WEBVTT 00:00:53.070 --> 00:00:57.390 And today we're going to talk about the whole 00:00:57.390 --> 00:01:01.450 season that we've done here, starting back in 00:01:01.450 --> 00:01:04.269 May. And I've been looking for a way to tie it 00:01:04.269 --> 00:01:07.209 all together. And then I saw that the Athens 00:01:07.209 --> 00:01:11.469 Film Festival is having a screening of The Accountant 00:01:11.469 --> 00:01:14.890 by Ray McKinnon, directed by Ray McKinnon, starring 00:01:14.890 --> 00:01:17.450 Ray McKinnon, also starring a little dude named 00:01:17.450 --> 00:01:20.870 Walton Goggins. It's also got a guy named Eddie 00:01:20.870 --> 00:01:24.359 King in it. And Eddie King and Ray McKinnon are 00:01:24.359 --> 00:01:28.200 going to be doing a panel at the screening this 00:01:28.200 --> 00:01:30.319 weekend. I encourage you to check that out if 00:01:30.319 --> 00:01:33.180 you're in Athens and you hear this in time. I'm 00:01:33.180 --> 00:01:36.180 a little late putting out this episode. For one, 00:01:36.299 --> 00:01:38.459 because we're going to have a brief hiatus of 00:01:38.459 --> 00:01:41.239 about 10 days after the release of this one. 00:01:41.280 --> 00:01:45.540 So I wanted to give everything a little bit of 00:01:45.540 --> 00:01:49.560 space. But also, I had quite the weekend. I had 00:01:49.560 --> 00:01:54.859 Lee Baines here. And then we realized that the 00:01:54.859 --> 00:01:57.700 house show in Jacksonville was not going to have 00:01:57.700 --> 00:02:02.099 a PA. I knew the owner of that house, too, and 00:02:02.099 --> 00:02:05.859 we were talking a few days before, and he was 00:02:05.859 --> 00:02:09.580 like, I don't have a PA. And then when Lee got 00:02:09.580 --> 00:02:12.139 here, it's starting to storm, so you get to hear 00:02:12.139 --> 00:02:15.500 that. But they needed to have a PA at that show, 00:02:15.620 --> 00:02:17.240 because otherwise it was just going to be an 00:02:17.240 --> 00:02:20.180 acoustic show, which, don't get me wrong. Lee 00:02:20.180 --> 00:02:24.120 Baines III would put on an amazing acoustic show. 00:02:25.099 --> 00:02:28.719 But I knew this group of people, or at least 00:02:28.719 --> 00:02:31.680 a handful of them, and they like to rock. They 00:02:31.680 --> 00:02:35.539 like to rock and roll. So we took the show. We 00:02:35.539 --> 00:02:39.819 took the PA over to Jacksonville and had a crazy 00:02:39.819 --> 00:02:43.280 time. It was awesome. Lee was super gracious 00:02:43.280 --> 00:02:46.919 with his time. I got to run sound for him for 00:02:46.919 --> 00:02:51.240 a couple nights. That was a really cool experience. 00:02:52.139 --> 00:02:55.060 But anyway, now that I've recovered from that, 00:02:55.199 --> 00:02:59.139 we're going to get back into it. But this whole 00:02:59.139 --> 00:03:02.439 season started with a house show when J. Roddy 00:03:02.439 --> 00:03:05.539 Walston played here. And Lee's got a poetry book 00:03:05.539 --> 00:03:07.580 coming out next year, so we're going to talk 00:03:07.580 --> 00:03:11.120 on the podcast then. After getting to spend some 00:03:11.120 --> 00:03:14.800 time with him this past weekend, I think everybody's 00:03:14.800 --> 00:03:19.000 going to benefit more from the podcast episode. 00:03:19.790 --> 00:03:22.430 being done then anyway. I think we're going to 00:03:22.430 --> 00:03:24.870 have a really great conversation when that happens 00:03:24.870 --> 00:03:27.250 here, but I don't know if it'll ever top some 00:03:27.250 --> 00:03:29.770 of the conversations that we've had already. 