the shows are great it was uh traveling was a
little hairy because we had like i had a keyboard
on the wheels and he had a guitar case on wheels
and we're not the best travelers by ourselves
we're on the train and we got yelled at in the
quiet car it was a pretty Welcome to Overeducated
and Underemployed. We've got a really cool episode
this week. It's from Nucci Space up in Athens,
Georgia. The Heathens Homecoming Drive -By Truckers
annual auction to raise money for that organization.
There's a little speech from Patterson Hood in
this episode. There's talks with a couple of
people from Nucci Space. I interviewed some fans.
Nancy Einhardt from Mundane Mayhem. It's a Drive
-By Truckers publication. And then stay tuned
to the very end because Jay Gonzalez joins us,
comes back on the pod and talks about Nucci Space,
his European tour, and why he'll never leave
Athens. So this is a great episode. It took me
a little while to put it together. There's a
lot of moving parts in this one. I hope you all
enjoy it. I did have another interview with Glenn
that the audio just got messed up. I could not
recover it. One of the things he really emphasized,
though, that I wanted to make sure that got passed
on to this episode was that the Heathens' homecoming
every year is just like a very come -as -you
-are, safe space, very much just like a... judgment
-free zone. There have been years where people
come and they're going through some stuff, and
then they come and they're going through some
great stuff. So it's just really an inclusive
space, and Glenn and I talked about that a lot,
and I'm sorry that we couldn't get that interview
on this episode. I'll talk to him next year.
I think I'm going to do an episode about this
event every year. So here we go. We've got interviews.
I'm consecutively here starting with Terry from
Nucci Space. Thanks a lot, y 'all. Make sure
you hit that subscribe button. Make sure you
hit like. If you like this episode, please share
it with some friends, man. Spread the word about
Nucci Space. Thanks a lot. I'm here with Terry.
She's with Nucci Space. She's the communications
coordinator, if I'm not mistaken. Yeah, communications
and special events manager. Oh, great. We had
quite the special event here at this space the
other day. We didn't get a chance to catch up
then, so I dropped by on my way out of town.
Yep. I just want to know, just at the beginning,
what is Nucci Space for everybody listening?
So the basic answer is that we're a musician's
resource center, but... That is just a very small
way to describe a lot of different things in
a very big organization. So we are small in stature,
but we do so many things for the community. We
have multiple different programs that all seek
to serve the creative and musician community
in Athens. We've been open since the year 2000.
We're celebrating our 25th anniversary this year,
actually. And we started out just sort of with
the focus of providing health and wellness resources
to musicians. So low cost therapy, counseling,
things of that nature, as well as low cost rehearsal
rooms and equipment. that's how we started out
but over the years we have branched out further
and now we have youth programs so our camp amped
program which seeks to empower young people that
are wanting to become part of the music industry
and help them just form communities and friendships
and learn how to advocate for their mental health
and then we've also expanded our musician services
program so that we have an amplify recording
studio as well as our rewired sales we do lots
of signature events throughout the year and of
course the dbt Heathens Homecoming Barbecue and
Auction is one of those things that has become
a yearly must -have event for us. I've been coming
for about 15 years, and I've seen it grow, and
I've seen it change, and I've seen the people
morph. Some of the same people, but we've also
had to have new people come in to fill roles
and expand things. Can you just talk about the
impact of that? that barbecue has had over the
years? So I've been here for just shy of three
years. So this year was my third, which compared
to the community that that's like a very small
number because so many of you have been coming
for so long and it's been entrenched in Nucci
space for a long time. But just in those three
years, I have seen that happen where just like
in the past couple of years working on this event
with Dave and helping him be sort of like his
right hand woman, I guess would be my job. I've
noticed like people in the community that will
say, oh, well, what's what's that? What is this
barbecue auction thing? Is it just for the fan
club? Can I come? And I've seen people that have
just turned up to see what's going on and then
come back. So it's really cool. Like I'm just
watching the community grow in real time just
over the past three years. So I can only imagine
what that's like for people who have been coming
to it for much longer, just watching you guys
community grow. It's really neat. Yeah, it's
really one of those things I look forward to
every year. Sometimes the only thing I have to
look forward to for a while. But we know it's
always going to be here. And I feel like Nucci
Space plays that role for a lot of people in
this community. Yeah, yeah. Can you just talk
a little bit about the new recording space that
y 'all have? Because actually some of the guests
on this podcast have recorded there. Slightly
famous somebodies have been recording there.
Jonathan Spencer and Laura Wiggins. And I just
want to hear a little bit more about it. Yeah.
So Amplify Studio is... a really neat like i
noticed that more and more musicians in the community
are starting to come to us to record which i
love and we've had conversations about expanding
that even more so we'll see what happens but
that program is run by chris byron and i believe
our our staff member ethan houseman also is part
of that team and i've heard nothing but good
things about the production there we have so
many cool musicians in the community in and out
of that space all the time and And one of my
personal favorite things out of there was that
we were doing satellite sessions for a while
where we were actually featuring recordings from
those sessions like on our socials and stuff.
So I hope we can get back to doing that soon
because it was very well received and a lot of
fun. Oh, that sounds great. Yeah, I'll look forward
to that. Can you just tell me a little bit about
Camp Amped as well? Because I think for a lot
of the Drive -By Truckers fans, our kind of view
into it is the Camp Amped band. Yeah. Camp Amped
band is... put together by camp amped yes and
then they open one of the drive -by truckers
shows every year and that's always a privilege
to get to see them they're they're always a killer
band um can you tell me a little bit more just
about that program yeah and so one of the things
that i love about the campaign program is that
our kids are allowed are able to do shows like
that. And it's not actually exclusive to just
the DBT. In our signature events like Athens
Business Rocks and Athens Uncovered, we always
have a camp band open the show. And then, of
course, the drive -by truckers are so generous
to extend, you know. the chance for one of our
camp bands to open for them every year. And that
has sort of taken off. Jason Isbell actually
had one of our camp bands open for him. At the
Ryman. At the Ryman. I remember hearing about
that. So it's becoming a little bit of a trend
that I hope continues where people will think
of our campers because, yes, they're kids. Yes,
they're just starting out. But a lot of the time,
they're incredible musicians. They really are,
yeah. And it's just such a great community building
thing. It's just a great way to involve our space
outside of. the community and get these kids
in the door. But just on a personal note, my
son is also a camper. He'll be in his senior
year of Camp Amp this year. And I have watched
the program just since working here and watching
him. And I can't say enough good things about
it. For the children, I don't even want to call
them children. They're almost grown up. I think
it's more about. playing in a band with your
friends and building community and having an
opportunity to like showcase your talent and
all of that which is great in itself but there's
a covert mission of camp which is to teach kids
to advocate for their mental health to set strong
boundaries in the music industry and with their
peers to advocate for safe spaces to rehearse
to be able to talk about mental health one of
the things that they talk about like one of the
skills they try to teach them is know your worth
you don't have to play for beer you can ask for
money you don't have to fall victim to all of
these different pitfalls there there's a place
where you can come and talk about it and so they're
having fun and playing music but they're also
learning important life skills that will serve
them in the future especially if they go into
a creative field where there are you know, often
mental health struggles and things of that nature.
