Whiskey Ginger with Andrew Santino - Ben Harper

Episode Date: January 4, 2019

Santino sits down with Ben Harper to chat about shitty gigs, paying dues and Ben performs a song that makes the Slugger get emotional. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In here, we pour whiskey, whiskey, whiskey, whiskey, whiskey. You're that creature in the ginger beard. Sturdy and ginger. Like vampires, the ginger gene is a curse. Gingers are beautiful. You owe me $5 for the whiskey and $75 for the horse. Gingers are hell no. This whiskey is excellent.

Ginger. I like gingers. Yes! Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to Whiskey Ginger My guest this week Is one of my favorite people on earth I say that for all my guests Don't be flattered But it is true

With you Okay It won't go to your head Because you know better It's Mr. Ben Harper Ben Harper Thank you for coming man Clap clap for you

I appreciate you You're the best We met Through the interwebs Which is kind of the nicest thing In the world about the internet Yeah Of all the negative shit On the internet I think that's one of the best um we met through uh the interwebs which is kind of the nicest thing in the world about the internet yeah of all the negative shit on the internet i think that's one of the best things meeting people that you respect and that you like and we both uh appreciated each other's art yours uh for me was uh a big deal in my life mine was um a tv show that got canceled so that happens

so that it's official it's gone yeah that's a that's a huge loss yeah got canceled. So that happens. So that it's official? It's gone, yeah. That's a huge loss. Yeah, I'll drink to that. I'll drink to... Air cheers you because it can't cheers water. My grandfather said you go to hell. But I'm already going, so I guess that doesn't really matter.

But Ben, yes, you were a fan of the show. I thought that was amazing. And I told you I was a huge fan of your music and your art. And it was influential to me as someone who isn't a musician. And we started chatting, and then we had dinner, huh? Yep. We had a wonderful dinner. We had some male bonding at Musso and Frank's.

That was all time. One of the highlights of 2018 for me. Yes, last year. That would have made my top nine, that bullshit thing that people do on Instagram. That would have made my top nine things that I love to do, that we went out and chatted. I think we got real deep into our family history in our lives too.

Yeah. You guys, you, you divulged. And, and just, it just led us there. We didn't,

it's not like we were, you know, it was the steak for me. It was the steak. Yeah. Steak usually gets me emotional about my father, you know, so it all comes out.

Musos. Yeah. Classic Musos style. Yes. A steak and sadness about dad. Show people at home real quick, your phone, just so we can show people that you're, that you're old school. Yeah. The flip dip Musos. Yeah, classic Musos style. Yeah, a stake in sadness about dad. Show people at home real quick your phone just so we can show people that you're old school. Yeah.

The flip dip. Yeah, yeah. You don't mess around with the iPhone or none of that shit. No. Why? This is not your thing. I have an iPod for music and photos.

Yeah. But when I walk out of the house, I don't want to be chained up like that. You don't want to be on, you don't want to be teched out of your head? Nah. Yeah, you think it's too convenient to like get into a rhythm of looking at Instagram and Twitter or whatever

Yeah, it's too gratifying takes up too much time for me. Yeah, just for my thing And and I also when right I don't like to write on the fly Like I like to kind of think about what I'm writing. Ah, you're one of those people that cares about what they say try In this era everybody should I think that's think it's so convenient to send a text. It's like too easy to just blast off a text. Yeah. You know, we shouldn't. And it's so easy to also misread a text or an email.

Right. Especially when you're not putting any thought into it. That's the biggest problem that I have with all of it is that you're throwing stuff out of the universe so fast. You don't really care if you said something stupid or careless or emotionally detached because it's so quick. That's like the biggest problem. I think that's where the most fights start. Like with me and my wife, it's kind of like, I didn't mean it that way. I was just like, yeah, okay.

You know, like, yeah, okay, such like a rude way. But really what you're saying is, yeah, sure, I'm all in. You just don't articulate it. You're just on the go. If you're on the go, you're trying to abbreviate, keep it short. Yeah, but it's rude. Did you ever own an iPhone or have an iPhone? I did.

And when did you give it up? Four years ago. Yeah. You don't miss it? No. I put it in a cup of water. Did you really? Done.

You could have just stopped using it. True. I needed a freaking bowl there. You really wanted to solidify it being gone. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. I mean, and also, I mean, I thought going to the DMV was a pain in the ass, man.

Going to the, no offense. Yeah. Well, no offense to the DMV. That's one of the worst places on earth. Yeah. But going to the. Going to the. The Apple store.

That Apple store hustle, man. Yeah. I yelled at an Apple employee one time. I said, when that guy died, this place went to shit. When Steve Jobs died, I feel like Apple went to shit. I feel like every time I go now, it's the worst place on earth. I'm waiting in lines, I have to talk to nine different people.

You have to schedule with an expert that sends you to a geek and that sends you to a brilliant nerd or whatever fucking categories they have now. And if I'm giving you money, I'd love a little bit of humility, a little bit of a good attitude. Oh yeah, you're not gonna get that.

When I'm dropping coins. No, you're not gonna get that. You're not dropping coins. No, you're not gonna get that. But also the thing too is you're not just firing off texts and emails. You're waiting for them. Yeah, I'm sitting around anxiously. Yeah, you're right. You're at the mercy of someone else's kind of

time frame as far as how rapidly they respond and you're kind of looking, waiting. It's weird because now in this generation of if I don't get a response in the timing that i want a response i'm pissed yeah which is so lame you shouldn't expect that ever right especially as busy as everybody is running around this world you know kids family friend you and yeah people want instant instant responses and half the time i'm on a skateboard. So if I spend three hours on a skateboard and you hit me at the 10-minute mark

when I'm on that board, because I'm older. You've got to stay hot. You've got to keep going. The second you stop skating for three minutes, five minutes on a skateboard. Because your muscles get tight. You're cooked.

When you say you're older, viewers don't know, you're 107. You're not that old, man. You make it sound like you're so old but you do still skate you're still heavily involved in the skate we talked yes because p rod was here um power amazing the best the young the skateboarder not the not his father we talked about him but um he's he's a fan of you we had talked about you come on uh no yeah seriously and uh come on you're not you're not blown away by that are are you? Yeah, no, he is. And we talked about you because you've invested in skateboard companies in the past, right?

You have one now, still, right? Roller whore, exactly. That's exactly right. Yeah, yeah. And who is it with? Mike York. Mike York is doing it with you. Yeah.

And where is it out of? Is it Southern California? Southern California. Yeah. Yeah. Which is funny because I think people don't really know. I don't really know what people know about you. You would have to ask all the people, but you were born in Southern California.

