This is Jennifer Smith. Welcome back to The Messenger
Mic'd Up. I am the host of our student stories.
And today we are thrilled to welcome my friend
Dave Durr to the podcast. Hello. How are you
doing? Good. How are you? I'm great. I'm... Very
excited to be done with work for the day and
sitting down. Excuse me if I fall asleep. No
worries. No worries. We'll keep you up. I promise.
Excellent. Excellent. So Dave, would you introduce
yourself to our listeners? Tell us a little bit
about you, your job, your hobbies, that sort
of thing. Yeah, for sure. I arrived here in the
KC area in 92 with my folks, and I attended high
school here. Shortly after that, I was actually
a more traditional student here at JCCC for a
minute. And then I took a little break, and then
I got an associate's degree a couple years later.
And here, way later in life, with alongside a
family and a career and life in general, I decided
to enter the classroom again. Fabulous. Tell
us about your family. My family, I'm married
and we have four teenagers and it's awesome.
Yeah. Yeah. We have a MIDI music composition
class together. Shout out to Dr. Olvera. And
you shared with me that two of your teenagers
are driving and two are not. Yeah, actually.
Well, actually, all four of them are. have driven
and my last one is permitted slash just took
driver's ed here this last winter so yeah it's
it kind of looks like a used car lot sometimes
at our place how does that feel dad are you scared
does it make you nervous to have your kiddos
out on the road i am i am terrified i'm terrified
being a passenger with anyone uh so i i would
have to say my better half is the brave one actually
taking them out and about way more than i do
so mad props mad props to her for that uh i i
get the simple role of maybe you know signing
them up for driver's ed and getting them there
and you know maybe putting air in the tires every
once in a while but yeah otherwise Oh, man. Yeah.
Talk about getting your heart rate elevated.
Yeah. I only had one. You have four. My girl
is 23, as you know, because we talked about that.
But I remember when she first started driving,
I was like, I can't do this. There's nothing
in the world that prepares you for your kids
growing up and the level of things. Yeah, for
sure. At this point in time, just looking ahead
to the summer, really just so cars start better
and maybe less. problems with the vehicles, you
know, just, you know, easier day to day living.
Right. Less ice on the road. Seriously. No scraping.
Yeah. So how did you guys fare last night with
the storm? Did you guys have any power outages?
No, I fell right asleep. Yeah. That's an easy
one for me. Yeah. Yep. Yep. Yep. So tell us about
your line of work. You've shared with me offline
just between us as friends, but tell our listeners
about the work that you do, which I think is
very cool. Yeah. Yeah, thank you. It's, we're
culinary, culinarians. So at this point, we own
and operate a small farm to table restaurant
in Overland Park that specializes in handcrafted
sausage. So, yeah, we We enjoy doing that. And
yeah, we definitely have the quote unquote boutique
hours and work with a lot of local farmers and
stuff. And that was a very DIY effort when we
started in 2012, just based on the sausage making
hobby that I actually learned down in the kitchen
here on campus. Yeah, from Chef. Felix Stermer,
that was like one of my big takeaways from culinary
school. But anyways, yeah, that's a whole other
area of this segment. Yeah, so that's what we
do now. And we focus on breakfast, lunch. We
have a couple small wholesale accounts. And yeah,
just putting quality first. Wow, that's fantastic.
How can our listeners learn more about your business?
Oh, you can hop on the old Google. You could
walk right in the front door and see what's going
on. But, yeah, if you Google Wiener Kitchen,
that's our establishment. Wow. Fabulous. Fabulous.
And you said you've been doing this since 2012?
Yeah. Our first vein of the business, we called
that Wiener Wagon, and that was a self -built
hot dog cart. Yeah, we learned plumbing. sharpened
up our painting skills and yeah it's you know
just essentially opened a small restaurant on
wheels yeah it's it was really cool how such
a teeny tiny investment was just paved the way
for something that we're still making a living
doing yeah yeah so that's been on since 2012
we spent a lot of time doing caterings, Overland
Park Farmers Market, weddings, funerals, brewery
visits. whatever, wherever it took us. And then
we've been operating the brick and mortar since
2017. Wow. That's fantastic. That's fantastic.
Thank you. And it's wonderful to see how a dream
that started for you so many years ago because
of your time here has come to fruition and the
good that you have done. I mean, what you said
about weddings and funerals, and I love the farmer's
market. I mean, everybody who lives here loves
the farmer's market, you know, in Overland Park.
