WEBVTT

00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.700
All right, welcome to Good News York episode

00:00:02.700 --> 00:00:06.839
58. I am Mike Brindisi on this episode of Good

00:00:06.839 --> 00:00:09.580
News York sponsored by ads on the go. Get ads

00:00:09.580 --> 00:00:12.939
on the go dot com. Shout out to Zach Primo, the

00:00:12.939 --> 00:00:15.599
man out there in the box truck. As you can see,

00:00:15.619 --> 00:00:18.859
I'm flying solo today. Matt's out, I don't know,

00:00:18.940 --> 00:00:21.100
rummaging through dumpsters looking for old electronics.

00:00:21.100 --> 00:00:24.539
And I am here with my man Danny Tripodi behind.

00:00:25.429 --> 00:00:27.550
I'm gonna have a chance today to sit down with

00:00:27.550 --> 00:00:30.789
Dan Smalls of Dan Smalls Presents or DSP Shows.

00:00:31.289 --> 00:00:34.649
I live in Ithaca, New York. Dan Smalls, the premier

00:00:34.649 --> 00:00:38.109
promoter in that area, but also has grown so

00:00:38.109 --> 00:00:40.189
much that he's now one of the premier promoters

00:00:40.189 --> 00:00:42.429
all over New York State, even in Massachusetts.

00:00:42.570 --> 00:00:45.210
We're gonna talk all about his journey to where

00:00:45.210 --> 00:00:49.799
he's... He's gotten and and much much more about

00:00:49.799 --> 00:00:52.960
the music business and other things as well So

00:00:52.960 --> 00:00:56.140
stay with us when we come back dance malls DSP

00:00:56.140 --> 00:01:21.480
shows right here on Good News York Welcome back

00:01:21.480 --> 00:01:24.099
to good news York episode 58 brought to you by

00:01:24.099 --> 00:01:26.459
ads on the go get ads on the go calm I'm Mike

00:01:26.459 --> 00:01:30.079
Brindisi here with a very special guest a friend

00:01:30.079 --> 00:01:33.060
of mine One of the biggest concert promoters

00:01:33.060 --> 00:01:36.700
in in New York, maybe even the Northeast Dan

00:01:36.700 --> 00:01:39.319
Smalls from DSP shows or Dan Smalls presents

00:01:39.319 --> 00:01:42.799
Dan. Thank you so much for coming on the show

00:01:42.799 --> 00:01:46.200
It's my pleasure to be here Always love to talk

00:01:46.200 --> 00:01:48.560
to my brethren in the industry, as you say. I

00:01:48.560 --> 00:01:52.340
appreciate that. You look great. Very rock star

00:01:52.340 --> 00:01:55.760
of you to be in a hotel while you're doing your

00:01:55.760 --> 00:02:00.019
interview. I love that. Yeah, it is family time

00:02:00.019 --> 00:02:02.659
for sure and business time at the same time.

00:02:03.079 --> 00:02:05.180
So thanks for making it happen this way. Yeah,

00:02:05.379 --> 00:02:07.719
man, of course. And I mean, I think that's, you

00:02:07.719 --> 00:02:10.860
know, being a concert promoter allows you as

00:02:10.860 --> 00:02:15.000
busy as you always are. I do find that it does

00:02:15.000 --> 00:02:17.180
allow you to also kind of have that work -life

00:02:17.180 --> 00:02:19.840
balance, right? You know, you aren't really missing

00:02:19.840 --> 00:02:21.800
any of your kids' games and things of that nature,

00:02:21.879 --> 00:02:25.120
I assume. Yeah, I've had to earn it, for sure.

00:02:25.319 --> 00:02:28.500
You know, as we've grown, we've added wonderful

00:02:28.500 --> 00:02:31.580
staff, and it's really allowed me to create a

00:02:31.580 --> 00:02:33.919
company that supports the kind of lifestyle that

00:02:33.919 --> 00:02:35.759
I want to have, that my people want to have,

00:02:35.759 --> 00:02:40.740
and... We've worked hard for this for sure, but

00:02:40.740 --> 00:02:43.520
your boy's only 17 once and getting recruited

00:02:43.520 --> 00:02:45.419
to college once, so you might as well try to

00:02:45.419 --> 00:02:47.379
be there for every possible moment. And that's

00:02:47.379 --> 00:02:48.979
what I'm doing. That's where we are now. We're

00:02:48.979 --> 00:02:51.500
at a baseball tournament, but happy to make the

00:02:51.500 --> 00:02:55.199
time between games to rap. Wow. That means a

00:02:55.199 --> 00:02:57.000
lot, man. And yeah, there's nothing more important,

00:02:57.099 --> 00:02:59.319
nothing better than being a dad. And I've had

00:02:59.319 --> 00:03:04.650
a front row seat to watch you. Grow right before

00:03:04.650 --> 00:03:08.289
my eyes, you know, I I know I think it was 2008,

00:03:08.289 --> 00:03:10.669
you know all of a sudden Dan Smalls was on the

00:03:10.669 --> 00:03:14.969
scene and I mean you grew from your inception

00:03:14.969 --> 00:03:18.629
it was just rapid and You know and now I see

00:03:18.629 --> 00:03:21.969
you know, I watched when you were Adding more

00:03:21.969 --> 00:03:24.150
employees and moving into new spaces I remember

00:03:24.150 --> 00:03:25.669
meeting with you when you were working out of

00:03:25.669 --> 00:03:29.110
your your you know apartment downtown and I'm

00:03:29.110 --> 00:03:32.819
just so happy for you I know you started in 2008.

00:03:33.020 --> 00:03:35.060
You had come from the Catskills. I want to talk

00:03:35.060 --> 00:03:37.139
about a little bit how this all came about. You

00:03:37.139 --> 00:03:39.319
came from the Catskills up to Cornell, correct?

00:03:40.819 --> 00:03:43.539
Yeah, I mean, it's a really long story that we

00:03:43.539 --> 00:03:46.379
can do a short version of. But I came to college

00:03:46.379 --> 00:03:50.840
in 1988, if you can believe it. came to Cornell

00:03:50.840 --> 00:03:53.620
and didn't have a real plan. I was studying engineering

00:03:53.620 --> 00:03:55.879
because I was good at math and science, although

00:03:55.879 --> 00:03:58.280
high school came easy to me. And they said, go

00:03:58.280 --> 00:04:00.000
be an engineer. But I picked Cornell because

00:04:00.000 --> 00:04:01.919
it had other options in case I was wrong. And

00:04:01.919 --> 00:04:05.039
on my second or third night, I heard some music

00:04:05.039 --> 00:04:07.080
coming out of a fraternity across the street

00:04:07.080 --> 00:04:10.060
and go over there and this band. just at a high

00:04:10.060 --> 00:04:13.020
school called blues travelers playing. And next

00:04:13.020 --> 00:04:14.800
thing I know, I'm hanging out with them. We made

00:04:14.800 --> 00:04:16.740
friends. I started, you know, helping them get

00:04:16.740 --> 00:04:18.740
more shows up this way. And through them, we

00:04:18.740 --> 00:04:21.540
met the spin doctors and, uh, they were coming

00:04:21.540 --> 00:04:24.040
to town and I got this reputation as the guy

00:04:24.040 --> 00:04:25.879
to call when you want to, you know, no one knew

00:04:25.879 --> 00:04:27.899
what a jam band was at that point. There was

00:04:27.899 --> 00:04:29.579
still the grateful debt touring and all that

00:04:29.579 --> 00:04:31.620
kind of stuff, but the jam band scene wasn't

00:04:31.620 --> 00:04:33.300
really a thing. So that's kind of how it all

00:04:33.300 --> 00:04:36.209
started. And, you know, we did a big benefit

00:04:36.209 --> 00:04:39.089
show for the Finger Lakes Land Trust, which has

00:04:39.089 --> 00:04:41.089
just gotten going with Blues Traveler and Spin

00:04:41.089 --> 00:04:44.050
Doctors at the, at Bailey Hall before it was

00:04:44.050 --> 00:04:46.730
redone and sold it out and made some money. And

00:04:46.730 --> 00:04:48.589
it's a, it's a very funny story. I was left with

00:04:48.589 --> 00:04:50.329
a few thousand bucks in cash and I thought I'd

00:04:50.329 --> 00:04:52.110
be a good kid and went to the bursar's office

00:04:52.110 --> 00:04:53.970
and tried to pay down my bills. So my parents

00:04:53.970 --> 00:04:57.019
would be surprised. Stammerily sent me packing

00:04:57.019 --> 00:05:00.360
with my cash saying, where'd she get this? Damn,

00:05:00.660 --> 00:05:01.980
you know, get the, get the hell out of here.

00:05:02.399 --> 00:05:05.259
So, so that happened. And, uh, I quickly learned

00:05:05.259 --> 00:05:08.519
that going from a 4 .0 high school to a 1 .9

00:05:08.519 --> 00:05:10.319
first semester, it wasn't going to work. I got

00:05:10.319 --> 00:05:12.720
to get out of engineering, moved into business

00:05:12.720 --> 00:05:15.220
management, marketing, and that's where it started.

00:05:15.240 --> 00:05:17.399
And then I wound up meeting John Peterson at

00:05:17.399 --> 00:05:19.300
the haunts, which was the club in town at the

00:05:19.300 --> 00:05:22.079
time on green streets still. And he was, you

00:05:22.079 --> 00:05:24.019
know, putting on the best blues and reggae shows

00:05:24.019 --> 00:05:26.360
that had ever, you know, I hadn't seen in my

00:05:26.360 --> 00:05:28.500
life. I was down there and one night I'd see

00:05:28.500 --> 00:05:31.720
Buddy Guy and then Albert Collins and all those

00:05:31.720 --> 00:05:33.740
alligator bands with the same backing band and

00:05:33.740 --> 00:05:35.439
just another smoking guitar player in front of

00:05:35.439 --> 00:05:37.500
him every week. And it was just life -changing

00:05:37.500 --> 00:05:39.980
for me to go to work for him and, uh, and start

00:05:39.980 --> 00:05:42.379
learning the business. And he let me take chances.

00:05:42.480 --> 00:05:44.740
He believed in me when I told him the book Pearl

00:05:44.740 --> 00:05:47.120
Jam or whenever on a Monday night for 200 bucks

00:05:47.120 --> 00:05:49.800
or 300 bucks or we paid him. It was a great,

00:05:49.800 --> 00:05:54.319
it was a great time, you know, um, uh, the industry

00:05:54.319 --> 00:05:57.060
was, was wide open, I think, you know, music

00:05:57.060 --> 00:05:59.399
was changing and, and I was just really, really

00:05:59.399 --> 00:06:02.420
lucky to work with him at that point. And, um,

00:06:02.800 --> 00:06:05.319
the big thing fame, the summer of my sophomore

00:06:05.319 --> 00:06:08.000
junior year, I can't remember which, and I saw

00:06:08.000 --> 00:06:10.120
they were doing a music festival with all these

00:06:10.120 --> 00:06:12.829
bands and I should back up and say, you know,

00:06:12.930 --> 00:06:14.850
while I was working at The Hot Fish came and

00:06:14.850 --> 00:06:16.649
the first time they played, three people came

00:06:16.649 --> 00:06:18.670
to see them. You know, Trey called us like, we're

00:06:18.670 --> 00:06:21.790
killing it in Vermont and, and we got to come

00:06:21.790 --> 00:06:23.569
down for three nights like we do here. And they

00:06:23.569 --> 00:06:25.089
came and there was three people and the next

00:06:25.089 --> 00:06:26.430
night there was eight people. And I think we

00:06:26.430 --> 00:06:28.610
put a local band on and they did like 40 or something.

00:06:29.029 --> 00:06:31.110
So, you know, they were growing at the same time.

00:06:31.129 --> 00:06:33.550
It was really quite entertaining to watch. And

00:06:33.550 --> 00:06:35.649
some of my best friends in the biz to this day,

00:06:35.790 --> 00:06:37.699
you know, so. That happened, but that summer

00:06:37.699 --> 00:06:39.920
came along and I saw they were doing a music

00:06:39.920 --> 00:06:41.920
festival down in Parksville, New York of all

00:06:41.920 --> 00:06:44.439
places. It was where Route 17 had a stoplight.

00:06:44.560 --> 00:06:47.060
Yeah. You know, it's no longer there, but right

00:06:47.060 --> 00:06:48.899
off that stoplight, two miles was this place

00:06:48.899 --> 00:06:50.759
called Arrowhead Ranch. And I found out about

00:06:50.759 --> 00:06:53.379
it. I drove down there, met with the guy in charge,

00:06:53.779 --> 00:06:56.180
talked my way into a job. Turned out that his

00:06:56.180 --> 00:06:58.699
partner was David Graham and all of his friends.

00:06:59.069 --> 00:07:01.629
from NYU and David's dad was Bill Graham, the

00:07:01.629 --> 00:07:04.250
famous rock and presario concert promoter, you

00:07:04.250 --> 00:07:06.290
know, Fillmore East, Fillmore West, whatever,

00:07:06.529 --> 00:07:09.449
whatever. So I'm down there working for the summer.

