Mike Blair: How music improves your life

Mike Blair a local singer/songwriter/poet come on the podcast. We talk about how music has impacted his life, bringing a melody and lyrics together is like cooking, the impact of kids on life and many random movie reviews throughout.

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This week we were sippin' on Long Branch
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How to find Mike:
@mikeblairmusic
Also search for Mike Blair and the Stonewalls on Spotify!

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Transcript

0:31

Welcome back to the whiskey and wisdom podcast. This week. We have Mike Blair on fun enough, funnily enough. Anyway, this man was the winner of our whiskey giveaway that we had a while back. He won the Woodford reserve and a couple of glasses. So for all those who follow us, definitely keep an eye out for the next giveaway. It's coming up soon because we're almost at 2000. Not almost, but we will hit it pretty quick. 2000 followers followers on Instagram. Mm-hmm yeah, you're not. So that's a cool spot. We're gonna hit 2000 and then. I'm gonna skip and we'll do another giveaway at 5,000. Sounds good because I don't make enough money to be buying them for every thousand But yeah, keep a lookout. We, we like to give stuff away. And we also like to give away wisdom, but that's for free. Yes but yeah, we got Mike Blair on it. Took us a little while to set this up, but I'm glad we got you on here. so Mike was actually gracious enough to bring on some long branch from wild Turkey. And Chris wants to tell us a little bit more about that, do it, man. See, so I learned, I already gained a bunch of wisdom since looking into this I did not realize that while Turkey legitimately brought on Matthew McConaughy as their, creative directors, if not the creative director, yep. He's the creative director for wild Turkey. Wow. So this was a collaboration, between the Russell family who owns wild Turkey and McConaughy, and the name came from reaching out what he called a branch. You know, usually we have an olive branch, this, he was like, it was a, he reached out a long branch, you know, from Kentucky all the way to Texas mm-hmm to reach out and make this collaboration which is kind of cool. This is considered a small batch. Yeah, no, it's considered a small batch. I, to make sure I wasn't crazy. It is very traditional on the nose. You got your caramel, you say caramel or caramel, caramel, caramel. I'm from up north I'm I'm just curious. Vanilla and my favorite coffee. It does have nutmeg and Oak in there. So it's definitely more of APIC scent but on the pallet. It's actually very summary. You can taste a little bit of sweetness has some honey and orange, and then there's some more Oak kind of layered in there cuz it's finished in an American Oak barrels. But yeah. And Chris also added me the other week that I have usually three or four or five different drinks around me when I do these podcasts and one of the extra ones, maybe a little too much alcohol, but We have lucky dog sake as well, which actually looks like a juice box pouch. And I pick these up over at Starling cuz they were doing a special with true blue and did a kind of Asian fusion type of deal over there. So I picked up a couple of these boxes to bring over as well too. So if we ever get so. Lucky. We might just sip on that as well. Yes. Disclaimer, we, we just have an empty bottle of sake. We just have it here. Right. Yeah. We, we already, we, we would never, never do it. I'm just messing around. But Mike because as per usual, I know nothing about you, so gimme a little bit cool. That's I appreciate it. So my name is Mike Blair. I'm a songwriter and wanna be poet and I'm in a band called Mike Blair in the stonewalls. You should follow me on Spotify, follow us on Spotify. I've sang music all my life. I've written most of my life. So I just am creative and wanna communicate to folks. So been born and raised here in Wilmington. Really? Oh, wow. Mm-hmm yes. Yeah, man. Where were we at the monthly meeting? We go I legit wouldn't be surprised if there was like a low key, like, Hey you guys, so there's only 13 of us now. Yes. it's kind of accurate though. Yeah. It's and everyone's just mystified. You're from here. Really? Yeah. From here. It's just, it's been like this the whole time. Yeah. It's been like this the whole time. traffic. Wasn't this bad until you got here. That's accurate. I've only been here for 10 years and the traffic is another level mm-hmm but yeah, born and raised here in town writer type just kind of done random sales jobs throughout my life. Yeah. But the writing and the singing and the playing the music and that's where all the kind of stories are for me for just a small little tour to Michigan. A number of years ago, played founders brewery at water brewery. Oh wow. Mm-hmm went through Kentucky for a house show. You know, played gigs everywhere, everywhere. It was pretty cool because we did our giveaway for the wood, for reserve and the glasses and, and everything. And so we do like a random, like generator who's gonna win. And when I put it through Mike Blair popped up and I was like, oh, sick. I've watched him play music around town for years now. So when I first got to Wilmington, I've always loved the live music kind of world and just kind of went out about it and everything. So I actually, one of an acquaintance and friend of mine from Pennsylvania actually came down here and plays music as well that I went to high school with, believe it or not. And that's kind of what got me involved in it. And after I started getting involved in the live music industry, then I started Firefly and got me even foreign. That's right. I remember that now. Yeah. So I anytime I saw you, you, you were in Firefly every single time. so you, you were Firefly. Yeah. Britney Limeberry and I were Firefly. Cause I remember seeing a Instagram, you know, Firefly, something entertainment, like on whatever the handle was like retweet. I was like, oh my world. Is this like, yeah. Yeah, this is awesome. That's awesome. Yeah. Full circle now. that's incredible. And now we're doing podcasts I don't, I feel like I like podcasts more. Yeah. Podcast is more my speed. Yes. Behind the camera. You have a voice, you have the face for a podcast. So mm-hmm Now that you say that Chris. So five just really escalated. right. So we're gonna create a whole nother circle. We're just gonna make a whole bunch of circles during this podcast. I'm sure. But I was at old year provisions, which Kelly owns in the cargo district. And you had done some music in poetry for Gool press, which is inside the Coworks building that we are recording in mm-hmm so record Coworks. and so we have a studio here, ghost, soul press just moved in here and you did some work for them. I did they asked me to speak about creativity and, and songwriting and, and the poetry. And I was a very unique event because they had asked for book recommendations was isn't oh, you know, asked question of someone in like myself. right. So that was unique. For me to just have a little bit of like, someone should think about this book or consider this, I, I know, I can't remember entirely my list. I think it was like four or five, but like Kevin Youngs jelly roll. They brought that in Franco Harris lunch poems, or no, it wasn't lunch poems. It was the other one. Oh, see, I really loved it. It was so much it's gonna bother me and not recall it. The really cool thing about ghost soul press, too. I'll just go give a shout out is there's actually two things. One, the just collection of books that they have. Is very unique and different that it kind of hits on pretty much anything that you have an interest in. They have something there and it's the best of what that interest is. Mm-hmm and then two, since they moved into Coworks too, they are now doing pour over coffees. And if you listen to this podcast at all, Chris always says that I love coffee, which I do. Oh yeah. And when it comes to pour overs and like an actual handpicked, like brew, they are fantastic. They choose the best of the best. They, they do the pour over right. For like for you right there. And it's amazing. But if they're here, when we're recording Christmas, I, I have it in front of me. nice. Yes. So I, I love them over. Meditations