I was. Yeah. And raised here. Yep. And, and I think most people just assume musicians were born elsewhere or comics were born and then they move here. Right? Like, it's kind of like for me, I started standup in Los Angeles and when people hear

that, they're like, I thought you were from Chicago. I'm like, no, I am am but i moved here and started here but i think we all have this fascination with everyone came from fucking cleveland and then like god your big break on you know on the way here no it's like there's a lot of people that were born here or started here or originated their career here and you were born in in was it inland empire yeah you're born in the 909 yeah the 909 yeah respect to the 909 was it was it a a working class or what was like the because now inland empire is like getting nice right isn't it getting really isn't it nice fancy empire is definitely on the ascent yeah it's on the rise yeah when you were growing up there was it was it was it on the way up or was it kind

of like a working class or middle class or what was it? It's still working class and that maintains. But I mean, the town I'm from, Claremont College Town, it's kind of seen as, I mean, we were broke, but we got by. Broke, but got by. But it was the upside of being broke. You know what I mean? There's that. Yeah, that's interesting.

That probably shaped who you were and the way you saw the world i guess right though for sure yeah you broke but got by it's funny because like my parents were never broke but my parents always bitched about money that's like something i'll always remember is my mom my stepdad more like always about like i was you know oh yeah you know it's expensive or it was always like we weren't poor or broke but they talked like we we were running out of money at any moment so i have this panic you were even as a kid i have it now i think about it constantly i know how much money i have but i'm still like what if it gets taken away but just because it was that rhetoric was like involved in my head was like you know it could be gone it's like could it i

don't know there are certain things from your youth that are unshakable right whether it's like the money thing you're talking about yeah the socio-political right like when you're it's so hard to extricate yourself from your parents sort of perspective on the world right on politics and on religion that sinks deep right it's interesting the things that you just can't get out from under yeah i think well that's the thing is like usually things you don't want to right right so that's the upside and you get stuck i think the things you can't get away from are those socioeconomic uh bubbles that you tend tend to get trapped in when you grow up in a certain way and then um traumatic things like you know seeing your dad's penis for the first time that's probably the worst thing in

the world you know when he walks out of the shower and you're a little boy and you see that and then you see your penis and you're like, it's just, I don't know if I'll ever get there. That was my worry. I was like, I don't know if I'll ever grow into that. Right. You never had that worry.

Did you have a man penis when you were a child? No, but I can't get the vision of you looking at your dad's penis. I'll send you a photo. We took family photos of me looking at my dad's dick. That was our Christmas card, 96. It of me looking at my dad's dick that was our Christmas card 96

was me looking at my dad's dick some things you can't escape you know when did you start when did you start when would you say you started full time

playing music full time playing music late teens early 20s where that was it no matter what else I did I knew I going to do that to support myself making music. Now there's a lot of things on the internet that say they think they know what influenced you.

And I hate the question of who influenced you. Cause people say that to me as a comic and I'm like, what do you, everybody, I don't know. I make it to me. But like, what do you think was a, maybe a moment in your life that influenced you to really fall in love? was maybe a moment in your life that influenced you to really fall in love with music? I've actually come full circle on the question,

and I'd say all the pain, all that stuff we talk about, and we talk about at dinner, and even touched on here, I mean, it's the hard shit, the gritty shit. Yeah, that's what pushed you into really needing. That's half of it, and the other half is then what moves you that you hear at a young age

that you reach for right you know early blues and soul and folk music what was your favorite record when you were a kid

my favorite record was Jimi Hendrix smash hits that was your that was like by far that was the yeah that was the one fascinated with him wore a hole in it

yeah if there was one of those legends that's dead now that you wish you could kick it with if they could be alive for like an hour who would it be

it would have to be it would have to be Hendrix yeah just because he's the bookend I mean that Hendrix is kind of the reason I didn't play electric guitar

like I play lap steel right because there was nothing I didn't feel like I could find anything left to say after Jimmy. Oh, that's amazing. You thought perhaps he had cornered the market

so well in that that it was like, I'm gonna leave that for him? I'd mess around on electric and round neck and stuff like that, but I just, I went, man, that's really been done. And that was part of what brought me to lap steel, that I felt like I could find myself in an instrument. Something that may have not been expressed. What was the moment that you knew you didn't suck do you know what that is

like I feel like a lot of performers have a moment where you know you don't suck there was a moment where I was 19 20 years old and I did an open mic at Cal Poly yeah Cal Poly Pomona college shout out Cal Poly Pomona by the way you guys you know that's the home of the home of the shoelaces That's their mascot the Cal Poly shoelaces come on. No this They say I'm gullible I believe I know I know Played a gig solo just me and a few guitars and A guy named Lindsey and I can't remember Lindsey's last name I just remember his first name and I it's and but I have the article somewhere in my archive and

Like I have an archive that makes it sound organized. You do, you have a huge archive of the house. He thumbs through this massive drawer of archival footage of himself. But it was a review, and I got it, it was the first review I ever got, and he said, you know, I didn't plan on staying for this guy's gig, but after the first song,

because I had to get home and miss traffic, but this guy, I realized, was worth me missing traffic for oh that's brilliant and i was like damn it i hate it i hate you know traffic is just notorious and this has been always here yeah i was like wow he was willing to miss traffic for my gig and wrote about it i was like that's that's monumental maybe i don't maybe i don't suck yeah that's a great moment. I feel like the moment that I knew I didn't suck was, since you asked. Yeah, please. The moment I knew I didn't suck was I was playing a dog shit gig in the middle of nowhere. How old?

This was, I was 24, 25. And I had snuck my way into like a B C room like a C room a comedy C room is like you know they can't really get big names or headliners or anything like that

so they get they farm out like either local guys from LA to drive way up to middle California or middle Nevada to go to these B or C rooms which was in Dying

oh my god yeah oh yeah and you know we get I hate to interrupt you but that episode, man, where you were just laying the hick out to dry. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

That's a real story, by the way, from one of the writers. You know that, right? No. One of the stand-ups on the show we're referring to, and I'm dying up here, canceled.

Unacceptable. I won't accept it. It is. It's over. If Arrested Development can keep coming out so many years later... I think they're burying us really bad. No, but can't we do a Go Fuck Me?

We can do a Go Fuck Me. They did a Go Fuck Me. Showtime did a Go Fuck Me, but they canceled the show. No, but... Can't we really, though? We can't. No, we can't. We'll go picket outside of the president's house.

