Andy Frasco's World Saving Podcast - EP 126: Chuck Leavell (The Rolling Stones, Allman Brothers Band)

Episode Date: May 25, 2021

Fresh off the operating table, comedian and successful brain surgery patient, Kyle Ayers joins Andy this week as co-host! And we have an absolute LEGEND gracing our Interview Hour: Chuck Leavell! In addition to being a masterful pianist, the man is also a published author and tree farmer. You won't want to miss this one. Andy Frasco and The UN perform at Red Rocks this Thursday. Get yourself a ticket if you're in the area! This is EP 126. 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 song, "Love Hard" on iTunes, Spotify  get hip to the legend: chuckleavell.com Produced by Andy Frasco Joe Angelhow Chris Lorentz Audio mix by Chris Lorentz Featuring: Mara Davis Ahri Findling Kyle Ayers Arno Bakker

what's up Andy it's Mara Davis your talent booker and you know when I book you a great guest like a fucking rolling stone it would be nice for you to be like hey Mara it went well or that was fun or thank you and listen I've been sending you emails constantly, and you reject, like, the greatest ideas. Your test list can be like a little bit of a sausage fest, and you need some ladies on your show, and you need to take some risks and chances, man. We get it.

You like jam music. You like Harry Arndt. That's fine. But let's try something new and maybe call me about Chuck Lavelle. That'd be good. Anyway, have a good one. Mr. Frasco, this is Freddie Montgomery with the Red Rocks Amphitheater. I just got sent your rider and we got some problems. You've sold maybe 44 tickets, okay?

You're not even close to selling out this thing. This list is fucking ridiculous, okay? How am I supposed to get this shit? We've been in a pandemic. You think I can get a horse-drawn carriage in three days? Okay? What the fuck? How am I supposed to get a Laserdisc copy of Scarface?

They don't even make Laserdisc anymore. So I'm going to go on fucking eBay and find you a Laserdisc copy of Scarface? They don't even make Laserdisc anymore. So I'm going to go on fucking eBay and find you a Laserdisc copy of Scarface and a Laserdisc player? I don't even know how to use that shit. It's a dead technology. An indoor skydiving facility? How am I supposed to fit that in the green room, Andy? What the fuck is this thing? You just lifted sluts.

What am I, a sex trafficker? Get your manager to send me a real fucking rider. Stop with this bullshit. You barely sold any tickets to the show. Send me a real rider, otherwise we're never booking you fucking shits again. Jack. Jack. Jack. All right, let's clap. All right. Andy Frasco's World Saving Podcast.

I'm Andy Frasco. How's everyone out there? How's our heads? How's our minds? Are we staying out of trouble? Are you staying out of trouble? I got Kyle Ayers co-hosting tonight. What's up, Kyle?

Yeah, I physically don't have the capability to get in any. I know. I wanted to get you on the show. You just had fucking brain surgery. I had brain surgery. I had surgery in the brain and the brain stem and my trigeminal nerve. And, you know, now I'm recovering and we're counting down to Thursday. And, you know.

We're playing Red Rocks on Thursday. Red Rocks on Thursday. Hot off of brain surgery. Hot off brain surgery. Hot off brain surgery and then going to nice little Red Rocks jaunt. It's almost better to me because I got to keep it pretty low key. I don't have a ton of energy. But Red Rocks is almost better because it's so much bigger

that it's not like everyone's going to be just sort of lingering afterwards. Right. You know what I mean? It's like if you do a show at a bar, then everyone's sort of just by your merch table. You want to hang? But this is like, at least I can go hide in some hole that Mick Jagger probably hid in.

Yeah, you're right. I mean, there's a lot of hiding spots. Good to know because I've been giving everyone all access passes for this. You have nowhere to go. It's funny to look up Red Rocks and people are like, yeah, I jog there. And I'm like,

oh, cool. But what? Yeah, we're playing Red Rocks May 27th in two days. I just got back from la when i went out to dinner with kyle it was great to see you and the baby girl and um your house looks great your dog mojo looks awesome he's really killing it we just found out today he can uh howl i was playing the harmonica and he started howling no way yeah and it's really funny because he doesn't look like a howl dog. No. He's like small and long haired and fluff and furry.

He's not like a sheep dog or you know what I mean? Or like a German shepherd or something that you see how it was nice. What are you going to do? What are you going to do? Can you be funny when you're all like drugged up from your medicine? I don't know if you can be universally funny. I'm funnier to like my girlfriend because I was just like zonked out in the hospital.

So she didn't have to put up with me trying so hard. Were you still trying to rip jokes when you're all zonked up in the hospital? I tried. I tried so hard. I tried to do this stupid bit. So they had to put little spacers. You remember that MyPillow guy that was all over

the news for being like a nut? Yeah. They had to put these little spacers in my head to keep my nerve from touching arteries because it was like the nerve had exploded and it was like setting off pain. And the surgeon called them pillows. So I kept telling everyone, I was like, can you make sure they're MyPillows? I only use MyPill my pillows and no one laughed the entire extent of the time they're like this guy's all drugged up they all had to come up to me one at a time and like pre-op before the morning

of the surgery and I tried to make them all laugh one at a time and no one thought it was no one cared like 20 people individually could not have cared less no shit oh man I feel so bad dude I mean that's a serious deal. You're like, you're, you're pretty good spirited about everything, but like one wrong move and you could have been dead, bro. Yeah. I had a lot of bad nightmares about it. It was leading up a lot

of nightmares about your Googling, like how many people die from it and what could happen from it and all this sort of stuff. And you know,'s, the internet has made, um, access to potential ailments, both better and also more concerning because everyone's like, my arm hurts, looks on the internet. Oh, I have arm cancer. Do you know what I mean? Yeah, I'm like that too, dude. So I looked it up a bunch. My girlfriend definitely looked it up. But she's the reason I got diagnosed with it quicker than I think I even would have because she was the first person to be like, it could be this really obscure thing that only women over 50 get. And that's what it was.

Oh my God. You're a woman over 50 in your heart. I know. Oh, Kyle. That's why I like to yell at servers at restaurants now. I'm just a woman over 50. We'll call you Karen, dog. Karen Ayers, dude.

Dude, Kyle, this is crazy. Shout out to Kyle for being alive. What's up, Kyle? Let's go. Everyone come to the show. You can see my scar. Do you think the one on top will go away or is that going to be forever?