in an emergency was the Fran O'Hara collection. Oh, okay. You should check that out. I might have to check that out. Yeah. There was a sequence an old episode of madman, years and years ago where they had the John ham character, Don Draper recited some pieces of it. And that was my mild introduction to it. But to bring those books to, you know, an audience and say like, Hey, this is where my head's at creatively. It's super interesting. I like that. So, because I've learned a snap worth. Yeah. So because they brought you on, I feel like you have some sort of knowledge about writing and or poetry and the music's see musics. So what is your background in that? Is it cuz you said you've been like singing this whole time. Yeah. So for a while learned how to play the guitar in. Praise and worship class. Okay. I'm rural Grove, Christian and music was always around the house. Papa. My mother's father was a big jazz guy. Wow. A lot of jazz throughout the house, Dixie and jazz, and dad was your kind of who, you know, rock and roll mom was temptations, soul music. And so that's in there growing up. And then there was a desire at probably 12 for, you know, 12, 13 years old to, to craft something mm-hmm and this music thing just kind of got me. And I'll the record that kind of skyrocketed me to create would be James Taylor's greatest hits record. Yeah. Just hearing even now today, hearing the something in the way she moves the first track off that there's something to the guitar. Fired off, like, this is interesting to me. I need to follow this. And naturally, I don't know if you, if you, are you either you aware of that record at all? James Taylor's greatest hits. Yes. I'm sorry. Just enough to be dangerous. Just enough to be dangerous specifically. So because of the very last track on there, which is a live rendition of steamroll, a James Taylor song. So he, so I'll just tell the story instead of making sure that, you know but good. So the steamroll back in the day on those CDs, it's not on it anymore. Thank you Spotify. But, huh. My dad, he goes here. You can listen to James Taylor's greatest hits, but you can't listen to the last song. Why? So your, your dad's the reason why, so it's fun. Yeah, yeah, yeah. yeah. It's like, it's like you can't listen the last song. Why can't I listen to the last song? Well, you just can't, you're talking to an idiot kid and so immediately, as soon as he leaves the room and. I turn up SP steamroll and it's just like cranking out the dial, remember dials. Yes. And so you crank out the dial and, you know, and he curses, it's like chicken checkin, you know, mother for this shit, this, I was like, but did you, and it was blues music. It was steamroll like a solid rendition. I was like, this is exactly what I want out of, out of life right now. You know, and on that record, I, you know, learned of Marvin gay from how sweet it is to be loved by you. Yeah. From that rendition. And so I just kind of, I played that record over and over and over, and I'm learning the guitar at the time and I'll never forget my mother, I was learning you've got a friend and fire and rain on the guitar. So I'm on the front porch. Just singing, both those songs repeatedly. And my mother comes out and she's like, Michael, we have to change the record. We have to do that right now. you can do this. I didn't know the music I listened to as a child was coming back, but here we are. So you need to figure this out. You gotta do something else. So, and, and then from there music DVDs were a thing. Mm-hmm if we remember those, I do. I worked at movie stop for a little while. Oh yeah. So it was Eagles hell freezes over dad came home with that. And James Taylor life at the beacon was over there. I was just like, oh man. So it was just more watching the fingers and learn. I mean, that was every day after school in, in middle school and high school was coming home, playing the guitar and watching his fingers on that beacon DVD and go like, I have to do it this way. And this is, oh. And how do you learn to pick with your right hand? Like, cuz he's just, he's only a picker. And so it was. Where my identity was mm-hmm you know, and it just kind of blossoms from there. Dylan's in there, Clapton's in there. Not a lot of modern music, you know, I think admittedly, my first CD that I ever requested from my parents was voiced him into Woo. Oh, some heat on that. Yes. Yeah. What 12 year old needs to be singing? Ah, man, left to you. like, no, just bellowing all. Ah, man. Remember, remember that record, like, oh my God, they covered a Beatles song on that record. Oh my great yesterday. I was like, oh, stop it. This is amazing. So, so it's all, it's kind of a hodgepodge of all the elements. I think probably soul music, blues music music's in there, you know? Fast forward a couple years. And you have the John Johnny Cash movie that came out, walked the line. You have the, you have Ray come out, like just all these, like just, oh, this is what Ray Charles, right? Like, you know, let's, that was a good one, one, oh my gosh. It's incredible. Like, and then you're like diving into those records and you're like, oh my God, this is actual like poetry, you know? And there's a scene in walk the line where Joaquin Phoenix is trying to record into a place. And the guy is just simply not impressed by what he's producing. And you know, if you were her lying, how they're in the gutter, what song would you want sing? Just like mm-hmm I was like, this is some truth right here though. So, and all the, while learning all this, I was writing songs. Mm-hmm, just kind of, you know, fun. I would, I had a, a little bit of a, a sequence of jazzy song, bluesy song, folky song. So I would just throw a spaghetti at the wall if you will. Let's see what this progression does. And I could probably do this and it's just freedom as a child, as a teenager. And just, and I did that all through college and learned how to play in bars and restaurants and did covers and mm-hmm that was most of my life going like playing coffee shops. A fun story is I was, you know, try and have fun stories when you come on a podcast. And uh, so I was at a, a cafe years ago and no one was at my gig. Mm-hmm was just singing to the walls, which is common. And I walk outside my guitar player at the time was having a smoke break and there was a fight had broken out at the Wendy's across the street, the entire, no, the entire staff of the Wendy's closed the building. And or just joking it out, like in front of market street. I know what Wendy's, you're talking and my take's Kyoto now. It's a wonderful establishment. Yeah. And so my takeaway was like, I gotta get better at music cuz there's more people at that fight than there are. my gig. that's hard to look at it. Maybe I should like look into marketing or just like, I, I love that. Oh gosh. I remember when that was a Wendy's that just makes me feel old now. Yeah. And when you see a whole battalion of people just battling one side versus the other, I don't know what was happen. I don't think the police were even called we're like, well it's over now. Let's go back inside. I guess. No, one's dead. So a point was made I guess so right. he wants to listen to my music. Yeah. Love songs. Yeah. let's chill out. You guys come have some tea, drink some coffee. So what made you want to go more professionally into music? Was it just for the love of it and love wanting to just, yeah. Love of it. I can't do it. I cannot, I cannot put pen to PA. I just have to always be doing something. There was a season in my life where I thought like, you know what, just hang it up. Let's just be done. And I just, it's not in my soul to do it. Mm-hmm I think I, I it's one, it's just something to do. It's an activity to like it's an alone activity where you have to be by yourself to just to work on it, really, to construct a song takes that repetitive practice all the time. There's a sequence in the Eagles documentary, not hell freezes over, but the history of it came out a number of years ago. And Glen fry was speaking about learning how to write songs and. They, he was a roommate of Jackson brown. And apparently at the time, Jackson brown was a, a tremendous star, but he was crashing with Jackson and, and Jackson brown would just, you know, sing the same part over and over. And it would fall off a little