And so that's wonderful. All the lives that you've
touched. Is there anything that you like making
food -wise? Like, are there any special recipes
you want to share? Oh, wow. I love... Is it all
secret? No, it's not secret. I mean, I really
feel that if it's worth talking about, it's worth
writing down, it's worth sharing. I've been...
I used to have more the secretive approach, but
then you kind of look back, and you're like,
wait a second, that's not fostering. community
that's not fostering learning so yeah I really
think and then with that like full circle here
also always give credit where it's deserved you
know it's it might be similar to a song or a
style of I don't know, fashion or something like,
hey, this is really great. Well, yeah, I actually
got influenced by this person over here and I
kind of put my own spin about it. But I like
cooking all kinds of things. Yeah, for sure.
I mean, but simple. I mean, you know, simple,
just done right. I obviously like making sausage.
It sometimes wears on you because it's what I
go to work to do. But, you know, yeah, I do like
cooking. Do you cook in the house? Yes. Oh, yeah.
So what's your favorite recipe? Favorite recipe.
Wow. Currently is the cinnamon roll recipe that
I honed in on during the pandemic area when all
we did was cook. I went through three or four
just cinnamon roll recipes. Nice. And I found
the one. And I really enjoy making that and pretty
much eating the whole pan. So what I'm hearing
you say is you're going to bring some to class
tomorrow night for us, right? Is that what I
heard you say? Absolutely no way. No way. Keyboards
and icing doesn't really sound that amazing.
No, probably not. Yeah, sure. Well, you guys,
I tried. Right. I don't know, maybe for... End
of semester celebration or something. All right.
I'm going to hold you to that. I'm going to hold
you to that. Well, yeah. So something that we
have in common and something that you shared
with me at length, and I loved getting to know
you and I loved sharing these stories with you,
is the fact that you're a musician. Can you talk
to me a little bit about your musicianship? Of
course, we met in MIDI music. I will say this
to our listeners. I sit right behind him. I've
heard the stuff that he mixes. That's really
good. So tell us a little bit about your journey
as a music lover and a music person. Wow. Yeah,
thanks. Yeah, very true. I do love it. I love
to be considered a music person. I think music,
food, friends, I mean, that's pretty much what
keeps me going. I think that's what brings a
lot of us together, and it's just all great art
expression. As we get older, you understand that
those are really what makes you tick. I was surrounded
by music when I was young. A lot of singing along.
Some of my oldest memories are because I was
singing about the dog. I won't ruin this room
right now with us and try to recreate this song.
My mom and my dad could have always sang that
song. My sisters were 10 years older than me,
so they were into really pop stuff in the 80s
and really cool stuff. I remember Duran Duran
and when MTV came out and just being exposed
to all that. I never really fought with my sisters
that much because we never had much to fight
about except for like, are we going to watch
Club MTV or are we going to watch cartoons? I'd
usually just sit there. Um, so music, music.
Yeah. Um, I was in elementary school era when,
uh, hair metal, heavy metal was pretty cool.
And, uh, you know, all, I will say one of, one
of my biggest influence that really got me into.
maybe brought me from being a music person to
maybe more of a musician, aside from the required
stuff like choir in elementary school, was Appetite
for Destruction, which I still feel is one of
the best debut hard rock, heavy metal albums
out there. That's one of those things that if
we can agree on that, that that's really okay,
we're probably going to get along just fine.
I was hoping you would tell the Appetite for
Destruction story, so share that with our listeners.
Yeah, I mean, it kind of got out there that there
was a... group of us who like you know poison
and death leopard and all those you know all
those bands that you either may love or hate
um love yeah guilty and uh yeah this guy ben
he lived in the apartments across from me uh
real close to where we went to school and he
was already really talented at the guitar and
i just sitting there in his room like okay what's
going on here and he's like let me show you and
then he pretty much just showed me how to play
the whole record or tape at that point. I'm not
pretending I was, we were listening to vinyl
and when I was in fifth grade. This was the 80s,
not the 70s. Yeah, yeah. Now my sisters did,
but we're, you know, cassettes, right? Right.
And yeah, so we started with, you know, I just
started learning bar chords and... Before I even
knew what any of these songs were about or how
risque it was, how bad my mom hated the image
of these dudes or whatever, I was like, yeah,
this is it. I found it. So we played. We played
talent shows, and we wrote our own medleys of
stuff. I took some crash course guitar lessons,
and a couple years later got a bass. I don't
know, just music always brings people together.