So that's what I love about it is that there's
sort of that baked in support system behind all
the fun that they're having. Yeah. Yeah. And
I think that advocating for yourself is so important
too. Like I'm a comedian and I can't think of
how many times there's no pay involved or you
can get a free drink or, or even sometimes you're
required to buy something to be there. Thank
you so much for talking with us. Is there anything
else you'd like to share about the organization
today? I know we have plans to sit down in the
future and do like a longer episode about the
organization, but I really wanted to talk to
you a little bit about this barbecue. Yeah, of
course. I would just want to say thanks to the
Three Dimes Down community, to the drive -by
truckers, to Patterson for swinging by, and just
for the entire community for attending and supporting,
donating items, going to all the events. I don't
have set numbers yet on what we raised this past
weekend, but I believe we've surpassed our goal.
I can say that. That's fantastic. And we usually
do because of this community. Do you remember
up until this event what it was that this barbecue
had raised over the years? I know they said it
at the event, but I did not catch it. I'm not
sure cumulatively how much. I do know last year
it was over $100 ,000, which just surpassed expectations.
Just so wonderful. Thanks to the community that
supports us. And we could not do it without you
guys. Well, thank you so much for being here.
I'm so thrilled to see everybody living here.
My amp was acting up and I had to get some work
done on it this morning. It's so great to see
all your faces and everybody being here. Great
to be back in Vucci space. Thank you, everybody,
for being homecoming this week. This has been
definitely one for the books, and tonight's going
to be unreal. We've got a band that came in from
Philadelphia to play for y 'all tonight called
Flory. Their record last year was absolutely
in my top five favorite records of the year.
I keep playing it, and I haven't seen them. I
haven't met them or seen them. I've texted with
Francis a little bit from the band, but I'm looking
forward. I can't wait to see them because everyone
says they're even. better live, and that record's
badass. So anyway, it's going to be fun tonight,
and thank y 'all for participating in the auction,
and I hope that we won't break a record again
or something on all of that. But anyway, I guess
I'll wrap up and move on. Thank y 'all so much
for being here, and go Michigan State. Evening
homecoming, 26th. But I'm going to tell you a
little bit about my life. So I work here in UT
space. I am from Athens, Georgia. And so I grew
up here around music, playing music my whole
life. It's been a great place to grow up and
to just be exposed to all kinds of really cool,
creative people and musicians. You guys know
Athens. It's a great place. And I wanted to start
and just say a little bit about my Uncle David.
So my Uncle David was a huge role model for me
growing up, mostly because he was a big hippie
in the 60s. He went to Woodstock, and he just
always had great stories of seeing just every
artist you could imagine. So I grew up admiring
David. And when I was a kid, David sent me in
the mail the Decoration Day CD. And it took me
about 10 years, I think, to really grasp what
that album was saying. But I loved it from the
first time I heard it. And it was a regular rotation
for me growing up, for sure. So later in high
school, I had a rule, much to my older sister's
disdain, that you could not turn down drive -by
truckers in my car. And I'm sure you guys can
agree that's still a rule in my car for sure.
But so let's see. A few years later, I started
a band. And when I was in high school, I went
to Camp Amped here at Nucci Space. This was back
in 2009. I went to Camp Amped for four years
every year that I was in high school. And I had
the privilege to be in the homecoming concert
at 40 Watt twice. So I did that in 2011 and 2013.
Some of you may have been there. I wouldn't be
surprised. If we weren't partying too hard to
remember, we played Rhiannon by Fleetwood Mac,
and we did Ohio by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.
Patterson came on stage and joined us for that
one. It was awesome. Definitely a core memory.
And in that band, actually, Willow Avalon was
also in the band. You guys may have heard of
her. She is a rising star in country right now,
signed with Atlantic Records a couple years ago.
So that's just another person who came through
Camp BAMTS who's still doing music, who's finding
success. And let's see. My Uncle David was there.
He came over from Texas, came to see us, and
another core memory for sure was that homecoming.
So moving on, moving on here. Sorry if I'm talking
fast, but thanks for y 'all paying attention.
Let's see. The second homecoming, this is back
in Camp Am, was actually the night after we lost
Craig Leask. And I remember being unsure whether
they were going to go through with the show.
Obviously, that was a really heavy moment for
everybody. It was a really... devastating loss
for the whole community and they they did it
they did it for craig they came out and that's
what craig would have wanted and i just remember
being really inspired by these guys coming up
on stage being vulnerable with their emotions
they were solving i think everybody in the room
was was really letting it out but um you know
that was just a pivotal moment for me as a musician
seeing these guys these burly dudes up there
just being open and sharing that space with the
whole room of truckers fans and And my Uncle
David was there too, and I remember being with
him and just being really struck by that moment.
I will never forget the version of Angels in
Fuselage that they closed with that night, and
they still do that sometimes, and it will always
remind me of that. So when I was in camp, my
first instructor was Thayer Serrano, a name you
guys may be familiar with. Years later, when
I was about 18, Thayer asked me to play drums
in her band. This was right before she released
her album, Shaky. So this would have been in
2015. And I got to go on my first real tour with
her that year. We toured up the East Coast that
fall to New York City. My first time in Manhattan
and my mind was absolutely blown being there.
Just like being in a big city. It was just, I'd
never felt anything like it. And it was crazy.
The next spring, 2016, which was 10 years ago
next month. Drive -By Truckers invited us to
open for them on their East Coast tour. And they
were promoting an album they were finishing up
called American Band at that time. And so I watched
them every night of that tour. I was out there,
you know, this was back when they were still
playing like two and a half, three hour shows.