00:03:29.990 --> 00:03:34.110 He's a really fascinating guy. I just mean that 00:03:34.110 --> 00:03:37.389 he's complicated. He's got layers. He's quiet 00:03:37.389 --> 00:03:43.310 and observant and respectful and kind and very 00:03:43.310 --> 00:03:50.199 professional, all while writing songs. that say, 00:03:50.319 --> 00:03:56.300 fuck you, and being as left as they come. Now, 00:03:56.340 --> 00:03:58.060 I don't get super political on this podcast, 00:03:58.099 --> 00:04:01.219 and that's mainly because it's just not what 00:04:01.219 --> 00:04:03.719 I'm doing here. I certainly don't try to hide 00:04:03.719 --> 00:04:05.659 my politics. If you haven't gathered by now, 00:04:05.759 --> 00:04:10.740 I'm a leftist. And if you're looking for some 00:04:10.740 --> 00:04:13.340 political guidance through these times, I really 00:04:13.340 --> 00:04:17.800 recommend Hasan Piker. He's... Probably the political 00:04:17.800 --> 00:04:21.560 commentator that I agree with the most. But that 00:04:21.560 --> 00:04:25.139 brings us to the accountant. The accountant came 00:04:25.139 --> 00:04:28.199 out in 2001. The drive -by truckers wrote a song 00:04:28.199 --> 00:04:30.779 about it called Sinkhole. But if you've never 00:04:30.779 --> 00:04:32.740 seen it, I believe it's free on YouTube right 00:04:32.740 --> 00:04:36.800 now. And it's a tale of a man who's trying to 00:04:36.800 --> 00:04:39.759 save his farm. And he's trying to save his farm 00:04:39.759 --> 00:04:43.660 through insurance fraud. And he's trying to commit 00:04:43.660 --> 00:04:46.279 insurance fraud by harming himself in some way. 00:04:46.810 --> 00:04:49.610 In an accident. To get the money to pay off the 00:04:49.610 --> 00:04:56.449 farm. And the accountant comes in. And. I'm spoiling 00:04:56.449 --> 00:04:58.550 this movie. So if you haven't seen it. Go watch 00:04:58.550 --> 00:05:01.529 it and then come back. And I'll probably add 00:05:01.529 --> 00:05:04.449 a disclaimer. At the beginning of this too. If 00:05:04.449 --> 00:05:07.029 you haven't seen this movie. And you're listening 00:05:07.029 --> 00:05:10.050 to this episode. You're going to have it spoiled. 00:05:10.829 --> 00:05:13.910 But the idea is. That if they stage a farming 00:05:13.910 --> 00:05:16.860 accident. They'll be able to save the farm with 00:05:16.860 --> 00:05:20.240 insurance money. That's the short of it. Maybe 00:05:20.240 --> 00:05:23.180 he'll lose a leg. I'm not going to spoil the 00:05:23.180 --> 00:05:28.839 ending. That would be silly. Because that movie 00:05:28.839 --> 00:05:33.279 is way more than just the tale of a small farmer. 00:05:34.040 --> 00:05:38.180 On the one hand, you have people going to such 00:05:38.180 --> 00:05:41.040 lengths to save a way of life. And on the other 00:05:41.040 --> 00:05:42.839 hand, you've got this fast -talking accountant. 00:05:43.759 --> 00:05:47.519 who certainly got a way of looking at the world 00:05:47.519 --> 00:05:50.879 that I think is more common maybe today than 00:05:50.879 --> 00:05:53.439 it was then. But that's the thing about being 00:05:53.439 --> 00:05:57.100 a leftist, is being a leftist is just being right 00:05:57.100 --> 00:06:01.500 but early. But I think what The Accountant gets 00:06:01.500 --> 00:06:04.620 right more than anything is its commentary on 00:06:04.620 --> 00:06:09.139 how the media creates versions of people that 00:06:09.139 --> 00:06:14.139 then become... caricatures of themselves uh when 00:06:14.139 --> 00:06:17.860 life imitates art art imitates life eventually 00:06:17.860 --> 00:06:21.560 that cycle breaks down and to quote ray mckinnon 00:06:21.560 --> 00:06:24.300 you're no longer being country you're acting 00:06:24.300 --> 00:06:27.120 country and you're you're like a scotsman who 00:06:27.120 --> 00:06:29.740 puts on his kilt once a year to celebrate his 00:06:29.740 --> 00:06:34.500 scottishness and i think that's so profound because 00:06:34.500 --> 00:06:39.949 we have taken so many different things for granted 00:06:39.949 --> 00:06:43.610 in this country and I think we started to see 00:06:43.610 --> 00:06:46.810 what life was like and how fragile they were 00:06:46.810 --> 00:06:49.610 during the pandemic but they haven't really gotten 00:06:49.610 --> 00:06:53.750 better it fast -tracked a lot of progress in 00:06:53.750 --> 00:06:56.569 some ways but it also fast -tracked a lot of 00:06:56.569 --> 00:07:00.509 and when I say progress I mean about telecommuting 00:07:00.509 --> 00:07:04.670 and although a lot of people have