I played in bands in high school and then in
Lawrence afterwards. Big hiatus, but a lot of
my friends just growing up around here, like
the punk revival scene in mid -90s was really
great, and a lot of my friends introduced me
to that. So I spent a lot of time just around
Overland Park, a lot in Kansas City, and a little
bit of Lawrence. really understanding how fun
it was to listen to that kind of art and the
cool like no frills loud fast attitude and stuff
so i mean that's that that had a lot to do and
still like the punk movement and stuff is still
a big part of uh a lot of my friend group that
we go back to you know that that era um continuing
on a lot of my friends kept doing it going on
tour they still write they're still in bands
it's always been inspiring try to support them
always try to be i don't want to say current
but still like pretend and i i mean music has
gone so far the scene is way out of anything
that i can even fathom these days like i can't
even keep up yeah now now you know i never tried
to drill stuff into my kid's head but And my
kids' tastes are all across the board. But still
love music, still looking for new stuff. A friend
the other day just sent me a list. He's like,
this is my favorite band right now. It's like,
that's great. That's what I want to know is who's
your favorite band right now? What are you listening
to? You know, like that's the exciting stuff.
So, yeah, we resurrected. like a power pop, pretty
boy punk band. And we played a show a couple
months ago out in Kansas City, which was fun.
We have plans to keep doing that. And then just
playing with some more friends. And I mean, again,
continuing on the music wagon, all of the tinkering
around with instruments and digital audio workstations.
finally at that point in my life, I'm like, I
should really learn how to use all of these items
in my, in my basement. So that's, that's why
I am taking a step back or taking a step up.
I don't know. I feel like it's learning at a
higher level. It's just super fun. I came into
it with zero expectations except for I'm ready.
And it's, what are we now? Seven, six or seven
weeks deep. Yeah. And it's just. I mean, I learn
something every single day. Yeah, I do too. It's
so fun. And it's fun. And it's really fun to
be with all of you because I think we all like
a little bit of different types of music or genres
of music. And to hear what everybody comes up
with is so exciting. So it's fun to sit by you
because every so often, I'm not going to lie,
I kind of spy a little bit. I'm not going to
lie, I do. It's really good. And it's, you know,
I mean, it's a new environment. If you're a kindergartner,
if you're a... college student at you know 18
or 68 or whatever and i didn't really know what
to expect i was like okay there's gonna be after
the first day we lost what three or four people
yeah we did okay and and there was just kind
of no talking except for the teacher yeah and
we really kind of our first impressions of each
other was when we all got to listen to each other's
first project which is which is a very like Very
fun experience. So I want to do that every single
day. Listen to what everybody else is doing.
I enjoyed that. Yeah, that was a really cool
experience because I think we were all very into
ourselves. You know, we weren't really talking
to anybody else. It's like you said to me that
one night, we might as well have been a virtual
class. Seriously, could have been a virtual class.
Because we weren't talking at all. Yeah. But
Dr. Olvera had us do this really cool thing,
you guys, where we did our song in the digital
audio workspace. For us, it's Pro Tools. But
there are a million different other ones. And
we put them up on the screen. So you could watch,
you know, the waves and such of the music. And
then there was a group chat. And we had to, you
know, give each other feedback. And the kindness
and, you know, the wonderful things that people
said in support of one another was kind of all
it took. Because now everybody's like, hey, how
you doing? Hey, what's going on? And that's kind
of what made me feel like, hey, Dave, hi, I'm
Jen. You're really cool. You want to be on the
podcast? You know what I mean? So it opened.
It's a good thing. It's great to be a student,
isn't it? Yeah, it really is great to be a student.
And I think we're proof positive at our age.
We're spouses and we're parents and we have full
-time jobs. You have a business. It's never too
late. It is never too late. And the beautiful
thing about being here is that everybody's fantastic
and kind and really wants you to succeed and
do well. Yeah, and that's been consistent. I
mean, the reputation of this facility, of this
institution, it's held its value since day one.
I mean, cool. Well, it's a community college.
No, it's seriously way more than that. It's so
top -notch, really. Yeah. Good stuff. Very good
stuff. So I want to circle back to two things
that you said. Sure. You talked about your, what
did you say, pretty punk boy? Oh, yeah. Your
buddies that you did the show a couple months
ago. Yeah, I'll call it pop punk. Pop punk, okay.
