AcadianaCasts Presents:
AcadianaCasts Presents:
Swamp Pop, Survival, and Soul: 50 Years of Music with Gregg Martinez
Gregg Martinez’s 50-year music career is a testament to resilience, passion, and artistic evolution. In this episode, the Louisiana Music Hall of Famer reflects on his journey from singing at high school talent shows in Lafayette to performing in Atlantic City casinos and sharing stages with swamp pop legends. Along the way, he’s picked up stories you won’t believe—like getting handwritten praise from Ivana Trump—and hard-earned wisdom about the realities of being a working musician. Martinez shares how seeing Queen’s Live Aid performance transformed the way he views the stage, inspiring him to become a performer who connects deeply with his audience.
As the music industry shifts beneath his feet, Martinez remains grounded in community and culture. He talks about the importance of live shows in an era where album sales have vanished, and he encourages aspiring artists to embrace their craft and identity while preparing for rejection. Don’t miss the chance to catch Gregg live at the Blue Monday Jam on June 9th at The Grouse Room and his 50th Anniversary Celebration this August at Rock ‘n’ Bowl in Lafayette, LA. This conversation is more than just a look back—it’s a living reminder of why music matters.
AcadianaCasts Presents: Gregg Martinez!
*******
Thank you to our sponsor, Love of People Nonprofit! Visit www.loveofpeople.org to start "Helping Others Help Others" today!
*******
*******
"AcadianaCasts Presents" is the Flagship Podcast of the ACADIANACASTS NETWORK. Lafayette, LA based host, Carter Simoneaux talks with entertainers, business owners, athletes, chefs, and more - anyone who can help tell the story of Acadiana.
*******
If you want to watch this episode on YouTube, check out our channel! You can also watch the show on the KLFY+ App via Roku, Apple or Amazon Fire Stick
We used to sell albums and CDs and things, and that's gone. I mean, that was a huge part of our income, it was a huge part of our marketing and our promotion, and it's gone. It's just literally gone.
Speaker 2:Glad to have you. I'm Carter Semino, host of Acadiana Cast Presents. If you want to make podcasts like this, one other types of digital content like social media reels, online courses, live streams, you name it go to acadianacastcom to get your voice heard today. Start your digital content journey with us over at Acadiana Casts. Today's episode is sponsored by Love of People Nonprofit. You can see all the diapers behind me for the 10th annual Williams Bros Diaper Drive. Later on the episode we'll chat with our friend John Williams about an upcoming Blue Monday Jam, of which our guest today is featured in Louisiana Music Hall of Famer, Greg Martinez. Good conversation. Man's seen it and done it all. I was excited to talk to him and kind of pick his brain from a musician's standpoint. Hope you guys enjoy the episode. Let's get to it. So you graduated from Turlings.
Speaker 1:How'd you know that?
Speaker 2:Your bio on your website. Yeah, I've done my research. I'm a former journalist.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, turley's Catholic.
Speaker 2:What year?
Speaker 1:I had my 50th year last year, so 1974.
Speaker 2:What was Turley's like back then? Small, small.
Speaker 1:We had 59 seniors.
Speaker 2:Okay, is he co-ed still? Oh yeah, yeah, he was always co-ed.
Speaker 1:He was always co-ed, it was always co-ed. I wouldn't have gone if it wasn't.
Speaker 2:I only ask because in Covington I went to St Paul's All-Guide Catholic.
Speaker 1:School. Well, 9th and 10th I was in an all-boys.
Speaker 2:Okay, what was that?
Speaker 1:St Francis Seminary, cincinnati Ohio.
Speaker 2:Wow, is that where you're from originally?
Speaker 1:No, I'm from here, so why'd you go Cincinnati, ohio? Well, that's a long story, but I was a thousand miles away from home and mom and daddy couldn't couldn't do too much to me back if I was that far away, cause I was kind of bad, okay, but uh, they kicked me out after two years.
Speaker 2:Oh, wow. Yeah, she's right. When you started puberty, just started causing her.
Speaker 1:Well, eighth grade it kind of hit me but uh yeah, my mom wanted to preach really bad, so she didn't get one.
Speaker 2:But now the new pope's our cousin. So there you go. Yeah, he's got. He's got ties to. That's the story in the world's area sticking to it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and his, uh, his mama was a martinez, so okay, yeah so I got people doing some research to see if, uh, if, there's a connection somewhere so greg martinez.
Speaker 2:Obviously, when you first see the name, you think martinez. Yes, where, first see the name, you think Martinez.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 2:Where does the name, the pronunciation change come in?
Speaker 1:I think it's the Cajun way of saying it.
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 1:My great-grandfather I think it was Sebastian Martinez came from Spain and went up by Ula Fush and settled in the Cajun country, anyway. So I actually have Spanish on both sides, because my grandmother on my mother's side was a domang and there are some that say domang was dominguez and they dropped the z right somewhere along the line.
Speaker 2:Well, I remember like the first time I ever saw the name simono outside of just my family, it was mark simono played linebacker for the new orleans saints but he had no x and that was the first time I saw that. And then, you know, years later there's been mixed tellings of what happened, but I guess when my ancestors came here there was no X and then the X started being used when they got down to south Louisiana to delineate that maybe they were of a different, they weren't born here in Louisiana, maybe it was a Creole thing.
Speaker 1:I'm not sure I heard that whoever was the Catholic priest in the town is the one that wrote the names down, because he might have been the only one that could read and write in English.
Speaker 2:Right, because those are the only people who were literate. They were super educated, yeah.
Speaker 1:And so he like the name. Bro, there's several different ways to spell it and it was all because of the priest that spelled it at the time. That's what I've heard that attracts for me.
Speaker 2:So growing up here in Lafayette was there like a corner store where you had to go get some food.
Speaker 1:I lived on a farm on Butcher Switch Road between Cairncrow and Lafayette, so the schools and church with everything was in carancro, so, uh, so we weren't close to anything. Uh, you know, I could ride my bike to a store or something, but we weren't, uh, walking distance for sure what was your?
Speaker 2:uh, what was the first local musician or band that you remember?
Speaker 1:I remember really digging hmm, probably, um, our school dances at turlings. You know, because I was, I wanted to do live music. So bad so anytime I had an opportunity to hear a live music, uh, there was a band called we the people and uh, well, I thought they were the cats meow, and I lived a very. My parents were very, uh, I was very sheltered.
