Andy Frasco's World Saving Podcast - EP 276: Kyle Tuttle (Golden Highway)

Episode Date: June 25, 2024

In which the chaotic union of Frasco and Gerlach - best friends and podcasting degenerates - serve up their brand of unfiltered & unwashed, RAW convos. Vegan & Keto friendly, too! These two are closer than a pair of sweaty underwear after a wild night out (and just as messy). And on the Interview Hour, Andy has a plucky chat with Kyle Tuttle, banjo maestro from Golden Highway! They riff on Kyle's musical journey, his innovative approach to banjo playing, and the high-energy antics that keep Golden Highway’s performances far from dialed in. Andy Frasco & the U.N. are on tour! Check out those tour dates now... And guess what... now you can see a cool dog by the name of Denzel should you choose to watch this episode *exclusively* on Volume.com... now in color!  Generally speaking, we are psyched to partner up with our buddies at Volume.com! Check out their roster of upcoming live events and on-demand shows to enrich that sweet life of yours. Call, leave a message, and tell us if you think one can get addicted to mushrooms: [phone]  Check out our new album!, L'Optimist on all platforms Follow us on Instagram @worldsavingpodcast For more information on Andy Frasco, the band and/or the blog, go to: AndyFrasco.com Check out our good friends that help us unwind and sleep easy while on the road and at home: dialedingummies.com Produced by Andy Frasco, Joe Angelhow, & Chris Lorentz Audio mix by Chris Lorentz Featuring: Arno Bakker Todd Glass

And now, a message from Todd Glass. What are you doing? Is that who, is this? I wrote a song. You wrote a song for who? Andy Fresco. You wrote a song for Andy? Yeah.

Are you serious? Let me hear it. I can't wait for Andy Fresco to play Todd Glass. No, that's fucking horrible. No, stop playing. That's like a fucking, just because you can strum the goddamn guitar and go. I'm Andy Frasco. I mean, I don't know what I'm really doing.

I don't know what I'm doing. Well, I got fucking Andy Frasco coming here. You better fucking start figuring out what you're doing. I learned to sing good, learned to play the guitar good. I'm trying my best. It's all I can do. If Andy Fresco comes in here and you make me look like an asshole because your music abilities are not up to his bad and the UN's, I swear to fucking God, I'll take a knife and scratch your fucking dumb face. I think you would appreciate that. I'm just trying my best. Oh, Woody, you think that's how he just got a record deal by putting up with bullshit, fucking people with their shit lyrics?

No, I think he got it because he's a good person. What? I think he got it because he's a good person. You know nothing about this business, John. Wow. And we're live. Barely. Barely.

Barely alive. Andy Frasco's World's Same Podcast. I'm Andy Frasco. How's our heads? How's our minds? How's my sweet boy Nicholas Gerlach? I feel like I'm more of a man now after last night. I am too. The podcast was

great. Shout out to everyone. Can you hear me on this? I don't really know this mic. I don't know. Yeah, you sound great. We got new mics. I have headphones. Shout out to Electra Voice. Oh, yeah. Getting us microphones. I met the guy at Red Rocks. He was there? Is he from Denver? Oh, because of

Corey Wong? Yeah, they're a Minneapolis company, I think. Or they have an officer or something. I think it might be a Minneapolis. What a week to be in Denver. Rolling Stones are in town. Widespread's in town Panic Widespread panic

And the World's Same Podcast Live we fucking did it boys Pretty much sold out Y'all crushed it We almost sold out Pretty good I had a blast I had a good time I think

I was getting laughs Yeah that was good Pretty good. I had a blast. I had a good time, I think. I was getting laughs. Yeah, that was good. All the guests were killing. Even the magic beans were good. I called you out for doing drugs with me at Trivia. I hope McClane and them don't get pissed. What'd you say?

Oh, no, they don't care. Just a moment in time, you know what I mean? Just a moment in time. No, they don't care. Just a moment in time. You know what I mean? Just a moment in time. Speaking of Yacht Club, did you see what they got nominated for?

Top four cocktail bars in America by Forbes. Let's fucking go. McLean Yacht Club. And McLean himself. Top four bartenders in the country. Deservedly so. Denver is taking over. I feel very proud to do my trivia night at that club. It's such an esteemed place.

I agree. I'm very proud to be a patron. Yeah, it's cool. It's cool to be like, I work at a cool club that's like respected. I like the Yacht Club as my cheers. It is kind of. What's Cervantes then? It's too big to be a cheers. It's not like it's not that kind of vibe, you know? My dark

hole. Yeah, exactly. It's a vortex of sin. It's all good. We have Marty here. Marty's in town. Marty's awake. We've been hitting him pretty hard lately. Welcome to Denver, bitch.

Welcome to Denver, Marty. We hired another producer from New York. He's very smart. I'm just going to say we stole him from Barstool Sports. I mean, the overlap isn't really there, but yeah. But we're having a good time. Podcast is great. Carl

Denson sucking nitrous on stage. I didn't think... I guess you can't really gain weight doing that. So he'll do that drug. As long as it's not unhealthy calorie-wise, he'll do it, maybe. He's like, no vegetable oil, but I will rip some nitrous. He's got a point.

I mean, dentists give you nitrous. So what's the deal he was saying about vegetable oil is not good for you? Yeah, I think that's a pretty well-known fact. It's all the stuff they dunk KFC in and stuff. Really? I think so. I don't know. Look at me. I give a shit.

I'm not exactly a nutritionist. I do love french fries though. Yeah, everybody loves french fries. You can't eat them. You can. You're not supposed to. Trust me. You can eat french fries. Kind of like drugs. You can definitely eat drugs too.

Someone said to me last night, I did a little bit of drugs. Yeah, you didn't eat them. I didn't eat them. They ate you. They ate me. I heard you guys were up late partying.

Yeah, I don't know what happened. We were at Herb's. All your dirtbag friends came back to your house after the bar like they always do. Yeah, like cockroaches. All the dudes. They all walk over from Don's and find a dark corner to lay their eggs.

Just picturing Cooney laying an egg. Cooney always helps me clean up. He's the best. He's a good boy. Cooney is a good boy. He's a good boy. He's a good little boy. Does your girlfriend piss at you?

No, but it was just funny. She's just exhausted she just worked a 15 hour day at like the football stadium setting up green rooms for the guy that I just got to jam sex with and I come home

I probably made more money than I'm just kidding but I come home and she's just like and I'm like a little juiced up if you know what I mean from the show yeah

we were just in very different places emotionally was that cool moment for you to play with Denzel yeah it was cool I feel like I hung in there with him pretty good. Dude, I was re-listening to it. That sounded awesome. He's a man, huh?

You guys have very similar style playing. Yeah, I'm very black. Yeah, you are very black. I almost... I wanted to wish Josh Blue happy Juneteenth. Oh my gosh. Did you hear when I said you got to hand it to him?

Nobody noticed that joke. I thought that was a good joke. I thought that was a funny joke. He laughed about it later. Yeah. If he laughs, you can say it. Yeah, he has Bell's palsy. I thought all the comedians crushed. No, cerebral palsy. Bell's palsy when just like part of your

face. Like Jesus has that. And that goes away. Jesus has it? Jesus from lettuce has it. Oh, I thought you meant the Bible one. Yeah. palsy when just like part of your face. Like Jesus has that. And that goes away. Jesus has it? Jesus from lettuce has it. Oh, I thought you meant the Bible one. Yeah. The one from the good part of the Bible. Yeah, all the Catholics don't show that. The true part.

Yeah. I looked right in Marty's eyes when they said that. No, but yeah, Carl's like one of my favorite sax players ever. And he was a nice guy. Once we played together and hung out, he was a little nicer. And he like really loved the show And he really loved the show. Everyone really loved the show last night. Yeah, I think

everybody had a good time. It was long. It was a long podcast show. Two hours and 15 minutes. I was pretty wiped afterwards, like mentally. I was too. And I was like, we always stress, do we have enough material? We had too much material. We had to cut stuff. That's good though. It's different than my music shows.