Yeah, there was a flyer that somebody just, I
mean, way back in the day, we had to. you know,
use charcoal and pencils and pens and cut things
out on flyers. And I just remember that whoever
made the flyer for our band that day said Pretty
Boy Punk. Love that. Yeah, because we're all,
you know, we're all pretty boys, I guess. But
whatever. But yeah, just punk rock. Yep. So would
there be any opportunity for our listeners to
hear you guys now? Like, are you doing anything
live upcoming? Or do you do anything like on
Spotify or YouTube where folks could check you
guys out? So. There were two or three demo tapes.
So that band is called Two Player Option. Two
Player Option. Yeah, Two Player Option. So it
was a busy December. In one week, we had like
three rehearsals and obtained both a Facebook
and an Instagram page. I mean, this was our first
show in this century. So back in the 90s, there
wasn't even MySpace or Friendster, right? Yeah,
right. So no, there's demo tapes right now. And
those are... I think we probably made like 30
of those in the 90s. So if you can find one,
good luck. It's probably worth like $4. But no,
it's I mean, and that's one of those things,
too. Like we put it together for the show and
we've been on hiatus because we're busy and the
weather. Yeah. And we all live on different sides
of the city. But there's a group chat and we
talk about it and it's we're ready. So, yeah,
I mean, it's. Yeah, if you really want to keep
up with that, it's I mean, there's the handle
on the on the gram is that two player option.
And I got to jam with some other friends over
this weekend and they're called Hanalee and we'll
see what that happens. So we had our first jam
practice the other night and playing with some
old friends who are really writing cool songs,
too. So just kind of stepped in and. Had fun.
Very cool. Well, you heard it here first, guys.
You also mentioned enjoying learning who your
friends are listening to. What are the artists
that are on your Spotify playlist right now?
Who can you share with us that we might not know
about? Wow. So. Man, that's a loaded question.
You know, when I. We listen to music all day
in the restaurant. Oh, I bet. Yeah, and one of
my favorite things as far as listening is when
I start to hear a song that has been sampled
and then finally discovering where that came
from. Oh, yeah. That's one of my all -time favorite
things to do, so I'll click like that song or
whatever. I'm terrible at names, but that encompasses
a lot of my liked songs. My kids are good influences
for me over the years. I was taken to Tyler,
the creator, three or four years ago with my
oldest, and I think that stuff is fantastic.
Some of my all -time favorites, I like a lot
of Ramones core stuff. There's a band called
Chicks Dig It from Canada that just is... front
to back great um newer stuff my friend just introduced
me to a band called dark thoughts and they really
got me going off you know they're just you know
again ramonesy kind of stuff uh the mean jeans
put out a record a year ago called blasted they're
really good that's a really fun record My friend
Josh, I just saw him last weekend. They've resurrected
their band called The Anniversary. They're a
Lawrence -based Kansas band. So to see them,
and they played with the Get Up Kids and other
local superhero, you know, poppy, you know, emo
kind of band like that. To see them still...
doing what they started 25 years ago and still
just captivate holding a you know a captive audience
it's so much fun so i still a lot of stuff i
listen to is the same stuff that my friends told
me about 30 years ago like like oh god what what
i just told you uh chicks dig it uh screeching
weasel the queers uh a lot of old hip hop stuff
all the uh um you know all the all the west coast
stuff that like dr j easy started all those i
mean just yeah timeless stuff i i've uh i've
become a again because of my kids and whatnot
i've been become a fan of mf doom and the way
that they twist stuff is just amazing i listen
to radio for variety um i really like uh there's
that oh cool j rock the bells radio which just
kind of gives us a good uh a good dose of the
classics and the old school hip hop guys just
doing really cool stuff. But like I said, I'm
always in for something that's fun to listen
to. So, yeah. What about you? What are your favorites
these days? Well, I grew up, and I think you
and I talked about this. I grew up, you know,
wanting to be a singer. And I grew up in the
70s and the 80s. So I used to have this red shag
carpet in my room. It's funny, you know, the
things that you remember. This boy. red shag
carpet and i used to sit indian style on the
floor with my tape player and play olivia newton
john tapes over and over and over you know she
was my muse to be a singer and i was never really
the groupie sort you know like when you see those
videos from the 60s of the girls like oh the
beatles You know, I was never the groupie kind
of girl, but for her I was because she was just
this huge, you know, light and muse to me to
be a singer. And then she passed away, of course,
which just broke my heart. I don't know. I like
a little bit of everything. I really do. My daughter,
like your kids get you into good stuff. My daughter
got me into Chapel Roan, who I think is phenomenal.