Speaker 1:I wasn't allowed to go to Signorelli's, like everybody else was, on the weekends Because I think they'd let anybody in if you were 16. Of course the drinking age was 18 back then, but anyway, I never was allowed to go see those guys over there and when I did discover them later they blew me away. But in high school it was the bands that played like at the proms and there was a band called Isosceles Popsicle. I like that name.
Speaker 2:That sounds like a progressive rock band name. Yeah yeah, but back then. So is that? What was the style of music? Was it like swamp hop? Oh no, it was top 40.
Speaker 1:Okay, top okay, yeah, Doobie Brothers or whatever was popular at the time you know that kind of thing. Okay, we, the people, did a lot of Chicago because they had horns and things like that.
Speaker 2:So when did you kind of start falling in love with that swamp pop sound?
Speaker 1:Well, I about a year ago no, I'm kidding Falling in love with that swamp pop sound Well. About a year ago, I started out just playing acoustic guitar. I learned to play that in the ninth grade up there in Cincinnati and so I just played and sang and that stuff was really popular back then James Taylor and all that kind of thing.
Speaker 1:And then in high school, two things happened. In the ninth grade they had a talent show in the spring at the seminary and they have all these friars that would come from Detroit and Dayton and all that, and they would come for this thing and I won it my freshman year, wow. And all of a sudden I was popular the next day. So, okay, I decided to go back the next year, but anyway, it's too long a story to tell you what happened. But anyway, they, they kicked me out after 10th grade and um, and I didn't do anything bad. I was just a boy, you know, just a normal red-blooded american boy, and uh, anyway, I came to turlings and then the spring of my junior year I sang in front of the whole school for, uh, it was some kind of thing for the speech team which I was a part of interesting and um, anyway, uh, that day changed my life too.
Speaker 1:I mean, that was, it was a one of those paradigm moments. Uh, I decided because I was popular. The next day I had a prom date, like a week later, you know, and I said, all right, this is this is it, this is what I'm gonna do. Yeah, but I just played acoustic guitar and sang and then after that, uh, john denver came on the scene. He was huge, right, and I would. I would play everybody's wedding, uh, uh, brother abdallah, everybody, uh, richard zuschlag, I sang his wedding and his funeral. I sang his funeral last year, wow and uh, but everybody wanted john denver songs and I could do that.
Speaker 1:So, but I was, uh, my voice was getting big and getting bigger and bigger and I wanted to do something. I wanted to have a band and be a band leader. So, uh, after that, I formed a little trio and I would do like six nights a week, uh, at different lounges and things, which wasn't what I should have done, but anyway, that's what I I thought that's what I was supposed to do, and eventually I heard the guys that really impacted me was TK, hugh Land, gigi Shin, and they were doing R&B, swamp pop to me back then was old people's music. Johnny Allen was my principal in seventh and eighth grade assistant principal at Acadian Elementary, which is acadian middle now on ma street, and uh, he was a science teacher.
Speaker 1:He was a very good teacher and uh, he, he paddled me, uh, he used to whoop my butt with that paddle uh, quite a few times and my mom taught at the school, so I couldn't get away with anything oh, yeah, no I was, I was, you were a target yeah so johnny's got a good story. He could tell you about the time I told a teacher to go to hell.
Speaker 3:Uh-oh.
Speaker 1:And then she went and told him and I had to, yeah, it was, yeah, I was just trying to be cool in front of my friends, you know Right, and but anyway, Well, I love that you had this kind of cataclysmic moment whenever you, you know, performed in front of the school and in front of your yeah and then it just kind of clicked like, oh, this is what I'm kind of meant to do right, yeah, definitely um so you just kind of chased that high for the rest of your life yeah, yeah and, but I kept.
Speaker 1:I was a late bloomer, I guess you would say I evolved. It took me a while to find I was very versatile. I could. I could sing anything and, uh heck, I was in a production at USL UL Showboat. I was part of that production and I could do the acoustic guitar thing. Then I started doing a Tom Jones thing with the three-piece thing, but I wanted to be a band leader and so it took me a few years to get to that and then after that I never stopped doing that. Wow, I wanted to be TK and Gigi.
Speaker 2:You know, I assume some of your songs have been on like K-Bone. Oh yeah, what was the first time you heard yourself on the radio?
Speaker 1:It wasn't here. It was, I'm not sure where it was, in Texas. I think I was living in texas and, uh, there were some stations that played me over there, okay yeah, so is.
Speaker 2:Is there anything? What? What would you say in all these different places you live, because I know you, like talked about beforehand, you lived on north shore for a little bit but also uh, that's recent, but you also, you know, lived in cincinnati texas.
Speaker 1:I lived in atlantic city atl four years. Yes.
Speaker 2:Now I've got some questions about Atlantic City. Yeah, Vegas of the East, you know.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I lived in Nashville for a short time.
Speaker 2:So, of all these different places, what is it about Louisiana that you often find yourself missing the most? Is it people, food?
Speaker 1:Well, I don't know about anybody else but me in particular. I am a southerner.
Speaker 1:Yeah else but me in particular, I ama. I'm a southerner, yeah, and wherever I've been, I'd never fit in unless I was here. Greg holman had the same problem. He was married to share, living in la, and the marriage broke up because he needed to get back south. And I totally get that, because I was living in new jersey for four years nothing against new jersey people but uh, uh, I just didn't fit in. I didn't. I have to have a sense of place. I've always been that way and I didn't realize that until I don't know, sometime later, maybe late 20s, 30s or whatever but I moved to Texas and I was there 16 years and again, I just didn't fit in and I came back home in 06, and I've been back ever since. I mean, I went to New Orleans for a little while, then I went to the North Shore, but I still had that sense of place.
Speaker 2:What can you tell folks about the grind of having, I guess, a residency in Atlantic City or playing in the French Quarter every single night?
Speaker 1:Never did the French Quarter, but I have friends that do Right.
Speaker 2:I know our mutual friend Steve Adamsams well, steve was one of shelton.
Speaker 1:Sony still does it shelton plays guitar with, uh, dupsy jr, and he used to play with me too, and he's, he does, but when he's not with dupsy, he does his bourbon street thing heck, I don't know he'll play. You can play as long as you want, but it's like six, eight hours, I don't know. I mean it's like forever.