I'm just scrambling for the last 15 minutes. Yeah, you're like, fuck, we got to extend this fucking verse again. It's a lot easier to fill time when you're playing songs though. Especially on a horn. We're just getting more comfortable live talking like how we talk here. Yeah, and I think that it was funny when we

asked Carl if we could have tickets and he's like, now. Yeah. They're like $800 tickets, I think. Yeah, we're like, hey, Carl, can we... I'm like, yes, I didn't really want to do all that. Yeah. Trivia, you're like... I'm like, you're missing a question. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It was funnier that you set it up

rather than me just asking. He's like, nope, you're not getting tickets. I respect that, actually. I kind of respect that. I really don't want to go down in the 95 degree weather and look at John Elway pictures. I'd love to see the stones and panic, but

I don't think I have it in me today. Julia sent me a picture of their video wall. It's insane. It looks like Odessa or something. Really? You wouldn't know they're 80-year-old men. Oh, word. Yeah, they're 80. Mick Jagger just turned 80. You keep forgetting that Carl Denton's 68 years old.

He looks 48 or something. God. I asked him, because his kids still live with him, do they watch him have sex? Yeah, I was there. And then she's like, no, when they're in there,

I just make it louder. I'm like, Carl! I bet he's a very athletic, vigorous lover. Oh, dude. He probably licks puss for like 30 minutes. I don't know about that. I don't not know about it, though, either. I'm just saying. You don't think so?

I just think he could do whatever he wants for a long time. I think he's fellatian for a long time. Probably. He did? He definitely does. Oh think he's fellatian for a long time. Probably. He made a joke to me that he's gay. He did? He definitely does. Oh, he's licking pussy, dude. Yeah.

If you joke about it, it's like how you're deep down, you're gay. Yeah. That was really funny. A lot of... Bo tried to kiss me on stage and I denied him. I know. That was really good. I like that.

I like being the one guy that doesn't kiss. It's a good bit. Someone's got to be a fucking normal guy around here. But you guys are gross. Well, now everyone thinks I'm gay. It's a good bit. Someone's got to be a fucking normal guy around here. You guys are gross. Well, now everyone thinks I'm gay. It's all right. That's fine. Kind of are a little bit.

I am kind of. Feet though. The feet, yeah. No gay man. These aren't gay feet. No gay man would ever have their feet look like that. It's terrible. They are kind of gross feet.

Kind of? I mean. They look like they're from a different time period. Like you're in the very beginning of an anatomy book. 200 BC. You're like in the third page of a human anatomy course. Your feet are... Like Neanderthal?

Yes, exactly. Like Pro Magnums? Or what are they called? Pro Magnums. That sounds like a condom brand. Oh. Pro Magnums. Pro Magnums? Yeah. I don't know. sounds like a condom brand. Oh. Pro Magnums. Pro Magnums? Yeah.

I don't know that much about feet. Not really my thing. I did use it as a source in trivia last week though. Really? We're live at the Volume Studio. We are live at the Volume Studio. Great segue, Andy. My brain's not working today, dude. I need to just like

disappear. At least you're going on the road in two days. I need to just disappear. At least you're going on the road in two days. I sleep better on the road. I can't sleep. I'm like waking up at like 8 a.m., 9 a.m. even when I'm going to bed at 5. I need a new bed. Maybe.

I can't sleep when it's really light. I don't know if it's a bed. Oh, you think it's the cocaine? Yeah, I don't know if that's keeping you up. The comfortable giant king bed with all the pillows. In the dim room, in the very dark room. It's not dark. I

can't sleep when it's light. Have you heard of shutting blinds and turning off the light? My house is very open. It's bright. It's a bright house. It's really like... I like a dark cave. I need a cave, dude. That's why I love the bus. Cause you just shut your little cubby and it's pitch black.

Yeah. I'm not. And the hum of the engine. The hum of the engine. I'm sleeping to one P. No one can hear you jerking off in there. Yeah. I think they heard me once.

It wasn't. Yeah. I think. Were you droning like a woman? No, but I, sometimes if I'm like kind of really, uh, fucked up, yeah I think they're droning like a woman no but I sometimes if I'm like kind of really

fucked up I'll like stretch my feet and my toes out and I was like hitting the wall in rhythm though like a baby I was just like beating off like this you can jerk off with people that close to you

yeah I mean I've been doing it for 15 years you say it like you're a utility infielder for the Braves off like this. You can jerk off with people that close to you? Yeah. I mean, I've been doing it for 15 years. You say it like you're a utility infielder for the Braves. I can get in there and pinch it. I mean, yeah, I got to be real quiet. I've been living with three people in a hotel for 15 years.

Just fucking... Yeah, I guess I just always waited a couple days. Unclog it. You're not going to have any seed left in your 50s. It's going to be gone. I know. Right now, I feel like every time I do it, it's like a smoke machine.

It just evaporates. Like a Model T. It's just steam like I said genitals are steampunk genitals Nick thinks I have a steampunk dick you know what steampunk is? it's like an old style of like

I don't know like Wild Wild West like you know what's like futuristic but also old and dying oh god it's like the tank in Wild Wild West the spider tank at the end that's pretty steampunk so old and dying. It's like the tank in Wild Wild West. The spider tank at the end. That's pretty steampunk. I need to go away for a couple days. Were you going to Idaho?

Yeah. Stanley, Idaho. That's where all the cool people that hate the government go. Yeah. You can start a cold there. It's so cliche to start a cold in Idaho because everyone has a cult. True. It's like very passe at this point. We should do it.

I mean, this is the move. Denver's our cult. It's a good place to start a religion, Idaho, or just get into like your own little religion, though. Yeah. If we're down, as long as it's not the government. Really? And Napoleon Dynamite's from there, too. You know that?

No. That's where that movie's based. Scotty's wing was being nice to me. Yeah, why wouldn't he be? Remember when he called me on during COVID? Oh, I think COVID, everybody's regretting everything they said during COVID. You think so?

It seems like it. I feel like... I mean, does everybody freaked out? Everyone freaked out. I think anything you said in the first year of COVID... Yeah. It's washed. Remember when Jay Lane wanted to fight me?

No, because I didn't really know you then. I met you after that. I was like, hell yeah. I want to work for him. I was getting hated on. I was like, yeah, this guy rules. He's a maverick. I was telling Jay Lane that he's a bitch.

Is he a bitch? He's a good drummer. He's buff, dude. That doesn't mean he's not a bitch. He's buff, dude. I didn't, I was like, he was like calling me out for not wearing a mask during my COVID dance party.

During your shutdown thing where everybody was tested? Yeah, we were tested and shit and having parties in my house. He was just a jealous hoe. Except for he's in dead and co and he's like fanking. I did talk,

I did have like a 4 a.m. like kind of like, who the fuck do you think you are? DM or public? DM. Ooh. But after I sent it, I did have like a 4am kind of like, who the fuck do you think you are? DM or public? DM. But after I sent it, I looked up his pictures and he was so buff and like strong.

I deleted it. He is from San Francisco though. Yeah. He's kind of buff though. But so is OJ Simpson. I mean, he's 100% not guilty. So maybe he is dangerous. That robber. That reminds me. OJ is still I mean, he's 100% not guilty. So maybe he is dangerous. You know what I mean? That robber.

That reminds me. OJ's still dead. Yep. Yep. That's it? That's it. Another great segue from Andy Fresco. We have Kyle Tuttle on the show tonight.

Yeah. Who's he again? He's in Molly Tuttle's band. Oh, yeah. But they're not related. But they're not related. Yep. Great banjo player. Interesting. It was a great conversation.

He's a punk rocker. What's the deal with all these metalheads and punk rockers loving bluegrass? They're all getting into bluegrass now because they think it's outlaw music or something. Well, it's kind of the same thing. It's fast music. It's actually pretty much the same chord progressions. Really?

It's just 1-4-5. Bring it on home with the fucking dominant chord at the end. You know what I'm saying? Most music is that though, to be fair. True. Just America. Did you give Carl Denson your record? You put it in his back pocket. No, I didn't actually.

You're like, listen to this, Carl. I don't think he would have listened to it if I did. He would. He's a cool dude, actually. He's really fucking cool. He's so ripped. It's amazing how hot he is. He could throw me. He could.

Yeah. He's like 5'6". Yeah. Really? Were you taller than him? I think I was taller. You were taller than him? How tall are you?