What a beautiful voice. Yeah, I like a little
bit of everything. This kind of depends on what
the mood is. We were out at dinner the other
night and they were playing Stevie Wonder. And
I was like, oh, yeah, mama's going to be listening
to some Stevie Wonder on the way home. Phenomenal.
Yeah, good stuff. On the topic of artists, if
you could collaborate with any artist, living
or dead, who would it be and why? And I know
that's like a huge loaded question, right? Wow.
I wasn't prepared for that one. I don't know.
I would say no. Oh, I mean, yeah, that'd be amazing.
That would really be great. I, yeah. I mean,
yeah. Any of the remotes guys, but man, seriously,
you want to think on that and we'll come back
to it. Yeah. That's going to be a while. How
long, how long do we have? We have a couple hours.
I'm going to need to make a chart. Can I borrow
a pencil? Absolutely. Just bring it to class
tomorrow. Yeah. Right. Yeah. Yeah. A followup.
Yep. Who would you say inspires you in your life?
Who inspires me in life are people that are creative
without, kind of without any reservation or without,
people that get creative, say things, do things.
regardless of the consequences of what somebody
might say about them, what somebody might think.
People that are so confident and just driven
to do exactly what they want. Authentically themselves.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, people are being themselves.
Yeah, that's really inspiring to just have no
filter, not pretending like you're doing it for
somebody or, I don't know. Right. Yeah. And that
you're doing it for the love of doing it and
not to make the pretty penny. Yeah, for sure.
Yeah, that's really important. That's cool. Has
anyone throughout your life, from when you were
young to today, given you advice or said something
to you, like a little morsel of something that
has resonated with you? Or maybe something that
you've shared with your children or that they've
shared with you that you carry with you? Yeah,
I mean. Yeah, besides buy the tickets and take
the stairs. Right. Yeah, I mean, I think I can
owe that pretty much to my entire family because
they've kind of brought up that in a positive,
like, savor the day, just enjoy it. You can do
it. You know, be happy. I mean, yeah, I mean,
that's it. My dad told me a billion times, just
be happy, Dave. Just be happy. Yeah. That it's
a conscious choice. And I think a lot of people
don't realize that it's a conscious choice. It
doesn't matter how, you know, how down it is,
how bad the chips are. You still have the choice.
Yeah. Figure out a way to. Get over it. Get around
it. To move through it. Yeah. To move through
it. Yeah. The only way out is through. Yeah,
for sure. You know, the only way out is through.
Yeah, do it. Yeah. Right? So you've been down
the JCCC road before. You know, you went to culinary
school. By the way. Proudly. Proudly. Yes. I
love it. So you're like a two -time Cavalier,
which I love that. Well, maybe three, but we
won't. The first time I was a Cavalier didn't
work so well on my GPA. Yeah. It's okay. Yeah,
right. We were all young. yeah for sure no no
judgment well actually and i can't i can't i
mean so when i got my student id here a month
ago or something yeah you're fine when i got
my student id here a month ago the gal at the
counter it's like have you had one before i was
like yeah but it's it's been a while like it's
been a long time and she goes oh you have a really
low number Thanks. Yeah, like I was student number
506. You were here in the 1970s when we opened.
Yeah, so all my, I mean, my parents were very,
I didn't get the free ticket to wherever. I wasn't
academically at the top. We didn't have all kinds
of funds ready for my parents to funnel me down
the drain. A lot of my friends were going to
KU, K -State. This is awesome. go here we're
in the neighborhood always been in the neighborhood
for 30 years or you know right around here and
uh yeah first time around i i was more interested
in still hanging out with my friends playing
music i did do some great paintings great drawings
but i tanked in pre -trigonometry Algebra 2,
whatever that was. My art history class, I was
falling asleep, and luckily I knew one of the
gals from high school who gave me the answers.
And then at some point, it's uncharted territory.
I don't know when, but I did enroll in this mini
music class that we took at some point in the
90s, which I don't know why I stopped, but I'm
so glad that I've started again. Oh, me too.