00:07:09.990 --> 00:07:14.050
And, uh, one of the first days, uh, the sheriff

00:07:14.050 --> 00:07:16.629
comes to try to shut the whole thing down. And,

00:07:16.629 --> 00:07:18.569
uh, I know the guy since I'm four years old,

00:07:18.730 --> 00:07:21.930
Joe, how are his sheriff jokes? And Bill's watching

00:07:21.930 --> 00:07:24.910
the whole thing that weekend, you know, We gained

00:07:24.910 --> 00:07:26.689
thumbs to an end and I should back up and say,

00:07:26.689 --> 00:07:28.350
those guys were wonderful, but they were older

00:07:28.350 --> 00:07:30.529
than me and they were doing more drugs than I

00:07:30.529 --> 00:07:34.410
would do. And so Bill takes the dinner and he

00:07:34.410 --> 00:07:36.170
says, Cornell, come here. And he takes me to

00:07:36.170 --> 00:07:38.230
the bar. He's like, my kids are all fuck -ups.

00:07:38.870 --> 00:07:40.949
I want you to come work for me when you graduate.

00:07:41.509 --> 00:07:45.329
And I'm like, oh my God. Okay. Okay. And crazy,

00:07:45.350 --> 00:07:49.709
right? I mean, small. The irony is he, when he

00:07:49.709 --> 00:07:51.970
escaped Germany and came over on a boat was in

00:07:51.970 --> 00:07:55.790
Brooklyn. He would come up and spend summers

00:07:55.790 --> 00:07:57.529
in the Capskills right near where I grew up,

00:07:57.569 --> 00:07:59.810
near Monticello. And he worked at the Concord

00:07:59.810 --> 00:08:01.870
Hotel. So we shared this connection of where

00:08:01.870 --> 00:08:04.269
we were from. So I came back to college thinking

00:08:04.269 --> 00:08:08.370
my life was set and all my friends are interviewing

00:08:08.370 --> 00:08:10.829
for jobs and I'm laughing in their face. And

00:08:10.829 --> 00:08:12.689
Bill gets in a helicopter about a month before

00:08:12.689 --> 00:08:15.889
I graduated Cornell and crashed on the way to

00:08:15.889 --> 00:08:17.850
a Siri Lewis show in San Francisco and passed

00:08:17.850 --> 00:08:20.209
away tragically. And that was it for my job up

00:08:20.209 --> 00:08:23.920
there. It was a restart, let's just put it that

00:08:23.920 --> 00:08:26.120
way. So I stayed in Ithaca for another year or

00:08:26.120 --> 00:08:28.379
two, year and a half, helped with the haunt.

00:08:28.620 --> 00:08:31.759
And then because of my connection with Spin Doctors

00:08:31.759 --> 00:08:33.759
and Blues Traveler, I got offered a job in New

00:08:33.759 --> 00:08:37.899
York at Columbia Epic Records. And it was A &R.

00:08:37.960 --> 00:08:40.539
It was kind of cool. But to me, once I got there,

00:08:40.580 --> 00:08:42.779
it was the era of just shipping tons of records

00:08:42.779 --> 00:08:44.860
and bean counting. Way more corporate than I

00:08:44.860 --> 00:08:49.059
really felt was my style. The next phase was

00:08:49.059 --> 00:08:51.059
the, I like to call it the goodwill hunting phase.

00:08:51.240 --> 00:08:54.000
I met a, I met a girl, had to see about a girl

00:08:54.000 --> 00:08:56.759
who went to Boston and talked my way into another

00:08:56.759 --> 00:08:58.899
job. And it's funny how you just meet people

00:08:58.899 --> 00:09:01.860
and that's your thing. And through the guys that

00:09:01.860 --> 00:09:03.899
I worked with in this job, booking a college

00:09:03.899 --> 00:09:06.559
band called angry salad of all things. You wouldn't

00:09:06.559 --> 00:09:08.379
believe they had, you know, they eventually got

00:09:08.379 --> 00:09:10.279
signed and had a decent hit or whatever in the,

00:09:10.279 --> 00:09:12.450
in that era. Through that, I met a guy named

00:09:12.450 --> 00:09:14.850
Dave Whirlen, who was a promoter and he had a

00:09:14.850 --> 00:09:16.990
ton of fish history as well, his company was

00:09:16.990 --> 00:09:19.789
called Great Northeast. And he and I, I worked

00:09:19.789 --> 00:09:22.370
with him when we presented the first five or

00:09:22.370 --> 00:09:25.070
six of fish's camping festivals for the weekend,

00:09:25.409 --> 00:09:27.629
starting in Clipper ball, great lemon wheel.

00:09:27.870 --> 00:09:30.090
Got very, very lucky to be a part of those. They

00:09:30.090 --> 00:09:31.990
were just life -changing events. You know, there

00:09:31.990 --> 00:09:36.450
were no festivals in the U S in 1996. And so

00:09:36.450 --> 00:09:40.139
that experience was like, You can come back and

00:09:40.139 --> 00:09:41.799
question any of this, but I'm going to get through

00:09:41.799 --> 00:09:44.039
to Ithaca. No, keep going, man. This is great.

00:09:44.899 --> 00:09:48.659
So that happened and we worked together and it

00:09:48.659 --> 00:09:52.600
was great. But then the industry roll -up happened

00:09:52.600 --> 00:09:57.440
right around 1999 when SFX, Bob Sillerman bought

00:09:57.549 --> 00:09:59.850
Delsner Slater, and he bought Bill Graham presents

00:09:59.850 --> 00:10:01.929
and he bought the, you know, the guys in Colorado

00:10:01.929 --> 00:10:03.950
and Chicago and everyone, he rolled it up to

00:10:03.950 --> 00:10:06.070
clear STFx, which became clear channel, which

00:10:06.070 --> 00:10:08.970
is now live nation. Right. So that was the beginning

00:10:08.970 --> 00:10:11.090
of the consolidation of the music industry and

00:10:11.090 --> 00:10:13.049
independent promoters like, you know, great artists.

00:10:13.169 --> 00:10:14.889
We didn't just do the fish festivals. We did

00:10:14.889 --> 00:10:18.570
about, I don't know, 200 or so shows a year at

00:10:18.570 --> 00:10:20.909
the middle East and Boston, but we were more

00:10:20.909 --> 00:10:23.980
like the guys who booked Portland, Maine. you

00:10:23.980 --> 00:10:26.039
know, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and Burlington,

00:10:26.080 --> 00:10:28.620
Vermont. We were the surrounding cities with

00:10:28.620 --> 00:10:30.679
the same act. So we did a lot of shows that way,

00:10:30.820 --> 00:10:34.600
but the roll -up left independent promoters out

00:10:34.600 --> 00:10:36.620
in the cold for the most part. We were nervous.

00:10:37.039 --> 00:10:39.360
Agents were afraid of what Live Nation was going

00:10:39.360 --> 00:10:41.720
to become. And it was a really good time to take

00:10:41.720 --> 00:10:43.659
a break. So that's when I wound up back in the

00:10:43.659 --> 00:10:46.959
Catskills to help get Bethel Woods started. And

00:10:46.959 --> 00:10:49.799
at the same time I had grown up there, we helped

00:10:49.799 --> 00:10:52.059
get Bethel Woods, the guy that bought the Woodstock

00:10:52.059 --> 00:10:54.919
site, built this beautiful place. And around

00:10:54.919 --> 00:10:59.059
the same time my dad was ill and I helped run

00:10:59.059 --> 00:11:01.519
his business once Bethel Woods was up and running

00:11:01.519 --> 00:11:03.200
and thought I could get out of the music biz.

00:11:03.340 --> 00:11:06.360
I thought it was it for me and helped him with

00:11:06.360 --> 00:11:09.240
that, helped him sell it. And in a similar goodwill

00:11:09.240 --> 00:11:11.500
hunting where I visited Ithaca and met my wife.

00:11:12.139 --> 00:11:14.519
on that one of those trips. So we sold the biz

00:11:14.519 --> 00:11:19.019
and I moved up there without a prayer of what

00:11:19.019 --> 00:11:20.639
I was gonna do next. Thought I was done with

00:11:20.639 --> 00:11:23.940
music. Like you said, right around 2005, six,

00:11:24.059 --> 00:11:26.139
the state theater was in peril. It was really

00:11:26.139 --> 00:11:29.080
close to closing. They had brought in an executive

00:11:29.080 --> 00:11:31.120
director who really tried to make it into like

00:11:31.120 --> 00:11:34.080
a cultural Mecca, like doing the kind of things

00:11:34.080 --> 00:11:36.539
Cornell could do with a $10 ticket with a $60

00:11:36.539 --> 00:11:40.299
ticket. It ran the debt through the roof in one

00:11:40.299 --> 00:11:44.440
year, you know? So I met the executive director

00:11:44.440 --> 00:11:46.500
of Historic Ithaca and said, I can fix this,

00:11:46.519 --> 00:11:49.919
I think. Give me a shot. And we went in and it

00:11:49.919 --> 00:11:55.059
was a mess and the debt was huge. I quickly saw

00:11:55.059 --> 00:11:57.840
they were not able to escrow money to cover bills

00:11:57.840 --> 00:12:00.259
and pay. It was a really hard time. So I met

00:12:00.259 --> 00:12:03.059
some local folks, business people. We met, we

00:12:03.059 --> 00:12:04.840
met with the city. We met with all kinds of things.

00:12:04.940 --> 00:12:07.820
We, we, we came up with a very creative deal

00:12:07.820 --> 00:12:10.940
with the IURA helping and stuff too. The Clinton

00:12:10.940 --> 00:12:13.360
house was part of it and it spun Historic Ithaca

00:12:13.360 --> 00:12:15.720
into their own thing and State Theater of Ithaca,

00:12:15.720 --> 00:12:19.399
Inc. into its own thing. And we. took it over

00:12:19.399 --> 00:12:21.320
as a new not -for -profit running just the theater

00:12:21.320 --> 00:12:23.860
and for a year and a half I did my job booking

00:12:23.860 --> 00:12:26.840
it and Doug Levine's job of running it and I

00:12:26.840 --> 00:12:29.100
realized very quickly I could not do both so

00:12:29.100 --> 00:12:31.399
I was the guy that said hey let's give Doug a

00:12:31.399 --> 00:12:33.639
shot you know because the way buildings like

00:12:33.639 --> 00:12:36.259
that make sense is you start by raising tons

00:12:36.259 --> 00:12:38.700
of sponsorship and then you get good at raising

00:12:38.700 --> 00:12:40.980
funds to do bigger projects and Doug was working

00:12:40.980 --> 00:12:42.679
at the Chamber of Commerce as the membership

00:12:42.679 --> 00:12:44.419
guy I'm like he knows everybody he'll be able

00:12:44.419 --> 00:12:47.059
to bring in enough money It felt like a real

00:12:47.059 --> 00:12:49.460
symbiotic thing and it's taken a long time to

00:12:49.460 --> 00:12:52.299
become that, but now to bring it full circle,

00:12:52.299 --> 00:12:55.539
it's become that for sure in Ithaca. But in the

00:12:55.539 --> 00:13:00.480
years since 2007, when I formed the SP till now,

00:13:00.799 --> 00:13:03.000
you know, I've grown, like you said, tremendously.

00:13:03.200 --> 00:13:06.220
It's been awesome. I started by growing too fast

00:13:06.220 --> 00:13:08.179
and then pulled back and it was just me. And

00:13:08.179 --> 00:13:10.279
then I wound up having a friend who was sort

00:13:10.279 --> 00:13:12.899
of like the me of Western Massachusetts working

00:13:12.899 --> 00:13:15.409
for. a guy he didn't like. His name was John

00:13:15.409 --> 00:13:17.970
Sanders. And after several years of trying to

00:13:17.970 --> 00:13:19.629
convince him, John finally said, I can't work

00:13:19.629 --> 00:13:22.769
for this guy anymore. I'm in. Let's do it. And

00:13:22.769 --> 00:13:25.389
I gave him a very creative way to become a part

00:13:25.389 --> 00:13:27.289
of the company. And we worked that out together.

00:13:28.389 --> 00:13:33.529
And now we're eight people and 69 shows in 2008,

00:13:33.950 --> 00:13:38.370
812 shows last year. My God. I remember when

00:13:38.370 --> 00:13:41.230
you and John teamed up and I remember kind of

00:13:41.230 --> 00:13:43.850
the, from my point of view, the explosion. of

00:13:43.850 --> 00:13:46.509
DSP shows from there. Not that it wasn't, you

00:13:46.509 --> 00:13:48.169
know, you were doing just fine before that, but

00:13:48.169 --> 00:13:50.429
that's when it went to the next tier for sure.