reacted backwards 00:07:04.670 --> 00:07:09.110 to that but it also closed a lot of mom and pop 00:07:09.110 --> 00:07:14.730 shows shops and venues and restaurants and and 00:07:14.730 --> 00:07:17.069 really we haven't really seen anybody really 00:07:17.069 --> 00:07:20.129 recover from that fully and what's happened is 00:07:20.129 --> 00:07:25.230 we're experiencing the acceleration of late stage 00:07:25.230 --> 00:07:29.889 capitalism and so it becomes clearer to see what's 00:07:29.889 --> 00:07:33.910 happening when it accelerates and i highly encourage 00:07:33.910 --> 00:07:38.899 you to watch the accountant I feel like there's 00:07:38.899 --> 00:07:41.160 nothing I can really say about that movie that 00:07:41.160 --> 00:07:45.439 doesn't say it just fine for itself. But I really 00:07:45.439 --> 00:07:47.480 do think that the themes in that movie unify 00:07:47.480 --> 00:07:49.860 a lot of what we've been trying to do here on 00:07:49.860 --> 00:07:53.699 this podcast, which is tell stories about people 00:07:53.699 --> 00:07:56.220 whose stories may not always be told, or when 00:07:56.220 --> 00:08:00.220 they are, people who have maybe done interviews 00:08:00.220 --> 00:08:04.779 before. We're trying to do an angle that hasn't 00:08:04.779 --> 00:08:09.769 been approached before. And I think what's really 00:08:09.769 --> 00:08:14.009 exciting about house concerts, which is kind 00:08:14.009 --> 00:08:18.449 of how some of the interviews in this podcast 00:08:18.449 --> 00:08:24.029 have originated and maybe even the intimacy of 00:08:24.029 --> 00:08:28.970 house shows themselves sort of creating a place 00:08:28.970 --> 00:08:33.629 for us to build the framework for this podcast 00:08:33.629 --> 00:08:39.129 in some instances. where I really feel like we've 00:08:39.129 --> 00:08:43.269 got a situation here. We've really got a podcast 00:08:43.269 --> 00:08:47.789 here that's worth listening to because we do 00:08:47.789 --> 00:08:51.990 tell stories that haven't been told. And I'm 00:08:51.990 --> 00:08:53.669 really excited about what we have coming for 00:08:53.669 --> 00:08:55.350 you next season, and I'll talk to you a little 00:08:55.350 --> 00:08:59.629 bit more about that in a few minutes. But I think 00:08:59.629 --> 00:09:02.509 one thing that really needs to be stressed here 00:09:02.509 --> 00:09:07.919 is... that when small venues die, there has to 00:09:07.919 --> 00:09:10.480 be a place for these mid -level artists, these 00:09:10.480 --> 00:09:15.299 artists that aren't on major labels, that maybe 00:09:15.299 --> 00:09:17.460 are still building followings in certain parts 00:09:17.460 --> 00:09:20.299 of the country. We need to have places for them 00:09:20.299 --> 00:09:23.799 to play. And I really admire places that focus 00:09:23.799 --> 00:09:29.419 a lot on local music, but house shows can provide 00:09:29.419 --> 00:09:32.740 a place where these touring musicians can make 00:09:32.740 --> 00:09:36.809 money. People have a cool party. The artist has 00:09:36.809 --> 00:09:39.990 a place to stay. And it takes a lot of expenses 00:09:39.990 --> 00:09:46.889 out for the artist. And in a weird way, it's 00:09:46.889 --> 00:09:50.389 a very socialist concept, right? We're connecting 00:09:50.389 --> 00:09:52.590 the means of production and the means of consumption 00:09:52.590 --> 00:09:58.289 to each other without any middlemen. And I think 00:09:58.289 --> 00:10:03.679 that creates a space for artists. to say really 00:10:03.679 --> 00:10:06.019 what they feel, what they're thinking without 00:10:06.019 --> 00:10:12.779 being worried about whether the venue is going 00:10:12.779 --> 00:10:15.000 to punish them. And I think I am going to have 00:10:15.000 --> 00:10:17.000 to cut this short because this storm is coming 00:10:17.000 --> 00:10:21.440 in hard. But what I will say is that the big 00:10:21.440 --> 00:10:23.840 takeaways I've learned from interviewing these 00:10:23.840 --> 00:10:28.200 folks is one, if you have a dream, don't have 00:10:28.200 --> 