bit, you know, and it would just be that one part until the second part came mm-hmm and then it's the first part. And the second part, the chorus and the chorus would come in. It was just hours of just focused. Like I have to figure this out. Something's either gonna reveal itself to me or I'm gonna go, you know what, let's make a and B work here, and this is where it's gonna be best suited. So I like that kind of, again, craftsman kind of tactile. I can bend it. Mm-hmm to what it's suitable to me. Not that it would be worth like professional. Like I would love to be paid more money than I sure, but I can sleep at night. Which is the important part. Good, where it's like this, this song is, is expressing exactly how I'm wanting it to be here in this moment. And and if someone says, Hey, Mike, what are you working on? It's like, okay, here we go. Yeah. Like here's a song. So I'm always, I mean, I should always be better at marketing. Gosh. It's so hard right now though. It's tough. Mm-hmm I mean, I, my wife, I've the last number of months. I've done like little cover songs on my Instagram at Mike bla music. You should follow me. And And just doing cover songs cause I'm like, I should do some more cover songs and just try and, you know, my vibe is the rail Stapleton sort of yeah. White dude with all in his voice. he can make it sound pretty, I guess. Okay. So, you know, but my, the trick that I would like to have with it is to, to cover songs where it's not a smirk. You know, and go like, oh, that's what he's doing. It's not like, ha ha ha. I'm doing a Taylor swift song. Like I wanted to be well done in a lot of ways. So that has seen some traffic, but I'm more focused in, in being in the room with, with the computer, with the typewriter. I I've actually, I say all that and I, I do more pen to pad here recently, but but yeah, that's, that's where I'm like keenly focused. Mm-hmm I need someone else to come into my life and say like, no, just don't touch it. Just let me, you stay here. And let's mark I'll market, this a marketer, a producer, someone who's like, so why'd you bring that up because. One thing we touch on just briefly in these podcasts sometimes about me and Brittany Limeberry is the, the Firefly days mm-hmm And the reason why I bring that up now is we, what our goal was, was to be that marketer for the live entertainment in Wilmington. Unfortunately, we, we came to a head with Florence in COVID and multiple other issues and our closest quote unquote competitor who had a lot more money than we did. They also went out of business, unfortunately, And if you had just stuck it up a little longer, I know it is what it is. Right. But that's what I hope for, for Wilmington is let the artists be artists, let the marketers be marketers, let them join together and let's create something. And I think that's out there. And I think that ability is out there. So if someone's out there that has a better marketing ability than I do and deeper pockets than I did. In 2016, I think that abilities out there, because I think Wilmington needs that there is definitely no glut of talent in Wilmington, in the music community. I, I knew about you for, since what, 2016 when I started getting involved in the community 2015. Yep. And just all of the other musicians out there, and the writers are incredible in this area. And thank you. I, yeah, absolutely. I go out and I support as much as I can. And I, I want more people to know about you guys. Yeah. I think there's more of an opportunity for it now, more so than a number of years ago. And I think it is I mean, sure. You could probably say COVID in this instance, but I think COVID brought a lot of people back to their kind of comfort foods, musically. Yeah. In a lot of ways. Which is fine, but I see more songwriter things. I see, you know, a lot more engagement or maybe my just Spotify is just blowing up with more like, Hey, you should listen to this or this or this, but I don't know. I just, I, I feel as though I'm hearing it more. Yeah. There's just, there's just a little bit more like, all right, let's look at something new a little bit. Yeah, no, I think the, the one good thing that there there's a few good things. If you really want to like deep down, like, look at what COVID brought. I think there's, there's multiple good things, but I think one of the good things is that it forced people to look at what's close to a community, cuz that's the only thing that you're gonna get right now. Mm-hmm because a lot of the big artists, they weren't doing the massive tour. You weren't gonna go to an auditorium or a arena with thousands of people. You were gonna go to a, a brewery. With a couple dozen people mm-hmm and you're gonna hear your local artists there. And that's what I loved, cuz that's what I loved beforehand too. I was, I wasn't gonna go to a, sorry, Jennifer. I had Justin Bieber concert. I wasn't gonna go to a Taylor swift concert, Backstreet boys. I wasn't gonna go to a actually boys concert, which is what she's going to in a couple weeks. Yeah. I'm staying home. I'm going to listen to local music artists. And I think that's what a lot of people decided to do during that COVID time. And that's what I love. I've heard the Taylor swift show is unparalleled. So, you know, you may would wanna reconsider that. Yeah. I I mean, there's just so much, I mean, COVID I remember playing in people's yards and yeah, there it, I think of the mayor quote, when you play music and you want to, you want to become famous as the people that you admired became famous mm-hmm and so I think COVID kind of. Shook that wall, you know, broke the foundation a little bit of like, okay, cool. We gotta figure this out. Like, cuz I, I want people to hear this, these songs and this is gonna be awesome. So you, you did anything you can, and I think people were listening cuz they put their phones away and you know, let's refocus our lives a little bit. That was, that was kind of my takeaway, but I hope it continues. Mm-hmm you know, I hope it, I'm hoping to book a hope, a handful of songwriter stuff and I'm hoping to do just some live streams just to stretch the muscle and see, see, you know, who shows up and I mean, I'm gonna, again, I can't, I can't not stop, you know, I have to continue at all times. Yeah. So I know for you too, you've kind of shaken it up a little bit too, and you're kind of bringing in a full band mm-hmm and creating that full band around you. So tell us about that progression and where you're at now and what you hope to be. The stonewalls Mike Blair and the stonewalls. That's definitely like the main focus cuz that's where I'm showcasing the songs. Right. You know I, the dude in the guitar, in the corner for the songwriting, that has to be a very specific gig where you're like, ah, these people are like really here for the work they're here for the lyrics they're here for, you know, to, to really find some sort of like meaning and being a guy who grew up going to clubs, like the soapbox by myself. Mm-hmm so like I just wanna sit here and like hear it. Mm-hmm I don't wanna, I want to hear the, the guy or the girl singing to me. I wanna hear what she has to say. And so I, I, I want, I want more of those kind of gigs where the listeners are, are kind of more focused on it versus, you know, like a cover gig. That's fine. That's all well to do. I, I can make it sound pretty. I'm happy to do so. But the stonewalls would be like where the actual right. let's bring the song to life. Let's bring more colors onto it, onto the canvas a little bit. And that's how, and it's kind of a third or fourth year of creating is, oh, I hear kind of like a melancamp thing on this song. Yeah. Let's do this. Like it, like, that's how it should be. We're driving here and the keys could come there. That's kind of where my head's at. It's I always think of like analogies in my brain hears things. But you're listening to you. Describe that. I'm like, it really is like watching somebody paint a picture at someone's wedding because sometimes one, I don't, I did not have enough money for that to happen at my wedding, but I always thought it was cool to see someone show up and. They saw this moment and then they painted it and they were like, all right. So this is what the end goal should be, which is, Hey, you know, a photo of them at the end of the aisle, but