00:13:51.350 --> 00:13:53.889
Yeah, we had opportunities in Massachusetts that

00:13:53.889 --> 00:13:55.730
came with him. And the minute he left working

00:13:55.730 --> 00:13:57.870
for someone that the industry as a whole had,

00:13:58.250 --> 00:14:00.129
you know, I don't talk bad about folks, but they

00:14:00.129 --> 00:14:02.210
didn't enjoy working with him the way they enjoy

00:14:02.210 --> 00:14:04.529
working with John and I. Like I've always been

00:14:04.529 --> 00:14:06.789
a promoter who will go the extra mile. I'd rather

00:14:06.789 --> 00:14:09.730
put more catering in your room and spend a few

00:14:09.730 --> 00:14:12.009
extra dollars to have a better relationship.

00:14:12.090 --> 00:14:14.820
I mean, I know these touring acts live on a bus

00:14:14.820 --> 00:14:17.580
and they sleep while they're driving and they

00:14:17.580 --> 00:14:19.539
come into these dingy basements and that's their

00:14:19.539 --> 00:14:22.100
house. Yeah. So why not try to make it a little

00:14:22.100 --> 00:14:24.259
better for them? Absolutely. And that's that's

00:14:24.259 --> 00:14:26.240
been our mentality. And I think our growth has

00:14:26.240 --> 00:14:28.840
happened because we treated people better. And

00:14:28.840 --> 00:14:30.200
they've said, hey, when we go to the Northeast,

00:14:30.299 --> 00:14:33.000
we want to play for these guys. Yeah. And that's

00:14:33.000 --> 00:14:35.139
that's the mentality. You treat people better

00:14:35.139 --> 00:14:38.460
and you'll you'll let money follow. Don't let

00:14:38.460 --> 00:14:40.480
be a goal. You know, you know what? You're so

00:14:40.480 --> 00:14:43.789
right, because I tell people all the time that

00:14:43.789 --> 00:14:46.570
any success I've had in my life is by building

00:14:46.570 --> 00:14:50.009
relationships. And a lot of those were relationships

00:14:50.009 --> 00:14:52.350
that were built because they were just relationships

00:14:52.350 --> 00:14:56.409
and ended up coming full circle later on where

00:14:56.409 --> 00:14:59.830
it ended up helping me in business. But they

00:14:59.830 --> 00:15:02.250
were meant as just relationships to begin with.

00:15:02.350 --> 00:15:04.789
And you made so many relationships along the

00:15:04.789 --> 00:15:09.669
way. And it's been so key for you. And I knew

00:15:09.669 --> 00:15:11.509
that kind of your mantra when you had started

00:15:11.509 --> 00:15:13.490
out was that you wanted to go the extra mile

00:15:13.490 --> 00:15:15.850
to do what other promoters weren't doing, which

00:15:15.850 --> 00:15:18.830
was really being for the artist. And as someone,

00:15:18.889 --> 00:15:21.070
you know, I had my band and you and I have worked

00:15:21.070 --> 00:15:24.049
together. I can attest that you always took care

00:15:24.049 --> 00:15:28.409
of of me and my band and any artists that that

00:15:28.409 --> 00:15:31.470
I know that that has worked with you. So it's

00:15:31.470 --> 00:15:34.019
I mean. It's, it's how it works. I mean, look,

00:15:34.139 --> 00:15:35.580
I would not have been able to save the state

00:15:35.580 --> 00:15:38.039
theater if I didn't know agents from years ago.

00:15:38.179 --> 00:15:40.320
And those couple of years that I took away, they

00:15:40.320 --> 00:15:42.279
all moved up, you know, when I called them like,

00:15:42.279 --> 00:15:43.980
holy shit, Dan, where have you been? What have

00:15:43.980 --> 00:15:45.539
you been doing? And we have that great conversation.

00:15:45.559 --> 00:15:47.200
I'm like, Hey, I got this really righteous thing.

00:15:47.539 --> 00:15:50.460
I've saved this awesome building. And I still

00:15:50.460 --> 00:15:53.419
remember 2008 when, when I got Lyle to come with

00:15:53.419 --> 00:15:57.610
John Hyatt and Lyle Lovitz on stage. And he gave

00:15:57.610 --> 00:15:59.649
this whole speech about how saving buildings

00:15:59.649 --> 00:16:01.490
like this is something that should be done. There's

00:16:01.490 --> 00:16:03.389
too many that are 7 -elevens. And there I was

00:16:03.389 --> 00:16:05.190
in the back of the thing with the tear coming

00:16:05.190 --> 00:16:08.330
down in my eye. Right on, dude. Thank you for

00:16:08.330 --> 00:16:10.750
noticing, because it's a really cool thing. Yeah,

00:16:11.330 --> 00:16:14.769
man. What a journey. You're right. What a journey.

00:16:15.549 --> 00:16:18.750
I moved to Ithaca from the Mohawk Valley in 05,

00:16:18.990 --> 00:16:21.629
actually, right around the same time. And at

00:16:21.629 --> 00:16:24.500
the time... Long story short I I knew I needed

00:16:24.500 --> 00:16:26.320
to get out of there. I couldn't afford to live

00:16:26.320 --> 00:16:28.700
in New York or LA I knew I needed to be somewhere

00:16:28.700 --> 00:16:31.679
where there was some sort of creative scene in

00:16:31.679 --> 00:16:34.059
music and comedy and you know a buddy of mine

00:16:34.059 --> 00:16:36.379
lived in Ithaca and said you got to come here

00:16:36.379 --> 00:16:37.960
like just live here for a couple years and go

00:16:37.960 --> 00:16:40.639
to the city it's so Cultured, you know, there's

00:16:40.639 --> 00:16:43.440
a ton of culture. There's a huge music scene

00:16:43.440 --> 00:16:47.559
and I was pleasantly surprised to know that this

00:16:47.559 --> 00:16:51.100
person was so right, and you're responsible for

00:16:51.100 --> 00:16:54.159
a lot of that, I know that now, but before you,

00:16:54.240 --> 00:16:57.399
you know, on your way to Ithaca, from your perspective,

00:16:57.980 --> 00:16:59.919
was Ithaca known that way for you before you

00:16:59.919 --> 00:17:03.169
got there? It wasn't when I was here. It was

00:17:03.169 --> 00:17:05.349
when I was there in college, for sure. I mean,

00:17:05.490 --> 00:17:07.549
John had built that and people before him at

00:17:07.549 --> 00:17:09.650
the North 40 and places like that where the,

00:17:09.650 --> 00:17:11.910
you know, Buffalo Longo and bands like then Orleans

00:17:11.910 --> 00:17:13.950
were playing around town in the seventies and

00:17:13.950 --> 00:17:16.049
stuff. So it had a great scene that the Rongo,

00:17:16.150 --> 00:17:18.430
you know, places. Amazing that people would drive

00:17:18.430 --> 00:17:20.970
those 10 miles and drink all night and then drive

00:17:20.970 --> 00:17:23.740
back to college. You know, it's just. Different

00:17:23.740 --> 00:17:26.619
times for sure. Um, so, and the, and the reputation,

00:17:26.759 --> 00:17:28.880
like I give John Peterson a lot of credit and

00:17:28.880 --> 00:17:30.640
he and I are friends to this day. He has a house

00:17:30.640 --> 00:17:32.920
now up in near Shell, Drake up that way. And

00:17:32.920 --> 00:17:35.500
then summers comes up and visits and, uh, and

00:17:35.500 --> 00:17:37.259
we're still friends, but he, he, he taught me

00:17:37.259 --> 00:17:39.900
the biz. He let me lose money and, and, and,

00:17:39.980 --> 00:17:41.700
you know, drain my bank account and live off

00:17:41.700 --> 00:17:43.539
the sack of potatoes from the farmer's market

00:17:43.539 --> 00:17:48.009
for a couple of weeks. But he taught me a lot

00:17:48.009 --> 00:17:50.569
about the biz. I grew up in a musical family

00:17:50.569 --> 00:17:53.750
for sure. My dad, no one played, but they listened

00:17:53.750 --> 00:17:56.369
to a lot of great music. My dad was playing Mississippi

00:17:56.369 --> 00:17:59.930
John Heard and was friends with Arlo Guthrie

00:17:59.930 --> 00:18:02.789
for a minute back in the 60s in the village and

00:18:02.789 --> 00:18:04.769
stuff. So it was kind of cool to bring them back

00:18:04.769 --> 00:18:06.309
together. But anyway, long story short, it was

00:18:06.309 --> 00:18:10.769
just, yeah, it's relationship -based. Like you

00:18:10.769 --> 00:18:12.190
said, that's where this whole thing started.

00:18:12.230 --> 00:18:15.049
And I think that's how you continue to get it.

00:18:15.200 --> 00:18:17.740
Ithaca is a special place. I tell people that

00:18:17.740 --> 00:18:21.299
all the time and You're talking about John and

00:18:21.299 --> 00:18:23.960
how he got you started, you know living in Ithaca

00:18:23.960 --> 00:18:26.640
I heard all those stories about these magical

00:18:26.640 --> 00:18:28.220
nights at the haunt I actually remember being

00:18:28.220 --> 00:18:30.960
at a reggae night somewhere and the band actually

00:18:30.960 --> 00:18:33.059
sang a song I don't know if they wrote it or

00:18:33.059 --> 00:18:35.960
they were covering it about a night where a band

00:18:35.960 --> 00:18:39.359
came and played in Ithaca that the song is about

00:18:39.359 --> 00:18:42.940
that night And, you know, there's the story of

00:18:42.940 --> 00:18:45.380
obviously John Popper and Blues Traveller playing

00:18:45.380 --> 00:18:48.660
there. And now, is this true? I heard Pearl Jam

00:18:48.660 --> 00:18:50.400
had played there. This was right before they

00:18:50.400 --> 00:18:52.039
broke out. And they played on like a Tuesday

00:18:52.039 --> 00:18:54.019
night and there was barely anybody there. It

00:18:54.019 --> 00:18:57.579
was a Monday night, actually. Don Mueller called

00:18:57.579 --> 00:18:59.720
us and Don was a huge agent at the time. They

00:18:59.720 --> 00:19:01.960
were opening for the Chili Peppers and they had

00:19:01.960 --> 00:19:04.420
an off night. And they needed a few hundred bucks

00:19:04.420 --> 00:19:08.359
to cover gas. And, you know, their sound check

00:19:08.359 --> 00:19:11.880
was, you know, messy and whatever. And then,

00:19:11.880 --> 00:19:15.539
and then the show started and it was just awesome.

00:19:15.920 --> 00:19:18.799
It was huge. And the guys hang his, I mean, they

00:19:18.799 --> 00:19:21.099
were so poor at the time that Eddie's pants were

00:19:21.099 --> 00:19:23.480
being held up with duct tape tied in a knot.

00:19:23.920 --> 00:19:25.900
You know what I mean? It was that bad. And it

00:19:25.900 --> 00:19:27.579
was cool. And I was like, they started playing

00:19:27.579 --> 00:19:30.700
and I was like, Whoa, stop. Let me call everyone

00:19:30.700 --> 00:19:34.880
I know. Well, we want them having like I think

00:19:34.880 --> 00:19:37.720
50 people maybe when they played and it was legendary