5'7". 5'7". He's a tall 5'7", though. Marty's a tall 5'7". We should get Marty on here. Come here, Marty. Get over here. Our new podcast producer, Marty. Just getting the ends. He's getting the ropes.

He's from Louisiana, but he doesn't have an accent. I definitely look like ass right now. Sorry, guys. Well, you know, I saw you last night staring at a wall at 6 a.m., so... It happens. How are you feeling about working with this group? how was the show last night how was everything

the show last night went awesome I mean what's so cool about you guys' shit is that how into it the crowd is like that's not something I'm used to working with like I did a gay podcast at Barstool and like the only fans podcast at Barstool like we never had like, really.

That's just the shit. It's awesome. I think we're really building a strong following for the pod itself. It's just... We stand up for certain people that are just looking for like-minded folks.

I'm just into it. What's your plan? How are we going to blow up this podcast? You're going to see a lot more of it on your phones. That's the number one plan. You're about to see this on TikTok. You're going to hear a lot of my dumb takes. Nick

telling me how much of a fucking idiot I am. That's the world we live in now. People want to see that. You're going to go back to New in now. People want to see that. Yeah. Yeah. So you're going to go back to New York. You're going to tell everyone. Yeah. We're going to get this thing popping.

Then you're going to come back to Denver. Are you having fun out here? Do you like the city? I love it here. I want to keep coming back. Like, that's a big part of it. Okay, you're coming back. Yeah.

It's so easy. Your fiance is out of town. You just fly back. If I come back next week, she'd be so mad. We need him at the computer. We need him at the computer working. Yeah. We haven't really been working.

We have been partying, but we did play NBA 2K. Yeah, we did do that. Oh, you ended up winning that. Yeah, you beat me in MLB the show. Yeah. We went to the Rockies game. I flipped off a kid. Seven runs, nine

thinning. I can't believe I flipped off a kid. I was just being... I hate that I missed it. I wish I had like... I was right next to you and I didn't see it. Because the Rockies were fucking... They're whooping our ass and then he was just egging me on. We had the most annoying

chick of all time right behind us. At first I was like, oh, cool. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. We had the most annoying chick of all time right behind us. Oh, yeah. At first, I was like, oh, cool. She's like... No, that girl sucked. Remember, like... Yeah, she sucked. She talked, I was like, oh, she's like, actually, it was baseball.

Yeah. And then later, I was like, I'm going to murder you. She was, like, yelling, like, every pitch. Yeah. Yeah. Come on, up! Yeah, she did that a lot. Come on, up!

Yeah, blue! Then I had the kid. I mean, I got to give it to Colorado for still rooting for the Rockets for how hot dumpster trash they are. They're what, like 20 and 50 or something? But yeah, I saw that kid.

I'll tell the podcast people who weren't at the live show. I saw this kid and he was just like, just being a dick. And then he'd go and be suck at, like be a kiss ass to his parents. And then we hit a grand slam in the ninth.

And then we hit another three. And I just fucking gave this little kid the fucking bird, dude. I'm like, fuck you. And I'm like, oh shit, he's like eight years old. Hey, sports, that's how it works. That's how it works. You got to learn. Boston.

I mean, when I was in Philadelphia too, the kids out there who love their fan bases are so into it. I mean, they're flipping everyone off. Like, what the fuck? Well, they grew up with Twitter. So that's how they think everyone talks about sports. It's just very

combative. So I think that may play a role in that. Well, fuck. We'll hope we don't kill Marty before tomorrow. We'll go see Eric Andre. We'll go get some nice dinner. I'm going on a date. You're going on a date tonight? Yeah. You're third wheel on the date. Oh, really? Yeah.

All right. Sweet. Fuck yeah. Nick won't do it, but Marty thinks he'll be on the show. Welcome home, baby. Welcome home. I'm a great third wheel. We stole a barstool guy. Yeah. No, we kind of just kind of had him.

Stop calling him a barstool guy. He's his own man. I know. Are you sad that you're not working for barstool anymore? No. You were. When you first happened, I saw your eyes. You were pretty sad.

It sucked at the time. We're getting laid off anywhere. It's not, you know what I mean? Yeah, true. All right, guys. Wow. What a day. You were pretty sad. It sucked at the time. We're getting laid off anywhere. It's not, you know what I mean? Yeah, true. All right, guys. Wow. What a day.

It wasn't personal. They laid off a lot of people that day. Yeah, it is. Shout out to volume.com. Head to volume.com. Subscribe to our podcast. Subscribe.

$5 a month. The live one will be on soon, right? Yeah, it's already up there. Oh, that's right. Yeah,

yeah. Cause it's just, yeah. Watch the live one. It was actually really entertaining. It's long. It's two hours and 15 minutes. Is the standup guy at the beginning on it? I think so. He, yeah. Yeah, watch the live one. It was actually really entertaining. It's long. It's two hours and 15 minutes. Is the stand-up guy at the beginning on it?

I think so. He was great. He was. He saved our ass. He saved our ass. Sam Town couldn't make it. He got a flat tire. Yeah, he hung out. We went to the bar. He didn't come back here, though. No. I asked him if he wanted to take some mushrooms and hang out with a bunch of dudes from Denver.

He's like, I'm good. I'm from here. I've done that. I do that every day, actually. Yeah. I can just go to work and do that. Shout out to volume.com. Head to volume.com.

All the greatest live streams are at volume.com. If you're a content creator, might as well sign up for volume.com. I was talking to him, you know, Noggs is cool, but volume is cooler. Ooh. I said it. I'm not actually black.

That was a joke earlier. I know. Yeah, I'm white. Yeah. Okay. Me too. Happy Juneteenth. Happy Juneteenth.

That was yesterday. Nick. That was yesterday. I didn't want to bring up Juneteenth to Carl. It's like, what am I going to say I'm like oh what do you say what do you say for Juneteenth

alright guys enjoy Kyle Tuttle it would seem like corny if you try hard to do it on the mic yeah like try hard like I got a black guy that's so fucking obnoxious yeah he's there because he's the goat man I want to go see Rolling Stones tonight I don't want to be a groupie in Texas that's so fucking obnoxious. No, that's not why he's there. He's there because he's the man. Yeah, he's there because he's the goat. Yeah.

Man, I want to go see Rolling Stones tonight. I don't want to be a groupie and text him one more time. I text him this morning to see if I have one more lob ball. You did? Yeah. Desperate loser.

I mean, Mick Jagger's about to die, probably. No, he's going to live another 20 years, I bet. Yeah? Yeah, he's got the vibes. Okay. Well, I'll try next vibes. Okay. Well, I'll try next year. I doubt they ever come back here. I'm just kidding. I don't know. They're done with Denver after this.

I can't believe they perform altitude. Yeah, me either. I want to see his little fucking chicken walk. A little chicken walk, a little skeleton. Cock walk or whatever. What's it called? He does like the rooster thing. No, he does like a rooster thing, doesn't he? Sometimes it's like a strut.

He's that cool. Kyle Tuttle from Molly Tuttle's band is on the interview. You're going to love it. Volume.com, we love you. Everyone who showed up to the podcast, we love you. Everyone who, all the musicians who gave us love about this show, we love you. The fans, we love you.

A lot of women at this show. Very good demographic. It was a ton of women. A lot of women at this show. Very good demographic. It was a ton of women. A ton? Are you calling them fat? Shut the fuck up. I can't even argue with you right now. I'm so tired. Marty looks so tired right now. Dude, we are all zombies.

He looks so zoned out. What were you looking at? He's like, did I make the right decision? I'm going from one of the biggest broadcasting companies to a jam band podcast. The best jam band podcast. We are. All right,

guys. Enjoy Kyle Tuttle and we'll catch you next week. I mean, I'm home now, so I like, they sound, I sound like it's like a radio voice. Like,

and we're live. Yeah, these are good. All right, bye. Kyle, motherfucking Tuttle, baby.

Andy Fresco, what do you say, my man? How's it going, dude? Oh, it's going, man It's going Just thawing it out down here in Tennessee, finally Yeah, dude, I was there last weekend It was fucking cold, dude Yeah, no kidding, dude And the ice

Has Tennessee ever been like that where it's just that bad? It happens like every five years or six years and I guess it's like just far enough apart for them to never be like, oh, we'll get a salt truck or something.