Speaker 1:It's a grind it started in the afternoon and um, anyway, I've never done that, but I did the house band thing for a long time yeah, my uncle did the uh, the piano bar stuff for for years.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean I did the driftwood lounge here and I was like 22 years old and everybody was in their 40s. I thought they were old. You know, I was a kid and uh, but I and then I would go from there across the highway to Lafitte's and I would go to the Hello Texas Club 1981. I was there like a year and a half every night doing house band things. And then I branched out and started doing one-nighters and things like that, or three or four nights here, that kind of thing. But then when I went to Atlantic City it was six nights a week and you'd play six weeks at a time and then you'd come back in about 12 weeks. I would do like 24 weeks a year, I think something like that in Atlantic City at Donald Trump's casino.
Speaker 2:Wow, so you worked for the president. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:His wife was. She wrote me a note. The first time she heard me sing, wow. It was at the casino. I don't know who she was. She was sitting at the table by herself, well-dressed in front of me. I didn't know anything. I was country come to town. When I got there, I thought Trump had something to do with with a Trump card, it had something to do with gambling. I didn't know. There was a guy named Trump. And then, when I get there, everything's Trump. You know billboards, all this stuff. So I said, all right. So, like I said the first night or the second night, his wife, ivana, his first wife, was sitting right in front of me and she's clapping at everything I did. She's writing on a piece of paper. Anyway, a waitress gave it to me after the show. She said here's a note from Mrs Trump. She heard you and it said enjoyed the music. Great job, ivana Trump. I still have it in a photo album somewhere.
Speaker 2:And the next day my agent. So you're locked into that gig for a while. After that then.
Speaker 1:My agent called me the next day in Orlando. My agency was in orlando and they called and said uh, you know, ivana trump saw your show last night. I said, yeah, yeah, I got a note from them. They said well, they want you to sign an exclusive agreement. I said is that good? Yes, go sign it. So I went up to the entertainment offices and basically it was an exclusive contract that I couldn't appear in any other casinos in Atlantic city unless it was a Trump property. So I did that for like four years and but I was homesick.
Speaker 1:Sure, you know cause I relocated up there after after maybe a year and so I'll tell you what I've.
Speaker 2:I've played a couple of casino gigs like LaBerge and like Charles and little things like that, cypress Bayou, and you know. No shame on people who like to gamble. I like to do a little sports gambling, you know, makes the games a little more interesting, but I've never been a big blackjack or a slot machine guy or anything like that. And man, some of those times you go to those casinos and it just kind of breaks your heart seeing somebody with some old lady with an oxygen machine next to the slot machine, putting the rest of social security into the thing, and they're, they're, they're not.
Speaker 1:The most glamorous gigs is no, like what I'm getting at and that's in gambling. That's the only bad habit I'd say I never got. So I mean, I used to, uh, I used to have to advance my guys money because they'd lose all their money and they didn't have any money before payday and I'd have to give them some money and stuff.
Speaker 2:But uh, I never, I never got into the gambling part of it how far uh is the drive, or do you take a train from atlantic city to new york city? Oh it's a train ride a couple hours okay yeah, I did that did that a couple times. Yeah, you ever play in in new york city no, I sat in with patty labelle on broadway.
Speaker 1:Uh, wow, back in 1986 I think. Yeah, very cool, yeah, I was signed.
Speaker 2:I wound up signing a recording thing with uh people that Wow Back in 1986, I think, yeah, very cool, yeah, I was signed.
Speaker 1:I wound up signing a recording thing with people that were involved in her career and they had the sound of Philadelphia, which was what Motown was in the 60s. Philadelphia sound was in the 70s, the OJs, the Spinners, hall Oates, teddy Pendergrass Well, hall Oates weren't signed with the same label, but anyway, all those guys, I was involved with them.
Speaker 2:Very cool. Yeah, how would you define the Philadelphia sound of that?
Speaker 1:time it was a sophisticated a lot of strings and stuff. It was, you know, if you don't know me by now, classic sound of Philadelphia song. You know, Teddy, if you don't know me by now. Classic Sound of Philadelphia song, you know, and heavy on the strings. And always the singers were always my producer, keith Benson. He was the drummer for Teddy Pendergrass and all those sessions he has platinum records all over the walls in his house. Now he's like a professor, whatever you call it at Harvard, wow, and he looks like Fat Albert on on the cartoons. But this guy was brilliant and uh, anyway, he, uh, he talked me into signing with them and uh, but um, he said that the weakest singer that they had they had at the philadelphia uh studio was Lou Rawls, and Lou Rawls was a good singer, so for him to be the weakest of them they had some really good singers, so to be involved in that group was a huge compliment for me, I imagine.
Speaker 2:So yeah, so like I was saying, I play just solo little acoustic gigs. There's a singer-songwriter out of Key West named Michael McLeod who has this line from a song called Tourist Town Bar, where he says I'm just an alcohol-powered jukebox here in this tourist town bar.
Speaker 1:Oh, I like that yeah.
Speaker 2:And I can relate to that because I'll have a couple beers and I'm just playing background music background. Yeah, can you? I saw a clip of some podcast using maybe someone answering this, but I'd love to get your opinion on it. Can you tell folks the difference between a gig and a show?
Speaker 1:it's on your mind. It's a gig, is a job. You know it used to be a music gig. Now everybody uses the term oh yeah, I got a day gig I got. Uh, yeah, I'm a I got a lawyer gig.
Speaker 1:You know it used to be a music gig. Now everybody uses the term oh yeah, I got a day gig. I got uh, yeah, I'm a, I got a lawyer gig. You know, uh, but it used to be a for a music uh term and uh, to me, uh, a show, it's in your mind, uh, uh. You know I'm a big believer in presentation and and I think big, I uh, I think big, I go for the gusto, I go for a big events. I may not get them, but I go for them and uh, and that's, that's the way I think so that's interesting.
Speaker 2:My mom has a similar philosophy, uh, in doing this wedding band, party band type type thing for years, growing up with them. Um, she would always, you know, try to tell me and my dad and remind us that you know, a lot of times, a lot of times, people aren't as musically tuned in as we are as musicians, and you have to understand that oftentimes people hear with their eyes yeah, so this presentation, it's no shade on these guys, but bands like the Bag of Donuts, they have these big presentations and whatnot. They're not really playing the most intricate type things and they probably tell you that as well. Right, uh, but but they put on a show, yes, and, and you kind of align with, kind of yes, it's all about the presentation.