00:19:37.720 --> 00:19:40.680
It was so loud and it's so cool and those dudes

00:19:40.680 --> 00:19:42.880
were great And then we sat at the bar and J Jager

00:19:42.880 --> 00:19:45.259
Meister shots for you know, yeah, it was way

00:19:45.259 --> 00:19:48.400
too late You know, I'm so envious of you Yeah,

00:19:48.700 --> 00:19:50.880
I'm so envious you in that way because I always

00:19:50.880 --> 00:19:53.880
said one thing I can't say I've done is you know,

00:19:53.880 --> 00:19:56.650
I meet so many people that go Dude, I saw you

00:19:56.650 --> 00:19:58.390
know Pearl Jam on a Monday night before they

00:19:58.390 --> 00:20:00.430
were big or I saw John Mayer in Boston before

00:20:00.430 --> 00:20:02.670
he blew up That's never happened to me, and I'm

00:20:02.670 --> 00:20:05.349
assuming you you've probably experienced that

00:20:05.349 --> 00:20:07.630
quite a bit especially back then people got to

00:20:07.630 --> 00:20:11.390
remember in the early 90s That the whole grunge

00:20:11.390 --> 00:20:13.470
invasion the reason you were calling all your

00:20:13.470 --> 00:20:15.069
buddies was probably because this was a sound

00:20:15.069 --> 00:20:17.569
that wasn't Really popular at the time like what

00:20:17.569 --> 00:20:19.849
the fuck is this and I got to get people down

00:20:19.849 --> 00:20:22.009
here So you probably experienced that quite a

00:20:22.009 --> 00:20:24.680
bit. I'm assuming in the 90s especially There

00:20:24.680 --> 00:20:26.940
were so many bands that played there that had

00:20:26.940 --> 00:20:28.740
no business playing there, you know, but then

00:20:28.740 --> 00:20:30.839
it was the second wave of it that was really

00:20:30.839 --> 00:20:33.019
kind of cool too. We became established as a

00:20:33.019 --> 00:20:36.099
place like, you know, Throwing Muses and Belly

00:20:36.099 --> 00:20:39.380
with Tanya Donnelly came through and Soul Asylum

00:20:39.380 --> 00:20:41.799
came through and you know, just, it was that

00:20:41.799 --> 00:20:44.099
kind of band that was touring and that we were,

00:20:44.279 --> 00:20:46.720
they probably were doing between five and 700,

00:20:47.160 --> 00:20:49.200
maybe a thousand in New York City, but that was

00:20:49.200 --> 00:20:51.980
worth 350 upstate, you know, and that's. how

00:20:51.980 --> 00:20:54.920
it worked. And I knew we were centrally located

00:20:54.920 --> 00:20:59.079
between Toronto and Buffalo and New York, Philly

00:20:59.079 --> 00:21:00.900
and Boston. We were right in the middle. So if

00:21:00.900 --> 00:21:03.440
you get an off night, I'm your guy. And look,

00:21:03.579 --> 00:21:06.759
the same thing happened with reinvigorating the

00:21:06.759 --> 00:21:10.099
state. I called Frank Riley at High Road and

00:21:10.099 --> 00:21:11.859
I called CIA and William Morrison. I'm like,

00:21:11.980 --> 00:21:13.779
I'll be your Monday night guy. You know, you

00:21:13.779 --> 00:21:16.019
need that villain. I promise you this town is

00:21:16.019 --> 00:21:18.240
starved and we will do okay. It might not last

00:21:18.240 --> 00:21:19.880
forever, but let's start that way. And I gave

00:21:19.880 --> 00:21:22.500
him way more money than I had to my name to do,

00:21:22.539 --> 00:21:24.440
you know, three girls and their buddy, which

00:21:24.440 --> 00:21:28.180
was Emmy Lou Harris, Sean Colvin. Patty Griffin

00:21:28.180 --> 00:21:30.799
and Buddy Miller. And we did that on a Monday

00:21:30.799 --> 00:21:33.299
night and sold it out. And I called John Prine's

00:21:33.299 --> 00:21:35.039
agent and I, you know, people I'd worked with

00:21:35.039 --> 00:21:36.859
for years and years and years and said, come

00:21:36.859 --> 00:21:39.259
on your Monday. Like, John doesn't work on Mondays.

00:21:39.339 --> 00:21:41.099
Like, okay, the first one time you want to do

00:21:41.099 --> 00:21:43.119
a Wednesday before your Friday, Saturday, I'll

00:21:43.119 --> 00:21:47.200
be your guy for that, you know. So, I don't know,

00:21:47.200 --> 00:21:49.579
I took a lot of risk early on when I started

00:21:49.579 --> 00:21:51.940
the company. I did. I didn't have the money to

00:21:52.409 --> 00:21:55.470
liquid, you know, to do it. But I got very lucky.

00:21:55.589 --> 00:21:57.529
I booked John and I booked the three girls and

00:21:57.529 --> 00:22:00.230
I booked, you know, even bands like Stars who

00:22:00.230 --> 00:22:02.210
were huge at the time in the indie scene. I went

00:22:02.210 --> 00:22:04.289
up to Cornell and got them the partner with me

00:22:04.289 --> 00:22:06.309
and we gave a discount to kids. Like I was really

00:22:06.309 --> 00:22:08.529
creative in how I got going in the early days

00:22:08.529 --> 00:22:11.109
and it worked out. But the town was also star

00:22:11.109 --> 00:22:13.250
for music. Like you said, it was huge in the

00:22:13.250 --> 00:22:16.450
70s, 80s, 90s. And there was a little bit of

00:22:16.450 --> 00:22:18.750
a downpouring where the state theater went through

00:22:18.750 --> 00:22:21.400
some issues. you know, the guys from Syracuse

00:22:21.400 --> 00:22:23.400
weren't coming down anymore or doing one or two

00:22:23.400 --> 00:22:25.119
shows a year. And I'm like, that's not enough.

00:22:25.240 --> 00:22:27.940
You know, I, I, so I, you know, I might've upset

00:22:27.940 --> 00:22:30.920
a few folks by getting started, but it's not

00:22:30.920 --> 00:22:33.160
like I was trying to take away someone's business.

00:22:33.339 --> 00:22:35.220
It was, okay, I'm going to save this building

00:22:35.220 --> 00:22:38.089
and then I'm going to be aggressive. uh, at saying

00:22:38.089 --> 00:22:40.130
Ithaca is a better place to play than some other

00:22:40.130 --> 00:22:41.890
markets for a while. And that's how we proved

00:22:41.890 --> 00:22:43.970
it. And that's how the relationships got it off

00:22:43.970 --> 00:22:46.410
the ground. And, you know, I, I, we do shows

00:22:46.410 --> 00:22:48.869
in Syracuse and Rochester and Buffalo, wherever

00:22:48.869 --> 00:22:51.009
we book rooms there now, but, you know, this

00:22:51.009 --> 00:22:53.769
always home, it's close to home. I spent many

00:22:53.769 --> 00:22:55.490
a night suffering, trying to get that building

00:22:55.490 --> 00:22:57.410
off the ground again. And I think, like you said,

00:22:57.509 --> 00:22:59.650
it was relationship based, but it was also a

00:22:59.650 --> 00:23:02.750
town that had once been strong. Tons of musicians

00:23:02.750 --> 00:23:05.569
live there and still do, but it took a while

00:23:05.569 --> 00:23:09.410
to sort of resurrect that. And I'm glad that

00:23:09.410 --> 00:23:12.710
it's there again. I think there's watching bands

00:23:12.710 --> 00:23:15.089
like X Ambassadors come along and pop out a bit.

00:23:15.289 --> 00:23:18.349
That was all testament to the work we did in

00:23:18.349 --> 00:23:21.430
2002, three, four, five to save this building

00:23:21.430 --> 00:23:26.210
and have them have that success. Yeah, man, absolutely.

00:23:26.430 --> 00:23:28.609
And from my point of view, again, what you've

00:23:28.609 --> 00:23:31.640
done for the scene in Ithaca and, you know, now

00:23:31.640 --> 00:23:34.700
the whole region and then some. I'm so appreciative.

00:23:35.259 --> 00:23:36.740
And, you know, the business has changed so much.

00:23:36.779 --> 00:23:39.539
But also, you know, I remember going to the first,

00:23:39.559 --> 00:23:41.740
you know, my first couple of state theater shows.

00:23:41.740 --> 00:23:44.259
And like you said, it was a Monday or Tuesday.

00:23:44.279 --> 00:23:45.920
And I had friends that would be like, why are

00:23:45.920 --> 00:23:47.700
they doing shows on Monday or Tuesday? And I

00:23:47.700 --> 00:23:49.819
had to explain, you got to understand, they do

00:23:49.819 --> 00:23:53.420
the big markets on the weekends. But I've noticed,

00:23:53.880 --> 00:23:56.079
man, especially since the pandemic, correct me

00:23:56.079 --> 00:23:58.700
if I'm wrong, dude, I've been seeing I've been

00:23:58.700 --> 00:24:01.920
seeing Friday night, Saturday night shows, big,

00:24:01.920 --> 00:24:08.180
big acts. And I saw Nate Barghazi. You think

00:24:08.180 --> 00:24:10.259
that's a product of the name you've built and

00:24:10.259 --> 00:24:11.700
the trust that you've built that now they're

00:24:11.700 --> 00:24:13.660
saying, hey, because the market hasn't really

00:24:13.660 --> 00:24:15.960
changed. It's still the same size. How are you

00:24:15.960 --> 00:24:18.079
able to now get them on these hotter nights?

00:24:18.639 --> 00:24:21.119
Yeah, I think that's it's helped. I mean, thank

00:24:21.119 --> 00:24:22.740
you for saying that, you know, I mean, I try

00:24:22.740 --> 00:24:25.019
to I try to live a humble life for sure, but

00:24:25.019 --> 00:24:27.500
we worked hard to establish it. And look, we're

00:24:27.500 --> 00:24:29.740
only as good as our results. If people weren't

00:24:29.740 --> 00:24:31.680
coming to the shows, they'd find other markets.

00:24:31.960 --> 00:24:35.039
There's, you know, in secondary slash tertiary

00:24:35.039 --> 00:24:37.880
markets, which I think it might be, you know,

00:24:37.940 --> 00:24:40.559
there's seven offers for every day. So you have

00:24:40.559 --> 00:24:43.259
to, you know, before an agent to sit through

00:24:43.259 --> 00:24:46.730
and You know, I've developed those relationships

00:24:46.730 --> 00:24:49.170
with agents, but also managers of these acts

00:24:49.170 --> 00:24:51.990
and they know, you know, like we're sold out

00:24:51.990 --> 00:24:54.009
with the indigo girls early on. I'm not just

00:24:54.009 --> 00:24:55.710
going to get them what's on the rider. I'm going

00:24:55.710 --> 00:24:58.130
to call the manager in Atlanta and say, Hey,

00:24:58.170 --> 00:25:00.670
what are they into right now? Like, Oh, Amy's

00:25:00.670 --> 00:25:02.890
reading about civil war generals and boom, I'm

00:25:02.890 --> 00:25:04.849
going to run over and buy a book on some crazy

00:25:04.849 --> 00:25:07.130
war general. Like the little things that you,

00:25:07.250 --> 00:25:10.069
when Lyle Lovett first came, Shinerbach wasn't

00:25:10.069 --> 00:25:12.049
sold in New York. I called my friend in Austin

00:25:12.049 --> 00:25:15.200
and said, send me a 12 pack please. and, you

00:25:15.200 --> 00:25:17.599
know, wrap it really well. And he showed up and

00:25:17.599 --> 00:25:19.059
that was in his dressing room. And he's like,

00:25:19.059 --> 00:25:21.059
Smalls, you son of a bitch. Because we've known

00:25:21.059 --> 00:25:22.900
each other forever. Like I've known him since

00:25:22.900 --> 00:25:24.940
I did my shows with him in Portland and Burlington

00:25:24.940 --> 00:25:28.079
and wherever else we did. So it's, it's the little,

00:25:28.079 --> 00:25:32.539
little things that people remember. Yeah, most

00:25:32.539 --> 00:25:34.759
guys are too caught up in making the almighty

00:25:34.759 --> 00:25:37.460
dollar to really focus on that and I think that's

00:25:37.460 --> 00:25:39.579
what we've done differently a hundred percent

00:25:39.579 --> 00:25:41.880
and those are two great examples of just going

00:25:41.880 --> 00:25:44.079
the extra mile and like you said when you were

00:25:44.079 --> 00:25:46.319
starting you you you were finding creative ways

00:25:46.319 --> 00:25:48.539
to To get artists there, you know and thinking

00:25:48.539 --> 00:25:51.660
outside the box and I know personally and you

00:25:51.660 --> 00:25:54.519
know, obviously how much the industry has changed

00:25:54.519 --> 00:25:57.539
in the last 10, 15 years, even five years. So

00:25:57.539 --> 00:26:00.220
I'm going to assume, have you had to get a lot

00:26:00.220 --> 00:26:03.839
more creative these days with Axe because of

00:26:03.839 --> 00:26:05.660
the way the kind of the business models changed?

00:26:06.779 --> 00:26:10.140
Yeah, I mean, look, Live Nation, AEG, they're

00:26:10.140 --> 00:26:13.180
national multinational corporations, right? And

00:26:13.180 --> 00:26:15.660
they used to just buy national, they'd buy the

00:26:15.660 --> 00:26:17.460
whole tour and stick it in amphitheaters. Then

00:26:17.460 --> 00:26:19.759
they'd buy the whole tour and stick it in, you

00:26:19.759 --> 00:26:22.690
know, 4 ,000 seat theaters. Now they're buying

00:26:22.690 --> 00:26:24.630
tours sometimes that fit in the state theater,

00:26:24.750 --> 00:26:27.789
you know? Nate Bargatti, for example, does all

00:26:27.789 --> 00:26:29.849
his shows with Outback Presents, but I know those

00:26:29.849 --> 00:26:31.670
guys. And we called Outback and said, hey, Nate's

00:26:31.670 --> 00:26:33.970
got to play the state. Let's do it. So I'd rather

00:26:33.970 --> 00:26:36.750
take half of something than 100 % of nothing.

00:26:36.890 --> 00:26:39.910
So I go out and I've got good relationships with

00:26:39.910 --> 00:26:43.650
those companies. I mean, it's not like Live Nation

00:26:43.650 --> 00:26:45.930
hasn't made an offer yet. They like to buy people

00:26:45.930 --> 00:26:49.970
up. And we've been very lucky to be, you know,

00:26:50.490 --> 00:26:52.690
We don't really report to Polestar much anymore,

00:26:52.809 --> 00:26:54.710
but when we did and they told us how many on

00:26:54.710 --> 00:26:57.269
their yearly ticket sales, we were ranked in

00:26:57.269 --> 00:27:00.269
the top 40 independent promoters in the world.

00:27:00.690 --> 00:27:02.630
The last time they did that in the fucking world.