Yeah. But like they have like maybe two plows in the whole fucking city. If that. And then it's over and everyone's like, oh, that's never going to fucking happen again. So there's no reason for us to worry about it. Well, let's get to the nitty gritty. I want to know, tell me about your life earlier in Georgia. What was that all about?

life earlier in georgia what was that all about man uh well i uh as a young boy in uh growing up in north georgia there i was like a i was like a punk rock kid i was like a punk rock and metal guitar player you know yeah uh and uh and that was metal yeah i was like shred i was like electric guitar like shred guy what What were your bands? That was like my shit. Well, I mean, I loved like Crass and the Subhumans and Operation Ivy and Rancid and Anti-Schism and all kinds of fun, bad religion and stuff like that. Did you have a mohawk? But I was also like real into ozzy and uh you know the old metallica i loved randy rhodes as a guitar player uh ozzy's first guitar player randy rhodes was like my

favorite is still like my favorite you know shredding guitar player um what do you like about his playing that made you fall in love with playing? What about it? Yeah, what'd you love about his tone, his feel? What'd you like about it? It's just real aggressive and real busy. When he would play rhythm, it wasn't like a guitar chord. He would chunk on one low note and then play a riff. His riff would be like... And that's him playing rhythm behind Ozzy singing.

It's not even his solo and shit. Sick. And that was really appealing to me. Also, he just looked cool as hell, man. He was a tiny, skinny dude with real big long hair. He played Flying V, wore spandex body suits and shit. I was like 15 years old. I was like, I just want to be this guy.

A lot of metalheads become bluegrass lovers. What's the parallel there? Man, you know what I think it is? It's that type of aggressive uh on top of the beat rhythm you know real it's like it's not like you know for for the music dorks out there it's not like it's it's not rushing but it's just playing on the front end of the beat you know hip-hop and a lot of rock and roll sits on the back end of the beat bluegrass and and the metal stuff sits way up front you know and it's and it's um i think

bluegrass and and metal and and punk rock share that oh yeah uh that thing and i think that's what turns and and you know i mean i don't know blue and Bluegrass is a fringe music in a way, not quite as fringe as punk rock, but there's something similar there. Yeah, I hear it. So you're living in Georgia. You start falling in love with metal, start falling in love with just heavy-ass guitar.

How old were you? Like, well, I actually started playing the guitar when I was five years old, but I wasn't really like the metalhead kid until I was probably like, you know, when you start to the adolescent time, 12, 13, 14, 15. Wow. You know. So what was going on? So before you went to Berklee, what, you said 23 years old? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

So what was going on between 19 and 23? Yeah, yeah, yeah. So what was going on between 19 and 23? Man, I graduated high school in 2004, like I said, and then I bounced around. I lived in Athens, Georgia for a little while. Off and on, you know, there's a killer music scene happening around there. So I was having a good time there, just playing in playing in dive bar rock bands and and stuff like

that with the banjo i got i got a banjo when i was 17 also from my grandparents and i just started playing you know sort of figuring it out teaching myself and stuff um and uh i then joined this little band called here's to the long haul and we uh spent some time on the road. We were basically like an activist string band, you know, real involved with the anti-mountaintop removal scene that's going on. There's a lot of mountaintop removal mines, you know, coal mining through the Virginias and West Virginia and southeastern Kentucky and stuff like that. So I was traveling up and down the road and playing mostly old-time music at rallies and protests and stuff like that, and some dive bars too. And then when I was about 23, I figured I was trying to elevate

what I was doing musically, you know. And it appeared to me with what was going on in the scene at that time that Boston was like the coolest place to be, you know. And it was. There was a very cool thing happening around 2008, nine, 10, 11, uh, in Boston. So I went to Berkeley and I was 23. So I was like a little older than all the other kids, you know? Yeah.

Um, what was that like? I don't know. Cool. Cause I can buy beer. I definitely made friends cause I could buy beer. Yeah. They're like, yo, Kyle's got the hookup with some natty lights. Yeah.

We're just going to have to go jam with him because he can buy the booze. What made you decide to go back to school? Did you feel like your playing was plateauing or you just want to learn more? Like what was going on in your head? Yeah, I wanted to learn more. You know, I had been, when I was a shred guitar player kid I was into music theory I had also gotten real into music theory so I I understood a pretty good bit of you know chord structure and scale structure and how that shit all relates to each other and

how you use those tools to make music um but I wanted to know more. I wanted to know as much as I could know about that. Right. Just in the hopes that it would make me as good as I could be at music. Right. You know? And jazz, you know, I wouldn't say that jazz is like my first love or anything like that. But if you look at the typical American songbook,

um, and jazz and how it evolved into bebop and stuff, you know, those players are kind of the ones with the most control of their instrument and the most understanding and the, the able to be able to sort of do the most shit with their, with their tools. So I went after,

and Berkeley is like one of the most well-known places where you can study that kind of music. So I went to Berklee with the banjo to try and learn as much as I could possibly learn about music. And there was five banjo principals at the time. There's only five banjo playing kids in the school. Oh my God. That's fucking crazy, dude. Which is crazy. And it also means it's like, principles at the time there's only five banjo playing kids in the school you know um that's

fucking crazy dude which is crazy and it also means it's like if you're you can sort of get more attention that would like dude there's a there's there's 1500 guitar players and there's five of us you know um and so and i was at that point four years older than the other four of them wow you know so so i was a little more i wasn't a better banjo player than them but i was just more prepared to be in school and a little more driven to get something out of it because i'd had four or five years in the real world yeah yeah people like yeah i like, yeah. I mean, I feel like that's, I think that's a smart idea is like go to music school later in your life when you actually experience being in a van and fucking playing for fucking nobody and eating and sleeping

at, you know, in parking lots and stuff to see if you really fucking want it, you know, to see exactly. And I did, I mean, I did and I still do.

I still want all that terrible shit that you just said. Oh yeah. Yeah. I mean, exactly. And I did. I mean, I did and I still do. I still want all that terrible shit that you just said. Oh, yeah. Yeah, I mean, I live for that shit. I mean, that's like three-fourths why I was a musician is, so I love traveling. I love adventure. We're like the last pirates. Oh, yeah.

Oh, totally, man. And it's the kind of, you know, for me, in that same vein, it's like when I was a kid and just sort of like, you know, because when I was like, if you to ask me when you ask children, what do you want to be like? They want to be a cop or a fireman or an astronaut or something. I want to be a rock star. I mean, that's the very first I've never said, you know, I've never said a word other than rock star when you asked me what I wanted to be. Even when I was when I was five years old, I don't even know how I knew that.

I just knew it. But then, like you said, once I learned, once I was like 10 or 15 and, and start realize like, Oh, this is like what it looks like to go on tour and musicians can do this.

It was like, dude, sign me up. There is nothing else that I'm going to do. It's like, if I can do that, there's no, I'm not,

I've never thought for two seconds about doing anything else. I can drink for free and maybe get laid every now and then. Let's fucking go. Let's go. Was Chris Pandolfi in your class? Or was he older? No, I was there just a couple years after Chris was there. Yeah.

Did you graduate? No. Yeah. It's expensive, right? Hell yeah. Dude, I you graduate? No. Yeah. It's expensive, right? Hell yeah. Dude, I can't believe it, dude. That's the one thing, too, I don't understand about, like, we already don't make enough money as it is, but then you go to Berkeley, and right before you even start the dream, you're $150,000 in debt. Yeah, that's fucked up, man, that whole thing.

that's fucked up, man. That whole thing. They're bringing you in there and they're telling you, we'll set you up and you'll be able to go do this. It's like, not with this crippling debt I won't be able to go do this. What are you actually going to do? Are you going to pay for it?

They don't really give scholarships, do they? I had a little one. They do give some. I think I got $4,000 a year from them and tuition was like tuition was like

fuck what was it I think it was like $11,000 a semester or something so you're still paying $18,000 I'm still paying a lot of money. Not including living in fucking Boston ain't cheap. No, no, no. And that's not included in that cost.