I know where he lives, so we'll go do that. All right, all right, all right. At the very least. One of the scenes that we were talking about is when I went in on a biker gang. And one of the writers on the show, I forget if it was one of the writers, I think so, but had a situation where he was joking with a dude

but didn't know he was part of a biker gang. And one of the dudes in the back was like, shut the fuck up. You don't know who that is. And of course, afterwards, they kicked the shit out of him because he thought, oh, we're having a good time.

And the guy outside was like, yeah, we're having a good time, but I run this area. And I can't let you do me like that um so that was that was but that but that but that that kind of felt like this thing that i was doing by the way like that that feel of it was a dirty bar it was i want to say it was utah but i don't really remember sea room yeah sea room just in the middle of nowhere and um i'll never forget they i had told the guy i could own i self-booked oh my wife booked me this is crazy she used to call and pretend like she was my agent but we had said how long you guys been together since the beginning of time the dinosaurs

but she had called and i think we had said that i was only going to do like 30 and when i got there the guy was expecting me to do an hour he He's like, it's a headliner set. You have to do an hour. And I remember like panicking, thinking like, well, they're going to find out. Not going to give me my money. I'm going to drive home broke. I was like scared and nervous that all this was going to kind of collapse on my shoulders. And I was up there and I did like the 27 minutes I really had.

And then the next 30 minutes, I just fucked around. And I let loose. And I was just hoping that I was peeling through the time, peeling through the time. And when the hour was done, I did good enough and I got off stage and I really snaked my way through it. I didn't, I did barely had, you were out on a,

you hadn't been that far out. I truly probably had 12 minutes of real material, you know, but I learned to make the 12 into a shitty 30. And then that other 30 was just me talking to the crowd and goofing around and and the booker uh this dude who was there uh had come up to me and uh gave me my money and was like man that was really funny you know if you know anybody else that wants to come you know you're really good so any anybody you recommend I'll trust. And I remember going back to my car and thinking, okay, I think I don't suck enough to make this keep going. I was like, I think I'm going to make this work. I think this is going to

continue if I can do this this way. And it wasn't good. It was just, if I got by then, I thought, well, then all I'm going to do is grow and you knew it you recognized it right it was just like it was like a moment of like oh okay you know I'm gonna I'm just gonna grow now if I can get away with that if I can handle that kind of pressure it can only get not easier but only get more I can only adjust more to it you know that that was like my little baby I guess I guess I don't suck type of thing first time you got paid? The first time I got paid for doing a gig was here in town. I mean, the first club that passed me in town was the Hollywood Improv on Melrose. They were the first club that passed me on my birthday, which was crazy.

What do you mean passed you? Passed means like you become a regular and you can call in for spots. So before that, you're just kind of like clawing to get into the club. So before that you're just kind of like clawing to get into the club. You know, like as a musician when you want to get into like say a guy wants to get into Viper Room or well the Key Club's not there anymore or it's something else but or the Whiskey or something like that. If you don't have an agent or you don't have a booker you have to call them directly and how do you convince them as a young musician to get into one of those clubs anyway?

How would you do that? There's no open mics. No agent. Open mics, word of mouth would be the only way. Right. But the whiskey

doesn't have open mics. No, you'd have to bring it in. Someone would have to kind of see you and then recommend another musician or artist see you

and then have you open up for them. Right. Kind of thing. Yeah. Did that happen to you? see you and then have you open up for them. Right. Kind of thing. Damn. Did that happen to you? Did you kind of have that little bounce into the game? Not so much.

No? No. It was just you. The first time I played the whiskey, I paid to play the whiskey. You paid them? Yeah, yeah. So you pay them.

And they give you a bunch of tickets and say, go sell them. And then you gotta sell the tickets for them again. You gotta sell the tickets for you. To make back the money that you paid. Yeah. Wow, that's bananas. Do you remember how much it was that you paid them?

Like $750, which at the time was like $7,500. Oh my God. Yeah. You pay them that money and then you hope you make it back on tickets. And you hope you can sell them to your friends. And how many tickets? And you're on a group of about, you've got 30 minutes and you're on with 10 other groups. Damn.

Who have all had to sell their 70 minutes. They all had to do it. Yeah, they do it. And is it the same thing like with comedians? So the similar thing for us would be like open mics. Open mics is kind of similar to what you're saying because a lot of comics, they joke, I had to pay to be on this

because you had to, you know, you drive there and they usually made you buy a drink at the bar or you had to buy a coffee or you had to buy stuff you drive there and they usually made you buy a drink at the bar or buy you had to buy a coffee or you had to buy stuff obviously it wasn't expensive as that but then people that came

for just their friends they just came to see them or there's just comics so you're really performing to like your peers which is really difficult so like for you were there moments of

you're performing but it's really for they came to see this one dude that they all came to see, and it hits you like, I don't know if I can have as many people here as I thought. Yeah, there is that moment where you recognize

you're just kind of swimming in the same small pool amongst your peers, and this time you're just paying to do it. What was the crack? Because you end up giving the tickets away or selling them instead of for 20 for 10, or instead of for 10 for five. And also, the open mics were always great but the problem with

open mics is you're playing to a bunch of other people who are waiting to go on and they're nervous as shit well that's yeah that's the same thing yeah yeah that's that's the same that's the same thing is that they comics are always thinking about what they're going to do so they're never paying attention to other comics anyway you know when when when we're at open mics it's kind of like you're so involved in what you're gonna do, it's so selfish, it's such a selfish thing, stand up, so you're like,

I can't even listen, I can't even enjoy the other comedian, even if I think they might be funny, but those days, those days kind of really molded you into like learning the politics, right, like that became, the political game became clear,

before you ever knew what it was, you know, that kind of was like a big stamp, you know, on your comic paperwork for me, to be like, very a big stamp and you know on on your comic paperwork for me to be like this is this is the path that you have to take and that was the thing playing at the whiskey to be able to say amongst even your peers that you played the whiskey was huge never mind that you had to pay you could kind of leave that out that was still a big deal you

get to say and then that's becomes the smallest of building blocks wow that's cool man i think that's i think that's cool and since you asked the first time I got paid was at a church basement, open mic, and people were starting to catch wind that the songs might, like he's writing his own stuff, and it's kind of worth, at any rate, there were more than 10 people there, right? And so at the end of the night, it was, Pat Brayer is one of the great Inland Empire songwriters. Pat Brayer? Pat Brayer. Okay. And he's written songs for,

I'll even just drop one name, Alison Krauss. Okay. But he's as masterful a songwriter as is alive, Pat Brayer. And he used to throw a concert series himself, so just basically to give himself a gig, but would put other local groups

who he respected on the bill and he called him starvation cafe the starvation cafe series and he'd do them anywhere people would give him a venue a living room or garage this one happened to be in a church basement do you where was the church Fontana to put this below you by the way I'm sorry in case yeah you're good Fontana Fontana California and which is known for any number of things Kaiser Steel Steel, etc. And it's Hell's Angels, Fontana's interesting place. We won't get into that now. Church Basement, the Cahuilla Bird Singers

Native American group chanting on a drum. Frizz Fuller, legendary songwriter, wrote for David Lindley, myself myself Pat Brayer on the bill at the end of the night we're in the parking lot and he comes up and hands me a pile of dirty bills and I and I could tell by the weight I'd never held that much cash no that's great and he I said what's this and he says this is from the door and we were at a church, a fancy old Catholic church. And I remember seeing the door walking and going, God, these are nice.