They may have cut off a little bit from that,
but I don't know. They're probably still doing
it. No, really? Tonight might be the night. It
might be another three hour one. But I just remember
being blown away by the energy they brought every
single night. The crowd that they drew all over
the country was like homecoming in every one
of those towns. And it was incredible. My Uncle
David came out and he met us. for two sold -out
nights 9 30 club in dc and that was one of the
last shows he saw me play before he passed away
Another core memory for sure. Years later, I
left my job at Ender Shots. You guys may be familiar.
It's a venue, coffee shop, bar in town. I worked
there for 10 years, or over 10 years. I started
working in high school as a door guy. Started
bartending. Eventually was the general manager
for a few years. And I got burnt out working
behind the bar, staying up late, mopping that
place every night. And my mental health was struggling,
to be fair. There was a job opening here at Nucci
Space, and I came over here, felt like home.
It was always home, and I've been here ever since.
And I've just been trying to give back a little
bit of what I've received from this space and
this community. I've been very lucky to grow
up here and just extremely fortunate in all the
opportunities I've had in my life, to say the
very least. But throughout all of that, I've
struggled with my mental health. And I think
it just goes to show how important this space
is and the mission of New G Space. If I hadn't
had it, I don't know where I would have been.
A lot of my musician friends and family I met
through New G Space and the opportunities I've
had. It just goes to show how important the mission
is and what we do here at Nucci Space. I now
teach at Camp Amt when I can. I work in facilities
and operations here. I just recently started
doing some marketing work at Nucci Space, and
I'm not planning on leaving anytime soon, that's
for sure. Just this month, I've started a band.
No shameless self -promo here, but it's really
cool for me because I've never had a solo project
that I've really been able to commit to, and
it just so happens the three people who are playing
with me are former camp instructors of mine.
Again, NutriSpace has just been here for me forever.
So to wrap this up, I think the moral of the
story is just the work that NutriSpace does for
the community is essential. The ones we lose
stay with us, and it's really important not to
let darkness consume us. We have the power to
overcome. Darkness, when we come together, we
can shed some light in our worlds, and DBT is
the best band on earth. Thank you for letting
me share my story. Thanks for your support, and
I'll see you at the Rock Show tonight. Thanks,
man. I'm here with Courtney. Courtney is the
Facebook group moderator and admin, but also
organizes tons of aspects of this homecoming
weekend that we have every year. including this
auction that we're covering in this episode.
And I just wanted to talk to Courtney a little
bit and get an overview of what the event is
about and all the different moving parts. Hi,
Courtney. Hi. Here I am. Thank you for being
here. Sorry we didn't get to talk at the event.
It was so crazy. And you had particularly crazy
things going on. I did. Which I only point out
because despite all of that, you still... were
there for the community, which was amazing and
like unnecessary, like, you know, like nobody
would expect that of you, but it was also just
like, it was amazing to see somebody juggle so
many important things to them at once and do
it successfully. So I'm proud of you. I appreciate
that. It's because it's my only hobby. And so
there's that. To that point, I feel that the
community and Nucci's has given me so much and
given me such a purpose that there was nowhere
that I would rather be when I'm having a really
hard time anyway. Yeah. You know, I've had some
homecomings where I was going through some really
rough stuff. I'm not really sure what would have
happened if I didn't have those people at that
time. It was really, really, you know, it was
like it happened then because I was going to
have the support system to help me kind of get
through it. Exactly. So let's back up for a second.
What is Heathens Homecoming, Drive -By Truckers
Heathens Homecoming? What is the Nucci Space
Auction? We've had Terry on. She told us a lot
about the organization itself, but I want to
talk specifically about this event. Sure. Okay.
So Heathens Homecoming predates my involvement,
obviously, as does the auction. But it's basically
when our music community comes together for what
is now four nights and sometimes more of hanging
out and obviously seeing the drive -by truckers
play. Of course, that's why we're there. But
it has really become more of just like a huge
community. like it's a homecoming. We're all
coming together. This is when we get to see the
people who get us, where we can be ourselves.
And I don't know, there's something unique about
our community. And attached to that is at the
end, the culmination of it is our cookout and
auction where for a few months we've been gathering
items that the community would think is cool
and want to bid on. to raise money for new cheese.
And then of course, there's also like, we have
the bake sale that's kind of evolved recently.
The cookout has gotten a little bigger. And then
we do like other little events throughout the
week that have picked up steam as well. So we
started, so it started out, my involvement, I
don't know if you care about any of these details,
but my involvement started when Hank was doing
the cookout portion. It was really like two separate
things that were just happening at the same time.
And so, like, Hank was kind of dealing with the
cookout portion, and I started helping him with
that because we were moderating the group together.
And then he kind of stepped out to start doing
some other projects. And then, of course, he
very rudely left this earthly plane. Yeah, it
was really inconsiderate of him. It was. I did
not. He left me all to myself. You miss him a
lot. Hank Matthews is a wonderful person. Just
shout out to him. Yeah, I miss Hank so much.
I hope that he's really proud and excited of
the evolution of what we've built on the back
of what he's doing. We used to do a chili cook
-off. That was hard to do, so we decided to do,
like, a baking competition, and that's where
the bake sale was born. One of the things that
I think is so amazing over the years is, you
know, it used to be that everybody would have
to just bring something. And then over the years,
like, Airbnb has become a thing over the last
25 years. So, like, now a lot of people get Airbnbs.
They have a full kitchen. They can actually bake
something there in Athens. Yes. So I think there's
a lot of things that have made it a little bit
easier for our community to do these things,
too. Why do you think Nucci's and the drive -by
truckers have such a congruent kind of message?
What do you see in that? Do you see, like, a
connection there directly? Aside from, like,
the actual connections that they have with Nucci
Space. I mean, like, the philosophical connections.
Yeah. To me, so I would say, you know, the Drive
-By Truckers saved my life. And then Nucci's
has saved the lives of the Drive -By Truckers
in no, like, metaphorical terms. Like, that's
true. That's true of me, and that's true of the
members. And, yeah. And I think that, like, with
our community, I don't know what, like, drug
is in this band. They're just... solid, good
people who are very vocal about, especially Patterson,
their beliefs and where they stand in the world
and creating this safe place that people who
struggle and who I think most of our community
is neurodivergent, struggle to find a place to
fit in, struggle with anxiety and depression
and mental illness. We all found each other,
and Nucci Space serves in a professional capacity
to those needs. And then Drive -By Truckers and
Nucci's serve to the community aspect of those
needs. So it feels natural that they're connected
in that way. It almost feels like they're like
the musical manifestation of what Nucci's is.