Speaker 1:Um, mtv changed everything. Uh, to me, because we were in the 80s, I was still in our 20s and, uh, we watch it all day long because we, we play music every night and we get up and just watch MTV videos. And it changed. It made everything visual. I don't know what's happened, because to me, I mean I don't want to be derogatory, but some of the artists today, especially in the new country, I don't get it, but you couldn't have gotten away with that in the 80s. It but uh, it's, uh, you couldn't have gotten away with that in the 80s?
Speaker 2:uh, you wouldn't have been on mtv. Do you remember a, a band or or video that like really caught you? Like whoa, what is this?
Speaker 1:uh, back then I'll tell you, a huge moment for me was live aid. Okay, we were in Atlanta, georgia, and Live Aid was being broadcast live and my keyboard player had a VCR and he was recording the whole thing. But we were watching it in our hotel. I think we were all in one hotel room, you know, we had more rooms, but we were all watching it together and it was really good.
Speaker 1:Dire Straits came on and I wasn't into that at all, but they did sultans of swing and they blew me away. I said, wow, look at this, these guys are like, they had the stage presence and they it was in the presentation, you know, and they just, they broke it down, they slowed it down. They had a sax solo, they picked it back up, they it was just. But after that queen came on. I was not a queen fan, I was into r&b, I wasn't into rock and roll, but the rock and roll that day, uh, it was. It was the presentation. He came out and he owned it. Freddie mercury just if you look up today, google greatest live rock performances of all time, it's always queen.
Speaker 2:At live, it is always number one, yeah it, it leads all the lists.
Speaker 1:It blew me away and it was like 20 minutes and he just owned it. It was like 100,000 people and he had them in the palm of his hand and the music, I mean the guy could sing. So anyway, that was huge and I've used that as fuel for my career. I think big, I think along those lines. I think about presentation. I don't have that kind of uh. I'm not as flamboyant as uh, as freddie mercury was. Gg shen was sure we I called him the uh, the freddie mercury of blue-eyed soul.
Speaker 2:you know uh, but uh anyway so I, I imagine you know maybe this is, you know, changing the old order you get. But how often do you have like an ipad up there with the lyrics? I imagine you're? You tried to stay away from that.
Speaker 1:I'm old school, yeah, yeah, I love that, yeah, yeah, my, I do a duo with my son. We started playing acoustic guitar a few years ago. I kind of got the ovi, like they say and uh and uh.
Speaker 1:Actually I bought a guitar from gg because he had invited me to, uh, his house in monroe to give me his trumpet because he had copd and he couldn't play it anymore. And he gave it to me, which is like a holy grail, and there was an acoustic guitar in the case. So I said, what is this? He said, oh, somebody, he had that high voice, somebody owe me some money. And uh and uh, they gave me this guitar. I'm selling it. So I so I opened it up and I looked at it and it was like my dream guitar from high school and it was a 1974 Guild. I looked up the serial number and all that. So I started playing again. And then my son, who was pretty young back then, he could play and we started doing a duo and so I started doing that again. In fact we're playing this Saturday because he moved to New Mexico and he works offshore, but he's in, he goes back offshore Monday, so he's going to come stay with me Saturday and we're going to play at Buck and Johnny's in Brobridge.
Speaker 2:Oh, nice Saturday night. Okay, so not the Zydeco brunch.
Speaker 1:No, yeah, the Saturday night 6.30.
Speaker 2:Yeah, they're really great musicians here. Great, yeah, saturday night 6.30. Yeah, they're really great to their musicians here. Great folks over there, buck and Johnny's. We'll be right back to the conversation in just a little bit, but first I want to hear from our friend John Williams with Love of People Nonprofit. John is a friend of the show. He's always welcome here at Acadiana Cast. Some might say he is the magic behind Acadiana Cast Presents, but that's neither here nor there. Folks, what we're talking about is the Blue Monday Jam coming up on June the 9th, and this is a special one. John, real quick, just remind folks who maybe this is the first time seeing this, what Blue Monday is.
Speaker 3:Blue Monday is a very special event for our whole community. We're approaching our 10th year and what we do is we use the event to raise awareness for the needs of aging, retired musicians and artists throughout Acadiana. You know, understanding, that these people dedicated their lives to our culture through their music. When they get older, they're not able to play as much and we like to make sure that they have some of those basic care needs in order to keep living a good life.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and the Blue Monday Jam is one of the ways that we do that. We've been having it at the Grouse Room, beautiful downtown Lafayette, from 6 to 9,. You can check out some of the best music. $20 gets you in the door. You get a blue plate, special, typically red beans which is what else you can eat on a Monday in south Louisiana than some red beans. But this specific Blue Monday Jam on June 9th uh has a. It's a special little twist to it. Tell the folks about it.
Speaker 3:We had a a a wonderful honor working with Joel Savoie and Valcour records in um. We played a small role in the Clifton Chenier project. It's his 100-year birthday and they produced this beautiful album with so many talented artists involved and this has been great to be a part of that project. But Joel reached out in order to assist Love of People in raising some money for Blue Monday Mission. He's gifting us a signed copy of the vinyl record and we're going to be auctioning that record off in hopes to raise some more money and that way we continue our mission.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's what better way to do that and, of course, to honor Clifton as well. We're going to do our little part on the stage the best way we know how, and we'll have some. We don't want to give out the full lineup just yet.
Speaker 3:Yeah, but some very special guests. I mean Lee Alanzino, of course he's one of the Blue Monday All-Stars but he also is a very intricate bass player on the record itself and I can't wait to really release all the guys that's coming to help us do this tribute to Cliff and Chenier. And thank you for Valcourt Records and allowing us the opportunity to work with them.
Speaker 2:Well, you can follow the Blue Monday concert series. It's a page on Facebook, kind of see when we're going to be playing all the time, not just on June 9th. A great page to follow. You can also go to loveofpeopleorg to keep up with all the things happening with Love of People and the Blue Monday mission. John, anything else that you wanted to touch on before we end this little conversation.
Speaker 3:Just getting wanted to touch on before we end this little conversation. Just, you know, getting everybody to come back out to the grouse room every second Monday of the month, this June 9th, is definitely going to be a very special show. We have different people coming in for the jam, and what better way than to celebrate your culture by participating All?