The church doors are everything. Right. Oh, yeah. And I thought he had taken the door off the hinges and sold the door. These are from the door. I'm like, no, man. Damn, dude, you sold the door? I said, you got to go get those back, man.

You can't go selling church doors. And he went, man, you really are a green. He said, no, this is from the people who came through the door and paid. This is your share. Wow. Holy shit. That's incredible. Do you remember how much it was?

50 bucks. 50 bucks? 50 bucks. That's good money, man. Hey. Just for real, though, because our first gigs, you know, typically around town, you get, you know, 10 to 15 bucks for your first like paid gig that's like for your first paid set i mean that and when you start getting more money

as time goes on it is crazy to to because we get you know as artists you're like and i want more and i want more and i deserve more and you you forget that the church doors that meant a lot you know the church doors was everything I mean you thought he sold the doors to give you 50 bucks

by the way church doors are probably worth more than 50 dollars I was thinking and I was like man you gotta go get them back yeah you gotta get those doors man

they had a blown glass in them it was beautiful but that was your that was your that was a monumental first paid gig and it kind of like

sets you up, right, to know, well, this is truly going to be my profession. I think that's what it does to performers is you go, all right, well, now it's real. Yeah, you say, well, my car may be repossessed. It's ruining my TRW credit score. I owe five grand. Sure.

But you know what? This is the finest feeling $50 I will ever have. Yeah, yeah. And I'll keep sinking deeper into debt if I can keep getting these crusty bills. Fine, it's worth it. That's it, let's go. When you, so this is,

I want to talk to you about this. It's kind of like a parallel thing. You know, we talked at dinner about how comics and musicians have so much in common. It's kind of crazy. I mean, people know, you know those guys like,

I've talked about this before, like John Mayer loves comedy, loves coming around. And there's a lot of comics that like to be in the music world and vice versa. And something that's going on right now is, you know, the critical breakdown of the comedian and the access to comedian sets and all that stuff. And there's a comic, Tiffany Haddish, just got, you know, a lot of talk online because they said she bombed at this New Year new year set and she's so big and famous

right now and they criticize her and it's like every comic is angry about it because like we've all had fucking terrible sets dude i've had a million terrible sets my i'm just not famous activity haddish and mine aren't publicized to the world on you know on on whatever bullshit news article that pops up for you for you though have you had those shows that are so bad where you quote unquote bomb that that it kind of shakes your career a little bit that it hurts you a little bit or no have i had any career defining bombs like like i guess i guess the the way to say it is because it's not going to ruin her it's not going to do shit it just is like a little bullshit stain that they put yeah yeah and they shouldn't do that but do you have those did that happen yeah i mean i've had reviews specifically i think

the musicians uh version of that is a bad review or bad reviews right yeah because there's kind of that's and i was thinking when you were saying uh you know as far as building blocks like we you have to hang around the clubs and then get in the sea rooms and work your way into the clubs right there's kind of no equivalent in comedy for a record deal really though is there because the live is live is what we have in common but yeah you recorded medium a special i guess when you do a special or or an album recording that would be that that to us is kind of the same like signing with a label would be like getting with netflix now however so many people are doing their own thing you know things like this that it creates new mediums for us to get our voice and expand our fan base and all that

stuff you know that's cool as shit yeah I think I think I think it's I think it's you know I think it's the future of comedy is connection with fans and that's just another step of connecting with fans because for us it's kind of like we're the funny guy you're good and then that's just another step of connecting with fans. Because for us, it's kind of like, we're the funny guy, you're good, and then that's kind of it, it's over. And unless you see me live again, what else do you really have? I want to listen to your record again and again and again in my car, but I don't know if people really listen to comedy records

or specials again and again and again. It's not the same thing. Where for us, this is a way for them to listen to us again. Yeah, Netflix is enabling that to happen it can yeah it can but i think i think podcasts are what's really like people can listen to this every week or they can listen to you know a new one every day i think that that helps them receive more of the content that they really enjoy you know and and for for you know for your business it's kind of like for the musician side of it you guys still really make

the biggest nut in the impact is live shows right isn't that the biggest still today and i still yeah it's gone back to that especially with with records yeah right because because because spotify or apple music itunes and all that shit like everything is free now so the biggest nut that musicians can still make is going to see somebody live yeah yeah i mean same with us though truthfully it's like we want people to come see us live because that's why we're doing all this other stuff so you can really see the crafted shit you know that's what's up the well-worked out stuff when you pick up a guitar at least for me when i picked up a guitar i should say you you always hope you get a chance to make a record and a record deal and all that. And that was always kind of, you know, the something,

a dream to aim for. Yeah. But the real deal was actually being able to pick up your instrument and play live. Yeah. Present it and share it. And that interconnectedness, like when you hear people laugh or you just feel people connecting to a song

that you've written, words that you've written, a melody you've written. That's where the payoff was even before there was a payoff. You know, that's right. That was the, have you ever, have you ever seen, made eye contact with there was a payoff. You know, that was the... Have you ever made eye contact with someone

at a show and been enamored by them the whole time? Have you ever had that? I'm not a one enamored... You don't focus on somebody? No, because I've... It's hard enough to just... I try to kind of tune out and not be... Well, I don't see anybody. Like, I'm weird. For the most part, I see nobody.

Okay. But I know a lot of people kind of connect with somebody and they stick with them. Interesting. I can't do that. So comics or musicians or both? I think both. I've heard friends of both sides say they kind of, they like lock with someone, they connect with them, they kind of create this thing while they're in the moment of something, whether it's connecting with the song or their lyrics or with jokes.