00:27:02.869 --> 00:27:04.940
And I look, I sit in my house. And I'm like,

00:27:04.940 --> 00:27:07.279
what? It's the first time we were ranked 99,

00:27:07.279 --> 00:27:09.960
I think, and it just kept moving up and was,

00:27:09.960 --> 00:27:12.400
it was insane. Like, cause we, we just do so

00:27:12.400 --> 00:27:14.599
much volume based on ticket. It's not dollars.

00:27:14.720 --> 00:27:16.740
It's ticket sales, right? We move a lot of tickets

00:27:16.740 --> 00:27:19.440
at the lower level of stuff. So, you know, working

00:27:19.440 --> 00:27:21.940
with those companies will drive more business

00:27:21.940 --> 00:27:24.319
into a route like that. We have comedy, like

00:27:24.319 --> 00:27:26.339
a lot of the comedy tours are bought by the entire

00:27:26.339 --> 00:27:28.599
thing. Like we partner with AEG. We partner with

00:27:28.599 --> 00:27:30.180
Live Nation. We partner with any of them, you

00:27:30.180 --> 00:27:33.059
know, it's, and, and it's a great way to put

00:27:33.059 --> 00:27:35.619
more in the room. It's also a great way to not

00:27:35.619 --> 00:27:37.380
lose act you have history with, you know, we

00:27:37.380 --> 00:27:39.240
used to do all the Ray LaMontagne shows around

00:27:39.240 --> 00:27:42.329
here last number of tours have been. with Live

00:27:42.329 --> 00:27:44.210
Nation. So every once in a while we can buy one

00:27:44.210 --> 00:27:45.950
out, but sometimes we get a little piece of one

00:27:45.950 --> 00:27:47.609
here and there. And same thing with Bob Dylan,

00:27:47.670 --> 00:27:49.750
you know, like they he does most of his stuff

00:27:49.750 --> 00:27:52.230
with AEG, but his manager Kramer loves us, and

00:27:52.230 --> 00:27:54.490
he always finds two or three markets to include

00:27:54.490 --> 00:27:57.450
us in. You know, it's just, it's the little things

00:27:57.450 --> 00:27:58.910
like that. And that, like you said, that comes

00:27:58.910 --> 00:28:01.769
from relationships and reputation, but also being

00:28:01.769 --> 00:28:04.029
willing to work with, you know, the parameters

00:28:04.029 --> 00:28:06.450
that have changed over these years, because look,

00:28:06.670 --> 00:28:09.049
I say this a lot, and it's changed over the years,

00:28:09.049 --> 00:28:11.309
because my kid gets older and older, but Their

00:28:11.309 --> 00:28:13.630
stockholders are the Saudi Princes and Wall Street,

00:28:13.809 --> 00:28:16.470
and mine is 17 years old, went two for three

00:28:16.470 --> 00:28:20.250
today. There you go! Listen, and Live Nation's

00:28:20.250 --> 00:28:22.450
not buying Scheinerbach and Civil War novels

00:28:22.450 --> 00:28:25.589
for their artists either, let's be honest. No,

00:28:25.809 --> 00:28:28.710
that's amazing, man, and you know, you and I

00:28:28.710 --> 00:28:30.250
kind of talked, and we'll talk about your son

00:28:30.250 --> 00:28:32.769
in a second, I want to talk about that, but you

00:28:32.769 --> 00:28:34.849
and I have kind of talked off air before about,

00:28:35.130 --> 00:28:37.910
there's this kind of this myth with concert promoters,

00:28:37.910 --> 00:28:41.829
I think, where... There's a couple things. One,

00:28:42.089 --> 00:28:44.730
they're always jerks, right? And I think a part

00:28:44.730 --> 00:28:46.809
of that is because, yeah, you're trying to talk

00:28:46.809 --> 00:28:49.630
to them when they're in the middle of their livelihood.

00:28:50.069 --> 00:28:52.369
And then number two, they've got such an easy

00:28:52.369 --> 00:28:54.190
job. You know, they book bands, they get to enjoy

00:28:54.190 --> 00:28:56.990
shows. I would love for you to dispel both those

00:28:56.990 --> 00:28:59.440
rumors because I know that's not true. Well,

00:28:59.440 --> 00:29:01.160
I mean look some people might think I'm a jerk

00:29:01.160 --> 00:29:03.819
but I'm being a jerk to respect the the rules

00:29:03.819 --> 00:29:06.799
of the industry I don't I don't get to pick the

00:29:06.799 --> 00:29:09.279
opening acts for every show I know most most

00:29:09.279 --> 00:29:11.160
bands that are touring at the level that play

00:29:11.160 --> 00:29:13.839
the state that manager manages someone else and

00:29:13.839 --> 00:29:16.259
they're putting their act on that bill or a favor

00:29:16.259 --> 00:29:18.559
to someone else and you know local musicians

00:29:19.389 --> 00:29:21.990
often think I'm a bad guy for that. I mean, look,

00:29:22.089 --> 00:29:25.049
John Peterson was not loved. He ran the hawks.

00:29:25.750 --> 00:29:27.609
He is now, he's respected and everybody puts

00:29:27.609 --> 00:29:30.450
him up on the wall. I'm that now. I'm probably

00:29:30.450 --> 00:29:32.970
not loved. And I'm okay with that because I look

00:29:32.970 --> 00:29:34.670
in the mirror every night and I love the person

00:29:34.670 --> 00:29:36.650
I see because I know how I do business. I know

00:29:36.650 --> 00:29:38.710
how I treat people. And I could give a shit what

00:29:38.710 --> 00:29:42.089
anyone thinks about me. I know what I'm doing

00:29:42.089 --> 00:29:44.289
to make this industry. I know the risks that

00:29:44.289 --> 00:29:47.180
I take. on a daily basis. And sometimes I book

00:29:47.180 --> 00:29:49.440
shows I know we're gonna lose just to have volume

00:29:49.440 --> 00:29:52.259
at the state. I used to get upset when I lost

00:29:52.259 --> 00:29:54.400
100 bucks a show. Then I get upset when I lost

00:29:54.400 --> 00:29:56.819
1000 bucks a show. There have been shows where

00:29:56.819 --> 00:29:59.859
we've lost 10 ,000 bucks. Now, I know that I

00:29:59.859 --> 00:30:02.039
have to look at the whole year. When you do 12

00:30:02.039 --> 00:30:04.039
or 15 million dollars in business in a year,

00:30:04.240 --> 00:30:06.519
you're gonna have some really ugly nights. And

00:30:06.519 --> 00:30:08.539
if you look at them on a one -off basis, it sucks.

00:30:08.640 --> 00:30:10.710
But if you look at it like, okay, I did this

00:30:10.710 --> 00:30:12.390
show with this guy that I love, and I've worked

00:30:12.390 --> 00:30:14.470
with before, and nobody came this time, and we

00:30:14.470 --> 00:30:17.690
lost $60 ,000. I mean, it's a huge amount of

00:30:17.690 --> 00:30:21.730
money, but that's when the act, because they

00:30:21.730 --> 00:30:23.630
respect you, will give you most of that back.

00:30:23.890 --> 00:30:25.869
You don't even have to ask. They don't want to

00:30:25.869 --> 00:30:27.349
see you get hurt because they want to work with

00:30:27.349 --> 00:30:31.450
you, right? So look, I could worry about what

00:30:31.450 --> 00:30:33.309
they think, or I could just keep trying to do

00:30:33.309 --> 00:30:35.630
the right thing. And it was funny, I was at a

00:30:35.630 --> 00:30:37.849
party a couple of weeks ago. And I hadn't seen

00:30:37.849 --> 00:30:40.150
Willie B, Brian Wilson in a long time. And he

00:30:40.150 --> 00:30:42.910
is an industry guy. He's a drummer. He's amazing.

00:30:43.049 --> 00:30:45.130
He's toured with all kinds of Jamie Liddell and

00:30:45.130 --> 00:30:46.849
all kinds of national tourists. And he's the

00:30:46.849 --> 00:30:48.849
one guy who gets it because he's been out there

00:30:48.849 --> 00:30:50.289
doing it. You know what I mean? He's been on

00:30:50.289 --> 00:30:52.049
the road. He knows how shitty it can be. He knows

00:30:52.049 --> 00:30:54.710
how promoters can have a hard time. And I love

00:30:54.710 --> 00:30:57.720
talking to that dude because it's... He sees

00:30:57.720 --> 00:30:59.740
the picture, you know, and I don't get to share

00:30:59.740 --> 00:31:01.440
that. And I get to share that with you. Cause

00:31:01.440 --> 00:31:03.319
you know, we can, we can, you've been around

00:31:03.319 --> 00:31:05.539
that kind of stuff, but you know, I don't have

00:31:05.539 --> 00:31:08.299
to defend what we do or who we do. I gamble for

00:31:08.299 --> 00:31:10.900
your enjoyment. That's my job. I gamble for everyone

00:31:10.900 --> 00:31:13.200
else's enjoyment. And I'm, I'm pretty good at

00:31:13.200 --> 00:31:15.160
it because I've been doing it for 38 years. And

00:31:15.160 --> 00:31:17.180
I like the people that I work with and I like

00:31:17.180 --> 00:31:19.640
the, you know, there's nothing better than standing

00:31:19.640 --> 00:31:22.039
in the wings, watching the act come on and the

00:31:22.039 --> 00:31:25.119
fans connect. and whether I've made money or

00:31:25.119 --> 00:31:27.400
lost, where there's 10 tickets, 100, 1000, 10

00:31:27.400 --> 00:31:30.640
,000, that moment happens at every show. Somebody's

00:31:30.640 --> 00:31:33.549
really psyched to be there. And the fact that

00:31:33.549 --> 00:31:35.710
I can do that, it's really cool. And the fact

00:31:35.710 --> 00:31:38.369
that you still get enjoyment out of that is even

00:31:38.369 --> 00:31:41.369
bigger, I think, because this business can really

00:31:41.369 --> 00:31:43.710
kind of ruin things for you sometimes. I want

00:31:43.710 --> 00:31:45.569
to be clear, by the way. I wasn't saying that

00:31:45.569 --> 00:31:47.470
people think you're an asshole. I meant, like,

00:31:47.589 --> 00:31:49.609
promoters. I hope you know that. I meant promoters

00:31:49.609 --> 00:31:51.470
across the board. No, in general, you're right,

00:31:51.549 --> 00:31:54.470
though, because a lot of them, you know, are...

00:31:54.470 --> 00:31:57.009
You look at the fees on tickets in most places,

00:31:57.029 --> 00:31:58.650
and you look at that stuff, and you just think

00:31:58.650 --> 00:32:00.430
that guys are trying to squeeze it out of you,

00:32:00.450 --> 00:32:02.380
you know? You go to the... amphitheater and the

00:32:02.380 --> 00:32:04.740
beer's 18 bucks. I mean, fuck that. You know,

00:32:04.819 --> 00:32:08.039
you come to Ohma Gang or Beacon Skip and we're

00:32:08.039 --> 00:32:10.819
selling you a $8, $9, 16 ounce beer. You know,

00:32:11.059 --> 00:32:13.400
that's the going rate in a bar. You know, it's

00:32:13.400 --> 00:32:16.259
like, come on. How ridiculous can you get? How

00:32:16.259 --> 00:32:18.920
can you rip people off anymore? Like I said,

00:32:18.980 --> 00:32:20.619
I gotta like the guy I see in the mirror every

00:32:20.619 --> 00:32:23.200
night. I love that. Hopefully that dispels part

00:32:23.200 --> 00:32:24.920
one. I'm trying to remember the other part. Ah,

00:32:24.920 --> 00:32:28.730
don't worry about it. You dispelled it all. Do

00:32:28.730 --> 00:32:30.970
you think I wanted to I wanted to answer that

00:32:30.970 --> 00:32:32.769
part. Oh, go ahead. Go ahead. Yeah, what was

00:32:32.769 --> 00:32:35.730
the second part? I wish I remember no It was

00:32:35.730 --> 00:32:38.190
just that like, uh, you know putting on a concert

00:32:38.190 --> 00:32:39.930
It's all fun and games like you just booked the

00:32:39.930 --> 00:32:42.369
band then you sit back and watch the show I mean

00:32:42.369 --> 00:32:44.809
look backstage is a dingy hole most of the time.

00:32:44.809 --> 00:32:46.849
Let's be honest. The bands are not back there

00:32:46.849 --> 00:32:50.529
It's not almost famous. There's no you know groupies.