Speaker 2:right. Well, that's enough from John. Let's get back to the real episode right now. Did you have any problem, or did you see people outside of Louisiana resonate with your music when you're on the road?
Speaker 1:When I first got to Atlantic City, there was a guy named Freddie Empire.
Speaker 2:Oh, that's a powerful name. Well, that's not his real name?
Speaker 1:Yeah, but he was the top male singer in Atlantic City and he played Vegas. He lived in Vegas, is it Kerner? Oh, no, okay, he was a black guy. He had the jerry curl and he could dance too. He was probably I was late 20s, he was probably 40, maybe early 40s, and he could sing man, and his band was always killer and he did dance and I and I got, I saw him and I was like what am I doing here? You know this, this is what I'm. If they're all like this, I'm, I'm dead in the water imposter syndrome. But they, uh, but they weren't. He was the only one and I became we became the two best lead singers in Atlantic City, anyway, but he was something. We're still in touch. He lives in Vegas.
Speaker 2:So then you started getting more comfortable. You feel like, oh, I kind of belong here.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we were the only southern band up there and we were from Louisiana and that Cajun culture was sweeping the country at the time. Sure, justin Wilson was on PBS and all of that. I mean the Cajun culture. Paul Prudhomme was getting famous and well, we milked that for all we could, I mean. And we had personality. My drummer, sean Falk, do you know, sean?
Speaker 3:Mm-mm.
Speaker 1:He had personality and he still does. I mean just over the top, and they loved it. Man, we went over like a flood. I mean it was good.
Speaker 2:So this will come out on Monday, and the following Monday will be our Blue Monday Jam Love of People's Blue Monday Jam and you're going to be performing a few songs.
Speaker 1:Happy, happy to have you it's not your first time, though on the blue monday stage, right I got inducted in louisiana music hall of fame 2019, I think on the saturday night and I think the following monday I did, I was a guest with the blue monday nice very cool.
Speaker 2:What can you tell folks about the blue monday all-stars, you know, the steve adams, the lee allen, zeno, lord richard tony gula, yeah well, steve and uh tony uh play with me and my band and um um bill leblanc is my regular bass player but, if he can't make it because steve and everybody does different things.
Speaker 1:Yeah, steven, bill play with gto and uh, so uh, I'll get lee allen to play with me, and so, yeah, those guys are super musicians and great guys.
Speaker 2:I mean, my favorite thing is watching them practice in here and maybe there'll be a guest artist coming in there. They're going to do one of their favorite songs and the band's never heard it and they'll listen to it once and then maybe they're kind of like diddling through it and then they'll go all right, one more time. And they're like all right, one more time and then like all right, one more time, just this part, all right, got it, and then it's, it's, yeah, it's on the money. Been doing it a long time.
Speaker 1:Tony's a monster player. I mean yeah.
Speaker 3:And a great songwriter.
Speaker 1:I've recorded some of his songs. Yeah, he's just a great singer too, both of them.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I love to see the up-and-coming artists have a backing band for the first time. Maybe they're used to some of the people who come in. They've maybe performed to backing tracks or maybe just a buddy of theirs who plays guitar, but never a tight, tight band like this. It's cool to kind of see them come alive on stage when they have this support behind them. Yeah, can you speak to what it's like as a performer having a tight band behind you?
Speaker 1:It just makes it so much easier, you know, when you don't have to worry about, are they going to mess this up, are they going to screw this part up? You know, it just gives you confidence and it just takes all the pressure off. If that band is uh and it comes from playing together, you gotta, you know, you just gotta play and part of you know what's become of this.
Speaker 2:blue monday mission is not just, uh, raising money to help aging musicians you know, some of them to pay off some of their medical bills, you know, help them get stage time later in life, but also to help the next generation not make the same mistakes as some of these old cats who went on the road at an early age, didn't know anything about saving money or treating themselves like a business, and I know that's something you kind of align with. What is some advice you give to young artists in finding their proverbial voice?
Speaker 1:I would say take it more serious than I did. I didn't take it serious until later.
Speaker 1:I thought it was just a big party sure and it was all about women and partying and and all of that, and I didn't take it serious. And by the time I did, I mean I took it a little more serious when I got to Atlantic City. But not. I had that record deal with those producers that had made stars out of Teddy Pendergrass and all those people and I squandered that because I was too busy partying and I'd be on the road. Between the six weeks in Atlantic City we'd be on the road. Usually we'd go down the east coast to Florida and back. But they'd say, look, we need you to come in and record these songs. And I said, well, I gotta play some music. You know, I got to make a living, you know, and I just didn't take it serious until later. So take it.
Speaker 1:So you know, moderation, sure Moderation, and you know and write songs. You know, I didn't write anything until I don't know how old I was when I started writing songs. So start, you know, write songs when you're young and uh, and you know, take it serious now, don't take yourself so serious. I'm a very self-deprecating kind of guy, and people that are not self-deprecating I don't have much use for them. But so I, uh, I don't take myself that serious still, but you have to take your career somewhat seriously and and uh and apply yourself and work hard what's the difference uh, biggest difference between coming up in the business, then verse now man, it's uh.
Speaker 1:The internet, for one thing is uh, it's good and it's bad but, it's, it's uh, if you're, uh, if you don't.
Speaker 1:Back then you had to have a record label, you had to be uh, I mean even to record. There were only three places around here that you could record phil platt, crowley and uh lalu, here in lapid, and that was it. Um, now you can record in your garage, you know, sure, in your living room so, and it can be good. It's because digital, digital, changed everything, and so when, when things went digital, um, it just made it easier to record, and now you've got too many people recording.
Speaker 2:Right. Because of that there's a bigger pond.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so it's kind of oversaturated, but at the same time it makes things a little more level.
Speaker 2:I feel like those who can grind it out and make it through. There's more autonomy than there was back then, like people have more control over their product.
Speaker 1:Right. But you know I say that it's never been a level playing field. You know people say why didn't you make it where? You know I didn't achieve what I was supposed to achieve. I'm an underachiever in some way. It depends how you look at things. I've recorded 14, 15 albums, solo albums. I've been all over the world. Um, you know, I've accomplished a few things, but in in some people may look at it I never got the hit record. I never got the big, the big record label deal and all of that. But, um, it never was a level playing field. It's not about it's, it's about luck, it's about timing. I was one of those artists that slipped through the cracks, like they say. Part of it's my fault. I changed directions too many times and I squandered some opportunities.