Yeah, and then through all this, I did some graphic
design stuff. penn valley community college as
well but whole time i was just cooking for a
living and uh my wife hired me on early like
2001 right around the you know the big 9 -11
thing and uh yeah at that point in time it was
like well you should probably go to school so
i went to culinary school and it was at that
point you know took that little break after high
school where i was kind of a you know Man of
the world. Yeah. Being a little wishy washy.
And then, yeah. And school was very beneficial
to me then. And I guess what was so cool about
that is like, I thought that I kind of wanted
to cook for a living and I really liked the arts
and I liked the pace and I liked talking and
all that stuff. But what I had no idea is that
how much I would like sausage making. So just
one day in class, it was like. This is sausage
making, so I got to make sausages for one of
the student events in the courtyard, and then
I did it again, and then I started doing it at
home. Fast forward 20 years, here we are. Now
it's how we make a living. I think that's one
of the most wonderful things about JCCC is that
we have such a diverse community of interests
and talents and jobs. You know what I mean? I
don't know that in 53 years of life I've ever
known somebody that was a musician and a sausage
maker. You know what I mean? So that is really
cool. Proudly. That's really cool. Thank you.
Thank you. I didn't think in my lifetime that
that was going to be the highlights of my resume.
Well, sometimes life takes you in directions
that you weren't anticipating. So when you look
back on this time at JCCC, when you graduate
and leave our campus behind, when you're looking
in your rearview mirror, what do you want to
take with you? What do you want to remember?
And how will you define my time at JCCC was successful?
Oh, that it was that I worked it into my schedule.
And it was fun. Yeah. Yeah. It was fun and it
enriched something that I enjoy doing. And it
sends a message to your kids as well. You know,
that it's never too late to take a chance on
yourself. You want to go to school and learn?
Go to school and learn. It doesn't matter how
old you are. 100%. Yeah. 100%. Yeah. Absolutely.
Just do it. If you don't like it, make the change.
That's right. Yeah. Or if it's something that
you think you might want to do. There's a lot
of pressure right now to figure out what are
you going to do. Take your time. Try every single
thing that you might want to do. If you dip your
toe in the water, then you'll know. It's better
to take the chance and maybe not be as happy
than to wonder. What advice would you have for
someone that's our age, maybe someone that's
a parent, maybe somebody that's a full -time
employee or a business owner, and they were to
say to you, yeah, I can't. Dave, come on. I couldn't
go back to school. What would you say to them?
Why? You mean why can't you? Why not? Yeah. Why
can't you? Right. Why not? I mean, I have – I
know that this was a bug or a – something that
I needed to a button that I needed to press and
it just so happened that there was a class offered
that didn't interrupt my work schedule you know
I don't want to displace work slash other thing
you know family stuff that could really get in
the way right so I you know if if one of the
classes in my path maybe next semester isn't
available I think it would be fun to learn piano.
I just want to keep trying it out if it's fun.
If somebody else said, I don't know, I mean,
gosh, you probably just don't want to go that
bad. There's probably something that, yeah, I
mean, I feel if you're motivated about stuff
or you need to change that bad or you just want
to learn something new, you need to do it. Yeah,
just do it. Yeah, for sure. And know that this
is a safe place to land. Johnson County Community
College is a safe place to land. Yeah, it's great.
What else would you like to share with our listeners?
I don't know. I mean, I think that was a lot.
That was a lot, but it's good stuff. We just
dumped a lot, right? We didn't dump, we shared.
Yeah, we shared. We shared. We broadened our
listeners' horizons. The bands that you listed
minus the Ramones are bands that I, and Guns
N' Roses, of course. I was not familiar with.
And let me go back to what you said about Appetite
for Destruction. You said something along the
lines of, if you like that album, we can be friends.
My 23 -year -old daughter loves that album. Like,
how do you know who Axl Rose is? I'm like, what?
No, she loves Axl Rose. So it's very timeless
music. Yeah, it really is. It still hits pretty
hard. And it was fun to grow up in the MTV era.
When they actually played videos. And you guys
that are listening, trust us, they did actually
play music videos a million years ago. My children
have this idea that growing up in the 80s was
so cool. And everybody just looked cool. We did.
Yeah, that's right. We did. Jelly shoes. Our
leggings and our bright neon shirts. Absolutely.
Yes, yes. It was another time. It was another
time. Super cool. Very, very cool. Big hair.