00:32:50.730 --> 00:32:53.450
No, there's no sex drugs and rock and roll. It's

00:32:53.450 --> 00:32:55.849
just a bunch of guys saying what's the words

00:32:55.849 --> 00:32:58.130
to this song so i don't fuck it up on stage you

00:32:58.130 --> 00:33:00.950
know no it's it's it's rarely like that but i

00:33:00.950 --> 00:33:02.950
mean look the the era has changed touring is

00:33:02.950 --> 00:33:05.150
where everyone makes their most money they have

00:33:05.150 --> 00:33:07.309
these great buses it's their home it's way more

00:33:07.309 --> 00:33:10.230
comfortable you know i i get it you know but

00:33:10.230 --> 00:33:12.509
i can't tell you how many times people ask hey

00:33:12.509 --> 00:33:14.309
can i meet the band till i get a backstage pass

00:33:14.309 --> 00:33:16.069
i'm like i almost want to give you a backstage

00:33:16.069 --> 00:33:18.609
pass you come back and be like this sucks yeah

00:33:18.609 --> 00:33:21.150
this isn't fun where's the party you're like

00:33:21.150 --> 00:33:25.329
it's not and shit at shows. I'm sitting in some

00:33:25.329 --> 00:33:28.150
dingy, musty room with a computer doing my work

00:33:28.150 --> 00:33:30.430
for the day. And if somebody walks by, it's on

00:33:30.430 --> 00:33:37.730
its way to the stage. I don't seek it out. I've

00:33:37.730 --> 00:33:39.769
learned a long time ago, the most important thing

00:33:39.769 --> 00:33:42.569
you can do is turn the fan off on day, the fan

00:33:42.569 --> 00:33:44.410
inside of you, because they're the same people.

00:33:44.490 --> 00:33:45.789
And maybe it's because I grew up with a dad who

00:33:45.789 --> 00:33:47.210
was a plumbing, heating, and air conditioning

00:33:47.210 --> 00:33:50.319
contractor, right? That guy's shit smells just

00:33:50.319 --> 00:33:52.920
as bad as yours. He used to say, right? And like,

00:33:52.960 --> 00:33:54.599
if you just treat people, they're people. And

00:33:54.599 --> 00:33:56.259
that's why I've had these relationships with

00:33:56.259 --> 00:33:58.119
them, you know? And that sticks in my head. I

00:33:58.119 --> 00:33:59.920
never really say it out loud. I'm not sure I

00:33:59.920 --> 00:34:01.339
should have. Oh, that's brilliant. It's funny.

00:34:01.339 --> 00:34:03.319
It's funny. You know, they're who they are. And

00:34:03.319 --> 00:34:04.400
you just treat them with respect. And one of

00:34:04.400 --> 00:34:06.960
my best moments, I wanted to work with Ray Davies

00:34:06.960 --> 00:34:08.519
from The Kinks forever and ever and ever. And

00:34:08.519 --> 00:34:11.139
I finally got a show with him and I stay away

00:34:11.139 --> 00:34:13.519
from backstage. I don't even bring it. And his

00:34:13.519 --> 00:34:15.880
wife comes up and says, who's the promoter after

00:34:15.880 --> 00:34:18.440
the show? Right had such a good day. He wants

00:34:18.440 --> 00:34:20.119
to have a drink with the promoter. Who is it?

00:34:20.159 --> 00:34:21.820
I'm like, well, that's me. Let's go You know,

00:34:22.179 --> 00:34:24.780
yeah super happy to get invited. Yeah back that

00:34:24.780 --> 00:34:27.099
you know, I don't expect it I don't you know,

00:34:27.320 --> 00:34:29.800
but yeah, is it cool to have friends who are

00:34:29.800 --> 00:34:32.119
touring musicians? Sure, but they're people to

00:34:32.119 --> 00:34:34.619
me, you know, they are who they are and and I'm

00:34:34.619 --> 00:34:37.159
lucky I'm very lucky but some of them there's

00:34:37.159 --> 00:34:38.679
nothing worse than meeting someone whose music

00:34:38.679 --> 00:34:40.119
you love and then having that they're having

00:34:40.119 --> 00:34:42.820
a bad day Yeah, and it can change your whole

00:34:42.820 --> 00:34:46.070
opinion of them, you know, so I I don't Try to

00:34:46.070 --> 00:34:49.170
stay away from it so I can keep this this image

00:34:49.170 --> 00:34:51.849
that that got me excited about this business

00:34:51.849 --> 00:34:53.969
I'm still excited about it this many years later,

00:34:54.110 --> 00:34:56.329
you know, and I love that man It's infectious

00:34:56.329 --> 00:34:58.250
and you know, you got me thinking because I was

00:34:58.250 --> 00:35:01.510
gonna ask you, you know at your level Do you

00:35:01.510 --> 00:35:03.909
still because what you got me thinking about

00:35:03.909 --> 00:35:06.860
is here. I am thinking man Got to talk to him

00:35:06.860 --> 00:35:09.000
about how it must be a struggle now with how

00:35:09.000 --> 00:35:10.659
the industry's changed and I'm realizing actually

00:35:10.659 --> 00:35:13.480
it's a struggle for for labels and artists themselves

00:35:13.480 --> 00:35:16.179
But the touring market is probably hotter than

00:35:16.179 --> 00:35:19.000
ever because that's how you make the money now

00:35:19.000 --> 00:35:21.260
I guess a would you agree with that and then

00:35:21.260 --> 00:35:24.019
be at your level as successful as you are Do

00:35:24.019 --> 00:35:25.860
you still have those nights where you kind of

00:35:25.860 --> 00:35:27.519
take a maybe not take a bath? But you're like

00:35:27.519 --> 00:35:30.260
yes was this was not a good show Oh, yeah, they

00:35:30.260 --> 00:35:31.920
happen all the time. I mean, I had one in the

00:35:31.920 --> 00:35:33.559
state theater this spring that was well into

00:35:33.559 --> 00:35:36.000
the five figures and it hurt. You know, it was

00:35:36.000 --> 00:35:38.320
not something we expected. But no, that is your

00:35:38.320 --> 00:35:40.019
dad on. That's how the industry is right now.

00:35:40.400 --> 00:35:42.219
And like I said, I have to look at the big picture.

00:35:42.360 --> 00:35:44.480
You can't look at, you know, my dad taught me

00:35:44.480 --> 00:35:46.840
a lot of things in life. And one was you can't

00:35:46.840 --> 00:35:48.960
look at one job that he bid and lost on. You

00:35:48.960 --> 00:35:50.760
look at the whole year, you know, and you got

00:35:50.760 --> 00:35:52.880
to treat the losses like the wins. Like, even

00:35:52.880 --> 00:35:55.000
though we lost a ton of money on that show, I

00:35:55.000 --> 00:35:57.539
didn't cut the catering rider. I didn't ask them

00:35:57.539 --> 00:36:00.719
for a reduction. I didn't try to cut sound and

00:36:00.719 --> 00:36:02.519
lights. I said, we're going to put on a professional

00:36:02.519 --> 00:36:05.780
kickass show here. And so be it, you know, and

00:36:05.780 --> 00:36:07.800
that's how it goes. Sometimes you win, sometimes

00:36:07.800 --> 00:36:10.739
you lose. And luckily we're right 85 % of the

00:36:10.739 --> 00:36:13.019
time. And most of the losses are expected at

00:36:13.019 --> 00:36:14.980
the lower club level where you're building an

00:36:14.980 --> 00:36:17.519
act, you know, there's nothing makes me happier

00:36:17.519 --> 00:36:19.280
than like, you know, the first time I worked

00:36:19.280 --> 00:36:21.099
with the Ava brothers, you know, after I saw

00:36:21.099 --> 00:36:23.440
them at grassroots on the first. show, wherever

00:36:23.440 --> 00:36:25.179
they came to the state and three or 400 people

00:36:25.179 --> 00:36:27.340
came and then 600 people came and then 800 people

00:36:27.340 --> 00:36:29.599
came. Then they wrote I Am Loving You and all

00:36:29.599 --> 00:36:31.400
the grizzled hippies out by the bus turned into

00:36:31.400 --> 00:36:33.420
12 year old girls. And then they sold out the

00:36:33.420 --> 00:36:35.820
state theater. It's just one thing led to another.

00:36:35.840 --> 00:36:38.820
And now we do 4 ,000 a night for two nights at

00:36:38.820 --> 00:36:41.139
Beacon Skip or Omegang every couple of summers.

00:36:41.619 --> 00:36:43.860
Watching good people have success like that has

00:36:43.860 --> 00:36:47.199
been really awesome. And to bring it, not to

00:36:47.199 --> 00:36:48.820
just bring it around to baseball, but like they're

00:36:48.820 --> 00:36:50.780
such nice dudes that when we did the last shows

00:36:50.780 --> 00:36:54.329
at Omegang, Um, they know my boy's a shortstop

00:36:54.329 --> 00:36:57.849
and, and the Cal Ripken foundation was in town

00:36:57.849 --> 00:37:00.250
and came backstage with these signed Cal jerseys

00:37:00.250 --> 00:37:03.389
and gave them to Scott and Seth. And the next

00:37:03.389 --> 00:37:06.090
morning, uh, you know, Wiley had, we had missed

00:37:06.090 --> 00:37:08.610
his first travel game that, that weekend because

00:37:08.610 --> 00:37:11.429
we were stretched so thin as a company. And Scott

00:37:11.429 --> 00:37:13.710
comes back and says, give this to your shortstop.

00:37:14.510 --> 00:37:17.329
I'm not an Orioles fan. And you know, like those

00:37:17.329 --> 00:37:19.889
moments, you know, just happen sporadically out

00:37:19.889 --> 00:37:21.909
of the blue because of the relationships you

00:37:21.909 --> 00:37:24.050
build. I want to keep coming back to that because

00:37:24.050 --> 00:37:27.070
that's what this is about. Most people can think

00:37:27.070 --> 00:37:29.349
that, okay, I'm, I'm running a theater now. I

00:37:29.349 --> 00:37:31.610
can go book all the bands in the world. Of course

00:37:31.610 --> 00:37:34.130
you can. You could be the best, but you could

00:37:34.130 --> 00:37:35.730
book all the bands in the world you want, but

00:37:35.730 --> 00:37:39.210
you will pay more than me. You don't know what

00:37:39.210 --> 00:37:41.469
you're supposed to pay. Right? So anybody can

00:37:41.469 --> 00:37:44.309
book it, but agents are lovely, but they also

00:37:44.460 --> 00:37:47.019
can be agents, you know? The same way you say

00:37:47.019 --> 00:37:50.079
promoters have a bad rep. Some agents are out

00:37:50.079 --> 00:37:51.800
there to make the most for their client. And

00:37:51.800 --> 00:37:53.539
if you're not smart enough to know the difference,

00:37:53.619 --> 00:37:55.420
you're gonna get hurt in this case, you know?

00:37:55.760 --> 00:37:58.179
Well, I wanna talk about your son and some other

00:37:58.179 --> 00:38:00.400
stuff before I let you go. I gotta ask you one

00:38:00.400 --> 00:38:02.699
hacky question. I have to do it. I didn't want

00:38:02.699 --> 00:38:06.400
to, but I have to. I have to. Is there, at this

00:38:06.400 --> 00:38:08.619
level, at this stage of the game... Can you think

00:38:08.619 --> 00:38:11.300
of like a holy shit moment, like your favorite

00:38:11.300 --> 00:38:13.340
show or like a moment you were blown away or

00:38:13.340 --> 00:38:16.300
like, this is insane. Because you see so many.

00:38:16.940 --> 00:38:19.059
It's hard. I think one of my proudest moments,

00:38:19.199 --> 00:38:20.880
I'm only thinking of it because I see the hat

00:38:20.880 --> 00:38:23.699
in the screen, but pulling off Cayuga Sound with

00:38:23.699 --> 00:38:26.380
X Ambassadors was a huge thing for us. Doing

00:38:26.380 --> 00:38:28.619
that festival in Stewart Park with The Roots

00:38:28.619 --> 00:38:31.280
and all those great bands was great, but it wasn't

00:38:31.280 --> 00:38:32.860
just that it was great. It was that they decided

00:38:32.860 --> 00:38:36.210
to make no money and so did we. Um, and we were

00:38:36.210 --> 00:38:38.550
left with like 60, some thousand dollars at the

00:38:38.550 --> 00:38:41.510
end and we divided it among five children's charities

00:38:41.510 --> 00:38:43.710
in Ithaca that work with the arts and stuff like

00:38:43.710 --> 00:38:46.789
that. We gave every dime away and most festivals

00:38:46.789 --> 00:38:48.630
in year one lose a ton of money. We were able

00:38:48.630 --> 00:38:51.550
to raise enough to, to help Southside Community

00:38:51.550 --> 00:38:54.840
Center and you know. youth farm project and things

00:38:54.840 --> 00:38:56.960
like that that were just awesome and I brought

00:38:56.960 --> 00:38:59.039
Wiley with me to hand those checks off and watch

00:38:59.039 --> 00:39:01.179
people like lose their mind when they got a thousand

00:39:01.179 --> 00:39:03.360
bucks they didn't expect you know I have goosebumps

00:39:03.360 --> 00:39:06.019
very cool you know I live you know I live there

00:39:06.019 --> 00:39:09.119
so I'm so appreciative of what you do for not

00:39:09.119 --> 00:39:11.940
only the scene as an artist you know as a performer

00:39:11.940 --> 00:39:14.420
myself I appreciate what you do but as a fan

00:39:14.420 --> 00:39:18.250
and as a as a citizen of the community Just everything

00:39:18.250 --> 00:39:20.449
that you do for the community, including obviously

00:39:20.449 --> 00:39:22.789
the shows, but the money that you put back into

00:39:22.789 --> 00:39:26.130
the community. It's so appreciated, man. I mean,

00:39:26.469 --> 00:39:28.349
thank you for noticing, because a lot of people

00:39:28.349 --> 00:39:30.949
don't. I don't think people do as much. There

00:39:30.949 --> 00:39:32.849
was a really nice little run a couple years ago

00:39:32.849 --> 00:39:35.260
where we won the... couple of words that you'd

00:39:35.260 --> 00:39:37.840
ever think about, like the downtown Ithaca gave

00:39:37.840 --> 00:39:39.659
us the entrepreneur of the year. And then the

00:39:39.659 --> 00:39:41.599
chamber did that for me the next year. It was

00:39:41.599 --> 00:39:44.260
really cool. The videos they shot were really

00:39:44.260 --> 00:39:45.840
awesome. And it's funny because when you see

00:39:45.840 --> 00:39:47.800
yourself doing interviews, you don't realize

00:39:47.800 --> 00:39:49.519
that you say the same thing over and over again.