And my folks, my parents were able to help me out a little bit with it. I got a little bit of scholarship money from the school through like auditioning for it you know um and then the rest of it i took out you know when i graduated i had like i think like just shy of twenty thousand dollars in debt which is like pretty damn low and the only reason no sorry i said graduate when i quit yeah there's no way there's no way i could have graduated with that low of debt when I quit and left with only that debt. See, I did some smart shit,

man, because I was 23 when I went to this. Yeah. I treated it like a, like a tech school. I never planned on graduating. I didn't take anything that I didn't want to take. So,

you know, they'll, they'll send, they'll be like, Oh, it's still music school, but they're like, you know,

you got to take this, you got to take that or whatever. I signed up for only the, I tested out of everything that I could when I showed up. So I started in the highest level classes I could. I took only shit that I wanted to and worked as hard as I could. Audited classes that I wasn't even paying for, just sit in the back. You know, you can't ask questions, but you can learn. classes that I wasn't even paying for, just sit in the back. You know, you can't ask questions,

but you can learn. And then after, you know, there's, I forget how they work it, but there's something you can do that allows you to add extra credits to your semester and take more classes than you're supposed to. And I did that. And then after three years, I just, after four semesters, I left, but I knew so many of the teachers so well that for one more year, I just hung around school. That's dude. Whenever banjo instructors would come and do some type of class or workshop or whatever, I was there just like I was a student. Yeah. They're cool.

I wasn't actually a student. Let's go. I like that hustle. Let's go. That's my guy. That's what I'm saying. Because I was 23, I was older and a little more driven than some of those other kids.

Instructors like that. Instructors in anything like that, man. When someone can tell that you want to... You're not just there because your parents sent you some money and they say you have to go to college. You're there because you want to be there and you want to learn. People are, people are responsive to that, you know?

So I got. What was the best advice that you got from, from Berkeley that you still remember? Damn, that's a hard one, man. What's the best advice that I got from school? Um, I mean, I took a class on how to do taxes as a musician. That's probably probably that's actually probably the best advice that i got out of the whole thing you know is uh is is literally just a class that explains to you what schedule c is and how your expenses relate to uh to uh to what

you're gonna inevitably have to pay yeah the government after you get, after you get stuff, you know what I mean? That was, um, that might be the, the, the most lasting important shit that I got out of it. I don't know, man. I mean, I, I worked hard on the music stuff, you know, and, and, uh, tried to play a lot of stuff that wasn't bluegrass obviously. And I didn't really sound, probably didn't, didn't really sound good doing it, but I learned a lot. Yeah. What, uh, are I didn't really sound, probably didn't really sound good doing it, but I learned a lot. Are you good with saving money? Are you bad with it?

I'm pretty good with it, man. You know, so I'm cheap. I mean, when I was in that band, Here's to the Long Haul, you know, I mean, we did I learned how to be on the road, sleeping on the floor we

were dumpster divers it was uh it was full on yeah you know so i've always and i've always been a thrifty dude anyway so who taught you that my mom yeah what's your relationship with your mom what she it's good it's good now you know it was it was pretty it was pretty, it was pretty, it was, we, we, we butted heads a lot when I was a kid, especially when I was a teenager, you know. About what? Just about, just about me not wanting to follow the rules of being a, being a, just being a punk and doing what I want. And I wasn't doing anything crazy, you know what I mean?

I just wanted to run, run around with my friends and, and skateboard and, and, you know, riding cars and leave the county and go to parties and shit like that, you know, and, and skateboard and ride in cars and leave the county and go to parties and shit like that and go to basement shows with a bunch of other punk rock bands with my buddies. Were they religious? Parents just worry. She just worried, and I can't blame her.

Were they religious? But I hated it. Yeah. No, not very religious. Yeah. Not like my grandparents were it's so weird how every other if your parents get religious then

the loins aren't religious and vice versa it's kind of like every other generation it kind of skips the religion you know yeah totally it's fucking wild you got out of Boston you hung around there for another year?

Or how long did you stay in Boston after Berkeley? Yeah, one more, almost one more full year. Yeah. You know, just hanging out. I was washing dishes in a restaurant. I was living out in Jamaica Plain. I was washing dishes at a little cafe to pay the bills. And teaching banjo lessons, too.

But I probably made more money washing dishes than I did doing anything else. Especially in like the Northeast, like Boston, you know, like you come out there. Yeah. I'm a Southern boy. We got some banjo.

Anybody want to rock the banjo? You know, it's fucking amazing. Yeah. And they're like, all right, boy, hop in the dish pit.

You're all tatted up. You're loving bluegrass and fucking old, old traditional songs. What, what year was that? What was the year after Berklee? How, what, 2014? 12.

12. Yeah, I moved to Nashville in the fall of 2012. And what was that like? I mean, first year, what was it like? It was like, you know, man, you probably wouldn't even recognize me you know i mean i had i had some tats back then but uh but i was still pretty clean cut i was like trying to when i moved to nashville you know i i didn't really know what i was trying to do and and i and i figured like i mean i knew i was trying to play music but i didn't know how i didn't know how

i was going to get to what i was trying to do and uh so in Nashville, a big part of the game is just being a sideman, you know, being a guy that can play when someone's doing a show and they need a banjo, you want to be the guy that people recommend. Oh, call that guy. He'll do a good job, you know. So I spent the good first couple of years in Nashville just like networking and trying to meet everybody I could meet and trying to

climb the ladder trying to climb other people's ladders I guess or something man I don't even know really when I look back at it now it's like

well why didn't I just start doing my own thing a little sooner but it just didn't seem the time wasn't right or something I wasn't ready. When did you meet Jenny?

Probably around... Let's see. Jenny Lynn Gardner, for people who don't know. 20... Boston. Somewhere in Boston. Yeah. And you were playing duo gigs? What was that?

When did you guys started like really doing it um well yeah we had a little band um that would play every thursday night actually at this place called the burn in uh in davis square i think or something i can't remember what square up in cambridge massachusetts so we had a little house band it's like an irish pub you know but they had a bluegrass band every thursday night so uh we had we had So we had a little house band. It was like an Irish pub, you know, but they had a bluegrass band every Thursday night. So we had a band up there for about a year that played almost every week, you know, pickup type gigs and stuff. And then you married her?

I did. For how long was that for? Well, we were only married for about a year and a half, I guess. But we were together for a long time. Dated for a long time. Married in probably 2017 and

we're split in 2019. 2019. So you married her. Didn't you like, was it 16 or 17? I can't remember. You won the national or you were in the national banjo championship? Yeah, 17, also 17.

17, wow, what a year, got married. Yes, hell of a year for me, it's 2017. So it took, so you're with her all through Nashville, did she move with you to Nashville? We actually weren't together in Boston, but we were just friends. You know, I met her up there, we had that gig, we had the whole thing. And then, and then I moved to Nashville. She had actually, she had previously lived in Nashville before moving to Boston. She, she moved to Boston to join that band Delamay and,

and was up there for a couple of years. And then she moved to Nashville also, about a year, about a year after I did or something like that, maybe. So around then, around then is really actually when we got together. Why didn't it pan out? You know, it just wasn't meant to be, I reckon, man. It's not, it's not, there was a lot, there was a lot of good there for sure. You know, I mean, the music thing, she's a Southerner. She's from South Carolina.

Her family was steeped in bluegrass. Her dad's a banjo player. um, she's a Southerner, she's from South Carolina. Her family's was, was steeped in bluegrass. Her dad's a banjo player. Hell, she's named after a fiddle tune, you know? So, uh, so, uh, that's, yeah, very, very Southern. Um, but, uh, but you know, she's all her, but we just, we, we just weren't ended up not being on the, on the same page, you know? And I was, there was a lot of other, there was, my life was also really difficult at that time for other reasons. And I don't think that they caused me to get divorced, but I also don't think that it helped.