you know, what makes the most sense? Well, this needs a highlight here, or this needs this, and that's kind of how, like your description or like talking to you. My mental is like, Hey, you know, he's describing, you know, that he wrote this song and he's trying to figure out what makes the most sense. And while you're recording it and putting it all together, you're like, Hey, you know, we're putting it together. Well, no, this makes more sense to add a little bit of, you know, a little base or this, we should drop the keys in here. The drum should drop, or we should do like a high hat. Right. And even to have those moments of let's try this. Oh, actually it doesn't. Let's pull back. You know, one of my favorite Dylan records is John Wesley Harding, and it's just bass drums and acoustic guitar and harp, like that's the whole record production and that, but that's what those songs needed, you know? And that's got watch tower on it if you didn't know. But I mean, that, that kind of thought process of, again, I, and I think it, I think in it that way, like try it. Oh, let's listen to it back and forth side by side I one I two, like I three, no, we don't like, okay, let's go back to one. Like, it's exactly that. So you can whittle it down to exactly where, oh, this is what it should be in a lot of ways. Yeah. I always, my brain thinks on different waves and I'm like, I know everyone thinks differently. Mm-hmm so your description I'm like, so in my head, I picture it like this same with the whiskey, we're drinking it and I'm like, oh, so I can taste it. I can taste this nose or I can taste that. Mm-hmm I personally think this would be like this long branch. If you can find it, you should be drinking it all summer long. Yeah. Yeah. Versus like others that you drink and you're like, oh, that's spicy. Like, I don't want a spicy drink in the, like a Wilmington August. That's too hot. I'm gonna be sweat anyways. I don't need to sweat more. Right. That's why we have the men ju up. So do that. But that's kinda, I think that's how your music is. Like, I want people to come like now that we're talking to you, I'm like, I think people should show up to your gigs just to show up and like listen and kind of feel the vibe. Cuz I feel like you, you give off good energy. I hope I just come off. You know, my resting bitch face off putting to so many. Should we should buy him a beer. I don't know. We shouldn't buy him a beer. the answer is always yes. Always. Always, yes. I will happily smile at you. Yes. For a Kohls or whatever, just you don't have to choose one place, but what is one of your favorite places, if not multiple different places to play in Wilmington because of the vibe that they bring? Excellent question. Mean sat. I don't know if satellite barn lounge is still doing shows. Mm-hmm that's a great place to play waterline. Great place to play. I love, yeah. Solo wise. I love playing new Anthem. It's the room, it's the acoustics where I can really holler and, and it's like, oh man, I've still never been to new Anthem. Which one? I went to the, the new one that's in Greenfield. Yeah, off Greenfield. I haven't been to the old one. Which is the original, like nice to mm-hmm. did a lot. My, my drummer John Hill, he plays jazz there on Thursdays. Should go hear him. And it's a, their sour program predominantly there. Yeah. Okay. So a lot of sours there, but I think they do have some like clean, easy, like handful IPAs, but nice. So back in my Firefly days, I would go, I don't remember what day it was now, but Jared sales DJ and very well involved in the Wilmington music industry would play there. And I would go hang out there and similarly either just very easy drinking gears over at new Anthem and you play some records and everything over there. So it was a fun time fly trap as well. A fantastic vibe that that's where I saw you for the first time was at fly trap. Mike and Emily have a wonderful vibe over there. So you know, and admittedly, like, it's just. Breweries are just different than bars. I grew up in bars playing bars. Mm-hmm I still would play bars. But it's just kid friendly. Everyone just not coming in hot. It's two o'clock like play Wonderwall, like Yeah. Oh my gosh. I can't even, because I remember the days when I would go to the bar with my friends and because I met these people and I was like two, three years younger than them. So I was a DD and wonder wall always came on at the exact, like one 30, every single night at the bar. And I'm it's because the DJs wanted people to simmer the hell down. I'm like, oh my gosh, please, please. Can we leave before this comes on? Never happen. But yeah, I totally, I think I just vindictively would play some sort of old Dylan song just yeah, I got it. Yeah. Don't think twice yeah. um, Along the lines of favorite breweries or like places to play you've mentioned colsh multiple times. So my question to you, because I always ask a random question. If you've ever heard any of our podcasts what is your favorite colsh so favorite colsh would probably be like, I mean, I literally earlier today had my daughter at flight trap and cuz conveniently, we drive past flight trap all the way to daycare but I grab, you know, like my great Mike makes great beer. Rob at waterline, that's a solid colsh okay. I mean, I say colsh just for a lighter. I literally, again. Just bought one. And I lean, like I just had a keg, a new Anthem Pilsner on at the house. Mm-hmm like, this is, this is stickball season. We're here to watch the Mets and chill out and put a line in it, like made lows. Let's go. But I think probably pivoting, probably like a favorite beer. Yeah. I mean, cats that are doing like really cool work in my opinion. And I'm, you know, no expert, I think like new Anthem's doing really cool stuff. Mm-hmm Mike's got cool stuff. Gosh, I mean, I can trying to like, remember last time I was at brewer, it's really just like new Anthem and fly trap that I we'd go to just cuz proximity. Yeah. Wellington brewing company has some good stuff. Regionally you're looking at like veil. In Richmond. I mean, they have, for me, it's I buy into the hipster nonsense and just like anything you have I'm down, like, yeah. let's go. But you, if you're in Richmond, you should go to sea veil cats in Charlotte, resident culture. They do some excellent work. Yeah. Forgot about that. Dissolver in Asheville, they do some excellent beers. I'm really, I'm I'm burial guy. Some people will have some sugar into that within the industry, but I'm like, I'm burial guy. Let's just go. Yeah. even that burial stuff let's make it a good time. But Vail stops my, has my attention, new Anthem and probably resident culture. Just to give a little bit of a broad triangle. Yeah. I was just curious because I mean, yes, we drink quite a bit of whiskey on this podcast, but you know, some days it requires a different. Taste a different palette. Yeah. So I'm curious, cuz I mean, I feel like you mentioned earlier, you did have some background in mm-hmm the brewing industry brewing industry and the wine industry big, I think I'm a smidge, more of a, a wine, bigger wine guy. Oh, okay. I, you know, subscribe, I, I was in that generation of like new som TV, like Sawm movies. Mm-hmm if, if you've gotten that bug and that cuz like PO and at the time I was in, we working with a distributor and I was like, man, this is it's again, it's poetry. Yeah. A lot of ways you're talking about like small family estates throughout the world. These are stories that you're understanding. Like why has it been Temprano in this region for well that's cuz what that's, how we've done it. Yeah. And so and to learn their process and how they do it versus this person does it. So that's always been kind of fascinating to me in a lot of ways. It's all kind of in the same wheelhouse. Yeah. I've never thought about it in that way, but it makes a lot of sense that especially wine, especially these days that that it is kind of like poetry mm-hmm because it's, it's very different. It's a very to that family and how they perceived what wine was and what they have access to. Right. And what they've experienced. Mm-hmm so, and especially more so to like weathering patterns for that year, you know like 2020 for Napa, there was a, a number of fires. Mm-hmm so a lot of those producers will not be making vintages. Some