Speaker 2:Do you have any advice for artists when it comes to maybe dealing with music venues? Is there anything that you've learned about do's and don'ts when getting a show at a venue?
Speaker 1:Man, I haven't done venues in so long, I don't even remember. I just do festivals mostly now. I used to do casino shows until COVID and they haven't recovered from the COVID years.
Speaker 2:So that's interesting, the whole festival scene in Gambit. How does that compare to getting a gig at a casino or at a theater or a venue? A smaller venue.
Speaker 1:Festivals. Well, I like playing outdoors. You don't have to bring anything, everything's set up, backline's usually provided, and you play early, because I don't like the late nights anymore, and it took me a long time just to uh go to bed early when I changed, when I got out of the nightlife and uh, so I like, uh, I like playing earlier and uh, usually the crowds are good at a festival, um, so, yeah, I uh. The nightclubs, uh, it's been so long I couldn, I don't even know what to tell them your most valuable instrument is this whole thing right here.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean, I play trumpet in the band, I play guitar, acoustic, I play a little piano. I just got a baby grand piano a few months ago in my house. I got it in Mandeville. Anyway, I played piano and sang a song at Jazz Fest by myself just last month. Wow so, but yeah, my instrument is my voice yeah, how do you protect it? I take pretty good care of it. Some of my band members have said they've never met anyone take better care of their voice than I do.
Speaker 2:Any advice.
Speaker 1:No, but I never did. I didn't do that. I didn't do that when I was young, learning yourself. I had surgery in 1984, so over 40 years ago.
Speaker 2:Oh, wow.
Speaker 1:I had polyps on my vocal cords and it was from abuse, you know, just hollering and screaming every night and smoking, drinking, everything that goes along with the lifestyle, and I had lost it, you know. Then I got it back and I still took better care of it, you know. And I got it back and I still I took better care of it after, after the surgery, but I still, I was still smoking for a couple of years and then finally I quit all that and and had a spiritual awakening and I walked away from all of it for a time. And I don't drink ice water, I don't drink room temperature water, I take better care of things, I warm up and I'm singing as well or better than I ever have. I can't even explain it, wow, but I don't know. I try to take good care of it, but I've just been blessed.
Speaker 2:Did you ever have any vocal lessons or anything growing up?
Speaker 1:I had a little bit in high school at the seminary. The guy Fatherbert was his name and he was an award-winning uh music guy. They had a glee club and they would win awards and stuff and um, so I learned from him, uh, some breathing techniques and I didn't make the glee club my freshman year. Uh, because I tried out and I didn't make it because my voice was changing and I didn't have.
Speaker 1:My range was like four notes or something. He'd make you do the ma ma, ma, ma, ma, ma, ma, ma, ma, ma, ma ma and keep going. And I didn't have enough range to fit in one of the four voices categories and anyway, but that spring I won that talent show. So when I went back from 10th grade I didn't even have to try out. And yeah, and I got this and I did all the solos. Uh, that's awesome. So, uh, that that was uh, yeah how do you like me now?
Speaker 2:yeah, yeah, oh man, yeah, that was like that was a game changer for me when I found out don't put ice in in your water trying to protect your voice too hot, or?
Speaker 1:too cold is not good. No, we didn't care, we drank beer, we drank, and, uh, you know, so I don't, I don't, uh, I don't, I, uh, I didn't drink any alcohol for 16 years. And then I came back, moved back to Louisiana and Tony Gula and I, my band, we were playing at the Paragon in Marksville casino and after the gig, tony got a beer and cause Tony had done the same thing I did, he had a spiritual awakening and he walked away from it. But he said, you know, it's okay to drink a couple of beers. So, a spiritual awakening, and he walked away from it. But he said, you know, it's okay to drink a couple of beers, so you don't have to drink 12 or 15. I said, really, you don't have to drink, because we just drank until we passed out.
Speaker 1:And so I said okay, so I began to drink again in moderation, and so that makes a huge difference, you know.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 1:But I don't drink any alcohol until the gig's over. There you go. You have a celebratory drink, yeah.
Speaker 2:Me and my parents have this after we have a gig, I will go back to their house and have a glass of wine or a glass of whiskey and we kind of debrief yeah, do you have any sort of ritual like that after a gig?
Speaker 1:No, no, I don't think so. Okay like that after a gig. No, no, I don't think so. Okay, I just uh chill out.
Speaker 2:You know, yeah, we always just kind of talk about like what would, what went right, what went wrong.
Speaker 1:You know about, about the gig and yeah, well, no, um, I don't do that. Uh, we used to do that. Sure, yeah, in the 80s we would critique our and um recording. The band started doing that in the 80s and uh, it's like, oh, that's me, that's what I sing, like I hated it. But then you start fixing what you didn't like and then you record again and like, okay, that's better. But then you find something else. When you get to the point where you like what you hear, you're doing all right, you know you get, you're getting there when you don't, you don't hate yourself.
Speaker 2:That's nice. So you mentioned you love playing outside. Yeah, we are in south Louisiana.
Speaker 1:Do you have any tips for dealing with the heat Hydrate? Yeah, I never had a problem with it, though you ever have fans on stage? Anything like that I don't know the drummer, they always do, they all go all the fans?
Speaker 2:Yeah, but I seldom do. They ogle all the fans.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but I seldom do. Another thing about the outdoor, the festivals you're playing two hours max, maybe 90 minutes, maybe an hour. Jazz Fest is an hour. So I mean I got a lot of energy for an hour, but I don't have that much for three hours.
Speaker 2:Is there a discernible difference between southwest Louisiana crowds and more New Orleans area crowds?
Speaker 1:discernible difference between southwest louisiana crowds and more new orleans area crowds um as far as the style of music that they like okay I would say that the people are the same, basically. But uh, new orleans has new orleans music, and over here we have the mostly the cajuns article. Uh, so that's the difference, uh is it dancing? Uh, oh, yeah yeah, but uh, for instance, uh, if you say what is the uh number one instrument of southwest louisiana, what would you say?
Speaker 1:an accordion, probably, sure new orleans is going to be a trombone yeah, trumpet you know which is, uh more my end of of. You know my musical style, but uh so, yeah, so it's a different style of music, but the people are the same I'll tell you what you find a tight group of a trombone, trumpet and a saxophone player. That's what we got power horn section that's what I got trombone, trumpet and tenor sax yeah love it.