Like a lot of comics like to get in with somebody in the audience. Okay. I black out. It looks, it might as well be a blank slate to me. Like it was like when to get in with somebody in the audience. Okay. I black out. It might as well be a blank slate to me. Like it was like when I used to play basketball in high school,

I couldn't hear anybody. I thought that was the weirdest thing. Granted, I am partially deaf, but I also thought, I'm not. No, I'm not. But I didn't hear anybody.

You tuned it out. It was just a, I don't know, a practice of habit where like I just stopped listening or I stopped seeing people. So now I really don't hear anybody. You tuned it out. I was just like, it was just a, I don't know, a practice of habit where like I just stopped listening or I stopped seeing people. So now I really don't see people like at all.

It's very odd, you know? Like there was a show where a guy afterwards came up to me and he was like, why are you looking at me the whole time, man?

And I was like, I wasn't. He's like, you were looking right at me. We made eye contact. I promise I wasn't looking at you at all. But you know,

I ended up having to take him home and sleep with him just because i felt like it was just you know respect you know he was he had expectations yeah man well we must have connected on a level that i didn't understand but but have you um have you ever had have you ever had a show because i'm trying to find these great similarities because we talked a little bit about it too and we also mentioned i think we should do music comedy night I think that Because that was Back in the day That was a thing Oh I mean

And still today There are guys that do it A lot today Like there's Jim Brewer Is a great comic Who goes out with Metallica Chappelle always has

Musicians open for him I think it's slowly Becoming like the new thing again And I saw recently Chappelle and Lauryn Hill Which was legit as hell Yeah man At the Did you go Yeah you were there yeah was it amazing amazing tell me this

though let's talk about this because i'm interested i love lauren hill i always thought she was so brilliant and amazing i mean that that miseducation record was like probably one of my favorite records that i ever knew as a child and then there was all this controversy about her whether or not it was blown out of control or proportion or fake or, you know, that she had made racist statements

and all this shit. Do you buy into any of that stuff or was it all fodder? None of it. Yeah, it's all fake, huh? I don't buy it. Not a word. This is just the media

taking something and running with it? Yeah, yeah. Sensationalism or, you know, we all have a malprop here and there. Okay, yeah,

because it was, the lie or the rumor was she said, I'd rather have my kids starve than have another white person buy her album. That's what it said online. I'd rather have my kids starve than have another white person buy my album. That's a heavy hit.

Yeah, I mean, but... If it's real, I applaud her for being so real. If she's that honest, I'm like, damn, that's fucking legit if do you really feel that way that's all that's holding nothing back that's that's that's but i thought it was kind of i felt like it might have been bullshit when i remember hearing and being like there's no way there's just no it just sounds i like to hear what people say in between the statements of the moment though okay you take that as if you but if because if you only take that at

face value okay right what what's being what's, okay, what's the undercurrent? What was pulled out? Yeah. The full statement was, she said, she probably said, I'd rather have my children starve than have to grow up with assholes. And also, I'm surprised so many white people bought my album. And maybe from that, they were like, what is this about white people and starvation? That's it. That's it.

You're racist. that's it that's it you're racist that's it i i think like i think people take shit and they just like make whatever little thing that they want out of it because i remember hearing it and going i just don't believe it like i just don't buy that that's it's also magnificent when when i mean i don't buy into the white black it's too lazy yeah i mean yeah it mean it's a micro millimeter of flesh right right would fit in this cup yeah you know what I mean

so I don't it's a construct a social construct I mean it is there is color color is real and you know we

our eyes are a huge part of our decisions right you know but to a point and then there's a pitfall in that as well

so for me again white and black is more of a social construct than then is the actual cultural significance of irish african etc sure that's that's kind of where i try to live also understanding that you know it's a colorful world does it but but it's also it's it's also a rare opportunity to witness the tables turned as far as race in America and and how you know when you make a proclamation like that, it's as much saying, I still feel your boot on my neck. Sure.

You know? Sure. So it's like, you know, yeah. So maybe she did say it. Maybe she did. And maybe that was her point. And maybe that's what she felt. Yeah, to say, you know what?

I don't like the way that black people are being treated in America today. And so I, until people can actually see the light, I need to go to an extreme to try to help you get attention to it. Maybe I bought her album to be fair. I bought this education 10 times over. I bought it.

So I made sure the kids didn't starve. I bought, I bought the fuck out of that album. Um, you, we, we talked a little bit before but you um you're finishing up an album or you're done with the album done with the record produced a record for

the mighty queen of soul mavis staples that's so cool man are you is that such a is that like a really proud pinnacle moment well in chicago you know yeah no i do i mean it's incredible and for me it it may be the best thing I've ever done. You think so? Yeah, I think so. This is the best thing you've ever done? This may be the best thing. Wow. What's the worst thing you've ever done?

How about that? Come on. Everything else. It's all shit. You can listen to all that other shit he's got. I'm so hard on myself, man. Well, you made how many albums? I lost count.

16, 15? Right around there. It's up there. It depends if the collaboration records count or not. I feel like they do. You're on it. It. 16, 15? Right around there. It's up there. Depends if the collaboration records count or not. I feel like they do. You're on it. It's yours, right? 15, 16 records.

That's incredible. And your first one was in what? 1994. Welcome to the Cruel World. Wow. Did you love that album? I did. I still do.

I'm just being overly self-deprecating. To be fair, I hate all your shit. I hate every single ounce of it. Okay, yeah. No, no, no. You're just having me here for the counts. fair, I hate all your shit. I hate every single ounce of it. Okay, yeah. No, no, no. You're just having me here for the counts. Yeah, I just need you around. No, I think, I mean, listen,

I think I probably would be candidly admitted to say some of your earlier stuff that I'm most familiar with was by far some of my favorite stuff. Thank you. In music, not just you, but I just think it was so important at the time for me, I guess. So it did a lot for me, I guess.

So this is me saying thank you. Thank you for hearing it. But is there anything from that time that you're not stoked about or you're not happy about? Because we always have, like comics always have a catalog where sometimes they're like, I fucking hated that.

I hated that special or I hated that performance on TV and it's stuck. You know, for you too, it's like it's always there. Is there one thing that you were like, I just didn't like that that much? You know what?

I'm not ducking anything. There's nothing, knock wood. Yeah, all this is fake. No, yeah, right. Whatever that is, I'm not ducking anything. There's nothing. Knock wood. Yeah. All this is fake. No, yeah, right. Whatever that is, I'm knocking on it

because there's nothing that I feel that I significantly have to duck from. That's great. I mean, there's live shows I do over and do better. That's for sure.