00:10:30.820 a backup plan because you're probably going to 00:10:30.820 --> 00:10:35.330 do it. Because following whatever your path might 00:10:35.330 --> 00:10:40.269 be isn't always super easy. Another thing I've 00:10:40.269 --> 00:10:42.230 learned is that songwriting and joke writing 00:10:42.230 --> 00:10:44.710 are very, very similar to each other in a way 00:10:44.710 --> 00:10:49.049 that I don't think I realized until talking to 00:10:49.049 --> 00:10:51.370 a lot of different musicians and talking to them 00:10:51.370 --> 00:10:55.149 about their songwriting process and just how 00:10:55.149 --> 00:10:57.549 relatable that was to me when writing jokes. 00:10:57.889 --> 00:11:01.970 Another big takeaway is that... There are really 00:11:01.970 --> 00:11:04.830 unconventional ways of making your art and getting 00:11:04.830 --> 00:11:07.889 it out in the world. There's not just one path. 00:11:08.690 --> 00:11:12.870 Whether you're crowdfunding an album before anybody 00:11:12.870 --> 00:11:16.850 ever heard of crowdfunding or you're refusing 00:11:16.850 --> 00:11:21.370 to play live shows in any circumstance. Whether 00:11:21.370 --> 00:11:23.470 your band is all in the same place at the same 00:11:23.470 --> 00:11:28.870 time or even has a fixed lineup doesn't seem 00:11:28.870 --> 00:11:32.759 to matter either. There's no one way to do what 00:11:32.759 --> 00:11:37.360 you want to do. And constraint can be a blessing. 00:11:38.279 --> 00:11:42.139 I think it's really important for us to remember 00:11:42.139 --> 00:11:47.159 that not every path is the same. You can sometimes 00:11:47.159 --> 00:11:50.620 create something entirely new just because of 00:11:50.620 --> 00:11:54.360 the constraints that you're under. And I think 00:11:54.360 --> 00:11:58.200 another big takeaway this season is that no matter 00:11:58.200 --> 00:12:03.039 what... the outlet ends up being people with 00:12:03.039 --> 00:12:05.460 this creative fire inside of them that might 00:12:05.460 --> 00:12:10.259 come from internalized anxiety or depression 00:12:10.259 --> 00:12:12.860 or it could come from a rough upbringing or it 00:12:12.860 --> 00:12:14.899 could come from a combination of those things 00:12:14.899 --> 00:12:18.620 it does seem to always have a tint of darkness 00:12:18.620 --> 00:12:22.159 to it that if you're not expressing yourself 00:12:22.159 --> 00:12:26.419 in a meaningful way that you feel is meaningful 00:12:26.419 --> 00:12:31.909 whether it be through music or jokes or or painting 00:12:31.909 --> 00:12:36.029 or photography if you're not contributing to 00:12:36.029 --> 00:12:38.330 the thing that you are passionate about in some 00:12:38.330 --> 00:12:41.909 way even if nobody else is consuming it I really 00:12:41.909 --> 00:12:45.190 think that what I've seen and what I've experienced 00:12:45.190 --> 00:12:49.690 is that it starts to come out in ugly ways and 00:12:49.690 --> 00:12:52.990 a lot of the time these creative endeavors are 00:12:52.990 --> 00:12:58.039 coping mechanisms for these things and then Other 00:12:58.039 --> 00:13:00.940 people just happen to dig it. I know that that's 00:13:00.940 --> 00:13:04.159 been true for me. This is really coming down. 00:13:04.980 --> 00:13:07.179 I'm getting lightning and thundering. I am connected 00:13:07.179 --> 00:13:09.299 to uninterrupted power supplies and all that 00:13:09.299 --> 00:13:12.720 sort of thing. But I am going to get off of here 00:13:12.720 --> 00:13:15.779 in just a second. I'm really excited for what 00:13:15.779 --> 00:13:18.879 I've got coming for you next season. Next season, 00:13:19.019 --> 00:13:22.159 which will just start in a couple of weeks here. 00:13:23.019 --> 00:13:26.940 My goal is to have the first season. episode 00:13:26.940 --> 00:13:31.340 up on the 27th of August. So really just taking 00:13:31.340 --> 00:13:34.159 a week off. We've done that before here on the 00:13:34.159 --> 00:13:37.659 podcast, like the 4th of July, etc. But we'll 00:13:37.659 --> 00:13:41.120 have upgraded all of my on -site interviews. 