00:39:50.019 --> 00:39:52.659
But that chamber video was really cool because

00:39:52.659 --> 00:39:57.139
my feelings about how I run the company and how

00:39:57.139 --> 00:39:58.960
we run the company, I should say, because it's

00:39:58.960 --> 00:40:02.139
not just me anymore, is they come across and

00:40:02.139 --> 00:40:05.019
it's wholesome and it's heartfelt than it's real.

00:40:05.099 --> 00:40:07.119
And it's like it's different than when money

00:40:07.119 --> 00:40:09.280
is your motivator. You just you want to put on

00:40:09.280 --> 00:40:11.079
great shows and take really good care of the

00:40:11.079 --> 00:40:13.679
people who pay to see the acts and come to you

00:40:13.679 --> 00:40:16.239
know. It's it's it's how it works. It's how it

00:40:16.239 --> 00:40:18.800
grows. So I'm very thankful. I love the people

00:40:18.800 --> 00:40:21.239
that work for us There's eight of us now They're

00:40:21.239 --> 00:40:23.800
all in Western Mass doing a festival right now

00:40:23.800 --> 00:40:25.860
and a couple of Chris Mazer and a few other people

00:40:25.860 --> 00:40:28.159
are Boy prepared for Warren's eaters sold out

00:40:28.159 --> 00:40:30.219
at beak tomorrow night in Waxahachee Saturday

00:40:30.219 --> 00:40:33.280
So and here I am in you know Jersey plumbing

00:40:33.280 --> 00:40:35.659
in New Jersey at Diamond Nation. Yeah, let's

00:40:35.659 --> 00:40:37.940
talk about that So you're down there we shout

00:40:37.940 --> 00:40:39.699
out to Chris Mazer by the way. I love him. God.

00:40:39.840 --> 00:40:43.800
I love you But anyway, you're down there with

00:40:43.800 --> 00:40:48.860
your son who is playing college ball, high school

00:40:48.860 --> 00:40:51.599
ball, and he's looking to go to college, correct?

00:40:52.380 --> 00:40:55.139
Correct. Being recruited as we speak. It's amazing.

00:40:55.340 --> 00:41:01.780
He plays shortstop? He does. He does. We're down

00:41:01.780 --> 00:41:04.860
for... This is a really big... Scouting thing

00:41:04.860 --> 00:41:06.980
that a couple hundred colleges there today watching

00:41:06.980 --> 00:41:09.320
it's a really cool complex with fields like in

00:41:09.320 --> 00:41:11.159
four different directions and this building in

00:41:11.159 --> 00:41:13.860
the middle with a Platform and he just watched

00:41:13.860 --> 00:41:15.679
the coaches sort of walking around and sharing

00:41:15.679 --> 00:41:18.039
out all the games It was really cool. Is he does

00:41:18.039 --> 00:41:21.500
he have any sort of? Does he have his sights

00:41:21.500 --> 00:41:24.880
set on a specific handful of colleges? He wants

00:41:24.880 --> 00:41:26.880
to go to or is he just like hey what whoever

00:41:26.880 --> 00:41:29.559
will take me? It's a bit of both. I think we're

00:41:29.559 --> 00:41:31.079
in the middle of it right now and just learning.

00:41:31.320 --> 00:41:33.619
I mean, it's, it's, it's, I, you see the smile

00:41:33.619 --> 00:41:35.940
on my face. Yes, I do. Proud dad. It's really

00:41:35.940 --> 00:41:38.539
fun. Yeah. It's, it's great. And I'm just, like

00:41:38.539 --> 00:41:41.219
I said, I'm super thankful for the people that

00:41:41.219 --> 00:41:44.179
work, you know, with us to pull off these shows

00:41:44.179 --> 00:41:46.300
that I, you know, could say to them this year,

00:41:46.460 --> 00:41:49.159
our Christmas and holiday parties that, you know,

00:41:49.219 --> 00:41:51.380
I might be a little sparse this spring, but it's,

00:41:51.400 --> 00:41:53.239
you know, I got one kid and this is the time

00:41:53.239 --> 00:41:55.539
that I'm going to be with them. So, and, and

00:41:55.659 --> 00:41:59.000
They're pulling off a wonderful festival in Greenfield,

00:41:59.099 --> 00:42:01.239
Mass, the Green River Fest this weekend, and

00:42:01.239 --> 00:42:03.860
two sold out shows at Beacon Skiff, and hopefully

00:42:03.860 --> 00:42:06.119
I'll be back in time for Saturday with Waxahachie,

00:42:06.159 --> 00:42:11.320
but really excited that it can keep going. When

00:42:11.320 --> 00:42:13.480
it was me and a laptop years ago, I never saw

00:42:13.480 --> 00:42:15.440
this day coming, but I'm really happy that we've

00:42:15.440 --> 00:42:17.440
gotten here. Dude, it's been amazing to watch

00:42:17.440 --> 00:42:23.539
it happen, and yeah, sure, some of it is, we

00:42:23.539 --> 00:42:27.250
all have luck, but I mean, I would say 99 % of

00:42:27.250 --> 00:42:30.349
your success has been your hard work, dude. You've

00:42:30.349 --> 00:42:33.110
been grinding since the day I heard of you and

00:42:33.110 --> 00:42:35.949
met you, and it's paying off, and I love seeing

00:42:35.949 --> 00:42:39.230
good people succeed, and, you know, just keep

00:42:39.230 --> 00:42:42.650
doing it. Do you have, I mean, at this point,

00:42:43.389 --> 00:42:45.809
is there someone left that you're like, this

00:42:45.809 --> 00:42:48.210
is the dream artist? Oh, yeah, yeah. Who you

00:42:48.210 --> 00:42:49.869
got? There's tons of them. There's tons of them.

00:42:50.050 --> 00:42:53.039
I mean... It's the ones who choose when and where

00:42:53.039 --> 00:42:56.440
they play, right? Neil Young decides when he

00:42:56.440 --> 00:42:58.179
plays. Would I love to do a Neil Young show?

00:42:58.340 --> 00:43:00.159
Sure. Would I love for Eddie Vedder to say, I'd

00:43:00.159 --> 00:43:02.139
love to come back to Ithaca? Sure. Would I love

00:43:02.139 --> 00:43:05.639
for Tom Waits to play a show? Sure. There's millions

00:43:05.639 --> 00:43:12.380
of those, but Chris Mazur, as you mentioned,

00:43:12.800 --> 00:43:15.460
does our design work. And he did this ad a couple

00:43:15.460 --> 00:43:18.369
of years ago where... I'm never really one for

00:43:18.369 --> 00:43:21.150
like microphones or like, you know, guitars or

00:43:21.150 --> 00:43:22.789
any of that kind of stuff. It's kind of cheesy

00:43:22.789 --> 00:43:24.969
if you use that, but it was a really simple thing.

00:43:25.010 --> 00:43:27.250
This little tiny microphone and in the background

00:43:27.250 --> 00:43:30.110
is all the acts we've worked with in tiny little

00:43:30.110 --> 00:43:33.590
letters. And I can just stare at it and be like,

00:43:33.590 --> 00:43:35.909
oh my God, I don't even remember. And it's mind

00:43:35.909 --> 00:43:37.949
blowing to me just how many people we've worked

00:43:37.949 --> 00:43:41.090
with over the last whatever years, like walking

00:43:41.090 --> 00:43:43.050
in the state theater box office and seeing all

00:43:43.050 --> 00:43:46.389
those posters of the people we booked. It's a

00:43:46.389 --> 00:43:49.010
really humbling experience and, and you can't,

00:43:49.150 --> 00:43:51.130
you know, you're, you're as a promoter, you're

00:43:51.130 --> 00:43:53.849
living in the future so much. Like I, you could

00:43:53.849 --> 00:43:55.369
ask me who's playing next weekend and I'm going

00:43:55.369 --> 00:43:57.170
to have to think. Right. If you tell me what

00:43:57.170 --> 00:43:59.610
I'm working on for January, February, March,

00:44:00.170 --> 00:44:02.730
that's where I am right now. Right. The next

00:44:02.730 --> 00:44:04.750
summer, you know, we're, we're always ahead and

00:44:04.750 --> 00:44:06.090
people ask what's coming up. What are you excited

00:44:06.090 --> 00:44:08.889
about? I'm like, I can't tell you because I haven't

00:44:08.889 --> 00:44:10.610
booked it yet. You know, like that's where my

00:44:10.610 --> 00:44:12.710
head is working. Like how do I steer the ship?

00:44:14.269 --> 00:44:17.150
You know, so it's a tricky thing in that way

00:44:17.150 --> 00:44:18.969
too. Like you have to have these, I mean, we're

00:44:18.969 --> 00:44:22.010
working on a very cool, lots of really cool stuff

00:44:22.010 --> 00:44:24.510
right now and I'm really excited about it. Yeah,

00:44:24.630 --> 00:44:26.849
man. But you know, I'm excited for the weekend,

00:44:26.949 --> 00:44:28.789
rest of the summer for, you know, all the stuff

00:44:28.789 --> 00:44:32.349
at Beacon Skip. It's a great relationship just

00:44:32.349 --> 00:44:34.510
south of Syracuse there, wonderful location.

00:44:35.019 --> 00:44:38.039
4 ,000 cap beautiful venue where people can come

00:44:38.039 --> 00:44:40.139
with families and have a good day, you know So

00:44:40.139 --> 00:44:43.239
we're excited for we got country shows Primus.

00:44:43.420 --> 00:44:46.199
Yeah, you got you what else you got got it, right?

00:44:46.239 --> 00:44:48.300
I wrote some down you've got I was gonna say

00:44:48.300 --> 00:44:50.559
before we go I want you to hit up the plugs of

00:44:50.559 --> 00:44:53.320
some there's so many father John Misty Kurt Weill

00:44:53.320 --> 00:44:56.519
Graham Nash Primus Rainbow Kitten Surprise Dark

00:44:56.519 --> 00:45:00.019
Star Orchestra Lake Street Dive Cowboy Junkies

00:45:00.019 --> 00:45:03.099
Roseanne Cash ex -ambassadors modest mouse and

00:45:03.099 --> 00:45:05.829
that's just a sum that I wrote down. Anything

00:45:05.829 --> 00:45:07.570
you want to plug? That's all over too. Those

00:45:07.570 --> 00:45:09.150
are all over the place. Some of those are in

00:45:09.150 --> 00:45:11.269
Rochester and Buffalo and what else. I mean,

00:45:11.389 --> 00:45:14.269
look, I just say, check the website. We're really,

00:45:14.429 --> 00:45:16.710
you know, we send an email once a week. Once

00:45:16.710 --> 00:45:18.809
a week on Wednesdays. We don't harass you with

00:45:18.809 --> 00:45:22.090
stuff unless you ask to be. Once a week and then

00:45:22.090 --> 00:45:24.030
you get passwords. You can buy tickets early

00:45:24.030 --> 00:45:26.110
when you're on our list. And, you know, there's

00:45:26.110 --> 00:45:28.630
lots of good reasons for it. We try to keep it

00:45:28.630 --> 00:45:30.969
friendly and fun. And that's the goal, you know,

00:45:31.010 --> 00:45:34.139
I think that. Our growth, like I said, has been

00:45:34.139 --> 00:45:37.800
beyond my wildest dreams, but I'm really having

00:45:37.800 --> 00:45:40.500
fun with it and I don't see it, you know, I don't

00:45:40.500 --> 00:45:43.340
see it changing. I think we're, we're, we're

00:45:43.340 --> 00:45:45.719
just going to keep developing these relationships.