What was going on in your life? Makes any sense. Well, I was, I was playing in the Jeff Austin band. Um, and that was, you know, Jeff, Jeff was, um, Jeff was a lot, man. He was a hell of a guy. He was, he was larger than life. Um, but it was working with it, working for him, I should say was, uh, was very difficult. Um, and it just, and there was, there was a handful of stresses that, that put me in put, there's a handful of things that, that put me in, put, there's a handful of things that put me in positions where I was a stressed

out person. Yeah. That might, that might be a way to put it, you know? Yeah, man. It's like,

you know, cause you didn't really partake in any of the extracurriculars like, you know, and he's probably going through a lot with everything going on and, you know, how do you approach that to someone who's hired you, you know? Well,

it's not, yeah. And it's not, I mean, man, I, you know, the,

this, as far as the extracurriculars go, you know, I mean, I've, I've been, I've been up and down and, and had my times and there's,

there's plenty of time. I mean, especially in that, it's probably, probably during that time in my life, I wouldn't have been saying no to much of anything, you know? Oh,

word. Also, you were kind of partying during that. Yeah. Yeah, for sure. You weren't coking shit or what? What were you doing? Yeah, you know, just a lot of it.

I've always liked LSD. Oh, word? In my older age, it doesn't sit quite the same with me as it used to, but know, but I used to like to go to space, man. It didn't, didn't bother me one bit, you know. We're just getting older, dude. I know. I got too much shit to do. I can't be having an existential crisis for 11 hours, you know? Yeah. Yeah. And that's, and for some reason I feel like I'm slightly more prone to the existential crisis than I used to be in the, if I, if I get a head full of LSD, you know, or, or mushrooms, but, but you know, and that was, and that was, that it was, it was tough, man, because when you see,

you know, I've been speaking to the addiction thing, you know, like you said before, I mean, I've, I've been, I've been close enough. I've a couple of really close people in my life have struggled with alcohol addiction in a, in a debilitating way, in a life-altering and life-threatening way. And fortunately, it hasn't happened to me with that substance yet or any substance really, I guess, exactly. But I've been really close to it and I've had this, I've seen it a lot. And I, and I, you know, with alcohol, I mean, like I drink beer, I love, I fucking love to drink beer. Um, uh, I'm, I think my blood like is Pabst Blue Ribbon, probably at least half of it, you know? Um, but, and so it's tough when you got people very close

to you that like, if I go drink a beer with him, he's going to, it's going to throw off his life for the next two months and he's going to end up in rehab, you know, those types of situations. So, you know, there was, there was, there, there was a little bit of that, you know, in working with Jeff, it's like watching, watching someone just struggle with substances when, and I've, and realistically I was probably self-medicating too. I was self-medicating to just to deal with all of that, to deal with another person that might be self-medicating, you know what a, what a fucked up dark little circle is that. So, you know, and that's, and that's, imagine that stress and imagine the kinds of stresses

that that can now put on your marriage. Oh my God. Yeah. That's what I'm saying. Like, it's kind of all, it was all a whole mixing pot of fucking madness. And like, and then it starts affecting your personal life. And then. Yeah.

And like I said, I don't think that, I don't think that if I hadn't been in that band I would still be married today to Jenny Lynn I don't believe that but you know maybe it would have ended differently or something hell it probably wouldn't have these things don't

they're independent of each other but they're all tied in were you afraid to talk to him? it's no not really, man. And it, it, it wasn't for a long, I didn't realize for a long time sort of what was going on, you know? Um, and then, or just, just, I didn't, maybe I never completely understood what was going on. I shouldn't, I shouldn't say it. Like I know everything, but, but maybe, um, maybe I didn't, uh, I mean, I definitely didn't, didn't just realize how dark, uh, things were, but then once it, once I came to that realization, um, I still, Jeff was still around for several

more months and we, and I still was on the road with him and, and, and, uh, then it got a lot easier because like I said, I've been close to this a bunch of times man so it was kind of like like with a lot of different people at different phases in my in my life you know um people like i said very close to me have all of a sudden i've realized they're having these major struggles with alcohol and it makes you wonder because you're well, do you sort of start looking at all the similarities? And it's like, well, one of the things that's similar in all these situations is me and drinking, you know, around with these people.

So it makes you wonder sort of like, well, fuck, am I, am I fucked up or am I helping to hurt my friends in some weird way that I don't understand, you know? So it makes you, it makes you think I don't understand, you know? Um, so it makes you, it makes you think of all that too, you know? Um, but, but like I said, once I, you know, closer to the end, once I started realizing, um, that Jeff was in some trouble, you know, uh, it was easy to talk about because I've been around it and I've seen it before and I've, and I've seen some successes and I've seen some failures, unfortunately, you know? And, and, uh, so once, once that, once the, that discussion was on the table for me, it was, it was not hard.

Right. You know, and you know, you know, even taking the microscope further away, this life we live only 1% under really fucking understand what we fucking go through on a daily goddamn basis. So we drink this up press because you can't really tell, you know, Joe Maloney in accounting, what's going on on the road without them judging you,

you know? Totally. Totally. And just, and just not having any, not having any, uh, um,

perspective to even understand it. you know what I mean? Because some of the things that you would explain about things that you go through on the road and things you deal with might sound, to anyone that doesn't live that life, would just sound so radical and unusual and possibly terrible. Right. So, yeah, you know, and the same, it's like being, it's also that whole thing of like, especially someone like Jeff, you know, a lot of people look up to him. A lot of, everyone's got this vision of what they think he is.

He's the best, he's the greatest, he's the biggest and the loudest and the most fun. And that, and when you, he's, he's the best. He's the greatest. He's the biggest and the loudest and the most fun. And, uh, and that, and when you, when you put that forward, when that's like sort of your brand, let's say the brand you make for yourself, you know, um, there's a, no one is that guy all the time. There's a lot, there's a lot more to life, but when you present sort of this one version of yourself and it's professional and everyone thinks they know you in that way, you know, I think, I think that can be a very difficult thing, you know, for then,

then you're trying to go home and be a family man, you know, and got a couple of little kids and, and so there there's extreme highs, go extreme lows. You know, you can't, if you're going to be that high up, I mean, I'm, I'm like that too,

man. I, I, you know, everyone considers me Mr. Happy. It's your fucking totally party animal. Yeah.

Party animal. But you know, it's like, I might feel like shit, but Andy can make me feel better. I bet, you know, unless I'm strung out on a,

on a Sunday, you know, you know, this is why I do it on Mondays so I can recoup at least a little bit on the fucking Sunday but like yeah this life we live

is very extremely hard and it's very extremely unique that you know of course people are going to suppress that's just

that's just how it is and he was heartbroken you know yonder the yonder thing I totally get all that shit, dude. Dude. Can you, I mean, you know, and this is one of those things I don't, it's, it's, it's trying to,

trying to point a finger and in any direction at this point is just completely pointless or useless. But, you know, going from those from selling out Rocks to three nights, three nights in a row with your band of, of buddies that, you know, you've been with for a long time. And then, and then a couple of years later, you got a crew of dudes riding around with you that, you know, I respected Jeff and I loved him. And he was a giant influence to me all those years when I was going to see Yonder, but he didn't fucking know me. You know, he didn't know me you know he didn't know who i mean he knew me once he got my number from vince herman to call me to join the band but until vince said hey you should look into this guy jeff didn't know me you know so he's

riding around yeah riding around the country with a couple dudes that weren't that that aren't that band that you had been with and and and selling a very, you know, sometimes very small numbers of tickets at night, every night, you know, I remember opening for you guys in George's majestic. Um, and we played the small room.

Yeah. Yeah. There you go. I was your opener. I don't, well, I, I must not,

I think Kavanaugh might've been, I think Ryan Kavanaugh would have been in the band at that time. Yeah. But that was probably just before I joined the band. Yeah. And I was remembering like trying to talk to him cause I didn't really know him. Cause I have been in the band at that time. Yeah. That was probably just before I joined the band. Yeah. And I was remembering, trying to talk to him, because I didn't really know him, because I was in the... The only thing I knew about Bluegrass was Harvest Fest in Arkansas.

Which was Yonder's Fest. Yeah. Exactly. And I got to play there a bunch. I was the late night, you know, wild man, curveball thing. But I got to understand Jeff and Vinny. And then seeing him on the other side of that, because I'm homies with Bayless,

and that's one of his closest friends. So I was just hearing the stories of who he was. And then when I actually saw him, it made me sad. And you're working with the motherfuckers and riding around in a minivan with him and shit you know i mean it's like dude and like you said it's like the small room at george's like i've been to i also played george's with him not the time i don't think it was the time that you were there but uh but we did is that lindsey you're definitely on the camera right now.