will, some will not, I don't know. Yeah. But I mean, it's just, how, how was it that year? Right. You know what I mean? My new tick, because you gotta make AKA little alcoholism. Fun is you gotta find is like I, I try and buy wines that are 2014, cuz that's our anniversary year. My daughter, my daughter was born in 2021. So I'll be buying some, you know, 20, 20 ones, 20 ones like whites and stuff like that. Just like that'll eat high acid, high sugar. Whites is like age well and go from there. But like it's something one again, something to do to make it fun. But yeah. So with having a kid, has that changed your outlook on music or what you're creating and what you're doing and how you perceive poetry? Yeah, for sure. Everything's just not as frivolous as it once was. Mm-hmm in a lot of ways. My story To, you know, doing a broad overview, it would be like, I thought my daughter was gonna be a nuclear bomb in the worst way. And she was a nuclear bomb in the best way. Yeah. So I, I was admittedly totally wrong and I'm happy that I'm wrong. Mm-hmm I love her to death and we have a son on the way in October. Oh, that's awesome. Congrats. Thank you Smith. A little earlier, a little earlier than we could first considered, but it's I get it. It'll be great. she do? Yeah, it'll be totally fine. So, so the pool of you more whiskey, like, right. I mean, just fine, but yeah, I mean, everything's just not really frivolous anymore. If I'm gonna, especially like show her something one day, my wife and I gotten, she told me she's like, we're not showing her any fricking poetry at all. I was like, oh, why? Cause it's all just lunatic, crazy people. That's. Idiot moron. Like, I don't want air to read Allen Ginsburg, like at four that's all the best minds in my generation. Like the only poem people give a shit about. But yeah. I mean, I, I think I write clear in a lot of ways, cuz I I've had to learn to be more present more often than not mm-hmm you know, especially not have I have my phones down less. Right. And that habit started with my child. Mm-hmm so when I, by myself, I, my phone down less, like I'm not learning anything from Facebook right now. I'm not learning anything from Instagram right now. I need to be in the moment create, be present and just live man. Yeah, no, I, I completely sympathize. So I have a two year old and a two month old. So, oh my nice. Yeah. So come completely understand where you're coming from there. Yeah. A little bit sooner than expected, but I mean, to, to your, to your point too, is like, was it gonna be a nuclear bomb for the good or for the like, or for the worst? And then as, as soon as that child comes out, it's for the best, right? Every, every part of it there is, yeah. For there is nothing that would ever take back ever for either one of my children. Yeah. And so at the time you're like, oh shit. How's like, how's this gonna all play together, but which, which I would not be able to speak to. How, like, what, how you saw parenting growing up. I didn't really, I had, like, I could count on my hand, the amount of, of men that were like, this is gonna be awesome. You're gonna be great at it. Mm-hmm versus cats that were like, Ugh, not great. yeah. Good luck. So I, with that being said, I think, you know, I think it would be important for those That are happy about it and find some sort of sense to it, identity to it thinking beyond themselves. Mm-hmm I think it would be important for those to like share their story. Like, no, I was totally wrong. Totally wrong. Absolutely. As many as you can, that you can afford. Yeah. You know what I mean? So I think that would be a more positive influence on the culture and our neighborhoods in general, but I'm happy to say it. Like I was totally wrong. I love my daughter. I, I, I think that's perfect that that's the best way to, to kind of put it too, because similar aspect is I'm a very analytical guy. I'm very much numbers. I look at pulses all the time for everything. And if you look at any poll anywhere in the world, it's like, oh, people that have children are. They're they're extremely grateful, but they're, they're not as happy as what they say in these polls. So I was very just being the analytical person. I'm like, oh, sure. Like I'm gonna be a less happy person and come to find out having two children. Now, I don't think I could be any happier having the two children that I have. Right. Like, I'm so grateful for them and the things that they teach me every single day. I never would've learned on my own mm-hmm and I, I think that's amazing. Yeah. Just wait 10 years. Don't become ruin my happines before I get to teenagers. Oh, well, I am hoping, hoping beyond all hope that I have some sort of scene similar to bad boys too, with Martin Lawrence and man. Oh my gosh. I am I'm down for that. I'm about it. Just do it buddy. I can call, Hey man, come on to buy the house like up. crazy weird. Yeah. I'd be about that. Sign me up. and as soon as that occurs and I'll be like, ha, she's going, ah, oh my God. Yep. Tears, but it'll be fine. Daddy. I love him. Like, yeah, you don't, he's just, he's stupid, but I mean, I'm gonna let you go through that heartbreak cuz everybody needs to turn that page, but yeah. Yeah. Ugh. I'm just hoping I'm crazier than anyone else I could ever imagine. So mm-hmm we'll see. we will find out I hope to have this podcast in that long. So. Yeah. You'll hear the progression. Gosh, 10 years, 500 episodes. Just thinking about that. Oh, he just did the math I was gonna say, Mike was looking at me. He could see me doing the, like, that's why he is like into it. right. Yeah, no, I I'm down, man. He's good at, at numbers, but I am really quick in the, in the, no, sometimes I've also had list drinks in him. Well, if I may just go ahead and like put in my, my throw, throw in my hat, get it for the 500th episode. Yeah. Just go ahead and make that happen. We'll do M want you to like put it's about 10 years? We'll let you know. I mean, if we can get you before then for like yeah. I'm just saying people would remember it like, oh, the 500 they brought Mike Blair back songwriter guy. Yeah. Yeah. You you'll probably be like the sixth time. You'll be on the podcast by that time. Yeah, for sure. Or we can do like episode 75. Because Tyler mentioned 75 hard all the time, so we gotta have oh yeah. Every other podcast it gets brought up and one way shape or form, but so much it is. So going back to the randomness yeah. Of being an adult during COVID how has that been with a, a newborn and another one on the way? Has it like, has COVID been a little, like mentally draining on you or has that just been just chill, sailing you know, flipping at times concerned at others, you know, definitely a little, a smidge, more cautious. I say Smid, mm-hmm, a little bit more cautious with court being pregnant now being around it. But again, we're trusting society to do, you know, the best decision they can for them. And I'm I'm pretty sure all parties in the Blair Blair household have had it. I know I have. And I'm pretty sure he had it. And and I know Courtney and I have had it. So rule of thirds, I think we're probably fine, but mm-hmm, I mean, we're just, you know, you learn, learn to garden, you learn to cook mm-hmm you learn things, you eat more, you drink heavier. It's it's, it's all, all, all over the place. You know, you have your dreams, we should do this or that. It doesn't matter. I think it's just like anybody, anybody else, you know, you go to work, you just deal with stress, stressed out more, more people that are stressed out than you are mm-hmm and you'd be like, oh, at least I'm not like that person. Right. I got, I gotta show like love and stuff. I don't cuz she's really mean to me, but I just don't understand, like right. You don't understand cuz you're stupid and like, but it's fine. So I hope that answer. I I'm no different than anyone else. It's just like another day, another day, like yeah, God, I mean, Tyler handled it by adding a podcast to his thing. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, we talked about what TJ done when he was in here. I mean, you met him too. And basically what he was saying is you, you bring these things into your life that when life hand you lemons, you make lemonade type of thing. So you take more responsibility for it and you make it the best you can as an adult, we don't make lemonade anymore. That's right. We make whiskey sours. There you go. Mm-hmm that was opposed. We put on Instagram. There it is. it's agreeable. Get that. Yeah. I mean you just kinda learn stuff. Read. I learned to cook. I learned how to make pasta. That was the thing mm-hmm, learned how to do that. You know, the cooking, I like that. This is a very particular nerdy sect of my brain, but I really enjoyed the film chef. Remember? Yeah. Film. They made a show off of it too. They show off it cuz fro wanted to keep cooking, which that must man is a unstoppable gym, unstoppable. Like people don't understand like fro I look at I'm like I to say goofy Emer. Yeah. But he's directed how many movies of this generation. And also just been like, I'm a producer on that one. Mm-hmm or just, I'm just gonna act I'm like you can't stop that dude. I have no clue what you're talking about. John F mm-hmm have you ever watched Ironman? Yeah. Happy. Who's like his bodyguard. Oh yeah. Yeah. That's John fre. Oh no shit. And he also directed that movie directed that movie directed. It made elf. Yes. Oh, maybe I know him more than I thought I did. Oh yes. But he's that character where like, if you don't know who he is, you probably do. You just didn't realize it. Yeah. Cause like in almost every movie he directs, he makes, he shows up somewhere. Ah which I always applaud cuz I'm like acting and directing in the same. Like you have to be like, yo, you need to move here and you have to film it and then step back and be like, Hmm. Kinda like making music. Well, a whole other thought would be just the writing of it. Like, you know, I remember when Mandalorian came out to use a very new reference and I was like, I don't know. We'll see, we'll see it wasn't impressed with the last three star wars films. That's a whole other game thing. true. But I was like, we'll just see. And I was like, oh, this is fine. This is exactly what it needs to be. It's it's called a fresh idea. Yes. It's called John Trevor did it. And so, but what I like about chef, the chef show that's on Netflix looking for that ad. Why from Netflix? Is that F was like doing it. Mm-hmm it's not a cooking show. It's not like, and then you do this and then it's that. It is like, okay, how am I doing this? And it's the, the guy telling them how to do it. And he's like cooking the onions, he's cooking the parsley. And he's doing like, I'm like, oh, this is actually interesting. Cause you have this big like elite dude. Yeah. A real chef, like, oh, like the fro, like you have this cat that can do whatever he wants. And he's being bossed around in his own kitchen, by his buddy. Who's an actual chef. And I'm like, oh, this is, and he is actually learning. You could see it. Yeah. Working in his head like, oh, and okay, this is how we do the pasta here and that. Oh, sure. Oh, this is how you do the burger. I was like, he's figuring it out. Yeah. So at the beginning of COVID I was like, I just, I know I've, I've never. Done pasta, let me do the pasta thing and we'll figure this out. And so we had a neighbor come over and she's a, a home cook for a number of folks and she showed me like, this is how you do. I'm like I'm into it. Mm-hmm I am here to win it. And so it just, again, like anything in life, it starts that snowball of, you know, I've never done my own fried chicken. Let me figure out fried chicken for a second. I've never, I haven't attempted it yet, but I I'm still like reading it. I'm like I should do that. I gotta like, let it sit overnight. Like, so have you learned how to make Noki? No, never not. Sorry. I watch top chef and shadow to Fabio. Because if you ever watch, he'll never listen to this podcast. Most likely don't say that. Not with that hard. He will listen to this podcast. Thanks the fan. No, but it was like years ago. It was a running joke because he was from Italy and the season he was on, he was up against a guy who was from France and they were like back and forth, fussing at each other who could make the best. Fabio made NKI in, like, I wanna say five out of 10 episodes. And I'm like, how do you make NKI every single time and then I was like, that's amazing. It's just an interesting concept. Cuz I see people like chefs throughout make, make it and I'm like, oh, it doesn't seem that bad. Right, right, right. But you're watching top chef and these are chefs. Like these people have been in a kitchen. And that's always, the funny thing is me and my wife go back and forth cuz I watch top chef cuz I like to see like the people who know what they're doing, come up with new concepts. Mm-hmm and she loves watching master chef, which is Gordon Ramsey. If anyone didn't notice. And he takes people who are home chefs and they compete and they do things where he shows'em how to do it. He said, I go. and so it's two sides of the same coin. It's people watching, learning, building. And then my favorite is the people who know what they're doing. Mm-hmm in a time constraint making a new masterpiece and then I, I would go chef's table. That's the Netflix of, yeah, yeah, yeah. So that's the one with like the stories and yes, let's establish that. Like what, what are we saying today? Yeah. You know what this cat doing? Yeah. To provide a statement. And this is like, oh, this is creativity at its finest. Yeah. And there's a new iron chef which is really cool. Because the winner of top chef Seattle is the cohost. So they took brand. Who's like the main, if you ever watch iron chef, there's always the guy who's like, well, what is this guy doing? And he walks through and like interviews him. And they brought on this top chef winner. Because she has some really cool ideas and concepts, and it's nice to bring in the old and the new and kind of just find a new iron chef or like have these competitions. And it's a reinvigoration which I feel like yet again, I always try and bring'em back to the people we have on. But it's kind like what you're doing. Like you listen and you've grown up listening to some people consider classic jazz and R and B and just classic style music. And that brings you into and kind of, I assume builds into what your repertoire is. Yes, the rabbit hole never stops. You know, once you get the self confidence of a style of some kind, and that's what I was gonna, my final thought on cooking was that once you have learned to do a thing in the kitchen in any way, shape or form, not microwaving, those, not those that wanna cheat at home. Right. Fabio who's listening and but once you do it, like it's such a self-confidence builder once, especially once you've had a poor day mm-hmm like, what can I do? Like, I'm gonna cook something. This is here in my space. This is what I'm doing right now. This moment. And creativity would be similar to that. Yeah. Kind of response of, you know, learning from those classic masters and failing to sound like them. that's my style. I'm totally gonna want chef after I finish castle. So. So to go off of a a random tangent that kind of hopefully brings us together here is not knowing anything about cooking and being just dangerous enough to know anything about live music. Other than the DJing background that I'm from is, do you find some kind of correlation between cooking and poetry where you're kind of bringing things together to create something, or is that completely two different worlds to you? In the world of just again, cooking, I cook at home, I'm not gonna ever proclaim to be something fancy. Right. um, But yeah, you learn where to go. You, you learn where to move in certain things when you're just. Small child. Let's figure out toddler tacos today. Let's where are we going with this? The spice. And you just like, know what to pull. Yeah. In a lot of ways. And you know, to peel back the onion a little bit more metaphor. Yeah. it's like a little bit too much spice will do this, this versus that. You know, you, you learn your own taste. Right. And so similar to creativity, you, you, I have words that I pivot to and I've despised myself. And I was like, ah, saw it starts so many songs with maybe like, stop it. Be certain once in your life. Like you learn where like, where you've gone and words that you pivot from. I get, you know, years ago I used to complain about. At 18. You'd hear all these songwriters be like, I drank a bottle