For sure. In a lot of ways. So what are some
of the biggest challenges that you think you've...
aside from like the ones we've talked about this
week and this year, but what are some of the
challenges that you've had to figure out over
the last few years? And, you know, and I mean,
I'd love a success story of something that you,
you know, maybe a problem that you were struggling
to fix. And then all of a sudden now it's no
longer a problem because you fixed it. It's hard
to say because, so my background is in events.
And so to me, There's always going to be something
that comes up, whether that's in the planning
or in the execution. And I'm so used to just
not to like brag on myself, but I'm so used to
just like problem solving in that moment that
I'm never like, oh, my gosh, we overcame this
huge problem. Because to me, it's like it presents
itself. It's just part of the natural progression
of things. So I don't I can't really name like
a specific. thing that occurred that we've had
to overcome the mainly it's like when the weather
doesn't cooperate um when years with weather
yeah so like yeah and last year like you know
we had we needed heaters so the thing is is that
no matter what need i have had in executing this
or that my little team has had in executing this
there's always someone or something in the community
that fixes it, like within seconds. There's rarely
an obstacle that we can't just pretty much overcome
in the moment. The main thing has always been
the funding for, I mean, we were in the beginning
kind of paying out of pocket, the group of us
to get the food going. And now I personally do
not have a problem asking people to separate
from their money. I love that. So I'm fine with
saying like, hey, I need you to give me some
money so I can buy the food for us to do this.
That was the biggest thing is like not being
afraid of the ask. And I am not. Give me your
money. Send me your money. I'm going to use it
for a good cause. And it used to be that we didn't
have quite enough to make ends meet. And now
I always am able to give what's left over. from
my pot to new cheese, which is nice. Like this
year I was able to give them just from the money
I get for the food people, for the food and the
supplies and like the paper products and all
that stuff. I was able to give them over $800
of like leftover money. That's after I bought
everything. It hasn't always been that way. But
I know we've raised like over $800 ,000 over
the years and that's a very conservative estimate,
but yeah. So One of the big focuses that New
Cheese has is on mental health and suicide prevention
and providing access to those resources to musicians
in the community. I feel like the community,
it goes back to what you were saying, we're all
a bunch of neurodivergent people that don't fit
in anywhere else. I've found this to be kind
of universally true throughout our community.
talking to all the other, you know, not just
being here in, like, for the last seven years
or whatever, but talking to them this weekend
when we had the event, I think we all feel like
we're out of place until we get there. Yeah.
Absolutely. Everybody thinks, like, we go home
and everybody thinks that, oh, well, Courtney
must be the biggest Dropout Truckers fan in the
universe. And I mean... No, I'm... gets it unless
they get it. Yeah. Like I, I say all the time,
like I have a ton of friends. I'm like the, like
the nerd online. It's like, I swear friends,
they just live in Canada. Like I have so many
amazing people and very few of them were part
of my life outside of the drive -by truckers.
Like I truly found community here. And I think
that We're all like that. And I used to joke
when I was in school that I was the queen of
the misfits. That's always been my role. I've
always been like the lady leader of like the
outcasts. Those are my people. And then to find
like this whole community where as an adult,
I was still like, I didn't have really a solid
group of people to find that as an adult when
I started following them. was great because i
think a lot of us feel like unworthy of whatever
for whatever reasons we need to go to therapy
and i still to this day i i'm like convinced
everybody hates me and we talked about that before
like i feel often like an imposter and like people
are going to find out how very uncool i am um
but then like everybody feels that way so it's
nice so what do you look forward to every year
about this event more than anything else um i
don't know this is like i said this is my only
hobby so this is like my it is my homecoming
i mean it is the thing i do every year so like
as soon as it ends i'm already thinking about
it for next year it is the majority of everything
and then like the saturday event and like seeing
it all come together and like all the hard work
that we've all done paying off and it always
does even when it doesn't go the way that i want
it to like it did this year it still always goes
well and that's it to see all my friends and
to have everybody like having a good time and
like they're excited to see me like it's so nice
to like, it's like cheers. Like everybody knows
your name and they're always glad you came. And
that's the only place I, I feel that way. Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I think when there are other
places that I feel that way, it's because it's
like the drive -by truckers community is like
led over to it. Yeah, absolutely. Or there's
just something that strongly resembles this other
experience that I've already had. But it's always
at least the basis for my comparison. How did
you first get into this band? So my sweet now
husband has been a fan since high school, which
we graduated in 2004. And so when he and I started
dating... He made me a mix CD, which is very
cute and is easily the way to get me. For the
kids out there, a mix CD is like a playlist,
but you would put it onto a physical piece of
music. But you put it on a physical media that
I then put in my car. So he made me that, and
I was really into some of the songs. I wasn't
like crazy bought in or anything, but I was like,
hey, I really enjoy this. But then I... For him,
because he's such a fan, I was into, like, the
media scene when I was in college. And I was
friends with one of the, like, local radio station
guys. And he had tickets that he was giving away
as they do. And so I called up and I won the
tickets to go see our first Drive -By Trucker
show at the Tabernacle. And, I mean, it. That
was it for me. The immediate community that I
felt among people I did not know. There were
women at the front who they were like, oh, this
is your first show. And they dragged me up to
the rail. They were asking me who's my favorite.
And I'm like, I don't even know who these people
are. Like, I don't know. That one's cool. I like
this. I like this one's voice. I like that one's
jeans. You know, just. But from that moment on,
I was. like this is amazing. And then we went
to homecoming that year for the first time and
we didn't know anybody. We just kind of wandered
around. We went to the new cheese space thing.
There was like a seafood boil or some kind of
weirdness. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I remember. Yeah.
Yeah. I, that was either the first or the second
year that we went, but we only went one day.
And then, then we were like, we can't just do,
we have to come back again, but we can't just
do one day. And so then the next year we did
two and then. Somewhere around there, I became
the moderator by accident. I did not choose this
life. It literally chose me. And I don't know.