Speaker 2:yeah, um, what would be? What is the next generation of louisiana louisiana artists, uh, need from us, the community Support? In what way? Is there just like one little extra step that we can take or do in our own lives?
Speaker 1:We used to sell product. We used to sell albums and CDs and things, and that's gone. I mean, that was a huge part of our income, it was a huge part of our marketing and our promotion and it's gone. It's just literally gone. And we keep on recording because you have to keep new music out there to keep your career going, but it's more money out of your pocket and you're not getting it back. So people need to realize that, yeah, support the musicians any way they can. You can buy the products by the streaming thing and you're going to get a dollar a year. The artist is going to get something ridiculous, but go see the shows, support them live when they play.
Speaker 1:New Orleans is famous for it too. All of those little clubs on what's that street? Frenchman Street, and of course you got bourbon and all that. There's no cover charge, because people don't want to pay a cover. They can go here for free and they go here for. So it's all free and it's like that here too for the most part, and if somebody has to pay, they're like oh my God, we got to pay.
Speaker 1:I know like oh my god, we got to pay. I know, why do we? Why are we gonna pay? If they hear him here, we can hear him at a festival.
Speaker 1:Uh, next week, for free right and uh, so people are spoiled over here and uh, I mean, uh, you, a lot of times you have some of the same artists that play a lot of the festivals and a lot of the clubs and uh and uh, so they're not going to pay to see him when they can go see him for free. And uh, a week later or so I support him a lot Pay that little cover charge, man.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it goes a long way, yeah.
Speaker 1:The joy that these people bring to your life, and for some of us, we've tried to bring this joy for decades.
Speaker 2:There's something about also just seeing a great band in a more intimate venue. If I could pay a few bucks to do it, sure like supporting the artist, but it's something about that kind of enclosed venue like a grouse room, for example.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:I saw at Festival International a couple years ago. The Sunday got rained out and the Wailers were supposed to close the show, so what they did instead is they played a gig which they ended up charging a cover charge, which people were like we're going to see you for free anyway.
Speaker 2:at a festival, you get a charge but whatever, neither here nor there, they closed out festival, quote unquote. But at the Grouse Room, and it was phenomenal, the place was packed and just great vibes, awesome music. Those guys are a tight, tight band, I bet awesome music.
Speaker 1:Those guys are a tight, tight band. I bet you know I mentioned tom jones earlier when he came out. He had a tv show when I was in the eighth grade and I said, oh my goodness, this is what I'm gonna do. I want to, I want to have a big voice like that and wear tight pants and have women screaming, and you know, and my dad was like, oh my god, you gotta be kidding me and uh, but anyway, tom jones is gonna be 85 next month and he he just played in New Orleans at the Sanger Right.
Speaker 1:And some friends of mine went, my cousin Sarah went and some classmates of mine went and he can't even move anymore. He shuffles his feet because he had a couple hip surgeries and he just stands there and he doesn't need the money. He's worth half a billion dollars. I read that he was second to Paulul mccartney in the uk wow, as far as for uh earnings and all. So why is he still doing it? Because you know the joy that he's brought for so many decades and he still, he still loves it. He's doing it for the love, not for the money. The sangria can't pay enough uh, compared to what he would have made in vegas or something like that.
Speaker 2:But he's doing it because he loves it, you know that's beautiful so yeah, well, you mentioned earlier that in 2019 you were inducted into the louisiana music hall of fame. What was that? Uh, what was that call like when you got that?
Speaker 1:it was great. Uh, I was, I was kind of hoping and uh, finally he called me and uh said want to induct you, and uh gave me the date at the rock and bowl and uh, it was. It was a huge night. Yeah, we packed the place out. It was. I had classmates, I had classmates from the seminary in cincinnati that were there. Wow, a lot of cousins, a lot of friends, a lot of fans.
Speaker 2:It was, it was a great night yeah, I imagine seeing your name next to some of these great artists that we've come to know and love here in louisiana.
Speaker 1:There's got to oh yeah yeah, to call them your contemporaries has got to feel really cool oh, yeah, yeah, I'm going to be at the rock and bowl again. In fact, we, we, uh, we should get a date. Uh, it's going to be in august. It's going to be a sunday. My 50th career anniversary celebration is coming up awesome, so great plug so yeah, and we shot a music video last year and it was just finished editing it in April and it's going to be released in conjunction with the anniversary.
Speaker 2:That's awesome. So sometime in August, date to be determined.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's going to be the 9th, the 17th, the 24th, I'm not sure yet.
Speaker 2:Okay, one of the Sundays though.
Speaker 1:It's going to come out. We should find that out today.
Speaker 2:So, sure, yeah, okay, one of the Sundays, though in August. Yeah, it's going to come out. We should find that out today. So go check out Greg Martinez, not only at the Blue Monday Jam on June 9th, but some Sunday in August over at the Great Rock and Bowl. Greg getting close to kind of wrapping up here, Good, I'm getting hungry. Well, speaking of hungry, you know, here in Lafayette do you have your installment grounds?
Speaker 1:Do you of hungry? You know, here in lafayette do you have your installment grounds? You have like a go-to, is it maybe a plate lunch place? Or pretty much. Grew up at pizza village on mall street. My friend flash was the manager from starting at like 15 years old and uh golly, we used to just live over there, the landry special. I must have had a million of those uh landry specials and uh we would. Uh when the bar started closing. When, when the uh mothers against drunk driving came through Lafayette and they campaigned and they shut the bars down at two o'clock, I was furious. I went to the city council meeting and I said, uh, you can't take this away from me yeah, I said they got people you have.
Speaker 1:you have mothers that are moonlighting as waitresses and stuff, and they, they got kids, and they're mothers that are moonlighting as waitresses and stuff, and they got kids and they're in college during the day, and it was all this BS. Anyway, they shut them down and about two months later I was like, man, I feel better. I'm glad they closed them down, I feel better. Well, anyway, but Flash would open up Pizza Village you want to go to. We'd go drink beer until the cleaning crew came in and he'd make a pizza. He'd put so much stuff on there, man, you could barely cut it Anyway. So, yeah, Pizza Village was my stomping grounds.