There are things I could have dug deeper, done better, and would do differently, but it doesn't mean I would redo them. Right, right, right. You're glad that it happened the way it happened. happened yeah i'm trying to think if there's one thing no

but that's a great but i mean i would feel like that's a more balanced sensibility of of an artistic performance if you're like hey man that's where i was it's hard for it's hard for me personally i shouldn't say all comics but it's hard for me because jokes don't last forever, and they certainly sometimes can't withstand time. I mean, I'll tell you this. You can go back and listen to some of the records from the 70s and the 80s of guys that used to be on top of the world, and they're just not as great anymore.

Because it was a sign of the times what they were talking about and sometimes our views have changed or we become more aware or you know and all these things have kind of shaped us

so comedy is really a great moment in time and I feel like a song a record you know if it's great it can last forever.

Granted it's a sign of the times as well but opinions change so much in jokes because what we were doing is we're mocking something either tragic or sad or very real and honest as well but opinions change so much in jokes because what we were doing is we're mocking something either tragic or sad or very real and honest and music is kind of is less mock mocking

and more of um painting it in a different light is showing it from the artist's perspective where comic has to kind of peel back this sad onion a little bit of something shitty and try to find funny about it that's happening in the world. And not to say music doesn't do that, but ours somehow doesn't live as long. Comedy somehow doesn't live as long. It's a thinner rope, too. When there's no melody involved, the rope gets more thin. Sure, right.

And you're out there. Right, right, right. We're both on a tightrope, but you've got a pole. There it is. Yeah. There it is. Yeah. There it is. You guys have a little bit more of a better balance machine. I just feel like that's one of those things,

because I know there's jokes that I've said that have been recorded or that are in there forever, on something forever. I saw a thing today that I did up at Just for Laughs in Montreal that I was like, no, the performance wasn't that good, and I didn't really like it, and I was off, and the crowd was weird, and I didn't like the shit, that I was like, no, the performance wasn't that good and I didn't really like it and I was off and the crowd was weird and I didn't like the shit and I was like,

but I guess I just have to let it live. Have you ever thought that it was that and then you saw it back and you killed? I'll say this. I've initially saw something and I hated it. I think I've told this story before,

but I'll say this. My Comedy Central half hour, I did in Boston and I think I've told it before. I hope I have because it's a little embarrassing and funny, a story before but i'll say this i did my comedy central half hour i did in boston and uh i think i've told it before i hope i have because it's a little embarrassing and funny but at the moment the moment i walked off stage my childhood best friend was waiting in the wings yeah and he gave me like the biggest pound and gave me a big hug and he was kissing on my forehead and he was like my dude you date my man and i kind of pushed him away a little bit and i was like give me two

seconds yeah and i ran into the green room yeah because i was just you know he thought i'm just needed a minute to like chill and i bawled so hard i cried so hard it was shocking to me you know i like saw myself in the mirror crying like who is this dude it wasn't even me i was out of body crying wow and i cried so hard because I hated it. I hated it so much. I thought it was the worst thing I'd ever done. And I thought, I can't believe that went so poorly. And I didn't like the way I arranged shit.

I just got so upset. And then, of course, time went by and I saw the special and I liked it. And then another time went by and I really liked it. And then another time and I started to really enjoy it as time went by and I saw the special and I liked it and then another time went by and I really liked it and then another time and I started to really enjoy it as time went by because I just didn't I felt I felt in the moment it just wasn't good enough but it was also because I was just so critical of the shit that I had to just let it go yeah I think that's something you have to learn you know and I and then and then when I taped my hour fortime, I think I had a different mindset completely when I did that. I didn't cry after that one because I just,

it was more about having fun and being with my family and my perspective was different, you know? I was growing. Like if you had an earlier song, the way that you felt when you recorded that is never gonna be the same way when you record a song 10 years later because it's just, what is getting put into it

and the way you, the process is different. It's more learned. And I think there was just so many things in my head when I first did that half hour that I couldn't enjoy it. And I hated that shit. But then I ended up loving it. But it grew in a good way. Yeah.

And by the way, like with time, I may hate it again. I can only hope I can hate it again. It is a trip when people come up to you and appreciate things that you've done that you don't have as heightened reverence yeah have people come up to you and said you know what i love and you go oh okay that that one's not yeah like that's not quite my jam of what i've done what do people say to you the most or what do people say that you're they're like you know what i love ben and you're like and and songs it's the songs that that I hear most about in the street. Fascinating.

It wouldn't be the songs that I think people would... Well, tell me what it is. Well, there's a love song of mine called Forever. And it's the song I hear and I get a reaction to the most. It's a wedding song. And it's become a wedding song. For people that don't know, you have to look up Forever. I know you've heard it. And there's no song I'm more proud of,

but, you know, I have a song, there's a song called Call It What It Is, and it's now, and it's social, I think it's an important song, it's as important a song

as I could write for now, socially, and I never hear about it. You know, so it's, it's, it's, but I mean.

We have the same shit. We have jokes that I'm like, I love that joke. And people are like, yeah, it it's okay and then there's jokes where people tell you they'll go you know what i love and you're like yeah okay that's all right i guess that joke is okay i mean that that has to be yeah yeah but forever is the song you hear more than anything more than anything that's so funny to me yeah because i wonder like, well, I think the first time, the first thing that had resonated around my age range when I was, when your name became popular to me was Burn One Down because it was a very festively song. And that was like in that group of people that I was with. That's legit. And that song also kind of cross-pollinated hip hop.

Like that was a song that could go outside of the jam band genre right and speak to other genres Just because of the subject do you think people label you as a jam band guy? I get that I'll tell you what though And I will bookmark that because I walked out of the movie theater last night went to see the Ruth Bader Ginsburg movie Incredible movie was good Half of it. I watched through tears That good, but I saw a giant billboard for weed and i was like i played my role in that yeah yeah burn one down came out in like 95 i was like you know you definitely helped that cause

without a doubt you you were a part of that thing because you were like uh that song was um that song was a very peaceful and sweet and heartfelt real way of, I feel, like a teenager explaining to his parents about marijuana. Like if I wanted my dad to read the lyrics, you know, and I was like, you don't understand. You know, if you don't like my thing, you don't have to enjoy it. But I'm not doing any harm to you. I feel like it was just such an eloquently poetic, soft way of saying, I like weed. You don't have to like it. But don't be mad at me because I like it. And it was really me writing my way of trying to understand a friend who smokes for life.