Big hair. Aquanet hairspray. I have to share
this with you guys since we're all here in the
Johnson County area. In Overland Park off of,
I want to say, 151st Street, there's a coffee
shop called Jinkies. And if you've not been there,
go there. It's very retro vibe. Like they've
got the 70s Saturday Night Live posters up and
they've got little disco balls. And then in the
women's bathroom, they legit, you guys, have
Aquanet hairspray. I like that. It's just fantastic.
Very important. If you're looking for a... retro
vibe, definitely go get a latte. Jinkies, that's
going to be the Scooby -Doo reference, right?
Yes, and they have Scooby -Doo stuff and Pac
-Man stuff. It's a really cool place. Yeah, I'd
be okay with that. Yeah, so go check that out.
Nice. Can you tell us, as a business owner and
a dad and a student, how do you juggle all, and
you know, musician on the side, if you will,
how do you juggle all of that and make sure that
everything stays organized, you don't drop a
ball, that kind of thing? Yeah. You just keep
it going. I've lived in fear. My wife and I have
always lived in fear of, are we ever going to
forget a catering? Are we ever going to forget?
You know, it's just, you know, you're surrounded
with people who appreciate, your family who appreciates
what you're doing. You're doing it for the greater
good, and it just kind of happens. It's nothing.
I don't, I can't answer that. I've had that conversation
with some of my best friends who say, I just
have a job and X, A, B, C, D, E. You have. you
know, this. I don't know. It's just what I do.
I like to keep moving. I do, you know, like to
keep moving. What's that old phrase that the
body learns out of necessity? Yeah, if you've
got to do it, you're going to find a way to do
it. Yeah, my dad would remind me a lot that...
we're gonna sleep when we're dead yeah yeah if
you're fortunate you know if you if you if you
take that opportunity you're right how many people
sit back and let life pass them by you know and
again that kind of circles back to what we were
saying about if you have a dream or you want
to take a chance take a chance yeah you owe it
to yourself yeah yeah exactly i mean yeah and
the more the more that you realize that that's
100 true yeah nobody nobody was going to shake
me and say hey i'm going to sign you up to take
this class and you're gonna love it yeah that
you must do it yourself you have to sometimes
take action and just decide well this isn't normal
for me but it's really okay right and yeah it's
a good thing it's a really good thing to do no
matter who or how old or anything yeah just do
it just go for it I love watching old award shows.
I'm like a total geek. I love watching old award
shows. And hopefully some of our younger audience
will know the show The Golden Girls. Remember
that show? Of course. Well, it was a show about
four, at that time, older ladies who, now I'm
in shock, were my age. At that time, I didn't
realize that. But one of, actually, I think throughout
the tenure of the show, they all won Emmys and
that sort of thing. And one of the gals won.
And in her speech, her award speech, she said
that in the 60s, somebody said, you're not pretty.
You're not photogenic. You're never going to
work on television. And she was devastated by
that, which, what a horrible thing to say to
somebody. And she said, Her mother looked at
her and said, don't you know, every kick's a
boost. Every kick's a boost. So if you start
and you try something new and it tanks and you
hate it, you gave it a shot. That's a boost for
you to go do something else. And if we need proof
of that, that's Dave. You know, you started and
it didn't work out and you came back. Every kick
is a boost, you know? Right. Yeah, for sure.
Yeah, if this, if this. You know, we revisit
this episode or this segment in a year, and I
totally made a fool out of myself or made a big,
I know, but made some big mistake by going to
class for another semester. I would way rather
have said, well, yeah, I gave it a shot, but
it just, you know, it just didn't work out. Way,
way, way better to try and make that mistake.
100%. Agreed. Yeah. Well, before we bid you farewell,
is there anything else that you would like to
share with our listeners about music, about food?
Oh, that's right. I forgot. Who would you collaborate
with? Thank you, Zach. Podcast editor to the
rescue. No, I don't think so. I mean, no. I mean,
I really, wow. What was your first concert? Oh,
my first concert was December 9th, 1990. Wow,
you remember the date. I still have the ticket
stub. I have too much stuff. Yeah, my sister...
My birthday was a couple weeks prior, so my sister...
Took me to the Target Center in Minneapolis,
and I saw Warrant on their Cherry Pie Tour and
Poison on their Flesh and Blood Tour. Did you
see that show? I did too. Indiana State in Indiana.