I'm just a joiner and I'm a fixer and I'm a take
control kind of girl. And so if I see a need
or a place I can fill in, I'm just going to do
that. And it just really snowballed. And now
look at what's happening. I don't know. Yeah,
I mean, I think we're approaching raising a million
dollars for Nucci Space over the years. That's
incredible. Courtney, thank you so much for joining
me. Is there anything else you want to share
about the event before we go? Just I need everybody
to show up next year. And also, please volunteer.
And if you volunteer, then actually do it. Yeah,
don't make commitments you can't keep, y 'all.
Please don't do that to me. Thank you so much,
Courtney. I really appreciate being here. Yeah,
thank you. We're here at the annual Nucci Space
Heathens Homecoming Auction. How did you first
get involved with this? I decided after going
to a few trucker shows that I wanted to try to
go to homecoming, and I came by myself. and just
saw on the Facebook group that there were events
and tried to go to as many of them as I could.
Did you know anybody when you came? I knew two
people vaguely, and I just am the kind of person
that when somebody says we need help doing this,
I said I didn't have anything else going on because
I was by myself. So I showed up here to volunteer
on my first homecoming, and now I do it every
year. And by the way, this is Anna. She's been
coming to Heathens Homecoming. This is your fourth
year. Yeah. And you, one thing I've talked about
on this podcast before is that this community
is kind of like, the analogy for it is like how
we all regenerate ourselves completely every
seven years, but we still remain ourselves. There's
been elements of this community that are no longer
with us for one reason or another. And then we
also constantly have new people joining and keeping
all of the things going that need to be going.
And in fact, we raise more money every year than
the year before for Nucci Space. How did you
first get into the drive -by truckers? My husband
was a fan for a really long time. And so he...
He just played me their music. I can't even remember
when it was at this point, but he's from the
General Shoals area. And so he was into it because
it was the sound of home. And I'm originally
from Alabama, so it just played right into my
interests and what I felt like the South was
represented, or the South that I know. So I just
got hooked. Yeah, yeah. When you first came to
Homecoming and you hardly knew anybody, how quickly
did you make new friends? Oh, basically immediately.
I have a friend, Emily, who was also in her first
Homecoming. And she didn't know anyone either.
She came from way further away than I did. And
we found each other in the crowd and just got
to talking before the show started. And I think
we went to breakfast the next day. But, you know,
the Heathens are such a welcoming group and they
look out for you. And now these are your friends
year round. Yeah. I talk to Heathens every single
day and we go on trips together and we just do
life together. One thing that I've found when
I'm like around my friends that aren't super
tapped into this community is they think that
I'm like super unique or like an anomaly. or
something like that. Have you found that experience?
Yes, 100%. But then when you get here, there's
like 500 other people just like us, right? Right,
right. Yeah, it makes the, I don't know if I'd
call it a sickness of going to shows all the
time because if that's sick, I'm pretty into
it. Yeah, yeah. But it's really hard to explain
to people. People don't... They don't get it.
Yeah, I guess I kind of equate it to, I'll tell
people it's similar to a Grateful Dead. kind
of following. Yeah. And that at least gives them
something to reference. But no, family, friends,
they all are very confused by it. And I make
that comparison a lot. How do you think it differs
from that community? And I don't know a whole
lot about that community myself, but one thing
I think is that the meaningfulness of the stuff,
like the meaning behind the Drive -By Truckers
songs attracts a very... like -minded like politically
group of people whereas i think with the dead
it was more of a lifestyle yeah kind of being
attracted to what's your kind of thoughts i mean
i definitely agree with that um i i won't claim
i won't claim to be an expert i won't claim to
be an expert on the grateful dead or or their
community but i think some of it's also that
they interact differently truckers they are going
to interact with you the fact that we have these
sort of events here where we get to meet people
in the band and that they bring other bands along
with them yeah and that specifically for homecoming
that like this is serves a purpose to support
new cheese what are some of the bands that you've
gotten into because of homecoming pretty much
everything i always try to do my homework ahead
of homecoming and kind of know what I'm getting
into. But also like the Dial Back Sound Showcase.
Obviously some of those bands have gone on to
open at the actual homecoming concerts. So Thelma
and The Sleaze was a huge one. That comes right
off hand. I was already a Dexateens fan, but
you know that. they're legends yeah the first
time i saw the dexateens was it was actually
before matt joined the band but they were opening
for the truckers so it was it was a long time
ago but yeah it's always great when they come
to town um is there anything else you'd like
to share about this community before we move
on i mean it's just the most welcoming group
of people and i my life would be completely different
if i didn't have it Thank you so much, Anna.
I feel the same way. Like this is this is like
the backbone of my happiness. And this is this
is the thing I look forward to every year. So
thanks for being a part of making it happen.
And thanks for being here. Yeah, thanks. That's
my stage name. So and I'll go and I've talked
about this before on the podcast. I started performing
stand up comedy in virtual reality. Wow. And
so I was performing sometimes under like my online
gamer name and sometimes in person is my real
name. And I'm like, I got to pick one. So I did.
There's a lot less. It is. Yeah. Yeah. And it's
like it's a made up name. Like it's not a real
name in any way. So like, you know, I never have
to put a number behind it or anything like that.
Yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah. So we get all the accounts.
Exactly. Yeah, exactly. Anyway, I'm here with
Nancy. I'm just doing first names here, but you
can share your last name if you'd like, because
I know you also have a publication called Mundane
Mayhem. I do, and I'm a journalist, so my name's
a lot of places. Well, yeah, go ahead, Nancy
Einhardt. So how many times have you been to
Heathens Homecoming? I've only been my first
year. Awesome. But I've seen drive -by truckers.
about i think now this trip will make it like
50 times oh yeah yeah so i've seen them all over
the country but never came to this before but
it's just it's been such a lovely experience
how did you first get into the drive -by truckers
um i was a music journalist back in the day um
and i think i got a decoration day oh no i didn't
get it to with you i bought it so i was going
to but I was getting a lot of CDs to review.