It's crazy. Yeah, so if you guys don't, so I have a little, they had to sew me down to the stand so I wouldn't move which at first sounds like ang you're like why'd you sew me and then eventually like oh that's nice because you're you don't they don't want you jolting or moving your head while you they have a knife in there and so they sewed me down with these and i have a little t mark on my forehead and two of them on the back of my head and i hope it goes away because right now it looks looks like a Charles Manson swastika healing over. I'm sorry to laugh.

So you're like walking and I can't wear hats or anything because of the scar on the back. So I'm just walking down the street. Like everyone's looking at my cult scar. Went to prison. I got my teardrop on the top of my head. I told you you had to pick a side. I picked to prison. I got my teardrop on the top of my head. They told you you had to pick a side. I picked a side.

Fucking Christ. But I mean, you know, they fixed the issue. I was having pretty extreme pain that has gone away and just slowly recovering. And seeing June 10th is when I get these stitches out and we'll see how it comes out on the other side and how it heals. You know, you forget how long everything takes.

Like even if you cut your hand cooking, there's still a mark there for months damn what did what was the scariest dream you had of before the surgery i kept having dreams i'd wake up during the surgery and your brain's out yeah i was like face down because it's on the back of my head so i kept having dreams i was like in like you know like massage bed pillows that are used i'd have a dream i was like face down on one of those and i'd wake up and i was i was telling everyone i was awake and i could feel it and they couldn't hear me yeah oh no i'm getting it's scary i was talking to the i met the anesthesiologist the guy is going to knock me out and i was like i have this i keep having this fear i'm going to wake up. And he goes, it happens. And I was like, okay, all right. But he said he'd never had someone ever.

He was 25,000 times he had knocked people out and no one ever woke up. And so that was either reassuring or he was due. Like I wasn't sure how I was supposed to feel about that. He's done that 25,000 times. Isn't that wild? And all the different sort of medical teams, surgeons, anesthesiologists, nurses,

they all sort of have a different person. It sounds dumb, but like Scrubs. You remember that show Scrubs where everyone was in their little pods? The anesthesiologists were kind of like punk rock people. They were like, yeah, dude, we just knock you out. It's kind of tight. And I'm like, how does the gas work?

How do I not die? You're the one selling the nitrous to the nitrous mafia, dog. It's just you and Nick are like rolling and pump me up until I pass out. Yo, I would have loved to drug up with you, dog. You don't have to drug up by yourself. I'll drug up with you next time. How about that? That's very considerate of you.

Speaking about being considerate, do you know about anything about Rep-C? Rep-C? Do you think Rep-C booked your surgery for you? Do you think they could have? Oh, yeah. I can't hear that without hearing Repetitus C. Well, Rep- C sponsored the podcast.

They're presenting this one. Chuck Lavelle, we have the Rolling Stones on today, Kyle. Yeah, that's absolutely nuts. I was reading old Stones, Red Rock stories and stuff like that. What were they saying? Just that they, I think they had like, were like international band that had sold it out the most or something like that.

Were you the one who told me that the only band that didn't sell it out was the Beatles? Well, the Beatles, it was the only show the Beatles didn't sell out on their American Invasion tour was Red Rocks. The most beautiful place on the planet. I know. Everyone is just like a bunch of people. Colorado's demographic was a little

more conservative then, I think, and they didn't need to go see. Could you imagine they're like, you're in Denver and people are like, I don't want to go see these you imagine they're like in you're in denver and people are like i don't want to go see these hippies and now if you're in denver and everyone's like wait they're not hippies yeah you're fucking right uh well speaking of repsy if you want to get your band booked by repsy you should you should put put it on there go to repsy.com they've helped so many bands out if you have an, then they don't take a percentage. And if you don't have a booking agency, then they only take 10%.

It's a win-win. How many shows, Kyle? I bet you can't even find gigs in the fall because everyone's booked up, right? Yeah, man. It's crazy. Everyone was waiting to do something, and now it feels like everything is a little more extreme now. You know what I mean? Everything's booked up.

I guarantee you're going to see the biggest bands in the world play the fucking backyard, big lot of a pizza shop or something. Right. It's like now the Rolling Stones just are trying to fill dates. We're playing at the Kipsey. We got a pool party on Wednesday, the Palladium on Thursday. Well, that sounds like our schedule. So if you want to get some more shows booked,

go to Repsy.com. Tell them Frasca sent you. I'm telling you guys, a lot of bands listen to this. Put your stuff. It doesn't hurt. Put your stuff on Repsy.com and let's see what kind of gigs you can get.

And they're not going to force you to take the gigs. If they give you a gig and you don't want to do it, then you don't have to fucking do it. But at least you're trying. So shout out to you. Shout out to Repsy. What's up, Repsy? Let's go.

Kyle, big days. Big days ahead of us. You ready for Red Rock? Are you nervous? Do those big crowds make you nervous? I mean, for me, the one thing that has come from sort of the social distancing of crowds is it's made music crowds have to behave like comedy crowds. So it's like a music crowd was normally like on the rail, interrupting you,

especially for the opener. They're just sort of getting in, getting drinks, getting their spots, talking to their friends. Now it's like, sit down. Look at this man. No talking. Put your mask on. So I'm excited for it. I think that they do a good job with appropriate crowd sizes for safety and everything like that.

And I mean, it's going to be, it's huge. It's the most like renowned venue in the country, especially outdoor, you know, that is renowned exclusively performance venue in the country, especially outdoor, you know, that is renowned exclusively performance venue in the country. What's the biggest venue you've ever played at that you weren't supposed to play? Oh, um, that's just like a crowd,

just too loud. You couldn't even do jokes. Oh, I've done so just like some music, like the, the Brooklyn bowl thing was kind of crazy on the Royal Rumble tour you know that was so many people crammed in there oh yeah at that point even if you're playing

music you're only getting the first two thirds of the room because the back is just sort of like it's like the but I've done I did Bonnaroo that's what it is if you want to talk about the I just stand up at Bonnaroo and no first off nobody asked for comedy there and that's the thing about comedy is you don't like when I just stand up at Bonnaroo and no, first off, nobody asked for comedy there.

And that's the thing about comedy is you don't like when it's a surprise. Even though, even if it's a comedy tent, no one asked. It's like a comedy tent, but most of the people saw it as the air conditioning barn. Like that's what it was more known as. Because you've been to these festivals. This is in Manchester, Tennessee in June. It's a thousand degrees outside. Everyone's been on Molly, so it's even hotter. Their skin is melting off.

