesting like week of my life trying to get you know the car just kept breaking down and we had to get you know we got stuck in Rapid City South Dakota for like two days had to get like a motel. You know, we stopped in some places in Wyoming,

went to cowboy bars where it was like the record needle scratching, like Northern Wyoming. We're middle of nowhere. We'd walk into these bars and people look at me and it was like the 1960s or something. But was this just like a love interest or what? She's my ex girlfriend. Yeah. You know, we dated back

in the day and she was moving back to michigan we were ending our tour so i was like i'll just you know i don't want you to drive alone so i'll help you out but the car kept breaking down but was it your car no it's her car yeah that's fucked i'm not laughing but it's kind of damn that sucks bruising but it's kind of tour it was tired it was fine it was still in the early days you know and it ended up being a pretty pretty neat song an interesting story of like traveling across the country in a car that kept breaking down with your ex-girlfriend you know yeah and it wasn't a bad trip i mean we're still friends today me and kristin like it's it's cool but you know it was an interesting experience that, hey, this might make a good song.

And, you know, I think Kristen actually suggested that to me. She's like, you should write a song about this. And I was like, sure. And, like, what do you think are the best travel songs? Oh, I love old country blues stuff. Why do you think we love those old stuff? The stories, man. You know? country blues stuff. Why do you think we love those old stuff? The stories, man, you know,

they're desperate or there's just no hope or there's a shitload of hope. It's just, and for me, I just love the simplicity of them. You know, they don't try to get to, I guess the word would be verbose or super poetic. It's just pretty straight to the point, but it all makes sense.

You know? Yeah. Like getting tea and coffee or there's this guy uh what is his name blue singer he did a song king b slim harpo who's he uh or is a harpo slim he's just an old blues dude he was a truck driver i think he died before you know everyone, everyone covered King B grateful. Dad covered it. So John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd did it on Saturday night live for blues brothers. No, before the blues, they just, cause they did. You remember that first season they would do like a, they had these bee costumes and like they got panned by critics about these

bees that had nothing going on. So Aykroyd and Belushi went out with the band and they dressed up, they all dressed up as bees and did I'm a King Bee, which I thought was cool. Fucking awesome. Yeah. What's the hardest,

what was the hardest song you ever wrote? All of them. Yeah. Just like, not like hard, like I haven't writer's block, but just like hard for the realization that you're writing this down on the paper.

Some of the newer stuff that I got right now. Really? I was, yeah. I mean, it's. Heavy. Yeah. It's hard to. I heard one of them and it was.

Yeah. It's hard to say. I'm just going to say it. It's hard to say that I broke my vows. Yeah. To the world. Yeah. Yeah. That's that I broke my vows. Yeah. To the world. Yeah. Yeah.

That's the content I was dealing with. Yeah. Fuck. But I think in the long run, though, I feel a lot better doing that. Mm-hmm. I think it's important to be honest with yourself. Yeah.

And it's taken me 41 years to start getting there. Well, let's fucking go, Dave. Let's go. We're back. We're back. That's what I'm talking about. You know, that's why I was opening the show like that. I mean, I was talking about how I've always wanted to have this dream of having a talk show.

I used to, like, when I was a kid, when I was a kid, I would do these. I would go by the mirror, and I would interview a chair. And I would just get my fucking gestures down and stuff. And the chair would talk to me. And I would talk back. It doesn't surprise me. And I'm not saying that as a joke. I'm like, that makes sense.

I mean, I would play air guitar. make sense you know i mean i would play air guitar yeah you know and like it's just what i'm going at is like you just never like i was never comfortable enough to just even try something new or try something that was not in my ordinary right right and because i was not comfortable with my confident with myself or the person i that i thought i was inside me or something yeah so i think that's a pretty common thing yeah i think it's something that why are people afraid to talk about it i don't know judgment maybe fear of that fear yeah just fear what people might think uh i mean there could be a number of reasons you know there's a lot of people that have a lot of great things to offer that keep it inside for who knows why.

And I think if we all just were a little more gentle to one another, you know, I think we could allow each other to really blossom and, and to be contribute these things to each other in our society. God, Dave fucking Bruce in the podcast layer, spitting fucking knowledge. Guys, thanks for being on the show. Oh, my pleasure,

Andy. It's always good to see you. I always force you to do this. I like trap you. I'm like, hey, Dave, I got chicken nuggets. Record, let's go. We're live with Dave Bruza. No, it's scary, but it's a good thing to do, and I think you do a really good job at it.

Well, I think you do a really good job at it well I think you do a really good job at being my friend because you're always there for me when I need you yeah I got your back I know you got my back I love you too go Cubs alright guys we'll see you

we do these motivational speeches I think we got enough motivation in this have a good night, everybody. Be safe out there and let the world know that you're fucking ready for this week. Go fuck it up. You tuned in to the fourth season of the World Saving Podcast with Ennio Fresco. Produced by Ennio Fresco, Joe Angelo, and Chris Lawrence. Help us save the world and spread the word.

Please subscribe, rate the show on iTunes and Spotify. For more info on the show, please find us at Instagram at WorldSavingPodcast. Fresco's blog and tour dates you'll find at andyfresco.com. Check our socials to see what's up next. Can we have a video dance party, a showcase concert or whatever springs to Andy's

wicked brain. And we will be back on tour the minute it's safe. Big thank you to this week's guest. I had a first time experience today. It didn't involve any food I never tried before or music I hadn't heard or sex I never tried. You know, if you stick it somewhere unexpected and just sort of it kind of. Well, never mind. I was driving towards the sunrise and the lakes were frozen up.

And I was checking this heartwarming musical project on the car stereo. I hadn't been out for months, let alone on a musical trip because of that dreaded lockdown. and the lakes were frozen up and I was checking this heartwarming musical project on the car stereo. I hadn't been out for months, let alone on a musical trip because of that dreaded lockdown. And my first time experience rolled over me like a wave as I suddenly realized how much in love with life I am.

So I sat there driving my car, smiling like crazy with that swollen woolly chest being so much in love, in love on my own, on Valentine's Day, and it felt great. And then it passed, the moment changed, the scenery changed, the song changed, and I remembered the cynics saying, first times never return, second times can be great,

but never like the first one. And I thought of my humble sexual learning curve, and yes, it got better, but I don't remember most of it, except the first one. And I thought of my humble sexual learning curve and yes, it got better, but I don't remember most of it, except the first time. But somehow, these exceptional moments of love and probably true happiness feel brand new over and over and over again.

I wish you all uncountable first-time feelings. See you next week.