of whiskey. No, you didn't. You didn't you'd liar like right. I don't believe. And it was a long, real, no, it wasn't. You went down the street, like very true. You're not being authentic. Are you sure he didn't drink a bottle? The whiskey, if you draw drank a bottle of whiskey herpes shirt, didn't drive down a long road. I mean, like it just logically doesn't work. It just, it's not there for me. I went to the liquor shore and you can buy like the little baby. Is it pints? Whatever. Like the that's not what he was singing about. Well, fanatically, you can't say I was drinking a little airplane bottle. yeah. Well, no, cause you have the airplane bottles. It's just the, and then there's the like midsize, like the tool of more we have is a midsize and then you have your more traditional bottle. Take a midsize bottle of little whiskey that's make much better. Right. But that's probably what you did. Right. And then you wrote this song, poetic license aside. Yes. Right. but again, you learn that nuance and you would see it in anything else. You know, Spielberg film by watching this jewelry, you know, immediately she's the trailer place, you know, a fro film, as soon as a trailer plays, there's there's nuance and taste to anything that you're gonna have Chris. Nolan's my guy, Michael bay. Oh yeah. Soon as you easily, as soon as the trailer like hits in that first hint. Yep. Michael bay is directing that. Yeah. That's a good point too. Yeah. Yeah. But everyone has their own style. I mean, fro I feel like he is on like different he's all over the place. Yeah. But he definitely has like a good, I don't know. I feel like he does a good job at directing people truly gives you justice. I'm gonna look up the, the track list here for fro. Just everything that he's done, cuz it, it truly, he hasn't directed a ton of movies. Cause I looked it up the other night cuz we were watching Ironman. He's directed a ton. Oh no, he hasn't directed a lot. He's produced a lot of PE things mm-hmm mm-hmm and people don't realize that. So you're looking at swingers mm-hmm you're looking at elf. I'm going for just all the words. Oh man. He's been oh, he was, he was in the replacements. Oh yes. He was a lineman. He was like that over the top guy. Wow. He's like, oh my gosh, let's go. Let's go slap in his head. Batman forever. Why this? Oh, Cowboys, Cowboys and aliens. That was, that was his doing okay. I mean, it's just crazy amount of like stellar work. I mean obviously the MCU is. I knew a fro from uh, count, it comes up 34th in the list of, of 2004 hit Wimbleton that was a random movie. I saw that in theaters and I was like, that's so different. Yeah. But he did also direct the new cinemagraphic quote unquote lifestyle lion king in 2018. Yeah. Oh yeah. With Beyonce. Mm-hmm I don't know why I said it like that, but I, I don't either, because that's how you say it. Right, right. So I not say it. I was like, I'm pretty sure you don't say B say you don't say it like a commoner, like Beyonce. my almost two year old watches that all the time. What? He loves the lion king. Yeah. Oh, and he did the jungle book. Oh. He watches that too. And he goes RA. Yeah, he did the jungle book. And then that was so good that he did. They gave him the lion. but like, he acted in a ton of random stuff, but he's, he's low key, been the director in a few things that people like to know. I have to pay more attention now. Yeah. As soon as you know him, you're like, oh, like in four Christmases, he was Denver. Mm mm-hmm I don't know. I mean, so good. We'll we'll get back to you, Mike. Yeah, you're fine. Take your time. Sorry. You just, now that we were just fan board over fab for a while. So one of my, the, the famous question of whiskey and wisdom podcast is what would you tell your, tell your younger self, if you could tell them anything right now, I knew you were gonna ask me that. crazy question. What would I tell my younger self mm-hmm yeah. A number of things My, my recent gym is you know, like stupidity before maliciousness with most interactions in your life. Hmm. You know, anytime there's some sort of provocative thing in your world and it's, you know, why would he do it to me? Like, no, no, he's probably just human error. In some regard it's not, someone's like got a bond villain, esque seat and a cat. And they're just like, I will get him this way. no, that's not how life works. You idiot. Yep. Stupidity before me. It's justness thank you for breaking that down. Cuz my head was like, huh? Yeah. Human error before someone is actually trying to get you in some sort of way. Yeah. I love that too, because I was breaking that down earlier today too is like. There, there was an issue that happened to work and not within our workspace, but within our purview of what we analyzed mm-hmm and I was like, it, it wasn't malicious that person wasn't trying to accomplish something evil. That person just didn't understand what they were trying to analyze. right. I was like, they, they weren't trying to take down the world right, right, right. I mean, that's so, so I mean, that's like most of my college years and just any sort of just bursting of the bubble, why would that occur ever? And to me, to me, of all people, because I, you know, I'm special, the whole world revolves around me. no, it doesn't, it doesn't like just mellow out, man. I don't know. You have, I would tell my younger self don't take any everything so seriously, you know, there's a scene from. Mad men where the Draper character. Oh, I forget the character's name. Now I'd have to look up at the, the young salesperson. Who's about to get married in the first episode. Yeah, I know you're talking about what's that cat's name? You got the iPad. I can find up. Oh, I'll find it. Hold on. Oh, we're gonna think about it in a second. But you know, every, the Draper says in the show, like, you know, the, world's just an entire bra strap snap, and it's just like everything's to your whim. It's not mm-hmm it's not, don't take it just so seriously. Like I'm just gonna take over the world and figure it out and it's coming. I just saw his face again. Like the figure's there. Oh yeah. You talk about the, the young kid who it's Vince. Pete Campbell. Yeah. Pete Campbell. Yes. Pete Campbell character. In that show, you loved to hate him. He was such a brat. Yes. You loved to hate him. Oh my gosh. That, you know, having an understanding of just like, dude, just do your thing. You have so much more in your control than you actually do, which this would pivot to your COVID question. Mm-hmm one thing that I've, that has helped me over the last number of years, and it was probably amongst COVID, especially, probably having a child is, you know, I'm born again, Christian. I adhere to those precepts mm-hmm and you still have moments of humanity where you freak the hell out mm-hmm and stoicism kind of has yeah. Entered into my life and from recommendation from my a friend of mine and studying that kind of process, you know Paul from scripture was more than likely a stoic mm-hmm which is neither here nor there for anybody else, but me, but understanding those, those practices of, of what is within your control. And so that would probably be, be the most applicable thing to my younger self is so much of torment, relational, torment, and professional torment growing up and today, like, it's just, no, you're totally fine. Yeah, totally fine. You know why? Cause like you have a house, you have an apartment, you have like a roof and you have electricity coming through the yard to your building and you have an Xbox that you play with occasionally, like and you have whiskey in, not on the floor in the glass, like it's, you're totally fine. And there, you know, understanding your time better. Oh my gosh. What a fricking killer that was growing up. Mm-hmm no, I'm just gonna like, oh the whole it's four 30 now. Like you've pissed it away doing something. One practice. Over last number of years has been what you can do within an hour. Yeah. And so I started to gather trash around my neighborhood. Okay. I'd park, my van not sketchy at all in a 15 passenger with this mustache and met stash, Mets, hat, and everything with a bag. What, how was the law not called? And so I'd get a little, you know, first it was like, I had gloves and I was like, I need to find a picker thing to do