So I would like go to Amoeba Music and I would
trade a bunch of CDs and then buy a bunch of
CDs. So I had like heard the name and I don't
know, maybe, I don't even know how I first heard
of them. But I was like, oh, maybe I'll seek
this out. So the first album that I ever heard
was Separation Day and I like immediately fell
for it. And I was kind of like, I can't believe
it took me so long to, I think the name turned
me off a little bit. I gotcha, yeah. I thought
it was kind of a dumb name. Were you into like
Southern music? before no i've just always been
really into rock and roll yeah same so i think
um maybe the southerness of it actually at first
turned me off because i was i had left the south
and i'd gone to school in chicago and i was trying
really hard not to be stereotyped as a person
from the south yeah now i embrace it proudly
i think You know, what you're talking about is
kind of what Patterson is talking about on the
Southern Rock Opera, right? And I think I had
a very similar experience, right? Like, I grew
up in the South. I think we both grew up in the
Florida Panhandle. So very much like top 40 countries
shoved down my throat and like that kind of thing.
And a lot of, especially like in the 90s, in
the early 2000s, like there wasn't a lot of like
good. country music on the radio or anything
like that so i felt like everything i was exposed
to growing up that was country was not exactly
really good yeah and i think um patterson has
that line about he grew up rebelling against
the music in his high school parking lot and
i was definitely that too exactly my high school
parking lot was all like the bad country exactly
yeah no i relate to that 100 and I metaphorically
left the South, musically. Like, I just ignored,
like, a lot of Southern music for a really long
time. And it was the Northern Mississippi All
-Stars and the drive -by truckers that, like,
really brought me back into it. So, cool. Tell
me about your publication, Mundane Mayhem. Yeah,
thanks. So Monday Mayhem is a newsletter all
about drive -by truckers. So Monday Mayhem is
a newsletter all about drive -by truckers. It
comes out weekly and I have a number of different
like recurring features that I do. One is an
interview with a fan, which is very popular and
really fun for me. I just get to spend like half
an hour a day when I could be doing other work
to stalk your fans. And then I also do like essays
about individual songs or like sort of themes
that I find in their music. Can you give me an
example of like one of your favorite? like theme
essays that you've done? Yeah. So one of my favorite
ones, this is kind of dark, but it's okay. This
is a dark ass podcast. One of my favorite ones
was a personal story about my mom's grandfather
who shot himself. And so I used that as a starting
point and talked about loaded gun in the closet
and when the pain hits the shell, as well as.
do -it -yourself thank you that other song uh
yeah and so because there's usually like do -it
-yourself and when the pin hits the shelf they're
about the same guy yeah and i think like even
if you don't personally know and well i guess
it's actually really appropriate that you're
in youtube space even if you know i think most
everybody knows the one who has died by suicide
or an analog, like, drinking themselves to death.
Yeah, yeah. It was a really... Some people do
it quickly, some people do it slowly. Right,
that's right. And I just always thought that
both those songs together were, like, such a
realistic, poignant perspective on suicide, and
that they both take, like, really opposite approaches.
So that one was really nice, and, you know, I
kind of got to explore my own, like, family history
a little bit and, you know, dig into that sort
of storytelling, that, like, family storytelling,
which I really enjoyed. Yeah, I think sometimes
they're so specific. It's universal. What do
you think exploring things like that helps you?
I mean, I don't know, emotionally, mentally.
Is there a component of that for you? is a little
bit, I think some of it is, I wouldn't say it's
like working through my own trauma or issues,
but I think one of the things that's always really
important to me, both as a journalist and as
a human, is like being a good friend. It's like
one of the things that I would hope people say
about me when I die. And so I think the more
than I can explore those kind of universal, maybe,
or, you know, widespread human experiences, the
more of a, like a good human that I can be, right?
The more that I can relate to other people and
what they're going through. I always say I'm
one of those people that people just tell stuff
to. And I think it's because I try to put out
there that I'm emotionally open and not judgy.
And so it all kind of fits in with the kind of
human that I want to be. Yeah, yeah. I think
there's a lot of life lessons in their music
in general. But like anything, it can be misinterpreted
sometimes, too. And we've seen that. But I think
it's... It's gotten a lot. It's a lot different
than he used to be so Well, you know They can
only ignore the like the morals and the politics
for so long, you know The three guitars can only
drown that shit out for so long Well, so what
do you what do you think of your first homecoming
experience tell me about it It's funny because
I was looking forward to it so much that I kind
of forgot there were gonna be concerts but we
have a lot of events around this weekend too
it's it's kind of it's a lot it's busy It feels
like people in my life who don't really know
who Drive -By Truckers are. Well, that's not
true. They all know who Drive -By Truckers are
because they know me. Right, exactly. We can't
keep our mouths shut or something. Our fan base
is very evangelical about their music. And I'm
also a big fan of the whole city, and they are
the same way. It's like two people are just obsessed,
including myself. So I've been telling people
who don't really know what this is that it's
like a Drive -By Truckers music festival. because
that's the closest or like a convention it's
like a crossover yeah it's like our comic -con
um yeah yeah i've never really thought about
it that way but that's a really good analogy
yeah we all wear like our little costumes and
merch and stuff i love that i love that yeah
that's great i think it's become like more and
more like that everything totally yeah and you
know i think it's one thing i like about this
fan base that's been really really evident this
week is um it's like so open and welcoming. So
yeah, people are going to have a name tag on
that says, hey, I've been to 16 of these, but
they're never going to be like, oh, you've only
been to one. Right. Like a judgy group. Exactly,
yeah. And like, I'm, as I've said before, I'm
from the South. I am used to the politeness that
is sort of inherent to the South, but like the
warmth. and, like, kindness that I've experienced
here is different from just, like, the Southern
nice. Well, that politeness a lot of times is,
like, it's, like, side -eyed. Yeah, yeah. Horrible
thing. Why would you write for it? Yeah, so I
think the, like, my mom and I just kept saying,
like, everybody's here so nice. But it's not,
like, a fake nice. Right. Yeah, so that song
felt really good. I think there's something about
their music that just attracts. the right kind
of people most of the time in their lyrics and
things like that. So one thing I wanted to ask
you as a music journalist, and I don't consider
myself a journalist, I'm a historian and I do
more like oral history interviews and I don't
really write much of anything about it. But I
do try to remain somewhat objective. but how
do you struggle with that when you're writing
about like a band that you really love or something
like that? It's funny because I recently interviewed
this guy named Wright Thompson who's a sports
writer from Mississippi and he's a really passionate
music fan and I was like why did you decide to
be a sports writer and not a music writer and
he's like oh i could never be a objective music
writer like i'm too passionate about music to
really separate myself from it so for me i think
partly it's like i was trained to be objective
right and i think i've always um really been
drawn to the art of like a personal essay or
like an as told to or these sort of storytelling
and it's been a long time with my digital school
when i was trained the objective tell every side
but it's been a really long time since i think
that kind of journalism works i agree yeah so
everyone's taking a side so like the good people
need to take a side too and you know in terms
of music i think i have been able to review albums
that i didn't personally really like but i could
tell that for what they were it was doing a good
job of it yeah and i really respect people like
i have i have a couple friends who are like really
hardcore uh pro jam fans I'm not really approaching,
but I like respect their level of hard core.