And they're like, finally, here's some air conditioning. And they walk in. I'm like, look at this guy over here with the camelback on. And they're just like, oh, it's my worst nightmare. So there were some pretty big shows there. Oh, man. And then it's funny to watch like people who are there watching your comedy be like oh actually i'd rather go see t-pain and then they leave your

comedy set to go watch t-pain like really close to another state so you just heard this it was actually right in the middle so everyone could hear every other option instead of us but really uh most bands were quieter but i t-pain was especially loud and he was very funny and you know it's these there's not a lot of like hip-hop at these festivals usually so people like to go see like the one or two acts there are and i just remember people like uh what's that buy you a drink is that t-pain yeah he i was like on stage and that song came on and someone laughed and i was like, I also would if I could go with you.

Yo, what's up? Side note, T-Pain does a killer show. Where do we see him play? His Tiny Desk is like one of the greatest NPR things that you've ever seen. He's such a good singer.

He was funnier than comedians. He had this line, some, he, cause he just features on a lot of songs. Yeah. So he would just like play the whole song and then do his verse. And then you're just listening to a song with T-Pain essentially at a

cause he's in nine seconds of a song, but he would play the full thing. And so you just listen to a Drake song for two and a half minutes. He played one song and in the middle of it, he goes, y'all remember I'm on this, right? play the full thing and so you just listen to a drake song for two and a half minutes he played one song and in the middle of it he goes y'all remember i'm on this right and he just said that to everybody and then he did like his two lines like this is the best happiest man i've ever seen uh you know the other guy was really happy with chuckle bell dude i yeah i mean yeah he was in the allman brothers he he was found by Dr. John.

Then he did all the records with the Stones besides Bridges of Babylon. I mean, it's a pretty sick dude, dude. And he made it. I mean, that's the life. I mean, that's like even between all them, he's like been on tour with like george harrison yeah and and like it's crazy when like the the allman brothers are like the fourth most famous band you've been in it's crazy dude touring with like clapton he toured with george harrison george harrison i bet would be the best beetle to tour with if you got to pick one if you got to pick one i think two george would be the

coolest i mean he'd like let you go to sleep if you needed to or he'd hang out with you if you needed to he but he was on the last tour when he had cancer really man and they couldn't finish well heavy but we talked about that he he was he opened up to me i was surprised um i thought uh you know when that guy that you know, it's just, you don't want to sometimes remember those things. So it was great. Shout out to you. Shout out. So I got one last thing. We'll listen to this interview. What did you learn optimistically about from your brain surgery about life? Um, kind of it. So I always, when I, when I got the surgery day booked it seemed like it was I was in insane pain and it seemed like it was like nine years away it was like months and months away I booked

it way early this year but you got to just be like well it's going to be that day when it's that day no matter what so just try and do what you can to make it okay when it comes. I booked this in February, and I'm in crazy pain. If you're in pain, May seems like 10 years from now. I know. That's so crazy. That's never going to come. That's never going to come, but you just got to get it, and it's going to be May when it's May,

and it's going to be that time faster, so just do it. That's beautiful, dude. So if everyone's listening, go ahead and just unsubscribe from that Gap email list you're on. Dude, after your tweet, honestly, you tweeted that two days ago and I started

unsubscribing to all of them, dude. Feels good. Just do the little thing because it's going to be tomorrow when it's tomorrow. You're fucking beautiful. Clean up the icons on your desktop. It's crowded. Just drag a couple of the trash. The philosopher, the comedian, my best buddy.

Kyle Ayers, thanks for being on the show. I'll see you in Denver. I'll see you tomorrow. I'll see you basically tomorrow. All right, guys. Enjoy Chuck Lavelle, And I'll talk to you later Next up on the interview hour We have the GOAT

Chuck Lavelle from the Rolling Stones Allman Brothers Chris plays whatever Chuck's played on He's on everything He's a producer. He's a nature activist, too, which is fucking awesome, too. But keyboard player for the Stones since 82. I mean, the guy's a legend, and this interview was inspiring,

and he taught me a lot about how to keep it going throughout the years and through ups and downs. So, ladies and gentlemen, please enjoy Chalk Your Back. I met a gem soaked by Roque and Mufas She had to take me upstairs for a ride Yeah, she had to Heave me right Across her shoulder

Just don't sing To take her off my mind She was All wrong Honky tonk river. Give me, give me, give me the honky tonk blues. Holy shit, we got the legend. What up, Chuck?

Oh, man, it's all good. I'm sitting here on a beautiful Friday at Charlayne and looking at the sunshine and the gentle breeze going through my trees all as well. Yeah, I heard you do tree farming. I am a tree farmer, sir. Tell me about that. Why do you have such a passion in that? Well, you know, my wife inherited some land back in 1981 from her grandmother, and we went on kind of a journey to decide what to do with this land.

It was about 1,000 acres. And so after investigating row crops and cattle farming and all kinds of other possibilities, that seemed that was going to be a lot of day-to-day work, which was difficult if I wanted to pursue my musical career. So after a lot of investigation, we settled on forestry, long-term forestry. There's also, if I may say, a personal connection for me, because where does that thing that comes from that has given me so much joy and a great career? Of course, the piano comes from the resource of wood, as do most other musical instruments. So there was kind of a personal connection for me.

instruments. So there was kind of a personal connection for me. And, you know, to expound a little bit, you know, look at all the things that the resource of wood gives us. I mean, materials to build our homes, schools, churches, offices, materials to make books, magazines, newspapers, paper products, provides home and shelter to all manner of wildlife, provides home and shelter to all manner of wildlife, cleans our water, sequesters carbon. So it's a pretty cool resource and, in my opinion, the most valuable one that we have. When do you think it's okay to cut a tree? Well, you know, here's the thing. You want to keep everything in balance. Look, wood is a natural, organic, and mostly importantly, a renewable resource. So it's a resilient thing for us, or very, very resilient. So as long as you are practicing sustainability, and what does that mean?

That means planting and managing and growing more than you're taking off the landscape. We're certainly doing that here at Charlene, and most all ethical tree farmers that I know are doing the same thing. I heard you won some awards for doing this. We have several recognitions. I guess the most prominent one was back in 1999, which has been a few minutes ago. We were selected as the National Outstanding Tree Farmers of the Year, and that was out of about 66,000 other tree farmers across the country. And, you know, it's more than, I think, just the way that we manage our forest. It also has to do with advocacy, getting out, giving speeches. Of course, I've written three books on the subject of forestry, or at least to some degree, the subject of forestry. And I think that played into the selection as well.

Let's fucking go, Chuck. That's what I'm talking about, dog. That's what I'm talking about. I mean, it's true though. I mean, we gotta find passions, you know? And like, do you get just as high from finishing a book about this than finishing a tune or finishing an album?