this. This is unreasonable. So I get a picker thing and I'm like, I'd set the clock and only spend an hour only do an hour. Can't go above. Sure. You, you could, could, yeah. The point is an hour. And so you'd gather it and you do thing and you're like, oh shit, this is a whole bag. And that's another bag and Wilmington's filthy at times, but like you gather it and you clean it up. And you look back and this is what you have completed. Yeah. Did that within one hour of your time. So that was kind of like a, what you can, again, it all kind of relates life is spaghetti, not waffles, but it's right. I'm looking at my phone, just needlessly, just looking at my phone and now put it down. Just cuz what you could do in this hour is go right. What you could go do in this hour is love your wife. What you could go do in this hour is watch that film you've wanted to watch or listen to that record or contemplate your top five records of all time. Put on a record. Yeah. Open the bottle of wine. Really think about the bottle of wine. So processing things like that is probably what I'd probably hand him the stoic book at the end of the day and say like, this is, this is what's gonna treat you better. Right? One of the things that I posted in like early 2020 when COVID first started is it kind of brings both of those ideas together in two different aspects. Is I posted that our in the world that we live in in America is that an hour spent doing what I hours spent doing. Whatever we're doing can be spent more wisely doing something else, like being off of a phone, being more like spending that time is worth more value than money. And I had a comment come back and the comment was like, oh, how first world is that comment that you would say that this hour that you spent doing whatever on your phone is worth more than like, like money or whatever, when there's people starving that need money to eat. And I was like, although that is true. I posted this on Facebook to people that have thousand plus dollar phones in their hand and free time to spend on internet that they pay for to bitch, to bitch about a thing. Right. No. Right. You find that incredible. Yeah. Like, and someone would say first world. Yeah. I'm like, so first world problems. Okay. yeah. I was like, so I, I reached my audience that I was hoping to reach. Thank you so much for wasting your time on your thousand dollars phone, right? Yeah. Bitching about a comment that was made on internet that we both paid for. Like yeah. Like I get what you're coming from. However, this is the world we live in. This was the audience that it was for. So do what you can, you can control right. Is, is really what you could not control. That person's comment. Right, exactly. And that that's an unfortunate perspective to have, you know, and. I went to a master's program where it was like, and actually it's this no, it's not. I can walk into chew gum at the same time, like, right. Yeah, exactly. It's an unfortunate habit, but it's a habit like yeah. I can do it. It's funny. And, and, and again, so like bring it all together. Like I never thought about it before then it brought up again. So I was like, oh, thank it. Well, it did come, come to my mind again, forethought but right here it is. So it's interesting to think about it that way and yeah, for sure. Yeah. So thank you for coming on and thanks for sharing, sharing your wisdom and being able to be so open with us and talking about your journey through everything that you've experienced. Yeah. Thank you for the Woodford. Absolutely. Woodford. I'll write a handful of things about this. That'll do just fine. Yeah, you will enjoy it. That is one of my favorite every day that'll drinkers. So so. Because we know you're on the Innerwebs, even though you're not the best at marketing, not great at all. Where can people find you on the socials? You know, Mikela and the stonewalls were on Spotify. Mike blare and the stonewalls have an Instagram. Mike Blair music has an Instagram. Nice Mike bla music has I, if there was a way I could just bring it all to Mike bla music for the solo and the band. I think I would, you could follow em, both cuz it's a click away and yeah, I'm down take extra five seconds everyone. it's like an act cuz you can control it, right? It'll be in the show notes. Yes. Yep. Spotify. That's probably the largest kind thing. Just kind of saying that I, that shares it obviously. Yeah. But Mike learned them stonewalls check it out. Almanac county was the most late latest release that we did dropped it on black Friday last year. You know, I'm happy I made that record mm-hmm and happy that songs came out the way they did. So yeah, check it out. Love it. That's great. Just for a random, other shout out, where did you record that? Album at hourglass studios. Okay. That's why I figured you recorded it. Yeah. Yeah. I know tr real well. And I, you know, it's been, I think we won that it's then. Oh yeah. We won that. And then that conglomerate of the stonewalls dispersed, because everybody just grew up, you know, jobs were accepted. Children were born, moves were taken. And so I just was like, what the hell am I gonna write about? So I think Trent would probably smirk to hear this You know, it took forever to make that record just cuz I had to like start from scratch. What do you have to say? You want all this time and you don't know what to do with it. You want like I guess I gotta go write songs now. Like yeah. Right. That's the best way to come to it. Yeah. I mean being worse to put pen to paper mm-hmm but yeah, check it out. We will definitely be checking that out. I just wanna say thank you to everybody for listening to this episode. You know, if you want to drop us like on all our socials it's at whiskey and wisdom, just like Mike we're on Spotify for our podcast. And also on Instagram, if you get real board Tyler has posted a few tos, please help us out there. And if you are on apple podcast, leave us a nice review. Cause if you don't have a nice review. Don't say it at all. that's my mom always said if you wanna stay awake throughout the day, we have partnered with a couple people because Tyler has a tendency to not wanna stay awake. And I have a tendency to take a nap. But we partnered with bones, coffee to get you up in the morning. They have a bunch of fun different flavors and they're coffee roastery use coat wisdom, save you some money. They'll ship it straight to your front door. So that way you don't have to go talk to people. if you're like me, I hate doing that. And if you don't drink a job job, but it's fine. If you don't drink coffee, we also linked up with raise energy also code wisdom save you a little bit of money there as well. You know, it's a good energy drink that Tyler drinks, one of the few things that doesn't give him migraines. And I've tried it a few times. It's actually pretty good. Some really fun flavors that always come out with something new. At least a couple times a year. Yep. Check out the Baha blast. Is that the name of it? Baja? Baja line cuz Baja blast is, is trademarked. Yep. And taco bell, but it tastes identical. There we go. all right. So yeah. Thank you guys for coming on. Thank you for having me. Yeah. Thank you so much. Uh, Not often I get to run my mouth, so that's what we're here for. Yeah. Like yeah. Making friends, letting people tell their stories. Yeah, exactly. It's a win-win win. Drink a little drink. Talk a little talk. Cheers. Cheers. good is, so this is a song called uh, the best words can. I don't recognize this, John me, I don't remember the song I'm supposed to sing. How I give up everything. Be near you. Near you don't feel surprised with what I see. Oh man, for the new words in front of me, how I back for everything to be near you to be near you. So I save the story. You each and every day about how wanderer by nature and fool by trade. And I take little moments each and every day to show you more best words, can. Show you more words. I don't need to lie. Comfort bring, I don't wait on the moment to feel my need. How hot upset. Hey, everything to be. It's the. Be near you. So I save the beer story from you and every day about how a wonder of my nature. And fool by trade. I'll take the little moments each and every day to show you more than the best words can say to show you more, the best words can. Oh, thank you.