Sure. I would say the same. Like not everything
is for everybody. And I can sort of put myself
in the shoes of other people and sort of what
they are experiencing. Yeah. Couldn't give two
shits about Taylor Swift, but I do like respect
the level of faith. Is there anything else you'd
like to share about this event before we wrap
it up for today? I don't think so. I'm just glad
to have met you and glad to have met some of
the other cool people here. Well, I look forward
to doing some collaborations with our publications
in the future. So I'm here with Lorna. Lorna
is an international traveling drive -by truckers
fan who has been to Homecoming how many times
now? 14. 14. Yeah. And you come from where? Glasgow,
Scotland. We literally have people from all over
the world here, all over the country, all over
the world. How did you first hear about the drive
-by truckers to begin with, all the way over
in Scotland? It was John, my husband, who found
them. He was a great Leonard Skinner fan. When
Southern Rock Opera came out, he thought, who
is this ripping off Skinner? So he had to investigate.
And so he originally investigated because he
was concerned. Well, perhaps, yeah. But he ended
up loving it. Yes. Oh, yes. And then they did
some UK tours. Oh, yeah, yeah. And that's how
you first got to see them live, right? Yeah,
2002 was the first time we saw them live. Yeah.
And when was your first homecoming? 2010. Yeah,
I think that was my first as well. Oh, okay.
Yeah. Yep. The big to -do. Yes, that's right.
That's right. So... But we met you after that.
Not too long after that. Yeah, not too long after
that. You can come on. Come on over here, Jay.
You're all good. No, come on over here. my god
yes no you're so good i just i was looking over
and then i saw that so uh jay gonzalez has been
on the podcast before we're uh he's of course
the multi -instrumentalist swiss army knife of
the drive -by truckers yes um and yeah into videos
i'm so sorry no you're no you're welcome you're
welcome we're just talking about this event here
at new cheese and and uh the the auction that
happens every year and talking to some of the
really hardcore fans and one thing we talked
about when you were is i felt like you kind of
became like a liaison to the fans when you joined
uh and and you're just you've always been super
open and accessible and easy to talk to and um
and i just so thank you yeah no i think i came
into it late in the game so you know what i mean
it's like i think i was coming in you know you're
a fan for before I joined but like yeah but I
think it was kind of a I got to know everybody
as a time yeah I love it yeah yeah did you join
2008 and I'm a yeah you and John it's like the
first time I went to Europe yeah in Scotland
which would have been 2009 or 10 maybe thereabouts
2009 maybe nine right yeah yeah yeah I think
2009 yes yeah and 2011 was The next time. The
really big one I should be sharing. Yeah, right,
right. Yeah, that's right. Right, so yeah, no,
it's, I love it, and I love the space, and it's
great. Lorna, what are some of the things that
you've taken away from this experience over the
years? Like, this has become like a staple of
your social life and everything, right? Yeah.
How does that, like, can you even imagine your
life without this weekend? No. Yeah, I can't
either. I can't either. I mean, obviously we
come for the band, but it is definitely the people.
To me, that's the sort of friends, you guys.
The amount of friends. And obviously that's eight
years I've been coming on my own. But I know
there's plenty of people that take care of me.
And, you know, we all... really rallied we all
really loved you and john and i felt like the
community really rallied around yeah definitely
to help you through that when that's true yeah
do you is there anything you'd like to talk about
with that at all if not that's fine but Oh, no,
I mean, he absolutely loved DBT as well, obviously.
He started to get worried when I started to learn
the songs and know more about them. He was like,
no, you're getting into this too much. He dragged
you into it. But now you can't be kept away.
Oh, no. And tonight is my 123rd show. Oh, my
goodness. That's amazing. That's fantastic. Especially,
like, One, two, three. One, two, three. I mean,
that's amazing. Cause like, you guys don't play
overseas that often. It was like a moment in,
I guess, 2012, like 11, that we did that big
tour. And then we went back a few times and we
actually like had equipment over there, staying
there. And it looked like we were going to kind
of be. doing it more and then for whatever reason
you know just we just kind of stopped going back
as much yeah COVID probably COVID yeah COVID
it was weird even like yeah around 2015 2016
it slowed it was weird yeah and I hate you know
I always love going over there but you did just
go over there with Patterson yeah Is there anything
exciting that happened over there? Oh, yeah,
it was great. I mean, we got to play at this
beautiful church, Union Chapel in London. Have
you been there? Yeah. Oh, Lord. It's like, I
mean, it's a chapel and they have, you know,
the huge organ and everything. But I think they
had a piano there and it was just beautiful.
That was the night we met Shannon Dave. Oh. It
was Patterson, Will Johnson and... Craig Finn.
Oh, really? That was when you met Sean and David?
Uh -huh. Yeah. Was it earlier than that? No,
no. 2012. I'm sure that was. I forgot that tour
was that long ago. Yeah. I know. Wild. That's
great. I was so glad to see them over there this
time. Yeah. Yeah. Glasgow. Which was also Glasgow.
There was another church. We were not like in
the... churchy basement or something yeah yeah
which i kind of love though that was great you
know yeah it used to be a church though yeah
it was yeah pretty good i loved that show that
was awesome yeah and yeah the shows are great
it was uh traveling was a little hairy because
we had like I had a keyboard on wheels, and he
had a guitar case on wheels, and we're not the
best travelers by ourselves. We were on the train,
and we got yelled at in the quiet car. It was
pretty funny. We almost missed the train sometimes.
Patterson being loud, I can't imagine. It was
like we were showing each other memes and stuff,
and then it was like two people at once were
just like, shut up. And it was like, it was in,
you know, I think it was, was it in Amsterdam?