Oh, yeah. I mean, look, again, using that word balance, when I'm out touring with the Stones or with whoever, and you're in big cities and there's a lot of electric atmosphere, you're playing stadiums or big arenas or whatever it might be, you're moving around a lot. All of that tends to sap up a little bit of energy. So when I come home to Shore Lane and I can walk in the woods and hear the sound of wind in the pines and the feeling of leaves crunching underfoot and the sound of songbirds maybe seeing a wild turkey or a white-tailed deer go through the woods.

This is something that keeps me in balance. Was it hard to find balance in your career as a younger man? No. I mean, I was just going for it. I loved playing music. I would seek out opportunities. My dad had a saying that you make your own luck. And I think that's very true. And what does that mean? I think for me, it meant learning how to be in the right place at the right time. And that concept has served me pretty well.

Where do you feel like your biggest blessing was being in the right place at the right time? Well, the first very big step for me was the Allman Brothers band. But even before that, playing with Dr. John, Mac was a great inspiration to me. He was very kind to me. I learned a lot from him. to me. He was very kind to me. I learned a lot from him. It wasn't long after my work with Mac that I was asked to join the Allman Brothers Band, so that was certainly a big step. But, you know, after that, in 1981, when I got the call from the Stones, that was a pretty good call, and that's worked out for the last 39 years now. Yeah. Tell me, what life lessons did Mac teach you? Well, I was referring mainly to technique on the piano, but Mac was a spiritual

guy from a very strange angle. he grew up in New Orleans. He was influenced by what he called the Sisters, which was a group of women that kind of studied voodoo culture, spiritual culture from that angle. And so Mac came from that angle. And he was very spiritual in that way, in a very positive way, may I say. Yeah, because I'd feel like, you know, I'm a self-taught piano player as well. And just, I never got to interview Dr. John, but I've played with him a few times and the lessons he taught me, you know, he either loves you or hates you. So it's like, it's that passion though, you know, it's, I think the most important thing about life is understanding who you want to be and what path it takes.

Do you feel like if you forced your path, you'd be in a different position than just going with the flow? Well, I think in some ways, I'm not sure forcing is the right word, but, you know, in terms of learning your instrument, it takes a lot of wherewithal to sit down and practice for hours on end and to learn technique and to make that process. But it is and can be daunting, and you have to be patient with yourself, I think, to get to where you want to be. But, you know, these are important things to do. It's great to go with the flow, but it's also very important to discipline yourself and do what it takes to become proficient at your instrument. Totally. So when you're producing, do you have that same philosophy?

I think producing is all about trying to bring out the best in the artist and finding the artist's positives and perhaps some negatives, things to avoid and things to enhance and go for. So, you know, the other side of that is you want to try to keep the artist happy. You know, if there's something that you feel might should go a little bit to the left and the artist really wants it to go to the right, you know, you may compromise a little bit, but you want to keep the artist happy. It's their career, it's their music, it's their voice. It's their instrument, whatever that might be. What was the hardest session you had to deal with?

Or like not the most difficult to make a whole piece? Well, back in the 80s, we did two records with the Stones, and they were sort of difficult records to make because, you know, let's just say that some attitudes were diverging from time to time. And so there could be very long hours working on a piece that you felt, okay, is this going anywhere or not? Eventually it did go somewhere. And that's the amazing thing about the writing process, at least with the stones, is that sometimes it takes just beating that thing to death until you finally come out with something that makes some sense. And so those could be, they were long hours. Sometimes frustration was involved. But at the end of the day, we made the records, and I think they hold up. Fuck yeah, they hold up. Chuck, you're a legend.

So, yeah, my buddy was the engineer on Bridges to Babylon, and I know you weren't on that record. But he was telling me that Mick, they don't record together. Is that true? Well, they didn't at that time. And you know what? During that process, I was very disappointed not to be called. But after the fact and after hearing some of the stories, I think I'm kind of glad I wasn't there because, you know, I've seen some tough times with those guys, but I think that was perhaps

one of the toughest. Nevertheless, you know what, at the end of the day, it's a pretty darn good record. And kudos to the band and all that played on it. I think Ben Montench may have played some keys on some of that. I think Billy Preston played some. And at the end of the day, it's a pretty good record. But I understand the process was sometimes very challenging. Why didn't they put you on that record, if you don't mind me asking? You know, you'd have to ask them that question. I've never asked it of them. You know, again again initially i was

disappointed not to be called but uh hey i had other things i could do and i was happy to do those things so uh that's the only one in the last 39 years that i haven't been on so uh you know it is what it is yeah totally, totally. What do you think? Do you think there's like chemistry? Like, how do we keep a band together for 30, 40 years? Well, Andy, you know, there's always challenges. And it's like a marriage, you know. I think the more difficult times you go through and you don't break up, the stronger you become in the relationship.

And I think that's the case with a lot of bands. You know, you go through ups, you go through downs, you have successes, you have some that are not so successful. But, you know, it's all about the process. You know, as you well know, sometimes people say, oh, you're in a rock band. Man, that's great. You're with the Stones. That's fantastic. It must be great.

You just have a good time on tour. You go party all the time. They don't understand the work ethic that it takes to do those tours, the work ethic that it takes to write those songs, the work ethic that it takes to write those songs, the work ethic that it takes to record those songs and to experiment and to try different tempos, different chord changes, different keys, different this, different that, to find that formula that finally seems to put it all together. Yeah, totally.

I mean, one of my close friends is Carl Denson. He's with you guys. And he tells me, yeah, it's like everyone has this idea of what it is to be in a super machine like that, but they don't really understand that it's a lot more work than just playing the 500-person clubs or the fucking 1,000-person clubs, you know? It's a lot more pressure, it feels like.

Well, I remember when Carl first came into the band and um you know we spent some time we were excuse me we were rehearsing and uh getting ready for the tour and i remember him telling me that he said you know what i just called the guys that i work with in my band and just told them that some guys in their 60s just kicked their ass. Fuck yeah, dude. I love Carl. I mean. He's amazing.

Yeah, I want to go into how you met Greg Allman. Well, you know, it's a lot of backstory here, man. The Allman Joys, which was a way early precursor to the Allman Brothers band, used to play in Tuscaloosa, where I grew up, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, at a place called the Fort Brandon Armory. And every time they would play, you know, I was learning my trade back then, and I guess I would have been 13, 14, 15 years old during this time. And they just blew me away, Greg and Dwayne and the whole band, the Almond Joys. Bill Connell was the drummer. The bass players came and went a little bit. But, you know, so the bottom line is I had a great affinity and a great appreciation for what they were doing back then.