What's up, Lindsay? Andy says, what's up? Hey, girl, how you doing? I thought when you said the cat, it was... I know. I thought it was the cat, too. And then I looked back, I was like, that's a little bit bigger than the cat. What's up, Andy?

Hey, Bob bob how you doing not that's the thing like everything happens for a reason man it didn't work out with jenny so you could fall in love with lindsey lou you know exactly exactly ma'am you know it's the same thing with the jeff thing you know you wouldn't have found molly molly tuttle you know totally and you can't and you know, and, and that kind of, one thing that sort of speaks to like the timing of these things too, you know, I said earlier, I was like, well, I sort of wonder like maybe why didn't I start playing my own music when I

moved to Nashville? Why didn't I start doing my own show or something like that? And it wasn't really until I got in Jeff's band and had to spend a lot of time on stage right next to him with getting it with us getting our sweat on each other right up in each other's faces and head banging and shredding and sweating and spitting on each other and shit. Um, it wasn't until I was thrown into that, that I think I became ready to do my own show. You know, I learned, I learned so much from being on stage with Jeff, um, that I think I wasn't ready for a while.

I wasn't ready for a lot, even things I thought I wanted to do. I wasn't ready for them until I'd had that experience. Yeah. You know, that's, you know, that's, that's the beautiful thing about life. You know, when you're going through the grind, you're like, fuck this. But then when you take, then you take a couple of years after you're years after you're like I'm thankful I had that look who I am now you have a solo project

I'm curious to hear how you met Molly I also want to talk about you got a record too so like you built the confidence to fucking be your own man through all these experiences in life and stuff. So when did it start picking up for you?

Uh, were you making dough with Jeff's band? Um, yeah, yeah. I mean, I was, you know,

I was, I was, I was, I was getting paid financially. It was a struggle, but I did, I did make money, you know,

for sure. and, uh, and then my band then then when when jeff passed i mean immediately the first thing i did actually the very first thing i did was larry keel larry keel's band went out to go do a whole bunch of the whole bunch of dates that jeff had had on the calendar for the rest of the year. Basically the agent put added, added me to keels band, um, which was Jared pool and, and, um, Jenny keel, you know, and Larry. And we went and did like a lot of the rest of 2019 I spent with them.

Um, which was good. Cause I had like, just lost my gig. Basically. I lost my, my friend and my hero and my job. Um, and was, was in the process of losing my wife and, uh, through all that. And, uh, so I went out with keel, did all that. And, um, you know, like you said, the highs and lows, man, I do believe it's, life is like a sine wave, you know, the, uh, musical sine wave, it goes, you got that, you got the middle musical sine wave it goes you got that you got the middle line and where it starts and then it goes up and then it goes down and it goes up

and it goes down and if you if you want to have those big if you want to have a big wave you want to have the big highs you're going to have to have the big lows too um that's just part of it. Do you get felt bad during the lows? What? Do the lows really take you down when you're in those lows or do you feel optimistic that there's highs coming your way? With that idea of those ups and downs, when you're in the lows, do you, are you stuck in the low or do you realize this is gonna pass, this is gonna pass? What's your brain think like that? I think I'm pretty good at being optimistic, man. I think I, you know, pretty good at hoping

that better times are coming, whether they, whether you know that or not, you know? Right, yeah. So, damn, that's fucking wild. What's the difference between keel and um and austin as band leaders uh i mean you know jeff jeff austin also had learned a lot from larry keel man you know keel is keel is a wild man keel and and vince herman you know both uh both just total wild cards you sort of never know

what's gonna what's gonna happen so there's a lot of similarities about being in being on stage with both of those guys because it's just a sort of like you just sort of you know you you're going along and you're just you just you're just hanging on and and listening and looking for the best you know keel will just be like, at the end of this one, man, just watch me. You'll figure it out. I love that. After the third chorus, man, we're going to fucking jam and go out to space for a little bit, but

you'll hang on, man. You'll get it, buddy. I fucking love him, dude. I know, man. He's the best. I know, man. He's the best. Like I got you. He's like, Andy, I got you some edibles I made. I'm like, I do not trust these.

He's like, cause I know how much he eats. Oh yeah, dude. Like he's, I'm like, this will, I will see God if I see these. Yeah. Oh yeah. He gave, he gave one time he handed me something that he made and he was like a bag. It had two different colors. You know, there was, there was green ones and there was purple ones in there. He got, he gave, one time he handed me something he made and he was like a bag that had two different colors. There was green ones and there was purple ones in there.

He hands me the bag. I was like, hey, what's this? He goes, they're edibles, man. Take a couple green ones. The purple ones are for me. I was like, yeah, I'm not taking a purple one, dude. I know, I know. I've seen those eyes. The distance stare. I'm like, this man is hot. But he still plays the shit out of the guitar you know unbelievable some people can do that i can't do that i can't be like i need to

be connected with the crowd i mean you know i was like i'm from yeah yeah no that's i that's that's funny man i mean i smoke weed like it's like i mean i can smoke i can hang with keel you know i mean it'd be hard be hard for him to, to smoke me under the table. Um, which is another thing that I love about him because it's just, it's just, uh,

such a, and Jeff was not a stoner. You know, Jeff was funny. He had, he had been a stoner in life, but he wasn't the stoner when I, when I knew him,

I never smoked weed with Jeff. Um, but, uh, but I, but I still, but, uh,

I'm tough, man, even being the front man, even being the front of the band, you know, it's like, you want to be connected. You got to be connected. You got to, you got to be in the right head space to connect with the people in the room. Otherwise it's not going to work, especially to do what you do. I mean, damn dude, you're not, you're just, you're,

it's what you do is a very special, powerful, wild thing. And you can't just be sort of like out of your mind and achieve that. I don't think, I mean, I'm not you, but I don't. Yeah. I mean, I have to be in control, but I don't, this is why I stopped doing Coke. Yeah. It's like, can't do it. Can't. No, that's, I don't like that either. It's like your brain for me, it's like my brain moves, starts to move faster than my fingers even can,

you know? And your brain's like, oh, play this. Oh, now play this. Oh, now play this. And your fingers are like, well, I can't, I can't do, I can't keep up with all this shit, you know? And then you sound like shit. And then you start thinking about how you sound like shit. And then you lose your connection to the people.

And right. Yeah. And it's like, I don't even, I can't start really drinking heavily until like middle of the set. I need to have like a base, you know, I need to have a fresh paint, you know? Oh, totally. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I like to, I like to, I, like I said, I smoke weed all day, every day, you know? Um, so, uh, so that, so I sort of do feel like I need to smoke weed before the set,

but I probably want to have like, I want to be like opening my second beer when I'm starting the set. Yeah. Not, not opening my, not opening my fifth beer. I feel you dog. I feel you. Like I'm going to open my fifth beer for sure, but it's going to be after the set's done tonight at the bar, you know? So when did you meet Molly? Man, Molly, I met at Berkeley, actually. We were at Berkeley at the same time. Yeah, you know, everybody in this band, everybody in the Golden Highway, except for Shelby, was at Berkeley at the same time. And Shelby had moved to Boston to be in, or Shelby actually never moved to Boston, but she spent a lot of time in Boston to be in that band Delamay with Jenny Lynn. So technically

in 2009, 10, 11 Bronwyn and Dominic and Shelby and Molly and myself all were living in Boston. Oh shit. When you got the call, what was it like? It was you got the call what was how what do you what was it like it was uh you know it was it was uh it was it was cool man it was exciting i was with the little smokies for a little while you know i helped them out um when their banjo guy left so i was doing that for a little while and i was with them when molly called um and she was like, hey, I'm starting this band. And I was like, holy shit, what an opportunity.

I mean, Molly Tuttle has been on one hell of a trajectory for a really long time. He deserves it. It's just cool. Yeah. Did that crew drink? You know, me and dom are kind of the party animals in that in that uh in that group man the girl the the girls will uh we'll we'll have one after the show sometimes yeah um but uh you know dom is my boy me and him me and him i don't i

don't i don't know if i could do it without him yeah what a ride being at the grammys too yeah i'm i'm actually i gotta i don't know what i'm gonna wear yeah dude are you bringing lindsey uh she can't go man she's gonna be uh she's gonna be doing the uh uh transatlantic sessions with um jerry douglas like over in the uk so that's like totally fucking awesome i'm super i'm super proud of her super happy that she's going to be there look at you little power couple little nashville power i knew you guys were in love when i saw you guys at sleigh ride last year and you guys were seeing each other and like eye-to-eye contact dude that was it's pretty hot in it that was it was hot it was hot as shit you know yeah you're a good looking man. I'm like, man, this man is in love.