Because people imagine you smoked tons and tons of weed. Oh. I think people thought you were the biggest stoner on the earth. I have probably got three lifetimes worth of free weed that I've... And people't even know you're allergic to weed you can't even have it i don't smoke everybody don't it's crazy though right it's nuts it's because people assume that it's like that's that's you that's yeah it's because it you know minute it comes out of your mouth whether it's a joke or a song it's you you don't really have the choice so you kind of have to find well that's what's going on right now in comedy right people assume it's like because you make a joke and off

color and off topic show people like that's how he feels you're like well maybe or maybe i'm hyperbolizing or maybe i'm taking a story from someone else and i've put my spin on it you know maybe i'm actually just trying to write something cool different and funny yeah perhaps perhaps i'm just trying to have a good time right i think people forget that kind of shit but that is funny to think that uh, some of the most like culturally or socially influential songs, um, or bits or whatever, I think occasionally aren't really the soul defining thing of the artist. I feel like I've heard this before where people like, Oh, you know that song. Here's a good example. I'll give you one. Um, uh, um, everybody thought that the song was about a woman

But it was about his dog Brandy I really miss you Brandy You know that song? Even though now you're gone I don't know who that is man You have a good voice

Come on Yeah no That's why I really arranged this I wanted to I wanted to give you my new record I can't remember the name of that song now i want i mean it's brandy but i can't remember who sang it but i do i do remember and i'm not thinking of looking glass i know it's about but it's about his dog but i remember hearing people say like um they were like oh uh you know for all this time he had been in interviews um saying uh uh you know people like

who is this girl who is this woman and he's like oh that's oh it's it's the oj's i thought it was the oj's okay i really miss you brandy yeah it's not about brandy the girl you know it's about or even brandy the no it's about this dog this dog he he loved. You know? Even though now you're gone, you know, he says he feels the presence. I was like, that's so funny. But it became this defining thing.

Like, it's this beautiful love song. It's like, no, it's about this fucking dog. He cleans up its poop. It's about this animal he loves. You know? I also clean up my wife's poop,

to be fair. And I've said that before on the podcast and everybody knows I do that. But it's just what I gotta do, man, for love. You know? Hey, man.

Raising five kids. While I make her poop outside. Oh, you do? raising five kids while i make her poop outside yeah oh you okay yeah i make her poop outside yeah you do you have five kids huh that's it for you though that i don't know really you might have more well i've i've finally married once and for all this is it and so yeah there could be third marriage third three times a That's it. Three times a charm and five kids, and you think maybe you'll go for another one? I finally have my sixth friend. See, I'm having kids for my friends who aren't. Oh, that's funny.

And I finally. Have one for me. Well, I've got three friends now who are certainly not going to have kids. Right. So I'm having their two, two, and two. You're going to do that for them? Yeah.

I'm being environmentally conscious and having... Well, I have one for me. Have one for me, and if I like it, I'll keep it. How does that sound? Done. Bring it over, and if I enjoy it enough, I'll keep it. But if I have one for you, that means you can only have one more. That's exactly right.

Yeah. So you'd only have one. It's like a card game. And I'd have your other one. Perfect. Okay, perfect okay good we just keep switching we'll talk to the missus about that yeah somehow i think that won't go over but you know whatever it is what is shot i um i think i think maybe the hardest thing in my opinion that i see with friends and this is the thing that i'm kind of kind of coming up on is being an artist and also paying attention to family and and kids and that kind of stuff

did you think that gets in the way sometimes of of you making art does it hinder your progress no not at all not at all yeah the time is so evenly divided that it's all good you just you you have to be all things to all people in your immediate family and you i think friends maybe take the main hit like friends your social life right yeah i don't know i haven't had a friend in years yeah yeah you're the closest thing i have to to anything ben this is it you're not leaving this room that's us yeah no no i don't plan on it okay good good that's why these cots are over there in the corner no but but i think it does take it it takes a hit on your friendship but it did hit on relationships and I have friends that have kids and they've had to...

It drop off. They just had to. Yeah, you have to. Because you have to manage your time in a whole new way, in a way that you could never have planned for. But here's my thing. It either makes your art stronger as a comic. And I see this as musicians too. Friends that have their musicians.

Their art either gets stronger because of family or it suffers. Well, let me say this also to that because that's an important point. People who say, well, you know, he was a lot funnier when he was on heroin he's a lot better no no no he wasn't funnier on heroin he was it doesn't you're like yeah he was better when he was married he's not married better with that woman when he's divorced better with a family no family no just don't do dumb shit and devote yourself to your craft. And it'll be cool. Having kids isn't going to make you more or less funny.

Being on a substance isn't going to make you better or worse. You just have to find your rhythm, preferably one that can sustain. And if it's going to sustain, then you have to sort of live the life that chooses you as much as the one that you choose. Because there's a certain amount of the world pulling you towards it. Right. And there's a certain amount of you and your ambition clawing to where you're trying to get.

So as far as, from my perspective, just be the best that you can in the environment that you're in. Because to me it's all about devotion to craft. And you have to find a way to not have those outside circumstances. You have to find a way to devote. And I have two trains running here, this sort of substance abuse dilemma. Because that plays a big part in both of our arts, right?

Absolutely. There's a lot of addicts in both fields. Don't let people tell you what makes you good. Just be good. Right, just be good. Just work your ass off. We talked about Jordan. Yeah.

You know, Jordan was Jordan. Yeah, man. Because he worked his ass off. He did. He did. But I do think, well, this is maybe more of a question

than a thought I'm curious to know what you feel about I feel that most comedians are addicts in a sense whether it's the juice whether it's drugs

whether it's people attention yes I feel like addiction our success is predicated on people liking us. Right. And there's nothing healthy about that. No, it's extremely addictive too.

So do you think most musicians are addicts as well? Absolutely. It's just a hard time for people to admit that. A lot of people are like, no, I'm not. I don't fucking drink. I don't even smoke. It's like, no, man.

Addiction is everything and anything. And it's embedded in my blood. I come from a world of addiction. Same. Same, yeah. Andiction is everything and anything, you know, and it's embedded in my blood. You know, like I come from a world of addiction. Same. Same. Yeah. And, you know, we talk deeply about that. And I think that like, do I believe in fate? Do I believe that everyone is destined for a thing? I think free will has a bigger, has a larger play. I like that though.

Yeah. Yeah. I think it has a larger play than we like to give. play. I like that though. Yeah. Yeah. I think it has a larger play than we'd like to give, but I do think that my addictive personality definitely formed more of who I was as a comedian because I was addicted to entertainment and I was addicted to getting the, getting the laughs and I was addicted to figure to winning. I loved finding out how to like beat them or make them change their thought or their thought process or you know i think it's i think we're all addicts whether or not we want to admit it you know like and some addicts are more balanced or are you you can't really you can go to school for music and you can go to school for comedy i suppose kind of maybe kind of you could you could go to school

for performance art you could go to school for you know there's improv and sketch but nothing is going to prepare you for your own art like your own life totally

okay totally and there's a certain amount of social scientism that goes

into what you do possibly what we do but it's not a social and the degree is the streets. The degree is your life.