00:13:41.240 --> 00:13:44.100 We'll also have individual microphones, for instance. 00:13:45.100 --> 00:13:51.620 We'll have better field equipment. We'll be interviewing 00:13:51.620 --> 00:13:57.179 people not just in person, I always prefer to 00:13:57.179 --> 00:13:59.200 do that, but I don't want to just limit myself 00:13:59.200 --> 00:14:02.679 to that. So I will have some interviews done 00:14:02.679 --> 00:14:05.779 remotely. We're going to have Jeff Whalen from 00:14:05.779 --> 00:14:10.399 a band called Czar, who was one of my first favorite 00:14:10.399 --> 00:14:13.259 bands, and I'm really excited for that. We're 00:14:13.259 --> 00:14:15.059 going to have Danny Bedrosian from Parliament 00:14:15.059 --> 00:14:17.879 Funkadelic, who's got a new book coming out in 00:14:17.879 --> 00:14:19.960 October, and he'll be here to talk about that 00:14:19.960 --> 00:14:23.059 and everything. Now, these are all scheduled. 00:14:23.159 --> 00:14:25.259 You know, all of this is subject to change, but... 00:14:25.809 --> 00:14:29.309 I'm planning to talk to John Neff next weekend. 00:14:30.210 --> 00:14:33.789 Well, I lost power there, like I thought I was 00:14:33.789 --> 00:14:36.929 going to. And I don't really know where I was, 00:14:36.929 --> 00:14:41.789 except that I'll be interviewing some folks next 00:14:41.789 --> 00:14:47.429 weekend. I've got a lot headed your way for Season 00:14:47.429 --> 00:14:50.850 2. You'll hear more about that in the first episode. 00:14:51.730 --> 00:14:53.549 You know, it wasn't even supposed to rain today, 00:14:53.629 --> 00:14:56.559 according to the news. But with all the cuts 00:14:56.559 --> 00:14:59.600 to the National Weather Service and the rising 00:14:59.600 --> 00:15:01.659 temperatures, it's definitely getting harder 00:15:01.659 --> 00:15:06.279 to predict. I think making a podcast like this 00:15:06.279 --> 00:15:10.120 in itself is a political act and a political 00:15:10.120 --> 00:15:14.000 statement. And I think movies like The Accountant 00:15:14.000 --> 00:15:18.960 illustrate that really well. I think telling 00:15:18.960 --> 00:15:22.700 these stories... I think telling these stories... 00:15:23.440 --> 00:15:26.279 He's a way of preserving culture and a way of 00:15:26.279 --> 00:15:30.440 life. I think one thing that all of these stories 00:15:30.440 --> 00:15:33.559 have had in common this season is that billionaires 00:15:33.559 --> 00:15:36.919 have fucking ruined everything. And I'm not sure 00:15:36.919 --> 00:15:41.700 that even Ray McKinnon saw what was coming with 00:15:41.700 --> 00:15:44.460 the internet and the digital space when he made 00:15:44.460 --> 00:15:46.840 the movie The Accountant, but everything he says 00:15:46.840 --> 00:15:51.970 about our culture got amplified. By that digital 00:15:51.970 --> 00:15:57.610 overtaking. It's a great film. Please watch The 00:15:57.610 --> 00:16:01.269 Accountant. Please hit subscribe. We've got an 00:16:01.269 --> 00:16:04.850 exciting second season planned for you. Thanks 00:16:04.850 --> 00:16:07.309 for listening to Overeducated and Underemployed. 00:16:07.590 --> 00:16:10.970 I'm Fedden. If you want to book me for stand 00:16:10.970 --> 00:16:16.480 -up comedy. reach out to me at feddunxr at gmail 00:16:16.480 --> 00:16:20.039 .com. That's F -E -D -D -U -N -X -R at gmail 00:16:20.039 --> 00:16:23.320 .com. I've got clips I can send you. I'm trying 00:16:23.320 --> 00:16:26.320 to put together some out -of -town dates. If 00:16:26.320 --> 00:16:28.320 you've stuck around this long, I will tell you 00:16:28.320 --> 00:16:32.919 my goal here is to tour doing comedy, pair that 00:16:32.919 --> 00:16:34.980 with interviewing folks for the podcast during 00:16:34.980 --> 00:16:38.679 the day. I love you guys. Thanks for listening 00:16:38.679 --> 00:16:41.679 to Season 1 of Overeducated and Underemployed. 00:16:42.889 --> 00:16:45.529 I love you guys. Thanks for listening to Season 00:16:45.529 --> 00:16:49.429 1 of Overeducated and Underemployed. I'm back.