It was. it was maybe grown again it was it was
they were very serious and it was understandable
because it was early in the morning and then
we moved to another car like we hadn't had their
coffee but yeah it was a great time yeah i loved
it um just i like doing that because it's very
much his show but it's like it's like almost
like a cabaret yeah you know he could kind of
just do whatever it's sort of it's i love it
you know it's great yeah you know so the last
thing i wanted to ask you jay you've been in
the athens music community for a very long time
and this whole weekend is about nucci space can
you talk a little bit about what nucci space
has done for the athens music community and yeah
i mean i can't really it's almost unquantifiable
you know it's a real word but they it's done
so much since you know i moved here right before
it started about a year before and the thing
was at first you know there was nothing like
and we didn't know what it was and really didn't
know anything about it in any other city or anything
like that you know i know there was maybe something
previous in austin or something but but it was
It was initially we were all excited because
there were practice spaces for cheap, you know,
for that. And it was a kind of a genius move
of bringing people into the fold, you know, because
I think I would have taken a lot longer to kind
of realize how great it was and to get involved
because I've never been like going to community
stuff. I've always kind of just been a homebody
and and then, you know, the playing your band
and you do the thing. But it was like we started
practicing here and then you see what it. There's,
you know, before I had insurance, you can get
the doctors, dentists and therapy. And, you know,
it's great. Yeah, it's amazing. And then about
four or five years into it is when I started
realizing it and how great it was. And then,
yeah, joining the band, obviously, it's sort
of stepped it up with performing and doing these
and everything. But and it's also like people
I just, you know. Bob Sleppy played in a band
called Michael and I played his band Love Apple
when we first moved here. So I knew him before
it even, you know, and so someone like that sort
of along with Linda running it and just over
the years. Do you think this is your forever
home here? Yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah, we're not. We
actually, funnily enough, we're talking about
it, me and Katie. We live in Forest Heights,
a neighborhood. It's a really cool neighborhood.
Like not cool, like a hip neighborhood, but like
a nice. i don't know it's just that it's where
townies go to retire yeah yeah it's like affordable
and um really nice and quiet and so yeah you
know yeah that's what you want there for you
know i don't want to go anywhere you know and
people always ask me and i'm always you know
i'm often stuck for answers like what's your
favorite album what's it like yesterday when
they asked sloan and me about like what power
pop bands would you suggest and we both looked
at each other before the interview we were like
both like i can never answer that question i
go blank and yeah no patterns in those two and
uh and so that's how i feel like when they're
like where in the world you've been all these
places and and it's crazy i mean they've been
amazing places but there's never been a place
where i'm like oh this is where yeah you know
okay we gotta move here we're just like i feel
like it's like been home for so long and it's
kind of yeah it's almost like engineered for
what i do you know that's right it's not too
big it's not uh -huh i couldn't do a big city
uh for any long period of time yeah yeah i gotta
say i feel the same way about this yeah and i've
been i've been a lot of places not i you know
i haven't traveled nearly as much as either of
you but i've never been to a city that's quite
like this that's right you just feel at home
when you come yeah it's very much and i think
it's something about the whole i think like the
things with the college, the university, the
combination of the university, like people, you
know, bands coming through and then leaving.
And honestly, people just come back. It's funny
when people like move away. There's always that
like, all right, good luck with everything. We'll
see you in 20 years or 10 years or five years.
And honestly, I probably have like four or five
friends who have left and moved back, you know?
Ah, yeah, yeah. No, it's a great place. Certainly
I've had my ups and downs over the years, like
before I was in the truckers and was sort of
struggling to get... make a living and do everything
here. We talked a lot about that, like delivering
flowers and stuff like that. Well, the thing
about the other night, which was getting the
key, which was really sweet, but strange. But
Katie said I look like, my wife Katie said I
look like I was being scolded up there. And it
is, it's awkward and weird. you know i was like
looking i could see like i saw i saw like some
of my friends at the bar from way back like just
you know and i'm like what are you doing with
this but no but having said that it was like
look but the mayor kelly i knew this is one of
the first people i met when i moved here i delivered
flowers or delivered pizza pizza hut with him
and then we re -met right before he became mayor
at lunch with him he's like i don't know if you
remember me but i used to live and i was like
God, you know, it was really, it was really sweet.
Yeah. He was like, and we were backstage. It
was just like, I don't know. It's been a lot
of those moments this weekend where it's like
been this, like, you know, for whatever reason,
this, this one in particular, this homecoming
is like, we were just like, Oh, this feels so
good about, yeah. The fact that we kind of stayed
here and stuck it out. Yeah. That's right. And
then playing with last night with my friends,
Elaine. So I played with various bands for years
and smile. Yeah. Closest friends in the world.
So that was like, And also like... And we don't
get to see you play bass very often. No, I never.
That's pretty cool. I mean, I used to in the
90s, but I haven't really ever since. And so
it was nice. Yeah. Seeing Matt kind of laying
good is, you know, get up there and play and
giving them their due, which is awesome. You
know, it was really lovely because they were
the kind of band, Patterson. It was the same
thing. It was about a year later for me, but...
meeting them and getting involved with that scene
it was like these you know they were kids you
know yeah i mean i was a few years older than
him he was like oh my god but they were teenagers
playing here they moved here when they were like
19 or something and uh and just we're the best
band yeah anyway it was so much fun and uh yeah
and then yeah and then I was struggling toward
the end of the night, but I'm glad I kind of
kept it together. 30 songs last night. I think
it was a world I heard. I'm like, well, OK, and
I'm playing it. Yeah. Patterson looks at Kool
-Aid. I'm like, oh, I'd rather it be nowhere
in the world doing it. Yeah, I was just like
and I was like, I don't know if I could. But
I just like he started playing guitar. And I
was like, grab the guitar, lay it up and start
another one. And it's like adrenaline, you know?
So when everyone got up there, it's like, I think
we're running on adrenaline. No, I'm sure. No,
it's not. And honestly, it's like, at least I
get to sit down a lot, you know, play keyboards.
I can't, like, if I was just playing guitar or
standing on the concrete floor, you know. Yeah.
I know Lorna needs to check on her auction items.
Oh, that's okay. But no, I really appreciate
you dropping in, man. Thanks for coming by. Yeah.
I just wanted to show y 'all some of the. artwork
and all the things for sale at the new cheese
homecoming auction. Check it out. Amazing stuff.
There's links in the description to donate to
their organization. I'll see you guys at P funk
fest next weekend.