I'm proud of you, bro. You deserve it all, man. You really do. You put your dues in and you put your time in and it was just about time for you to find a band that's popping off. It's got to help your solo career.

You're putting out a new record. How's, so how you feeling about it? You feeling good about it? I feel good about it, man. This, this, this, I mean, yeah, the thing with golden highway has just been, it's still sort of, you know, I said, I mean, of course, of course you got to take a gig like that, a call like that, but you also don't know what, I mean, who knows what it's going to be. I didn't know. I try to, even though you hope it's going to be great. I'm also, I'm like, I'm an optimist, but I also try not to build

myself up too much. Cause I don't want to be too terribly disappointed if something isn't what I, what I thought it would be, you know? So, um, so it's still, I knew we were getting into something cool, but I didn't have any idea how cool it would be i mean fucking grammys and stuff like that dude i did not see that coming you know fucking nuts dude and like shows are packing out just like does she let you do what a one of your tunes during her set um we don't right now we're not doing any of my tunes but a lot of times i was doing that uh john hartford's tune up on the hill where they do the boogie and that's kind of of, that's like, it's not my tune, but I get to, I get to have my way with it, you know?

And then a lot of times in the encores of the show, I'm always looking for like something that's relevant to the town that we're in, a song that's got the name or a song that mentions something relevant, you know? So I'm, I'm always sort of digging for something fun to do. That's unique to the show. And a lot of times in the encores,

um, she'll let me have that. Yeah. That's fucking awesome. Which is, which is cool, man. It's,

it's, um, it feels good. What's she like as a band leader? She's good. She's good. She's a good band leader. She's,

she's, uh, she's pretty stoic, you know, kind of as band leader she's good she's good she's a good band leader she's she's uh she's pretty stoic you know kind of as a she's she's she's not a like a loud animated uh person for the most part she's she's a pretty chill pretty even keeled person you know which is which can which can be good because it's because it's like you know this this they're it's like, you know, it's not as bumpy of a ride maybe as some other situations that I've been in. I always love a pilot, you know, when there's turbines. Like, yeah, a little chop. It's all good.

We're going to be good. Exactly. Fuck the seatbelt! Hold on! I fucking hate pilots like that. I'm like, oh my god, damn it. I just hate pilots like that. I'm like, Oh my God, damn it.

Yeah. Just, I just need like an even keel pilot. So you got a record. So are you going to be touring it? Are you going to be able to tour it? Or is Molly's schedule so busy next year? Well,

that's part of why it's taken me so long to put this record out. Um, is that I, is that I am going to get to tour it in this little chunk of time that we have a window off from golden Highway. So I'm doing eight shows next month, which is February of 2024. I mean, I know that you know what next month is probably, but I don't know when this is going to air, which is why I'm saying that.

I barely don't even know the fuck a month. I got one more question for you and I'll let you go back to your amazing life that's maybe that's maybe the first time anyone's ever said that to me and it sounded it felt really good man I gotta say you go to the Grammys you got a fucking girl

you guys are living together I mean everything is happening bro and you're putting out a record and you're doing your own thing and you have your own way I mean it everything is happening, bro. And you're putting out a record and you're doing your own thing and you have your own way. I mean, it's all coming into fruition like you deserve, bro. So I'm happy for you. Thank you, Andy. I got one last question.

You know, when it's all said and done, what do you want to be remembered by? What do I want to be remembered by? You know, I think I would have said, I think I would have said, I think, I think I would have said as, you know, for being a banjo player for, I would want to be remembered for being like the best banjo player that I could be. But a thing that I think I've learned in the last handful of years, and I think this was like a big thing I learned from Jeff. And then I've learned from getting to spend time with Vinny too, you know, is that like, I actually love being an entertainer, not being, not just being a banjo player. I mean, I use the banjo and that's the, that's my, that's my tool that gets me in front of people. But I mean, and, and people like

you, dude, you're, you're a major inspiration to me. I mean, I'm serious. You watching you watching you be able to get a whole room of like germans doing the like circle mosh pit thing like watching your videos from from uh from from your uk tour or whatever this year was was every day i was like excited to wake up every day and see like what did frasco do last night you know and that and that's that's because you're an entertainer man you you you and when you're when you're really an entertainer, man. You, you, you, and when you're, when you're really an entertainer, like you are, and like Jeff was, and like Vince and these people, man, you, you bring joy, you bring so much joy into people's lives,

you know, and it's, and being, being a really great instrumentalist or singer or whatever, being a, being a great at any craft, being a great chef, being a great anything, also brings lots of joy. But being able to sort of, I don't know, I don't want to say be the whole package, but just be more than just the guy that plays the banjo. more than just the guy that plays the banjo, you know, that's being, being, being the overall entertainer. That's a, that's like an uplifting, hopefully, hopefully has left, uh, hopefully has left a plus and not a minus on the stamp of, of people's, of, of the gender of general people's experience on this planet. Not necessarily mine, but other people's, you know, I hope I won't, I want to be remembered by hopefully leaving a positive stamp here. Fucking a goddamn. Let's go.

You get the standing on today, baby. Well, I appreciate it. Go grab Kyle's record. He's the man. Go check them out with Molly Tuttle. It's so weird.

Y'all have the same last name. Probably everyone thinks you're it makes for such great stage banter because nobody knows and you would think that when you tell a joke I like to think that when I make a joke people know that you're joking but they don't when you're saying something in a microphone

people like take it as fact so I constantly make these jokes about oh she's my sister or she's my cousin or she's my wife and we got divorced and she let me keep the last name. You should start fucking the crowd and just start doing incestual jokes. It's like, hell yeah, it's my sister.

Exactly. Hell yeah, it's my sister, brother. Hey, buddy, stop looking at my sister like that. Hey, bro. Well, Kyle, thanks for being on the show, bro. I'm glad you're fucking kicking ass. And I'll see you on the road out there, buddy. Yeah, looking forward to it.

Thanks for having me, Andy. Let's save the world. Let's do it. Cheers, bud. And tell Lindsay, too. Let's get her on the show. Oh, yeah. When I told her I was doing your podcast today, she was like, oh, I want to do one.

Yeah, we'll get her in there. And then next time. She made her little guest appearance. Next time she can stand up and talk on the microphone. And then what we should do one, when we do a live podcast in Nashville, you and her, and we'll do a couple's like, like, like the marriage show or whatever they call that. What's that show? The one where they put the one where they, they put a divider between the two people

and they have to write the answer to the question and hold it up. We should do that shit, dude. That would be fucking hilarious. I'll do that. I don't know what kind of questions you'd ask on it. It'd probably actually be pretty heavy duty, but I'll still do it, man. I love you and I trust you and I'll do it. Don't worry.

I'll be polite. I'll be respectful. I won't talk about incest like i just said all right bud have a great day and thanks for rocking hell yeah thanks andy you tuned in to the world's podcast with andy fresco thank you for listening to this episode produced by andy fresco joe angelo and chris lawrence we need you to help us save the world and spread the word. Please subscribe, rate the show, give us those crazy stars, iTunes, Spotify, wherever you're picking this shit up. Follow us on Instagram at world saving podcast for more info and updates.

Prescott's blogs and tour dates you'll find at andyfrescott.com. And check our socials to see what's up next. Might be a video dance party, a showcase concert, that crazy shit show, or whatever springs to Andy's wicked brain. And after a year of keeping clean and playing safe, the band is back on tour. We thank our brand

new talent booker, Mara Davis. We thank this week's guest, our co-host, and all the fringy frenzies that help make this show great. Thank you all. And thank you for listening. Be your best, be safe, and we will be back next week. No animals were harmed in the making of this podcast as far as we know. Any similarity, junction, or knowledge, facts, or fake is purely coincidental.