Speaker 2:You're the second Acadiana musician that I know who has advocated to the city council or local government on behalf of the musician lifestyle For you. It was wanting to drink after 2 am, for roddy romero is wanting to get kids playing in music venues at the age of 18.
Speaker 1:They call it the roddy romero law right, yeah, oh, man, uh.
Speaker 2:So I know you travel a bunch, um, and so you know maybe this is could be more or less applicable to you, but I've been asking all my guests to fill out their go bag. You know, spelled the way you think go would be be spelled in South Louisiana, but it's three items that you would put in a go bag. You got to leave town right now. That would remind you of home. What would those three items be?
Speaker 1:Oh man.
Speaker 2:And you know it doesn't necessarily have to be a real physical item that you can stick in a bag. But you know three things that, in a perfect world, if you could, if you had to leave louisiana now, but what would those three things remind you of home?
Speaker 1:well, it would have to be something I can't get anywhere else. Right, you can buy tony sasher's anywhere in the tabasco too?
Speaker 2:yeah, I was. I was just in ireland. They had tabasco at basically every table yeah.
Speaker 1:So, uh, it wouldn't be that it would be. Uh, I've thought about what if my house catches on fire. I live in an old house. I love old houses, old houses and my house is kind of new compared to some of them I've had. This house was built in 1919. So it's more modern. So I said, well, what if my house catches on fire? What would I grab? I would grab some pictures of old pictures, mom and dad and stuff. I would grab that trumpet, because it can't be replaced, gigi's trumpet and what else. I Gigi's trumpet and, hmm, what else. I always say that trumpet, I'm not sure what else Some stuff to be. I can't carry that baby grand piano.
Speaker 2:Get a trailer.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'll probably get my guitar, that trumpet and I'm not sure what else uh yeah, photograph or and and some pictures yeah okay, I got them out. You know um, they're in the video. There you go, that that we shot, that's going to be released, uh, so, uh, yeah, I grabbed some of those well I hope you didn't forget anything now speaking of that.
Speaker 2:Uh, do you have any horror stories of? Maybe? I'm sure you righted these wrongs as you progressed and became more professional, but earlier on in your career was there a oh no moment when you forgot something for a gig no, I don't think so because I I have been doing it so long I don't remember I have one.
Speaker 2:I had a gig on a saturday night and then an early morning gig at a casino in lake charles. That night on saturday I popped a string on my guitar and didn't have any extras so I thought, oh, it's gonna be all right, in the morning I'll drive to late charles early, early and go find a local music store or something get some strings. Couldn't find any, so I'll I had to just just power through this gig with with one string.
Speaker 2:Uh, and then about 45 minutes into the gig, another one pops and I basically just had to you got a ukulele yeah. I had to go up to the manager and said man, I'm sorry, like I I can't play Like you didn't have a backup. No, I didn't have anything and uh, did not get paid for that, nor was I asked to come back. So that was a big learning lesson for me. To this day, I'd never play with unless I have an extra pair of strings.
Speaker 1:I know my dad died when I was 19. I was kind of just getting started and he told me he said I don't mind you being a singer, but always be a clean singer, never get, never get raunchy, no curse on stage and thing. And that stayed with me. So always, uh, I always try to be professional. Even in my wild days I try to be professional.
Speaker 2:If I'm playing a gig and let's say it's a 6 to 9 gig, and there's a song that I'm playing that maybe has the F word or something, and I see a kid in the audience, I'm not gonna. I'm gonna say messed up.
Speaker 1:Instead, my son is probably your age and I had to pass that along to him because he wanted to play this Jack Black song Tenacious.
Speaker 3:D.
Speaker 1:Yeah, y'all probably know it, and I said pleased, and sometimes he'd play the intro because some young people in the audience friends of his knew it and I'd give him the evil eye.
Speaker 2:Not here, dude, yeah Well that's yeah, so well, that's great man. Well, it's been a pleasure talking to you. I'm excited to see you perform at blue Monday coming up June 9th. Um, you've had a great career. I can't wait to see the music video and, and I would love to go to the 50th anniversary. Yeah, that sounds like a fun time. Is there? Is there? Is there anything, um, any sort of parting advice that you can give folks, uh, maybe young, younger artists or uh people who are coming up in this Acadiana music scene or South Louisiana in general?
Speaker 1:I would say uh, like I said, work hard, um, take it serious, but not too serious. But um, don't give up. You're gonna have to learn to take rejection. You're gonna have to learn it's like a salesman that that's a car salesman. You're not going to sell every car to every customer that walks on the lot. You have to learn to take rejection and you're not going to get every gig you you try for and, but you know, stay with it. Just stay with it. You know believe in yourself be comfortable with no yeah, but believe in yourself.
Speaker 1:don't let the no discourage you. Heck Michael Jordan, I heard failure was his biggest motivation. He didn't make the varsity team his freshman or sophomore year in high school and look what he did Failure motivated him.
Speaker 2:Yeah, he was such a psychopath that he would make up slights against him that other players didn't even say to motivate him to go kick their ass.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, that's awesome.
Speaker 2:Well, greg, against them that other players didn't even say to motivate them to go kick their ass. Yeah, yeah, that's awesome. Well, greg, it was a pleasure talking to you. We end the episode the same for all of our guests. You can take a look at your single camera right here. It could be a word, a phrase, a song, lyric, more advice, a plug, anything that you want to impart on the audience at Internet Land at large. To end the episode. The floor is yours, All at large. To end the episode.
Speaker 1:The floor is yours, all right, when my life is over. Remember when we were together, we were alone and I was singing this song to you.
Speaker 2:Hey guys, it's Carter. Thank you so much for checking out this week's episode of Acadiana Cast Presents, the flagship show of Acadiana Casts, a full service content production company based right here in South Louisiana. If you'd like to get involved in podcasts, or maybe your business needs some help creating some social media reels maybe you already have a podcast or developing content and you just can't get over that hump, reach out to us by going to AcadianaCastscom, find our full list of services and find out how we can help get your voice heard today. That's AcadianaCastcom, and if you like the show, please like, comment, subscribe.
Speaker 2:Wherever you're checking the show out. We love to hear from you. Give us some love and if you're watching on KLFY+, be sure to check out some of our older content and check out some of the other content, the great content that they have for you right here on KOFY+. Reach out to us on social media, follow us, share our videos, let us know who you'd like to see on the show next and don't forget to be kind and have fun. See you next time.