Yeah, that was great. I mean, that was my first
real show. I saw Oak Ridge Boys when I was a
little bit younger, but I like to say my first
show was Poison and Warrant. You know, I think
if I could collaborate with somebody. Yeah, I
know it's hard. Yeah, it is. I think I would
like to, I'm kind of thinking it would be fun
to collaborate with like Dr. Dre because he's
that like, yeah, I really, I really enjoy the
fact that he has all this artillery yet. It's
so, and it's always so just impactful, but I
feel, and this, you know, this is a very like.
grandiose but he's so reserved and like what
he puts out is so selective so i think just somebody
who's like a really influential very impactful
songwriter mc i mean icon but just always has
remained like top you know that'd be really that'd
be fun yeah i would like to just spend the day
You know. Following him around. Yeah, see the
studio in the basement. Yeah, right. Yeah. That'd
be cool. Yeah. Get into some, you know, silly
stuff. Yeah. Snoop Dogg walks in. What's up,
Snoop? Snoop Dogg walks in. Hashtag love. Hashtag
love. Yeah, but that's hip -hop stuff. I mean,
and those are just legends, you know. Those are
natural legends as far as. As far as like, you
know, the strings and the drums and stuff. I
mean, gosh, that's a whole nother episode. That's
a whole nother podcast episode. What about you?
What about you? Would it just be Olivia Newton
-John? Well, oh, of course, Olivia. Right. Olivia
Newton -John. Once I got past the fangirl stage
where I wasn't, you know, hyperventilating and
crying because there stands my idol. I did grow
up in the 80s and 90s as we've. discussed and
I love strong women performers so Pat Benatar
at that time you know was very very strong and
is touring this summer with her husband so that's
really exciting. I don't know. I loved so many
different kinds of music. My dad was very much
a music connoisseur, and so I grew up listening
to everything from Bob Dylan to the Bee Gees,
which today, to this day, I still think their
harmonies were so beautiful. Phenomenal. And
just feel -good music. Feel -good music. Did
you see the Bob Dylan movie yet? No, I did not.
Is it good? I don't know. I just fell asleep
watching the... Grammys? The Oscars? Yeah, those
ones. The ones for the films. Yeah, and that
just showed up there a couple times. Yeah. Gosh,
the last time I went to a movie, I went to see
Wicked, which, with my daughter, because we're
both Broadway people. I was up there for a couple
awards. Yeah, it was a beautiful movie, beautiful
movie. Yeah. No, so I think I would like to just
collaborate with other really strong women. But
I did have a crush in the 80s on George Michael.
And please don't laugh and judge me. I, to this
day, still think he was a phenomenal songwriter.
And I'm really inspired, like you were saying,
by people who are able to use words to tell incredible
stories. He was one of them, for sure. Yeah.
All of this art that we're surrounded by, whether
it's on canvas or on paper or on record or digitally.
I mean, that's another outlet for us as well
is on plates or on menus. Yeah, for you, yeah.
Yeah, it's like to seriously be making a living
on something that's way elevated more than just
survival, just eating a basic item every day.
We get to make artistic food. It's amazing. Yeah.
And it's just another way of expression. It's
so cool. And in that sense, you're nourishing
someone, you know, and it's the same way with
music because music is nourishment. You know,
you're feeding someone's body. That's a wonderful
thing. And it's also, I mean, with music, it's
not just the final output. same with food it's
not just that plate it's also it's also the artist
it's also how is it delivered what tools are
you using what kind of shoes are you wearing
right yeah i mean yeah yeah yeah is it i mean
there's so many different parallels that that's
like just makes makes it so interesting you know
so yeah Well, thank you for being with us today.
I'm so glad that I reached out to you, and I'm
so grateful that you accepted our invitation.
We've loved having you. Again, any parting thoughts?
Yeah, no, you're so welcome. No, no, I'm excited
to learn something new in class tomorrow, really.
I'm excited for that cinnamon roll tomorrow.
Cinnamon rolls, yeah, right, yeah, right. All
right, folks, you heard it here. Jen wants a
cinnamon roll, and if he brings them on the last
night of class, I will definitely let you know.
you know take some pictures post them to my socials
um all right well thank you again dave for being
here thank you to zach our podcast editor for
being in the room with us tonight thank you zach
and thank you to all of you for listening everybody
stay safe and have a great day bye