I didn't necessarily know them, Andy. You know, I didn't really meet them, but I would go hear them play. And then, you know, let's just fast forward to when I migrated to Macon and started working at Capricorn Records, doing sessions, playing with different artists, which would include Alex Taylor. And we talked about Dr. John. Of course, Mac was not on Capricorn, but he was managed by Phil Walden. So there were connections all through there. We often opened up for the almonds with Alex Taylor, with Dr. John. And the story is that I always used an acoustic piano.

And when they would change the set, they would pull the piano backstage. I would stay there while the almonds played and sit down and play along with them. Really? I did, yes. Oh, that's amazing. And I think I caught the attention of some of the road crew who would kind of stop and listen a little bit. And I think my reputation started going into their awareness a little bit. And then here's what happened. After Dwayne had his tragic motorcycle accident and the band had to go out and work as a five-piece with no replacement.

After that tour, they came back to Macon. They were physically exhausted, mentally exhausted. They'd been through all kinds of stuff at that point. They needed a break. They took a break. Greg wanted to do a solo record. Johnny Sandlin was the producer. And Johnny called me up and he said, listen, Greg wants to do this. And I really would like to get you on it. Greg has approved that he knows who you are and he would like for you to be involved. So yeah, man, we started those sessions at the time I was 20 years old. And the session, 20, 20, yeah, I was 20 at the time. And the sessions went really, really well.

You know, Greg had all this material that didn't quite fit the almonds, but it was great songs, some songs that he had written, some that he had found from other sources. And we had a tight little unit playing. Well, this goes on for a few weeks, and sometimes at the end of the day, the rest of the almonds would come down to the studio, and we would just have these jam sessions after hours. And so, you know, it could be playing an Almond Brothers song, a blues song, or just take a key and go for it. And after these jam sessions for about three or four weeks, I guess, I get a call from Phil Walden, who was the band's manager

and the owner of Capcorn Records, and he said, I want to see you in my office. Oh, God, what have I done wrong? And I walk in, and there's all the guys in the Allman Brothers around the room. And pretty soon the shoe dropped. Hey, the guys feel like this is going in a really interesting direction. Would you like to join the Allman Brothers band? Yes, I would.

Fucking go. Let's go, Chuck. Oh, my God. 20 years old? How old were they? Well, let's see. I think they were like seven, eight years older than me. Let's just put it that way.

So, you know, they were in their late 20s, I guess. I got so many questions. All right. So how did Capricorn get a hold of you at 18? I mean, like your mom let you go on the road? Like what happened? Well, you know, I started in bands in Tuscaloosa, kind of worked my way up through the ladder, so to speak. And I had befriended Paul Hornsby. Paul was in a precursor of the Allman Brothers band called the Hourglass. After the Allman Joys had broken up, the Hourglass eventually formed. They wound up going to California, to L.A.

They signed with Liberty Records, and they made a couple of albums on that label. Then they broke up. Dwayne came back. He was frustrated with the way things were going with Liberty, and Greg stayed in L.A. And so the band had broken up. Paul Hornsby came to Tuscaloosa. He's an Alabama guy, and so he settled in Tuscaloosa. He and I became friends, and he became a mentor to me. We

played in some bands. He was very encouraging to me on keyboards and also with vocals. And then all of a sudden he gets a call from Capricorn saying, hey, we need somebody to come be a studio musician and produce records. So Paul left and went to Macon. Now, also during this time, I had ventured a little bit up into Muscle Shoals, where, of course, as you know, was a huge hotbed of activity for recording. And I got on a couple of little sessions up there. But what I realized, Andy, pretty quickly was that the older guys were going to get the cream gigs, right? You know, they were older. They had experience. Barry Beckett, incredible piano player.

Clayton Ivey, another great player. Steve Nathan and others. They already kind of had things locked up. And I would get maybe, you know, the grade B and grade C session work. They put you in the shit. Well, you know, but that was the reality. So I said, well, what the heck is going on in Macon that's pulling Paul Hornsby over there? You know, there must be something to Macon, Georgia.

Let me go see what that is. And, of course, I knew the Allman Brothers band had formed and that they were on the label Capricorn. And I said, that can't be no bad thing, right? So I literally got into my Oldsmobile 65 Cutlass station wagon and drove over there. And I took a tour of the facilities, the studio, state-of-the-art studio, the offices. They looked really cool. They had people in there working and looked like they had activity going on. And the studio, state-of-the-art studio, the offices, they looked really cool. They had people in there working and looked like they had activity going on.

And the word to me from them was, come on over here. We'll find you something to do. We need musicians. You know, we're looking for. So that's what happened. And I began to work my way up. Oh, my. Chuck, this is crazy. I need to know, like your parent,

were your parents supportive about this? Like how did they were okay with your 18 year old kid moving away and not going to college? Well, there's a real sweet story behind that. First of all, in my senior year of high school, they used to have a thing called D E diversified education. And what that really meant was that you would go to school half a day and then you got out early to go to a job. Well, I had convinced the Phillips High School that I was going to in Birmingham. I had left my parents' home in Tuscaloosa and moved to Birmingham, and I had a job in a studio, United Artists Studio. And so I would get out and go record, and then we had a band, and we would be working on the weekends. And eventually, as we got to mid-year, I got called in by the principal who said, look, we have a law in this state that says you have to

attend so many days to graduate, and you're right on the edge of that. I had been, you know, I would miss a Thursday, Friday, or a Friday Monday because we would go off on the weekends and play in new Orleans or play in, you know, Auburn, Alabama or somewhere, Tennessee, making the rounds in the region. And so, you know, I, I was faced with a situation either give up the touring and go to school every day or give up school and continue my pursuit. And I chose the latter. And it was difficult. My parents, of course, were not totally on board with this concept, but they said, you

know, okay, give it a try. And, you know, you've only got a half a semester to go, so if it's not working out, just please go back to school and finish up. Well, that's when all this activity started happening, and I started getting a little bit of work. I wound up going to Macon, and I said, you know, I'm just going to keep following this and see where it goes, and that's what happened, But the sweet part of it was when I got to Capricorn and spent a little time there, one of the employees, a guy named Bunky Odom, he was kind of a do it all guy, you know, for the company and just whatever it took, he would make it happen. And he told me, you know what, Chuck, your father called over here without your knowledge, and he talked to everybody, and he said, look, this is my son over there, and I know he wants to pursue this, and I just hope you guys look after him and not let him get into any kind of mess. Oh, that's so beautiful, man.

Yeah. What was your relationship like with your mom and dad before that? Middle school, young, were they super supportive? Did you grow up in a poor family, rich family? Tell me about your young life. Well, we were middle class. Dad was an insurance salesman. Mom was a homemaker.