00:45:45.880 --> 00:45:47.980
You know, like seeing bands like Waxahachie grow

00:45:47.980 --> 00:45:51.119
from club shows to selling 4 ,000 tickets in

00:45:51.119 --> 00:45:53.440
advance is pretty awesome. And it feels like

00:45:53.440 --> 00:45:55.960
a band we're going to work with for a long time

00:45:55.960 --> 00:45:57.880
and in a lot of other places. Same thing with,

00:45:57.880 --> 00:46:00.289
you know, Mount Joy watching them. blow up has

00:46:00.289 --> 00:46:02.130
been really fun. They're headlining the festival

00:46:02.130 --> 00:46:04.530
with Courtney Barnett and Waxahatchee. So a lot

00:46:04.530 --> 00:46:07.030
of stuff that we're doing at the Fest also is

00:46:07.030 --> 00:46:09.289
playing, you know, around. So it's, it's just

00:46:09.289 --> 00:46:11.409
how our growth, I mean, I look back, it was like,

00:46:11.530 --> 00:46:13.570
I'd get a call from an Asian and be like, give

00:46:13.570 --> 00:46:16.550
me the avails for Ithaca for, you know, I don't

00:46:16.550 --> 00:46:18.829
know, not to go back to Lyle, but Lyle in May

00:46:18.829 --> 00:46:21.190
1st to 5th. And now it's like, Lyle's coming

00:46:21.190 --> 00:46:22.909
to the Northeast in March. Where do you want

00:46:22.909 --> 00:46:25.739
to do it? You know, so we had Ithaca, Buffalo,

00:46:26.159 --> 00:46:28.360
you know, and across the Western mass and wherever.

00:46:28.619 --> 00:46:30.500
So you send six or seven offers and maybe you

00:46:30.500 --> 00:46:32.260
get four or five of them. And it's just, that's

00:46:32.260 --> 00:46:34.480
how the growth happens. Just your little runs

00:46:34.480 --> 00:46:37.340
of dates. So, yeah, I don't know, man. It's,

00:46:37.340 --> 00:46:40.460
uh, it's, it's, it's good to have these conversations

00:46:40.460 --> 00:46:43.019
because you and I met at a different time. And

00:46:43.019 --> 00:46:45.400
we've certainly found ways to, you know, have

00:46:45.400 --> 00:46:47.780
you open shows with your band, with your comedy,

00:46:47.960 --> 00:46:50.809
wherever, you know, I think. And you've worked

00:46:50.809 --> 00:46:53.389
hard, you know, and to finish dispelling that

00:46:53.389 --> 00:46:55.869
myth, it's like, we want to give those opportunities

00:46:55.869 --> 00:46:58.489
on every show that we possibly can. But who's

00:46:58.489 --> 00:47:00.130
going to get them? Who's going to get them? They're

00:47:00.130 --> 00:47:03.369
the people who work hard, who bring a professional

00:47:03.369 --> 00:47:06.159
game. And you know, granted, we're putting you

00:47:06.159 --> 00:47:07.980
on the bill sometimes because we need to sell

00:47:07.980 --> 00:47:09.880
a few more tickets to not get hurt. It's the

00:47:09.880 --> 00:47:11.059
name of the game. Well, you're going to work

00:47:11.059 --> 00:47:13.059
hard, right? I mean, there's no sense just showing

00:47:13.059 --> 00:47:14.599
up saying, oh, it's a dance ball show. I don't

00:47:14.599 --> 00:47:17.340
have to work. No, we put you on that show because

00:47:17.340 --> 00:47:19.599
if you help me sell another 50 tickets, I'll

00:47:19.599 --> 00:47:21.719
lose two or three hundred dollars less than the

00:47:21.719 --> 00:47:23.860
seven hundred. I'm going to lose. And I can't

00:47:23.860 --> 00:47:25.659
tell you, like I said. Booking those shows that

00:47:25.659 --> 00:47:27.099
you know we're going to lose are part of the

00:47:27.099 --> 00:47:29.579
game and you have to be willing to do that because

00:47:29.579 --> 00:47:31.239
you never know when it that was going to be the

00:47:31.239 --> 00:47:33.679
one that sticks to the wall. Right. So that's

00:47:33.679 --> 00:47:36.119
where the local relationships come in as well.

00:47:36.320 --> 00:47:38.380
And I, you know, I wish we had a little bit better

00:47:38.380 --> 00:47:40.780
relationship and with some of the ethical folk,

00:47:40.920 --> 00:47:43.380
but they all grow up and they'll figure it out.

00:47:44.360 --> 00:47:47.280
Maybe someday I'll be the, the John Peterson

00:47:47.280 --> 00:47:49.840
that he is. You will, you will. And you'll have

00:47:49.840 --> 00:47:52.119
your own place though, man. You, you've, uh,

00:47:52.380 --> 00:47:55.239
You may have, you know, been influenced by John

00:47:55.239 --> 00:47:57.440
and all that, but you've done things your way

00:47:57.440 --> 00:48:00.360
and you've made a name for yourself. Oh yeah,

00:48:01.019 --> 00:48:04.739
he says that. I'm so grateful that you're in

00:48:04.739 --> 00:48:08.239
the area. I do have to ask you one last thing,

00:48:08.300 --> 00:48:10.900
and that is, as I was thinking about this before

00:48:10.900 --> 00:48:13.619
the interview today, I'm like, shit. You don't

00:48:13.619 --> 00:48:16.579
ever plan on going, I'm going to uproot and move

00:48:16.579 --> 00:48:19.519
this whole thing across. We need you in Ithaca,

00:48:19.619 --> 00:48:21.460
man. You're not going anywhere, are you? No,

00:48:21.679 --> 00:48:23.639
it's, it's, it's very territorial. That's a really

00:48:23.639 --> 00:48:25.420
good question, you know, cause the industry is

00:48:25.420 --> 00:48:27.179
very territorial. I'm not going to move into

00:48:27.179 --> 00:48:29.519
Chicago and take the shows away from the local

00:48:29.519 --> 00:48:31.260
promoters there at all. You know, it's not going

00:48:31.260 --> 00:48:34.179
to happen. So we're based in our markets. Those

00:48:34.179 --> 00:48:36.719
are our, there's, there's respect for those markets

00:48:36.719 --> 00:48:38.820
among the industry, you know, for the most part.

00:48:38.980 --> 00:48:41.440
Some there's people who challenge that all the

00:48:41.440 --> 00:48:43.039
time and that's okay. And that's how it goes.

00:48:43.219 --> 00:48:45.639
But I think from our perspective, Um, you know,

00:48:45.760 --> 00:48:47.940
I think as our home base, awesome. Nope. People

00:48:47.940 --> 00:48:49.960
know we do the shows there. We need, you know,

00:48:50.199 --> 00:48:52.340
the States are home, home, uh, away from home

00:48:52.340 --> 00:48:55.000
for like theater shows and, uh, you know, Western

00:48:55.000 --> 00:48:57.099
Mass, Northampton, Amherst, that's definitely

00:48:57.099 --> 00:48:59.820
our second home away from home. But yeah, no,

00:48:59.900 --> 00:49:01.639
we're not going anywhere. I love living here.

00:49:01.780 --> 00:49:05.110
It's been a great place to raise a family. You

00:49:05.110 --> 00:49:07.250
know, it's, it's the lifestyle is, you know,

00:49:07.389 --> 00:49:09.349
you're in a city, you got to yell in this, this

00:49:09.349 --> 00:49:11.329
club, you got to, you got to feed the beast every

00:49:11.329 --> 00:49:13.730
night. Cause your rent is so crazy. Like, you

00:49:13.730 --> 00:49:15.389
know, sure. We want to do more shows at the state,

00:49:15.530 --> 00:49:17.269
but we can only do so many, right? There's only

00:49:17.269 --> 00:49:19.250
so many nights a week that people aren't going

00:49:19.250 --> 00:49:21.210
to say, I'm going to go see Elvis Costello and

00:49:21.210 --> 00:49:23.590
not, you know, Colin Hay or whatever. Cause it's

00:49:23.590 --> 00:49:25.510
just, I can't do both. You know, you can't put

00:49:25.510 --> 00:49:27.929
people in that position. So we don't have to

00:49:27.929 --> 00:49:30.110
do that every night. I think that leads to a

00:49:30.110 --> 00:49:32.050
better lifestyle. It gives you time to be a good.

00:49:32.250 --> 00:49:35.349
family, you know, person as well, which is important

00:49:35.349 --> 00:49:38.110
to me, you know, it's a, it's good to have balance

00:49:38.110 --> 00:49:40.889
in life. And luckily we're, we're still bringing

00:49:40.889 --> 00:49:43.670
big names into small towns. That's a really cool

00:49:43.670 --> 00:49:45.690
thing. I've been at all these shows you're talking

00:49:45.690 --> 00:49:49.190
about, and again, I appreciate it. Dan Smalls

00:49:49.190 --> 00:49:52.070
presents DSPshows .com. I'm signed up for the

00:49:52.070 --> 00:49:54.289
mailing list. Make sure you sign up, because

00:49:54.289 --> 00:49:56.869
like you said, they don't inundate you with garbage

00:49:56.869 --> 00:50:00.010
email. I mean, it's once a week, right? Once

00:50:00.010 --> 00:50:02.289
a week? Once a month? Wednesdays at noon. Wednesdays

00:50:02.289 --> 00:50:03.530
at noon, I get a list of everything I want to

00:50:03.530 --> 00:50:05.570
know. Here's the new shows. Here's the passwords

00:50:05.570 --> 00:50:07.929
for pre -sales. Here's the shows that were coming

00:50:07.929 --> 00:50:10.210
up next week. Here's some stuff down the road.

00:50:11.110 --> 00:50:15.849
Stay here or leave it. Last, absolute last. Did

00:50:15.849 --> 00:50:17.989
you golf yet? I know you love to golf like me.

00:50:18.130 --> 00:50:20.130
Have you been out yet? Oh, I do. I have. You

00:50:20.130 --> 00:50:22.710
know, this year has been terrible. My kid's been

00:50:22.710 --> 00:50:24.630
out a few times, but I haven't, but I will be

00:50:24.630 --> 00:50:26.889
back. I'm still, last summer I might've gotten

00:50:26.889 --> 00:50:29.250
out eight or 10 times. The end of the last year,

00:50:30.010 --> 00:50:32.070
the handicap was really low, you know, in single

00:50:32.070 --> 00:50:34.960
digits. Oh, look at you. I'm stuck with that

00:50:34.960 --> 00:50:38.179
now because I had it and it takes a long time

00:50:38.179 --> 00:50:40.860
to go back up. So, you know, anyone wants to

00:50:40.860 --> 00:50:42.820
make money now, play me on my handicap and you're

00:50:42.820 --> 00:50:44.800
going to win. All right. All right. I'll do it.

00:50:44.880 --> 00:50:47.219
I would love to play some golf with you. Dude,

00:50:47.519 --> 00:50:51.300
I was let's do that. Yeah, once we get past this,

00:50:51.539 --> 00:50:54.139
I have a feeling Wiley will have his future figured

00:50:54.139 --> 00:50:56.500
out in August, which leaves the whole fall to

00:50:56.500 --> 00:50:58.940
play lots of golf. Awesome. I'm pretty excited

00:50:58.940 --> 00:51:00.639
about it. Hit me up and we'll do it, man. Thank

00:51:00.639 --> 00:51:04.099
you, Dan. Seriously, thank you personally for

00:51:04.099 --> 00:51:05.960
taking the time to come on the show. Thank you

00:51:05.960 --> 00:51:08.579
for putting on all the shows you do, and I really

00:51:08.579 --> 00:51:10.840
appreciate you. And I'm always supporting you,

00:51:11.739 --> 00:51:15.079
so DSPshows .com. If things come up, I'm always

00:51:15.079 --> 00:51:18.719
happy to come back and talk about it. I'm at

00:51:18.719 --> 00:51:20.619
the age now where I want to give back and find

00:51:20.619 --> 00:51:23.860
the next people who want to do what I do. We're

00:51:23.860 --> 00:51:25.679
training them at the company, but I think there's

00:51:25.679 --> 00:51:29.139
room for them in other places too. That's the

00:51:29.139 --> 00:51:30.980
next phase, right? The give back is what it's

00:51:30.980 --> 00:51:32.719
all about. All right, man. Well, cool. Thanks

00:51:32.719 --> 00:51:34.179
for doing this. Thanks for letting me do it from

00:51:34.179 --> 00:51:36.519
the road. Of course. It would have taken a lot

00:51:36.519 --> 00:51:38.619
longer if we were in person. Absolutely, man.

00:51:38.800 --> 00:51:42.059
Dan Smalls, thank you so much. You got it dude.

00:51:42.300 --> 00:51:44.679
Thanks for everything all right brother All right,

00:51:44.800 --> 00:51:46.860
that's it for this episode of good news York

00:51:46.860 --> 00:51:49.639
brought to you by ads on the go get ads on the

00:51:49.639 --> 00:51:52.280
go calm I'm Mike Brindisi Thanks for tuning in

00:51:52.280 --> 00:51:54.420
this week next week. We've got so many guests

00:51:54.420 --> 00:51:57.820
so many things going on You can check us out

00:51:57.820 --> 00:52:00.059
of good news York calm and anywhere where you

00:52:00.059 --> 00:52:03.199
can watch or listen to podcasts were there, too

00:52:03.199 --> 00:52:05.039
So we will see you next week