The degree is your experience. But see, that's not to say, see, my thing is that's not to say that somebody who grew up privileged is gonna make better art than someone who didn't. Because my- Or vice versa. Right, that's my thing.

Like that's what I think does get lost in this whole thing is oftentimes people say to me, this happens on a constant basis people automatically think i'm from boston because i have red hair and i'm irish and they're like did you go over to back to boston over there i'm like no i'm from chicago and they're like really you look like a like a boston-y blue collary guy and it's like well okay okay and and like people kind of put that on me where they're like that's why i think you're funny. He's this funny Boston guy. His dad was probably a ship worker. It's like, what?

No, none of that fucking shit is true. But I think that people assume if you're good at something in this art world, in our art form, you must have come from dog shit. Because it's been pushed, the rhetoric has been so heavily pushed that it's like,

oh my God god he's incredible you know you know you know he moved to you know la with 17 cents and his dad was everyone thinks in our in our world about prior you know sure about this this growing up in a and with drugs surrounding him his father being an addict and life being just terrible and so they go that's why he's amazing it's like i don't think that's why he's amazing. It's like, I don't think that's why he's amazing. I think that helps shape what he is

and he happens to be extremely brilliant. But that's not to say that someone who came from the tip top couldn't also be great at whatever it is they're making.

You know? I happen to not come from the tip top but there are guys in the game that I know that came from the tip top, but there are guys in the game that, that I know that came from the very well off. I mean,

I think, I think somebody like, I'm not sure where Stevie Ray Vaughan came from as far as the happiness scale or the class scale in Texas. Yeah. And I don't really think about that when he starts to play and sing. Right. You know, if he's good, he's good.

You're going to transcend no matter where you came from. I do, however, find that musicians, people I'm surrounded with, skaters, there is a certain amount of, it seems like there's not a prerequisite, but whether it's coincidence or not, there's a lot of pain that tends to preempt the arts. 100%. I think a lot of the pain that I... But class structure doesn't have a monopoly on pain. Right.

These things aren't mutually exclusive. There's billionaire kids that grow up with a lot of fucking pain. I met a friend of a friend very recently who has more money than God. His parents own a massive chain of something that I obviously won't divulge. But whatever the case, he was the most sad person I've ever met in my life. He was torn up because I don't think he had the things that he really wanted. And this is an age-old story. We're not breaking any new ground with that.

But I do think that making this distinction is important that like, it just so happens that oftentimes when you come from a grittier place, there's a little bit more bonding in our worlds when you come from this kind of grittier place because your perspective is very similar, you know? And occasionally it helps kind of shape the art

into every person's art, you know? It's like, yeah, it's yeah, it's very receivable. But it doesn't mean that someone on the other end of the spectrum cannot make wonderful shit as well. And to a point I think I was trying to make, don't let other people tell you what makes your art. Just make it, right? Yeah, just make it good.

I mean, that's the thing. Just throw down. Get down. Fuck, yeah. Because, my God, I mean, you know, if the bookends are birth and death. Yeah, we're close. There's your frequencies.

That's your, you got your, there's your shot. That's it. There's your shot. Yeah, that's, yeah, it's true. Will you throw down for me for a second? You want to crack that open or no? Let's do it. You can.

You don't have to. No, let's do it. I mean, I figured it's there. It's beautiful. I want to hear something. Let's do it. You can. You don't have to.

No, let's do it. I mean, I figured it's there. It's beautiful. I want to hear something. For those at home, Ben is bringing out his famous ukulele. Oh, that's a guitar. I thought for some reason you were going to bring it.

Two extra strings. Yeah. Let's see if we can. Ari, come here for a second. Do you need to test this to see if you can hear it? Or no, that's probably going to be good if he points the mic a little bit down. Yeah, maybe we'll do that. Just get it closer. The closer the better to whatever it is

and give me a little sugar man give me a little bit of sugar and a squeaky chair yeah yeah i bought the squeaky chairs from target we should have had ari tune the. Why didn't you tune the guitar, man? This is for my pure pleasure and enjoyment now. Yeah, this isn't making the cut, right? Mm-hmm. No. Absolutely it is. What would be the first thing you'd say to the Lord?

The last thing you would dream if you couldn't dream no more Won't you please help me understand is there no mercy in this land no mercy in this land followed the river till the river ran dry Followed a lover till we said goodbye Followed you through soldiers who fire on command Is there no mercy in this land? These days I speak in whispers Travel lonely to and from Come close you'll see the red of a well-bidden tongue The righteous and the wretched, the holy and the damned Is there no mercy in this land? No mercy in this land?

Father left us down here all alone. My poor mother is under stone. And trembling hands Is there no mercy in this land? No mercy in this land Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm

Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm

Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm Hmm. Oh, fuck. Took me to a place real quick, man. Golly. That was incredible.

Thank you so much. I genuinely really appreciate that, man. Thanks for having me on. That was fucking you got me good man make me make me get emotional man I think that was

god damn I don't want to say anything I don't want to mess it up tell me this before we go is there a way that people can see you soon are you going to be back on the road

so people can hear you play going to be back on the road in the I think, most likely the Hollywood Bowl. There's a good chance I'll be playing there this summer. This summer?

Yeah, it's summer 2019. But if people want to check it out, just go to the website. Go look at benharper.com and all that stuff and check it out if they want to see

you. Okay. To my people and fans, you know all my information. Go to andrewsantino.com. We'll be in

Bakersfield, January 19th, Arlington. I'm going to andrewsantino.com. We'll be in Bakersfield January 19th, Arlington. I'm going to try to make it up for that. Are you? Yeah. Come. Yeah.

Come with me. And then I go Arlington, Virginia, which is D.C. area, January 24, 25, 26, andrewsantino.com. Yo, thank you, man. That's what's up. Thank you.

Whisk, whisk, whisk, whisk, whisk. You're that creature in the ginger beard. Sturdy and up. Thank you. Whiskey, whiskey, whiskey, whiskey, whiskey. You were that creature in the ginger beard. Sturdy and ginger. Like vampires, the ginger gene is a curse. Gingers are beautiful. You owe me $5 for the whiskey and $75 for the horse. Gingers are hell no. This whiskey is excellent.

Ginger. I like gingers.