And mom was the piano player. And I was the baby of the family. I had a brother that was 14 years older than me and a sister five years older than me. So oftentimes at a very young age, it's me and mom in the house and she would play. And she wasn't a teacher or professional or anything, but she could play and she was quite good. So, you know, as a five, six-year-old, I just loved hearing her play. I loved watching her hands move up and down that keyboard. She'd get me up on the stool and show me very simple things and sometimes leave me to my own resource. She would say, hey, Chuck,

I've got to go do some housework. But you can sit up here and just mess around. You can make something up or maybe work on something that i've shown you it doesn't matter just have some fun and that's the way it worked and so i began to get a real feel and a real affinity for the instrument and mom was always very encouraging and other things she did andy that was really important sometimes she would say things like so chuck what do you think it would sound like if there was a big storm outside? Well, I'd rumble down on the lower end of the keys and do some lightning strikes up high, you know, some pops up there. What do you think it would sound like if you just were having a great day and you hit a home run on your baseball team, you know, that I'd play something happy and up, you know?

You know, I'd play something happy and up, you know. And, well, what do you think it might sound like if you had a fight with your best friend, you know? And so music has always been that to me. It's always been about feelings and colors and emotions and trying to paint those pictures rather than, you know, chords and notes only. So how do you paint a picture of happiness when you're feeling bummed out, or do you just try to be authentic to how you're feeling? Well, you know, I think if you're bummed out, you play bummed out, man.

It's true. I can play bummed out. You can play bummed out. What about in the sessions? Did you ever deal with any addictions or anything well now you know i the my philosophy is always what is this song asking me to do you know and not only the song it goes back to what you and i were talking about earlier what is the artist asking what is the producer asking me to do? But I really want the song to talk to me. Is it asking me just to make some colors here and there? Is it asking me to stand out and come up with a really significant part? What does it want of me? And that kind of guides me, whatever the issues and songs and situation might be.

That's fucking beautiful. Tell me about George Harrison. Oh, man. You know, I was looking at some old emails recently and a buddy of mine had sent me an early demo of George on the acoustic guitar playing While My Guitar Gently Weeps. And it's the coolest demo. And there's actually three versions that he sent. One was just solo acoustic. The second was an acoustic guitar with somebody playing a harmonium. I don't know who it

was, but that was really interesting because it was just two instruments and then the third was uh one of the earlier takes that they did uh with uh with eric clapton you know playing but you know i just the guy was so versatile uh he was always up i never saw him depressed or down he he had this beautiful sort of understated chuckle that would come out. It was really a very pleasing sound, you know, when he would make a little small laugh. He was extremely generous. Oftentimes on that tour in Japan, we'd finish a show, go back to the hotel and he'd ring up myself and other members of the band and say, hey, come to the room.

I'm hanging out. Got a bit of food, you know. And so he was just very gentle, but powerful in his musicianship, powerful in his presence, powerful, you know, in every way, man. He invited us over to Friar Park. When we were rehearsing for that tour, it was Thanksgiving time, and his wife, Olivia, is American, and she said, why don't we put on a big Thanksgiving dinner for the band? That was a great thing to do,

and it was such an elaborate layout, but it was very casual and comfortable. He always made you feel like he was really listening to you, almost like you were his new best friend, almost, you know. He was just that way. And I miss the guy. Everybody that knows him, obviously obviously felt that way about him. And, you know, we tried so hard at the end of that tour to get him to go to America. And we said, look, you know, of course, it was Eric Clapton and the band, Eric's band, that backed him up.

And we said, look, even if Eric doesn't want to do it, if Eric wants to take a break, we could do it with you. But that was it. That was his last tour. I think he just felt like he didn't want to deal with all of what it would take to put that together. He just wanted to go back at home and be peaceful. And he did, of course, supervise the mixing of the live record that we did. And then he went on to do maybe a couple of more records before he passed away. What's your take on death? It's going to happen, baby. I know.

None of us get out of here alive. I don't worry about that. I'm very comfortable. I'm not an incredibly religious person. My brother is a Church of Christ preacher. My mother was quite religious. Growing up, I went to church with my family. By the time I became an older teenager and started drifting my own way, I kind of quit going to church. But having said that, I feel like I have a certain spirituality. People ask me about that, and I say, you know what? When I'm in the woods, I'm in church. When I'm working in the

woods, when I'm in nature, spending time in our place, that's my church, man. That's fucking beautiful, man. I mean, is it because you're present? Is being alive just because is being present, right? So when you're in the woods, you're present. You're not thinking about anything else but nature. How important is being present to you? Well, you know, that's certainly part of it, but I think somehow I can feel spirituality more when I'm in nature. I think it's something to do with the oneness of everything, you know. I guess at times I feel like I'm in church when I'm on stage or when I'm in the studio as well. I think there's moments that feel like, wow, that was magical.

And to me, that magic was spiritual. Look, death is going to come. It's coming to all of us. I don't worry about it. I don't think about it. I'd like to be here for a long, long time. I hope I am. But when it comes, it comes.

And I'm pretty comfortable with come what may. That's amazing, Chuck. That's beautiful. You talk about magic. What was the most magical experience you had in the studio that you still remember? Well, there's been a few of them. And there's been a few on stage as well. And it's really so numerous that it's hard to really pinpoint.

But certainly people always ask me about Jessica, about the song Jessica on the Brothers and Sisters record. That was pretty magical. You know, it was a wonderful vehicle for a piano player. And, you know, the band wanted me to step out. You know, they encouraged me to not on just that one song, but on the entire Brothers and Sisters record. You know, they wanted to find solid roles for me to play so that I could contribute. You know, on that same record, there's a song called jelly jelly um that that was a moment you know it's it's just playing the blues but it was uh felt pretty magical at the time uh other moments uh well let's see old love when we did old old love on the

clapton unplugged record. That was pretty magical. The same... Oh, I keep losing you, Chuck. Sorry. Can you hear me? I can hear you, sorry. Yeah, Old Love. You were at Old Love. That was pretty magical.

Yes. The song Old Love, and I'll give you a short story about that. We had done it during rehearsal, and I was kind of disappointed, but I think maybe he felt like too many slums. I don't know if we're going to do that when we do the show. We do the show, do everything we've rehearsed. We come to the end, the audience wants more. I don't know why he turned to me, but did and eric turned said what can we do i said eric do it and we did and i think it just

turned out great oh god it's the it's i think it's easy to overthink things sometime you're uh playing but if you learn there's an art to letting mandy if you can let yourself go and sort of just let a spirit of some type take over. Sometimes that's real magic. That's beautiful. Hey, I'm going to FaceTime you right back because if we restart the FaceTime, I think we'll get more bandwidth. Let me FaceTime you right back.

Hey, that's better. Yeah, FaceTime sometimes after 30 minutes, it starts losing bandwidth. Okay. Oh, man, that's amazing. Chuck, I want to know more about, I mean, you've been in a lot of bands, like work hard, play hard type of bands.

Like you work hard and you play hard. Have you ever gotten into any addiction? No. type of bands like you work hard and you play hard have you ever gotten into any addiction no no i uh you know listen i've tried a little bit of everything i think most all musicians uh kind of they activity of us wants us to experiment with things so i've tried a little bit of everything but fortunately i seem to have always had some type of governor on me that said, you know what? Enough's enough. And so I've never battled with any kind of addiction, thank heaven. That's beautiful. What about like overworking?

Well, it's hard to say no, Andy. I know,. I know. I love to play, but I'm learning a little bit in my older self that I don't just take everything that comes along. I try to pick... Keep losing you oh no you want to try just a phone call yeah let's try a phone call I'll hit you up

sorry guys Georgia shout out to Georgia. All right. Wow, this is fucking awesome. Chuck, the legend. Hey, man, how's that? Oh, that's perfect. Yeah, it sounds great.

Well, listen, do we need to go backwards a little bit? Yeah, go backwards a hair. Yeah, tell me about the addictions. You said you always were fine about saying no, but you probably dealt with people which was probably hard for them to say no to things. Well, absolutely true you know fortunately i seem to have some kind of governor uh built into myself and i i don't like to go too far with anything you know yeah and that's been very helpful to me personally i mean look i like living too much i like playing music too much. I like being with friends too much to go off

and drink too much or do too much of anything. And I like to be healthy, man. I think a lot of us feel that way too. I've always had somewhat of a health ethic in me. But you're absolutely right. I've certainly known a lot of people. One of the best musicians early on in my career that I played with was a guy named Lou Mullinex. I grew up with Lou. Lou was a drummer from Tuscaloosa, and he was one of those guys, man. He was just born with a pair of drumsticks in his hand, and there was no groove that he could not do, and just probably the best natural drummer I've ever worked with, really, just probably the best natural drummer I've ever worked with, really, or at least one of the best.

But he was one of those cats, man, that he loved to get high. I don't care what it was. I don't care if it was smoking weed or if it was drinking beer or if it was taking pills or whatever it was. And we went to Macon, Georgia together. He wound up being in Macon. He worked with us a little bit with Dr. John. He worked with us some with Alex Taylor. And I thought he had a great career ahead of him.

But the cat OD'd on methadone, unfortunately. And I think Lou was probably 22 or something. And I've seen others go that way, man. And it's really sad. It hurts my feelings. It hurts my heart. But sometimes there's no stopping these people. You can try intervention. You can talk to them. You can give them advice. But in some cases, it's just going to go that way. Where do you think it comes from? In some cases, it's just going to go that way. Where do you think it comes from?

Depression, probably. Some kind of depression that is sometimes not all that detectable, but there's something inside that is hurting and that wants them to do things to make that go away. And, um, you know, once they feel like they can escape to a degree with whatever that pill is or whatever that, uh, path may be, uh, they want to do it a little bit more and a little bit more until it becomes too much. Yeah. Is it, do you feel like you regret not talking about them with them or is it, do you always try or is it not your business? You know, uh, with, with me, it's when I see someone like that or I'm working with someone like that, I, I guess the way to put it is I try to drop a hint, you know? hint. I don't want to preach.

I don't feel like it's quite my place to do that. There may be instances when that's appropriate, and I guess maybe there's been one or two times when I have done that. But for the most part, it's been dropping little lines to let them know this is going to a dangerous place and you know i hope you won't go too deep um sometimes it can have an effect but sometimes people are just determined to do it uh you know uh it's it's a sad thing but but it's reality. But I think it is a good thing if you can talk someone down a little bit or talk them out of doing something that they really shouldn't be doing. But again, I'm not the type of person that's going to be preaching to those people all the time. Just try to gently let them know your feelings, I think.

That's important. How is it hard for you? Is it easy for you to be vulnerable with people? To be vulnerable with people? Yeah, you know, I'm an easy crier. I get emotional when I think about things that are happy. You know, I have this documentary that I think you know about that came out recently. It's called The Tree Man. And I was doing an interview for it. And the filmmaker, Alan Forrest, was

interviewing me. And we started talking about my relationship with Rose Lane. You know, we've been married 48 years now. And just during that conversation, I got very emotional about it. But I'm not ashamed of that, you know, because it's a very strong feeling when I think of her and I think of our relationship and how long we've been together and all the incredible times we've had, the journey that we've had together. So, you know, I don't mind being emotional when it's called for. Will you give me advice? I'm gonna call you uncle Chuck from now on. Cause I'm about to get,

I need some, I need some uncle Chuck advice. So I've never had a relationship. I've been on the road now, uh, 14 years, 13 years, 250 shows a year.

And I just never decided to settle down. Um, how did you keep a relationship going 40 years on the road? Well, man, you know, we raised two girls, and it was difficult to be on tour where I could not be with them, not be with Rose Lane. You know, you needed the work, you needed the money, whatever it might have been, and you wanted to do the job. You wanted to do these gigs. Get together as often as you can.

Make the phone calls. Of course, in my early marriage with Rose Lane, we didn't have cell phones. We didn't have computers and FaceTime and all that. So literally, sometimes you'd go to a pay phone and put the quarter in there and, you know, charge it to call a collect call or if you had a bunch of change in your pocket. And I've done that before. But, you know, we've always kept in touch. You know, we've been very fortunate to have just a great, deep love and respect for each other. And then as time went on and those things that I mentioned did come into play, well, you know, I do a lot of FaceTiming now with our daughter that lives in Manchester, New Hampshire. And now has a five-year-old girl and a one-and-a-half-year-old

little boy and has a great marriage. And then you had COVID era where you couldn't get together for those reasons. And that certainly affected our family life with our two daughters and our four grandkids. But keep it going, man. We were talking about it a little bit earlier, Andy, and you can give up on a marriage. Every marriage has tension. No one can tell me that there's not moments in a relationship, in marriage or even just in a relationship, if you're not married but you're in a relationship, that there's going to be moments of anger and frustration. You can either let that lead your way or you can let that make you stronger at the end of the day.

We don't fight anymore. Rosie and I had some fights during our relationship earlier on, disagreements, whether it's about money or about, you know, a decision that had to be made one way or another. And, you know, we wouldn't speak to each other for a little while and have a cold shoulder. For me, it would be like, well, okay, I'll go sit at the piano or maybe I'll go take a walk or, you know, I'll get in the car and go drive for a while and just, you know, forget about it. And then come back and say, you know, was that really necessary that we had to go through that? And nine times out of 10, the answer is no, it was. Nine times out of ten, the answer is no.

That's beautiful, Chuck. I think the most important thing is sticking through anything, sticking through trauma, sticking through fighting. Well, it is. It is. That's absolute. Just get through it any way you can. Take a deep breath. Try to have a realistic look at it you know how important is it that that you want to be mad do you really want to be mad do you really want

to be this upset and uh most of the time of course the answer is hell no i don't i want to be happy you know so let's try to as you say say, just get through it. Did you ever have, what about like during COVID? Like this is probably the most she's ever seen you. Well, listen, you know, we, we've been lucky to have this place, you know, outdoors, spend time together in the outdoors, spend time and together in the house. together in the outdoors, spend time together in the house. The worst part was not seeing our kids.

That was the worst part. And for me, not being able to play live with other musicians. I did a lot of virtual things. I'm sure you did. I'm sure other musicians we know have done the virtual thing. You do what you have to do to keep the chops up and keep playing and to try to keep a career going. That's the other thing. Yeah, I saw you on Georgia Comes Alive.

It was beautiful, man, just you on the piano. That was so sick. Well, I appreciate that. But it's loosening now, baby. And my British brethren are trying to figure out if we can do something. You're seeing more and more everyday tours being announced. We'll see where it's going. I'm not sure with our team what's going to happen.

It's unknown yet. Yeah. I talked to Carl a little bit about that. It's got to be hard when you're one of the biggest bands in the world. You can't even touch a tour unless it's going to be at full capacity. Yeah. For them, they're the guys making the decisions, the four guys, and, of course, the management team and the promotion team. But it's a wait and see right now.

I know I'm very confident that all of us, every one of us wants to do it. But it's got to be the right situation. So it's a wait and see. Well, we're rooting for you, Chuck. I got two more questions. I'll let you get back to your beautiful fucking tree farm. What a life, Chuck. What a life.

You've worked with everybody. Who's the hardest worker? Who has the most work ethic out of everyone you worked with? quite amazing in as much, not only in his discipline as a songwriter or as a performer, singer, writer, but physically. The guy has the body of a 30-year-old. It's phenomenal. It's insane, dude. It's fucking insane. It's crazy, man. But let me tell you something. He works at it. You know, his dad was a physical education instructor. And so all of his life, he's had this ethic of staying in shape. And, you know, even during the times when you're experimenting with this out of the other, but he's, I really admire that guy for the, what he puts

into his life and what he gets out of it. Yeah, I think it's the dedication to the craft, right? Yeah, yeah, man. It's unbelievable. Chuck, this has been amazing. Thank you so much. My buddy, Jamie McMahon, if I don't tell you this, he told me to say Roll Tide.

I don't know if you grew up in Tuscaloosa. I don't know if you're an Alabama fan. Oh grew up in Tuscaloosa. I don't know if you're an Alabama fan. Oh, yeah. You bet. Roll Tide, baby. As a matter of fact, I have friends who are friends with Coach Saban, and we are trying so hard. We've been trying for a few years to find a time because Saban loves the Stones.

He's a big Stones fan. And we've been trying to find a way to have a meeting. And there's even discussion about doing it in July this year since, you know, we have to find a time when he's not so engrossed in his work. But yeah, big fan, big Tuscaloosa. Talk about a workhorse as well, man. Saban doesn't stop either. Talk about a workhorse as well, man. Saban doesn't stop either. No. Jesus. No. I love it when there was some interviewer that asked him, you know, why are you so serious? And he said, hey, man, I'm smiling right now. I'm smiling right now.

I am smiling. But he's an intense worker. He really is, but I admire that for him. Well, thank you so much for your time, Chuck. I really appreciate it. You're everything I thought you'd be. And keep making people happy. Keep staying young.

Keep growing fucking trees, my guy. That's awesome. Well, thanks, Andy. I appreciate it. I got one last question for you. What do you want to be remembered by, Chuck? Well, you know, the two things that I have the deep passion for in my careers, music and forestry, both offer you an opportunity to leave a legacy. If I can make this land as good as it can be, the mantra of every ethical landowner I know is to leave the land in better shape than you found it. That's a great opportunity. It takes a lot of work. And the other thing is, in music, recorded music will be here forever.

And so you have a great opportunity to leave a legacy that way. So, you know, if I can go to my grave and people say, hey, Cat played some pretty good notes and look what he did for forestry and for the land and for the environment, I'll feel pretty good about all that. Well, thanks for being such a good person, Chuck. And I'll be rooting for you from the side, bro. And hopefully we get to get a hang in maybe in Georgia sometime. That'd be awesome. Thank you, Andy. It's been a great pleasure to speak with you. Likewise, bro. Have a great day. Bye. Yeah, you too. Bye. Chuck. Chuck Lovell. Wow. Legendary. Legend of a legend. Gave me the time. Gave me the goods.

Give it up for Chuck, y'all. Unbelievable. That was a dope interview. Thank you for being on the show, taking your time in Georgia. But that's it, y'all. We're getting ready for Red Rocks. We're ready. I just had three weeks of recording in Nashville and Charleston and LA. I just got done with Rick Parker and Krasno and I'm stoked. I can't wait for you to hear the new music. But now my focus is on the Red Rocks Amphitheater, May 27th. That's in two days, y'all. If you haven't got your tickets yet, come on. Support the homies. It's going to be so unbelievable. We've sold a lot of tickets the most tickets we've ever sold to a show that is ours and uh with of course with keller but uh

that we never sold that many tickets so shout out to everyone go and let's go we're gonna have a fucking party out there um but that's it stay happy stay inspired don't let the fucking demons get you because they'll fuck you. They'll fuck you hard. Take a deep breath and say, not today, devil. Not today. All right. I love you. And I think I'm taking next week off because that's my week off and then I'll be in New Orleans. And then we got Frank Turner on the podcast and then we got this Maddie Madison. We got a lot of good ones for you. So stay tuned. All right, guys. I love you. Be safe.

And thanks for buying tickets to Red Rocks. You tuned in to the World Central Podcast with Andy Fresco, now in its fourth season. 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 book on Mara Davis. We thank this week's guest, our co-host, and all the fringy frenzies that helped 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 similarity, junction, or knowledge, facts, or fake is purely coincidental. you